Monday, October 31, 2011

Electric Vehicle and Lithium-ion Battery Investing For Imbeciles ...

John Petersen

In their 1969 bestseller "The Peter Principle" Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull quoted a Latin-American student named Caesare Innocente who lamented, "Professor Peter, I'm afraid that what I want to know is not answered by all my studying. I don't know whether the world is run by smart men who are, how you Americans say, putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." After watching the events of the last few weeks, I think most of my regular readers would agree that the imbeciles are clearly steering the ship.

Last March I went to the Geneva Motor Show on press day, which gave me a chance to see the cars up close and personal without fighting the crowds. While I'm generally skeptical when it comes to electric drive, I left Geneva convinced that the Fisker Karma was the most beautiful passenger car I'd ever seen. I even promised my inner geek that I'd secretly take one for a test-drive once production started. The last remaining hurdle was cleared in mid-October when the EPA issued its official fuel economy rating of 52 MPGe for the electric range of 32 miles and 20 MPG for gas powered trips using the 2.0 liter onboard generator.

I was crestfallen. How could something so gorgeous and green get such a horrible fuel economy rating?

The answer, it seems, is that when you put the Karma on a scale it weighs a few hundred pounds more than a Hummer H3 and a few hundred pounds less than a Cadillac Escalade. That's right folks: it's a 5,300 pound behemoth that was engineered in California with $169 million of ATVM loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. While most of the long-term economic benefits from manufacturing these shocking green monstrosities will be outsourced to Finland, at least the batteries will be made in the US by A123 Systems (AONE) which made a $23 million venture capital investment in Fisker to establish a strategic relationship and ensure the battery supply contract.

When journalists and political pundits questioned the reasonableness of the Fisker loan guarantee, the DOE explained:

"Fisker?s loan has two parts. In the first part, Fisker used $169 million to support the engineers who developed the tools, equipment and manufacturing processes for Fisker?s first vehicle, the Fisker Karma. That work was done Fisker?s U.S. facilities, including its headquarters in Irvine, California, which has 700 employees and plans to continue hiring. While the vehicles themselves are being assembled in Fisker?s existing overseas facility, the Department?s funding was only used for the U.S. operations. The money could not be, and was not, spent on overseas operations. The Karma also relies on an extensive network of hundreds of suppliers in more than a dozen U.S. states."

The sophistry of using taxpayer money to finance special project jobs in California while creating long-term manufacturing jobs in Finland is self-evident. The more troublesome questions in my mind are:

  1. How many $100,000 Karmas will Fisker need to sell to earn enough profit to repay $169 million in DOE loans?
  2. How many battery packs will A123 need to sell to Fisker if it wants to recover its $23 million investment?
  3. Is either outcome even remotely possible given the lackluster sales and margins that Tesla Motors (TSLA) has realized from its equally sexy and expensive Roadster?
This was clearly a series of deals negotiated by imbeciles who really mean it. The most outrageous part of the DOE's defense was the penultimate paragraph which says:

"Remember that plasma TVs, cell phones, personal computers and many other common products were once fabulously expensive luxury items, but quickly became a staple for middle class Americans. These price declines wouldn?t have been possible without the first, commercial scale marketing as premium products."

BALDERDASH! I expect that kind of bafflegab from EVangelicals but not from government officials.

There is no possibility that electric vehicles will ever deliver the kinds of cost reductions we witnessed during the information and communications technology revolution because the fundamental science is totally different. There is no Moore's law for the physics of moving a 2.65-ton vehicle down the road. There is no Moore's law for electrochemistry. There is no fairy godmother to increase global production of non-ferrous metals or control commodity prices. But instead of rationally discussing science, supply chains and energy economics, we have the DOE deflecting reasonable questions with the time-honored wisdom that "facts don't matter because the essence of political debate is the plausible boldly asserted."

A little over three years ago I started cautioning readers that Ener1 (HEVV.PK) was a disaster in the making. My cautions got more strident when Ener1 made a substantial venture capital investment in Th!nk Motors to strengthen their strategic relationship and retain a battery supply contract that was jeopardized by Th!nk's insolvency. While some readers took my words of caution to heart, many did not. This week they learned that analyzing battery and electric vehicle companies through rose colored glasses is a great way to end up with a stock that's listed on the Pink Sheets. While I generally like to be right, I hate being this right.

I wonder how the DOE feels about that $118.5 million ARRA Battery Manufacturing Grant they gave Ener1 in August of 2009.

My graph for this week is courtesy of Lux Research and appeared in their recent report "Using Partnerships to Stay Afloat in the Electric Vehicle Storm." The graph is particularly instructive because it overlays their forecasts for the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery markets in a single graph.

10.29.11 Lux Graph.png

The yellow lines represent total demand for lithium-ion batteries in automotive applications through 2020 using three different oil price scenarios. The blue shaded area represents the total planned production capacity of the global lithium-ion battery industry for the same period. The inescapable conclusions are that (1) without $200 oil, growth in electric vehicle sales will be tepid at best and certainly not robust enough to justify nosebleed market capitalizations for companies like Tesla, and (2) the glut of lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity will be a crushing burden for all but the most efficient and financially sound battery manufacturers.

While Pike Research recently reported that demonstration projects have deployed 538 MW of lithium-ion based storage on the grid, all of the facilities I've read about report power based on a 15 minute discharge. That means the demonstration projects have used about 135 MWh of batteries to date, or less than 1% of the expected annual capacity glut. While grid-based storage may have significant long-term potential, it's not a big enough short-term opportunity to make a difference.

The takeaway for investors who are willing to remove their rose colored glasses is that the industry leaders in the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery sectors are run by imbeciles who really mean it and their companies are doomed to underperform the market for years. Molly Ringwald was Pretty in Pink, but it's an ugly color for stock listings.

Disclosure: None.

Source: http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2011/10/electric_vehicle_and_lithiumion_battery_investing_for_imbeciles.html

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Michael Douglas says can't forget being told of cancer (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Veteran actor Michael Douglas said in a recent interview with Alec Baldwin that he will never forget when he was first told he had late-stage throat cancer in 2010.

The 66-year-old "Fatal Attraction" actor, who was diagnosed with the disease in August, underwent radiation treatment and chemotherapy and in January 2011, announced the tumor was gone. But five months earlier, the story was different.

"I'll never forget that moment when he (the doctor) looked up at me and looked back down. I knew, and he said 'Well, I guess we're going to have to take a biopsy, see there's a polyp here,' it was on my tongue. Two days later, he called me back and said 'you've got cancer,'" Douglas told Baldwin in a podcast posted earlier this week for New York public radio station WNYC.

Douglas said that just after filming "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" his throat felt "a little sore," but he thought it was from the stress of portraying financier Gordon Gekko, the role that earned him an Oscar in 1987's "Wall Street."

"I thought maybe it was from tension, from the part, where you haven't placed your voice, where you're swallowing your words and you speak from the back of your throat," he said. "I had a little bit of a sore gum and so I saw doctors."

He underwent seven weeks of treatments that cleared the cancer and now he has this advice for others: "the thing with cancer is that you want to get it as early as you can."

Douglas also touched on coming to terms with his eldest son Cameron's history of drug abuse and his jail sentence in 2010 for dealing methamphetamine and cocaine and possessing heroin.

"I think as far as drug addiction, your peer group plays a huge part of that," said Douglas. "In my oldest son's case, there was no end, until he was incarcerated."

After taking time to recover from cancer treatments, Douglas will next be seen in the title role of "Liberace," a film based on the life of the famous American pianist with Matt Damon playing his on-screen lover.

"Liberace was a lovely guy," said the actor. "I haven't played a lot of nice guys."

(Reporting and Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111029/en_nm/us_michaeldouglas

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Superluminal Neutrinos, Take Two

This is helpful but not that helpful. There are at this point a variety of potential explanations for what went wrong in the OPERA experiment. These include mismeasuring the tunnel length, issues with the clock calibration, and issues with the statistical analysis among other issues. It is important to note that while the OPERA group is double checking most of these issues, this experiment only really helps deal with a single problem, the statistical analysis of the neutrinos. If they are associated to individual bursts, the statistical test will be much simpler. So even if this still gets the same result, this won't be that strong evidence that there's something real going on here.

A better replication attempt is that which is being done by MINOS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINOS [wikipedia.org], the equivalent experiment at Fermilab in the US. One reason that OPERA was paying careful attention to the arrival times (when their main interest was actually in measuring neutrino oscillation) was that MINOS had earlier reported data that tentatively suggested that some neutrinos might be going too fast. Now that OPERA has done their work, MINOS is working on doing a more detailed analysis that should be out by around February.

Overall, I still think that there's a mistake here, but it is interesting to see how long this is taking to find where the mistake was. The apparent initial sprint by physicists to find the error is turning into a marathon. The data though still needs to be somehow reconciled with the fact that neutrinos from SN 1987a (a supernova that occurred close to Earth and whose light and neutrinos reached Earth in 1987 ahref=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987Arel=url2html-7691 [slashdot.org]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1987A> had the neutrinos arrive when conventional theory predicted them, that is a few hours before the light. This isn't due to neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light, but due to the fact that neutrinos are produced at the way beginning of a supernova in the core and then fly out with a headstart because they can easily avoid most of the matter in the star but the light takes time to get through the star. But, if the neutrinos traveled faster than light to the extent OPERA data suggests then SN 1987A neutrinos should have arrived years earlier.

There are some other possibilities that would reconcile the two claims. For example, it is possible that neutrinos actually travel faster in a denser medium. This would be really weird. It is also possible that the reactions we think produce neutrinos actually produce a very short lived tachyon which itself decays into a neutrino. This starts running afoul of Occam's razor, but would explain why one would see too much velocity in the OPERA setting but not from the supernova. This hypothesis is actually also pretty easily testable: one needs to use a shorter distance for one's neutrino detectors and see if the apparent velocity goes up.

Overall, I still suspect that this is a fluke or error of some kind. But I really hope it isn't. This could be the Michelson?Morley experiment of our error, the first anomaly which leads to a glimpse of some fantastically deeper understanding of the universe. But I really wouldn't bet on it.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/itHXp8NGxtw/superluminal-neutrinos-take-two

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

I Will Only Eat Food That's Covered in Edible Gold Spray Paint [Wtf]

Since the price of gold is like a bazillion dollars these days, I want to surround myself with as much of it as I can. So that means even fake gold, like this weird ass edible gold paint you spray on food to get flossy, is good with me. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/2l6Vf_1VHrA/

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There?s an app for reporting handicapped parking space violators (Offthekuff)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/154998013?client_source=feed&format=rss

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UFC 137: Yahoo! Sports and Heavy present Fight Day Live

UFC 137: Yahoo! Sports and Heavy present Fight Day Live

The UFC's only official pre-fight show returns when Fight Day comes to you live from the sold-out Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the home of "UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz."

Hosts Dave Farra and Megan Olivi will break down all of the latest news from the UFC, including the stunning cancelation of the main event after an injury to Georges St-Pierre forced him to withdraw from the event.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will join the show to discuss his career and what's next for him, and we'll have a panel of journalists ready to break down the entire card.

Tune in to Fight Day at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Heavy is also giving away UFC 137 tickets. Your chance at being a part of all the UFC fighting action is only a couple of clicks away. Log on to HeavyMMA's Facebook page.

From there, you must "like" the page and leave a comment about how much you'd love to go to the show. From there, the folks at Heavy conduct a random drawing and the lucky winner will receive two tickets to the big fight card on 10/29/2011. It's that easy! So head over to HeavyMMA's Facebook page now and good luck.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-137-Yahoo-Sports-and-Heavy-present-Fight-D?urn=mma-wp8628

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Oil spill claims czar: Shrimpers' pain continues (Providence Journal)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/154345099?client_source=feed&format=rss

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GOP rivals focus on flat taxes, smaller government (AP)

WASHINGTON ? On jobs and taxes, the top Republican presidential rivals are locked in a fierce game of one-upmanship. They're all trying to outdo each other in offering the boldest economic plan for the campaign to unseat President Barack Obama next November.

Despite some notable differences in the blueprints, they all are built around the central theme that Obama's stimulus programs haven't worked and his job creation record is dismal. Example No. 1: Unemployment is holding at a painfully high 9.1 percent.

"We knew ultimately that the 2012 election was going to be a big referendum on the president," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office who was the chief economic adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. "But Republicans also have to say what they would do. It's not enough to say we don't like what's going on."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry teased rival Herman Cain ? "I'll bump plans with you, brother" ? when both rolled out ambitious proposals for a single-rate flat tax. That's a concept hailed by numerous Republicans and some Democrats for its simplicity, yet it never has managed to attract much congressional support. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the lone major GOP contender not calling for a flat or flatter tax.

The 2012 contenders also are serving up a platter of familiar conservative fare: calls for deep spending cuts, reduced government regulation and an emphasis on private enterprise as the true engine of job growth and prosperity.

The plans underscore the party's attempt to respond to the biggest voter concerns of the day and capitalize on what they see it as Obama's chief vulnerability, the still shaky recovery. The candidates claim their various plans would help create millions of private sector jobs; just how is not always clear.

With polls showing that most people support increasing taxes on the wealthiest households, as Obama and Democrats are proposing, the GOP flat-tax plans would largely end up as a boon to the wealthiest, independent analyses suggest.

The tax debate coincides with spreading protests, inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, against economic inequality. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently reported the top 1 percent of American earners doubled their share of national income over the past 30 years, to 20 percent.

Some of the GOP plans show depth, complexity and sophistication, Holtz-Eakin said. Not every economist is as charitable or sees the GOP offerings as workable.

"I don't think any of the plans can be taken too seriously as actual policy," said Bruce Bartlett, who held top economic posts in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations but now considers himself a political independent.

"The Republican goal is to nominate the person who is the most committed, most articulate in terms of the Republican philosophy. What they're competing for is who best represents that core philosophy and articulate it in a way that the base finds satisfying," Bartlett said.

No matter that some GOP dogma, such as an insistence that cuts in business taxes and government regulation will spur private-sector job growth, "is economic nonsense," Bartlett said.

All the GOP rivals would pare federal regulations.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., would kill the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry regulation law. Romney is proposing a 10 percent cut in the federal workforce. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum wants to repeal all regulations put in place by Obama. "The federal government kills jobs. We don't need more programs and bureaucrats telling business how to operate," he says.

Economists generally agree the shortage of jobs isn't caused by government overregulation but by a lack of consumer demand. A recent Labor Department survey showed that less than 1 percent of all layoffs in the past four years have been attributed by employers to government regulation.

With consumer spending driving two-thirds of the U.S. economy, those without jobs have little money to spend. Many with jobs fear losing them, or their houses are worth less than their mortgages, so they have little spare cash or borrowing ability.

Killing off Obama's health care overhaul is a common feature of the GOP plans. So, too, is a proposal to offer American companies a chance to bring money generated overseas back into the U.S. without being taxed. But studies have shown that a similar repatriation "holiday" in 2004-2005 had little effect on job growth.

Some Republicans go further than others. For instance, Bachmann says she would consider allowing oil and gas exploration in the Florida Everglades. None of her rivals has been that bold, perhaps given Florida's importance in presidential calculus.

Hoping to coax more U.S. export jobs, Romney threatens to trade penalties against China if it does not boost the value of its currency. "If you're not willing to stand up to China, you'll get rolled over by China," he says. But former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who recently served as U.S. ambassador to China, argues that such penalties probably would lead to a trade war that would hurt both economies.

On taxes, Romney would make incremental changes and move later to a simpler system. For now, he would extend Bush-era tax cuts, lower the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 25 percent and exempt investment income for those earning less than $200,000. He would extract more U.S. oil, coal and natural gas, expand trade pacts and cut federal spending.

Rep. Ron Paul's plan is the most radical. The Texas Republican, a libertarian, would scrap the income tax entirely. He contends the government didn't have the authority to impose it in the first place. He would make ends meet through excise taxes, tariffs, and a smaller government. In the process, he would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve.

Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza CEO who has replaced Romney as the GOP front-runner in some recent polls, repeatedly pushes his "9-9-9" tax plan that would cut personal and corporate tax rates to 9 percent each and impose a new 9 percent federal sales tax.

Perry's plan would give taxpayers the choice of paying at a flat rate of 20 percent or adhering to the current tax structure. He would preserve deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local tax taxes for households earning less than $500,000 a year and offer a $12,500 exemption for individuals and dependents.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has proposed a 15 percent optional flat tax. Huntsman would set up a three-tiered system with a top rate of 23 percent. Bachmann would replace the tax code with a yet-to-be specified flat tax. Santorum proposes a "simpler, flatter and fairer" tax without offering specifics. He would cut the corporate tax in half and eliminate it for manufacturers who keep jobs in the U.S.

In the past, flat tax schemes ? pushed by Democrat Jerry Brown in 1992 and Republican publisher Steve Forbes in 1990 and 2000 ? failed to generate much political traction, in part because most plans would put a disproportionate burden on lower-income families.

Quick studies of the current major GOP proposals by independent research groups have made similar findings.

____

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomraum

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111029/ap_on_el_ge/us_republican_economic_plans

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Dow ends above 12K for first time since Aug. 1

Associated Press

Stocks surged Thursday after European leaders agreed on a deal to slash Greece's debt load and prevent the debt crisis there from engulfing larger countries like Italy. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is close to having its best month since 1974.

Europe's sweeping agreement, reached after an all-night summit meeting, is aimed at preventing the Greek government's inability to pay its debt from escalating into another financial crisis like the one that happened in September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds they hold. Europe will also strengthen a financial rescue fund to protect the region's banks and other struggling European countries such as Italy and Portugal.

"This seems to set aside the worries that there would be a massive contagion over there that would have brought everything down with it," said Mark Lamkin, head of Lamkin Wealth Management.

Stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings also drove markets higher. The government reported Thursday that the economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average soared 339.44 points, or 2.86 percent, to 12,208.48. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. led the charge with a 10 percent gain. Commodities prices and Treasury yields also rose as investors took on more risk. The euro rose sharply against the dollar.

The Dow hasn't closed above 12,000 since Aug. 1. With only two full days of trading left in October, the Dow could have its biggest monthly gain since January 1987. The Dow's jump was its largest one-day point gain since a 423 point rise Aug. 11th.

The S&P 500 rose 42.58, or 3.43 percent, to 1,284.58. The gain turned the S&P positive for the year for the first time since Aug. 3, just before the U.S. government's debt was downgraded. The index is up 13.8 percent for the month, its best performance since a 16.3 percent gain in October 1974.

The Dow and S&P have both fallen for the previous five months.

The Nasdaq composite jumped 87.96, or 3.32 percent, to 2,738.63. Commodities and Treasury yields rose as investors took on more risk. The euro rose sharply against the dollar.

Small company stocks rose more than the broader market. That's a sign investors were more comfortable holding assets perceived as being risky but also more likely to appreciate in a strong economy. The Russell 2000 index jumped 5.8 percent.

Raw materials producers, banks and stocks in other industries that depend on a strong economy for profit growth led the way. Copper jumped 5.8 percent to $3.69 a pound and crude oil jumped 4.2 percent to $93.96 a barrel.

The euro rose sharply, to $1.42, as confidence in Europe's financial system grew. The euro was worth $1.39 late Wednesday and had been as low as $1.32 on Oct. 3. European stock indexes also soared. France's CAC-40 rose 6.3 percent and Germany's DAX jumped 6.1 percent.

Investors sold U.S. Treasury notes and bonds, an indication they were moving away from safer investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose to 2.39 percent from 2.21 percent late Wednesday.

European leaders still have to finalize the details of their latest plan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao amid hopes that countries with lots of cash like China can contribute to the European rescue.

Past attempts to contain Europe's two-year debt crisis have proved insufficient. Greece has been surviving on rescue loans since May 2010. In July, creditors agreed to take some losses on their Greek bonds, but that wasn't enough to fix the problem.

Some analysts cautioned that Europe's problems remained unsolved. "The market keeps on thinking that it's put Europe's problems to bed, but it's like putting a three-year old to bed: you might put it there but it won't stay there," said David Kelley, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. Kelly said that Europe's debt problems will remain an issue until the economies of struggling nations like Greece and Portugal grow again.

Worries about Europe's debt crisis and a weak U.S. economy dragged the S&P 500 down 19.4 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3. That put it on the cusp of what's called a bear market, which is a 20 percent decline.

Since then, there have been a number of more encouraging signs on the U.S. economy. Despite the jitters over Europe, many large U.S. companies have been reporting strong profit growth in the third quarter.

Dow Chemical rose 9.4 percent after its profit last quarter rose 59 percent on strong sales growth from Latin America. Occidental Petroleum Corp. jumped 10 percent after reporting a 50 percent surge in income.

Citrix Systems Inc. rose 17 percent. The technology company's revenue rose 20 percent last quarter, and it forecast growth of up to 13 percent for 2012. Akamai Technologies Inc., whose products help speed the delivery of online content, jumped 17 percent after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

Avon Products Inc. fell 17 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its contacts with financial analysts and Avon's own probe into bribery in China and other countries.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/27/8510168-dow-ends-day-above-12000-for-first-time-since-aug-1

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Govt pushes solar energy in West (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration on Thursday identified 17 sites in six Western states as prime candidates for solar energy projects on public lands, continuing a push for solar power despite the high-profile bankruptcy of a solar panel maker that received a half-billion dollar federal loan.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the latest "Solar Energy Zones" refine and improve on a draft released in December that identified two dozen areas in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

Five sites in Nevada, four in Colorado, three in Utah, two each in California and Arizona, and one in New Mexico were identified as ideal for solar development.

The sites comprise 285,000 acres, down from about 677,000 acres in December, and reflect the department's judgment that the targeted land has the highest potential for solar development with the fewest environmental conflicts.

The plan is intended to promote development of large, utility-scale solar projects on public lands that will generate thousands of megawatts of electricity. The zones are intended to maximize electrwicity generation while minimizing conflicts with wildlife, cultural and historic resources.

Salazar called the announcement a "giant step forward" as officials step up efforts to promote solar power, particularly in the West.

The administration's push for renewable energy has come under attack since California-based Solyndra Inc. closed its doors two month ago after receiving a $528 million federal loan. The company declared bankruptcy and laid off its 1,100 workers.

The new plan, which is subject to a 90-day public comment period, "establishes for the first time a blueprint for landscape-level planning that will help facilitate smarter siting of solar energy projects," Salazar said in a conference call with reporters

It also proposes to open an additional 20 million acres of public land to future solar development.

While California has only two projects ? both near the Arizona border in the southeastern corner of the state ? it has more than half the total acreage, with 153,627 acres. Nevada has the next-highest acreage at 60,395.

Salazar and other officials said the plan aims to reduce conflicts and delays in approving solar projects, by identifying areas that have been "pre-screened" to show they are near transmission sites and have few in any environmental conflicts. The sites are also considered to have strong sunlight, with minimal rain or clouds.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said the new plan "provides more clarity' on how projects can proceed and gives potential developers certainty that they will be working in areas that the government considers suited for solar power.

The new plan is based in part on more than 80,000 comments received after the draft plan was announced in December. The seven sites that were dropped from the draft plan include two each in California, Nevada and New Mexico, and one in Arizona.

None of the seven sites had attracted significant interest from investors and either had looming environmental conflicts or were far away from transmission lines, Hayes said, adding that he is confident the remaining 17 projects will be attractive to utilities and other developers.

The department has 79 applications for solar projects on public lands pending and expects to approve as many as 14 next year, officials said.

Four public meetings on the plan are scheduled in November and December.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_western_solar_development

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Friday, October 28, 2011

NBA sides meeting in hopes of ending lockout (AP)

NEW YORK ? NBA owners and players resumed talks aimed at ending the lockout Wednesday, less than a week after three intense days of mediation didn't produce a new labor deal.

The sides got back to the table with a small group meeting and met for more than six hours. Talks broke down last Thursday when players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues as a condition to further discuss the salary cap system.

The first two weeks of the season already have been canceled, and there's little time left to save any basketball in November. Commissioner David Stern has said he feared even games through Christmas would be in jeopardy if there wasn't a deal last week.

Stern rejoined the talks Wednesday after missing last Thursday's session with the flu. He was joined by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and a pair of league office attorneys.

The union was represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher of the Lakers and vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

The players have lowered their proposal to 52.5 percent of basketball-related income, leaving the sides about $100 million apart annually, based on last season's revenues. Players were guaranteed 57 percent of BRI under the previous collective bargaining agreement.

The system is the other chief hurdle. Seeking greater parity among their 30 teams, owners are looking to reduce the ways that teams can exceed the salary cap so that big markets won't have a significant payroll advantage. They have proposed raising the taxes the highest spenders would pay, but players fear the penalties would be so punitive they would act like a hard salary cap.

The sides also are struggling over items such as the length of the deal, players' contract lengths and the size of their raises.

Silver said last week it was "unclear" to him whether an 82-game schedule was still possible. The league could try to reschedule the lost games if a deal can be reached soon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_nba_labor

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Insurer WellPoint's 3Q profit falls 7.5 pct (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? WellPoint says its third-quarter earnings fell more than 7 percent even as medical enrollment and revenue grew.

The largest publicly traded health insurer based on enrollment reported net income of $683.2 million, $1.90 per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30. That's down from $739.1 million, or $1.74 per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose almost 6 percent to $15.2 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet forecast earnings of $1.68 per share on $15.22 billion in revenue.

WellPoint says enrollment climbed more than 2 percent to 34.4 million members.

The Indianapolis company operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, including California, New York and Ohio.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_wellpoint

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Melanie Amaro Has Nothing... But Talent!


Melanie Amaro can be forgiven for a lack of originality.

The X Factor finalist - she advanced to the top 12 on the first-ever live performance show - covered a Whitney Houston classic last night, belting out her take on "I Have Nothing," a song with which any loyal singing competition viewer is familiar.

But Amaro made the track her own with an incredible rendition, leading L.A. Reid to state simply: "We really did save the best for last because, honey, you were unbelievable."

Is there any doubt we're looking at the current favorite?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/melanie-amaro-has-nothing-but-talent/

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

GR2011: Aeryn vs Kei'Taro (R4)


RolePlayGateway is proudly powered by obscene amounts of caffeine, duct tape, Wordpress, Moodle, phpBB, AJAX Chat, Mantis, and the efforts of many dedicated writers and roleplayers. It operates under a "don't like it, suggest an improvement" platform, and we gladly take suggestions for improvements or changes.

The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

? RolePlayGateway, LLC

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus confirmed to have 'fortified glass,' not Gorilla Glass

For all the talk of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in recent days, there's still quite a few questions surrounding the flagship Ice Cream Sandwich phone. Last week we learned that the phone's 4.65-inch screen was a standard Super AMOLED display and not a Super AMOLED Plus variation (as seen on the Galaxy S II), and now Corning has confirmed that the device doesn't use its trademark Gorilla Glass as you may have assumed given its high-end status. According to Samsung, however, it does use a type of "fortified glass," but the company isn't getting any more specific than that. We guess we'll have to wait for some stress tests (or clumsy hands) to see just how well it holds up.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus confirmed to have 'fortified glass,' not Gorilla Glass originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/samsung-galaxy-nexus-confirmed-to-have-fortified-glass-not-go/

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Don't screen everybody for HIV in the ER: study (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? More than 1,100 people would have to be offered HIV tests in the emergency room to find just one new infection with the potentially deadly virus, researchers from France said Monday.

Their conclusion -- that universal HIV screening in the ER is not a practical option -- contradicts current recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Unexpectedly, nontargeted screening identified only a few new diagnoses, often already at late stages, and most newly diagnosed patients belonged to a high-risk group and had been tested previously," Dr. Kayigan Wilson d'Almeida and colleagues from the Emergency Department HIV-Screening Group write in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They assigned 29 Paris emergency departments to offer HIV blood tests over six weeks to patients ages 18 to 64. Nearly 21,000 people were offered the test, and more than 12,700 took it.

Only 18 new HIV cases, or 14 per 10,000 tests, surfaced over the study. And seven of those were gay men, who are already considered high-risk.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federally funded expert panel, makes no recommendations about HIV screening of the general public, but recommends testing high-risk groups such as prostitutes, drug addicts and homosexual men.

According to an editorial published along with the new findings, there are likely about 240,000 undiagnosed cases of HIV in the U.S.

But to Dr. Jason Haukoos at the Denver Health Medical Center who wrote the editorial, screening all patients at ERs is not the best way to find those cases.

In a study from last year, he found only a quarter of more than 28,000 patients at his hospital accepted the test, resulting in just 10 new HIV diagnoses.

"These new studies basically say you need to test thousands to identify a handful of patients," Haukoos told Reuters Health. "The question is, is there a way to use scarce resources to target patients at a higher risk?"

According to Haukoos, the test used in the new study costs about $10, and limiting it to patients at risk would be the best idea. According to unpublished data from his group, he said, it even appears that doing so would identify more HIV cases.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/rAzSDK Archives of Internal Medicine, October 24, 2011.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/aids/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/hl_nm/us_screen_hiv

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Want to buy a bridge? Kentucky's giving one away (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Officials in Kentucky are so keen to get rid of an obsolete but historic bridge on a rural stretch of highway that they are trying to give it away -- and even offering to dismantle and deliver it to its new home for free.

The 82-year-old span on state Route 80 in southeastern Kentucky needs to come down so a new bridge capable of handling heavier traffic can go up, the state Department of Highways said.

But state officials would prefer not to demolish the existing structure, a 450-foot metal truss span built in 1929 that is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. So they are seeking to give it away.

To sweeten the pot, the state is willing to have the bridge disassembled, transported and off-loaded at no charge. All the new owner has to do is reassemble and maintain it, said H.B. Elkins, spokesman for the Department of Highways, District 10, where the bridge is located.

"It's what they call functionally obsolete, meaning it's narrow and the trusses have low clearance," Elkins said. "But it's structurally sound. People use it every day."

Elkins said possible applicants could include a municipality, a state or even a private person in need of a stream crossing or a unique driveway.

As long as the old bridge is re-erected at the new site with its original characteristics retained, Kentucky does not care who gets it, Elkins said.

The only other asterisk: The cost of saving the bridge cannot exceed the estimated cost of demolishing it. Elkins said no one knows what that cost might be "because we haven't bid out the construction job for the new bridge."

This is the second bridge in Perry County that Kentucky has tried to give away in recent years. The deadline to apply is December 20, Elkins said.

With the first one, offered about five years ago, Elkins said there was plenty of interest upfront but no takers in the end.

"So we built the new bridge next to the old one, documented the old one with photographs and then demolished it," he said.

(Reporting by James B. Kelleher; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/od_nm/us_kentucky_bridge

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Review: The birth of Gonzo in 'The Rum Diary' (AP)

If Batman and the X-Men get prequels, why not Hunter S. Thompson?

He was certainly a superhero of a kind, just one whose powers mainly consisted of consuming copious amounts of alcohol while still, somehow, churning out wildly colorful, raging dispatches from the road.

"The Rum Diary" is based on Thompson's heavily autobiographical novel by the same name, which he wrote as a 22-year-old in the early 1960s after a stint as a newspaper reporter in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It wasn't published until 1998. Since then, Thompson's friend Johnny Depp (who also played Thompson in 1998's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") has been trying to adapt "The Rum Diary" to the screen.

"The Rum Diary" ? which is dedicated to Thompson, who died in 2005 ? is essentially a portrait of the Duke as a young journalist. The stand-in for Thompson, the young novelist-reporter Paul Kemp (Depp), is trying to find his way and his writing voice: It's the birth of Gonzo.

Criminally exaggerated resume in hand, Kemp has gone to Puerto Rico to try his hand as a reporter. He lands a job at the San Juan Star, whose editor-in-chief, Lotterman (the excellent Richard Jenkins), is at his wit's end running a failing, diminishing daily. As he interviews a hung-over Kemp, he quizzes him on what kind of drinker he is, to which Kemp deadpans that he's at "the upper-end of social."

Kemp is befriended by staff photographer Sala (Michael Rispoli, in a deservedly big part for him), a burly, genial newsman who is nevertheless not once seen with a camera in hand. Kemp moves into Sala's dilapidated dump of an apartment, which he shares with crime reporter Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi), a horse-voiced, over-drugged oddity who listens to Hitler broadcasts and sets some kind of record for caustic reporter-editor relations.

Kemp catches the attention of American businessman Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a smooth manipulator who is trying to push through an enormous development of a nearby, pristine island that's pushing locals out in favor of American investors. Sanderson recruits Kemp to spin the development favorably in the Star.

This picture of American corruption of Puerto Rico is one of the more compelling aspects of "The Rum Diary." A combative atmosphere between poor locals and rich Americans hangs in the air, as do the Navy bombing tests on Vieques. Depp is again in the Caribbean among pirates.

Sanderson's slick, wealthy appeal is tempting to Kemp, who isn't finding the constricting Star to be an especially noble pursuit, either. Even more alluring is Sanderson's beautiful fianc?e Chenault, played by Amber Heard. Kemp immediately falls for her ("Oh God, why did she have to happen?" he mutters after meeting her) and it's no wonder: Heard is a stunning presence.

This builds slowly for Kemp into a moral crisis and, finally, an artistic tipping-point. "I don't know how to write like me," he says, but by the end of the film, it's clear that Kemp/Thompson has found his legs. The guiding principle is a furious distrust of authority (we glimpse him cursing Nixon), and a key ingredient is hallucinogens (we also get an early encounter with LSD).

You might expect a tribute such as this to be sycophantic, but director Bruce Robinson (famous for the brilliant cult film "Withnail & I") keeps a realistic tone. Robinson, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation, doesn't present the cartoonish Thompson we've come to expect. It's a refreshing, grounded view of the writer.

Depp, at this point, would seem to not be aging. This more low-key performance as a Thompson alter-ego feels truer than the manic derangement of "Fear and Loathing," but the role is also lacking yearning and real energy.

Thompson went on to find his voice, but "The Rum Diary," entertaining and well-intended, comes just shy of discovering its own.

"The Rum Diary," a FilmDistrict release, is rated R for language, brief drug use and sexuality. Running time: 120 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

___

Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G ? General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG ? Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 ? Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R ? Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 ? No one under 17 admitted.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_en_mo/us_film_review_the_rum_diary

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Siri shows up on an iPod Touch, no longer plays favorites in the iOS family

That Siri gal is certainly making the rounds these days. When she's not answering your questions on a 4S, she's showing up on iPads and elder iPhones. Not one to play favorites, Siri's now lending her considerable talents to an iPod touch. Two enterprising young hackers, euwars and rud0lf77, are the ones who put Siri on the iPod, and you can see the results of their labor in the video after the break. Of course, Apple's servers still aren't as friendly as the virtual voice assistant, so Siri's latest cameo remains a silent one -- but some Siri's better than none, right?

Continue reading Siri shows up on an iPod Touch, no longer plays favorites in the iOS family

Siri shows up on an iPod Touch, no longer plays favorites in the iOS family originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/sJIetCCA_P4/

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Review: Vince Gill showcases songwriting strengths (AP)

Vince Gill, "Guitar Slinger" (MCA)

The title of Vince Gill's new album focuses on his instrumental skills. But the music more intently highlights another talent: songwriting. On "Guitar Slinger," Gill concentrates on lyrics about friends and issues, turning out stories that are sometimes entertaining and often touching.

Some draw on his sense of humor: The title is a roadhouse rocker inspired by Gill's catastrophic loss of musical equipment in Nashville's 2010 flood. Others confront tragedy: "Bread and Water" is based on the death of Gill's older brother, who struggled with daily existence after suffering a severe head injury. "Billy Paul" questions why a close friend took such a deadly turn, while "Buttermilk John" honors the late steel guitarist John Hughey, who worked with Gill for many years.

As usual, Gill's guitar playing adds color to his songs, and he balances the difficult stories with those of love and faith: "Who Wouldn't Fall In Love With You" is a beautiful love song to his wife Amy Grant, and "Threaten Me With Heaven" explores his religious beliefs.

Altogether, "Guitar Slinger" shows Gill utilizing a veteran's craft to delve into truths essential to who he is. It shows how a superstar can age gracefully while continuing to sharpen his talents.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: "If I Die," written with Ashley Monroe of the Pistol Annies, is an emotionally resonant prayer that balances sin and salvation in beautiful terms.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_en_mu/us_music_review_vince_gill

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"Tower Heist" Steals Into New York City (Fashion Wire Daily)

New York ? Eddie Murphy and his cinematic criminal cohorts joined forces to take over New York City on Monday, Oct. 24, as they gathered to premiere "Tower Heist" at the Ziegfeld Theatre. Murphy, who also produced the comedy caper flick, had an easy explanation for why he jumped into the project with both feet.

"I wanted to get out of the house and do some stuff," he said at an earlier press conference. "I'd been sitting around the house too long. So I was like, let me get out and do something. I hadn't done a film like this. And that's why it was, 'Hey, I want to do a movie and do something I haven't done.' So here we are."

The "we" of "Tower Heist" is a star-studded group, and most joined Murphy on the red carpet for the celebration, with Ben Stiller leading the gang. Having Stiller as his comedic foil was exactly what Murphy wanted when he started the process of putting "Tower Heist" together with famed producer Brian Grazer. "I'm a big fan of Ben's," Murphy declared. "And I've been wanting to work with him for years. So this all came together perfect for me. I'm very happy to be here."

Casey Affleck, Gabourey Sidibe, Judd Hirsch, Tea Leoni, Alan Alda and Matthew Broderick rounded out the smiling cast. Broderick brought his wife Sarah Jessica Parker and their son James, while Stiller escorted his spouse, actress Christine Taylor. Serena Williams, Sean Combs, Tracy Morgan, Paz de la Huerta and Donald Trump with his wife Melania also turned out for the premiere.

Brett Ratner, the film's director, was actually the night's real center of attention, perhaps because he's also the man tapped to produce the upcoming Academy Awards show. He's already chosen Eddie Murphy as the host, a fact that might worry a lesser performer. But it doesn't faze Murphy.

"I don't get nervous," the veteran comedian said with a chuckle. "The Oscars is just a fun thing to do. I mean the pressure involves a bunch of artists coming in and being honored. I've got a pretty easy job coming out, introduce people, stand up straight. You know, I may be in a couple of silly sketches or something. But I don't feel any pressure. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/fashion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/fwd/20111025/en_fashion_fwd/towerheiststealsintonewyorkcity

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Monday, October 24, 2011

US fights producer's bid to overturn extradition

FILE - This May 26, 2010 file photo shows Bruce Beresford-Redman, the former "Survivor" producer, posing for a photo at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to reject a bid by Beresford-Redman to overturn an extradition order on a charge he killed his wife while on a family vacation in Mexico. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - This May 26, 2010 file photo shows Bruce Beresford-Redman, the former "Survivor" producer, posing for a photo at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to reject a bid by Beresford-Redman to overturn an extradition order on a charge he killed his wife while on a family vacation in Mexico. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

(AP) ? Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to reject a reality TV producer's petition to overturn an extradition order on allegations that he killed his wife during a vacation in Mexico.

The filing Monday by prosecutors in Los Angeles argues that attorneys for ex-"Survivor" producer Bruce Beresford-Redman haven't presented credible conflicting evidence that would warrant overturning the order authorizing his return to Cancun to stand trial.

Beresford-Redman filed a brief in September arguing that the magistrate judge's extradition ruling didn't take into account evidence favorable to him. He was charged with aggravated homicide after his wife Monica was found dead at an upscale resort in April 2010.

The latest filing says the judge considered evidence presented by Beresford-Redman, but didn't find it compelling.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-10-24-Producer's%20Wife%20Killed/id-70d2a9f95b2f41459d06805cb105e3ef

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U.S. readies stronger lifeline for homeowners (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Homeowners who owe more than their houses are worth will get new help to refinance in a government plan to be unveiled as early as Monday to support the battered housing sector, sources familiar with the effort said.

The Obama administration has been working with the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to find ways to make it easier for borrowers to switch to cheaper loans even if they have little to no equity in their homes.

The regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, intends to loosen the terms of the two-year-old Home Affordable Refinance Program, which helps borrowers who have been making mortgage payments on time but who have not been able to refinance as their home values have dropped.

Officials have been frustrated that attempts to bolster housing -- the epicenter of the deepest U.S. recession since the Great Depression -- have borne little fruit. Some top Federal Reserve officials want the central bank to consider buying more mortgage-backed securities as a way to help.

While housing prices have stabilized recently, they remain almost a third below the peak reached in 2006.

HARP has been criticized by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as ineffective in reducing foreclosures, and the changes under consideration are unlikely to be a panacea.

After meeting with the head of FHFA earlier this month, one lawmaker said an expanded program could help as many as 600,000 to one million troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure.

But that is only a fraction of the estimated 11 million homeowners who are underwater, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth.

A further boost to housing could come from the settlement of a long-running probe into mortgage servicing and foreclosure abuses by top banks, which could result in up to $25 billion in homeowner relief.

WHITE HOUSE PUSH

HARP is currently open to borrowers whose mortgages are owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as long as their loans do not exceed 125 percent of their homes' values.

The sources said FHFA will lift that threshold, but how high is unclear.

Another change may include the possibility of easing the fees tied to mortgages refinanced under HARP, according to the sources.

Some homeowners who would like to participate in the program do not because of the high fees involved. Currently, borrowers with little home equity face increased charges as a result of the so-called risk-based pricing Fannie and Freddie use to protect themselves against taking on too much risk.

"I really think at this stage of the game that none of these programs are going to have the breadth, scope and energy to make a major difference," said Steve Blitz, senior economist for ITG in New York.

The Obama administration and FHFA are also trying to settle differences on whether or not to waive so-called "reps and warranties." Representation and warranty agreements are essentially contracts that outline the incentives of originators, issuers, and investors when a loan is sold and securitized. They also stipulate that an originator is required to buy back loans that violate terms of the agreements.

The sources said it was unlikely FHFA would waive the agreements altogether, although it was examining its options.

When HARP was introduced in March 2009, the Obama administration predicted it would help as many as 5 million homeowners. So far, however, only 893,800 borrowers have refinanced their loans through August by using HARP.

The White House sees the effort to widen HARP as way to stimulate the economy more broadly by lowering consumer mortgage bills to free-up more money to spend elsewhere. A drop in mortgage rates to record lows has added urgency to the effort.

FHFA, however, has proceeded cautiously, concerned about making changes that could undercut the financial health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have already taken $141 billion in taxpayer funds since being seized by the government in September 2008.

"With HARP responsible for less than 1 million refinancing and mortgage rates below 4 percent, we need to pick up the pace," Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan told a conference earlier this month.

Fannie and Freddie, combined with the Federal Housing Administration, support about 90 percent of the mortgage market.

(Reporting by Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111021/us_nm/us_usa_housing

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Sunday, October 23, 2011

'Margin Call' offers timely look at financial woes

If you want to understand why the financial crisis of 2008 happened and the causes behind it, you should watch the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary, "Inside Job."

If you want to understand what the people working at the giant Wall Street monoliths might have felt and been doing as their empires came crashing down -- soon dragging the nation with them -- consider seeing "Margin Call."

This savvy and involving indie by first-time feature director J.C. Chandor follows the fortunes of a handful of employees and executives at a fictional Manhattan investment firm over the course of a single long night.

It makes clear that the guys on the top aren't always the smartest; they're simply the wiliest and the ones most willing to do whatever it takes to survive.

"Margin Call" begins with firings. Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), a numbers whiz, is being let go in a company-wide downsizing at the firm. As he leaves, he urges an underling, a junior financial researcher named Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto, who also produced the film), to follow up on a half-completed analysis on which the older man had been working.

Story: Exclusive movie clip: 'Margin Call' turns financial crisis into thriller

Peter stays late at work that evening to do so and, after making additional calculations and projections, discovers that the firm could be on the verge of going under (shades of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers).

He notifies his superior (Paul Bettany), and soon the top-level executives are gathering for emergency meetings. Will the firm go under? Will it decide to unload its bad paper before the truth comes out?

  1. Quick facts

    Starring: Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci
    Director: J.C. Chandor
    Run time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
    MPAA rating: R for language

There are both heroes and villains here, and disillusionment aplenty. At the top, the cynicism is pervasive. The company's uberboss (Jeremy Irons), a serpent in a Savile Row suit, can barely understand the intricacies of the actual problem but knows he's not going to be the fall guy.

As he and the other major players at the firm (Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore and Simon Baker) play the blame game and desperately jockey to maintain their positions, it's clear that these masters of the universe have long since sold their souls-and know it-in exchange for lucre.

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      On the eve of the opening of Jon Bon Jovi's new community restaurant, Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, N.J., I got the chance to sit down with the singer and talk about his new project.

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    3. Child porn indictment for ex-reality TV chef
    4. 'Mad Men's' Shipka advises child actors
    5. Pee-wee Herman: I want to go 'Dancing'

"Margin Call" purposefully and effectively creates a claustrophobic feel; much of it takes place on the harshly lit trading floor and in conference rooms and offices of the firm. This fiefdom of finance is a world onto itself. Only when its residents emerge from the building into the real world are they able sometimes to think and behave as responsible human beings with motivations and concerns other than money and corporate standing.

There are a lot of sharp performances here, a chief pleasure of the film.

Quinto ably conveys the growing unease of his young would-be master of the universe; Irons is all reptilian guile; Moore deftly shows the strains on a lone female executive expert at corporate maneuvering; and Spacey and Paul Bettany neatly show that much of Wall Street is populated by guys who are nothing more than glorified, over-compensated salesman.

In many ways, "Margin Call" tells a traditional story of innocence lost. Quinto's character, Zachary, is an ambitious young man who, upon getting an up close and intimate look at the real workings of power, comes away disillusioned.

Guess that makes him part of the 99 percent.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44975793/ns/today-entertainment/

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