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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
This Morning's Data Has Been Great - Business Insider
Today was a heavy morning for data in the U.S. starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
And the data came in great.
Here's a quick round-up:
- The very first data point to beat expectations was durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. Et. The headline number climbed 3.6%, beating expectations for a 3% rise. ?
- Next was the Case-Shiller home price index for May which climbed 12.05% year-over-year in April, beating expectations for a 10.6% rise.
- The FHFA home price index was out next this missed expectations rising 0.7% but, the March number was revised up to show a 1.5% rise.
- New home sales beat expectations rising 2.1% in May to an annual rate of 476,000, and Aprils number was revised up to show a 3.3% rise.
- Consumer confidence jumped to 81.4 in June, beating expectations for 75.1 and up from a revised 74.3 in May.
- Finally the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index surged to +8 in June, from -2 in May. This beat expectations for a rise to +2.
?This adds to signs that the economy is continuing to gather steam.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/this-mornings-data-has-been-great-2013-6
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Stocks rise on higher home prices, durable goods
NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stocks rose in midday trading Tuesday, pushed higher by a trifecta of encouraging economic reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,739 at noon Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's index was up 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,583. Bank stocks, which sank the day before, rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the index.
Investors were encouraged by three main data points. The Commerce Department said U.S. businesses made more orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, including a surge in commercial aircraft orders. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed year-over-years gains in all cities tracked for the fourth straight month, a sign that the housing market is continuing to recover. And the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence rose sharply in June to the highest level in more than five years, bolstered by an improving outlook for hiring.
Shares of homebuilders, including Toll Brothers and KB Home, rose after the Case-Shiller report. Homebuilder Lennar, which also reported quarterly results that beat analysts' expectations, rose $1.20, or 3.4 percent, to $36.19. The company said demand in all its housing markets continues to outpace supply.
Jonathan Lewis, chief investment officer at Samson Capital Advisors, cautioned against reading too much into a single day of economic reports. That's been a familiar refrain among market watchers this year, as practically every sign that the economy is improving seems to be met with another that says it's stagnating.
"It's nice to see that consumer confidence came in well over expectations, but of course they also revised down last month's," Lewis said. "Of course it's nice to see home prices up ... but the sharp rise in rates means mortgage rates are rising higher."
In recent weeks, the market has been driven not so much by economic fundamentals, but by speculation about when the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates or pull back on a bond-buying program that is meant to stimulate the economy. Stocks plunged Wednesday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could rein in its bond-buying program this year. Though in some ways that is good news ? after all, it means the Fed thinks the economy is improving ? investors have largely treated the idea of a Fed pullback as bad news, worrying how the market will fare without the central bank propping it up.
Starting Wednesday, the Dow plunged by triple digits for three out of four days. The fact that the second quarter ends this Friday will probably add to the volatility: Money managers need to book profits for their clients before then.
Lewis said he thought that the market's Tuesday morning gain was partly due to investors stepping back and taking a more reasoned, less reactive view of the Fed's potential pullback plan. For example, the Fed wants the Fed wants the jobless rate to be at 6.5 percent before it starts raising short-term interest rates. Last month, it was 7.6 percent.
"This is the day," Lewis said, "where the dust appears to be settling."
The stronger economic news released Tuesday led investors to sell U.S. government debt, sending bond yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many kinds of loans, rose to 2.59 percent from 2.54 percent late Monday. Investors have also been selling bonds in anticipation of the Fed winding down its stimulus program.
Despite the gains in U.S. stocks and the rise in U.S. bond yields, there were ample reminders of economic uncertainty around the world. Stocks continued to fall in China, where investors are fretting that the government's new efforts to curb unregulated lending will hurt companies and choke already-slowing economic growth.
In debt-riddled Greece, new cabinet members met for the first time after a hasty reshuffling of top government posts that the prime minister was forced to agree to after his contentious order to close the state broadcaster, a move meant to save money. And the head of Germany's central bank, Jens Weidmann, called for a "strict and thorough" review of the finances of European banks, even as the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, defended an ECB stimulus program that German leaders have criticized.
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index was up 17 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,335.
Commodities prices were mixed. Gold fell $2.30 to $1,274 an ounce and the price of crude oil rose 40 cents to $95.57 a barrel.
Among stocks making big moves:
?Walgreen, the nation's largest drugstore chain, slipped after reporting earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations ? a result, the company said, of lower-than-expected sales outside the pharmacy. Walgreen fell $3.85, or 8 percent, to $44.20.
?Barnes & Noble dipped after reporting that its loss more than doubled in the latest quarter. The bookseller has struggled to compete with online retailers and discounters, and its Nook e-book continues to lose money. The stock fell $3, or 16 percent, to $15.82.
?Clothing chain Men's Wearhouse rose after saying it had fired executive chairman George Zimmer, the company's founder and star of its TV commercials, because he had advocated for "significant changes that would enable him to regain control." The stock rose $1.90, or 5.4 percent, to $37.03.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-rise-higher-home-prices-durable-goods-142656999.html
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'Monsters' beats zombies, Superman at box office
En esta imagen promocional difundida por Disney-Pixar, los personajes de Mike, en la voz de Billy Crystal, a la izquierda, y el profesor Knight, cuya voz hace Alfred Molina, a la derecha, en una escena de la cinta animada "Monsters University". (AP Foto/Disney-Pixar)
En esta imagen promocional difundida por Disney-Pixar, los personajes de Mike, en la voz de Billy Crystal, a la izquierda, y el profesor Knight, cuya voz hace Alfred Molina, a la derecha, en una escena de la cinta animada "Monsters University". (AP Foto/Disney-Pixar)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Turns out zombies and Superman are no match for monsters.
Disney's "Monsters University" is the weekend box-office winner, according to studio estimates released Sunday. The animated family film, which reunites the cast and characters from the 2001 hit "Monsters, Inc.," debuted in first place with $82 million. It beat out Paramount's Brad Pitt zombie romp "World War Z," which opened in second place with $66 million.
Warner Bros. "Man of Steel" was in third place, adding another $41.2 million to its coffers and bringing its domestic ticket sales over $210 million in just the second week of release.
The Sony apocalyptic comedy "This Is the End" finished fourth. The magic-heist thriller "Now You See Me" held onto fifth place in its fourth week of release.
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Five years of stereo imaging for NASA's TWINS
June 24, 2013 ? Surrounding Earth is a dynamic region called the magnetosphere. The region is governed by magnetic and electric forces, incoming energy and material from the sun, and a vast zoo of waves and processes unlike what is normally experienced in Earth-bound physics. Nestled inside this constantly changing magnetic bubble lies a donut of charged particles generally aligned with Earth's equator. Known as the ring current, its waxing and waning is a crucial part of the space weather surrounding our planet, able to induce magnetic fluctuations on the ground as well as to transmit disruptive surface charges onto spacecraft.
On June 15, 2008, a new set of instruments began stereoscopic imaging of this mysterious region. Called Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers or TWINS, these satellites orbit in widely separated planes to provide the first and only stereo view of the ring current. TWINS maps the energetic neutral atoms that shoot away from the ring current when created by ion collisions.
In five years of operation, the TWINS maps have provided three-dimensional images and global characterization of this region. The observatories track how the magnetosphere responds to space weather storms, characterize global information such as temperature and shape of various structures within the magnetosphere, and improve models of the magnetosphere that can be used to simulate a vast array of events.
"With two satellites, with two sets of simultaneous images we can see things that are entirely new," said Mei-Ching Fok, the project scientist for TWINS at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This is the first ever stereoscopic energetic neutral atom mission, and it's changed the way we understand the ring current."
Each spacecraft is in a highly elliptical orbit called a Molniya orbit, during which the spacecraft spend most of their time around 20,000 miles above Earth, where they get a great view of the magnetosphere. Initially launched for a two-year mission, TWINS was formally extended in 2010 for three more years, with another multi-year extension pending. Over that time, TWINS has worked hand in hand with other NASA missions that provide information about Earth's magnetosphere.
"We've done some fantastic new research in the last five years," said David McComas, the principal investigator for TWINS at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "As a mission of opportunity, it is a very inexpensive mission and it continues to return incredible science."
TWINS science is based on two instruments that can track neutral atoms. The first is a neutral atom imager that records the atoms that naturally stream away when a neutral atom collides with an ion. This allows the instrument to map the original ions from far away -- as if it could see atoms the way we see light -- instead of only collecting data from the areas of space it passes through.
"Over the course of the last 20 years a completely new technique evolved so we can observe charged particles, such as those in the ring current, remotely," said McComas. "The charged particles sometimes collide with a slow-moving neutral particle, in this case from a population of neutrals from Earth's highly extended atmosphere, the geocorona."
When this happens, an electron hops from the slow neutral atom to the fast ion, so now the former becomes charged, and the latter neutral. That new neutral speeds off in a straight direction, unfazed by the magnetic field lines around Earth that guide and control the motion of charged particles. TWINS collects such fast neutral particles and from that data scientists can work backward to map out the location and movement of the original ions.
The other instrument on TWINS is a Lyman alpha detector, which can measure the density of hydrogen from afar, and in this case observes the hydrogen cloud around Earth, the geocorona.
Most importantly, these instruments exist on both of the TWINS spacecraft. Much of the successful research in the last five years relies on the ability to watch these neutrals from two viewpoints, allowing scientists to analyze not only speed and number of particles, but also to determine the angles at which the particles left their original collisions. The stereo vision contributed to the detailed perspectives on how the magnetosphere reacts to space weather storms: both those due to the impact of a coronal mass ejection that traveled from the sun toward Earth and due to an incoming twist in the solar wind known as a co-rotating interaction region. TWINS has also revealed that the pitch angle at which the ions travel around Earth is different on each side of the planet. Such information helps scientists determine whether the ions are more likely to escape from the ring current out into space or to ultimately funnel down toward Earth.
"TWINS is a stereo mission, providing the first observations of the neutral atoms from two vantage points, but two spacecraft give us another advantage," said Natalia Buzulukova, a magnetospheric scientist at Goddard who works with TWINS data. "Two spacecraft provide continuous coverage of the ring current, as one set of instruments always has a view."
Because the spacecraft orbits are not in sync they provide stereoscopic imaging for a few hours each day, but there is always at least one spacecraft keeping tabs on how events are unfolding. Prior to TWINS, a spacecraft might see a tantalizing process taking place in the ring current for only a short while before its orbit took it out of view. The event might well have finished before the spacecraft came back around for its second look.
Such continuity has proved useful to determine what governs whether particles in the ring current will precipitate downward toward Earth as well as to provide a global temperature map of the magnetic tail trailing behind Earth, the magnetotail. Such a map had only ever previously been inferred from models and statistical analysis, never from a comprehensive data set of what was actually observed.
The Lyman-alpha instrument has been used in two ways. For one thing, it quantifies the geocorona in order to better understand how it affects the collisions in the ring current. It also has taught us more about the geocorona itself. Previously, researchers believed it to be a fairly simple sphere around Earth. The two TWINS instruments have shown how asymmetric it is, changing with the solar cycle, seasons, and even the hours of the day.
A final important feature of this fire hose of TWINS data is how much it helps improve computer simulations of the ring current and the rest of the magnetosphere. With accurate computer models, scientists can better predict how the magnetosphere will react to any given space weather event.
"We get two really unique things with two spacecraft: stereo imaging and continuous coverage. Together the observations we get are fantastic," said McComas. "It's an incredibly powerful combination of tools."
TWINS is an Explorer Mission of Opportunity. Southwest Research Institute leads TWINS with teams of national and international partners. Goddard manages the Explorers Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.
For more information about TWINS science and mission, visit: http://science.nasa.gov/missions/twins/
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/Xky6buFd45M/130624141606.htm
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Turtles have fingerprints? New genetic technique reveals paternity and more
June 24, 2013 ? For 220 million years they have roamed the seas, denizens of the bustling coral reef and the vast open ocean. Each year, some emerge from the pounding surf onto moonlit beaches to lay their eggs. Throughout human history, we have revered them, used them, and worked to protect them, but we have only begun to understand these ancient, iconic creatures. Now, with all five of the sea turtle species in the U.S. threatened or endangered, knowledge is more crucial than ever.
NOAA scientist Dr. Peter Dutton leads a team that's trying to answer some important questions about marine turtles. What will happen as sea levels rise, covering the nesting beaches turtles have used for hundreds of years? Which turtle laid this mysterious clutch of eggs on a remote beach? Where in the ocean do they mate, and how big is this population?
Thanks to a recent breakthrough in the genetics lab, Dutton and his colleagues have a clever way to find answers. Like detectives, they have learned that fingerprints help solve the puzzle?genetic fingerprints. For decades, most sea turtle studies and conservation efforts have focused on nesting females and hatchlings, because they're easiest for humans to access. Male sea turtles, which don't come ashore, are elusive characters.
Dutton's team has pioneered a technique that allows them to fill in the blanks using tiny DNA samples from nesting females and hatchlings. As Dutton and his colleague Dr. Kelly Stewart wrote in a recent article, "Hidden in a hatchling's DNA is its entire family history, including who its mother is, who its father is, and to what nesting population it belongs." (See: http://seaturtlestatus.org/sites/swot/files/report/030612_SWOT7_p12_Sea%20Turtle%20CSI.pdf)
This innovative tool is opening up new avenues in marine turtle conservation. Population recovery goals are based on how long turtles take to reach maturity, and genetic fingerprinting can help reveal this key piece of information, which may be different for each population. Dutton's team developed the technique while studying endangered leatherbacks on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. In the last four years, they have sampled 20,353 hatchlings there, and discovered the genetic identity of the fathers, even when multiple males have sired a single clutch of eggs; how often individual turtles mate and their reproductive success; and the ratio of males to females among the breeding turtles.
On Padre Island National Seashore in Texas, critically endangered Kemp's ridley turtles have been leaving scattered nests along remote beaches, but females are often long gone by the time monitors find the nests. There, NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the National Park Service are using the technique to match mystery nests to mother turtles. Identifying who's nesting where and when, survival rate, and breeding success over many years will help us monitor this small population and gauge the impact of major events like disasters.
In the most surprising news yet, green turtles have begun nesting in the main Hawai'ian islands for the first time in generations. Green turtles, or honu, have nested in the remote Northwest Hawai'ian Islands, primarily on the quiet, low-lying beaches of French Frigate Shoals, a coral atoll about 500 miles from Honolulu.
Genetic fingerprinting shows that about 15 untagged females have become "founders" on the main Hawai'ian islands, boldly nesting where no one has nested before?at least not for hundreds of years. It's possible that this pioneer population could provide a kind of buffer as sea level rise threatens to shrink their traditional nesting beaches. Many questions remain, but for now science is giving turtles, and those who care about them, reason to hope.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ldgcQeFmidI/130624143922.htm
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Hostess: Twinkies to return to shelves July 15
This undated image provided by Hostess Brands LLC shows a box of Twinkies. Twinkies will be back on shelves by July 15, 2013, after its predecessor company went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with unions last year. The brands have since been purchased y Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management. (AP Photo/Hostess Brands)
This undated image provided by Hostess Brands LLC shows a box of Twinkies. Twinkies will be back on shelves by July 15, 2013, after its predecessor company went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with unions last year. The brands have since been purchased y Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management. (AP Photo/Hostess Brands)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Hostess is betting on a sweet comeback for Twinkies when they return to shelves next month.
The company that went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with its unionized workers last year is back up and running under new owners and a leaner structure. It says it plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes back on shelves starting July 15.
Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster return next month for Twinkies and other sugary treats, such as CupCakes and Donettes. The company says the cakes will taste the same but that the boxes will now bare the tag line "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever."
"A lot of impostor products have come to the market while Hostess has been off the shelves," says Daren Metropoulos, a principal of the investment firm Metropoulos & Co., which teamed up with Apollo Global Management to buy a variety of Hostess snacks.
Hostess Brands Inc. was struggling for years before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early 2012. Workers blamed the troubles on years of mismanagement, as well as a failure of executives to invest in brands to keep up with changing tastes. The company said it was weighed down by higher pension and medical costs than its competitors, whose employees weren't unionized.
To steer it through its bankruptcy reorganization, Hostess hired restructuring expert Greg Rayburn as its CEO. But Rayburn ultimately failed to reach a contract agreement with its second largest union. In November, he blamed striking workers for crippling the company's ability to maintain normal production and announced that Hostess would liquidate.
The shuttering triggered a rush on Hostess snack cakes, with stores selling out of the most popular brands within hours.
About 15,000 unionized workers lost their jobs in the aftermath.
In unwinding its business, Hostess sold off its brands in chunks to different buyers. Its major bread brands including Wonder were sold to Flowers Foods, which makes Tastykakes. McKee Foods, which makes Little Debbie snack cakes, snapped up Drake's Cake, which includes Devil Dogs and Yodels.
Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo bought Twinkies and other Hostess cakes for $410 million.
Apollo Global Management, founded by Leon Black, is known for buying troubled brands then selling them for a profit; its investments include fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. Metropoulos & Co., which has revamped then sold off brands including Chef Boyardee and Bumble Bee, also owns Pabst Brewing Co.
That could mean some cross-promotional marketing is in store.
"There is certainly a natural association with the two," Metropoulos said. "There could be some opportunities for them to seen together."
The trimmed-down Hostess Brands LLC has a far less costly operating structure than the predecessor company. Some of the previous workers were hired back, but they're no longer unionized.
Hostess will also now deliver to warehouses that supply retailers, rather than delivering directly to stores, said Rich Seban, the president of Hostess who previously served as chief operating officer. That will greatly expand its reach, letting it deliver to dollar stores and nearly all convenience stores in the U.S.
Previously, he said Hostess was only able to reach about a third of the country's 150,000 convenience stores.
Production was also consolidated, from 11 bakery plants to four ? one each in Georgia, Kansas, Illinois and Indiana. The headquarters were moved from Texas to Kansas City, Mo., where Hostess was previously based and still had some accounting offices.
In the months since they vanished from shelves, the cakes have been getting a few touchups as well. For the CupCakes, the company is now using dark cocoa instead of milk chocolate to give them a richer, darker appearance.
Seban stressed that the changes were to improve the cakes, not to cut costs. Prices for the cakes will remain the same; a box of 10 Twinkies will cost $3.99.
Looking ahead, Seban sees Hostess expanding its product lineup. He noted that Hostess cakes are known for three basic textures: the spongy cake, the creamy filling and the thicker icing. But he said different textures ? such as crunchy ? could be introduced, as well as different flavors.
"We can have some fun with that mixture," he said.
He also said there are many trendy health attributes the company could tap into, such as gluten-free, added fiber, low sugar and low sodium.
During bankruptcy proceedings, Hostess had said that its overall sales had been declining, although the company didn't give a breakout on the performance of individual brands. But Seban is confident Twinkies will have staying power beyond its re-launch.
As for the literal shelf-life, Seban is quick to refute the snack cake's fabled indestructibility.
"Forty-five days ? that's it," he said. "They don't last forever."
___
Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicehoi
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
PFT: NFL names award after Deacon Jones
APBills WR Marquise Goodman draws inspiration from his younger brother.
Part of the reason that LB Alonzo Highsmith Jr. signed with the Dolphins was to be close to his brother, a University of Miami senior also named Alonzo Highsmith Jr.
Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com points out the problems Patriots players drafted out of Florida in 2011 have experienced and wonders if Bill Belichick put too much stock in his friendship with Urban Meyer.
Jets assistant coaches Dennis Thurman and Tim McDonald have enjoyed a long friendship.
A look at the fight for roster spots and playing time in the Ravens backfield.
Will Bengals LB James Harrison outplay Jarvis Jones, his replacement on the Steelers roster, during the 2013 season?
What can the Browns do to cut down on QB Brandon Weeden getting passes knocked down at the line?
Age won?t be a problem for the Steelers defensive backs, according to the Steelers defensive backs.
Texans DE J.J. Watt got to know about helicopters during his visit to Afghanistan.
Previewing Year Two for Colts QB Andrew Luck.
Jaguars K Josh Scobee taught Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com about the technique needed to be a placekicker.
A video look at the progress made by Titans QB Jake Locker.
The Broncos are trying to keep expectations from going to anyone?s head.
An offseason with coach Andy Reid has left Chiefs QB Chase Daniel confident about the year to come.
Said Raiders RB Darren McFadden, ?Things are going very well with the offensive line. As far as the blitz pick up, the calls the offensive line is making. I feel like we?re meshing very well.?
CB Steve Williams could make an immediate impact in the Chargers secondary.
Ten things to know about Cowboys DB Will Allen.
Giants DT Marvin Austin has been playing the drums with children as part of a program called School of Rock.
A newly released biography tries to paint a picture of Eagles coach Chip Kelly.
Taking stock of the left defensive end spot for the Redskins.
Bears QB Jay Cutler is turning the clock back to the 80s for a fundraiser.
QB Thaddeus Lewis is confident about his chances of making the Lions.
Packers TE D.J. Williams likes to both work hard and play hard.
How much does it matter where on the depth chart the Vikings place DT Sharrif Floyd?
Osi Umenyiora thinks the younger Falcons defensive ends are developing quickly.
Undrafted rookie S Robert Lester hopes to make a mark with the Panthers.
Contrary to an internet report, Saints QB Drew Brees didn?t break his legs in a car accident.
Buccaneers rookies have spent time with local members of the military recently.
The Cardinals say they are reloading rather than rebuilding.
The Rams opened the NFL?s first Youth Training Academy.
Achilles injuries are piling up for the 49ers.
Looking back at general managers through the years for the Seahawks.
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How To Find The Right Teacher In Martial Arts | Content for Reprint
Word Count: 1050 Date:
It goes without saying that not all teachers (of any subject) are equal and that is probably multiplied to the nth degree in the martial arts which doesn't allow for standardization to quite the same degree as other subjects might. There are of course ongoing attempts at standardization and classification but the martial arts are still very much of a melting pot and one is often left wondering who is teaching what and where did it come from.
Enter the beginner?
Given this prodigious output of styles and teachers, how is a beginner, who knows virtually nothing about the martial arts?how is such a person to find the right teacher?
And is that the right question?
Maybe there is no "right" teacher. Maybe the right teacher for me is not the right teacher for you.
So it can get a bit complicated?
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Questions such as these simply do not arise for most people. They join their neighborhood club, pay their fees, get graded a few times, get a nice colored belt maybe even a trophy or two, tell their friends they are a brown belt in such and such a style and?that is all they want. And I'm not here to argue with that, but?
If you're real serious, if martial arts is your reason for living, you will need to find the Right Teacher and that means that you will have to do some serious searching. Both internally and externally.
Why?
Because the Right Teacher will not appear miraculously on the horizon when you first decide to be the next Bruce Lee. And so, almost by default, beginners tends to think of their first teacher as THE RIGHT TEACHER! Which is understandable because they don't know any better. They have nothing to compare their first teacher to, so the first teacher is THE BEST. The beginner is totally convinced of that.
However, as time moves on the beginner may begin to experience some disquiet. Some things don't add up. The first teacher may be a bit overweight, or not as fit as he could be. Maybe he doesn't answer questions satisfactorily?but hey! nobody's perfect and all things considered the first teacher is still The Best, and that's all there is to it, right? Nonetheless there is talk...there is talk of another teacher down the road who is (blasphemy!) even better. The beginner puts all those preposterous notions aside of course, but...
There are now some cracks in the facade.
Not fatal, but it is through these cracks that the doubts seep in.
That, at least, is what happened to me. I was absolutely convinced that my first teacher was the best, but?I checked out the new teacher down the road (no harm in that, is there?). Then I joined up and started the cycle all over again. And then again and again and again?
I tried judo, ju-jutsu, Hsing-i, Pa-kua, Tai chi, Shaolin and a number of other styles the names of which I now forget. Nothing changed. The teachers were all promising to begin with and, truth be told, they were all quite capable in their own way and I learned a lot from each and every one of them but they were only technicians. They knew the techniques, and that is all they knew. And I wanted more, so I moved on. Just what I wanted I was still not sure of?
An astute reader will now see the obvious. One's Search, one's Quest, is part of one's over-all Training. A very important part. Why?
Because it is all part of a learning curve. You are learning not only new techniques but you are learning something infinitely more important: the Art of Discernment! The Art of separating the wheat from the chaff. The Art of separating the Real from the False?
And yes, it is also the Art of recognizing the Real Teacher when he or she finally appears.
You see, that is the secret. Finding the right teacher is only the half of it. Recognizing them to be such is by far the more difficult and important half.
Let me ask you a question: how often does a student find the right teacher and continue to walk on by and not know the difference?
It happens more often than you might think! I've seen it again and again and again!
The thing to bear in mind is that the Right Teacher may not be (and usually isn't) the Hollywood stereotype. The Right Teacher may be an unassuming little fellow who runs a little corner store, is disarmingly self-effacing and has maybe one or two students who are equally unimpressive. In short this is not really the sort of person who matches your mental image of a deadly warrior. Or he may be crude and rude and obnoxious. And (blasphemy again!) he may not have your best interests at heart!
In other words, not all Masters fit the Hollywood mold! You really do have to keep your wits about you on this because the Right Teacher will confound your expectations nearly every time!
The "secret" then is to keep training, keep looking and to develop the Power of Discernment so that you can see below superficial appearances. (This will stand you in good stead not only in your search for a teacher and but also when you are in a fight!)
There is a saying that when the student is ready, the Teacher will appear. And that will happen when the student has developed a keen sense of discernment.*
*Author's note: by discernment I do not mean cynicism. The "been there, done that" attitude will not help you find a Teacher and if perchance you do, that Teacher will not be interested in teaching you. Real discernment has a quality of humility: you don't know the answer, you don't even know if there is an answer, but you will not stop searching.
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The Decathlon crowns the World's Greatest Athlete. Why? Because the Decathlon is a true test of every attribute of an athlete.The Decathlon tests strength, mental toughness, consistency, commitment,
The Honda CBR600 series has been touted as one of the best sport motorcycles in the industry. In fact, the Honda CBR600RR (the race replica version of Honda's CBRFx series motorcycles) has won every Supersport World Championship title from 2002 to 2008. But how did it all start? Here is a brief history of the Honda CBR600 series and how it has evolved throughout the years.
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One Direction, Rihanna, Drake Celebrate Miami Heat's NBA Championship
Justin Bieber, Rick Ross and more also toast another championship for LeBron James and Co.
By James Montgomery
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709396/miami-heat-win-nba-championship-celebrity-reactions.jhtml
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Video: NY Considering Law Banning Tesla Sales
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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52277606/
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West, Kardashian point to North for baby name
Celebs 
16 hours ago
Yes, you heard right. According to multiple sources, the name Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have gone with for their infant daughter is ... "North."
A signed birth certificate from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reportedly revealed the information -- which would make the child's name North West (no middle name).
The baby was born five weeks early on June 15 and is the couple's first child.
But back to the name: It's the joke Jay Leno threw out as "rumored" when Kardashian visited "The Tonight Show" -- and which the reality TV star denied was on their list of names.
"I like Easton. Easton West. I think that's cute," she told Leno at the time.
E! sources say the child will be called "Nori" for short.
Well, at least it's not "Knorth." And thus far, no reported connection to the 1994 movie stinker "North."
Meanwhile, celebrities have wasted no time jumping on the joke bandwagon about the name; Jason Biggs tweeted: "I lost my office pool. I had Ratings Spike Kardashian-West," while "Modern Family" co-creator Steve Levitan also tweeted, "What a ridiculous name, said Wayne Dwop."
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Friday, June 21, 2013
US home re-sales surpass 5 million in May
WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. sales of previously occupied homes surpassed the 5 million mark in May, the first time that's happened in 3 ? years. The gain shows the housing recovery is strengthening.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that home re-sales rose 4.2 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million. That's up from April's pace of 4.97 million.
Sales last exceeded 5 million in November 2009. During that month and October 2009, a home-buying tax credit briefly inflated the sales pace. Prior to that, sales hadn't been above 5 million since July 2007.
While the sales pace is still below the 5.5 million that is consistent with healthy markets, it has risen nearly 13 percent in the past 12 months.
And with a tight supply of homes on the market, the median sales price rose to $208,000 ? the highest since July 2008.
"Housing is now the strongest part of the economy in growth terms," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
The housing recovery is looking more sustainable and should continue to boost economic growth this year, offsetting some of the drag from higher taxes and federal spending cuts.
Steady hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more people to buy homes. And with demand up, prices rising and few homes on the market, builders have grown more optimistic about their prospects, leading to more construction and jobs.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose last month in every region of the country. They increased 8 percent in the Midwest, 4 percent in the South, 2.5 percent in the West and 1.6 percent in the Northeast.
The supply of homes for sales also grew, a sign that more homeowners are confident that they can lure buyers. The number of homes on the market rose 3.3 percent in May to 2.22 million. Still, inventories are 10 percent below year-ago levels.
Still, the report showed that a critical part of the market remains weak. First-time buyers represented only 28 percent of buyers in May. That's down from 34 percent a year ago and significantly below more normal levels above 40 percent. The decline in first-time buyers suggests many younger Americas are unable to get financing.
Banks have raised lending standards since the housing crisis, requiring higher credit scores, larger down payments and more detailed employment records.
Distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, accounted for 18 percent of May sales, unchanged from April. Both months matched the lowest share of distressed sales since the Realtors began tracking this data in October 2008. Distressed sales stood at 25 percent of sales in May 2012.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited the housing gains as a major reason the Fed's economic outlook has brightened.
Still, mortgage rates have jumped in recent weeks. And they are expected to rise further now that the Fed has signaled it plans to scale back its bond purchases this year if the economy continues to strengthen. Higher mortgage rates could slow some of the housing market's momentum.
A better outlook for housing has made builders more optimistic. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose in June to 52, up from 44 in May. It was the highest reading in more than seven years and the largest monthly increase in more than a decade. A reading above 50 indicates more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-home-sales-surpass-5-million-may-141049914.html
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Homeless woman found insane in LA pushing death
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A jury decided Thursday that a homeless Los Angeles woman was legally insane when she pushed an 84-year-old woman from a train platform to her death.
A jury delivered its verdict Thursday after having earlier found Jackkqueline Pogue guilty of second-degree murder.
Experts testified during the sanity phase of the trial that the defendant has been severely mentally ill for most of her life, had delusions and was hearing voices.
Pogue's lawyer said the 46-year-old woman was diagnosed as schizophrenic as a teenager and has been in and out of treatment since then. She was released from a hospital three days before the incident in a commuter rail station. Attorney Laurice Cheung said Pogue had not been taking her medication at the time and had been in custody for causing a disturbance at a social security office.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen set a hearing for July 8 to hear recommendations on a treatment location. Pogue will likely be committed to a mental treatment hospital to be held until her sanity is restored.
Deputy District Attorney Louis Avila had argued that Pogue was mentally ill but not insane when she pushed Betty Sugyama off a train platform onto the tracks of a commuter rail line. He argued that she understood the nature and consequences of her act which was unprovoked.
He said jurors told him they believed Pogue did not understand the nature and quality of her actions when she pushed the woman.
He said that if Pogue is eventually returned to sanity she could be released from custody. But the law requires a number of procedures before that can happen including a trial to determine that she is not a danger to others if released.
If not ruled to be sane, the second degree murder conviction means that she could remain in an institution for the rest of her life, the maximum term for the underlying crime.
Witnesses said Sugiyama was walking with her elderly sister when Pogue lunged at her and pushed her off the commuter rail platform onto the tracks. She struck her head and never regained consciousness.
An earlier jury deadlocked in a separate trial, uncertain if Pogue acted deliberately and understood the consequences of her actions.
The judge had assured jurors that if they found Pogue insane she would be placed in a mental health facility and she could be kept there for the duration of her sentence on the murder conviction.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/homeless-woman-found-insane-la-pushing-death-181104622.html
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Gerard Depardieu banned from driving in France
Celebs 
1 hour ago
? Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Gerard Depardieu.
PARIS - French actor Gerard Depardieu was banned from driving for six months on Friday, after he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from his scooter last year.
The 64-year-old star of films such as "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" was not in the Paris court to hear its decision to suspend his driving license and fine him 4,000 euros ($5,300). Drunk-driving can be punishable by up to two years' jail.
The flamboyant actor, who owns a vineyard in the Loire valley, injured his elbow but nobody else when he fell from the scooter in the capital in mid-afternoon last November.
With top roles in more than 100 movies, one of the country's best-known actors has made the headlines on many occasions for reasons other than his film career.
The scooter fall came a few months after a car driver filed a suit against Depardieu for assault and battery following an altercation in Paris.
The year before, Depardieu outraged passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off.
Depardieu criticized the left-wing government last year over high taxes and took President Vladimir Putin up on an offer of a Russian passport.
He has appeared in ketchup advertisements in Russia, which has a flat tax rate of 13 percent on income, compared with more than 40 percent in France where the government plans a supertax of 75 percent on incomes above 1 million euros.
Depardieu said his decision to take Russian nationality and plan to open a restaurant in the city of Saransk were not motivated by tax concerns. He is considering shooting a film in Chechnya, where he was seen this year embracing strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Commenting on Friday's court ruling, Depardieu's lawyer, Eric de Caumont, said: "Naturally we are disappointed to the extent that we had sought an acquittal."
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/gerard-depardieu-banned-driving-france-6C10409282
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In northern Iraqi city, al-Qaida gathers strength
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Al-Qaida's Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off anti-government anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials.
It is a disturbing development for Iraq's third-largest city, one of the country's main gateways to Syria, as al-Qaida in Iraq makes a push to establish itself as a dominant force among the rebels fighting to topple the Syrian regime.
The show of force comes as Mosul residents vote in local elections that have been marred by intimidation by militants, as in the past. Al-Qaida's muscle-flexing is evident in dollar terms too, with one Iraqi official estimating that militants are netting more than $1 million a month in the city through criminal business enterprises.
Mosul and the surrounding countryside have emerged as major flashpoints in a wave of bloodshed that has killed nearly 2,000 Iraqis since the start of April ? the country's deadliest outbreak of violence in five years. Gunbattles have broken out between militants and security forces, and several candidates have been assassinated.
Just since the start of last week, attackers in and around the city have unleashed a rapid-fire wave of five car bombs, tried to assassinate the provincial governor and killed another local politician and four other people in a suicide bombing.
Other Sunni militant groups, including Ansar al-Islam and the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandi Order, are also active in Ninevah. Mosul is the capital of the Sunni-dominated province.
Al-Qaida's rise is particularly worrying because it is thought to be behind the bulk of the bombings across Iraq and because it is trying to assert itself as a player in neighboring Syria's civil war. The head of al-Qaida's Iraq arm last week defied the terror network's central command by insisting that his unit would continue to lay claim to al-Qaida operations in Syria, too.
"We're definitely concerned about it," said a U.S. diplomat about the deteriorating security situation in Mosul. The diplomat, who wasn't authorized to speak on the record, said al-Qaida's Iraq arm sees an opportunity to try to build support in the area and is "out blowing things up to show that the government can't protect and serve the people."
Voters in Ninevah and in neighboring Anbar province, another predominantly Sunni area bordering Syria, cast ballots for provincial council members Thursday. Iraqis elsewhere went to the polls in April, but the Baghdad government postponed voting in Ninevah and Anbar, citing security concerns.
Al-Qaida's growing strength in Mosul is painfully clear to businessman Safwan al-Moussili. Traders like him say they are once again facing demands from militants to pay protection money or face grave consequences. Merchants say that practice had largely disappeared by the time American troops left in December 2011.
"They tell us: 'Pay this amount.' And if it's higher than before, they say something like: 'You recently went to China and you imported these materials and you made such and such profits,'" he said. "It seems they know everything about us."
Small-scale shop owners, goldsmiths, supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies are all being hit up for money these days.
Al-Moussili and his fellow businessmen feel they have little choice but to pay up. About two months ago, he recalls, one businessman refused to pay, and insurgents planted a bomb inside his shop that killed the man.
"That forced everybody to pay, because we don't see the security forces doing anything to end this situation," he said.
A Mosul food wholesaler, who referred to himself only by the nickname Abu Younis out of concern for his security, said he and other traders resumed paying $200-a-month kickbacks to al-Qaida three months ago after finding threatening letters in the market hall where they operate.
Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who closely follows regional security issues, said al-Qaida in Iraq has long generated cash from businesses such as trucking and real estate, and through extortion of large firms such as mobile phone companies.
"If they're extending their extortion back out to local traders, that indicates they've got better street control," he said. "It just shows they're able to operate in the urban neighborhoods and don't see a security force retaliation like they did two years ago. And they don't fear informants identifying them."
Abdul-Rahim al-Shimmari, a member of the Ninevah provincial council, agreed that extortion is making a comeback.
He blamed rising political and sectarian tensions fueled in part by the civil war in nearby Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels are trying to topple President Bashar Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Al-Qaida is also enjoying increased sympathy in Mosul because of what al-Shimmari called the central government's "brutal and irresponsible" handling of Sunni protests that have raged for months against the Shiite-led administration in Baghdad.
In March, security forces in Mosul opened fire on Sunni demonstrators demanding the release of a local tribal sheik who had been detained. At least one person was killed.
Human Rights Watch recently urged Iraqi authorities to investigate allegations that federal police executed five people, including a 15-year-old boy, south of Mosul in early May. Residents discovered the bodies more than a week later in the same area where the five were last seen being led away by federal police, according to the rights group.
Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharawi, the federal police 3rd Division commander who was named in the rights group's report, called the allegations baseless. He said the five were no longer in police custody at the time of their deaths. He blamed al-Qaida for killing them in an effort to tarnish the image of the police.
A lack of trust from the people, who fear both the militants and the security forces, is hindering authorities' fight against al-Qaida and other militants, according to Iraqi officials.
"The problem is that nobody in Mosul will come forward and complain" about al-Qaida's increasing abuses, said a senior military intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss operational matters with reporters.
He estimated that al-Qaida is able to pull in between $1 million to $1.5 million from Mosul alone each month ? a considerable amount in Iraq.
"We want to catch these people red-handed, but the local government is not cooperating with the security forces," he complained.
___
Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed reporting.
___
Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/northern-iraqi-city-al-qaida-gathers-strength-062345092.html
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