Currencies: Dollar edges lower as private jobs miss estimates

By Saumya Vaishampayan and Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The dollar edged lower against rivals on Wednesday as the U.S. added fewer private-sector jobs in May than expected.

The ICE dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY -0.23% , a gauge that measures the greenback?s performance against six other currencies, fell to 82.762 from 82.803 on Tuesday. The ICE dollar index fell as low as 82.49 in the wake of the data but has since risen back to pre-data levels.

The WSJ Dollar Index /quotes/zigman/9625991 XX:BUXX -0.17% , a rival measure that tracks the buck against a larger basket of currencies, exchanged hands at 74.51 compared to 74.54 on Tuesday.

The private sector added 135,000 jobs last month, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc., less than a gain of 170,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

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The ADP jobs number is used by some as an indicator for the monthly nonfarm payrolls report due Friday. Investors will closely watch nonfarm payrolls for guidance on when the Federal Reserve will begin to slow its monthly asset purchases, which weigh on the dollar.

?As far as the tapering debate goes, the report does nothing to bolster expectations that the Fed will ease its foot off the pedal over the summer,? said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., in a note. Read more on the tapering debate here.

The Japanese yen was volatile Wednesday against the U.S. dollar as Japan?s prime minister outlined economic-growth proposals, while Australia?s currency fell following Australian economic growth figures that missed analyst expectations.

U.S. dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.8015% ?recently traded at ?99.67 after the ADP data, compared to ?100.15 on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.8015% ?slid to ?99.35 as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled plans ranging from reforms in the energy market to tax breaks to stimulate activity in the lackluster economy. Japanese stocks also turned lower on Wednesday.

Abe?s push for growth through new economic policies ? dubbed ?Abenomics? ? has been the force behind the central bank?s massive, recently launched monetary stimulus program that?s resulted in the U.S. dollar reaching four-and-a half year highs against the yen above the ?103 level.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar /quotes/zigman/4867876/sampled AUDUSD -1.2655% ?bought 95.62 U.S. cents, falling after first-quarter gross domestic product in Australia expanded by 0.6%, missing a Dow Jones Newswires consensus forecast of 0.7%.

Various global currency notes

The Aussie traded at 96.33 U.S. cents ahead of the release, around the same level seen late Tuesday in North America.

Australia?s currency last month fell below parity against the U.S. dollar on concerns about domestic economic weakness, with mining investment in Australia expected to peak this year.

Also of concern have been indications of a slowdown in China, Australia?s top export market, with the most recent signal coming from an HSBC gauge showing contraction in the manufacturing sector.

Reserve Bank of Australia Gov. Glenn Stevens said Tuesday that Australia?s economic growth remained ?below trend? and would likely stay that way for the near term. The central bank on Tuesday kept its key policy cash rate at 2.75%, but with inflation currently subdued, it also said there?s some scope for further easing in monetary policy.

Gold traders: Don't ignore the odds

Gold traders should never forget that fundamentals are of import primarily for the long-term investor ? and nearly irrelevant for the short-term trader. Mark Hulbert offers analysis.

The suggestion by policy-makers that they?re keeping the door open to interest-rate cuts pushed the Aussie lower on Tuesday. A cut in the benchmark interest rate could further hurt the Australian dollar, as rate reductions tend to depress debt yields in the currency.

The euro /quotes/zigman/4867933/sampled EURUSD +0.0263% ?rose against the greenback, changing hands at $1.3073 versus $1.3077. The European Central Bank?s June meeting is slated for Thursday in Frankfurt. The ECB cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage-point to 0.5% at its May meeting.

The British pound /quotes/zigman/4867886/sampled GBPUSD +0.4649% rose against the U.S. dollar to $1.5344 from $1.5305.

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Saumya Vaishampayan is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York. You can find her on Twitter @saumvaish. Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter @MWMozee.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B2C69E35C-CD7D-11E2-A536-002128040CF6%7D&siteid=rss

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Appointment for Lautenberg's seat could come today

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie scheduled a 1:30 p.m. press conference on Thursday amid speculation he could name a temporary appointee for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Frank Lautenberg, who died on Monday.

A spokesman for Christie did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The GOP governor, however, has said he wants to have a replacement for Lautenberg in Washington by next week, when the Senate is expected to begin debating immigration reform.

The announcement comes two days after Christie scheduled an Oct. 16 special election to fill the seat?a decision widely criticized by both Democrats and Republicans who have accused the governor of acting in his own political interest.

The election date, which comes after an Aug. 13 primary, is less than three weeks before New Jersey?s regularly scheduled general election date of Nov. 5, when Christie will be on the ballot seeking re-election. Critics have accused Christie of setting the date early to avoid having a popular Democrat on the ballot, which could drive up voter turnout and hurt his re-election bid.

On Tuesday, Christie denied he was influenced by politics and insisted he simply wanted to give New Jersey voters ?a choice and a vote? for the new senator as soon as possible.

The state Democratic Party has said it's considering filing suit to move the date of the special election to Nov. 5 to save the cost of having two statewide elections in close proximity.

Christie?s press conference comes as the special election has already attracted interest from both Republicans and Democrats.

On Thursday, Rep. Rush Holt, a Democrat, announced he would enter the race, telling supporters in an email that he is the ?best candidate to continue the passionate advocacy for progressive values that Sen. Lautenberg exemplified.?

Other Democrats are also said to be considering the race, including Rep. Frank Pallone and Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker?who was already exploring a 2014 run for the seat.

On the Republican side, state Assemblyman Jon Bramnick and Joe Plumeri, a Trenton businessman and minor-league baseball team owner, have reportedly expressed interest. But state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., who had been mentioned as one of Christie?s possible appointees, said he?s not interested in the race. And several GOP sources told National Review?s Robert Costa that state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, who was the party?s nominee in 2012, won?t run either.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/christie-schedules-news-conference-amid-speculation-lautenberg-seat-154216673.html

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Soldier due to plead guilty in Afghan massacre

SEATTLE (AP) ? The American soldier charged with killing 16 Afghan civilians during nighttime raids on two slumbering villages last year is expected to recount the horrific slaughter in a military courtroom Wednesday when he pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales faces premeditated murder and other charges in the March 2012 attacks near the remote base in southern Afghanistan where he was posted.

Most of the victims were women and children, and some of the bodies were burned; relatives have told The Associated Press they are irate at the notion Bales will escape execution for one of the worst atrocities of the Afghanistan war.

Under the terms of his agreement with Army prosecutors, Bales will plead guilty Wednesday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, and a sentencing-phase trial will be held this summer to determine whether he receives life in prison with the possibility of parole, or without it.

Bales' attorney, John Henry Browne, said Tuesday he expects the judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, to question the soldier closely about what happened before deciding whether to accept the plea. It's unclear whether Nance will make a decision Wednesday.

"Tomorrow is going to be about what happened, then in August is going to be a jury trial about why it happened," Browne said. "Obviously, avoiding the death penalty is our No. 1 goal. We've accomplished that, assuming the judge accepts the plea, and we believe he will."

Bales, a 39-year-old father of two from Lake Tapps, has signed a detailed stipulation of facts admitting his actions, Browne said. However, the document remains under seal, and the lawyer declined to provide details about it.

Browne said last week that Bales was "crazed" and "broken" but not legally insane at the time of the killings.

Although Wednesday's proceedings will provide Bales' account for the first time, survivors who testified by video link from Afghanistan during a hearing last fall vividly recalled the carnage.

A young girl in a bright headscarf described hiding behind her father as he was shot to death. Boys told of hiding behind curtains as others scrambled and begged the soldier to spare them, yelling: "We are children! We are children!" A thick-bearded man told of being shot in the neck by a gunman "as close as this bottle," gesturing to a water bottle on a table in front of him.

Prosecutors say that before dawn on March 11, 2012, Bales slipped away from Camp Belambay in Kandahar Province, armed with a 9 mm pistol and M-4 rifle outfitted with a grenade launcher.

He first attacked one village of mud-walled compounds, Alkozai, then returned to the base, woke up a fellow soldier and told him about it. The soldier didn't believe him and went back to sleep. Bales then left to attack a second village, Najiban.

The massacre prompted such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before Army investigators could reach the crime scene.

Bales was serving his fourth combat deployment and had an otherwise good if undistinguished military record in a decade-long career. The Ohio native suffered from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, his lawyers say, and he had been drinking contraband alcohol and snorting Valium ? both provided by other soldiers ? the night of the killings.

The case raised questions about the toll multiple deployments were taking on American troops. For that reason, many legal experts believed it was unlikely he would receive the death penalty, as Army prosecutors were seeking. The military justice system hasn't executed anyone since 1961, but five men currently face death sentences.

"Any time you can strike a deal that saves your client's life, I would call that a win," said Dan Conway, a civilian military defense lawyer who is not involved in the case. "This is the right result for both parties."

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-due-plead-guilty-afghan-massacre-070242198.html

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Los Angeles air 'loses its sting'

4 June 2013 Last updated at 14:04 ET

Los Angeles air pollution - and its infamous eye sting - have declined due to California's strict vehicle emission controls, scientists have said.

Despite a three-fold rise in the number of vehicles on southern California roads since 1960, air pollution there has decreased, a study found.

That includes peroxyacetyl nitrate, known to irritate the eyes, the US government study found.

The study "confirms" vehicle regulations worked, its author said.

"LA's air has lost a lot of its 'sting,'" said lead author Ilana Pollack of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's research centre at the University of Colorado Boulder.

She said the study "confirms that California's policies to control emissions have worked as intended".

'Better' air

In addition, ozone pollution has improved, although Los Angeles remains the worst city in America for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association.

The researchers compared atmospheric data collected since 1960 with new findings from a research aircraft mission in 2010 to devise a long-term model of change in the region's atmosphere.

Using this data, they tracked the decline in "precursor" ingredients that form air pollution - volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides.

California's laws regulate the amount of emissions that cars sold and driven in the state can produce.

While pollution has decreased since 1960, scientists say vehicles are still the "dominant" source of emissions in Los Angeles.

"To most people the big deal is that things have got a lot better," Ms Pollack said. "But as scientists we want to know how they have got better."

They will publish their findings in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22772933#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Wi-Fi signals enable gesture recognition throughout entire home

June 4, 2013 ? Forget to turn off the lights before leaving the apartment? No problem. Just raise your hand, finger-swipe the air, and your lights will power down. Want to change the song playing on your music system in the other room? Move your hand to the right and flip through the songs.

University of Washington computer scientists have developed gesture-recognition technology that brings this a step closer to reality. Researchers have shown it's possible to leverage Wi-Fi signals around us to detect specific movements without needing sensors on the human body or cameras.

By using an adapted Wi-Fi router and a few wireless devices in the living room, users could control their electronics and household appliances from any room in the home with a simple gesture.

"This is repurposing wireless signals that already exist in new ways," said lead researcher Shyam Gollakota, a UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering. "You can actually use wireless for gesture recognition without needing to deploy more sensors."

The UW research team that includes Shwetak Patel, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering and of electrical engineering and his lab, published their findings online this week. This technology, which they call "WiSee," has been submitted to The 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking.

The concept is similar to Xbox Kinect -- a commercial product that uses cameras to recognize gestures -- but the UW technology is simpler, cheaper and doesn't require users to be in the same room as the device they want to control. That's because Wi-Fi signals can travel through walls and aren't bound by line-of-sight or sound restrictions.

The UW researchers built a "smart" receiver device that essentially listens to all of the wireless transmissions coming from devices throughout a home, including smartphones, laptops and tablets. A standard Wi-Fi router could be adapted to function as a receiver.

When a person moves, there is a slight change in the frequency of the wireless signal. Moving a hand or foot causes the receiver to detect a pattern of changes known as the Doppler frequency shift.

These frequency changes are very small -- only several hertz -- when compared with Wi-Fi signals that have a 20 megahertz bandwidth and operate at 5 gigahertz. Researchers developed an algorithm to detect these slight shifts. The technology also accounts for gaps in wireless signals when devices aren't transmitting.

The technology can identify nine different whole-body gestures, ranging from pushing, pulling and punching to full-body bowling. The researchers tested these gestures with five users in a two-bedroom apartment and an office environment. Out of the 900 gestures performed, WiSee accurately classified 94 percent of them.

"This is the first whole-home gesture recognition system that works without either requiring instrumentation of the user with sensors or deploying cameras in every room," said Qifan Pu, a collaborator and visiting student at the UW.

The system requires one receiver with multiple antennas. Intuitively, each antenna tunes into a specific user's movements, so as many as five people can move simultaneously in the same residence without confusing the receiver.

If a person wants to use the WiSee, she would perform a specific repetition gesture sequence to get access to the receiver. This password concept would also keep the system secure and prevent a neighbor -- or hacker -- from controlling a device in your home.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VZ7Nz942yAY

Once the wireless receiver locks onto the user, she can perform normal gestures to interact with the devices and appliances in her home. The receiver would be programmed to understand that a specific gesture corresponds to a specific device.

Collaborators Patel and Sidhant Gupta, a doctoral student in computer science and engineering, have worked with Microsoft Research on two similar technologies -- SoundWave, which uses sound, and Humantenna, which uses radiation from electrical wires -- that both sense whole-body gestures. But WiSee stands apart because it doesn't require the user to be in the same room as the receiver or the device.

In this way, a smart home could become a reality, allowing you to turn off the oven timer with a simple wave of the hand, or turn on the coffeemaker from your bed.

The researchers plan to look next at the ability to control multiple devices at once. The initial work was funded by the UW department of computer science and engineering.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/uN0WGmtX5VI/130604134257.htm

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Does 'After Earth' end reign of Mr. Box Office?

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It used to be that if a summer flick starred Will Smith, it was a guaranteed moneymaker: First place at the box office, maybe a franchise in the making.

But the 44-year-old actor's latest film opened with a thud.

"After Earth," a futuristic action-adventure co-starring Smith's 14-year-old son, Jaden, debuted in third place, collecting a disappointing $27.5 million over the weekend.

"It's tough because we're very proud of the film," said Sony's president of worldwide distribution, Rory Bruer.

Box-office analysts had predicted the sci-fi tale that cost an estimated $130 million to make would open just behind the international street-racing romp "Fast & Furious 6," which held onto the top spot with $35.2 million after its huge debut last week. Instead, second place went to Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment's "Now You See Me," which exceeded expectations with $29.25 million. The magic-heist thriller's ensemble cast includes Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo.

"When you're a Tom Cruise or Will Smith, there are huge expectations placed on a movie that are not placed on an ensemble," said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "It just shows you how competitive the summer marketplace is and star power isn't necessarily what gets you there."

Based on a story by Smith, "After Earth" follows a father and son stranded on an abandoned Earth after a crash landing. Dad is injured, so the son must overcome his fear and brave the planet's dangerous creatures and conditions to get help.

The film was deemed "rotten" by review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with only 12 percent of critics offering praise.

"Quite simply, this is one of the worst films of 2013," Richard Roeper wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The poor reception by critics and fans also hurts director M. Night Shyamalan, whose profile has been dinged by the failure of 2006's "Lady in the Water" and poor reviews for his two most recent films. Sony spokesman Jeff Blake called the director "a world-class filmmaker" in a recent statement, but Shyamalan was notably absent from "After Earth" marketing and promotions.

"Shyamalan is clearly a director-for-hire here," Scott Foundas wrote in Variety, "his disinterest palpable from first frame to last."

Sony's president of distribution said the studio still has high hopes for the film internationally as it expands to 60 more countries Friday. Said Bruer: "We're still feeling confident that as the film plays out throughout the world, we're going to be absolutely fine."

Meanwhile, "Fast & Furious 6" continues to speed past its competitors. With settings around the globe and an international cast led by Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson, along with the international language of fast cars, the film has broad appeal for viewers young and old.

"It's playing like what we call a four-quadrant movie, even though on paper it looks like a PG-13, testosterone-driven racing movie," Dergarabedian said. "It's just a wild and fun ride at the movie theater, and that's what people want when they go to the movies in the summer."

"Fast" could enjoy a third week on top as the newest action offering among Friday's openers "The Internship" and "The Purge."

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com, are:

1. "Fast & Furious 6," Universal, $35,164,440, 3,686 locations, $9,540 average, $171,003,965, two weeks.

2. "Now You See Me," Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment, $29,254,674, 2,925 locations, $10,002 average, $29,254,674, one week.

3. "After Earth," Sony/Columbia, $27,520,040, 3,401 locations, $8,092 average, $27,520,040, one week.

4. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," Paramount, $16,780,895, 3,585 locations, $4,681 average, $181,537,381, three weeks.

5. "Epic," Fox, $16,616,310, 3,894 locations, $4,267 average, $65,377,491, two weeks.

6. "The Hangover Part III," Warner Bros., $16,385,254, 3,565 locations, $4,596 average, $88,540,908, two weeks.

7. "Iron Man 3," Disney, $8,442,451, 2,895 locations, $2,916 average, $385,187,736, five weeks.

8. "The Great Gatsby," Warner Bros., $6,517,317, 2,635 locations, $2,473 average, $128,508,209, four weeks.

9. "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani," Eros Int'l, $1,568,677, 161 locations, $9,743 average, $1,568,677, one week.

10. "Mud," Roadside Attractions, $1,209,355, 581 locations, $2,082 average, $16,849,451, six weeks.

11. "The Croods," Fox, $665,624, 506 locations, $1,315 average, $180,588,685, 11 weeks.

12. "Frances Ha," IFC, $530,493, 132 locations, $4,019 average, $1,556,325, three weeks.

13. "42," Warner Bros., $512,231, 501 locations, $1,022 average, $92,331,685, eight weeks.

14. "Oz the Great and Powerful," Disney, $419,116, 330 locations, $1,270 average, $233,032,311, 13 weeks.

15. "Before Midnight," Sony Pictures Classics, $404,311, 31 locations, $13,042 average, $774,083, two weeks.

16. "Oblivion," Universal, $394,705, 357 locations, $1,106 average, $88,067,670, seven weeks.

17. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," Paramount, $276,841, 286 locations, $968 average, $121,588,603, 10 weeks.

18. "Escape From Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $195,323, 268 locations, $729 average, $56,322,427, 16 weeks.

19. "What Maisie Knew," Millennium Entertainment, $191,169, 101 locations, $1,893 average, $528,635, five weeks.

20. "Love Is All You Need," Sony Pictures Classics, $167,820, 71 locations, $2,364 average, $706,332, five weeks.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/does-earth-end-reign-mr-box-office-214045325.html

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: biospheres, X-wings and energy-creating shoes

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

News that Amazon will add three large biospheres to its downtown Seattle headquarters had the tech world buzzing this week. The domed structures will feature a mix of workspaces and gardens, and they'll be flanked by a public park. Amazon's big announcement wasn't the week's only surprise, though. A multinational consortium announced plans to develop a Dubai-style artificial island with a space hotel and a zero-gravity spa off the coast of Barcelona. And new research finds that "pinkhouses" -- vertical farms that use only pink light -- are much more efficient than those that use the full light spectrum.

Filed under: Misc, Science

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/26/inhabitats-week-in-green-biospheres-x-wings-and-energy-cr/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Weekley wins Colonial, 1st PGA Tour win in 5 years

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ? Boo Weekley was at the 13th hole during the final round of the Colonial before he finally glanced at a leaderboard ? and saw his name on the top.

It was at that par 3 surrounded by an often rowdy crowd that he also heard the loudest "Boo!" in quite some time.

Weekley hit his birdie putt from about 22 feet, then swiped his putter in the air as if guiding the ball into the cup. He thrust the club above his head when the ball dropped to get him to 14 under, where he finished Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory in five years.

"That's when I realized, 'Wow, here I go.' I need to do something, either hold on to it or try to make a couple of more birdies," Weekley said. "I knew I was hitting the ball too well just to hold on."

With five consecutive pars after that, Weekly finished at 14-under 266 for a one-stroke victory over Matt Kuchar, the second- and third-round leader who had a closing 68.

Defending champion Zach Johnson, who also won at Hogan's Alley in 2010, shot 66 to finish third at 12 under for his first top-10 finish this season ? and fifth straight at Colonial.

Both of Weekley's previous wins had been at Harbour Town, in 2007 and 2008. Like the Heritage winner, the Colonial champion gets a plaid jacket, though the 2008 Ryder Cup team member wasn't able to compare any differences between them.

"I couldn't tell you, it's been so long," said Weekley, who moved up to No. 55 in the world ranking, making him eligible for the U.S. Open.

Weekley's check of just more than $1.1 million matched what he earned his previous 14 tournaments this season while making 12 cuts and finishing in the top 10 three times. He never trailed after consecutive birdies at Nos. 8-10, those coming about the same time Scott Stallings made double bogey at No. 15 to drop out of the lead.

Kuchar, at No. 13 the highest-ranked player in the field, was 12 under after a 55-foot birdie putt at the 436-yard 12th hole. Kuchar punched his right arm into the air to punctuate the shot that got him within a stroke of Weekley for the lead.

Johnson was at No. 17, where a 19-footer for his second consecutive birdie also got him to 12 under.

Almost as quickly, their one-stroke deficit was back to two after Weekley's birdie at No. 13.

"I played well, that's all you can do and whoever wins, tip of the cap," Johnson said.

Stallings' closing 66 put him in a tie for fourth at 11 under, with John Rollins (68) and Matt Every (69).

The best round of the day was a 62 by Web.com Tour player Franklin Corpening, a Fort Worth native who grew up at Colonial and played at TCU. He finished at 8 under and tied for 14th, earning an automatic invitation to play again next year.

Kuchar made an 11-foot birdie putt off the back fringe at No. 2 before a bogey on the next hole when he took two shots from a greenside bunker. Then came a steady stream of pars until rolling in that long putt at No. 12. He didn't have another birdie until a closing 20-footer for second place alone, his sixth career runner-up finish.

"It's a bummer for me. This is a tournament, and this is a golf course, that I love," said Kuchar, a five-time PGA Tour winner. "It's difficult at the moment coming just one shot short but you can't control what other guys do."

Weekley won the same week he went to see a doctor about the problem he has had recently maintaining focus in his left eye, sometimes causing bad twitches and making it problematic reading greens.

"I had a few out there. It was coming and going in that wind," Weekley said. "I don't know what's going to happen. We're going to get home and work on it."

Stallings had a 6-under 29 on the front nine, one off the course record, and was 13 under with a one-stroke lead when he got the 428-yard 15th hole. But he took three shots from inside a radius of about 5 yards after his approach shot from a left fairway bunker stopped behind the hole.

His chip shot then hit the edge of a greenside bunker, rolling into the sand, and he failed to get out of there on his next shot before finally blasting to 6 feet. Weekley had just made an 18-foot birdie at No. 9 to get to 12 under.

"It was kind of a make it, break it point," Stallings said. "You've got to get up and down, especially with the guys with a lot of holes left."

It was also at No. 15 where the only bogey of the day came for Johnson, who missed an opportunity to join five-time winner Ben Hogan as the only players to win Colonial more than twice.

While on the easy par-5, 548-yard first hole, the long-hitting Weekley told his caddie that it was good to feel butterflies again.

Weekley's 22-foot eagle chance at No. 1 stopped about 6 inches from the cup before he chipped in for another birdie from behind the third green. He sliced his tee shot out of bounds at No. 5 toward the Trinity River for a bogey and dropped another shot at the 437-yard seventh hole before starting his go-ahead birdie run with a 6-iron inside 4 feet at the 200-yard eighth hole.

"It feels good to actually have butterflies again, knowing that I'm in this, an opportunity to maybe win," Weekley said. "I might have shot 80 today. But I didn't. It was my time to win."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weekley-wins-colonial-1st-pga-tour-win-5-220705700.html

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Boy Scouts' Gay Policy Vote Prompts Activist Rally

Oreo

In June 2012, Oreo posted a photo of a rainbow sextuple-stacked cookie to its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/oreo" target="_hplink">Facebook</a> page in honor of Pride month. While the responses were mostly positive, some commenters were outraged, even calling for a <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/oreo-sees-support-backlash-boycott-gay-pride-rainbow-cookie-article-1.1103369" target="_hplink">boycott</a> of the product. Still, Basil Maglaris, Kraft's associate director of corporate affairs, <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-krafts-gay-pride-oreo-draws-20000-comments-some-flak-20120627,0,490983.story" target="_hplink">said</a> that the positive comments on the post "far outweighed" the negative ones.

Betty Crocker

The staple of American domesticity is part of the General Mills family of products, which has been <a href="http://www.dumpgeneralmills.com/?REF=EB120625NANT" target="_hplink">boycotted by the National Organization for Marriage</a> for opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. What better way to celebrate the stand against intolerance than Betty Crocker's <a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/supermoist-cakes/products/supermoist cake mix/rainbow-chip" target="_hplink">Rainbow Chip</a> cake? <em>Correction on July 24 at 1:35pm ET: The original version of this slideshow misidentified the name of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. It has been corrected on this slide and several others throughout the slideshow.</em>

Levi's

In 1992, Levi's found itself at odds with the Boy Scout's 'Three Gs' principle that had guided the Scouts' membership model for more than 80 years -- that everyone is welcome, provided they are not gay, godless, or a girl. San Francisco-based Levi's <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/boy-scouts-battle-on-antigay-policy-levis-the-denim-firm-has-withdrawn-its-sponsorship-over-the-movements-refusal-to-accept-homosexuals-writes-david-usborne-in-washington-1550450.html" target="_hplink">pulled its Boy Scout funding</a>, due to the group's exclusion. In response, Republican Dana Rohrabacher encouraged a 'grassroots' counter-boycott of Levi Strauss and his Texan colleage, Tom DeLay, was even more extreme in his reaction: "When Texans find out that the Levi's they have on go toward attacks on the Boy Scouts of America... they'll take off those Levi's and burn them in the streets."

Cheerios

Not only will this breakfast cereal reduce your family's cholesterol but it will reduce your family's moral integrity as well, according to The National Organization for Marriage. As part of the General Mills family of products, Cheerios is one of the brands that has been <a href="http://www.dumpgeneralmills.com/?REF=EB120625NANT" target="_hplink">boycotted by NOM</a> for opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment.

American Apparel

In 2009, <a href="http://www.americanapparel.net/" target="_hplink">American Apparel</a> put its "Legalize Gay" t-shirt in storefront windows in Washinton, D.C. When a group of <a href="http://news.change.org/stories/american-apparel-pushes-back-against-anti-lgbt-vandalism" target="_hplink">anti-LGBT vandals broke the store's windows</a>, the company didn't back down, but rather agreed to send shirts to any group in D.C. that was fighting for gay rights.

Disney World

Although Walt Disney World's <a href="http://www.gaydays.com/" target="_hplink">Gay Days</a> are not officially sanctioned by the theme park, they were the object of a <a href="http://floridafamily.org/full_article.php?article_no=158" target="_hplink">Florida Family Association warning</a>. The anti-LGBT group paid to have two planes fly over the park, with warning banners, to deter unsuspecting families from attending the park during Gay Days.

Starbucks

In January 2012, when Starbucks released a <a href="http://www.dumpstarbucks.com/documents/memo.pdf" target="_hplink">memorandum</a> voicing support of gay marriage, NOM launched <a href="http://www.dumpstarbucks.com/" target="_hplink">DumpStarbucks.com</a> to urge people to boycott the coffee chain.

Wheaties

As part of the General Mills family of products, which has been <a href="http://www.dumpgeneralmills.com/?REF=EB120625NANT" target="_hplink">boycotted by NOM</a> for opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, there are attempts to dethrone Wheaties as the "Breakfast of Champions."

Tide Detergent

In 2004, Procter and Gamble <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">angered conservatives</a> by opposing an anti-gay rights statute that would exempt gays and lesbians from special civil rights protection in its hometown of Cincinnati. In response, the American Family Association <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">issued a boycott</a> of some of P&G's most popular products, including Tide Detergent, and gathered petition signatures from almost 365,000 families urging Procter & Gamble to change its policy.

Microsoft

In 2005, Microsoft <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1490060/Religious-Right-to-boycott-Microsoft-over-support-for-gay-rights.html" target="_hplink">came under fire</a> from anti-LGBT activists, including evangelical preacher Ken Hutcherson, for its support of a bill in that would outlaw discrimination against homosexuals at work in the state of Washington. In response, Microsoft <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1490060/Religious-Right-to-boycott-Microsoft-over-support-for-gay-rights.html" target="_hplink">withdrew its support</a> of the bill, prompting outrage from gay and liberal activists and criticism from its staff and other big businesses. In response, Bill Gates backtracked again and admitted that he was surprised by the vehemence of the reaction. When the bill was defeated by a single vote, Microsoft's liberal critics blamed its withdrawal of support for the loss.

Home Depot

A May 2012 <a href="http://action.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147521725" target="_hplink">post</a> on the American Family Association web site proclaims, "AFA is promoting a boycott of Home Depot until it agrees to remain neutral in the homosexual culture war. The total number of people who have signed the Home Depot boycott pledge is 719,037." The <a href="http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147496231" target="_hplink">pledge</a> condemns Home Depot for giving "financial and corporate support to open displays of homosexual activism," because this helps expose "small children to lascivious displays of sexual conduct by homosexuals and cross-dressers." In response to the <a href="http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147496231" target="_hplink">pledge</a>, which was delivered at Home Depot's annual shareholder meeting, Chairman Blake <a href="http://action.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147521725" target="_hplink">responded</a>, "We are, and will remain, committed to a culture that fosters an inclusive environment for our associates, our customers and communities in which we exist."

Pampers Diapers

Diapers are essential to fulfilling the straight family-making dream, which make them an odd target of a 'pro-family' boycott. However, in 2004, Proctor and Gamble <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">angered conservatives</a> by opposing an anti-gay rights statute that would exempt gays and lesbians from special civil rights protection in its hometown of Cincinnati. In response, the American Family Association <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">issued a boycott</a> of some of P&G's most popular products, including Pampers Diapers, and gathered petition signatures from almost 365,000 families, urging Procter & Gamble to change its policy.

PepsiCo Products

After it was discovered that PepsiCo gave a combined $1,000,000 to the <a href="http://www.hrc.org/" target="_hplink">Human Rights Campaign</a> and <a href="http://community.pflag.org/page.aspx?pid=191" target="_hplink">PFLAG</a> (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) to promote the so-called "homosexual lifestyle" in the workplace, the American Family Accociation posted a "<a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147483718" target="_hplink">Boycott Pepsi Pledge</a>," urging conservatives to stay away from Pepsi drinks, Frito Lay chips, Quaker Oats, and Gatorade.

Safeway

In June of 2009, Safeway honored Pride by putting large gay/lesbian Pride posters in its stores across America. In response to this celebration of the "gay lifestyle," the American Family Association <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147484828" target="_hplink">urged conservatives</a> to contact their local Safeway, and ask it to "stop promoting homosexuality," and "let Safeway know if they continue, you will consider grocery shopping with their competitors."

Crest Toothpaste

In 2004, Procter and Gamble <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">angered conservatives</a> by opposing an anti-gay rights statute that would exempt gays and lesbians from special civil rights protection in its hometown of Cincinnati. In response, the American Family Association <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/" target="_hplink">issued a boycott</a> of some of P&G's most popular products, including Crest Toothpaste, and gathered petition signatures from almost 365,000 families, urging Procter & Gamble to change its policy.

Old Navy

In 2011, when Old Navy planned to sell shirts to benefit the anti-suicide, anti-bullying <a href="http://www.itgetsbetter.org/" target="_hplink">It Gets Better</a> project, the American Family Association <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-gays-ought-be-ashamed-national-borders-were-set-god" target="_hplink">urged members</a> to "drop by your Old Navy store in your community and tell them you're not going to shop at Old Navy until they get their minds right."

Girl Scouts

In 2011, when The Girl Scouts decided to allow a transgender youth to participate, The American Family Association <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147513279" target="_hplink">urged members</a> to contact Girl Scout leadership, "expressing your disappointment in their recent decision to allow boys as troop members," and to "let them know you will not support the Girl Scouts as long as it continues down a path of destructive policies."

Macy's

In December 2011, a Macy's dressing room attendant prevented a transgender woman from using a female dressing room, because it violated her religious beliefs. After the woman was fired for refusing to abide by Macy's pro-LGBT policies, the American Family Association <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147514523" target="_hplink">lamented</a>, "The LGBT agenda has become the theater of the absurd" and <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147514523" target="_hplink">urged</a> members to contact the Macy's headquarters to "express... outrage at this injustice to female employees and customers."

Target

In May 2012, Target <a href="http://action.afa.net/uploadedImages/Activism/AFA_Action_Alerts/Action_Alert_Related_Items/targetpride.jpg" target="_hplink">announced</a> that 100% of the purchase price of any of its Pride merchandise would be donated to the pro-LGBT <a href="http://www.familyequality.org/" target="_hplink">Family Equality Council</a>. The American Family Association <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147521799" target="_hplink">lamented</a> that "Target is joining President Obama in ramming same-sex marriage down the throats of the American people" and urged members to contact Target Chairman Gregg Steinhafel, to "let him know that a majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage and are able to use their pocketbooks to voice their opposition to companies that support it." It should be noted that Target has also come under fire from gay advocates. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/08/lady-gaga-ends-target-lgbt_n_833209.html" target="_hplink">In 2011, Lady Gaga nixed a deal with Target</a> for an exclusive special edition of her "Born This Way" album after it was revealed that the brand had donated $150,000 to MN Forward, a group that was backing Tom Emmer's gubernatorial bid in Minnesota. Emmer was known for being especially conservative and not supporting equal rights for LGBT citizens.

J.C. Penney

Aside from One Million Mom's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/ellen-degeneres-jc-penney_n_1247657.html" target="_hplink">infamous boycott</a> of the department store for choosing Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson, J.C. Penney also came under fire in June 2012 when its <a href="http://calendar.jcpenney.com/june/#!book/thebook/16" target="_hplink">catalog</a> featured two men on the floor playing and hugging their two children at home indicating, <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147522587" target="_hplink">according</a> to the American Family Association, that the company made a "departure from its moorings to God's Word and Mr. Penney's leadership by taking sides in the cultural war in celebration of homosexuality." The AFA <a href="http://www.afa.net/Detail.aspx?id=2147522587" target="_hplink">urged members</a> to "call or visit your local J. C. Penney store manager to politely inform them that you will not be shopping at their store this Father's Day," and added, "If you have a store credit card or hold stock with the J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP), you might consider closing your account and divesting until they become neutral in the culture war."

Pillsbury

Pillsbury is part of the General Mills family of products, which has been <a href="http://www.dumpgeneralmills.com/?REF=EB120625NANT" target="_hplink">boycotted by NOM</a> for opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment.

Walgreen's

In 2006, Walgreen's was a Platinum-Level sponsor of the Chicago "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Games" target="_hplink">Gay Games</a>." According to Tom Kovach of <a href="http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kovach/060319" target="_hplink">RenewAmerica.com</a>, "by its very definition, the 'Gay' Games will invite people from all over the world to come to Chicago this summer and have homo-sex," and Walgreen's support contradicted it "squeaky-clean, family-friendly corporate image." Kovach wasn't alone in his condemnation -- the Illinois Family Institute <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-10-19/news/0510190382_1_walgreens-gay-games-vii-michael-polzin" target="_hplink">voiced opposition</a> and considered urging members to boycott the Pharmacy chain.

Ford

In 2005, the American Family Association <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8047423/ns/business-us_business/t/another-swing-pocketbook/#.T-x3GCtSTDV" target="_hplink">launched a boycott campaign</a> against Ford for being "the company which has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle." The group criticized Ford for donating money to gay-rights organizations (Ford offered to give up to $1,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for every Jaguar and Land Rover it sells to a member of GLAAD) and complained that Ford had sponsored Pride celebrations, advertised in gay-oriented publications and was "redefining the definition of the family to include homosexual marriage."

Gap

When Gap launched an ad campaign featuring two men pressed together under a shared t-shirt, anti-LGBT group One Million Moms, which is part of the American Family Association, launched a boycott, <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/one-million-moms-protests-gap-clothing-gay-billboard" target="_hplink">stating</a>, "GAP Inc. Brands, including Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta, does not deserve, nor will it get, money from conservative families across the country. Supporting GAP is not an option until they decide to remain neutral in the culture war. GAP needs to seriously consider how their immoral advertising affect the youth of our nation."

Green Giant

The frozen vegetable brand is part of the General Mills family of products, which, in June 2012, was <a href="DumpGeneralMills.com " target="_hplink">boycotted by NOM</a> for opposing the Minnesota Marriage Amendment.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/boy-scouts-gay-rally-_n_3323411.html

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'The World's End' Trailer: See How The 'Shaun Of The Dead'-'Hot Fuzz' Trilogy Ends

The first US trailer for Edgar Wright's "The World's End" fills us in a little more on what to expect from the final installment in the Three Flavour Cornetto Trilogy, which also included "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." And that is robots, apparently. The new preview (via Yahoo! Movies) plays out like the [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/05/22/worlds-end-trailer/

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Nuts From the Family Tree: Wisdom Wednesdays: Ah-Choo! and All ...

It's time once again to take up that?good ol' trusty?GeneaBlogger's blogging prompt called Wisdom Wednesdays. My version is to do a sort of self-inventory of things that have happened, both in the plus as well as the minus column and see if anything has been learned. So here we go!

Don't do too much when you have a cold. Yeah, I knew that rest was a sick girl's best friend second only to chicken soup, but having gotten back from a trip back east to see Mom, and where I probably got this cold, I was all ready to tackle that long list of To-Dos I made on the flight home. Too bad I didn't heed the dire warning of those sneezes on that flight back and take some Airborne or something... anything. So here I sit with a lot of inspiration and a way-big list of things to do, and no energy?with which?to do it. Even when I tried to do something simple, it was all a mess. I know this but ignored it, then got overloaded and frustrated... then the cold just sat there. Pass a box of tissues, please.

Where did that blog visitor come from?! I'm not obsessed with the number of visitors to this blog but I will confess to taking a peek at the statistics now and again. What I learn from them is what interests visitors and what doesn't. Last week there were hundreds and hundreds of visitors from one web site, so many that I had to click on the link and see what was up. The link was something innocent and friendly, like "Nice little blog posts?that don't harm anyone". When I clicked through my Kaspersky thought it was OK to go on and I did only to find a bunch of half-naked pictures of women who were supposedly in San Diego looking for a "date." Wha?!
I really don't know how my little genealogy blog got all mixed up in this mess. I emailed a very knowledgeable genea-pal and he said pretty much, "It happens." Wait and it will probably go away. So I did. And it did go away.
But meanwhile I thought and thought about what might have drawn the attention of such Tom-foolery and then deleted every use of the word s. e. x. And I'm writing it that way in case some bot is out there looking for that word and goes and makes?the Nut Tree?a target again! I had used that word in two posts about Neanderthals and once again in transcribing?a death certificate where gender was stated.
Never did get to the bottom of it all, but I figure that a girl can't bee too careful out there on the inter-web. It's stopped now anyway.

Writing ahead. Bloggers tend to accumulate a batch of blog posts that can be floated out and posted any old time. They also work ahead so that they can check their?writing?over again before posting or? in case something comes up at the last moment and they can't get to?writing a fresh?post. Even major lineage societies do it as witnessed by the president of one posting her Christmas message a week before the appointed date, in which she tells of the power going out on Christmas Day! Oops!
Getting posts ready for prime-time ahead of schedule is just what the prudent blogger does. Anyhoo, I had no idea that I was going to get sick right after being away on my trip. Therefore I used up my supply of ready blog posts, which was way too small.?That taught me a lesson in being prepared with blog fodder and actual blog posts to a greater extent than I had previously thought. Imagine the nerve: me getting sick! Yeah, it happens:)

Cousins! I just love finding new-to-me cousins!! In spite of sniffling, sneezing, and coughing I've been in contact with a number of folks who are descended from Benjamin Thomas (1793 - 1846),? and his wife Hannah Evans (1798 - 1868). Three of them are descended from their son William Benjamin! I don't know about you, but I love this stuff:) In the days before the internet, it might have taken years and years for them to connect, if ever. But now, within a month or two there are five of us who descended from this brave couple who boarded the Barque Tiberius in 1838 and came to America in search of a better life for their eight children in the coal mines of Western Maryland.

GEDmatch. Wow, is GEDmatch back and rolling on! I want to do a future blog post about what's happening over there for me so I'll keep this short. Just know that I'd tell anyone?who might ask, to go ahead and have your DNA testing?done any old place, and then download the raw data and upload the file to GEDmatch. Really easy, the down and up load stuff and takes just a minute or two. Then sit back and wait for the fun to begin. It might take a little while for it to all roll along, but it does.

Good week. Pass the tissue box, please.

Some of the "goodies" retrieved from Mom's seemingly never-ending stash of stuff, is Dad's high school yearbook from 1935.

The URL for this post is:

Source: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/05/wisdom-wednesdays-ah-choo-and-all-that.html

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3 Mind-Bending Ways Apple Dodged $13.8B In Taxes | TechCrunch

Kudos to Apple?s finance lawyers, who are the Cirque Du Soleil of legal contortionism. On the eve of live testimony from CEO Tim Cook, a scathing congressional investigation of Apple?s tax dodging strategy reveals how the computer giant avoided $13.8 billion in taxes through a clever labyrinth of offshore tax havens, shell corporations, and paper shuffling.

?The ability to pay taxes of less than 2% on all of Apple?s offshore income gives the company a powerful financial incentive to engage in convoluted tax planning to avoid paying U.S. taxes,? notes the report from Senators Carl Levin and John McCain of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The 37-page report is jam-packed with all the edge-of-your-seat thrills one would expect from a congressional report on multinational tax policy; we summed up the good parts so you can concentrate your valuable workday procrastination on cat videos.

1. Ireland: Come For The Beer, Stay For The Tax Haven

In addition to the majesty of rolling hills, towering waterfalls, and a rich culture, Ireland also welcomes billion-dollar multinational corporations with an appealing 12% tax rate. Even better, in a sweetheart deal with the makers of the laptop used to type this story, the Irish have offered Apple a tax rate below 2%. At least since 2009, according to the report, it was, on average, 0.06%.

Senate investigators found this curious, since nearly all of Apple research, development, and board meetings are conducted in the United States. So, when they quizzed Apple about where it calls home, ?Apple responded that it had not determined the answer to that question.?

As a result, Apple has had an effective tax rate of just 20.1%, below the 24-32% it tells investors (according to the report), and well below the 35% the U.S. government wants it to pay. In 2011, it paid a mere $2.5 billion.

2. Sell To Yourself and It?s (Technically) Not Income

On paper, Ireland would appear to buy enough Apple products to reconstruct Blarney Castle from discarded iPods, but Apple?s Irish HQ legal entity is merely a passthrough shell corporation to funnel profits to tax havens, says the report.

The investigators determined that Apple cleverly splits itself into entities around the world, charged with selling products and intellectual property at distorted prices. For instance, Apple Sales International, a shell corporation entitled to Apple Inc?s intellectual property, sells products to its worldwide retailers at a ?substantial? markup, technically raking in most of the profits from goods sold in stores.

?For example, in 2011, Apple reported $34 billion in income before taxes; however, just $150 million of those profits, a fraction of one percent, were recorded for Apple?s Japanese subsidiaries, even though Japan is one of Apple?s strongest foreign markets.?ASI, meanwhile, reported $22 billion in 2011 net income,? explains the report.

3. Choose Which Entity Pays Taxes (Hint: The One With The Lowest Income)

Apple avoids taxes on its $102 billion in offshore holdings, thanks to an unintentional loophole that allows the company to decide which subsidiary gets taxed. In an effort to simplify the global tax rules, the IRS permitted multinationals to ?disregard? sub-entities that were normally taxed (the so-called ?check-the-box? rule).

Apple structured the relationship so that its tax-haven entities received billions in otherwise taxable dividend payments from subsidiaries it had elected to be among its disregarded entities.

In other words, according to the IRS, the payment within corporations is treated as a kind of internal transfer, which Apple funneled to its tax-friendliest locations.

?Those figures indicate that Apple?s Japanese profits were being shifted away from the United States to Ireland, where Apple had negotiated a minimal tax rate and maintained two non-tax resident corporations.?

Looking For A ?Reasonable? Tax Code

Apple, of course, is not the only major tech firm accused of dodging taxes through offshore havens. In Apple?s case, Tim Cook has already donned the good cop role ahead of his congressional grilling, alongside Apple also providing written testimony to the subcommittee.

?If you look at it today, to repatriate cash to the U.S., you need to pay 35 percent of that cash. And that is a very high number,? said Cook. ?We are not proposing that it be zero. I know many of our peers believe that. But I don?t view that. But I think it has to be reasonable.?

Cook will reportedly plead with Congress to simplify the tax code. But, if that happens, a lot of very clever tax lawyers will lose their jobs.

[Image Credit: Flickr User jpmpinmontreal]

April 1, 1976

NASDAQ:AAPL

Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple?s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook Air) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod, the...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/21/3-mindbending-ways-apple-dodged-13-8b-in-taxes/

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Brow.si Is An Add-On And Platform That Wants To Put The Engagement Fight Back Into The Mobile Web

Brow.si, a new product from MySiteApp, is launching in open beta today as an add-on for mobile websites that promises to bring a number of features to rival the engagement of native apps. These include social sharing, a read it later button, subscriptions, and push notifications (sort of). Developers can also create additional extensions for the Brow.si platform to add further desktop web/app-like functionality and monetization options.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XjBwoJZyG4g/

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Obama to visit Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania from June 26 to July 3, the White House announced on Monday. The Obamas spent one emotionally charged day in Ghana in July 2009?the president's only other visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office.

"The president will reinforce the importance that the United States places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment, and trade; strengthening democratic institutions; and investing in the next generation of African leaders," press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

"The president will meet with a wide array of leaders from government, business, and civil society, including youth, to discuss our strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues," Carney said, adding that "the trip will underscore the President?s commitment to broadening and deepening cooperation between the United States and the people of sub-Saharan Africa to advance regional and global peace and prosperity."

There was no word on whether the president would take up actress Charlize Theron?a native of South Africa?on her offer to be his tour guide.

Secretary of State John Kerry had said in mid-April that Obama would travel to Africa. Administration officials have expressed concern about China's growing influence with countries on the continent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-visit-senegal-south-africa-tanzania-203546237.html

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Obama delivers historic Morehouse commencement

President Obama gives the commencement address at Morehouse College, May 19, 2013. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

President Barack Obama took a break from the trifecta of controversies?IRS, Department of Justice, Benghazi?swirling around the White House on Sunday to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, the historically black, all-male institution in Atlanta.

"What I ask of you today is the same thing I ask of every graduating class I address," Obama told 500 graduates and an estimated 10,000 onlookers, most of them in ponchos, on the school's stormy, rain-soaked campus. "Use that power for something larger than yourself."

While the message may have been unremarkable, the occasion was historic: Obama became the first sitting president to address Morehouse, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose spirit was evoked throughout the speech.

"Many of you know what it?s like to be an outsider, to be marginalized, to feel the sting of discrimination," Obama said. "That?s an experience that so many other Americans share. Hispanic Americans know that feeling when someone asks where they come from or tells them to go back. Gay and lesbian Americans feel it when a stranger passes judgment on their parenting skills or the love they share. Muslim Americans feel it when they?re stared at with suspicion because of their faith. Any woman who knows the injustice of earning less pay for doing the same work?she sure feels it."

Graduates of Morehouse's class of 2013 watch as Obama speaks, May 19, 2013. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

The president said that while it might be tempting for graduates to use their degrees for personal wealth, they should aim for more. "I know some of you came to Morehouse from communities where life was about keeping your head down and looking out for yourself," Obama said. "Maybe you feel like you escaped, and you can take your degree, get a fancy job and never look back. And don?t get me wrong?with the heavy weight of student loans, with doors open to you that your parents and grandparents could scarcely imagine, no one expects you to take a vow of poverty.

"It is not just the African-American community that needs you," Obama said. "The country needs you. The world needs you."

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, attendees arrived as early 3:30 a.m. to reserve a spot at the open-air ceremony.

The president said that growing up, he used to chalk up some of his own "bad choices" to being black.

"We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices," Obama said. "Growing up, I made a few myself. And I have to confess, sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. But one of the things you?ve learned over the last four years is that there?s no longer any room for excuses."

First-year Morehouse College president John Wilson introduced President Obama. Prior to taking the Morehouse job, Wilson ran the White House's historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) initiative.

After the ceremony, the president was scheduled to later attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the home of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

It was Obama's second graduation speech in as many weeks. Last week, the president delivered the commencement address at Ohio State. His third and final speech of graduation season, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., is slated for Friday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-morehouse-commencement-speech-172854207.html

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5,800 Acres of Kau Land Up For Auction | Big Island Real Estate

Kau Coffee Farms, Photo by Julia Neal

A foreclosure auction for more than 5,800 acres of Kau land is scheduled to be held at noon on May 21, 2013 at the First Circuit Court Building in Honolulu.? The land includes pastures, coffee farms, coastal land, as well as several homes and lots.? The county appraised the value at $13.6 million and the remaining mortgage is $59.7 million.? There is no upset price on the property.

How did such a large amount of land end up in foreclosure?? Well, it all started in 2006.? Alan Worden led a resort development group which included Windwalker Hawaii and WWK Hawaii Holdings to purchase the Kau land.? They had planned to subdivide the land into 20 acre lots, build infrastructure such as roads, and acquire permits to construct high-end homes on farm land.? In order to develop the land Windwalker Hawaii borrowed $44.7 million from Lehman Brothers Holdings against the property.

In 2008 Lehman Brothers filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (the largest bankruptcy in US history) and stopped funding the loan.? Without the required monies Worden and his development group were unable to continue developing the project or even pay many contractors who had already done a fair amount of work for them.

5,800 acres of Kau land for auction, Photo by The Kau Calendar

Worden?s group filed a motion with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York asking permission to seek an alternative form of funding.? The motion stated, ?Lehman?s failure to fund the project?s operating costs has thus severely disrupted the project?s ability to obtain necessary permits and has been so devastating that the Hawaii borrowers? damages may exceed the amount borrowed.?

After six years of struggling the project has finally come to a halt and the Kau land will be auctioned off.? Chris Manfredi of Windwalker Hawaii said, ?I was here before Lehman, and I will be here after? The community has treated me as `ohana, and I will continue to do all I can to continue to advance our community through agriculture.?

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Dodie MacArthur began her real estate career in Honolulu in 1972. She quickly rose from top sales agent and project manager of major Honolulu developments to representing prominent estate and development properties on Oahu and the Big Island. With her honed real estate skills and experience, Dodie founded MacArthur and Company in 1989 with the objective of creating a unique boutique firm, where the clients needs came first. In the first year of operation, the company gained immediate recognition as a leading Big Island firm and continues to thrive as a market leader today. With her abundant energy, creative marketing and dynamic leadership skills, Dodie is responsible for business development and overall company management at MacArthur and Company/Sotheby?s International Realty. She works closely with clients and agents in the marketing and sales of their properties. Her many years cultivating client and broker relationships ensures the firms clients unrivaled exposure. Along with her management staff and team of successful sales agents and brokers, Dodie is able to provide local, national and international clients with unparalleled customized service, fulfilling her promise that the client?s needs come first.

Source: http://www.bigislandreale.com/5800-acres-of-kau-land-up-for-auction

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