College reduces odds for marriage among disadvantaged

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Syl Kacapyr
vpk6@cornell.edu
607-255-7701
Cornell University

ITHACA, N.Y. For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to a study by Cornell University sociologist Kelly Musick being published in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family (available online: http://bit.ly/yt9uwJ).

The findings suggest that social and cultural factors, not just income, are central to marriage decisions. Men and women from the least advantaged backgrounds who attend college appear to be caught between social worlds -- reluctant to "marry down" to partners with less education and unable to "marry up" to those from more privileged upbringings. Lower marriage chances appear to stem from men's and women's mismatched social origins and educational attainment -- a phenomenon Musick and co-authors refer to as "marriage market mismatch."

"College students are becoming more diverse in their social backgrounds, but they nonetheless remain a socio-economically select group," said Musick, associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology. "It may be difficult for students from less privileged backgrounds to navigate social relationships on campus, and these difficulties may affect what students ultimately gain from the college experience."

Musick hoped the findings could raise awareness of potential social barriers faced by first-generation college students barriers that could be keeping students from participating fully in the academic and social opportunities colleges have to offer.

For the study, Musick and sociologists at the University of California-Los Angeles estimated the propensity of men's and women's college attendance based on family income, parental education and other indicators of social background and early academic achievement. They then grouped their subjects into social strata based on these propensity scores and compared marriage chances of college- and non-college-goers within each stratum. Estimates were based on a sample of about 3,200 Americans from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, followed from adolescence into adulthood.

They found that college attendance negatively affected marriage chances for the least advantaged individuals -- lessening men's and women's odds by 38 percent and 22 percent, respectively. By comparison, among those in the highest social stratum, men who attend college increase their marrying chances by 31 percent and women by 8 percent.

Musick said that past studies have shown "college is the great equalizer" in the labor market, dampening social class differences. But the same can't be said for the marriage market.

"This research demonstrates the importance of differentiating between social background and educational achievement," she said. "Educational achievement may go far in reducing income differences between men and women from different social backgrounds, but social and cultural distinctions may persist in social and family relationships."

###

Contact Syl Kacapyr for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Syl Kacapyr
vpk6@cornell.edu
607-255-7701
Cornell University

ITHACA, N.Y. For those with few social advantages, college is a prime pathway to financial stability, but it also unexpectedly lowers their odds of ever marrying, according to a study by Cornell University sociologist Kelly Musick being published in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family (available online: http://bit.ly/yt9uwJ).

The findings suggest that social and cultural factors, not just income, are central to marriage decisions. Men and women from the least advantaged backgrounds who attend college appear to be caught between social worlds -- reluctant to "marry down" to partners with less education and unable to "marry up" to those from more privileged upbringings. Lower marriage chances appear to stem from men's and women's mismatched social origins and educational attainment -- a phenomenon Musick and co-authors refer to as "marriage market mismatch."

"College students are becoming more diverse in their social backgrounds, but they nonetheless remain a socio-economically select group," said Musick, associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology. "It may be difficult for students from less privileged backgrounds to navigate social relationships on campus, and these difficulties may affect what students ultimately gain from the college experience."

Musick hoped the findings could raise awareness of potential social barriers faced by first-generation college students barriers that could be keeping students from participating fully in the academic and social opportunities colleges have to offer.

For the study, Musick and sociologists at the University of California-Los Angeles estimated the propensity of men's and women's college attendance based on family income, parental education and other indicators of social background and early academic achievement. They then grouped their subjects into social strata based on these propensity scores and compared marriage chances of college- and non-college-goers within each stratum. Estimates were based on a sample of about 3,200 Americans from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, followed from adolescence into adulthood.

They found that college attendance negatively affected marriage chances for the least advantaged individuals -- lessening men's and women's odds by 38 percent and 22 percent, respectively. By comparison, among those in the highest social stratum, men who attend college increase their marrying chances by 31 percent and women by 8 percent.

Musick said that past studies have shown "college is the great equalizer" in the labor market, dampening social class differences. But the same can't be said for the marriage market.

"This research demonstrates the importance of differentiating between social background and educational achievement," she said. "Educational achievement may go far in reducing income differences between men and women from different social backgrounds, but social and cultural distinctions may persist in social and family relationships."

###

Contact Syl Kacapyr for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/cu-cro013012.php

blackbeard widespread panic widespread panic richard stallman richard stallman williston north dakota williston north dakota

Don?t Fret Over Super PACs (Theagitator)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192959634?client_source=feed&format=rss

lawrence o donnell fresno state fresno state psa test psa test real steel real steel

Romney picks up 2 delegates in South Carolina

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Mitt Romney has picked up a consolation prize from the South Carolina Republican presidential primary: two delegates.

Newt Gingrich handily won the Jan. 21 primary and got 23 of the state's 25 delegates. South Carolina Republicans awarded 11 delegates to the statewide winner and two delegates for winning each of the state's seven congressional districts.

Gingrich won six congressional districts, but the vote in one district was too close to call on election night. State party political director Alex Stroman said Monday the party had determined Romney won the district by about 1,400 votes.

Romney now has 35 delegates, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the convention. Gingrich has 25 and Rick Santorum has 14. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the nomination.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-30-GOP%20Delegates/id-6b43190e185842389b6e99a63ddd60ed

cnbc debate family circus spanier walmart black friday ad walmart black friday ad rick perry gaffe rick perry gaffe

The problem with democracy is all the debating (Unqualified Offerings)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192684581?client_source=feed&format=rss

snooki john dillinger atlanta hawks carlos zambrano lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli celebrity apprentice

Hands on with iStopMotion animation app for iPad

iStopMotion brings the power and magic of stop motion animation to the iPad. Stop motion, and the slightly more advanced go-motion animation techniques, are what brought everything from the original

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/gXanKrJyRwM/story01.htm

the green mile james whitey bulger coptic church amerigo vespucci julio jones steve bartman columbus day

Yemeni president heads to U.S (Politico)

SANAA, Yemen? - A presidential spokesman says Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has left Oman on route to the United States.
?????? ?
Spokesman Ahmed al-Soufi says Saleh has arrived in London and will leave later Saturday for New York for medical treatment in the United States. He gives no futher details.
?????? ?
Saleh left Yemen to neighboring Oman a week ago, planning to head to the United States, under pressure from Washington and others to leave his homeland to allow a more peaceful transition from his rule. In November, Saleh handed over his powers to his vice president and promised to step down completely.
?????? ?
But opponents say he has continued to interfere in the work of a unity government through his allies and relatives in key posts.
?

Continue Reading

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_72106_html/44338378/SIG=11md41mr6/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72106.html

trans siberian orchestra trans siberian orchestra little big town little big town bennett bennett daniel day lewis

Woman gets life sentence in Md. yoga shop murder (AP)

ROCKVILLE, Md. ? A woman convicted of killing her co-worker at an upscale yoga clothing shop in the Washington suburbs, then spinning an elaborate lie about being attacked by two masked men, was ordered Friday to spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Brittany Norwood choked back tears as she apologized to her family and that of her victim in her first public statements since her arrest in March. A jury in November convicted Norwood of first-degree murder for bludgeoning and stabbing 30-year-old Jayna Murray, a co-worker at the Lululemon Athletica shop in Bethesda. Murray had more than 330 distinct wounds.

The judge was unmoved by Norwood's tears, telling the 29-year-old that her crime "exemplified the worst of human nature." He stoutly rejected defense pleas that she was capable of rehabilitation and deserved an eventual shot at freedom.

"You mutilated this woman. And with every blow, you had a chance to think about what you were doing," said Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg in imposing a sentence of life without the possibility parole.

The violent nature of the crime, and the initial accounts by Norwood of two murderers and rapists on the run, rattled the community.

Prosecutors said Norwood attacked Murray with at least five weapons, including a knife and a hammer, during a fight March 11 after they closed the shop for the day. They said Norwood lured Murray back to the store by falsely claiming that she has forgotten something inside and needed to be let back in. Norwood savagely beat Murray for at least 20 minutes and then doctored the scene overnight to support her story that intruders had attacked and sexually assaulted them.

Murray was found the next morning in a pool of blood at the back of the store. Her wounds included a knife strike to the head that served as the death blow. Norwood was found nearby, moaning in apparent pain and tied up, with superficial ? and self-imposed ? wounds on her body. Blood was found tracked throughout the store, something police later determined was part of Norwood's attempt to throw them off her trail

The jury didn't hear a motive for the killing, but prosecutor John McCarthy said Murray had confronted Norwood after finding a pair of stolen pants while checking her bag. Norwood feared the discovery would cause her to be fired and derail her planned career as a personal trainer.

"It was more than a pair of pants," McCarthy said. "It was the unraveling of a life that she had set for herself."

Norwood, wiping away tears and speaking softly as a row of family members sobbed, briefly apologized, saying "My hope for your family is that someday you'll be able to find forgiveness in your heart."

Norwood's account of the attack set off panic in Bethesda, an affluent suburb where violent crime is rare. Montgomery County police went on a manhunt and fielded hundreds of tips. Some residents and shoppers who frequented the bustling corridor of high-end shops and trendy restaurants where Lululemon is situated admitted to feeling anxious at night.

"Businesses operated differently," McCarthy said.

Norwood stared to the ground as eight of Murray's friends and family detailed how their once joyful lives have become overcome with nightmares, anxiety, depression and feelings of emptiness. Her father, David Murray, showed the courtroom a series of photographs ? his daughter as a smiling young girl, shooting a bow and arrow, bungee jumping, posing alongside a trophy and in her cap and gown. He said they illustrated his daughter's zest for life and talents as a student, swimmer, dancer and gymnast.

"March 11, 2011 was our family's Sept. 11, 2001," Murray's brother, Hugh, told the judge. "Nothing will ever return to normal. Nothing will ever be the same."

Murray's other brother, Dirk, said his two young sons adored their aunt but were starting to ask difficult questions about her death. When they go to bed at night, he said, the family doesn't check the closets for an anonymous bogeyman. "We check for Brittany Norwood," he said.

The family described how their initial empathy for Murray's surviving co-worker turned ? her father said he even contemplated sending Norwood flowers at the hospital ? transformed into horror and rage when they learned that Norwood was the attacker, not the victim.

"Of the many stages of grief, I have not moved away from rage," David Murray said.

Norwood's tale unraveled within days as police identified her as their sole suspect. Workers at an adjacent Apple store told police that they heard two women ? though they were castigated by the judge Friday for failing to call for help. Investigators found only two sets of footprints in the store. An examination did not back up Norwood's claim of being sexually assaulted. And Norwood's DNA was found inside Murray's car, which Norwood had driven away from the store as part of her ruse.

She was arrested a week after the murder.

Norwood's lawyers conceded at the outset of the trial that Norwood had killed Murray, but said she had simply "lost it" in a moment of irrationality and didn't have the required forethought to be convicted of first-degree murder. A jury rejected that argument after about an hour of deliberation.

Her attorney, Doug Wood, urged a judge to grant her the possibility of parole, though he acknowledged that there was a minimal chance of her ever being granted it. Giving her and her family at least a glimmer of hope is part of the community's collective healing, Wood argued.

A sentence of life without parole, he argued, "forecloses hope. It forecloses redemption. It forecloses forgiveness. It allows anger, hatred and fear to win out."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_yoga_shop_killing

maurice sendak eric cantor eric cantor state of the union sotu boehner john boehner

Fading Gingrich attacks Romney in ad (Reuters)

MIAMI (Reuters) ? Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida primary.

The White House contenders courted Florida's sizable Hispanic vote, many of them Cubans, with appearances on Friday at the Hispanic Leadership Network, where Romney received an unusually warm reception and the reaction to Gingrich was more sedate.

Bouncing back after losing the South Carolina primary to Gingrich on Saturday, Romney had an 8-percentage point lead over him in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. A Quinnipiac University poll gave him a 9-percentage point edge.

The Reuters/Ipsos online poll gave Romney 41 percent and Gingrich 33 percent ahead of Saturday's contest.

That margin is similar to three polls released on Thursday that all showed Romney taking control of the battle in Florida, where the former Massachusetts governor enjoys a financial and organizational advantage over Gingrich.

Romney battered the former House of Representatives speaker in two debates this week, wounding him in the same format that has helped fuel Gingrich's campaign.

"With the debates now over, Gingrich will need some other way to reverse the tide that appears to be going against him," Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown said.

Tuesday's Florida primary is the fourth contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 U.S. election. Romney won in New Hampshire and former Senator Rick Santorum won the first contest in Iowa.

Romney repeatedly attacked Gingrich at Thursday's debate in Florida, scoring points on immigration, candidates' finances and even lunar exploration.

"That was Romney on Red Bull," Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said. "You could tell Newt was tired, he's carrying a heavy load. He was counting on pure momentum to carry him through Florida, and that momentum has stopped."

At a campaign event in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Romney reminded the crowd of his debate performance.

"How about that debate last night? Wasn't that fun?" Romney asked. "I've had the fun of two debates where I had to stand up and battle, and battling was fun."

'CUBA WILL BE FREE'

An energized Romney, whom Gingrich has described as the most anti-immigrant candidate in the Republican race, won several standing ovations from the Hispanic crowd in Miami earlier on Friday.

"There is a time coming soon when Cuba will be free," Romney told them, adding "America can't sit back" in dealing with the island nation off the coast of Florida.

Gingrich received a much quieter response, once again mocking Romney's call for "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants as "a fantasy. It's not a solution."

Gingrich said the concept might work for younger illegal immigrants who had been in the United States a short time, but not for older immigrants with deep family ties. They should be allowed to apply for citizenship through local councils similar to draft boards, he said.

A Florida win for Romney would put him in a strong position to capture the nomination as the primary map tilts in his favor in February with contests in seven states where he has the potential for strong showings.

Next up on February 4 is Nevada, where Romney won with 51 percent of the vote during his failed 2008 presidential bid. On February 7 Minnesota and Colorado hold caucuses and Missouri holds a primary. Gingrich did not make the ballot in Missouri.

Four of the states with February contests - Nevada, Maine, Colorado and Minnesota - use caucus systems, which often require greater organization to rally voter turnout. That could help Romney take advantage of his superior financial and staff resources.

On February 28, Michigan and Arizona hold primaries. Romney was raised in Michigan, where his father was a governor and car executive.

A new Gingrich television ad in Florida asked: "What kind of man would mislead, distort and deceive just to win an election?"

"This man would be Mitt Romney," the ad's narrator said.

Romney's camp said the sharp tone from Gingrich was a sign he was desperate to distract from his own record as House speaker, where he faced an ethics probe, and as a consultant with mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

"It is laughable to see lectures on honesty coming from a paid influence peddler who suffered an unprecedented ethics reprimand, was forced to pay a $300,000 penalty, and resigned in disgrace at the hands of his own party," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.

(Additional reporting by Ros Krasny; writing by John Whitesides; editing by Alistair Bell and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign

gina carano al green at last burger king delivery etta james at last obama sings al green heidi klum and seal

Dirty Money

For starters, the mere fact that your country contains a lot of oil offers no special reason to subsidize gasoline consumption. For one thing, gasoline isn?t oil. Like other usable fuels, it needs to be refined from crude. Iran is actually a net importer of refined petroleum products, and the United States has recently become a net exporter of them, even as the situation for crude oil is the reverse. More broadly, the opportunity cost of using a domestically produced barrel of oil is identical to the financial cost of buying a barrel on international markets. In other words, if the Japanese government wants to offer subsidized oil to its citizens, it needs to go buy the oil first from Saudi Arabia. By the same token, if the Saudi government wants to offer subsidized oil to its citizens, it needs to sell less to Japan. The budgetary impact is identical in either case and the merits of the policy have nothing to do with how much oil a country has.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=7f9afd00830d0c88206f4f962b6bc16e

justin bieber baby justin bieber baby credit unions tower heist reviews recursion amy schumer amy schumer

Transformers: Dark of the Moon clip breaks down shooting movies, special effects in 3D (video)

The Transformers: Dark of the Moon Blu-ray doesn't hit the streets officially until next week, but you can get a look at one of the special features early right here. In this video clip director Michael Bay and other members of the production team explain some of the special challenges that came with shooting the special-effects heavy movie in 3D. It required changes to his usual frenetic cutting style with fewer pans and longer shots, as well as extra work by the editors on each element of animation overlaid on each frame. For a longer discussion about the background of shooting the flick you can check out an interview featuring Bay and 3D-master James Cameron here, otherwise just press play, or check out the press release after the break for a full list of special features included when he disc debuts January 31st.

Continue reading Transformers: Dark of the Moon clip breaks down shooting movies, special effects in 3D (video)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon clip breaks down shooting movies, special effects in 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/transformers-dark-of-the-moon-clip-breaks-down-shooting-movies/

earthquake in texas official time news 9 tuscaloosa tuscaloosa earthquake california earthquake california

New Mexico Is Stretching, Slowly but Surely (Time.com)

Getty Images

The Rio Grande Rift

The driving distance between Phoenix and Dallas is getting farther. It?s a minuscule difference ? not even a millimeter a year ? but it?s a tangible phenomenon, and you can blame on the middleman: New Mexico. The Rio Grande Rift, the fault line that bisects the southwestern state, is bursting at the seams, pushing apart New Mexico?s borders and stretching the land around it.

But don?t expect to straddle the fault line and have your legs ripped out from under you, unless you have centuries to wait:? the state is getting just one inch wider every 40 years. Scientists calculate the Rio Grande Rift?s pace of expansion as approximately 1.2 nanostrains per year. So it?s less an expanding waistline than a stretchmark. Still, it?s having an effect on hundreds of miles of surrounding terrain. According to the group of seven scientists from New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, who studied the Rio Grande Rift for more than four years before releasing their findings in the January 2012 issue of Geology Magazine, the pull of the canyon isn?t a localized problem.

(PHOTOS: Along the Rio Grande, Scenes of a Tense Border)

?We didn?t expect it to be so spread out,? University of Colorado geophysicist Anne Sheehan told the Albuquerque Journal. Indeed, the rift?s movement hasn?t been absorbed into the land directly around it, leading to a widespread stretching and rucking that has affected terrain in a radius of hundreds of miles ? and maybe even more, stretching not just New Mexico but Texas and Arizona as well.

The research team calls it a ?distributed deformation,? but we prefer to think of it as an America-shaped piece of taffy stretching endlessly, slowly but surely. And that should give you an idea of what will happen if this rifting phenomenon keeps occurring.? It?s hardly a visible effect, but it?s an unexpected feature of the ever-changing landscape. The scientists plan to continue monitoring the 25 GPS units they?ve set up in the region to see if the pace keeps up. They?re not yet sure if the rifting puts the geology of the region in peril. The stretching of the Earth?s surface is easier to see at the edges of tectonic plates, where there are typically volcanoes or mountains, but movement on an continental rift is more mysterious. Fortunately, at the paltry rate it?s happening, scientists will have centuries, if not millennia, to come up with a game plan for dealing with it.

LIST: Top 10 U.S. News Stories of 2011

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/time_rss/rss_time_us/httpnewsfeedtimecom20120122newmexicoisstretchingslowlybutsurelyxidrssnationyahoo/44272964/SIG=136d57fuh/*http%3A//newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/22/new-mexico-is-stretching-slowly-but-surely/?xid=rss-nation-yahoo

jessica chastain nook tablet eagles magic johnson involuntary manslaughter stevens johnson syndrome verdict in michael jackson trial

Verizon Q4 releases Q4 results, revenues up 7.7%, subscribers up 1.5 million

Verizon has released their Q4 2011 financial results and they seem to have done fairly well for themselves -- 18.3 billion in gross profits, up 7.7%. Wireless revenue was up 13% with data revenue up 19.2%. (That's why carriers want iPhones on their network.)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/E3kpotL4Fmk/story01.htm

white witch white witch occupy san francisco occupy san francisco top chef just desserts jamarcus russell sister wives

Romney talks housing, ends up defending banks

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is licked by Napoleon the dog as he campaigns in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is licked by Napoleon the dog as he campaigns in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets residents as he campaigns in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, greets residents as he campaigns in Lehigh Acres, Fla., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney came to ground zero of the housing crisis Tuesday to assail rival Newt Gingrich over his ties to the government-backed mortgage companies that helped make it worse, a message Romney has been pushing since he landed in the state. But that meant he also had to talk about banks ? and he continued what's become a habit of comparing companies to people.

Romney was standing outside a Fannie Mae-foreclosed home in a struggling neighborhood telling a small crowd why they're having so much trouble. "In this case, it's because of the banks," he explained. "Well, the banks aren't bad people. They're just overwhelmed right now."

During a Monday roundtable with business owners struggling in Florida's hobbled housing market, the former Massachusetts governor told the group that their troubles with banks came because the lenders were worried about staying in business.

"The banks are scared to death, of course," he said. "They're feeling the same thing that you're feeling. And so they just want to pretend that all this is just going to get paid some day."

Both comments echoed the now-famous line Romney delivered from a hay bale at the Iowa state fair: "Corporations are people, my friend!"

They're also part of a string of comments Romney has made that his opponents have used to pummel him as wealthy and out of touch with average Americans. Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, he said he once feared being "pink-slipped" and later said "I like to fire people." He was referring to insurance companies, but both Democrats and his Republican rivals attacked him for it.

In calling corporations people, Romney meant that the money companies make benefits individuals and ultimately employs people and creates jobs. And in Florida, he's been trying to explain that banks are scared they'll go out of business because so many people have stopped paying their mortgages. He's also argued that regulations passed during the Obama administration give banks less flexibility if they're trying to help consumers renegotiate the terms of their mortgages.

He's focusing on the housing market because it's a critical issue in Florida, where the GOP primary will be held on Jan. 31. Gingrich, his chief rival, earned more than $1.6 million working as a consultant to Freddie Mac. The mortgage giant was heavily involved in the subprime lending business that helped drive the housing bubble.

"Housing has become a mess in large measure because the government got in the middle of it," Romney said. "I'm running against a guy, as you know, in this primary, who was out there working for one of those guys in the case of Freddie Mac."

Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise, was originally designed to help more people get access to mortgages to buy homes.

Romney himself hasn't outlined any specific proposals to help fix the housing market. He says improving the economy will allow Americans to regain their footing and keep their homes.

Since coming to Florida, though, he's softened his rhetoric. Last year, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the government should let the foreclosure crisis "run its course and hit the bottom." Now, he's saying the housing market needs to be "reset" so that the American economy can "rebuild."

"The distress they're feeling here was heartbreaking," Romney told reporters after the Monday roundtable. "I want to do my very best to help people like that."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-24-Romney/id-9f8702dbd98b42d49d5b9f8ad7e62c9d

star wars blu ray star wars blu ray drive patch adams preamble preamble constitution

UK trial of 9 on US Embassy terror plot begins (AP)

LONDON ? Nine men suspected of plotting attacks on the U.S. Embassy and the London Stock Exchange are to go on trial in London.

Prosecutors say the men arrested in December 2010 in the largest British anti-terror raid in two years had planned to blow up several prominent buildings. All have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cause explosions. Their trial is scheduled to begin at Woolwich Crown Court in south London on Monday.

The men are aged between 20 and 30 and were arrested in London, Cardiff and Stoke-on-Trent in central England.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_terror_trial

oklahoma state santonio holmes raheem morris mt rainier winter classic caucus stanford vs oklahoma state

Canaletto, Memling expected to lead Old Masters sales (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? An early 14th century panel of the Virgin Mary, a view of Venice by Canaletto and a very rare oil on copper still life will be among the highlights of Sotheby's sale of Old Master Paintings this week.

Works by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck and Francesco Guardi will also be included in the New York auction on January 26, which is expected to exceed $60 million.

"It is a very full, rounded sale," said Christopher Apostle, the head of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby's New York, referring to works ranging from early Italian to French Rococo and 17th century Dutch masterpieces.

Among the top lots and the oldest to go under the hammer in the sale is the very rare work, "The Virgin Annunciate," a panel by the artist Simone Martini done around the early 1300s that was part of a diptych representing the Annunciation.

Apostle described the work which has a pre-sale estimate of up to $4 million as "the most elegant picture in the sale."

Canaletto's "Venice, a View of the Churches of the Redentore and San Giacomo, with a Moored Man-of-War, Gondolas and Barges," is expected to be another top attraction and has not been seen on the market since 1986.

It is one of three works in the auction from the collection of Britain's Lady Forte, whose husband founded the hotel and restaurant chain Trusthouse Forte. Expected to fetch $5 million to $7 million, the work was painted in the mid-1700s and is characteristic of Canaletto's attention to detail.

Another painting from the Forte estate, which was done in the 18th century by Jan van Huysum called "Still Life of Roses, Tulips, Peonies in a Sculpted Stone Vase," has a pre-sale estimate of up to $6 million.

Despite the sluggish global economy the art market has rebounded recently and Apostle expects the New York sale to generate interest from around the globe.

"There are people who are absolutely passionate about paintings," he explained. "If you buy good Old Masters there will always be a desire for them."

The sale will also include an early still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, "A Still Life of Flowers in a Glass Beaker Set in a Marble Niche," which was probably painted in 1618 and was rediscovered after being lost for nearly 80 years.

Once part of the Russian Imperial Collections housed in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Apostle described it as "spectacular" and a work that could easily exceed its $1.5 million pre-sale estimate.

Works by Rubens, Frans Hals, Thomas de Keyser and Gerrit Dou will be also featured in Christie's Old Masters sales on January 25-26 but the top lot is expected to be Hans Memling's "The Virgin Nursing the Christ Child," which could sell for as much as $8 million.

"Demand for top-quality Old Master works continues to rise among both new and experienced collectors and art dealers," said Nicholas Hall, the joint international head of Old Master and Early British Paintings.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/stage_nm/us_art_auction_oldmasters

weezer slavoj zizek paul mccartney adam savage adam savage mos def jack o lantern

Indian casinos struggle to get out from under debt (AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. ? The warning from the ratings agency could not have been more direct: The parent company of the Mohegan Sun faces a "wall of debt" due early this year as the casino, struggling with rising competition and a weak economy that's hammered consumer spending, tries to refinance hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has $505 million in loans outstanding and another $250 million due April 1, Keith Foley, an analyst at Moody's Investors Service, recently told investors. The gaming authority, parent company of casinos in Uncasville, Conn., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., also has about $21 million in interest payments due Feb. 15, he said.

Mohegan Sun announced this month that fourth-quarter net income rose significantly, to $46.7 million, compared with a net loss of $26.3 million in the same period in 2010. But it also said it failed to reach an agreement to refinance debt, though lenders waived a possible default.

"They get to live another day," Foley said in an interview.

Executives at Mohegan Sun did not respond to a request for an interview.

Mohegan Sun is not alone as several Indian-run casinos ? some with plans for expansion that have been put on hold ? struggle to refinance debt after being caught short when the economy went into recession in December 2007.

Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut seeks to restructure debt, and the Mescalero Apache tribe restructured $200 million in bonds last year for casino resort property in New Mexico. A spokeswoman said Foxwoods is in debt talks, but would not provide details.

An advantage that Indian-run casinos have over their commercial counterparts is that they cannot file for bankruptcy and creditors can't foreclose on their properties because tribal governments are sovereign, said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

Valerie Red-Horse, an investment banker and financial adviser who worked on the Mecalero Apache deal, called it the "best model out there," in part because it preserved the casino's financial distributions to tribal members and tribal government while bond holders kept their stakes, she said.

Some tribes have been forced to agree to cut their distributions until debt is paid down, Red-Horse said. Making sure distributions continue is a "very delicate subject. It causes a lot of angst among tribes," she said.

Financial problems at the casino, the Inn of the Mountain Gods, were due in part to the slowing economy and faltering tourism, she said.

Indian-run casinos expanded rapidly because they are strong economic development tools for the tribes that run the casinos, said Peter Kulick, a Lansing, Mich., tax and gaming lawyer. The businesses survived economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s and were seen as immune to recessions, he said.

"In the last go-round, that's not the case," he said.

Kulick and Barrow said competition is the newest threat to casinos, even as revenue is now rising as the economy slowly improves.

"There are some real pockets of recovery going on right now," Barrow said.

Massachusetts legalized casino gambling in November, but it will be years before the three casinos authorized will be operating.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month that he would work with the Genting Group, one of the world's largest gambling companies, to transform the Aqueduct horse track into a megaplex that would eventually include the nation's largest convention center, 3,000 hotel rooms and a major expansion of a casino that began operating in October.

For Connecticut's two casinos, "Aqueduct could be pretty substantial competitive pressure," Barrow said.

"I don't see real revenue growth for Connecticut's casinos, he said.

Declining or stagnant revenue is bad news for Connecticut state government, which takes 25 percent of what the casinos pull in. State revenue from the two casinos reached their peak in 2007 at more than $411 million, said Kevin Lembo, Connecticut's comptroller who tracks state revenue from all sources.

That's declined to $342 million in the state's budget year that ended last June 30, down $69 million, or 17 percent.

"The loss of revenue is one obvious and immediate impact for the state," Lembo said. "What happens to jobs? What happens to future development plans? These are areas of concern for everyone at this point."

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said the health of the two casinos is critical because they are destinations in southeast Connecticut, drawing tourists who also visit vineyards along the shoreline, the Mystic Aquarium and other sites.

"This is a big thing for us," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_indian_casino_financing

harry connick jr rightnow bf3 craigslist nc chronicle baked alaska baked alaska

Romney braces for final full day in South Carolina

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 1997 photo, House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and his wife Marianne leave their home for Capitol Hill. Dredging up a past that Newt Gingrich has worked hard to bury, the GOP presidential candidate's ex-wife says Gingrich asked for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress. In an interview with ABC News' "Nightline" scheduled to air Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, Marianne Gingrich said she refused to go along with the proposal that she share her husband with Callista Bisek, who would later become his third wife. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson)

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 1997 photo, House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and his wife Marianne leave their home for Capitol Hill. Dredging up a past that Newt Gingrich has worked hard to bury, the GOP presidential candidate's ex-wife says Gingrich asked for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress. In an interview with ABC News' "Nightline" scheduled to air Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, Marianne Gingrich said she refused to go along with the proposal that she share her husband with Callista Bisek, who would later become his third wife. (AP Photo/Mark Wilson)

Republican presidential candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich share a laugh during a commercial break at the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, reacts to the audience as he participates in the Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, participates in a Republican presidential candidate debate at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) ? Front-runner Mitt Romney and his presidential pursuers enter the final full day of campaigning in a South Carolina GOP primary contest significantly altered from just 24 hours earlier.

The former Massachusetts governor is looking to fend off challenges to his fragile lead from more conservative rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. The entire field, including Ron Paul, scrambled for the shreds of support left by Texas Gov. Rick Perry who quit the race Thursday.

Perry's departure, a raucous Charleston debate and fresh reminders of Gingrich's tumultuous personal life promised to make the dash to Saturday's voting frenetic and the intra-party attacks increasingly sharp.

"I've been fighting for health reform, private sector, bottom-up ... for 20 years, while these two guys were playing footsies with the left," Santorum said of Romney and Gingrich during a heated debate exchange.

With Romney clinging to a narrow lead in South Carolina polls and Gingrich closing in, Santorum was aiming for the top tier. Paul was also a factor as the four remaining GOP hopefuls planned to scatter across the Palmetto State on Friday.

Romney, whose lead has shrunk in the race's closing days, planned stops along the coast, in the state's midlands and conservative north. Gingrich, gaining fast and buoyed by Perry's endorsement, was planning a half-dozen stops concentrating in the south, especially the heavily pro-military Charleston area.

Meanwhile, Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator seeking to consolidate conservatives, planned to rally supporters in four stops statewide, including the conservative upstate, the home of his evangelical base.

The libertarian-leaning Paul, whose support has slipped with his light campaign effort here, hoped to whip up his supporters with a six-city fly-around.

The GOP race spun wildly Thursday, beginning with news that Santorum had edged Romney in Iowa, a reversal of the first nominating contest more than two weeks past.

Perry, having struggled in vain to build support in his native South, quit and endorsed Gingrich. Gingrich, meanwhile, faced stunning new allegations from an ex-wife that he had sought an open marriage before their divorce. An aggressive debate punctuated the day.

Santorum played aggressor during the faceoff, trying to inject himself into what seemed increasingly like a Romney-Gingrich race after Perry's endorsement of his onetime rival.

"Newt's not perfect, but who among us is," Perry said in backing Gingrich. "The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God and I believe in the power of redemption, for it is a central tenet of my own Christian faith."

Gingrich angrily denounced the news media for putting his ex-wife front and center in the final days of the race and spreading her accusations. "Let me be clear, the story is false," he said when asked at the opening of the debate about her interview.

Santorum, Romney and Paul steered clear of the controversy.

"Let's get onto the real issues, that's all I've got to say," said Romney, although he pointed out that he and his wife, Ann, have been married for 42 years.

Gingrich and Santorum challenged Romney over his opposition to abortion, a well-documented shift but a potent one in evangelical-heavy South Carolina.

Recent polls, coupled with Perry's endorsement, suggested Gingrich was the candidate with the momentum and Romney the one struggling to validate his standing as front-runner.

Gingrich released his income tax records during the course of the debate, paving the way to discussing Romney's. The wealthy former venture capitalist has said he will release them in April, prompting Gingrich to suggest that would be too late for voters to decide if they presented evidence Obama could exploit.

"If there's anything that's in there that's going to help us lose the election, we should know before the election. If there's not, why not release it?" Gingrich said. His effective tax rate, roughly 31.6 percent of his adjusted income, was about double what Romney told reporters earlier this week he had paid.

Gingrich grappled with problems of a different, possibly even more crippling sort in a state where more than half the Republican electorate is evangelical.

Marianne Gingrich told ABC's "Nightline" that her ex-husband had wanted an "open marriage" so he could have both a wife and a mistress. She said Gingrich conducted an affair with Callista Bistek, now his wife, "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington" while she was elsewhere.

"He was asking to have an open marriage and I refused. That is not a marriage," she said in excerpts released by the network well ahead of the debate.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-20-GOP%20Campaign/id-a3b17cf51e104b09af2dcc3323f5e4c7

rightnow bf3 craigslist nc chronicle baked alaska baked alaska battlefield 3 release

Cancer

Uploaded by:?MemeGenerator

Sort:

Show:

Per page:

Order:

comments(6)

Source: http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/3202220/Cancer/

kindle library lending hp ceo hp ceo r e m gurney gurney clemency

Google's Q4 results: $2.71 billion profit, $8.13 billion in revenue, Wall Street disappointed

Google just released its fourth-quarter 2011 results, and man, Wall Street is not pleased. The company reported $2.71 billion in profit (up from $2.54 a year earlier), net revenue of $8.13 billion and earnings of $9.50 per share, excluding some one-time charges. That's less than the $10.49 per share and $8.40 billion financial analysts were expecting and, as Reuters notes, it's the first time in nine quarters that Google hasn't beaten revenue estimates. Of course, the company spun its results the best it could, emphasizing that its gross revenue jumped 25 percent to $10.58 billion, making this the first time the company's raw sales exceeded $10 billion in any given quarter. Of course, that figure doesn't reflect the myriad costs associated with boosting web traffic, and investors are more concerned with that $8.13 billion in net revenue. Needless to say, Wall Street is none too impressed -- as of this writing, the company's stock was down almost nine percent in after-hours trading.

That's not to say Google is struggling. The outfit actually logged a sharp increase in clicks on its search ads, but said the fee it receives from those ads was down eight percent from both the previous quarter as well as the fourth quarter of 2010. Plus, by all metrics, Android is still on quite the tear. In a conference call with investors, the company said there are now 250 million Android devices, up 50 million from the last quarter. Some more tidbits: 7000,000 devices are being activated per day and more than 11 billion items have been downloaded from Android Market (it hit the 10-billion mark last month). Finally, Google+ now has 90 million worldwide users, more than double the figure from three months earlier. Need a deeper dive on the numbers? We've got the full financial results at the source link, with the summary earnings release below.

Continue reading Google's Q4 results: $2.71 billion profit, $8.13 billion in revenue, Wall Street disappointed

Google's Q4 results: $2.71 billion profit, $8.13 billion in revenue, Wall Street disappointed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink paidContent, TechCrunch, Reuters  |  Google  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hWVqcuvqvCM/

harry potter and the half blood prince city of ember city of ember virgin diaries kevin smith kevin smith carlos mencia

Critics Consensus: Haywire is Certified Fresh

Plus, Red Tails fails to take off, and guess Underworld: Awakening's Tomatometer.

Also opening this week in limited release:

• Coriolanus, starring (and directed by) Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave in a modernized adaptation of the eponymous Shakespearean tragedy, is Certified Fresh at 92 percent.
• Miss Bala, a Mexican drama about beauty queen who falls into the hands of a gang, is at 91 percent.
• Carol Channing: Larger than Life, a biographical documentary about the life of the legendary American entertainer, is at 89 percent.
• Crazy Horse, a documentary about the famous Parisian cabaret club, is at 77 percent.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, an animated feature-length companion film to the popular Japanese anime, is at 67 percent.
• Ultrasuede: In Search of Halson, a documentary about the 1970s clothing designer to the stars, is at 54 percent.
• Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War, starring Christian Bale in a Chinese film about a group of civilians taking refuge in a Western monastery during the Japanese occupation, is at 39 percent.

And finally, the multiple award-winning French film The Artist and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close both expand to wide release this week.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924343/news/1924343/

watch free movies online montreal canadiens montreal canadiens jason aldean new york time amish sonic the hedgehog

Nearly Extinct Primate Rediscovered in Borneo [Video]

Researchers working on the island of Borneo have discovered two tiny new populations of Miller?s grizzled langurs (Presbytis hosei canicrus), one of the world?s 25 most endangered primates. The species is so rare that it has probably disappeared from all of its previously known habitats, which have been almost completely logged and burned out of existence. The langur was last observed in 2008 (pdf) in an isolated patch of mangrove forest on the banks of the Baai River which flows through Borneo?s Sangkulirang Peninsula, when just five of the primates were found. Those five langurs have not been seen since.

But now two teams of researchers?working independently of each other?have located two new populations of the animals in Wehea Forest, 150 kilometers inland from their previously known locations. It?s a discovery that points to the possibility of additional langur populations and offers hope that the species can be saved from extinction. The news was published online January 20 in the American Journal of Primatology.

The researchers weren?t looking for the langurs. Stephanie Spehar, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin?Oshkosh, was in Wehea studying the behavioral ecology of the area?s other primates?including Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), Bornean gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) and red langurs (Presbytis rubicunda)?when one of her students, Eric Fell, captured photos of a primate they did not recognize.

Eight kilometers away, a research team led by Brent Loken, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, had set up camera traps hoping to capture images of the elusive Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Instead, they also found images of a primate they did not recognize.

Spehar and Loken, who each work with the local Wehea Dayak community to help preserve the forest, compared notes and concluded that they had observed the same species.

?We realized that our research groups had simultaneously discovered this rare primate, Miller?s grizzled langur, in the Wehea Forest,? Spehar says. ?It was definitely unexpected, but the best kind of surprise for a group of primatologists and conservation biologists.?

Positively identifying the langur wasn?t easy. ?The pictures we have are some of the only pictures that exist of this monkey and therefore confirming its identity was a bit of a challenge,? Loken says. ?The current description of this monkey comes from museum specimens, and the pictures that we took did not fit perfectly with the previous description of this monkey.? His colleague, Stanislav Lhota of the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, contacted three primatologists with extensive experience in Borneo, all of whom agreed that the teams had located the Miller?s grizzled langur.

The researchers later found out that two other researchers had observed and photographed the langurs in Wehea in 2008 and 2010 but they had not been identified as this rare species. Those photos had never been published.

Spehar and Loken?s teams observed the Miller?s grizzled langurs in Wehea near two mineral springs in June and July 2011. They reported observing the langurs on five out of nine days; the greatest number of animals they saw was on July 11 when they spotted 11 individuals. The adults were estimated at about six to seven kilograms??pretty big for a Bornean forest mammal,? Spehar says?and were easily distinguishable from Wehea?s three other langur species by their gray limbs, white underbellies, black faces and full white beards.

Unfortunately, the researchers concluded that the population density for this species in Wehea Forest is still extremely low. They explain that all of the forest?s resident primate species tend to gather at mineral springs for reasons that are not yet known, so observations there do not reflect possible population density throughout the 38,000-hectare forest.

The researchers are now calling for increased efforts to protect Wehea Forest from logging and deforestation, which have already destroyed 95 percent of the langurs? previous habitats. Loken himself co-founded a nonprofit called Ethical Expeditions which helps the indigenous Wehea Dayak people fight back against deforestation.

Meanwhile, Spehar, Loken and Lhota have shifted some of the focus of their ongoing research to learn more about the Miller?s grizzled langur.

Loken discusses the discovery and shows off time-lapse photographs of the Miller?s grizzled langurs here:

Photo by Eric Fell

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c905c362e303fef14954c23564431b89

happy veterans day happy veterans day brian eno tomb of the unknown soldier tomb of the unknown soldier reo reo