Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193474117?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Solar storm forces Delta, United to divert flights
Solar storm: Delta Air Lines and United Airlines diverted flights over the poles to prevent loss of communications. This is the biggest solar storm in six years, says NASA.
Delta Air Lines was diverting some flights on polar routes between Detroit and Asia to avoid disruptions to aircraft communications by a strong solar radiation storm, the airline said on Tuesday.
Skip to next paragraphThe storm, considered the strongest since 2005, has caused minor disruptions for U.S. airlines, and Delta said it altered routes for "a handful" of flights, and that the changes were adding about 15 minutes to travel times.
"We are undergoing a series of solar bursts in the sky that are impacting the northern side of the world," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.
IN PICTURES: Northern lights from solar flares
"It can impact your ability to communicate," he said. "So, basically, the polar routes are being flown further south than normal."
United Airlines spokesman Mike Trevino said the carrier diverted one flight on Monday because of the storm, but none on Tuesday.
American Airlines reported no operational impact due to solar flares but that it is monitoring the atmosphere, spokesman Ed Martelle said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a press release on Monday that it had issued a watch on Sunday for "a geomagnetic storm associated with a bright flare on the sun."
NOAA said it was the strongest solar radiation storm in more than six years? - and it was forecast to hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said. A coronal mass ejection - a big chunk of the Sun's atmosphere - was hurled toward Earth on Sunday, driving energized solar particles at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second), about five times faster than solar part
( Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Eric Walsh)
IN PICTURES: Northern lights from solar flares
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Iowa State stuns No. 5 Kansas, 72-64 (AP)
AMES, Iowa ? Royce White had 18 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State upset fifth-ranked Kansas 72-64 on Saturday, snapping the Jayhawks' winning streak at 10 games.
Melvin Ejim added 15 points for the Cyclones (15-6, 5-3 Big 12), who had lost 13 straight to Kansas since their last victory in 2005.
White, a 39 percent free thrower shooter in Big 12 games, hit a pair to put Iowa State up 64-59 with 1:47 left. Kansas threw the ball away and Chris Babb drained a 3 to give the Cyclones an eight-point lead with 55.6 seconds left.
Tyshawn Taylor led five players in double figures with 16 points for Kansas (17-4, 7-1), which hadn't lost since Dec. 19 against Davidson. Thomas Robinson had 13 points, but he committed five turnovers and the Jayhawks were outrebounded 36-23.
Iowa State students celebrated the biggest win of coach Fred Hoiberg's tenure by storming the floor.
This was Kansas' toughest true road test of the year so far ? and it ended with the Jayhawks' first true road loss of the season.
Kansas caught the Cyclones napping to start the second half and took its biggest lead to that point, 45-39, thanks to an 11-0 run. But big man Anthony Booker brought Iowa State back, sinking a rare 3-pointer to put the Cyclones ahead 50-49 with 12:13 left.
Neither team could get much going over the next 6 minutes, but Tyrus McGee's three-point play gave Iowa State a 56-53 lead with just over 6 minutes left. Robinson then blew an open dunk and White hit two layups ? one a reverse he spun off the glass ? to make it 60-55 Iowa State with 3:42 left.
White also had five assists, and Scott Christopherson finished with 14 points for the Cyclones.
Iowa State fed off the energy of its second sellout crowd of the year and jumped on the Jayhawks early.
Booker drilled a 3 and Babb followed with a steal and layup that put Iowa State ahead 19-11, prompting Kansas coach Bill Self to call timeout.
Kansas finally took a 31-29 lead on an impressive scoop through traffic from Taylor with 3:31 left before the break. Iowa State rallied to grab the halftime advantage, 37-33, despite committing 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
The Cyclones led in part because of their defense on Robinson. He was 1-of-6 shooting in the first half and traveled three times trying to free himself up for shots in the paint.
Kansas certainly knew what Iowa State was capable of after the Cyclones threw a scare into the Jayhawks in Lawrence two weeks ago.
Iowa State led at halftime back on Jan. 14 and pushed its lead to as many as 12 points before Kansas stormed back for an 82-73 win. The Cyclones might have been able to pull off that upset had they shot better than 2 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half.
Iowa State didn't let the opportunity pass by this time around ? and it now has a marquee win that will look great on its resume come March.
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Real World Challenge Battle Of The Exes Interview With Nate & Priscilla
I had the opportunity to catch up with Nate and Priscilla from the Real World Challenge: Battle of the Exes. I got the inside scoop on what is going on In the house and the real dynamics of the game. I love the Real World Challenges. I have been watching ever since I can remember. My dad would walk in and I would quickly flip the channel. MTV was banned in my house. Oh dad, what a monster you created? now I am nearly 30 and not ready to give it up. Needless to say I was super amped to have the opportunity to speak with the first eliminated team from Battle of the Exes. Priscilla was in a class gettin? her education on, so I sent over some questions for her to answer asap. Nate however was on the line and was a super cool dude to speak with. He was laid back and ready to talk about what went down. Of course I had to get his thoughts on the honey challenge ? was it gross or sexy? And WTF happened to all his smack talk!? He was the only person to fall off! Well, as a guy, [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/D81SJRtbaWA/
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Virtual trees sway in wind just like the real thing
Animators will soon be able to construct startlingly realistic sylvan beauty in movies and video games with a new system for generating 3D virtual trees
ANIMATORS will soon be able to construct startlingly realistic sylvan beauty in movies and video games with a new system for generating 3D virtual trees.
At the moment, computer-generated images (CGI) of trees are either drawn manually on a computer and then animated, or someone has to shoot video of a tree moving in the wind. This is digitally transformed into a CGI copy of the original. Either process takes days - and you can only produce one size and shape of tree, says Chuan Li, a computer animator at the University of Bath in the UK.
To solve this problem, Li and colleagues have developed software that generates realistic-looking 3D animated trees of any size and shape based on a rough 2D sketch. The trees even blow in the wind like their woody counterparts, and can be whipped around just by piping in a soundtrack of a blustery day.
The system can start with just a 2D sketch of a tree's leafless branches, and an outline of what the tree's shape will be once it is in full leaf. The 2D sketch is then copied and rotated 90 degrees into 3D space. From there, an algorithm "grows" additional branches for the tree until a 3D skeleton is complete.
The software contains a model of how real tree branches move in both light and strong winds, based on video footage the team shot. The system applies this model to the tree skeleton to work out how the branch structure would move large clusters of leaves as they billow in the breeze. Each virtual branch in the skeleton is then broken into six segments. "By rotating each segment independently we can get the right magnitude of tree movement for the wind speed," says Li. Once they have captured a tree's 3D skeleton, they can scale it up or down for trees of different shapes and sizes, from a short wispy cherry to a dense, tall oak. The team's work was published in December in the journal ACM Transactions on Graphics (DOI: 10.1145/2070781.2024161).
This means that any sketch of a tree skeleton can be used to generate a 3D model that moves like a real tree. Better still, the trees automatically respond to the sound level of the wind in a soundtrack, measured in decibels, without adding physical parameters like wind speed. So as noise increases from a light breeze to a howling gale, tree branches go from swaying peacefully to flailing wildly.
"When I saw this my jaw was on the floor," says Jordi Bares, 3D creative director at London animation studio The Mill, who marvelled at the package's simplicity and speed, and adds he hopes it will be commercialised soon. "It's a game changer that could save us the huge chunk of our time we currently spend creating natural 3D assets like trees."
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Today's sports briefs 1-27
Corn Belt classic pairings released
The Corn Belt Conference basketball classic will be held on Saturday in Freeman.
The classic starts at 11 a.m. at Freeman High School with the Menno girls playing Marion. At 12:30 p.m., the Menno boys play Marion.
The Canistota girls play Bridgewater-Emery at 2 p.m. and the Bridgewater-Emery boys play Freeman at 3:30 p.m. At 5 p.m., the Freeman girls play Hanson, and at 6:30 p.m., the Canistota boys play Hanson.
All-day admission for adults is $5, and students? admission is $4.
Craion, Oral Roberts pound South Dakota
TULSA, Okla. (AP) ? Michael Craion?s double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds paced Oral Roberts to its 12th straight victory in a 97-64 decision over South Dakota on Thursday night.
Mikey Manghum scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and Steven Roundtree 17 for the Golden Eagles (19-4, 11-0), whose winning streaks reached 19 at home and 18 in the Summit League. Warren Niles added 11 points and Dominique Morrison 10.
Charlie Westbrook scored 23 points and Trevor Gruis 11 for the Coyotes (7-13, 2-9), who have dropped four of five.
Manghum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Oral Roberts a 20-15 lead with 11:04 to go in the first half, and the Golden Eagles never trailed after that.
The Golden Eagles outshot the Jackrabbits 56.7 percent to 45.5 percent, held a 36-26 rebounding advantage and piled up 13 steals and 21 assists.
Oral Roberts took the first meeting 79-67 on the road Dec. 30.
Bader, Oakland, Mich., top South Dakota St. 92-87
ROCHESTER, Mich. (AP) ? Travis Bader scored 37 points and set a school record with 10 3-pointers to lead Oakland, Mich., to a 92-87 victory over South Dakota State on Thursday night.
Bader went 10 of 14 from long range, and his 3-pointer with 1:36 left gave the Golden Grizzlies the lead for good at 81-79. He also tied the best 3-point output in Division I this season.
Drew Valentine scored 19 points for Oakland (12-11, 6-5 Summit League), which has won four of five. Reggie Hamilton added 16 points and Ryan Bass 10. Corey Petros grabbed 10 rebounds.
Two players had double-doubles for the Jackrabbits (16-6, 8-2), whose three-game winning streak ended. Jordan Dykstra scored 23 points with 10 rebounds, and Nate Wolters had 21 points and 12 assists. Griffan Callahan scored 17, and Taevaunn Prince had 10 rebounds.
The Golden Grizzlies earned a season split, having lost 76-64 at South Dakota State.
Bucs hire Greg Schiano as coach
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? The Buccaneers are counting on Greg Schiano to lead them back to respectability and transform Tampa Bay into consistent winners ? much in the same way he made Rutgers matter again.
The 45-year-old former Scarlet Knights coach was hired Thursday, more than three weeks after the Bucs fired Raheem Morris following a 4-12 finish.
Celtics beat Orlando 91-83
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Paul Pierce had 24 points and 10 assists, and E?Twaun Moore added 16 points to help the Boston Celtics erase a 27-point deficit and beat the Orlando Magic for the second time this week, 91-83 on Thursday night.
Pierce and Moore had 10 points each in the fourth quarter.
Dwight Howard led the Magic with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Orlando had an 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but shot 2 of 17 in the final 12 minutes.
Tags: sports,?updates
Source: http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/61640/
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Facebook poised to file for IPO next week
Paul Sakuma / AP
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be worth $20 billion if current estimates hold true.
By msnbc.com staff and wire
Updated at 5:25 p.m. ET
Facebook is poised to file papers as early as next week for an initial public offering that could be one of the biggest in history, creating hundreds if not thousands of instant millionaires, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The highly anticipated IPO will value the world's largest social networking site?at between $75 billion and $100 billion, the Journal reported on its website. So far the Journal appears to be alone with the report. Facebook declined to comment.
Founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends, Facebook has grown into the world's biggest social network with over 800 million members. Facebook earned roughly $1.5 billion in operating profits on $3.8 billion in revenues last year, CNBC's Julia Boorstin reported, citing unidentified sources.
The impending IPO -- expected to raise $10 billion -- is a prized trophy for investment banks, setting up a fierce competition on Wall Street, particularly between Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which are expected to be the two lead underwriters.
The IPO could come about three to four months after the filing, which would put it sometime in May. Facebook is under legal pressure to go public this year because of the so-called ?500 shareholder rule,? which requires companies to disclose financial information by the end of the first quarter the year after the company tops 500 shareholders.
Information about Facebook's ownership structure and employee compensation packages is hard to come by, since the still-private company discloses very little. But that could all change next week if the company files documents required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer stock to the public.
It is clear that Facebook's earliest employees, who were given ownership stakes, and early venture capital investors -- such as Accel Partners, Greylock Partners and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel -- will see the biggest paydays.
The Journal reported that Accel could see a return of $9 billion on an initial investment of $12.7 million. Several other venture capital firms would see their stakes grow to over $1 billion in value. Thiel's current stake could not be determined.
Zuckerberg, 27, is estimated to own a little over a fifth of the company, according to "The Facebook Effect" author David Kirkpatrick, meaning he could be worth $20 billion. The latest Forbes 400 list estimated Zuckerberg was worth $17.5 billion, making him No. 14 on its list of richest Americans.
The wealth will trickle down to engineers, salespeople and other staffers who later joined the company, since most employees receive salary plus some kind of equity-based compensation, such as restricted stock units or stock options.
Facebook's headcount has swelled from 700 employees in late 2008 to more than 3,000 today. Given its generous use of equity-based compensation in past years, people familiar with Facebook say that even by conservative estimates there are likely to be well over?1,000?people who will become instant millionaires, at least on paper,?when the company goes public.
"There will be thousands of millionaires," said a former in-house recruiter at Facebook, who did not want to be identified because of confidentiality agreements.
Would you buy Facebook stock? Vote below and then?share on your thoughts on -- where else? -- Facebook.
Would you buy stock in Facebook?
?
Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10252182-facebook-poised-to-file-for-ipo-next-week
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Video: GOP Battle for the Sunshine State
I think the momentum is back on Mitt Romney's side in Florida, says former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who adds Mitt Romney is the most capable candidate.
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46146584/
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Romney is the aggressor in final Florida debate
Republican presidential candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talk during a commercial break at the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talk during a commercial break at the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
CORRECTS LOCATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA, INSTEAD OF UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA - Republican presidential candidates former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney participate in the Republican presidential candidates debate at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney participate in the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
CORRECTS LOCATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA, INSTEAD OF UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA - Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, stand during the National Anthem at the Republican presidential candidates debate at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Republican presidential candidates former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney participates in the Republican presidential candidates debate in Jacksonville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) ? An aggressive Mitt Romney repeatedly challenged Republican rival Newt Gingrich Thursday night in the final debate before next week's critical Florida primary, demanding an apology for an ad saying he harbors anti-immigrant sentiments and ridiculing the former House speaker's call to colonize the moon.
"If I had a business executive come to me and say I want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired,'" Romney declared. That was just one particularly animated clash between two rivals struggling for supremacy in the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.
Gingrich responded heatedly. "You don't just have to be cheap everywhere. You can actually have priorities to get things done." He said that as speaker of the House he had helped balance the budget while doubling spending on the National Institutes of Health.
The debate was the 19th since the race for the Republican nomination began last year, and the second in four days in the run-up to Tuesday's Florida primary. Opinion polls make the race a close one ? slight advantage Romney ? with two other contenders, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Texas Rep. Ron Paul far behind.
Gingrich's upset victory in the South Carolina primary last week upended the race for the nomination, and Romney in particular can ill-afford a defeat on Tuesday.
While the clashes between Gingrich and Romney dominated the debate, Santorum drew applause from the audience when he called on the two front-runners to stop attacking one another and "focus on the issues."
"Can we set aside that Newt was a member of Congress ... and that Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy?" he said in a tone of exasperation.
There were some moments of levity, including when Paul, 76, was asked whether he would be willing to release his medical records. He said he was, then challenged the other three men on the debate stage to a 25-mile bike race.
He got no takers.
In the days since Romney's loss in South Carolina, he has tried to seize the initiative, playing the aggressor in the Tampa debate and assailing Gingrich in campaign speeches and a TV commercial.
An outside group formed to support Romney has spent more than his own campaign's millions on ads, some of them designed to stop Gingrich's campaign momentum before it is too late to deny him the nomination.
With polls suggesting his South Carolina surge is stalling, Gingrich unleashed a particularly strong attack earlier in the day, much as he lashed out in Iowa when he rose in the polls, only to be knocked back by an onslaught of ads he was unable to counter effectively.
Thursday night's first clash occurred moments after the debate opened, when Gingrich responded to a question by saying Romney was the most anti-immigrant of all four contenders on stage. "That's simply inexcusable," the former Massachusetts governor responded.
"Mr. Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. My wife's father was born in Wales. ... The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that," he added.
At the same time, Romney noted that Gingrich's campaign had been pressured to stop running a radio ad that called Romney anti-immigrant after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called on Gingrich to do so.
He called on Gingrich to apologize for the commercial, but got no commitment.
About an hour later, Romney pounced when the topic turned to Gingrich's proposal for a permanent American colony on the moon ? an issue of particular interest to engineers and others who live on Florida's famed Space Coast.
The audience erupted in cheers when Romney said he'd fire an executive who came to him with such a costly plan, but he wasn't finished.
He said the former speaker had called for construction of a new Interstate highway in South Carolina, a new VA hospital in northern New Hampshire and widening the port of Jacksonville to accommodate the larger ships that will soon be able to transit the Panama Canal.
"This idea of going state to state and promising people what they want to hear, promising hundreds of billions of dollars to make people happy, that's what got us into trouble in the first place," Romney said.
Gingrich responded that part of campaigning is becoming familiar with local issues, adding, "The port of Jacksonville is going to have to be expanded. I think that's an important thing for a president to know." He went on to refer to completion of an Everglades project that he did not describe, then noted he had worked to expand NIH while he was speaker.
Gingrich raised questions about Romney's wealth and his investments. "I don't know of any American president who's had a Swiss bank account," Gingrich said. Romney replied that his investments were in a blind trust over which he had no control. "There's nothing wrong with that," declared Romney, who has estimated his wealth at as much as $250 million.
Earlier Thursday, it was disclosed that Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, failed to list an unknown amount of investment income from a variety of sources including a Swiss bank account on financial disclosure forms filed last year. His campaign said it was working to correct the omissions.
Gingrich also failed to report income from his 2010 tax return on his financial disclosure. The former Georgia congressman will amend his disclosure to show $252,500 in salary from one of his businesses, spokesman R.C. Hammond said.
Debating in a state with a large and influential Jewish population, Romney and Gingrich vied to stress their support for Israel rather than criticize one another.
And all four men were quick to name prominent officials of Hispanic descent who deserved consideration for the Cabinet. Gingrich trumped the other three, saying, "I've actually thought of Marco Rubio in a slightly more dignified and central role," an evident reference to the vice presidential spot on the ticket.
Immigration was a recurring theme.
Gingrich said Romney was misleading when he ran an ad accusing the former House speaker of once referring to Spanish as "the language of the ghetto." Gingrich claimed he was referring to a multitude of languages, not just Spanish.
Romney initially said, "I doubt it's mine," but moderator Wolf Blitzer read it aloud and pointed out that Romney, at the ad's conclusion, says he approved the message.
As for immigration policy, it was difficult to discern their differences.
Both men said they want to clamp down in illegal immigration, create programs to make sure jobs go only to legal immigrants and deport some of the 11 million men and women in the country unlawfully.
Gingrich has never said how many illegal residents he believes should be deported, preferring to say that the United States is not going to begin rounding up grandmothers and grandfathers who have lived in the United States for years.
Romney agreed that was the case ? and Gingrich said that marked a switch in position.
"Our problem is not 11 million grandmothers," Romney said. "Our problem is 11 million people getting jobs that many Americans, legal immigrants would like to have."
Romney and Gingrich also exchanged jabs over investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants that played a role in the national foreclosure crisis that has hit Florida particularly hard.
Gingrich said Romney was making money from investments in funds that were "foreclosing on Floridians."
Romney quickly noted that Gingrich, too, was invested in mutual funds with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He then added that the former House speaker "was a spokesman" for the two. That was a reference to a contract that one of Gingrich's businesses had for consulting services. The firm was paid $300,000 in 2006.
___
Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
AP names Lee Enterprises' Mary Junck to lead board
This undated photo provided by Lee Enterprises shows the former President and CEO of Lee Enterprises, Mary Junck. Junck has been named chairwoman of The Associated Press Board of Directors Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Lee Enterprises)
This undated photo provided by Lee Enterprises shows the former President and CEO of Lee Enterprises, Mary Junck. Junck has been named chairwoman of The Associated Press Board of Directors Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Lee Enterprises)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Mary E. Junck, the CEO of newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises Inc., was named chairman of The Associated Press board of directors Thursday.
Junck replaces William Dean Singleton of MediaNews Group, who had been AP chairman since 2007. She said one of her top priorities will be the search for a new chief executive to replace Tom Curley, who announced Monday that he plans to retire this year after almost nine years leading AP.
As chairman, Junck will help steer the AP's efforts to boost revenue, in part by further expanding the cooperative's video, Internet and mobile services.
"Making good, smart bets on the digital future is the direction we'll keep going," she said in an interview. "Tom has built a terrific foundation. The other thing he has done is work collaboratively in our industry. I see that going forward as well."
The AP, founded in 1846, is the largest independent source of news and information in the world. The not-for-profit organization, owned by newspapers in the U.S., said it expects revenue for 2011 to be down slightly from a year earlier, when it was $631 million.
Revenue has declined in recent years largely because of lower fees from newspapers and broadcasters, a large number of which have struggled because of the slow economy and a shift by advertisers to less-expensive alternatives online.
Junck, 64, has been an AP director since 2004 and became vice chairman in 2008. She is the first woman to head the board.
Junck began her newspaper career 40 years ago, when she joined the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer as a marketing research manager. Since then, she has worked for and managed some of the country's biggest daily newspapers.
She was publisher of the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota from 1990 to 1992. She later served as an executive vice president with Times Mirror Co. and oversaw Newsday, the Baltimore Sun and the Hartford (Conn.) Courant. She also served as publisher of the Sun.
Junck joined Lee in 1999 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. She became CEO in 2001. The company owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and nearly 50 other newspapers. In her current job, she helped orchestrate Lee's $1.46 billion purchase of Pulitzer Inc. in 2005, which included the Post-Dispatch.
She is now leading Lee through a prepackaged bankruptcy as it restructures about $1 billion in debt. Earlier this week, a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Lee's debt refinancing plan, which will allow it to exit the process next Monday.
Singleton is chairman of MediaNews Group, which was among the newspaper publishers hardest hit by the industry slump. MediaNews' parent company, Affiliated Media Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2010 and relinquished control to a group of lenders as part of the reorganization. Singleton stepped down as CEO of MediaNews last year.
Singleton said in a statement that the industry "has long been the beneficiary of Mary's deep understanding of the challenges facing all media companies in the digital age."
"She is a strong advocate for AP, for the value of original newsgathering and for everything AP stands for. She'll be an outstanding chairman."
Curley plans to stay on as AP's chief executive until his successor is in place.
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Actor James Farentino dies at 73 (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Actor James Farentino, who played more than 100 roles in TV, film and on stage, has died at age of 73, a family spokesman said on Wednesday.
Farentino died in a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday after what the spokesman called a lengthy illness.
Farentino was a regular face in TV series such as "ER", where he played the father of George Clooney's character, in 1996, "Dynasty" and "Melrose Place".
He received an Emmy nomination for his role as disciple Simon Peter in the miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth" and was critically-acclaimed for his performance as Stanley Kowalski in a 1973 Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire".
Married four times, Farentino became as well known for his life off camera. In 1994, he pleaded no contest to a stalking ex-girlfriend Tina Sinatra, the daughter of singer Frank Sinatra, derailing his acting career.
His most recent acting credit was in the 2006 TV comedy movie "Drive/II".
Farentino's movie roles included comedy "The Pad and How to Use it" for which he received a Golden Globe Award as most promising newcomer in 1967. He also appeared in the 1996 Adam Sandler action caper "Bulletproof" and 1980 sci-fi film "The Final Countdown".
Farentino is survived by his fourth wife Stella and two sons.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Obama?s tax deform agenda
In his State of the Union address, President Obama offered?a?laundry list?of new tax subsidies but said almost nothing about a top-to-bottom rewrite of the Tax Code.?
For a while there, I thought President Obama was going to embrace tax reform in his?State of the Union?address.? Instead, following the lead of his predecessors, he offered?a?laundry list?of new tax subsidies, bragged about some old ones, and said almost nothing about a top-to-bottom rewrite of the Tax Code.
Skip to next paragraphHere?s just a partial list of the targeted tax breaks Obama promoted: Tax credits for clean energy and college tuition, as well as?tax?cuts for small business that create jobs,?domestic manufacturers,?high-tech manufacturers, and?companies that close overseas plants and move production back to the U.S.
At the same time, he?d require individuals making more than $1 million to pay an effective income tax rate of at least 30 percent, in part by eliminating their ability to take many deductions. And, he?d use the tax code to punish companies that do business overseas, creating a new minimum levy that is supposed to assure that all multinationals pay some U.S. tax.
Obama?s embrace of the tax code as a vehicle to pick winners and losers sounded more than a little discordant in a speech whose theme was ?everyone gets a fair shot and plays by the same set of rules.?? Not so much in a tax code where you get special rules for the government?s favored activities.
As Obama was tossing out his tax baubles, I kept wondering about those firms that somehow didn?t get on his gift list. I can just imagine lobbyists? cell phones abuzz from furious clients wondering why they weren?t getting a tax break of their very own.
For instance, think about a start-up software company that has to compete with an established firm. Because new businesses rarely make money in their first years, extra tax deductions do them no good. By contrast, a more established competitor, especially if it can qualify for Obama?s high-tech tax break, would benefit?perhaps substantially.
The?multinationals??minimum tax?would be entirely unworkable. Even if Congress passed the levy, which it won?t, those firms will find ways around it. Minimum taxes are Band-Aides for a flawed tax system. The solution is not to create a new?penalty for firms that learn to manipulate the law, it is to fix the basic law in the first place.
If Obama wants to prevent companies from gaming the system, he could lower the corporate rate and eliminate tax preferences. He raised this in last year?s?state of the union address?but did nothing about it. That?s too bad. With a low enough domestic tax rate, companies would have less incentive to shuffle income overseas.
Or he could go in the opposite direction and eliminate deferral, the practice that allows multinationals to avoid U.S. tax until they bring earnings back to the U.S. But this minimum tax seems to be a half-measure that may play to his populist base but will achieve little.
I suppose it is inevitable that a president beginning his fourth year in office and facing a deeply divided Congress would go small-bore. After all, there will be no fundamental tax reform in the current environment and even proposing such a step would only open him to criticism from the usual suspects in housing, non-profits, finance and other industries that are very happy with the system as it is.
Still, it is a shame that, instead, Obama would make things worse.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JFVefhF4B30/Obama-s-tax-deform-agenda
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Two car bombs kill 10 in Iraq capital: sources (Reuters)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? Bombs in two parked cars exploded in a mainly Shi'ite area of Iraq's capital on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 31, police and hospital sources said.
The first blast occurred near a group of laborers gathered to wait for jobs and the second near a traffic intersection, both in the northeastern Sadr City area of Baghdad.
Iraq has been hit by a number of bombings targeting Shi'ites after a political crisis that has threatened to break up its fragile coalition government and raised fears of renewed sectarian violence after U.S. troops pulled out in mid-December.
Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from the height of sectarian killing in 2006-2007, but insurgents and militias still carry out daily attacks and assassinations in an attempt to undermine the government.
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Aseel Kami; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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Nano-Scale Terahertz Antenna May Make Tricorders Real
Correct me if 'm horribly wrong, but in Star trek, even though tricorders are multipurpose sensors, there are different types of them. Like engineering tricorders or just regular tricorders. Every story I see that says tricorders seems to only refer to medical tricorders. But really, if I was given a tricorder, I'd use it for determining the spectrum usage, what kind of radiation is around me, interfacing with computers, etc...
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Android A to Z: What is a launcher?
What is an Android launcher? Probably the most powerful feature of Android is its ability to be customized. And that starts with what's typically called the "launcher." The launcher usually is considered to be the homescreens and app drawer, and they come in all sorts of flavors and designs.
When you hear people talk about "stock" Android, this usually is what they're referring to -- homescreens and launcher unchanged from what Google includes in the open-sourced code. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. From there, you can download any number of third-party "launchers," which will change the look and functionality of the homescreens and the app drawer. Home screens can have different animations. Or different docks at the bottom. Or a specific number of home screens. App drawers can have more scrolling or sorting options. The possibilities might not be endless, but they're certainly numerous.
Google has included a lot of improvements in the Ice Cream Sandwich launcher, but third-party apps absolutely are not yet obsolete.) Some of the more popular third-party launchers include:
- ADW Launcher
- Launcher Pro
- Go Launcher
- SPB Shell 3D
- Regina 3D
- Launcher 7 (which makes your phone look more like Windows Phone's Metro UI)
There is no shortage of third-party launchers. But they're not the only ones. Smartphone manufacturers all have their own launchers, too. HTC has its Sense UI, its own homescreen and its own app drawer, all nicknamed "Rosie." Motorola has long has its "Blur" user interface. Samsung has "TouchWiz." Don't like any of them? You can install a third-party launcher on top of the default user interface. And with as powerful as today's phones are, you can do so without any real degradation in performance.
Previously on Android A to Z: What is a kernel?; Find more in the Android Dictionary
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QGTzujnRf_A/story01.htm
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Judge orders man to stand trial for Calif. deaths (AP)
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. ? A suspected serial killer will stand trial for the decades-old murders of four Northern California women.
A Marin County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that prosecutors presented enough evidence against 78-year-old Joseph Naso.
Naso is accused of killing two women in the 1970s and another two in the 1990s, and dumping their naked bodies in rural areas.
He was arrested last year, after a probation search of his Reno, Nev., home unearthed photographs, journals and other evidence tying him to the old slayings.
A Nevada State Police investigator testified that he believes Naso killed as many as 10 women.
Naso is acting as his own lawyer. He declined to call witnesses or take the stand during the preliminary hearing. In his closing argument, he called the evidence circumstantial.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Obama is Surely Celebrating the Republican Presidential Campaign (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | In Colorado in 2010, one would have thought with the way public sentiment was dramatically shifting that the state would have seen a Republican governor. It was the Republicans' election to lose. And lose it they did. After the viability of Republican candidate, Dan Maes, faltered, well-known conservative, Tom Tancredo, jumped the Republican ship for the American Constitution Party and started picking off conservative votes and endorsements. Meanwhile, Democrat John Hickenlooper sat back, vowed to run a positive campaign, reached out to conservatives and won the seat.
Watching how this year's Republican primary season is shaping out, it's like seeing Colorado 2010 all over again, but on a grander, federal scale. According to The Daily Caller, in spite of candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's great showing at the South Carolina primary election, Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume predicted that members of Congress now up for election would probably want to distance themselves from Gingrich, his past history and his current poll numbers, which show an unfavorable view of him by more than half the public.
The major problem I see with the Republican presidential prospects for this election is that none of them seems very electable. They all have serious problems -- Newt Gingrich with his ex-wives and his well known political falterings seems to lack the moral integrity that you would hope a candidate of either party would have. Mitt Romney, with all his millions, here and everywhere and taxed somewhat differently than other people's income is taxed, seems out of touch. Rick Santorum lacks the support or appeal outside the evangelist right. And Ron Paul's positions -- while quite intriguing on many things -- are too far off from the mainstream to garner a nomination.
None of the so-called front-runners has managed to inspire me at all and one of these men will ultimately go up against an incumbent who, for all his shortcomings (and there are many), has proven his ability to speak well and to inspire people.
And that's the thing: For all the money and time that is being spent dishing the dirt and trying to prove why one candidate is more distasteful than the other, there is still another candidate to face and another race to run and in that race, there will be no points for second place. In spite of some serious issues in this country that would normally spell doom for an incumbent president, I can't see any of the current herd of Republican candidates being able to beat Obama in the general election.
Which looks to me like yet another case of the Republicans beating themselves. Of them having an advantage of shifting public sentiment and just blowing it.
If Obama isn't celebrating right now, he's missing a great opportunity.
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Rapid Infant Growth Linked to Asthma in Study (HealthDay)
FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Rapid growth during the first three months of life is associated with an increased risk of asthma symptoms in preschool children, a new study indicates.
The findings suggest that early infancy might be a critical period for the development of asthma, said the researchers at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.
They examined data collected from 5,125 children who were followed from the fetal stage until they were 4 years old.
The researchers found no link between fetal growth and asthma symptoms. But in children with normal fetal growth, accelerated weight gain from birth to 3 months of age was associated with increased risk of asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm.
The study appears online ahead of print in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Previous research has shown an association between low birth weight and increased risk of asthma symptoms in children. This is the first study to examine specific fetal and infant growth patterns on asthma risk.
"Our results suggest that the relationship between infant weight gain and asthma symptoms is not due to the accelerated growth of fetal growth-restricted infants only," researcher Dr. Liesbeth Duijts said in a journal news release. "While the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear, accelerated weight growth in early life might adversely affect lung growth and might be associated with adverse changes in the immune system."
She added: "Further research is needed to replicate our findings and explore the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of growth acceleration in infancy on respiratory health. The effects of infant growth patterns on asthma phenotypes [observable characteristics] in later life should also be examined."
More information
The American Lung Association has more about children and asthma.
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Radiation-induced damage to brain tissue reversed by oxygen starvation in mice
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Treating brain tumors with whole brain radiation therapy can damage healthy brain tissue, but a new study in mice reveals that limiting the oxygen supply, or hypoxia, can alleviate some of the cognitive impairment caused by the radiation. The results are reported in the Jan. 18 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
The researchers, led by William Sonntag of University of Oklahoma, exposed the mice to a clinically relevant regimen of radiation, which caused progressive deterioration of spatial learning starting about two months post-radiation.
However, when mice were treated with chronic hypoxia for about three weeks, beginning one month after radiation exposure, they showed significant improvement in this area, which was maintained for at least two months after returning to normal oxygen levels.
The radiation treatment also caused an early decline in contextual learning and memory, but these deficiencies were transient and dissipated within three months post-radiation.
###
Warrington JP, Csiszar A, Mitschelen M, Lee YW, Sonntag WE (2012) Whole Brain Radiation-Induced Impairments in Learning and Memory Are Time-Sensitive and Reversible by Systemic Hypoxia. PLoS ONE 7(1): e30444. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030444
Public Library of Science: http://www.plos.org
Thanks to Public Library of Science for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Giants' Ballard questionable, expects to play
New York Giants tight end Jake Ballard flips the ball during NFL football practice, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC championship game on Sunday, Jan. 22. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
New York Giants tight end Jake Ballard flips the ball during NFL football practice, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC championship game on Sunday, Jan. 22. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
New York Giants tight end Jake Ballard throws a pass during NFL football practice, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC championship game on Sunday, Jan. 22. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) ? Jake Ballard's right knee is bothering him a bit. Not enough, though, to keep him out of a game this big.
The New York Giants' tight end was listed as questionable Friday for the NFC championship game at San Francisco after having a "little procedure" on his right knee Thursday night and sitting out practice.
"I'm not concerned," said Ballard, who experienced some swelling. "I just saw the doctor a little bit last night and they performed the procedure. I'll be ready to go. They just pulled me out just to rest me for the day."
Neither Ballard nor coach Tom Coughlin would discuss what was done to the knee, but Coughlin said it was "not surgery."
"The knee was a little sore today and I should be ready to go for the game," Ballard said.
Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks was limited in practice after tweaking an ankle, but said he'll be fine. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) returned to practice, but was limited. No surprise there, though, since he has practiced just once a week since the injury in early December.
Center David Baas missed practice because of a stomach illness, similar to the one that sidelined quarterback Eli Manning for a day earlier this week. He's expected to be fine in time for the game.
Ballard missed the last two games of the regular season after injuring the posterior cruciate ligament in the knee against Washington on Dec. 18, but returned for the postseason. He had one catch for 17 yards at Green Bay, and two for 16 in the opening round against Atlanta.
The second-year tight end from Ohio State had 38 catches for 604 yards and four touchdowns during the regular season.
"The PCL is not going to heal overnight," Ballard said. "It's usually six or seven weeks where you don't feel it anymore, and it's only been about four maybe."
Travis Beckum said he'd be ready to start if Ballard can't, but doesn't anticipate that. In fact, Beckum made light of the procedure, trading his shoulder pads for a scalpel.
"I diagnosed him with a torn ACL, but he'll be back," Beckum said. "I gave him some stuff and he'll be back tomorrow."
Ummm, Travis, what was your major in college?
"Street pharmacy," Beckum said with a smile. "I used a butter knife. He has really thin skin."
For the record, Beckum majored in human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin.
"Yeah, it was emergency surgery last night," Ballard said, smiling. "If I was missing a leg, that's probably what it would take to keep me off the field."
Nicks, who has 13 catches for 280 yards and four touchdowns in the Giants' two playoff games, was hurt while cutting during a route in practice.
"It just kind of gave out on me, but it should be all right, though," he said. "I've got no reason to be concerned about it. It's an important game. I'll put it out of my mind and not even think about it."
Nicks said he'll "and wrap it up real good" and be ready to go.
Defensive ends Justin Tuck (shoulder) and Osi Umenyiora (ankle/knee), cornerback Corey Webster (hamstring) and linebacker Mark Herzlich (ankle) were all limited, but listed as probable for the game.
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Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline Plans (ContributorNetwork)
On Wednesday, the Obama administration has made a decision to reject TransCanada Corp's plans to build the Keystone XL pipeline, according to MSNBC. In his address today, President Barack Obama noted that the rejection of TransCanada's application was to be blamed in large part on Republicans in Congress in their attempt to circumvent the administration's decision. Initially Obama had tried to delay the decision until 2013.
Despite this setback for Keystone XL, the company can still apply again for a permit, but only under new circumstances like identifying a new route. With this major decision over such a large environmental and energy debate in the U.S., here are some facts about the pipeline and the continuing debate:
* The National Journal reported that the Keystone XL pipeline is a $7 billion project that would extend 1,700 miles and deliver 700,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta, Canada to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.
* One of the major areas of concern over the pipeline took place in Nebraska, where the proposed pipeline was planned to cut right through the state, because of the proximity to the state's Ogallala aquifer.
* Keystone XL has garnered support from Republicans and industry representatives through its potential to create both permanent and temporary jobs from construction and operation in the U.S., reported the Washington Post.
* TransCanada's initial estimate of the 20,000 jobs that would be created by the project has also come under debate in light of the State Department's own estimate of 6,500 jobs.
* An article from the Guardian noted that numerous environmental groups and landowners in Nebraska had fought hard against the initial proposed route because it posed a threat to the state's ecologically fragile Sand Hills region.
* Environmental organizations also argued that the pipeline would undermine the country's goal of moving towards clean energy production and increase the dependence on fossil fuels.
* Following the Obama administration's rejection of the pipeline plans, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association Charles T. Drevna issued a statement noting that the rejection threatens the nation's energy security and job growth, added the Sacramento Bee.
* Drevna also added that the administration's decision was just to appeal protest groups and ignores over three years of research that shows the pipeline is safe.
* According to the Vancouver Sun, Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, offered praised for the President's decision, saying that it addresses "wildly exaggerated jobs claims."
* Additionally, President Obama was given until Feb. 21 to make an official ruling on Keystone XL, a deadline imposed by Congress.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Croats split over EU ahead of referendum
[unable to retrieve full-text content]RIJEKA, Croatia (AP) ? Vedran Sabljak, a shipyard worker in this northern Adriatic port, knows what he thinks about Croatia joining the European Union: A resolute "No."
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Wells Fargo profit jumps on loan growth (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? Wells Fargo & Co on Tuesday beat Wall Street estimates with a 20 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, boosted by continued loan growth and improving credit quality.
The improvement at the fourth-largest U.S. bank contrasted with an 11 percent decline in profit at Citigroup Inc, which saw its capital markets business battered by the European debt crisis.
"Wells Fargo has a better business model for the environment we're in now because commercial lending is their biggest sector," said Jeffrey Sica, president of SICA Wealth Management in Morristown, New Jersey, which is generally negative on the banking sector.
"They're not overly involved in the trading activities that the other banks are involved in."
The San Francisco-based bank said it earned 73 cents per share. The average estimate from analysts was 72 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Reflecting a trend demonstrated on Friday by results at JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo's total loans grew about $9.5 billion from the end of September to $769.6 billion at the end of December.
The bank said planned run-off of discontinued loans was more than offset by growth in a broad range of loan types, especially commercial loans. "Core" loans increased by about 2 percent from the previous quarter, although analysts noted the growth included U.S. commercial real estate loans purchased from struggling European banks.
"In addition to the organic growth, we saw an opportunity from the acquisition standpoint," said Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan in an interview. "Not everybody in the industry has the capacity (to do that)."
One area where Sloan said the bank wasn't seeing much growth was utilization of existing credit lines, typically an event that occurs as the economy rebounds. The economy is "definitely improving" but not "as fast as everyone would like," he said.
Net income applicable to common shareholders in the fourth quarter was $3.89 billion, compared with $3.23 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. For all of 2011, Wells posted net income applicable to common shareholders of about $15 billion, up from $11.6 billion in 2010.
The report came the same day that Citigroup Inc posted net income of $1.16 billion, or 38 cents per share, down from $1.31 billion, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier. JPMorgan on Friday reported fourth-quarter net income of $3.72 billion, or 90 cents a share, down from $4.83 billion, or $1.12 a share, a year earlier.
Wells Fargo shares climbed 1.5 percent to $30.06 in afternoon trading, while Citigroup's fell 6.7 percent to $28.67.
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For a graphic on Citigroup vs. Wells Fargo results: http://link.reuters.com/kyw95s
For a graphic on largest U.S. brokerage firms: http://link.reuters.com/bun95s
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Wells Fargo, which became a coast-to-coast bank with its 2008 purchase of Wachovia, also benefited from improving credit quality in the quarter. For the seventh straight quarter the bank reversed reserves the bank had previously booked for bad loans.
The so-called reserve release in the fourth quarter was about $600 million, down from $800 million in the third quarter. The bank expects that to continue in 2012 absent "significant credit deterioration in the economy."
Still, big banks are struggling to pad revenues at a time when low interest rates make it difficult to earn money from loans and as new regulations curb fees they can charge for debit card use.
Wells reported total revenue of $20.6 billion, down from $21.5 billion a year ago but up from $19.6 billion in the third quarter. The bank said debit card interchange fees were down by $365 million, although that dip was partially offset by growth in credit card fees.
Mortgage banking income increased to $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.8 billion in the third, but down from $2.8 billion a year ago, as the bank benefited from an increase in home loan refinancings. Wells is the largest originator of home loans in the U.S.
The bank also posted a $430 million gain from trading activities, an improvement from a $442 million loss in the third quarter but down about $100 million from a year ago.
Sloan said capital markets were more robust in the fourth quarter than in a volatile third quarter but may never return to the levels seen in the first half of 2008.
"That's OK from our perspective," he said. "This is a portion of our business. It's not the primary driver for the business, which is the challenge for others because we have a more diversified model."
The bank said its U.S. investment banking market share increased to 5.1 percent in 2011 from 4.2 percent in 2010, citing Dealogic fee-based tables.
EXPENSE PLAN ON TRACK
In a bid to improve overall profits, Wells Fargo, like other banks, has launched a wide-ranging efficiency program called Project Compass.
Wells said fourth-quarter noninterest expense was up from the third-quarter as expected on higher seasonal expenses and mortgage-related costs. But the bank reiterated its goal of reducing quarterly expenses to about $11 billion by the end of this year, a reduction of about $1.5 billion.
The bank's total employment of 264,200 was down about 8,000 from a year ago but up slightly from the third quarter. Sloan said the bank eliminated employees involved in the Wachovia merger integration last year but added employees in the mortgage business to meet rising demand in the past two quarters.
Marty Mosby, bank analyst with Guggenheim Partners, said Wells Fargo showed continued progress in the quarter but was disappointing on expenses. "We were looking for greater efficiency," he said.
Like other big banks, Wells submitted a capital plan this month to the Federal Reserve as part of stress tests designed to determine if banks have enough capital in case of a severe economic downturn.
Sloan did not provide specifics on Wells Fargo's plan, but said he expects the Fed will not object to the bank's submission, allowing it to increase its dividend and buy back more of its stock. The Fed's response is expected in mid-March.
During the fourth quarter, Wells said it purchased 27 million shares of its common stock. It also agreed to buy another 6 million shares in a transaction that will settle in the first quarter of this year.
As European banks work to meet their own capital requirements, some are looking to sell off loan portfolios and business units. Wells reportedly was one of the banks interested in buying the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc aircraft leasing unit acquired Tuesday by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
In a conference call with analysts, Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf said the bank is "kicking a lot of tires" but will be "cautious" about doing any deals.
"It would have to make a lot of sense for us," he said, "and if all we get out of this is sore toes, that is fine."
(Reporting By Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Additional reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Jed Horowitz in New York; editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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