Microsoft’s Surface Pro with built-in LTE is now available online, one of a rare breed of Windows portables with integrated WWAN connectivity. The Surface Pro with LTE Advanced was confirmed as in the pipeline back in September, a welcome return after Microsoft’s last cellularly-equipped Surface was discontinued several years ago.
Sales of the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced began for commercial customers in December of this year, though individual buyers were still out of luck. That changes today, with a listing for the tablet appearing on Microsoft’s online store.
For $1,449 you get a Core i5 based Surface Pro, with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of solid-state storage. It uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, though there’s a little disappointment there. Though the modem is theoretically capable of gigabit LTE speeds Microsoft has, according to Neowin, capped download rates at 450 Mbps.
If you’re willing to compromise on storage and RAM, meanwhile, there’ll eventually be a second configuration with LTE Advanced. Priced at $1,149, it has a Core i5 processor but pairs it with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. However, it’s currently out of stock, with no indication from Microsoft as to when that might change.
What there doesn’t appear to be is any sort of partner deal with a carrier. The LTE Advanced modem is presumably unlocked in that case, ready for you to drop in your SIM card of choice. That makes for maximum flexibility, particularly when traveling – being able to use a local SIM rather than pay expensive data roaming rates is always preferable – though it’s arguably less convenient than, say, Apple’s system with the iPad Pro, where you can choose carriers through the tablet’s settings.
That could well change in time. Though the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced is indeed now available for anybody to buy, it’s still listed as the commercial model. Should Microsoft decide to push the consumer side, it could cut a deal with a carrier and make connectivity a little more straightforward in the process.


Nina Redenbacher, 91, the wife of popcorn entrepreneur Orville Redenbacher, died Wednesday in San Diego after a heart attack. The Redenbachers moved to San Diego 15 years ago from Valparaiso, Ind., where they married in 1971. Mrs. Redenbacher frequently accompanied her husband on his promotional tours, but was never active on the business end of the popcorn operations.
John Gray Trezevant, 67, described as "the quintessential journalist" by former colleague Ann Landers, died Thursday in Tiburon, Calif. Mr. Trezevant, who began his career with the San Francisco Chronicle and later became an executive with the Field publishing organization in Chicago, died Thursday at Marin General Hospital after a short illness. The cause of death was not disclosed. Mr. Trezevant was on the editorial staff of the Chronicle from 1942 to 1955, and later was managing editor of Colliers magazine and an executive with the National Association of Broadcasters. He joined the Sun-Times in 1958 as the Sunday editor. He began editing the Ann Landers advice column while he was managing editor of the Chicago Sun-Times in 1965 and continued doing it for 13 years. Before retiring in 1984, Mr. Trezevant was executive vice president of Field Enterprises Inc.
and chairman of the Field Newspaper Syndicate.
Retired Maj. Gen. Earnest Hodges Briscoe, 84, former chief of staff of the Ohio Air Guard who helped developed safety policies for the Air Force, died recently in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Briscoe, who retired as chief of staff of the Ohio Air Guard in 1964, had most recently lived in Naples, Fla., and Sky Valley, Ga. During his military career, Mr. Briscoe was assigned to the Army Air Force, Office of Safety. He was responsible for investigating the causes of air accidents and involved in writing safety policy. This policy was the forerunner of the flying safety and accident prevention program is use by the Air Force today. Along with his military career, Mr. Briscoe formed the Briscoe Manufacturing Co. in the early 1950s. He invented and developed heat sensitive materials that were used in military aircraft and space vehicles.
Gertrude Zeising Kemper, 101, a civic and cultural leader who was active in philanthropy as chairwoman of the Kemper Educational and Charitable Foundation, died Wednesday in Chicago. She lived in Chicago and Palm Springs, Calif. A long-time opera fan, she was the 1985 recipient of the Carol Fox Award from the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mrs. Kemper a member of the Lyric Opera Women's Board and the Women's Board of the Chicago Boys Club and was a Red Cross volunteer during World War II.
Victor Cornelius, 86, whose company is said to be one of the nation's largest manufacturer of restaurant menus, died Friday in Abilene, Texas, of a heart ailment and kidney failure. Mr. Cornelius' company, Victor Cornelius Menus, employs about 65 people with an annual payroll of $1 million. In 1938, he patented an invention he called the Nap-Ad. It attached to napkin holders in cafes and could be used to display selections on the jukebox or advertising for movie theaters. Another of his inventions, the Redi-Clip, was patented in 1966 and allows cards advertising "daily specials" to be clipped to the menu. He sold millions of the clips, he once said.


SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines—A United States naval rescue and salvage ship docked in this freeport zone for repairs will be sent to Masbate City on Tuesday to assist in the search and rescue operation for Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and the two pilots of the light aircraft that crashed into the sea in that city on Saturday.
According to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Roberto Garcia, the USS Safeguard will leave the freeport for Masbate on Tuesday. “The ship will assist in the search for [Secretary] Robredo,” Garcia said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The ship, at the Subic dry dock, a ship repair facility here, as of Monday night, has been in the freeport since August 2, workers there said.
“It came here for scheduled repairs. But we heard that it’s going to be [deployed to Masbate] to help in the search for Secretary Robredo,” said a worker in the facility.
The worker asked not to be named saying he has not been authorized to talk to reporters.
The worker said repairs for the USS Safeguard had been finished.
The ship is under tight security in this freeport, a former US naval base.


"I really do expect the progress bar to reflect what's going on in the background. It's kind of the point of having it in the first place - if it's wrong, why have it at all?"
Because it soothes the users into thinking something useful and important is happening when the reality is the bloody thing is just cleaning up some old files or waiting for a server connection or something equally as boring. And it's a lot less confusing for them than having console messages scrolling by.


Clusters – or meteorites – of raisins, almonds and chocolate, these little gobbets are bite-sized confections the Georgians were fond of. I first made them as a young apprentice chef at a small hotel just outside Dundee. Be sure to use the best chocolate, and the best nuts, you can find – if you’re short on time, slivered almonds will deliver a respectable result. Once made, it’s best to keep the chocolates away from heat as they might sulk into a great mass – something to be avoided at all costs, for this must then be scoffed and the cook will need to start all over again. Oh, what a shame that would be.
1 Set the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Line a tray or two with baking parchment.
2 Spread the almonds on another tray and roast for around 20 minutes, or until nut brown. Set aside until cool, then coarsely chop the almonds.
3 Put the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not be tempted to stir the chocolate lest the chocolate seizes. To prevent this, merely tip the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is made liquid. Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat, then tip in the almonds and raisins or currants and mix together well.
4 Using two teaspoons, scoop up heaps of the chocolate confection and sit blobs of it upon the lined baking trays. Continue thus until rows of the little gobbets or meteorite-like clusters fill the paper. Then put the trays in the fridge for at least half an hour.
5 Choose a tin with a close-fitting lid. Cut a few sheets of baking parchment to fit inside the tin.
6 Once the chocolates have set, place them in layers inside the tin, separating each layer with a sheet of parchment. Seal the tin and stash until required.
Peel strips off a lemon as for a martini, then squeeze its juice into a bowl. Peel 6 pears and toss them in the lemon juice. Put 30ml water and 200ml white wine, 200g caster sugar, a vanilla pod, 2 bay leaves, 10 black peppercorns and a blade of mace into a pan. Bring to a boil on a high heat. Add the pears, lemon juice and peel. Cover with a disc of parchment to fit the pot. A plate on top helps keep the fruit submerged. Lower the heat to a simmer and poach gently until the pears are cooked – 30-50 minutes depending on ripeness. Add 12 prunes, 12 dried apricots and 12 dried figs, bring back to the boil for 30 seconds then remove from the heat and cool. Gently remove the cooled fruits to a serving bowl and pour over the syrup unstrained.
Pour 500ml freshly squeezed orange juice through a conical sieve and decant into a liquidiser, adding the juice of 1 lemon and 120g icing sugar. Blend until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in 50ml Campari, then churn in an ice-cream maker or freeze in a bowl, whisking from time to time to keep any crystalline formations to a bare minimum. Serve with a glass of Campari and soda, topped with a slice of orange, of course!
Combine 750ml white wine, 50g caster sugar, a strip of lemon zest, a vanilla pod, 3 bay leaves, 12 peppercorns and 4 spikes of rosemary in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently into a syrup. Add in 24 apricots, cover with a disc of parchment, raise the heat and bring back to the boil. Set aside to cool. If the syrup is somewhat thin, lift out the apricots when cool, cover well and boil the syrup for 5-10 minutes until reduced. Cool the syrup, then pour back over the apricots.


LAS VEGAS — Minden industrialist Don Bently has been named a distinguished Nevadan by the University and Community College Board of Regents.
Bently donated the 10-acre site for Western Nevada Community College’s Douglas campus.
The first building constructed on the campus, Bently Hall, is named after Bently.
He sold his company, Bently Nevada, to General Electric in January. Bently founded the company in 1961 with a workforce of three people.
When it sold, Bently employed more than 2,000 people worldwide, including 1,200 in the Carson Valley.
The company sponsored college scholarships for engineering students.
Bently served in the Pacific during World War II and worked on a farm before becoming a successful inventor.
Regents named Bently, Dr. Jesse Hall of Reno, James Edward and Alice Ray Smalley of Las Vegas, Dr. William Pearson of Las Vegas, J. Terrence Lanni of Las Vegas and former regent Tom Wiesner.
Each year, the Board of Regents select five Nevadans for the honor of being named a Distinguished Nevadan. The award is bestowed upon prominent individuals who have made significant achievements that have contributed to the cultural, scientific or social advancement of Nevada. The recipients will be honored during commencement ceremonies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, Reno.
At Reno, commencement is May 18.
The Nevada Board of Regents is the elected, 11-member governing body for the University and Community College System of Nevada.
Comprising two doctoral granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges and one internationally acclaimed research institute, the system serves the educational and job training needs of the nation’s fastest growing state. As Nevada’s only system of higher education, it provides educational opportunities to nearly 100,000 students.


A hit dog will always holler.
And right now, the Knicks are a whiny pack of canines.
People aren't really fond of being exposed, and that's what LeBron James did on Saturday night when he commented on how good of a player Mavericks rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. is after the Cavaliers defeated Dallas, 111-104.
"The Knicks passed on a really good one," James said after Smith dropped 21 points, seven assists, two blocks and two steals on the Cavs. "Dallas got the diamond in the rough. He should be a Knick. That's gonna make some headlines but he should be a Knick. Dallas is definitely excited that he didn't go there."
Anybody who has any grasp of how to play basketball, or has seen Smith or Knicks rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina play, knows that Smith is better.
And the numbers don't lie.
Smith is currently averaging 14.8 points, along with 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds. Ntilikina is only averaging 4.4 points, five assists and 1.6 steals while shooting a lower percentage than Smith has from the field and from deep.
"I don't know why he made those comments," said Knicks franchise player Kristaps Porzingis. "But all I can say is we love Frank. We're happy with him. He's doing a great job. He's playing great and he's doing what he's supposed to. I would not change Frank for anybody. Simple."
Porzingis doesn't realize that he's the exception to the rule in New York and not the norm. History proves that the Knicks haven't done well in the draft except for selecting him fourth overall in 2015.
In 2014, the Knicks selected Cleanthony Early and passed on Nikola Jokic, one of the best young players in the league who came in second place for last season's Most Improved Player award.
In 2013, the Knicks went with Tim Hardaway Jr. at No. 24 instead of Rudy Gobert, taken three picks later. Gobert was named All-NBA Second Team and First Team All-Defense last season.
And in 2011, the Knicks decided to go with Iman Shumpert over Jimmy Butler. Instead of drafting an All-Star and an Olympic gold medalist, the Knicks drafted a role player in Shumpert who they would wind up trading away to the Cavaliers, where he has played a key role in their three-straight NBA Finals appearances.
The Knicks needed to draft a point guard last summer, and instead of doing the right thing by taking Smith Jr. they went with Ntilikina.
"But I don't care who (it is), I just cannot let anyone disrespect my family like that," said Enes Kanter on Sunday. Mind you, this is only Kanter's first season in New York.
"Because when I play for an organization, I see my teammates and that organization like a family. And I don't care. It doesn't matter if it's LeBron or whoever it is, I cannot just let him disrespect him like that because the coaches, the GMs, the president, this organization knows what they're doing. So that's why I was kind of pissed that he said that, because, I mean, come on, man. That's a rookie. You cannot just say anything like that about him."
James responded to Kanter and the New York media on Monday morning during shootaround before the teams face off later in the day.
"Have you seen Dennis Smith play?" James asked the media at Madison Square Garden. "Have y'all seen him play?"
"I wasn't throwing shade at Frank at all for people that got their pants in bunches and things of that nature here in New York. They look for any controversy here."
"I think that Deshaun Watson should be a (Cleveland) Brown. Doesn't mean that Myles Garrett won't be a great football player. But I think Deshaun Watson should have been our quarterback. It's the same thing. It's not you sh-----g on the next guy, it's just that you're stating what you see. That's all that is for clarification for people that just live in a box. And for Enes Kanter that always got something to say.
"I don't know what's wrong with him."
James has won seven straight at the Garden, averaging over 28 points.
Not only is Kanter wrong, but he just got under the skin of the best player in the league who usually has his way whenever he plays in MSG.
Kanter said that LeBron's words pissed him off. But when the final buzzer sounds on Monday night, it'll be his teammates who will be pissed at him for even opening his mouth in the first place.


The 55th Femina Miss India World 2018 winner is Anukreethy Vas from Tamil Nadu, while first runner-up is Meenakshi Chaudhary from Haryana and Shreya Rao from Andhra Pradesh is the second runner-up.
Anukreethy Vas, a 19-year-old college student from Tamil Nadu, beat 29 other contestants from across India to win Femina Miss India 2018 on Tuesday after impressing judges, including former VJ Malaika Arora and cricketer Irfan Pathan. She was crowned by Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar.
Meenakshi Chaudhary, 21, from Harayana was declared the first runner-up, while Andhra Pradesh’s Shreya Rao Kamavarapu , 23, became the second runner-up in the annual beauty pageant.
Miss United Continents 2017 Sana Dua, and Miss Intercontinental 2017 Priyanka Kumari, crowned their respective successors.
Hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Ayushmann Kurrana, the glamourous ceremony held at Dome, NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai, saw performances by Bollywood stars, like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Jacqueline Fernandez.
The judges panel also included cricketer K L Rahul, fashion designer Gaurav Gupta and Bollywood actors Bobby Deol and Kunal Kapoor. Actor Neha Dhupia also attended the event.
Kareena Kapoor or Manushi Chhillar, whose pretty pink dress would you wear?


Over the past two weeks, the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP has been probing allegations reported by Variety last month that Heather Parry, the head of Live Nation Productions, had verbally abused employees and used offensive language in the workplace.
But the lead investigator, Elena Baca, seems to be just as interested in uncovering who leaked internal information, according to several sources who have spoken with the lawyer.
Parry was placed on leave on Dec. 21 in response to a Variety investigation of workplace abuse, which included allegations from 23 former employees of Live Nation and Happy Madison Productions, where she previously worked. The employees said she routinely denigrated her assistants and other staffers and spoke in offensive terms about women, gay people, and African-Americans.
Variety’s story included excerpts from an audio-taped meeting, in which Live Nation president Joe Berchtold and CFO Kathy Willard told employees that Parry was unlikely to significantly change her behavior, and that staffers should try to forgive her. Two days before the report was published, an anonymous person gained access to the Live Nations Prods.’ Twitter account and accused CEO Michael Rapino of ignoring employees’ complaints.
In a statement last month, the company said it values its “open, accessible and inclusive culture,” and that it had hired a third-party investigator to look into the employees’ concerns.
Baca has met with numerous current and former Live Nation Prods. employees, according to the sources who spoke to Variety. She has asked about Parry’s workplace conduct. But in several of the interviews, she has spent about half of the time trying to ferret out leaks. Specifically, Baca has asked who recorded the meeting with Berchtold and Willard, and how the recording was disseminated.
She has also tried to get to the bottom of who had hijacked the Twitter account, asking which employees had access to the log-in credentials. Baca has also asked some employees if they had recently traveled to Thailand. She did not explain the relevance of the inquiry.
In a statement on Wednesday, a Live Nation spokesperson said that the investigator has been given discretion as to how to pursue the probe of Parry’s conduct.
“We have hired a third party investigator with the specific remit to conduct the investigation on Heather Parry’s conduct, and have given full latitude to the investigator to conduct the review as they see fit,” the spokesperson said.
Parry’s attorney, Martin Singer, said Wednesday that it was entirely proper for the company to try to determine who secretly recorded the meeting, which he called a criminal act.
Baca is the head of Paul Hastings’ Los Angeles office, and the co-vice chair of its employment law practice. She has worked on behalf of companies in several major cases, including representing American Apparel in its litigation with former CEO Dov Charney.
She also apologized, saying “if I hurt someone,” that was not her intention. She also denied ever being sexist, racist or homophobic.


WASHINGTON—Iran’s foreign minister has denounced the partial reinstatement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban as a “truly shameful exhibition of blind hostility to all Iranians” — and a measure that will prevent Iranian grandmothers from seeing their grandchildren in America.
Friday’s remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif came after the Trump administration set criteria for visa applicants from the six Muslim-majority nations and all refugees that require a “close” family or business tie to the United States.
The guidelines sent to U.S. embassies and consulates initially said applicants must prove a relationship with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling in the U.S. Later, the State Department and the Homeland Security Department added “fiancé” to that definition of “close familial relationship” — but not grandparents or grandchildren.
The scaled-back version of Trump’s travel ban is likely to generate a new round of court battles.
The new rules took effect Thursday evening but didn’t spark the protests and chaos at airports around the world that marked the original order last January.
Instead of an outright ban as once proposed, the new rules tighten already-tough visa policies affecting citizens from six Muslim-majority countries. Refugees are covered as well.
Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Dan Hetlage says his agency expects business as usual at ports of entry, with all valid visa holders still being able to travel.
Nonetheless, immigration and refugee advocates are vowing to challenge the new requirements.
The Trump administration has struggled to explain how they immigration policy will make the United States safer.


From the Belfast News Letter of March 20 1738. This is in fact equivalent to March 31 1739 in the modern calendar, because there was an 11-day time lag between the two calendars, and because the new year then began in late March, a few days after this edition.
We hear that the Malecontents of Corsica are charmed with the News they have received of the approaching arrival of the Lord Theodore their Sovereign, to whom they all declare, that they never had the least intention to sacrifice their integrity, in not acknowledging him as their Supreme, but reflect very much upon the imposition and cunning of France, by making them Hostages to that Kingdom, but laying that aside, are still resolved to maintain their Resolution, in not submitting in the least to the Genoese, &c/ to make an obstinate and vigorous Defence, and with Scorn have rejected the Regulation that was published against them; since which, Orders have been issued, that in case any of the Countrymen should for the Time to come, have in any Shape whatever, Correspondence with the Genoese, they shall suffer Death, and their Estates and Effects forfeited.
NOW keeps Shop opposite the Stone Bridge, next Door to the Post-Office, and sells Teas, Sugars, and most Kinds of Groceries either in large or small Quantities, at as reasonable Prices, as any in this Town.
N.B. He now has new Dutch Parsnip and Onion Seeds, London Carrot and other new Garden-Seeds, also new Flax-Seed and Hops, which he will sell at the lowest Rates.
On Wednesday last came on at the Assizes of Wicklow, the Trial of Mr. William Baker for the killing of George Johnson of Arcklow, and after the Examination of a great Number of credible Witnesses, the Thing appeared so very fair and clear, that in a short Time the Jury brought it in Man Slaughter in his own Defence.
It is reported that the Parliament will sit till the latter end of May next, on account of the Affairs of Spain.
This Day the Lords received from the Duke of Newcastle a Representation and State of the British Possessions in America, disputed by the King of Spain 22 of June 1731, with several other Representations relating to South Carolina. Then took the Convention into Consideration, when it was moved his Majesty should be addressed with Thanks in obtaining it, which Address was read, and being objected to, great Debates arose.
Thursday about four o’Clock Captain Vaughan arrived here from his Confinement at Cadiz; while he was there he saw his own Ship brought in, and was told she was sold for 9000 Rixdollars. And he is to be examined on Tuesday next at the Barr of the House of Commons, touching the Cruelties of the Spaniards to the Subjects of Great Britain.
[March 3.] Thursday last the Lords debated whether his Majesty should be addressed with thanks for his Prudence, in bringing the Demands of his Subjects for their past Losses (which have been so long depending) to a final Adjustment by the said Convention, and for procuring a speedy Payment, and preserving Peace between the two Crowns, and to assure his Majesty, that if his just Expectations shall not be answered, that House would heartily and zealously concur in all such Measures as might be thought necessary to vindicate his Majesty’s Honour, and preserve the Right of his People.
‘Tis now said the Dissenters have dropt their Design of petitioning the Parliament this Session for the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, and that the Quakers have likewise dropt theirs against Tythes, & c.
The Commons read the Report of the Mutiny Bill, and order’d it to be engrossed, they also receiv’d Petitions against the Currier’s Bill, which were referr’d to a Committee, and then adjourn’d till Monday.
Wherein the JOURNAL of a Learned and Political CLUB, &c. is continued; necessary to be bound up with that Volume.


Despite the holiday-shortened trading week, the stock market has been pretty volatile to end the month of May. U.S. stocks are under pressure Thursday amid renewed concerns over a global trade war. With that in mind, there were some winners and some losers making our top stock trades list.
Shares of Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) tanked about 9% despite beating on earnings per share and revenue estimates and providing guidance that was better than analysts’ estimates.
The pullback shouldn’t come as a surprise even with good numbers, as the stocks had a big rally from $18 in March to $28 this month.
I would have really loved to see Box retest the $24 level and show a violent rebound from there. Instead, it only got down to $24.50 before bouncing. At this point, it’s not clear if Thursday’s low is the short-term bottom or if it will ultimately retest $24. I happen to believe that BOX’s strong fundamentals and investors’ clear appetite for the stock will continue to drive it higher in 2018.
In that respect, traders willing to take a long-term view on it may find it best to nibble a position here in the low-$25s and add to it should it retest $24 and hold.
What an impressive rebound we’ve seen in Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). After brutally dropping down to the lower $150s — where InvestorPlace regulars read they should buy FB — it’s quickly rebounded north of $190.
Previously, I thought there would be enough of a hangover to keep Facebook from making new highs anytime soon. Alas, that was wrong.
Up near $192 and there’s not a lot of wiggle room for traders at the moment. Bulls can target the previous highs near $195 and if it continues higher look for a run to $200. If momentum wanes and FB pulls back, look for support in the mid-$180s. If it holds, FB stock is a buy.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is one of the most popular trading vehicles, in part because it makes such big moves. Thursday’s development? A double top.
Honestly a pullback all the way down to trend-line support near $48 isn’t off the table, as MU made that exact move earlier this year. If bulls really are in control though, support between $54 and $56 will hold.
On a pullback to these levels, bulls can dip their toes in the water. If it holds, it should retest $60 and possibly its prior highs. For the brave bears, make sure to use a stop-loss just above that double-top. No need to stay short if MU wants to run to $70. Not at this valuation.
For its part, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) hasn’t been trading that well compared to its FANG counterparts. Thursday’s near-3% rally is trying to change that though, after GOOGL teamed up with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) for some 65,000 vehicles.
The rally vaulted GOOGL over $1,095 resistance, as well as its 100-day moving average. It also popped out of a small descending channel. Should this move hold, bulls can target the most recent high at $1,120, then $1,150 where downward resistance could come into play.
It’s been a tech-filled write-up so far, so let’s throw it back with a good-ole American classic: General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).
GM shares skyrocketed Thursday, up 13% following a $2.25 billion investment from Softbank Corp/ADR (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) in its GM Cruise business.
The rally is huge for GM and puts it on a collision course to retest its highs near $45. The momentum-measuring MACD and relative strength index (blue circles) show that there’s more room to run too. With a low valuation and a plan for growth, GM could still have upside. A 3.6% dividend yield doesn’t hurt.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell was long GOOGL and BOX.
Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2018/05/5-top-stock-trades-for-friday-morning-box-fb-gm-googl-mu/.


April 27, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
April 25, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
April 22, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
April 20, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
April 15, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
April 12, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 31, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 25, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 16, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 15, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 14, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 10, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
March 7, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
February 29, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.
February 26, 2016  Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott writes occasional notes about the issues journalists encounter and the way NPR handles them. They often expand on topics covered in the Ethics Handbook.


Big week! Most of the top few shows we’ve seen data for already. The week was of course led by Nickelodeon’s iCarly: iFight Shelby Marx with nearly 7.9 million viewers. The summer/mid-season finale of Burn Notice was next with 7.59 million, followed by The Closer with 6.98 million and Royal Pains with 6.69 million.
The season premiere of the final season of Monk also made the top 20 (and the top 10) at number 6 with 5.14 million. Psych did not make the top 20, but by viewers it was tied for 25th with 3.979 million.
The impressive iCarly special only aired three times between Saturday and Sunday (the only days its aired so far that would be included for the week) and all three airings made the top 20. In addition to the top spot, it grabbed the 13th spot with 4.82 million and the 16th spot with 4.36 million. Additionally a 30 minute episode of iCarly that aired after the first airing of the special took the number 11 spot with 4.89 million. Pretty impressive.
1.) the numbers here are just basic cable. Mostly that’s advertising supported basic cable, but Disney, which is included here, and is basic cable, isn’t advertising supported. You might see notes from Nickelodeon that the iCarly special was the most-watched kids programming on advertising supported basic cable all year. That claim is, in fact, true. But Disney’s Wizards On Deck with Hannah Montana was actually more-watched in its initial airing in July with 9.292 million — but Disney isn’t an advertising supported cable network.
2.) because these are just basic cable numbers, they do not include premium channels like HBO. So even if True Blood had more than 4.15 million viewers (it might have, the week before it had 4.3 million!) it wouldn’t be in the table below. However, I will post True Blood’s results from Sunday as soon as I see them.
3.) I have enough data to figure out who won all USA Network – related contests for Burn Notice’s summer finale and the season premieres of Psych and Monk. However, not everyone followed the rules exactly and it will take me a while to announce all the contest winners, I hope to do so no later than tomorrow (Wednesday, August 12).
Next articleWatching TVCongrats to Imaris who won our Burn Notice contest!


A bear became trapped in this vehicle. It was later determined to be totaled.
Purchase, store all trash in, and properly close bear-resistant garbage containers.
Freeze strong-smelling leftovers, such as fish, until trash day to reduce the smell.
Wait to put trash out until the morning of collection day.
Keep garbage cans clean and deodorize them with bleach or ammonia.
Don’t leave trash, groceries, or animal feed in your car.
Refrain from putting out bird feeders from April through October.
Don’t leave any scented non-food products outside (or in your car), such as suntan lotion, lip balm, insect repellent, toothpaste, soap or candles.
Consider installing motion-activated outdoor lights, sprinklers and alarms, as well as electric fencing.
Harvest fruit off trees as soon as it is ripe, and promptly collect all fruit that falls.
Securely block access to potential hibernation sites, such as crawl spaces under decks and buildings.
Vegetable gardens, compost piles, orchards and chickens may attract bears. Use electric fences to keep bears out.
Always store food (including pet food), drinks, toiletries, coolers, cleaned grills, cleaned dishes, cleaning products, and all other scented items as soon as possible after use in the bear-resistant containers (storage lockers) provided at your campsite.
Always place trash in bear-resistant dumpsters in campground or in bear-resistant containers at your campsite and close and lock after each use.
Never leave scented items unattended in your campsite, tent, or car.
These tips were provided by a collaborative agency effort that includes California State Parks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Those living in bear country know it’s never a good idea to leave food in a vehicle. However, it’s fairly common that people forget how even a slight scent — when combined with unlocked doors — can lead a curious bear to rummage through a car, and do quite a bit of damage in the process.
It is a reminder a former longtime area resident received earlier this week while house sitting for some friends off of Tahoe Vista Drive in South Lake Tahoe.
“Hopefully this will be a reminder,” said Anne Grogan, a Reno resident who previously lived in the Truckee-Tahoe area for decades.
As Grogan explained, she had just returned from the grocery store on Tuesday afternoon and lugged a load of groceries into her friends’ home. She left one bag, which appeared to be filled with cleaning supplies including trash bags and vinegar, behind.
However, Grogan would later learn that there was a single can of fish buried toward the bottom of the bag. With her hands filled with grocery bags, she had forgotten to lock the car door.
Around 7 p.m. she heard the car horn and went outside assuming it was some obnoxious teenagers messing with her car. What she found was a young bear trapped inside the vehicle.
“He tore the airbags … tore the wiring,” Grogan said in detailing just some of the damage done to her SUV, which despite appearing completely fine from the outside, was declared totaled due to the interior damage.
Such incidents are common in bear country.
“That’s happened thousands of times,” said Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League, a not-for-profit organization based in the Tahoe Basin that seeks to better educate the public about bears.
Bryant added that a similar incident happened in her neighborhood just the other day. The difference is when the door closes behind them, which does happen frequently, the bears feels trapped and can do a good deal of damage once it realizes it cannot get out the way it came in.
Bears can easily open unlocked car doors, Bryant said, and their interest can be piqued by sights and smells that most people would not think appeal to bears.
“Bears can walk by a car and even if they just see a grocery bag that’s enough to tempt them,” according to Bryant.
And it doesn’t have to be obvious perpetrators such as groceries or leftovers. Fruit-scented air fresheners and chapstick can lead a curious and hungry bear to try and enter the car.
As Bryant said, there are two easy and basic steps to take to mitigate the chance of having a bear ransack your vehicle. The first is to try and remove all food and food-like items from the vehicle. The second is to make sure the doors are locked.
Despite the education efforts, incidents involving bears rummaging through cars will likely continue to be a problem especially with the summer tourism season on the horizon.
“It happens all the time during the summertime when the visitors are up here … we probably get 20 or 30 calls a day, and that’s just the people that call us,” Bryant said.
The prevalence of summer conflicts led multiple government agencies to issue a reminder earlier this week about the importance of properly storing food and trash.
For Grogan, who says she knows the ropes when it comes to living in bear country, the incident was an unfortunate and costly sequence of seemingly small mistakes.


Wales have reached their highest-ever world ranking of 21st in the latest standings released by world governing body Fifa - without playing a game.
Chris Coleman's side move above Mexico, who lost their friendly match against the USA 2-0.
The other home nations remain the same with England 14th, Scotland 29th and Northern Ireland 42nd.
Wales' previous best was 27th, when Terry Yorath's Wales side just failed to reach the 1994 World Cup.
As recently as March 2011 they were as low as 116th.
Wales who beat Israel 3-0 in their Euro 2016 qualifier in March are second in Group B on goal difference behind Belgium, who they face at home in June.
The win in Haifa saw them rise 15 places from 37th to 22nd in the April rankings.


No, Democrats—the 25th Amendment won’t save you from Donald Trump.
And just like that, Trump is dispatched to Trump Tower, or Mar-a-Lago, and Pence becomes acting president of the United States. Right?
Yes—assuming it’s a movie or a TV series or a Netflix or Amazon offering. This process, set down in Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, has been one of Hollywood’s favorite plot devices to spice up a political melodrama. As a real-life possibility, it requires a leap away from reality into a realm even Trump has delivered us; at least, not yet.
But it was the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 that spotlighted the need for a fix—in stark, almost morbid terms. When Lyndon B. Johnson took the rostrum in the House of Representatives on Nov. 27 to reassure a shaken nation, viewers were treated to distinctly unsettling sight. There was Johnson, who had barely survived a 1955 heart attack. Behind him sat John McCormack, the speaker of the House—a frail, almost sepulchral 71-year-old who was next in line. Next to him was President Pro Temp Carl Hayden, an 88-year-old who appeared incapable of independent motion.
This was powerful visual evidence that the vice presidency should not be left vacant. Senator Birch Bayh and Rep. Emanuel Celler went to work drafting a constitutional amendment establishing a new process for selecting a veep.
But they realized there was a second issue to be dealt with. What if JFK had survived the shooting, but was left in a coma? What if LBJ had a second heart attack that left him comatose? What if he, or a future president, suffered a severe stroke, as Woodrow Wilson had in September 1919, leaving his wife Edith, in the words of one historian, to “shield Woodrow from interlopers and embark on a bedside government that essentially excluded Wilson’s staff, the Cabinet and the Congress.” And—most problematic—what if a president decided that he or she had recovered—but others in the administration thought otherwise?
To meet such a crisis, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment set up a mechanism. If a majority of the Cabinet and the vice president thought the president unable to perform his duties (yes, the amendment was gender-specific), they would so advise the congressional leaders. If the president disagreed, the two houses of Congress would convene within 48 hours and debate the issue over the next three weeks. Unless a two-thirds majority of both houses agreed that the president was indeed incapacitated—the same supermajority required to overturn a veto or to convict an impeached president in the Senate—he would resume the office.
In the 50 years since the 25th Amendment was ratified, it’s been used twice to fill a vice presidential vacancy: when Gerald Ford replaced the disgraced Spiro Agnew in October 1973, and when Nelson Rockefeller replaced Ford in 1974. And on six occasions, the president has invoked the 25th Amendment to (very temporarily) designate his veep as acting president, always during routine medical procedures like a colonoscopy. But it’s never been invoked when the president himself was non compos, most notably when Ronald Reagan was in surgery after the 1982 assassination attempt. When Howard Baker became Reagan’s chief of staff in 1987, according to the historian Edmund Morris, some of the president’s aides warned Baker that the 25th Amendment might be needed, given Reagan’s alleged mental fuzziness. When Baker and his staff met with Reagan, he showed no such signs, and the matter was dropped.
So where have the more melodramatic implications of the 25th Amendment seen the light of day? Just where melodrama is most appropriate: in fiction. For writers, the constitutionally plausible possibility of backroom machinations, double-and-triple-crosses, the powerful mix of high principle and naked ambition, has been irresistible for the better part of four decades.
William Safire, Nixon speechwriter and New York Times columnist, was the first to use the device in his 1977 novel, Full Disclosure. After President Sven Erikson is blinded in an assassination attempt, disloyal Treasury Secretary T. Roy Bannerman attempts to use the 25th Amendment to force him from office and replace him with a feckless vice president who would be Bannerman’s puppet. But in more recent times, as political settings have taken a prominent place on the screen, the venerable 25th has become almost as familiar as the Lincoln Memorial.
That was a nuanced, “one-off” use of the amendment. In the long-running series “24,” the 25th almost became a cast member. President David Palmer’s vice president and cabinet forced him from office because he would not retaliate against the alleged perpetrators of a terrorist plot. Then they learned the allegation was false, so the acting president turned the office back over to Palmer … who was laid low a few hours later by a biological attack, so the amendment was invoked again. The next president, John Keeler, was wounded when the bad guys shot up Air Force One, so the presidency fell to the traitorous Charles Logan. A few twists and turns later, David Palmer’s brother Wayne was elected president. Three months later, he was the victim of another terrorist attack, leaving him comatose. This plot line goes to Defcon 1—literally—when the acting veep orders a nuclear hit on another suspected terrorist site; a loyal Palmer aide then wakes Palmer up from his coma, who immediately tells Congress he’s fit to serve. The Cabinet deadlocks, undeadlocks, Palmer gets the post back … and then drops dead at a news conference.
So now let us return to Planet Earth. It is highly unlikely that we will see Reince Priebus locking Mike Pence in the Situation Room anytime soon, or that Nikki Haley and Rick Perry will be squaring off against each other for that crucial tie-breaking vote, or that Trump will decide, “you know, I need a couple of months off to get my groove back, so I’m invoking Section 4; best of luck, Mike.” The notion that Pence and a Cabinet majority will look at Trump’s next tweets or telephonic fulminations and decide he’s not fit for the job is beyond absurdity.
To see how just how unlikely such a move is, look at this recent piece by Jack Farrell in Politico Magazine about President Richard M. Nixon’s behavior in 1970. In the midst of a shooting war in Vietnam, and a Cold War on constant simmer, Nixon was often abusing alcohol and prescription drugs, leading to stretches of incoherence and irrationality. No one around him even raised the specter of invoking the 25th Amendment. And while the plot lines of “24” and “Scandal” are bizarre, they do illustrate why the 25th Amendment demands a supermajority of Congress if the president insists he’s able: It is insurance against a coup.
The mechanism, in short, is an “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass” provision. If a president showed up one morning unable to communicate, or curled up in a fugue state, the Constitution gives his vice president and Cabinet the power to avoid a crisis. Absent such a disaster, any thought of invoking it is best left to the writer’s room somewhere around Sunset and Vine.


Craig Levein will have to do without Ben Garuccio after losing him to a serious injury.
Hearts have lost left-back Ben Garuccio to a long-term knee injury ahead of Saturday's Ladbrokes Premiership encounter with Aberdeen .
The Australian will miss 10 months of football after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during Wednesday's training session this week.
With on-loan Manchester United defender Demetri Mitchell already sidelined for the rest of the campaign with a knee injury, it leaves Hearts manager Craig Levein light on options to fill in at left-back.
Levein said: “I was hoping it wasn’t going to be serious. There was nobody near him. He just twisted.
“Having experienced it myself, you just need to be in the wrong position and shift your weight.
"I feel really sorry for the boy. He had just got himself back in the team and was in a good place.
"When I found out, I was feeling a wee bit gutted for him to be honest.
“There’s Bobby Burns, Jake Mulraney, and Jamie Brandon is also a possibility.
"I haven’t made my mind up. Marcus Godinho is just back in training and I’m hopeful he will be available."
Fellow full-back Michael Smith (thigh) remain on the sidelines.
Centre-back Clevid Dikamona (knee) is a doubt while Steven Naismith remains out after knee surgery.


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KRYPTON an inert gas – is generally reluctant to enter into any kind of chemical relationship, either with itself or with another element. Now, however, chemists at the University of Sussex have made ‘lumps’ or ‘clusters’ of krypton atoms that contain as many as 340 atoms.
Such clusters bridge the gap between the world of atoms and small molecules, and the world of bulk matter. Chemists are interested in such clusters because they are useful in the study of catalysts.
Paul Lethbridge and Tony Stace at the University of Sussex have carried out an investigation into how krypton clusters are formed and, subsequently, fall apart (Journal of Chemical Physics, vol 91, p 7685).
To create the clusters, the chemists passed gaseous krypton into a vacuum through a hole only 200 micrometres in diameter. This cooled the atoms, so that when they collided, the weak Van der Waals force between them was sufficient to hold them together (see New Scientist, Science, 4 November 1989).
Lethbridge and Stace used this method to make a wide range of electrically neutral clusters, Krn, where n varied from 10 to 340. They then ionised the clusters with an electron beam and studied the positive ions in a mass spectrometer. This is an instrument that separates particles according to the ratio of their mass to charge.
By analysing the spectrum, Lethbridge and Stace were able to discover which masses were formed. Their analysis was complicated, however, because krypton occurs naturally in six abundant isotopes, each with a different mass. Isotopes of an element have the same numbers of protons in their nucleus but different numbers of neutrons.
The various possible combinations of the isotopes give rise to many extra peaks in the mass spectra. For example, for the cluster ion Kr100+, there are more than 100 million different permutations of the isotopes. Lethbridge and Stace needed a computer to unravel the complications.
Chemists have a theory which predicts which sizes of cluster should be favoured. The theory, which is based on three-dimensional structures known as Mackay icosahedra, predicts that favoured clusters should contain 13, 55, 147, 309, 561, and 923 atoms. These numbers are also known as ‘magic number combinations’.
In their mass spectra, Lethbridge and Stace did indeed see intense peaks which corresponded to Kr147+ and Kr309+.
The theory to explain why some cluster sizes are favoured is based on a simple picture of the way in which the atoms in a cluster pack together. According to the theory, a cluster grows around a small ‘core’, consisting of a few atoms. Further atoms are then added until the core is completely surrounded by an outer layer, which forms a closed ‘shell’.
Structures with a closed shell are thought to be particularly stable. The magic numbers simply correspond to the numbers of atoms needed to complete closed shells of increasing size. The clusters Kr147+ and Kr309+ contain three and four closed shells.
Clusters have icosohedral symmetry – that is, 20 regular faces. One of the interesting things about such structures, says Stace, is that there is no equivalent structure for the bulk material. When the inert gases become solids, they always have a structure which crystallographers refer to as face-centred cubic.
The chemists also want to find evidence for similar changes in structure in clusters of metal atoms. If metal clusters show the same kind of behaviour, they may give rise to new types of catalytic activity. This is because catalysis is a phenomenon which occurs on surfaces and such clusters will come in a large variety of structures, all with high surface areas.


In "Winterfell," the season eight premiere of Game of Thrones, Jon Snow had a big, death-defying moment with some dragons. Yes, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) taught Jon Snow (Kit Harington) how to train her dragons. And by train, we mean she just told him to get on and hold on for dear life.
Jon did just that and soared around, flying for the first time. It was a spectacular scene, and one that required Harington to do quite a bit of rigging and greenscreen work, work typically reserved just for Clarke. It was work that almost ended Harington's life. Or so he says.
In "Game Revealed," a behind-the-scenes video released by HBO, Harington explained what happened to him when he got on the buck (which is basically like a mechanical bull).
"Buck work is not easy. I think what sums up the buck for me was there was a bit where Jon almost falls off," Harington said in the video below. "The dragon swings around really violently, like this, and my right ball got trapped, and I didn't have time to say ‘Stop!' And I was being swung around."
"In my head, I thought, 'This is how it ends, on this buck, swinging me around by testicles, literally,'" Harington laughed. "Sorry. Probably too much information."
Click play on the video above to hear more from Harington, including all about the big news Jon Snow learned in the season eight premiere.


Canadians were furious last April over a decision by the country’s money laundering watchdog to impose an unprecedented $1.2-million fine against a Canadian bank — and then refuse to name the bank, according to documents obtained by the National Observer and the Toronto Star.
“I am outraged that you would withhold the name of the bank you recently fined for failing to report suspicious transactions,” reads one public comment received by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and obtained through an access to information request.
The agency tracked public reaction to the decision — internally and online — and noted nearly unanimous criticism from experts, journalists and the public.
The agency’s online announcement drew 548 page views on the first day — a 243-per-cent increase over traffic compared with typical penalty releases, the document says.
Even within government, officials were quietly worrying about FINTRAC’s refusal to name the bank, fearing it would cause all banks facing penalties to expect anonymity and could taint the entire financial industry with the actions of one institution.
Internal emails between officials in the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), which oversees more than 400 federally regulated institutions including the country’s banks, anticipated repercussions.
“As soon as the penalty is published with no name, all the banks will want the same treatment if they are penalized,” reads one of the emails shared between OSFI staffers trying to get a handle on the move by their colleagues at the anti-money laundering watchdog FINTRAC last April.
It’s the same question journalists, financial experts, lawyers and many Canadians have asked since FINTRAC announced the massive fine last April. The name of the penalized bank has been conspicuous in its absence ever since.
In December, the Star and the Vancouver-based National Observer published details of the events that triggered the fine, including 1,200 suspicious transactions involving a convicted fraudster named Andrew Strempler, a Winnipegger who made millions in the online drug market.
The “overemphasis” on privacy that “pervades” Canadian regulatory systems is in stark difference between Canada and the U.S., he says.
In December, FINTRAC officials confirmed that the legal process was complete and that the fine had been paid. But the name of the bank is still being withheld. The reasons remain unclear.
In documents obtained previously by the National Observer and the Star, FINTRAC lays out three criteria for public naming. The mystery bank meets two: It committed a “very serious violation” and its penalty was greater than $250,000.
In emails, OSFI officials lament that withholding the bank’s name casts suspicion across the entire industry.
After the country’s major banks denied that they were the targets of the fine, pressure mounted on smaller banks.
The mystery bank also avoided potential stock price decline, loss of customer trust, “investor wrath,” and potential civil prosecution.
“Directors and officers of the unnamed bank may serve on other boards, be hired by other firms, without full knowledge of what transpired by these other firms under their watch. The unnamed bank has essentially, with regulatory consent, transferred this loss to the entire industry as a result of nondisclosure,” says Leblanc.
The day following the release, “the tone of media coverage became increasingly negative and critical,” FINTRAC’s internal review concludes.
Experts agree the case cries out for action from the federal government.
Legislation should remove FINTRAC’s discretion and clearly lay out the criteria for naming fined institutions, says James Cohen, interim executive director of Transparency International Canada.


I walked outside this evening and was shocked by the new, cold, harsh LED street lights on Wendell Street. Although LED street lighting saves energy, the trade-off in quality of life and health is not worth it. Blue LED lighting is extremely harmful to the sleep patterns of humans and animals.
Other cities that have installed LED street lighting are experiencing extreme backlash from their citizens: ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/bright-idea-new-ottawa-street-lights-will-cause-more-light-pollution-physicist.
I was not asked whether I wanted these terrible lights on my street. Please investigate this issue and help to reverse this misguided policy.


Following a jury's ruling that found Robin Thicke and Pharrell guilty of plagiarism, their attorney has announced that they plan to appeal the decision. "We owe it to song writers around the world to make sure this verdict doesn't stand," attorney Howard E. King told Fox Business. "We are going to exercise every post trial remedy we have to make sure this verdict does not stand. We look at it as being in the seventh inning of a game that could go into extra innings."
Earlier in the week, the jury ruled that Thicke and Pharrell's song "Blurred Lines" was too similar to Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up," and ruled that they pay a total of $7.3 million in damages to Gaye's family. As for the appeal, Thicke and Pharrell's team will reportedly argue that while the songs sound alike, they're structurally different. We will continue to update this story as more details emerge.


The fossil record usually shows what adult animals looked like. But the appearance and lifestyle of juvenile animals often differ dramatically from those of the adults. A classic example is provided by frogs and salamanders. New discoveries from Uppsala, Cambridge and Duke Universities, published in Science, show that some of the earliest backboned land animals also underwent such changes of lifestyle as they grew up.
Professor Per Ahlberg at the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, Uppsala University, together with Jennifer Clack, Cambridge University, and Viviane Callier, Duke University, have studied fossil upper arm bones from the two so-called "four-legged fishes", Ichthtyostega and Acanthostega, from Greenland. These animals, which lived during the Devonian period about 365 million years ago, were among the earliest vertebrates (backboned animals) with fore- and hindlimbs rather than paired fins. They belong to the common stem group of all living amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds.
The researchers have identified several half-grown, as well as fully grown, upper arm bones from Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, allowing them to study how the shape of the bone changed during growth. It turns out that the two animals had different life histories.
"The upper arm bone provides a lot of information about the lifestyle of the animal, because its shape gives clues to the pattern of movement and can tell us for example whether the animal lifted the front part of its body clear of the ground," says Per Ahlberg.
Ichthyostega, which has robust limbs and only a small tail fin, appears to be the more terrestrial of the two. Its forelimb becomes better adapted to supporting weight as the animal grows up. The pattern of muscle attachments on the upper arm bone changes from a "fish-like" to a "land animal-like" configuration, and the shape of the shoulder joint changes so that it becomes possible for the animal to "lock" its forelimb into a weight-bearing position.
Acanthostega has feebler limbs and a large tail fin, and seems to have been more aquatic. In this animal, there are no corresponding changes.
"The explanation is probably that both animals laid their eggs in water just like modern amphibians, which meant that the terrestrial Ichthyostega, but not the aquatic Acanthostega, needed to undergo a lifestyle transformation as it grew from larva to adult," says Per Ahlberg.


Sunday is the night Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson fans have been waiting for. "Ballers" begins.
This is the new scripted comedy that's executive-produced by Mark Wahlberg and his fellow "Entourage" colleague Stephen Levinson.
The Rock plays an ex-football player who now works as a high-profile agent. And it looks like it's going to be a blast.
The show premieres on June 21.


Review: The rap-metal vets headlined Tuesday's grandstand concert, but it's hard to compete with a messiah-like actor.
What an appropriate name for a concert at the Minnesota State Fair grandstand: The Carnivores Tour. Only problem was that the show’s most famous performer is well known to be a vegan.
Whether Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto managed to find something to eat amid the fair’s meaty, buttery, fatty offerings Tuesday, the “Dallas Buyers Club” star should have been happy about playing to his thickest Twin Cities crowd yet, after more than a decade of steady gigging here with his drama-heavy rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.
Leto’s group opened up for rap-rock kingpins and former arena headliners Linkin Park, and it was debatable which band had more appeal to the 14,454 fans. However, there wasn’t much debate over which group put on the more ecstatic, captivating, wow of a performance.
If God handed out job titles at birth, Leto’s certificate would have read “rock star” even before “actor” — and certainly before “singer” (he’s emotive but indistinctive vocally). A 42-year-old who looks 29, he could be fronting a polka band and he’d still give Jim Morrison and Bono a run for their showman money, what with his grandiose gesturing, poetic lyrics and oozing charisma.
From the get-go Tuesday, Leto worked the crowd like he was in front of disciples, constantly doling out such messianic stage banter as “We believe in you. Do you believe in us?” His Jesus-like comments matched his long, pretty locks and woolly beard. He even ran easily through the crowd and up into the grandstand during the hit “Kings and Queens” as if he were walking on water.
Musically, 30 Seconds to Mars sounded less than miraculous, like a second-rate U2 knockoff with a metallic backbone.
The high point of its set was the whirringly climactic “This Is War” and the fervent final song “Closer to the Edge,” for which Leto invited about 50 dancing fans onstage. The low point was Leto’s solo-acoustic turn on “The Kill” just before the finale, which sounded like a passionate dorm-room YouTube upload from a depressed, college freshman. He had his shirt off by then, though, so at least half the crowd didn’t seem to notice.
One of the biggest bands in rock in the early ’00s, Linkin Park never had much in the charisma or showman department even back then. With his closely shaven head and Squiggy voice, the band’s grrr-ing co-leader, Chester Bennington, came off like the anti-Jared Leto. He spent most of the night clenching his microphone tightly and leaning over in a pained, balled-up position.
Two things Linkin Park still does well is offer a high-tech visual barrage (which makes up the charisma shortfall) and incorporate hip-hop beats into its crunchy, metallic sound.
The V-shaped video screens and myriad moody lights did not disappoint Tuesday, and neither did some of rapping co-vocalist Mike Shinoda’s feistiest moments, including “Remember the Name” — although that one and several other oldies were abbreviated to make room for a drum solo and less impactful new songs. Lord only knows what they were thinking. Or maybe Jared knows.


Only difference this time i got the balls to tell them they dont care a bit about me. And i think this struck them, cause later, the the T came to saying they do and i do not have to think the opposite.
Im at the last of my rope..
should i tell them i have means and intentions of harm myself or more, what would they do?
If you tell them, they will probably keep you IP longer, until the feelings dissipate. ((Hugs)) Stay Safe.
Wpuld they take away my things???
Probably, if you have them with you.
I told them and they did nothing. I met a nice person, but xcept for thst, im so free of falling down alone.
Ive been here a week. It helped with the urges during the day, but not with those at evening/night.
What am i supposed to do since doctors end their turns at evening and im left with nurses who dont know or understand? They give me a pill and it all should be gone for them.
Do you have an assigned nurse, in the evenings? Every time I've been IP, I've had a nurse assigned to me for the day, and then someone else for the evening. They were supposed to speak to us at least once a shift, and help us with material we were given to work through. And if I just needed to talk, I'd just go to the nursing station and say I need to talk to my nurse, and if she wasn't busy, she'd come out and sit down and talk with me. It was great, but then again I was in an exceptionally good psych hospital - don't know how it would be at others.


Land to build your dream home, No HOA! enough space to keep your RV, quads and what ever your heart desires. Great mountain views! near by lots have been subdivided to smaller parcels if you are looking to get into the new build boom.
GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY. OFFERING 1 BEDROOM & 1 BATH. LOT HAS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR ADDITIONAL BEDROOMS. HOUSE IS IN GREAT CONDITION, NO MAJOR REPAIRS NEEDED.


The 49ers have lost four consecutive games and play again Monday at East Carolina.
“I’m still stunned, to be honest,” Price told the Observer. “I was called in (Thursday) morning and was told they were going to make a change.
“They said they didn’t like the direction of the program was taking and that I might have lost some of my players, which I don’t agree with. But we didn’t get quite as many wins as people wanted. That’s the reality of the business.
Price was hired to rebuild Charlotte’s program in 2015 after Alan Major’s five-year tenure.
Price came to the 49ers from the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, where he was the team’s shooting coach. One of the top point guards in ACC (Georgia Tech) and NBA history, Price had no significant head coaching experience when he was hired by the 49ers to rebuild the program after Charlotte parted ways with Major after five seasons.
It wasn’t a long conversation. I obviously wasn’t their guy. It was their decision to use an awfully quick hook. But that’s the way it goes.
After going 14-19 and 13-17 in Price’s first two seasons, the 49ers were expected to be better this season, particularly with a talented and veteran backcourt led by juniors Jon Davis and Andrien White and senior Hudson Price.
But the 49ers have underperformed so far, and lost their fourth consecutive game on Sunday at Chattanooga.
After the 49ers lost last week to Wake Forest, Price said some of his veteran players weren’t playing up to their potential.
“That’s baffling,” Price said after the game.
Price appeared to have Rose’s support as recently as a Nov. 29 interview with the Observer, saying she hired Price to reenergize a program that had been hit hard by transfers under Major and to help stop a steady slide in attendance.
Charlotte 49ers senior Anthony Vanhook, left, and head basketball coach Mark Price discuss Saturday's 82-66 home win - which snapped a four-game losing streak -over Southern Miss.
Price’s firing comes two weeks after the 49ers said they would retain football coach Brad Lambert, whose team recently completed a 1-11 season. After announcing that decision, Rose told the Observer that the football team’s record by itself didn’t warrant a coaching change.
Some 49ers fans have publicly voiced their displeasure recently over the direction the school’s athletic department is headed, particularly in football and men’s basketball.
At recent basketball games, fans have held up banners calling for Rose to be fired. Price said the atmosphere surrounding the athletics department was noticeable to him and the basketball team.
“It definitely had an effect,” Price said. “We could feel it. It’s a tough environment. Our players see things, hear things that are going on. It didn’t help us, let me put it that way. It was something we couldn’t control, so we tried to do better and minimize it.
Before Hudson Price started the process to secure his release from Charlotte, Mark Price said he didn’t know what his son’s future with the team might be.
Also, Price’s daughter Caroline is an assistant women’s tennis coach at Charlotte.
Fancher, 51, a former head coach at North Greenville and Appalachian State, was Price’s first hire at Charlotte. He has a 181-177 record as a head coach, including 137-136 in nine seasons at Appalachian, where his Mountaineers teams won tied or won three Southern Conference divisional titles. Under Fancher, Appalachian won a school-record 25 games in 2006-07 and went to the National Invitation Tournament.
After the Mountaineers went 13-18 in 2008-09, Fancher left Appalachian State (the school said he resigned but he was paid through the end of the 2009-10 season). He spent two seasons as director of basketball operations at Tennessee and was an assistant for one season at UNC Wilmington before going to Charlotte.
Rose said Fancher will coach through the end of the season and then be evaluated.


Veteran defense attorney Kirk McAllister is the go-to guy when people in the know get in trouble with the law.
A judge who got caught driving drunk, custodial deputies accused of indiscretions with inmates, a city attorney who got in trouble over some bond sales in Waterford -- they all sought help from McAllister, who negotiated their plea deals.
He also is the guy Scott Peterson turned to while the world was looking for his wife, Laci, before celebrity attorney Mark Geragos of Los Angeles swept into town with his entourage.
Now, McAllister is giving legal insiders a peek at his playbook, for $249.95.
"Nobody has ever paid me to judge whether or not my client was guilty," McAllister said.
Attorney Kirk McAllister will host an e-book signing tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at Tresetti's World Caffe, 927 11th St., Modesto. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. The e-book may be ordered at www.promakos.net or by calling 888-299-4844.


RUSH: We had this couple that called yesterday that said they are being asked by their church, who was asked by the Regime, to house kids in their homes!
They were told, “Do not discuss this,” and they were so outraged by it, they called here and told me and you. I’m kind of surprised that didn’t get picked up anywhere. It did not get picked up anywhere. This is Bridenstine. He’s the Republican from Oklahoma who has been just outraged that you can’t get in to see these kids. I mean, they’re hiding them. They’re trying to shelter them.
BRIDENSTINE: That’s correct. The rules are very stringent. Number one: You can’t ask questions. Number two: There can be no recording devices. Number three: You can’t talk to any of the staff. You can’t talk to the children. You can’t talk to the medical personnel. And if you have questions, you can send an e-mail. You can’t take any pictures, but after the tour, they will send pictures to you. But there can be no pictures during the tour. This is not what we expect in the United States of America, and certainly the media here needs to stand up for itself.
RUSH: See, normally when it’s “for the children,” they want you to know everything in the world they are doing so that they can benefit from the display of compassion. But in this, they’re hiding. They’re trying to keep everything that is happening with these children from public knowledge. The media’s not allowed to talk to ’em. Members of Congress are not allowed to talk to ’em. No pictures, no nothing. So it’s obviously something very clandestine going on there.
Let me set this up by reminding you, there are some things we know. These children supposedly are being sent, shortly after their arrival, to family members all across the country. And of course the obvious question is, “How do we know that they are who they say they are? What kind of ID do they have?” Secondly, how is it so easy to so quickly identify family members of 65,000 children from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala? How in the world, when we hear every day that these 11 million are in the shadows and they’re afraid to come out because they’re afraid of being deported.
Well, if they’re in the shadows, we don’t know who they are. And every immigration reform bill requires them to come forward and identify themselves with the promise that they will not be deported. They might be sent to the end of the line, but they won’t be deported. So we clearly don’t know who they are, and yet these kids are being assigned to family members. They’re not spending much time in these processing centers. I think it’s one of the reasons why the Regime doesn’t want anybody in there.
Again, the husband and wife couple that called yesterday, the husband’s a retired doctor, and I asked him a question. “How in the world can proper medical screenings be taking place when they are in these centers for such a short period of time?” He said, “That’s a good question. We can’t.” His point was that a number of these children are arriving sick, infected with some pretty bad diseases, Hepatitis, TB, lice, any number of things. They’re being processed and gotten out of these centers and put in homes.
This couple also said that their church called them and asked them to temporarily house some of these children for as much as 30 days and not to say anything about that. But they called here and said everything about it. They told the story they were told not to tell by their bishop. The Catholic Church was called by the Regime seeking help.
So these kids, they’re arriving and they’re being dispersed el quicko, folks, they’re not hanging around. And so Coburn wants to know here, okay, now the people that these unidentified children are being released to, do you verify their immigration status? In other words, are you sending these unaccompanied children, these illegal immigrant children, are you sending them to the homes of American citizens or do you know that?
COBURN: That wasn’t the question I asked you. The immigration status.
GREENBERG: We do not verify the immigration status of the individual. Our focus in the release is first identifying the least restrictive setting in the child’s best interests. As we do that, we also need to look at safety to the child, safety to the community, risk of flight. So we go through the overall process of looking at the individual placement to ensure that it is a safe and appropriate placement.
RUSH: The bottom line of that answer is, they do not know whether the sponsors, the family members, the adults to whom these children are being released are even legal residents. They don’t even know. They’re not even asking. They’re looking at other factors. “Well, yes. We’re looking at the least restrictive setting. Like, we don’t want to send ’em to a home where the husband is a brutal wife beater, for example, or where the husband is a brutal predator. We don’t want to send ’em to a home where there is a bad neighborhood, a lot of violence. The safety of the child and the safety of the community. We also don’t want to send ’em anywhere where they’re gonna feel like they have to leave and run away somewhere. But we don’t know whether they’re citizens or not.” Bingo.
So then Coburn said, “Well, isn’t it true that if you place an unaccompanied child with an illegal alien sponsor, the significant likelihood is they would not want to bring that child to a deportation hearing before an immigration judge for fear they would expose their own illegal status?” His point here is, aren’t you guys kind of playing a trick on all of us? You’re be sending these kids to people you don’t know if they’re legal or not. If you send these kids to the homes of illegal aliens, what motivation does anybody have to show up at the deportation hearing later on? If they’re illegal, why would they even show up and expose their own illegal status?
GREENBERG: We ensure that the sponsor understands they have a responsibility to make the child available for proceedings.
COBURN: If in fact they’re an illegal alien to begin with, why would they expose themselves in front of a immigration judge?
GREENBERG: So even if we had the information as to the parent or other relatives’ immigration status, we would still at that point need to look at the totality of the circumstance.
COBURN: I’m asking you why you do not ask that question.
COBURN: Is it the policy of HHS not to ask the status of those people with whom you’re placing the child?
COBURN: Is that the policy of HHS, of this country?
GREENBERG: Yes, it is the case.
RUSH: Yes. (imitating Greenberg) “So even if we had the information as to the parent or other –” No, no, no. I just want to know, are you, by policy, not asking whether the sponsors are in fact citizens? “Well, yes, that is the case.” So the guy admitted, Mark Greenberg, Health and Human Services, they admit it is policy not to know whether these kids are being sent to the homes of illegals. So what’s happening here, folks, being blunt, the Regime is attempting to see to it that these children are sent to the shadows. Because remember what this is all about. This is multifaceted, but one of the things this is about is pressuring Republicans to do an immigration bill that’s amnesty oriented before the elections. And they’re flooding the zone here.
Now, the question needs to be asked, I asked it yesterday, I’m gonna ask it again. Okay, let’s say that that’s the objective. Somebody explain to me how passing an amnesty bill is gonna affect this at all. How’s it gonna stop? There’s no way passing immigration reform is gonna stop what’s happening at the border. Why would it? In fact, it might just do the opposite. If you pass an immigration reform bill, amnesty, or something close to it, you’re gonna increase the number of people trying to get over the border. Not decrease. Why would it stop?
But, see, that’s the thing the Regime is attempting to convince the Republicans, “Look, you’re gonna have to do this, otherwise this isn’t gonna stop.” So the kids are being sent to the shadows, plain and simple, by virtue of policy admitted to by the Regime.
RUSH: So this Regime guy, this assistant secretary of Health and Human Services says to Tom Coburn, “Now, we look at the totality of the circumstances in assessing where…” No. “We look at the, uh, totality of the circumstances where.” Okay. Wouldn’t the totality of the circumstances include the sponsor’s immigration status? “Totality” means something. The level of fraud that exists day to day in this administration is incalculable. It’s hard to keep track of it.
Back to the phones. Back to. We haven’t been there yet. We’re gonna start with Greg in Seattle. Thank you for waiting. I appreciate it. Great to have you on the show. Hi.
CALLER: — and this is indeed a red letter day. Hey, this is Costco territory, and I used to be a loyal customer, but no more.
RUSH: By the way, I meant to tell you about that. Costco has done a 180.
RUSH: They have reversed themselves and they are now going to sell Dinesh D’Souza’s book.
RUSH: And do you know why.
RUSH: They’re saying, “It’s not political. We saw because of this that the D’Souza is now back to number one on Amazon so it now qualifies for being sold at Costco.” (laughing) So it’s back in the stores now. You should know that.
CALLER: Well, so, anyway, I got two points, and they’re both the response to the doctor and his wife had called yesterday. Basically you kind of stole my thunder when you played that tape recording of the congressman from Oklahoma and also McCain. To me, it’s outrageous. These are the United States of America! This is a constitutional, representative republic.
Why should John McCain, a representative of the people — us — be asking, “Well, can I carry a camera, a recorder, so on and so forth?” And then the media? The media is instructed not to tell anyone? This is a humanitarian crisis, yes. It’s — it’s a health crisis, too. All these diseases that they’re bringing in? You mentioned Ellis Island. The immigrants had to stay there, what, weeks, months or something until they were tested? So on everything about that… Of course I’m not a lawyer, but doesn’t the Freedom of Information Act cover the people’s right to know what’s going on down there?
RUSH: Yeah, but you’d have to make a request for that, and by the time you were granted permission, the issue would be pretty much over and the kids would be dispersed. Nothing to see. You’re right, though. First, Ellis Island (going in reverse). Ellis Island took in 12 million people over a long period of time. It was not massive immigration central.
The primary purpose for Ellis Island was to determine whether or not the arrivals were carrying severe infectious diseases, and if they were, they were kept from entering the country for a long period. None of that is happening here! None of that. They’re not being screened long enough to actually learn the full scope of diseases that might be being brought into the country by sick kids.
And this business that a senator has to ask the Regime for permission to take a picture? I’m telling you, folks, again, every liberal cause involving children, they open up fully. They do hashtags. They do telethons. They want you to know these kids personally. Why not in this case? What are they hiding? Why do they not want us seeing these children?
Can you imagine the excrement storm that would have erupted if Bush and Brownie at FEMA had tried that? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening here except there is no natural disaster that’s occurred unless you want to call the administration itself a disaster, which I, frankly, think it is. But that’s just me.
RUSH: So they say this is a humanitarian crisis on the border, right? We have established that there are no telethons, unusually so, that Michelle Obama nor anyone else from the Regime has offered a hashtag to engender support for what’s going on. In fact, ladies and gentlemen, if what’s happening at the border really is a humanitarian crisis, it’s gotta be the first humanitarian crisis that has not been aired live on national TV in 60 years. And the question is, why? Every humanitarian crisis, I don’t care if it’s a volcano, if it’s a tsunami, if it’s kidnaps, if it’s Amber Alerts, I don’t care what it is, if it’s Hurricane Katrina, you’re guaranteed to have Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith on site standing 10 feet away from each other reporting on it 24/7.
Where the hell are they? There’s no cable news network anywhere near this humanitarian crisis. There’s not a camera anywhere near this humanitarian crisis. There isn’t a telethon, there isn’t a hashtag, and the president is out shooting pool and complaining that the Republicans want to sue him, i.e., impeachment. He’s aloof. He’s totally unengaged or disengaged, and they say that this is a humanitarian crisis?
Name one for me that hasn’t been on television. Starving kids in Somalia. “We Are the World,” you name ’em. One right after another. Every damn one of them is on television with cable news. Missing airplane, humanitarian crisis. No pictures allowed. United States senators, US congressmen, members of the media not permitted anywhere near the humanitarian crisis. No cameras allowed. Why?


If there were a series called TV Show Police, I’m fairly certain E!’s trouble-filled Fashion Police would repeatedly serve as the number one offender. The series has gone through its most tumultuous period yet in the last month – at least where the death of an icon isn’t concerned – and E! is packing it in for a while as Fashion Police is going on an extended hiatus.
Following the highly public exits of former co-hosts Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin, NBCUniversal Lifestyle Networks Group president Frances Berwick has decided to pull up ties and toss out the remaining three Fashion Police episodes that were scheduled to shoot this spring. The play is to bring the show back this fall at some point, with a half-dozen or so episodes centering on different events, such as the Emmys and other award ceremonies.
This will also reportedly be a time of slight restructuring, according to THR, as Berwick did not take lightly to the harsh words used by Griffin in her self-lauding Twitter announcement, in which she backhandedly bashed the show for being too harsh to celebrities and their bodies. There will be reconsideration for such things as the controversial “mani-cam” and the hosts’ approach to commenting on those walking the red carpets, as Berwick stands by the show being about the “light, frothy, fun subjects” of comedy and fashion.
Here’s how she explained her decision to bring the series back, rather than ending it for good.
With the benefit of hindsight, we definitely brought it back too soon [after Joan Rivers’ death]…There was a lot of noise and drama that are really not helpful or additive to the creative process, but there’s a real love for this show. Given the focus on this, the ratings should really be the size of The Walking Dead.
She said that last part jokingly, but I’m pretty sure more people actually would tune in if they let zombies in to feast on the hosts sometimes.
The latest round of controversy started when Giuliana Rancic made a pre-written comment for the Oscar special about how actress Zendaya’s dreadlocks looked like they smelled like weed, which an insulted Osbourne used as a springboard to shoehorn her way out of the show. Rumors have flown about how Osbourne and Griffin were actually close to getting fired, and each decided to beat E! to the punch by quitting early. Defamer has a particularly damning take on Griffin’s short tenure on the show, in which she reportedly alienated nearly everyone and considered herself the star.
Rancic and other new addition Brad Goreski will presumably still be around when Fashion Police comes back to E! this fall. But will the viewers also be there?


Marokopa, a female takahe, is released by Orokonui Ecosanctuary conservation manager Elton Smith yesterday. Photos by Gerard O'Brien.
Two takahe arrived at Orokonui Ecosanctuary yesterday, one at a run and the other a bit more tentatively.
The breeding pair are Marokopa, the female, and Mohio, the male.
They arrived at Orokonui yesterday afternoon after a three-hour car ride from Burwood Bush, in Southland.
As soon as he was released, Mohio emerged at a run from the box he was transported in, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth and fog.
Marokopa came out a bit more hesitantly, peering around at her surroundings before wandering off.
Ecosanctuary conservation manager Elton Smith said that Marokopa had been raised at Burwood Bush, while Mohio was brought there after being bullied at Tiritiri Matangi, in the Hauraki Gulf.
"He was beaten up as a small bird, so they brought him down [to the South Island] to fatten him up and to pair up,'' he said.
The pair were placed at the other end of the sanctuary from Orokonui's other takahe, who are infertile.
Orokonui staff were hoping the new takahe would produce four eggs - two they would keep, and two that would go to the infertile pair.
"When these ones nest, we'll take their fertile eggs and give them [to the other pair],'' Mr Smith said.


Moneybookers, the European PayPal alternative or “eWallet provider”, has announced that it is rebranding to Skrill.
The new name, which will take over as the consumer-facing brand by the end of 2011, is said to better capture the “ease and functionality of the company’s online payment suite”. Of course, the word skrill (short for skrilla) is already a commonly used slang word for money or “dough”, according to the infamous Urban Dictionary, which definitely makes more sense.
Moneybookers Limited, which has been around for just under a decade, became the first e-money issuer to obtain an electronic money licence from the regulatory body the FSA and today claims over 15 million account holders and 70,000 merchants globally. While this year, Moneybookers was voted the UK’s fastest growing private-equity funded company by Deloitte and The Sunday Times. It’s apparently this “rapid growth” that has led Moneybookers to change its name.
Furthermore, Martin Ott, co-CEO of the new Skrill Holdings, appears to suggest that the company now wants to become a verb, something that Google and others have been determined to clamp down on for fear of risking their trademark.
“In the same way people ‘Google’ something or ‘Skype’ their friends, they can soon ‘Skrill’ their friends and family money and will use Skrill to pay whenever they shop online”, says Ott.


President Clinton told American business leaders today that corruption, environmental neglect, weak financial regulation and restrictive trade practices threaten China's growth and full entry into the global economic system.
In an address to the American Chamber of Commerce here, Mr. Clinton said rapid economic growth has brought significant challenges to the Chinese Government and people.
He said the dynamic growth of the last 20 years and the rapid pace of reform have changed the lives of Chinese citizens, bringing more career choices and opportunities to run their own businesses, but also breaking the system of guaranteed lifetime employment as Beijing slashes payrolls at Government-owned enterprises.
''China's economy still is burdened with complicated and overlapping barriers,'' Mr. Clinton said in his 21-minute address at the Portman Ritz Carlton hotel. He said he hoped that Beijing would make the difficult decisions needed to bring China into the World Trade Organization on the same terms that govern the other members of the global trading body.
''China and, indeed, Shanghai, face major challenges in advancing economic progress beyond the present point,'' the President said.
He specifically cited the problems of inefficient state monopolies, weak legal and regulatory systems, wasteful and polluting energy patterns, corruption, closed markets and poor supervision of the nation's banks.
The White House also announced today that Mr. Clinton would meet in Hong Kong with Martin Lee, the leading advocate for democracy there. This is a calculated affront to Beijing, which took control of the former British colony a year ago. The White House is playing down the meeting, which will take place in the President's suite at the Hyatt Hotel Kong on Friday. No public statements are planned, officials said.
In a concession to Beijing on another sensitive issue, Mr. Clinton formally stated on Tuesday that the United States did not support independence for Taiwan.
The Chinese Government, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province that should be politically reunited with the mainland, had pressed Mr. Clinton to state the American policy while he was on Chinese soil.
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and other officials have expressed the carefully worded position on other occasions. But it was important to Beijing that the words come from the President himself, and he obliged during a discussion with Shanghai residents today.
In response to a question from Wu Xinbo, a professor in the American Studies Institute at Fudan University here, Mr. Clinton said he had told Jiang Zemin, China's President, that American policy on Taiwan remained unchanged.
Taiwan reacted harshly, although Mr. Clinton followed the same formula that American officials have used before. ''The United States and Chinese Communists have no rights and are in no position to conduct bilateral talks on anything related to our affairs,'' said Roy Wu, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesman.
There is considerable debate about how new Mr. Clinton's statement is. The ''three no's'' formula was publicly used last fall by the State Department, which saw it as a reiteration of longstanding policy. But some scholars and supporters of Taiwan say the formula, as it was expressed then, was more detailed and restrictive than past statements, and they called on Mr. Clinton to disavow it.
Officials traveling with Mr. Clinton tried to minimize the importance of the President's statement. He told the same thing to Mr. Jiang, they said, and there was no intention of putting it into a written communique, which would give it more weight.


You’ve got a powerful retirement savings vehicle in your 401(k) plan, which offers various investment options and the chance to accumulate tax-deferred earnings.
But if you leave your job before you retire, what should you do with your 401(k)?
You have several choices — and it’s important that you understand them, because your decision can greatly affect the resources you’ll ultimately have available during your retirement years.
• You could leave the money in the company’s plan. Not all companies offer this option, but many do. If you like the investment choices available in your plan, leaving the money alone may not be a bad idea — you know where your money is going, and you can still benefit from potential tax-deferred growth. On the other hand, since you won’t be employed by the company, you might find it harder to keep up with changes to your 401(k), such as when investment options are added or dropped. Also, you no longer will receive your employer’s matching contribution, if one had been offered.
• You could move the money into your new employer’s plan. If your new employer has a 401(k) and allows transfers, you could roll the money from your old plan into the new one. This might be an attractive option if you like the investment options offered in your new employer’s plan. And it will give you a head start in building resources in the new plan.
• You could roll the money into an IRA. You may find several advantages to rolling your 401(k) into an IRA. First, your money will still have the potential to grow on a tax-deferred basis. Second, you can put your funds in virtually any investment you choose — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, government securities, certificates of deposit and others — so you can build a mix of investments appropriate for your goals and risk tolerance. Third, if you own multiple 401(k) accounts, you might benefit from consolidating them into a single IRA, making it easier to allocate and monitor your retirement assets. Plus, with a consolidated account, you may find it easier to track your withdrawals, when it’s time to start taking them.
If you do decide to move your 401(k) to an IRA, make sure to request a direct rollover. The money will be sent directly to the institution that holds the IRA and no taxes will be withheld.
• You could cash out your plan. If you cash out your plan, your company likely will pay you 80 percent of your account value, withholding the rest for federal taxes. And if you’re younger than 59-1/2, you also may face a 10 percent penalty tax. Furthermore, you’ll have lost a key source of your retirement income. Of course, if you absolutely need the money, it’s there for you.
Before making any moves with your 401(k), consult with your tax and financial professionals. You worked hard to build your 401(k) — so you’ll want to do all you can to keep it working hard for you.
This article was written for use by local Edward Jones financial advisors. Edward Jones and its associates and financial advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Chuck Smallwood, Kevin Brubeck, Tina DeWitt, Charlie Wick and Bret Hooper are financial advisors with Edward Jones Investments and can be reached in Edwards at 970-926-1728, in Eagle at 970-328-0361, 970-328-0639 or 970-328-4959 and in Avon at 970-688-5420.


NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say overloaded power strips sparked the deadly Trump Tower fire in New York City that sent flames and thick, black smoke pouring from windows of the president’s namesake skyscraper.
Sixty-seven-year-old Todd Brassner died after being pulled from the apartment, which did not have sprinklers or a smoke alarm. Brassner was an art collector who spent time with Andy Warhol.
The 58-story tower opened in 1983 at a time when building codes did not require the residential section to have sprinklers, a requirement Donald Trump once fought against as a real estate developer. He later changed his views.