Nikon's updating its line of cheaper intermediate DSLRs with the D5300. The camera features a redesigned image sensor plus built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, compared to last year's D5200
By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate leaders announced a deal on Wednesday to end a political crisis that partially shut down the federal government and brought the world's biggest economy close to a debt default that could have threatened global financial calamity.
The deal, however, offers only a temporary fix and does not resolve the fundamental issues of spending and deficits that divide Republicans and Democrats. It funds the government until January 15, so Americans face the possibility of another government shutdown early next year.
U.S. stocks surged, nearing an all-time high, on news of the deal, which must still be approved by vote in the Senate and the House of Representatives. But trading volumes remained low, underscoring how the political brinkmanship in Washington has unnerved Wall Street.
A stand-off between Republicans and the White House over funding the government forced the temporary lay-off of hundreds of thousands of federal workers from October 1 and created concern that crisis-driven politics was the "new normal" in Washington.
Senator John McCain, whose fellow Republicans triggered the crisis with demands that President Barack Obama's signature "Obamacare" healthcare law be defunded, said on Wednesday the deal marked the "end of an agonizing odyssey" for Americans.
"It is one of the most shameful chapters I have seen in the years I've spent in the Senate," said McCain, who had repeatedly warned Republicans not to link their demands for Obamacare changes to the debt limit or government spending bill.
House Speaker John Boehner said Republicans in the House would not block the Senate plan. Both chambers were expected to vote later in the day, clearing the way for Obama to sign it into law before Thursday, when the Treasury says it will exhaust its borrowing authority.
The deal would extend U.S. borrowing authority until February 7, although the Treasury Department would have tools to temporarily extend its borrowing capacity beyond that date if Congress failed to act early next year. The deal would fund government agencies until the middle of January.
The agreement includes some income verification procedures for those seeking subsidies under the healthcare law, but Republicans surrendered on their attempts to include other changes, including the elimination of a medical device tax.
With Republicans in the House of Representatives divided on the way forward, White House spokesman Jay Carney said "we are not putting odds on anything" when asked about a House vote on the Senate plan.
RACE AGAINST TIME
While analysts and U.S. officials say the government will still have roughly $30 billion in cash to pay many obligations for at least a few days after October 17, the financial sector may begin to seize up if the deal is not finalized in both chambers.
The planned votes signal a temporary ceasefire between Republicans and the White House in their latest no-holds-barred struggle over spending and deficits that has at times paralyzed both decision-making and basic functions of government.
The political dysfunction has worried U.S. allies and creditors such as China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt, and raised questions about the impact on America's prestige. The Treasury has said it risks hurting the country's reputation as a safe haven and stable financial center.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced the fiscal agreement on the Senate floor, where it was expected to win swift approval after a main Republican critic of the deal, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, said he would not use procedural moves to delay a vote.
The deal is seen as a victory for Obama, who held firm and refused to negotiate on changes to Obamacare, but a defeat for Republicans, who are suffering a backlash from the American public, according to public opinion polls.
It was unclear if Boehner's leadership position will be at risk in the fallout. But several Republican lawmakers suggested he may have strengthened his standing among the rank-and-file, who applaud him for standing with them.
"The Speaker got a standing ovation," after telling lawmakers during a closed-door meeting that he would put the Senate bill on the House floor, said Representative David Nunes of California, who had opposed the government shutdown strategy of his colleagues.
"He just said we live to fight another day and we all need to go out and vote for it," Nunes said.
The fight over Obamacare rapidly grew into a brawl over the debt ceiling, threatening a default that global financial organizations warned could throw the United States back into recession and cause a global economic disaster.
"Even though the market is moving up, this is a real historic event that is happening here so there is pause and concern," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.
"You are seeing a lack of activity because it's hard to invest in a market where you don't know what's around the corner."
The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended the day up around 1.3 percent.
Fitch Ratings had warned on Tuesday that it could cut the U.S. sovereign credit rating from AAA, citing the political brinkmanship over raising the debt ceiling.
The deal announced on Wednesday would basically give Obama what he has demanded for months: A straight-forward debt limit hike and government funding bill.
A resolution to the crisis cannot come soon enough for many companies. American consumers have put away their wallets, at least temporarily, instead of spending on big-ticket items like cars and recreational vehicles.
"We're sort of 'crises-ed' out," said Tammy Darvish, vice president of DARCARS Automotive Group, a family-run company that owns 21 auto dealerships in the greater Washington area.
Many political pundits and Democratic Party politicians have predicted for weeks that a faction of Republicans in the House would drag out the crisis before making a last-minute deal.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker, Patricia Zengerle, Susan Heavey, David Lawder and Jason Lange; Writing by Claudia Parsons and Ross Colvin; Editing by Grant McCool)
Just a day before the federal government reaches its borrowing limit, Senate leaders announced Wednesday that they have struck a deal to re-open the government and avert a potentially cataclysmic default on U.S. debt payments.
The final package, unveiled by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor, would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling thorough Feb. 7.
The bill also would strengthen income verification requirements for those who sign up for insurance under Obamacare, and it would provide time for both parties to appoint lawmakers to a conference committee to reconcile a broad budget resolution. The panel would be led by Budget Committee heads Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, and it would be required to announce the result of its negotiations by Dec. 13.
“This has been a long challenging few weeks for Congress and for the country," McConnell said. “It’s my hope that today we can put some of the most urgent issues behind us."
There was concern earlier Wednesday that Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who staged a 21-hour speech on the Senate floor to protest the federal health care law, would use a procedural tactic to block a vote on the deal. But after the announcement, Cruz told reporters that he would not move to deter the bill's progress through the chamber.
"I have no objections to the timing and the reason is simple. There's nothing to be gained from delaying this vote one day or two days," Cruz said. "The outcome will be the same. Every senator, every member of the House is gonna have to make a decision where he or she stands, but there's no benefit. I've never had any intention of delaying the timing of this vote."
The deal drew a quick, warm welcome from President Barack Obama, who "applauds" Reid and McConnell "for working together to forge this compromise" and hopes Congress will pass it "as soon as possible," spokesman Jay Carney said.
“He looks forward to Congress acting so that he can sign legislation that will reopen the government and will remove this threat from our economy," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.
The announcement of a deal was good news for stocks: The S&P 500 index jumped more than 20 points and other market indicators showed signs of continued confidence in the federal government's ability to pay its bills on time.
With the guidelines of the deal set, congressional officials are still puzzling over the next procedural steps. While the deal was being crafted almost entirely by Senate staff, aides underlined that it is still very possible that the House would end up casting the first votes of the day.It the House did act first, it was not clear whether it would vote on the Reid-McConnell deal or on legislation that would serve as a “vessel” for a final compromise, helping to strip away potential parliamentary procedural roadblocks.
But any House vote is expected to rely heavily on the lion’s share of Democrats’ 200 votes to secure passage. Depending on the legislation, that could leave the Senate to strike the final blow to a crisis that already has rattled bond markets and left observers around the world shaking their heads at Washington’s enthusiastic dysfunction.
Washington is watching Republican House Speaker John Boehner to see how he will tackle a process that has left many tea party-affiliated GOP lawmakers unhappy. Those lawmakers precipitated the crisis by initially insisting that any vote to raise the debt ceiling be coupled to measures rolling back Obamacare. Those demands faded in the face of ironclad opposition from Senate Democrats (displaying surprising unity) and President Obama.
The Treasury Department says the U.S. government is close to running out of borrowing authority, which it says will take place at midnight Thursday into Friday.
Because the cash-strapped U.S. government needs to borrow cash to pay for existing programs, failure to raise the debt limit means that not long after Thursday the government will not be able to pay all of its bills.
That raises the prospect of a default on America’s public debt as well as on other obligations such as Social Security payments, which would send a shock wave through the fragile global economy. Independent economists have warned that the international financial system’s reliance on the American economy (and U.S. Treasury bills) mean that the global economy could face a fresh contraction, possibly a severe recession.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has approved publication of a book by an agent who told Congress about the agency's failed gun smuggling sting operation "Fast and Furious."
The Justice Department said ATF on Wednesday was notifying the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents special agent John Dodson, that he may publish the book but that a few parts of will be redacted for law-enforcement reasons. The book, "The Unarmed Truth," is scheduled for publication in December by Threshold, a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster.
It is still unclear whether Dodson will be allowed to be paid for the book. Federal law generally prohibits government workers from profiting off of outside work that is specifically based on their government job.
The Justice Department's ethics office will make a final determination on that after the partial government shutdown has ended.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Factory activity in the New York region expanded more slowly in October, a sign that the partial government shutdown may be weighing on the economy.
The Empire State manufacturing index fell to 1.5 in October from 6.3 in September, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday. Any reading above zero indicates expansion. Despite the decline, manufacturing in the region has grown for five straight months.
A measure of new orders rose, pointing to healthier future growth. And factories continued to add jobs, albeit at a slower pace.
The New York Fed's regional manufacturing report will receive more attention than usual this month because it's one of the few available measures of the economy during the shutdown, which is now in its third week. Government data, including the monthly employment report and retail sales figures, have been delayed.
The decline suggests that the budget showdown in Washington has hit manufacturers' confidence. The New York Fed surveys about 100 manufacturing firms in the state in the first two weeks of the month to compile its index.
The report "shows some clear strains from the fiscal debacle," said Bricklin Dwyer, an economist at BNP Paribas, in a note to clients.
But economists also pointed out that the drop could have been worse. Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, said the index fell into negative territory during two previous budget battles in 2011 and 2012.
"We don't expect to see a severe slowdown in output growth as manufacturers are benefiting from the turnaround in overseas demand," Dales said.
Lawmakers were busy Tuesday trying to find a way to end the shutdown. They are also facing a Thursday deadline to raise the nation's $16.7 trillion borrowing limit. Without an increase, the U.S. government is at great risk of defaulting on its debt.
Senate leaders were said to be near a deal that would reopen the government through Jan. 15 and permit the Treasury to borrow normally until early to mid-February. House GOP leaders have yet to embrace the Senate plan and instead floated a counter proposal to their rank and file. But that was met with mixed reviews, leaving any resolution in flux.
The budget impasse has held back an economy that is already struggling to accelerate, according to the limited data that have been released. The shutdown has furloughed about 350,000 federal workers since Oct. 1 and closed down numerous agencies, including the Labor Department and NASA.
Consumer confidence has fallen sharply this month, according to some measures. Weekly unemployment applications jumped last week, in part because about 15,000 non-federal workers said they were laid off due to the shutdown.
Economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have cut their forecast for growth in the October-December quarter to an annual rate of 2 percent, down from 2.5 percent, because of the partial shutdown.
The Fitbug Orb seems like a shot across the bow for the Fitbit Flex and Jawbone Up activity trackers. For starters, this latest fitness wearable is priced at $50 -- half as much as the competition. Additionally, Fitbug claims the gizmo can go six months between charges, and compared to our ...Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/15/gamesgrabr-launches-equity-funding-campaign-to-be-pinterest-for-games/
Mentors can dispense sage wisdom over endless cups of coffee, but it takes a sponsor's relentless advocacy to propel a woman to a seat on a corporate board and a desk in a corner office.
That's the message that will be presented Tuesday when the Forum of Executive Women releases its annual report on women in business leadership.
"Sponsorship goes beyond mentoring," said Nila G. Betof, president of the businesswomen's association. "Sponsorship is where the sponsor puts his or her capital on the table in advocating for a woman."
"Sponsorship is like mentoring on steroids," said Deanna Byrne, a partner in the Philadelphia office of PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. She credits one of her sponsors for positioning her to land her current assignment providing accounting services for one of the company's Fortune 500 clients.
The forum has been studying the influence of women on the leadership of the region's publicly traded companies since at least 2005.
In that time, there has been progress, but not enough, leaders say.
For example, women held 12 percent of board seats in 2012 (103 out of 829), a 30 percent increase since 2005. There is also a higher percentage of female executives - 12 percent in 2012, up 33 percent from 2005.
Significantly, women also are commanding more money. In 2012, one in 10 of the top earners (50 of 491) were women, up 67 percent from 2005.
But a third of the region's top 100 publicly traded companies have no women on their boards.
One in five companies have no women board members, no women executives, and no women among the company's top earners.
Only six of the 100 chief executives are women, and only eight companies have three or more women on their boards.
"The progress continues to be very, very slow," said Betof, chief operating officer of the Leader's Edge/Leaders by Design, a Bala Cynwyd company that grooms executives to advance their careers.
The issue of female corporate leadership is attracting more attention. Catapulting the topic onto talk shows and radio programs was Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, a book by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.
In September, Mayor Nutter signed a law that will require companies doing business with Philadelphia to disclose the number of women in their executive ranks.
"Female employees who work hard and play by the rules are often overlooked when it comes to the 'big' assignments and large promotions," said P. Edward Lovelidge, managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia.
"It is relationships with sponsors that can make the difference," he said.
Titled The Power of Sponsorship: A Call to Action, the forum's report lists companies and their female executives (or lack of them), and tells the stories of sponsors and their protégés.
For example, F. William McNabb 3d is the chief executive officer and chairman of the Vanguard Group of Mutual Funds - the top job in one of the nation's top financial companies. Martha G. King is a managing director at Vanguard and head of U.S. financial intermediaries - one of the company's top positions. She heads Vanguard's second biggest line of business.
McNabb and King are related, but not in the family sense. Shortly after King began at Vanguard as a college hire, McNabb recognized her as a potential leader, and took aggressive and substantial measures to sponsor her rise through the company. Their relationship is now 25 years old.
McNabb sponsored King to head institutional sales for the western region, though she wasn't the obvious choice of the selection committee, the report said. He also transferred her back early to the company's headquarters to lead the institutional investment only business. That was a large, integrated business unit, compared with her earlier more-focused responsibilities.
"Someone did it for me, and I have an absolute obligation to do it for others," McNabb said in the forum report.
Helen F. Giles-Gee president of the University of the Sciences, described how she sponsored Emile "Mel" Netzhammer, now chancellor of Washington State University, Vancouver, when Giles-Gee was president of Keene State College in New Hampshire.
She hired him as provost and then assigned him to chair a finance committee. Netzhammer would have preferred a more academic assignment, but ended up with important skills.
Giles-Gee nominated Netzhammer for his current job.
215-854-2769
@JaneVonBergen
By Belinda Goldsmith and Chris Vellacott
LONDON (Reuters) - The global financial crisis has strengthened the Church of England's drive for more ethical business practices by making companies and shareholders more receptive to change, according to the man who manages its investment fund.
With about 5.5 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) of financial and property assets, the Church has greater clout than many hedge funds. But it has often struggled to make its voice heard.
That is starting to change, according to First Church Estates Commissioner Andreas Whittam Smith.
"It's on both sides," he told Reuters in his wood-paneled office in the shadows of London's Westminster Abbey. "It's not only companies considering whether they are behaving as they should as good citizens," it's also investors preparing to line up alongside the Church to promote better behavior, he said.
"Our typical holdings in companies are half percents, so in itself it doesn't make a lot of difference, but if you can represent with others 15 percent of the capital you can achieve something."
Ethical investment comes at a cost, estimated at about 0.7 percent a year of growth lost from "opportunities foregone".
But the Church's fund still made a return of 9.7 percent last year and stands firmly by its decision to sell out of News Corp
Taking a moral high ground to investment has meant some public relations hiccups along the way.
Scrutiny of the Church's portfolio intensified this year after it was found to indirectly invest in short-term lender Wonga which Church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said he wanted "to compete out of business".
But Whittam Smith, a former financial journalist who founded the Independent newspaper in 1985, said ethical investment was not just about avoiding shares in firms involved in pornography, gambling, alcohol and tobacco, or the like.
"With ethical investment there are two aspects. One is to disinvest, the second is to stay and see whether you can change things," he said.
"CHANGE IN MORAL CLIMATE"
About 2.5 billion pounds of the Church's portfolio is invested in shares listed in Britain or overseas, including in drug companies GlaxoSmithKline
Whittam Smith said the Church had discussed its role in the banking sector after a string of scandals over mis-selling and huge compensation payouts, but decided it had more influence as an activist shareholder within to change the moral compass.
"Active ethical investment is not visible from the outside but I see from the inside it changes things," he said.
Whittam Smith added he believed the City of London's financial industry had undergone a "change in moral climate", reining in the bloated bonuses and unscrupulous behavior of recent years. Much still needed to be done, however.
"We still have concerns about the banks as you would imagine. I think there is a change in sentiment in retail banking. I'm not sure there's a change of sentiment in investment banking," he said.
His confidence in bringing change in the banking sector was reflected two weeks ago when it emerged the Church had joined U.S. investors to back a new "ethical" British bank from branches sold by Royal Bank of Scotland
Whittam Smith said the Church's investment in 314 branches of the dormant Williams & Glyn's brand was worth about 60 million pounds and the Church would appoint one board director.
This move indicated the Church was taking an increasingly hands-on role in its investment, for example managing its own property assets worth over 1.1 billion pounds, he said.
Other recent changes in the portfolio include a greater investment in timber, mostly in the United States, and taking a more rigorous path in choosing managers to run fund assets.
Whittam Smith was confident the portfolio was faring well this year and would again beat its annual growth target of five percentage points over the rate of inflation, with much of the income used to pay clergy pensions and support Church work.
"I believe we will exceed that this year," he said.
He said the Church fund was looking to invest in infrastructure projects either in Britain or overseas, increase investment in private equity, and had considered investing in Brazil but had veered off that idea for now.
Asked what kept him awake at night, Whittam Smith expressed deep concerns about the fiscal impasse in the United States.
"If it all went terribly wrong and there was a default it would unpick things very quickly, much more quickly than people think, because so many things depend on it," he said.
(Editing by Mark Potter)
This undated handout photo provided by Marinelifephotography.com shows Soft corals, crinoids and associated reef fishes in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. A new study on the timing of climate change calculates the probable dates for when cities and ecosystems across the world would regularly experience never-before-seen hotter environments based on about 150 years of record-keeping. These are the dates when every year is hotter than old hottest annual record. This means the old blistering heat of people's memories will eventually seem unusually cool in comparison to the warming years to come. Coral reef species are the first to be stuck in a new climate that they haven't experienced before and are most vulnerable to climate change, Mora said. Coral reefs will be in that new regime around 2030. (AP Photo/Keoki Stender, Marinelifephotography.com)
This undated handout photo provided by Marinelifephotography.com shows Soft corals, crinoids and associated reef fishes in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. A new study on the timing of climate change calculates the probable dates for when cities and ecosystems across the world would regularly experience never-before-seen hotter environments based on about 150 years of record-keeping. These are the dates when every year is hotter than old hottest annual record. This means the old blistering heat of people's memories will eventually seem unusually cool in comparison to the warming years to come. Coral reef species are the first to be stuck in a new climate that they haven't experienced before and are most vulnerable to climate change, Mora said. Coral reefs will be in that new regime around 2030. (AP Photo/Keoki Stender, Marinelifephotography.com)
This undated handout photo provided by Marinelifephotography.com shows a reef slope densely covered by soft corals in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. A new study on the timing of climate change calculates the probable dates for when cities and ecosystems across the world would regularly experience never-before-seen hotter environments based on about 150 years of record-keeping. These are the dates when every year is hotter than old hottest annual record. This means the old blistering heat of people's memories will eventually seem unusually cool in comparison to the warming years to come. Coral reef species are the first to be stuck in a new climate that they haven't experienced before and are most vulnerable to climate change, Mora said. Coral reefs will be in that new regime around 2030. (AP Photo/Keoki Stender, Marinelifephotography.com)
Map shows when select cities will go beyond normal temperatures for 150 years ; 3c x 4 inches; 146 mm x 101 mm;
WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting in about a decade, Kingston, Jamaica, will probably be off-the-charts hot — permanently. Other places will soon follow. Singapore in 2028. Mexico City in 2031. Cairo in 2036. Phoenix and Honolulu in 2043.
And eventually the whole world in 2047.
A new study on global warming pinpoints the probable dates for when cities and ecosystems around the world will regularly experience hotter environments the likes of which they have never seen before.
And for dozens of cities, mostly in the tropics, those dates are a generation or less away.
"This paper is both innovative and sobering," said Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who was not involved in the study.
To arrive at their projections, the researchers used weather observations, computer models and other data to calculate the point at which every year from then on will be warmer than the hottest year ever recorded over the last 150 years.
For example, the world as a whole had its hottest year on record in 2005. The new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, says that by the year 2047, every year that follows will probably be hotter than that record-setting scorcher.
Eventually, the coldest year in a particular city or region will be hotter than the hottest year in its past.
Study author Camilo Mora and his colleagues said they hope this new way of looking at climate change will spur governments to do something before it is too late.
"Now is the time to act," said another study co-author, Ryan Longman.
Mora, a biological geographer at the University of Hawaii, and colleagues ran simulations from 39 different computer models and looked at hundreds of thousands of species, maps and data points to ask when places will have "an environment like we had never seen before."
The 2047 date for the whole world is based on continually increasing emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gases. If the world manages to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, that would be pushed to as late as 2069, according to Mora.
But for now, Mora said, the world is rushing toward the 2047 date.
"One can think of this year as a kind of threshold into a hot new world from which one never goes back," said Carnegie Institution climate scientist Chris Field, who was not part of the study. "This is really dramatic."
Mora forecasts that the unprecedented heat starts in 2020 with Manokwa, Indonesia. Then Kingston, Jamaica. Within the next two decades, 59 cities will be living in what is essentially a new climate, including Singapore, Havana, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico City.
By 2043, 147 cities — more than half of those studied — will have shifted to a hotter temperature regime that is beyond historical records.
The first U.S. cities to feel that would be Honolulu and Phoenix, followed by San Diego and Orlando, Fla., in 2046. New York and Washington will get new climates around 2047, with Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Austin and Dallas a bit later.
Mora calculated that the last of the 265 cities to move into their new climate will be Anchorage, Alaska — in 2071. There's a five-year margin of error on the estimates.
Unlike previous research, the study highlights the tropics more than the polar regions. In the tropics, temperatures don't vary much, so a small increase can have large effects on ecosystems, he said. A 3-degree change is not much to polar regions but is dramatic in the tropics, which hold most of the Earth's biodiversity, he said.
The Mora team found that by one measurement — ocean acidity — Earth has already crossed the threshold into an entirely new regime. That happened in about 2008, with every year since then more acidic than the old record, according to study co-author Abby Frazier.
Of the species studied, coral reefs will be the first stuck in a new climate — around 2030 — and are most vulnerable to climate change, Mora said.
Judith Curry, a Georgia Institute of Technology climate scientist who often clashes with mainstream scientists, said she found Mora's approach to make more sense than the massive report that came out of the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last month.
Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann said the research "may actually be presenting an overly rosy scenario when it comes to how close we are to passing the threshold for dangerous climate impacts."
"By some measures, we are already there," he said.
___
Online:
Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature
Mora lab: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/
___
Seth Borenstein be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-10-09-Climate%20Change%20Timing/id-065dc576c5ae4f9f9f66ff3415c00297
Remember that time you submitted a script to Babylon 5 and it was accepted for a show? Yeah, didn't happen to us either, but apparently Tokyoflash has a much more open mind with its fans. It just launched the Kisai Quasar, a hexagonal-themed watch that was originally submitted by Tokyoflash buff ...That girl's got a glow about her! Jessica Simpson looked absolutely stunning as she and fiance Eric Johnson strolled through Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, Oct. 13. The singer, 33, donned sky-high black boots, a deep-cut black top and sparkly grey blazer for her airport attire.
She accessorized with an oversized black leather bag in the crook of her right arm and a pair of large sunglasses, with her long blonde hair in waves around her face. Johnson, meanwhile, kept his look casual-chic as well, in a dar navy button-down, brown slacks and dark brown loafers.
PHOTOS: Jessica Simpson's family album
Simpson kept her left arm firmly intertwined with her former NFL star beau as the pair made their way through the terminal.
Jessica Simpson stunned in a flowing blue gown at her longtime publicist's wedding in Rhode Island on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Credit: FameFlynet
Just one day earlier, the happy mother-of-two (to daughter Maxwell, 16 months, and son Ace, 3 months) looked similarly gorgeous as she walked down the aisle at longtime publicist Lauren Auslander's wedding in Newport, R.I.
Simpson shared a few precious snapshots from the event, including one particularly sweet one of her with Johnson's mother.
"Beautiful morning with my future mother-in-law and MoJo to my babies!" she captioned the shot, in which Simpson and her future mother-in-law share matching grins and oversized shades.
PHOTOS: Jessica Simpson's body evolution
Simpson and Johnson, 34, got engaged in November 2010.
Think The Hot Latin Diet will give you a hot body?
With more than 100 million people in the United States annually on a diet it is no surprise the weight-loss industry is a 20 BILLION dollar business! Everyone is an authority and has the answer to America’s obesity problem. Bookstore shelves are lined with such titles as The Ornish Diet, The Sugar Busters Diet, and The 3-Hour Diet, all just waiting for the next sucker to pick one up.
The FBG crowd knows better than to put their health in the hands of these snake oil salesmen. However, I just couldn’t help but snatch up a copy of The Hot Latin Diet — The Fast-Track Plan To A Bombshell Body, just for giggles. This one ought to be good, I thought: it guarantees weight loss and the ability to turn me into a curvaceous hottie. Me: the girl with the figure that is more boyish than bodacious.
Written by Dr. Manny Alvarez and inspired by the fact that most Miss Universe winners are from Latin countries, the author reveals their secret weapon: seven Latin powerfoods, supposedly not found in any other diet plan, that are nutrient-dense, naturally detoxifying, metabolism-boosting, cholesterol-lowering, libido-enhancing and just down right tasty. They are — drum roll please — tomatillos, garbanzo beans, avocado, garlic, cinnamon, chiles and cilantro. Not earth-shattering news.
There is no argument about his chosen seven foods, but they can be added to a long list of other fiber-packed and nutritionally superior foods found in those countries, such as lentils, pumpkin, quinoa, collard greens and so forth. So what gives?
As I continued my read, I realized that the author is not promoting a “diet” at all. His plan is a “lifestyle change,” incorporating fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, lean meat, fish and complex carbs. He caters to vegetarians and carnivores alike with a motivational program that incorporates balance and a ton of flavor.
He deftly explains why deprivation never works, promotes three daily meals plus two snacks, as well as the importance of sleep and a positive attitude. His book contains common sense, how-to-get-started tips and includes recipes from some top-notch Latina chefs. These meals are anything but bland diet food. So, why have the silly title?
Those 100 million dieters I spoke about in the first paragraph? Well, a whopping 85 percent of them are women, and their main reason for dieting is rarely their own health. Vanity is the top motivator for weight loss, and the author was savvy enough to act on it. Who wouldn’t want the attributes of a Miss Universe? Long legs, great hair, big white teeth, glowing skin, poise and enough confidence to strut across a stage wearing a swimsuit with heels.
I was prepared to hate The Hot Latin Diet but just couldn’t. Sure, Dr. Alvarez titled his book to appeal to the ego, but if that’s what it takes to get people interested in their own well being, so be it. His philosophy is realistic with sound nutritional information that is easy to understand. And those powerfood recipes, in my opinion, are just a fun way to expand your palate.
I’ve personally eaten this way for years, sans the spicy chiles, and it has kept me feeling and looking my best. On the outside I may look like the blond-haired, green-eyed girl from next door, but on the inside — baby, this is one hot chica!
Fit Bottomed Line: This is an easy read with solid information pertaining to diet and life skills. Plus, some darn good recipes.
Do you secretly (or not-so-secretly) yearn to be a hottie? What keeps you motivated to eat well? —Karen
Kris and Bruce Jenner's marriage is over. The news that the Kardashian sisters' mother and stepfather have separated is something we've been anticipating for a long time -- yet somehow, it came completely out of the blue. Maybe it's because we've been so focused on daughter Khloe Kardashian's crumbling marriage to Lamar Odom? Regardless, the couple of 22 years announced their separation in true Kardashian style: on the cover of Us Weekly.
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