Publicist: 'Moon River' singer Andy Williams dies

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and the signature "Moon River," Andy Williams was a voice of the 1960s, although not the '60s we usually hear about.

"The old cliche says that if you can remember the 1960s, you weren't there," the singer once recalled. "Well, I was there all right, but my memory of them is blurred ? not by any drugs I took but by the relentless pace of the schedule I set myself."

Williams' plaintive tenor, boyish features and easy demeanor helped him outlast many of the rock stars who had displaced him and such fellow crooners as Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. He remained on the charts into the 1970s, and continued to perform in his 80s at the Moon River Theatre he built in Branson, Mo. In November 2011, when Williams announced that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer, he vowed to return to performing the following year: His 75th in show business.

Williams died Tuesday night at his home in Branson following a yearlong battle with the disease, his Los Angeles-based publicist, Paul Shefrin, said Wednesday. He was 84.

He became a major star the same year as Elvis Presley, 1956, with the Sinatra-like swing "Canadian Sunset," and for a time he was pushed into such Presley imitations as "Lips of Wine" and the No. 1 smash "Butterfly." But he mostly stuck to what he called his "natural style," and kept it up throughout his career. In 1970, when even Sinatra had given up and (temporarily) retired, Williams was in the top 10 with the theme from "Love Story," the Oscar-winning tearjerker. He had 18 gold records and three platinum, was nominated for five Grammy awards and hosted the Grammy ceremonies for several years.

Movie songs became a specialty, from "Love Story" and "Days of Wine and Roses" to "Moon River." The longing Johnny Mercer-Henry Mancini ballad was his most famous song, even though he never released it as a single because his record company feared such lines as "my huckleberry friend" were too confusing and old-fashioned for teens. The song was first performed by Audrey Hepburn in the beloved 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's," but Mancini thought "Moon River" ideal for Williams, who recorded it in "pretty much one take" and also sang it at the 1962 Academy Awards. Although "Moon River" was covered by countless artists and became a hit single for Jerry Butler, Williams made the song his personal brand. In fact, he insisted on it.

"When I hear anybody else sing it, it's all I can to do stop myself from shouting at the television screen, 'No! That's my song!'" Williams wrote in his 2009 memoir, titled, fittingly, "Moon River and Me."

"The Andy Williams Show," which lasted in various formats through the 1960s and into 1971, won three Emmys and featured Williams alternately performing his stable of hits and bantering casually with his guest stars. It was on that show that Williams ? who launched his own career as part of an all-brother quartet ? introduced the world to another clean-cut act ? the original four singing Osmond Brothers of Utah. Their younger sibling Donny also made his debut on Williams' show, in 1963 when he was 6 years old. Four decades later, the Osmonds and Williams would find themselves in close proximity again, sharing Williams' theater in Branson, Mo.

Williams did book some rock and soul acts, including the Beach Boys, the Temptations and Smokey Robinson. On one show, in 1970, Williams sang "Heaven Help Us All" with Ray Charles, Mama Cass and a then-little known Elton John, a vision to Williams in his rhinestone glasses and black cape. But Williams liked him and his breakthrough hit "Your Song" enough to record it himself.

Williams' act was, apparently, not an act. The singer's unflappable manner on television and in concert was mirrored offstage.

"I guess I've never really been aggressive, although almost everybody else in show business fights and gouges and knees to get where they want to be," he once said. "My trouble is, I'm not constructed temperamentally along those lines

His wholesome image endured one jarring interlude. In 1976, his ex-wife, former Las Vegas showgirl Claudine Longet, shot and killed her lover, skiing champion Spider Sabich. The Rolling Stones mocked the tragedy in "Claudine," a song so pitiless that it wasn't released until decades later. Longet, who said it was an accident, spent only a week in jail. Williams stood by her. He escorted her to the courthouse, testified on her behalf and provided support for her and their children, Noelle, Christian and Robert.

Also in the 1970s, Williams was seen frequently in the company of Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's widow. The singer denied any romantic involvement.

He was born Howard Andrew Williams in Wall Lake, Iowa, on Dec. 3, 1927. In his memoir, Williams remembered himself as a shy boy who concealed his insecurity "behind a veneer of cheek and self-confidence." Of Wall Lake, Williams joked that it was so small, and had so little to do, that crowds would gather just to watch someone get a haircut.

Williams began performing with his older brothers Dick, Bob and Don in the local Presbyterian church choir. Their father, postal worker and insurance man Jay Emerson Williams, was the choirmaster and the force behind his children's career. When Andy was 8, Williams' father brought the kids for an audition on Des Moines radio station WHO's Iowa Barn Dance. They were initially turned down, but Jay Emerson Williams and the young quartet kept returning and they were finally accepted, their show bringing them attention from Chicago, Cincinnati and Hollywood. Another star at WHO was a young sportscaster named Ronald Reagan, who would later praise Williams as a "national treasure."

The brothers joined Bing Crosby in recording the hit "Swinging on a Star" in 1944 for Crosby's film "Going My Way," and Andy, barely a teenager, was picked to dub Lauren Bacall's voice on a song for the film "To Have and Have Not." His voice stayed in the film until the preview, when it was cut because it didn't sound like Bacall's.

Later the brothers worked with Kay Thompson of eventual "Eloise" fame, then a singer who had taken a position as vocal coach at MGM studios, working with Judy Garland, June Allyson and others. After three months of training, Thompson and the Williams Brothers broke in their show at the El Rancho Room in Las Vegas to a huge ovation. They drew rave reviews in New York, Los Angeles and across the nation, earning a peak of $25,000 a week.

Williams, analyzing their success, once said: "Somehow we managed to work up and sustain an almost unbearable pitch of speed and rhythm."

After five years, the three older brothers, who were starting their own families, had tired of the constant travel and left to pursue other careers.

Williams initially struggled as a solo act and was so broke at one point that he resorted to eating food intended for his two dogs.

"I had no money for food, so I ate it," he recalled in 2001, "and it actually was damned good."

A two-year TV stint on Steve Allen's "Tonight Show" and a contract with Cadence Records turned things around. In the 1960s. Williams later formed his own label, Barnaby Records, which released music by the Everly Brothers, Ray Stevens and Jimmy Buffett.

Williams was a lifelong Republican who once accused President Obama of "following Marxist theory." But he acknowledged experimenting with LSD, opposed the Nixon administration's efforts in the 1970s to deport John Lennon, and, in 1968, was an energetic supporter of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. When Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in June 1968, just after winning the California Democratic primary, Williams sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at his funeral.

"We chose that song because he used it on the campaign trail," Williams later said of Kennedy, who had been a close friend. "He had a terrible voice but he loved to sing that song. The only way I got through singing in church that day was by saying, 'This is my job. I can't let emotion get in the way of the song.' I really concentrated on not thinking about him."

After leaving TV, Williams headed back on the road, where his many Christmas shows and albums made him a huge draw during the holidays. One year in Des Moines, however, a snowstorm kept the customers away, and the band's equipment failed to reach Chicago in time for the next night's show, forcing the musicians to borrow instruments from a high school band.

"No more tours," Williams decreed.

He decided to settle in Branson, the self-proclaimed "live entertainment capital of the country," with its dozens of theaters featuring live music, comedy and magic acts.

When he arrived in 1992, the town was dominated by country music performers, but Williams changed that, building the classy, $13 million Andy Williams Moon River Theater in the heart of the city's entertainment district and performing two shows a night, six days a week, nine months of the year. Only in recent years did he begin to cut back to one show a night.

Not surprisingly, his most popular time of the year was Christmas, although he acknowledged that not everyone in Hollywood accepted his move to the Midwest.

"The fact is most of my friends in L.A. still think I'm nuts for coming here," he told The Associated Press in 1998.

He and his second wife, the former Debbie Haas, divided their time between homes in Branson and Palm Springs, where he spent his leisure hours on the golf course when Branson's theaters were dark during the winter months following Christmas.

Retirement was not on his schedule. As he told the AP in 2001: "I'll keep going until I get to the point where I can't get out on stage."

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Thomas reported from Los Angeles.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/publicist-moon-river-singer-andy-williams-dies-134418261.html

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Calif. Governor Brown Issues Legislative Update - California Newswire

Home ? Ballots and Bills, CA Education, California NEWS INDEX, Newsdesk, Office of the Calif. Governor

Calif. Gov. Jerry BrownSACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ ? Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has signed the following bills to improve education in California: AB 644 by Assemblymember Robert Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys) ? Schools: average daily attendance: online instruction. AB 1723 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Los Angeles) ? Postsecondary educational institutions: meetings: live video and audio transmission. (Additional follow.)

? AB 1955 by Assemblymember Marty Block (D-San Diego) ? Public postsecondary education: campus law enforcement agency and student liaison.
? AB 1967 by Assemblymember John A. P?rez (D-Los Angeles) ? Pupil instruction: health and science education: organ and tissue donation.
? AB 2122 by Assemblymember Ricardo Lara (D-South Gate) ? Standardized testing: testing accommodations.
? AB 2269 by Assemblymember Sandr? Swanson (D-Oakland) ? Pupil instruction: Labor History Month.
? AB 2296 by Assemblymember Marty Block (D-San Diego) ? California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.
? AB 2307 by Assemblymember Betsy Butler (D-Marina Del Rey) ? School employees: reemployment.
? AB 2435 by Assemblymember Roger Hern?ndez (D-Baldwin Park) ? Education finance: indirect cost rates.
? AB 2491 by Assemblymember Robert Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys) ? Pupil instruction: gifted and talented pupil program: standard for pupil identification.
? AB 2662 by Committee on Education ? Education.
? SB 121 by Senator Carol Liu (D-Pasadena) ? Pupils: foster children: special education.
? SB 298 by Senator Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) ? Charter schools: at-risk pupils: Los Angeles County Board of Education.
? SB 754 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) ? School funding: economic impact aid.
? SB 960 by Senator Michael Rubio (D-Bakersfield) ? California State University: campus-based mandatory fees.
? SB 1028 by Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review ? Education finance.
? SB 1290 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) ? Charter schools: establishment, renewal, and revocation.
? SB 1458 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) ? School accountability: Academic Performance Index: graduation rates.
? SB 1568 by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) ? Pupils: foster children: educational placement.

The Governor also announced that he has vetoed the following bills:

? AB 1811 by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla (D-Concord) ? Charter schools: funding. A veto message can be found here.
? AB 1919 by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) ? Pupils: achievement data: charter schools. A veto message can be found here.
? SB 885 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) ? Public education accountability: longitudinal education data system. A veto message can be found here.
? SB 1235 by Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) ? Pupils: suspension. A veto message can be found here.
? SB 1497 by Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) ? Pupil data: dropouts: report. A veto message can be found here.

For full text of the bills, visit: leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

ABOUT THE EDITOR: Valerie Gotten (aka Valerie G) is an abstract painter, former movie stand-in, and volunteers for "green events" to help raise awareness about global warming, and help preserve California's wilderness and natural beauty.

Source: http://californianewswire.com/2012/09/26/CNW12540_150901.php

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Rented Computers Captured Customers Having Sex, F.T.C. Says ...

If you rented a computer, you probably should not have been blogging without your shirt on.

On Tuesday, seven computer rental companies agreed to a settlement with the federal government after it was discovered that they were unlawfully capturing photos of customers by using illicit software that controlled a computer?s webcam.

The Federal Trade Commission said?the seven companies involved had worked with?DesignerWare,?a Pennsylvania-based?software maker, to create a program that secretly captured ?webcam pictures of children, partially undressed individuals, and intimate activities at home.? This included people who while engaging in sexual?activities?in their homes were being recorded on their rental computers.

The webcam software, called PC Rental Agent, had been installed on approximately 420,000 computers worldwide, according to the F.T.C., and as of August 2011 it was being used by approximately 1,617 rent-to-own stores in the United States, Canada and Australia.

In a news release issued by the F.T.C.,?Jon Leibowitz, the agency?s chairman, said the software had also captured?consumers? private e-mails, bank account information and medical records. In some instances the software was able to capture Social Security numbers, medical records and doctor?s names. Most disturbing, the webcam captured pictures of children.

The reality that nearly half a million people were so intensely spied upon?without?their knowledge highlighted what some say is a need for more oversight by government?officials?for people who do not own their own computers. Lisa Madigan, the Illinois attorney general, said: ?There is no justification for spying on customers. These tactics are offensive invasions of personal privacy.?

The settlement agreed upon by the F.T.C. will ban the rent-to-own companies from using monitoring software of any kind and prohibit the companies from tracking a user?s location without that person?s knowledge or consent. All of the stores involved are also?prohibited from using any of the information?collected?from the computers to collect outstanding debts.? The companies will also be monitored by the F.T.C. for the next 20 years.

The companies involved in the settlement include: Aspen Way Enterprises; the Watershed Development Corporation, which operates under the names Watershed and Aaron?s Sales & Lease Ownership; Showplace Rent-to-Own; J.A.G. Rents, operating under the name?ColorTyme; B. Stamper Enterprises,?which operated under the name Premier Rental Purchase; and?C.A.L.M. Ventures, which also operates under the public name Premier Rental Purchase.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/rented-computers-captured-customers-having-sex-f-t-c-says/

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Mr. Sexy Back tries to bring Myspace back

NEW YORK (AP) ? "Who am I to say I want you back? When you were never mine to give away."

Those are the opening lines of a song that accompanies a "New Myspace" promotional video. The once-mighty social network is trying to stage yet another comeback with the help of Justin Timberlake. The new site, for which people can request an invitation, looks a bit like an entertainment-focused version of Pinterest, with a dash of Twitter and Facebook thrown in.

But Myspace has tried redesigns before, to no avail. Will it work this time?

"If you break my heart a second time, I might never be the same," continues the song, "Heartbeat," by the group JJAMZ.

From the sound if it, Myspace wants to win the hearts and minds of tech-savvy hipsters. Founded in 2003 and initially a fast-rising star, Myspace attracted mostly teenagers and twentysomethings, offering them a place to express themselves online. It peaked in 2008 with some 76 million U.S. visitors in October. The site lost its footing as the fun of customizing profile pages began to bore its users and the site's heavy use of banner advertisements slowed the speed at which pages loaded. At the same time, people were already migrating to Facebook, which counted users 35 and older among its fastest-growing demographic.

The company's new promotional video offers a 2-minute and 18-second peek into a slick, image-heavy site. The site's much cleaner look is a stark contrast to the old Myspace, which users often derided as messy and cluttered. Posted this week, the video promises that Myspace will start "totally from scratch," as if trying to shed its former self. It doesn't say when the new site will launch, only that it's "not ready quite yet."

The new Myspace will let users connect to the site with their Twitter or Facebook accounts, a sign that it won't be competing with those sites as a social networking service. Rather, Myspace will continue with its entertainment focus, as a place to play and discover music, add photos, videos and playlists and connect with artists.

Timberlake, who's featured prominently in the video, will likely play a big part of the MySpace revamp. The former 'N Sync pop star, with a group of other investors, bought MySpace last summer from News Corp. for $35 million, mostly in stock. That was quite a difference from the $580 million that News Corp. paid for the company in 2005, when it was still an Internet darling.

MySpace, of course, isn't Timberlake's first foray into social networking. He played Napster co-founder Sean Parker, a party animal and early Facebook adviser, in Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Network" in 2010.

In August this year, research firm comScore put Myspace's monthly unique visitors at 28 million, making it the 43rd most visited Web property in the U.S. It's behind the likes of not just Google, Facebook and Twitter but startups such as Tumblr, along with the reviews site Yelp and WebMD.

"The new design certainly looks beautiful and it could certainly spur a lot of initial interest," said Clark Fredericksen, spokesman for research firm eMarketer, which used to put out ad revenue estimates for MySpace but no longer does. "But there are going to be significant challenges for any company looking to enter the digital music space. You have a lot of entrenched players who are really successful."

Those players include Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, not to mention Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

There's also the mobile question. It's unclear from the video what plans the new MySpace has for mobile devices such as Android smartphones, iPhones and tablet computers. Fredricksen points out that cloud-based music ? streamed over an Internet connection ? is shifting toward the mobile platform primarily. We are all on the go with our music. MySpace is entering a crowded market here, too.

Representatives for Specific Media, which owns Myspace, did not return messages for comment Wednesday. Timberlake's publicist also did not return an email for comment. With only the slick demo and the poppy, bittersweet lyrics of the JJAMZ song to offer details about the "New Myspace", these lines stand out:

"Maybe I'm ashamed to want you back. Maybe I'm afraid, you'll never stay."

___

Online: https://new.myspace.com/play

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mr-sexy-back-tries-bring-myspace-back-195146269--finance.html

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Can my background help me get started in a successful paralegal ...

Do you like to learn about the law? Do you want a career that pays well and has a lot of job opportunities? A paralegal career may be the perfect fit. Many do not realize that their background can be a great match and compliment to a paralegal career. You may be thinking that you have no legal background or nothing to offer to a legal employer.? It may come as a surprise that your background may be very helpful in finding a job as a paralegal!

Which types of backgrounds and skills can be helpful in becoming a paralegal? There are many different skills and backgrounds that may help that you may not realize are a big asset. For example, are you bilingual? Many law firms specifically want paralegals that are bilingual. Most immigration paralegals are required to speak another language and it may be Spanish, Polish, Chinese and etc.? Do you like to research? If yes, the good news is that many paralegals do a lot of research like researching case law, statutes or even property title.

Previous work back grounds may also help. Did you ever work in the healthcare field? If so, many law firms are looking for paralegals with medical backgrounds. Paralegals in litigation law firms must often analyze medical records to analyze injuries or medical malpractice fault and interpret doctor depositions or medical expert reports. A medical background such as a nurse or other heath care professional is essential for a litigation paralegal position.

Real estate law firms may look for paralegals with previous real estate experience. Thus, a paralegal with previous real estate experience such as a real estate license, lender experience or title work can be a real asset to any real estate attorney.

Many of these skills and work backgrounds can be very marketable when combined with a paralegal education such as a certificate in paralegal studies from the American Institute for Paralegal Studies (AIPS). So even though you don?t have any legal experience, you may be just what a legal employer is looking for!

To find out more information on the AIPS paralegal certificate program visit us at www.aips.com/

Paralegal School Instructor Janet Russeth

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Source: http://www.aips.com/can-my-background-help-me-get-started-in-a-successful-paralegal-career/

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South Carolina voter ID gets judges' scrutiny

(AP) ? Recognizing this year's elections are just a few weeks away, a panel of three federal judges questioned on Monday whether South Carolina should wait until 2014 to put its voter identification law into effect.

The judges raised the question as an attorney for South Carolina delivered closing arguments in the trial over whether the state's law discriminates against minorities. Last December, the Justice Department refused to "preclear" ? find it complies with the Voting Rights Act ? the law so it could go into effect.

A decision in the case is expected in early October.

Voter ID laws have become a point of contention in this year's elections, particularly with the close race between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Democrats contend the laws could prevent key constituencies from voting, making a difference in tight races.

The laws' opponents see them as a Republican response to 2008's record turnout of African-American and Hispanic voters. Supporters have pitched the laws as tools against voter fraud and to build confidence in the election system.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' voter ID law but has upheld laws in Georgia and Indiana. State courts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have blocked those states' voter ID laws for now. The Justice Department cleared New Hampshire's voter ID law earlier this year.

South Carolina's law requires voters to show a driver's license or other photo identification issued by the Motor Vehicles Department, a passport, military photo identification or a voter registration card with a photo on it.

Asking questions from the bench, the judges pointed out that if they allow South Carolina to implement the law voters would not have much time before the Nov. 6 elections to get required ID.

"Are you urging us to preclear for 2012?" asked John Bates, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia.

Christopher Bartomolucci, the attorney for South Carolina, said the state wants approval for 2012 as well as future elections. He explained the state's law allows people to claim they were unable to get the required ID because of a "reasonable impediment." People unable to do so because there is not enough time before election day would be able to make that claim, he said.

"Everybody's got a pass for this election," Bartomolucci said.

But that provision also raised questions.

Judges agreed that the provision made South Carolina's law less troublesome and is the only reason the law would work for this year's election.

But they expressed some skepticism about the process for voters without required ID. Those voters will be asked at the polls whether they had a reasonable impediment beyond their control that kept them from getting the ID.

If they answer yes, they can fill out an affidavit stating the reason and have the affidavit notarized. The state has said it will make notaries available at all of its polling places and they will not be allowed to charge fees for the service. They then will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.

The law requires voters who cast provisional ballots to bring any of the required ID to the county election office before the vote is certified for their vote to count. But the state said in trial testimony that poll workers would err on the side of voters and count the provisional vote unless the county had grounds to believe false information was given. The county election official also said poll managers would sign affidavits if notaries were not available, even though that would violate the law.

Judges said the South Carolina law had evolved since it was passed, but opponents said it was being fixed. They argued that there is no guarantee votes wouldn't be challenged later by partisan poll watchers and the law would end up in state court.

Garrard Beeney, attorney for civil rights and advocacy groups opposing the law, pointed out to judges Monday that the manual for notaries requires them to request the same ID that the state requires to vote. It also allows them to refuse to notarize a document if the person is drunk, under the influence of drugs, doesn't understand the process and other reasons. Beeney said that created a two-tier voting system.

In addition, those using the "reasonable impediment" provision will vote on provisional ballots and will have to appear at a hearing later if their ballot is challenged. Beeney said the law leaves too much discretion to county boards to decide whether to count the vote and adds the burden of requiring some voters, who are likely to be mostly African American, to get to the hearing to find out if their vote is counted.

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asked the state to respond to that argument. He said the process would create one line that would be disproportionately African American because data showed that African Americans were more likely to lack the required ID and will be more likely to be asked if they had a reasonable impediment to getting it.

"The pool of people being asked, we know, is going to be disproportionately African American," Bates said.

The third judge on the special panel for voting rights cases is Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, also of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. Bates and Kavanaugh were appointed by former President George W. Bush.

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The case is 12-203

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Follow Suzanne Gamboa at http://www.twitter.com/APsgamboa

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-24-Voter%20ID-South%20Carolina/id-a3c1bc43d5514a89878de1405369fd89

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Farthest ever view of the universe assembled by combining 10 years of NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2012) ? Like photographers assembling a portfolio of best shots, astronomers have assembled a new, improved portrait of humankind's deepest-ever view of the universe.

Called the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photo was assembled by combining 10 years of NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken of a patch of sky at the center of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The XDF is a small fraction of the angular diameter of the full Moon.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is an image of a small area of space in the constellation Fornax, created using Hubble Space Telescope data from 2003 and 2004. By collecting faint light over many hours of observation, it revealed thousands of galaxies, both nearby and very distant, making it the deepest image of the universe ever taken at that time.

The new full-color XDF image reaches much fainter galaxies, and includes very deep exposures in red light from Hubble's new infrared camera, enabling new studies of the earliest galaxies in the universe. The XDF contains about 5,500 galaxies even within its smaller field of view. The faintest galaxies are one ten-billionth the brightness of what the human eye can see.

Magnificent spiral galaxies similar in shape to our Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy appear in this image, as do the large, fuzzy red galaxies where the formation of new stars has ceased. These red galaxies are the remnants of dramatic collisions between galaxies and are in their declining years. Peppered across the field are tiny, faint, more distant galaxies that were like the seedlings from which today's striking galaxies grew. The history of galaxies -- from soon after the first galaxies were born to the great galaxies of today, like our Milky Way -- is laid out in this one remarkable image.

Hubble pointed at a tiny patch of southern sky in repeat visits (made over the past decade) for a total of 50 days, with a total exposure time of 2 million seconds. More than 2,000 images of the same field were taken with Hubble's two premier cameras -- the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3, which extends Hubble's vision into near-infrared light -- and combined to make the XDF.

"The XDF is the deepest image of the sky ever obtained and reveals the faintest and most distant galaxies ever seen. XDF allows us to explore further back in time than ever before," said Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz, principal investigator of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2009 (HUDF09) program.

The universe is 13.7 billion years old, and the XDF reveals galaxies that span back 13.2 billion years in time. Most of the galaxies in the XDF are seen when they were young, small, and growing, often violently as they collided and merged together. The early universe was a time of dramatic birth for galaxies containing brilliant blue stars extraordinarily brighter than our Sun. The light from those past events is just arriving at Earth now, and so the XDF is a "time tunnel into the distant past." The youngest galaxy found in the XDF existed just 450 million years after the universe's birth in the big bang.

Before Hubble was launched in 1990, astronomers could barely see normal galaxies to 7 billion light-years away, about halfway across the universe. Observations with telescopes on the ground were not able to establish how galaxies formed and evolved in the early universe.

Hubble gave astronomers their first view of the actual forms and shapes of galaxies when they were young. This provided compelling, direct visual evidence that the universe is truly changing as it ages. Like watching individual frames of a motion picture, the Hubble deep surveys reveal the emergence of structure in the infant universe and the subsequent dynamic stages of galaxy evolution.

The infrared vision of NASA's planned James Webb Space Telescope (Webb telescope) will be aimed at the XDF. The Webb telescope will find even fainter galaxies that existed when the universe was just a few hundred million years old. Because of the expansion of the universe, light from the distant past is stretched into longer, infrared wavelengths. The Webb telescope's infrared vision is ideally suited to push the XDF even deeper, into a time when the first stars and galaxies formed and filled the early "dark ages" of the universe with light.

The XDF/HUDF09 team members are G. Illingworth (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (Leiden University), M. Carollo (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH)), M. Franx (Leiden University), V. Gonzalez (University of California, Santa Cruz), I. Labbe (Leiden University), D. Magee and P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz), M. Stiavelli (Space Telescope Science Institute), M. Trenti (University of Cambridge), and P. van Dokkum (Yale University).

The public is invited to participate in a "Meet the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field Observing Team" webinar, in which three key astronomers of the XDF observing team will describe how they assembled the landmark image and explain what it tells us about the evolving universe. Participants are invited to send in questions for the panel of experts to discuss. The webinar will be broadcast at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, September 27, 2012. To participate in the webinar, please visit: http://hubblesite.org/go/xdf/ .

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/odqdi6R4iCI/120925142555.htm

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The ideal remedy against discouragement. How to find happiness ...

Reading History is the ideal remedy against discouragement and dissatisfaction. During difficult periods, man can gain perspective by learning how his ancestors turned problems into opportunities. Past centuries have repeatedly shown how individuals with limited resources can face life's challenges and overcome extraordinary obstacles.
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Dealing with failure in life

Hesiod, an Ancient Greek poet, recounted in the year 770 B.C. that "the world did not welcome me when I was born and each season brought nothing but problems and difficulties." The reason for such lamentations was that a court decision in favour of his brother, Perses, had deprived Hesiod of his inheritance at an early age, forcing him to earn his subsistence by working in other people's fields.

As a result of adversity, Hesiod soon acquired first-hand experience in all kind of farm labours and gained expertise in breeding goats and sheep. "Watching the sheep kindled my ambition," he recorded. "I realized that, unlike sheep, I had the capacity to take control of my future."

During the winter, Hesiod witnessed how the cold temperature in the mountains of northern Greece often culled herds by half. Later on, he would write that the destiny of animals, unlike that of human beings, is fully dependent on the weather. The young shepherd spent a long time preparing himself in the solitude of the mountains until, one spring, he walked to Chalces, a nearby village, and enrolled in the annual poetry contest.

Making your personal development plan

In Ancient Greece, winning a poetry contest was a ticket to fame and opened the door to a political career. That year, competition was particularly fierce since Homer, the most famous poet of the time, had come to Chalces to take part in the contest.

On the eve of the competition, Perses asked his brother to which God he would be devoting his poem, as it was customary to do on such occasions. Hesiod smiled and shook his head. "My poem is not about Gods, it's about sheep." Perses stared at his brother incredulously, but did not make any comment.

At the beginning of the contest, the jury separated the participants in two groups, one for the morning session and the other for the afternoon. After that, the winners from both groups would face each other in the evening finale.

Homer achieved an easy victory in the morning competition, but the jury deliberated long before picking the afternoon winner. Who was this youngster Hesiod? It was the first time that anyone had ever heard a poem about sheep in the mountain.

Using critical thinking skills

Amiphidamas, who was the mayor of Chalces and the president of the jury said that he liked Hesiod's poem. "That shepherd has interesting ideas," he told the other judges of the contest. In a way, Amiphidamas' view was not surprising, since he owned the largest herd of the village.

In the evening, torches were lighted to illuminate the theatre. Peasants from surrounding villages had come to Chalces to see the poetry finale, which featured Homer against an unknown shepherd called Hesiod. The result of the contest was predictable and Perses bet heavily against his brother.

Homer recited a poem recounting the Trojan war and his performance galvanized the young. His strong voice and impeccable speech brought the audience memories of long-forgotten Gods and glories. When he finished his declamation, the jury nodded satisfied. Nobody doubted that Homer would come out winner.

How to find happiness through personal growth

Then the young shepherd Hesiod came to stand before the public. "How hard life is," he started, "and how recurrent our miseries." Puzzled by the unusual beginning, the audience held their breath to be able to hear better. What was this poem all about?

It was the story of a farmer who lost half of his herd every winter due to extreme cold. In his poem, Hesiod noted the scarcity of sheep in the winter, their over-abundance in the summer, and how sheep prices oscillated with the change of seasons.

"I asked the oracle for an answer," recited Hesiod, "but he told me to look for it myself." At that point, part of the audience murmured their disapproval. Undaunted, the young poet questioned his public. "What to do in face of winter scarcity? Should man suffer passively the caprice of the Gods?"

Hesiod's poem was called "Work and Days." His conclusion was unmistakable. A wise man should buy sheep in the summer at a low price and wait for the winter's cold weather to bring back high prices and the opportunity of a profitable sale.

When Hesiod finished his performance, the audience remained silent. Half of the jury members were in favour of Homer, but Amiphidamas' preference allowed the young shepherd to carry the day. Hesiod's rhyme had been awkward and his presence on stage unexciting, but the judges had found his poem "highly instructive for ourselves and future generations."

For more information about rational living and personal growth, I refer you to my book about personal development? "The 10 Principles of Rational Living"

[Text: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com]

[Image by irishwildcat under Creative Commons Attribution License. See the license terms under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us]

Source: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ideal-remedy-against-discouragement.html

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Video: Catching up on the presidential race

How the war has changed

??After 11 long years, Afghan forces are taking the lead in the war in Afghanistan. That?s good and bad news for U.S. forces serving there. NBC?s Richard Engel reports from Marja, Afghanistan, where he?s embedded with U.S. Marines.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/49139107#49139107

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How to Successfully Invest in Stocks and Make a Passive Income ...

In Part II of my stock investment series, we go beyond the basics of financial statements and look at measures of corporate health. After enjoying this investment alphabet soup, you will definitely become a better investor.

In last week?s post on investing in stocks, I outlined how you could go through a company?s SEC statements such as the income statement and balance sheet to gain a better feel of its financial health- and also whether you should invest in its stock. I?ve also discussed how dividend stocks can help you attain a passive income. However, there are many other quick and useful measures of a company?s financial health that you can take advantage of. These measures, also commonly called fundamentals, come in handy especially when you are comparing companies in the same industry or wondering if it?s time to sell a given stock. So, without further ado, here are some fundamentals to examine when you are evaluating a company stock:

EPS

EPS (earnings per share) was briefly mentioned last week as the net income a company generates divided by its number of shares. If the company also pays a dividend, that sum is subtracted from net income before that income is divided by share number. This is something to keep in mind when investing in companies that appear to have low reported EPS, such as the REIT stocks Armour Residential (ticker: ARR) or Resource Capital Corp. (ticker: RSO); many companies have a low EPS because they pay out a significant portion of their earnings as dividends.

In essence, EPS is a measure of a company?s profitability. Furthermore, EPS is not always a positive number; companies can post considerable earnings losses or no earnings whatsoever. More than anything else, a company?s reported EPS is a big event in the investment world; investors and analysts eagerly await the day that companies post their quarter or annual earnings in EPS. A reported EPS that beats estimates can cause a company stock to skyrocket; conversely, an EPS report that misses analysts? estimates can result in a huge stock price drop.

P/E ratio

The P/E (price over earnings) ratio is a measure of a company?s stock price over its annual earnings per share. The P/E is used to judge the value of a stock in terms of how much investors are paying for it; for example, the current P/E of Amazon (ticker: AMZN) is a whopping 316, indicating that its valuation has gone sky-high and the stock currently trades at 316 times its annual earnings. Such high investor expectations for Amazon could easily be dashed, however, causing the stock price to plummet (i.e., undergo a correction).

On the other hand, Altria Group (ticker: MO) has a P/E of just over 15, meaning that it trades at 15 times its annual earnings. This stock is still valuable and is probably not overhyped by investors to the point of being prone to a correction. Incidentally, when a stock is touted as being undervalued or overvalued, the term is being applied to its low or high P/E, respectively.

The P/E is both an emotional and logical measure of a stock?s perceived worth and will vary by industry. Investors love sexy tech stocks like Amazon, which is one reason why its P/E is so high. On a more rational level, though, Amazon is also investing heavily into its business to become and stay #1 in the online marketplace. Investors who follow the company?s financial reports know that Amazon?s retained earnings are a big part of shareholder?s equity, a point I touched on in last week?s investment article. However, Amazon?s high P/E could easily fall if investors suddenly become spooked about the company or its management.

Alternately, because smoking has fallen out of favor with many people, Altria Group?s P/E is just over 15. However, the company makes solid earnings every year and even pays a sizeable dividend. Altria investors are thus less likely to become scared that the stock is overvalued and sell their holdings. This is also reflected in Altria?s low beta, the next stock parameter we will be studying.

Beta

The beta is a measure of a stock?s volatility relative to an index such as the S&P 500 over a period of time. It is a useful parameter to study if you are considering investing in a stock simply to gain its dividend (something I like to call dividend poaching) or are looking to invest in a stock for less than a year. Beta is also useful if you are wondering when you should invest in a particular stock in order to minimize risk and maximize return.

The beta is actually a slope of the stock?s trendline (Remember your high school algebra and y = mx +b? The beta is the m) and can range from negative to positive. If a stock?s beta is 1.0, that means that its price rises and falls in sync with the market?s. A stock beta of 1.4 indicates that this stock is 40% more volatile than the market while a beta of 0.5 indicates that the stock is 50% less volatile than the market. For example, if the stock of a company like Widgets-R-Us (ticker: WRU) has a beta of 1.2, that means that should the market gain 10% in a year, WRU will be up by 12% (or an additional 20% of that 10%). Should the market fall 20% in a year, WRU will fall 24% (or an additional 20% of that 20%).

Conversely, if the company has a beta of 0.5, its stock will fall only 50% compared to that of the market. Thus, should the market fall 20% in a year, WRU will fall by only 10% (or only 50% of 20%). There is a useful online tutorial if you really want to explore the concept and even calculate your own stock?s beta.

Beta is useful because it allows you to predict how a company stock will behave relative to the overall market. Predictability is good if you are risk-averse or need to time your trades in order to gain company dividends and then quickly sell to buy the next dividend-bearing stock (i.e., dividend poach). Likewise, let?s say you have some money to invest in the market but will need it in a year or less to buy a car or house (not recommended, by the way, but I?ve certainly done it). In such a case, you could invest your cash in a company stock that has a low beta, helping to ensure that you don?t lose your original sum- unless, of course, the entire market starts heading down. The criticism to this approach is that you probably shouldn?t invest money that you will need in a year or less.

D/E

The debt to equity ratio is another good measure of a company?s ability to successfully handle its finances. If you think of the company as a person you?re about to lend money to, would you want to lend money to a person who works a minimum wage job yet has massive credit card bills, two car payments, a? mortgage and is paying child support? Even if this individual has big plans for the future, would you trust that your loan will be repaid? A company should be similarly scrutinized.

The debt to equity ratio is calculated using the following formula:

D/E = Total Liabilities/Shareholder Equity

Total liabilities include business loans, mortgages and supplies- in essence, the total leverage potential of the company. This is divided by what the shareholders (as well as the company) have invested into the company. A company with a high D/E ratio may be rewarded by bigger earnings the following quarter or year; however, it may also stagnate under high interest payments and growing pains. A higher D/E ratio tends to raise the company?s beta too. Over time, you generally want to see this ratio decrease.

Incidentally,?if you?ve ever obtained a loan, your personal D/E ratio was likely calculated by the lending institution or bank.

P/B ratio

The price to book ratio or P/B is, just like the P/E, another measure of a stock?s perceived worth. The formula for this ratio is the following:

P/B = Stock price/Book Equity (BE = Assets ? Intangible Assets + Liabilities)

Assets are defined as cash, inventory, accounts receivable and equipment while liabilities are items such as loans, mortgages and accounts payable. Intangible assets are assets that are certainly valuable to the company but are harder to liquidate; examples include intellectual property, copyrights and trademarks. Thus, book equity is what would be left over if the company went bankrupt and had to liquidate.

A stock with a P/B ratio less than or equal to 3 might be a great bargain or it might have some fundamental issues. Because of this ambiguity, the P/B ratio should never be used as the only measure of a stock?s true value. Some reasons include the following:

1. The P/B ratio favors ?old school? companies with a lot of assets.

2. Intangible assets are not accounted for or they are viewed as liabilities. This ignores many research, technology and service-based companies.

3. Events like acquisitions and share repurchases artificially deflate or inflate the P/B ratio, respectively.

Because P/B does not provide a complete picture of corporate health in and of itself, it should be paired with another parameter: the ROE.

ROE

Return on equity is defined as a company?s net income divided by its shareholders? equity:

ROE = Net Income/Shareholders? Equity

The ROE restates the EPS but on a hard, dollar-to-dollar basis instead of just dividing the company?s earnings by its number of shares (which can be increased or repurchased anyway). A company?s ROE and P/B should rise and fall with respect to each other- if they don?t, something is intrinsically wrong with the company. After all, a company with a high ROE should attract investors who bid a higher price on the stock. In some cases, though, a company might have a high P/B yet a low ROE. This indicates that company growth in terms of its stock price has not translated to improved company profitability. Without increased profits, shareholder value will stagnate. As such, this company would be a company to steer clear of.

ROI

The whole point of investing is for you to achieve an ROI or return on investment. The most basic ROI can be calculated using the following formula:

ROI = (Gain ? Cost)/Cost

While the formula itself seems self-explanatory, remember that stock gains can include dividends, price appreciation or both. Alternately, you may have stock depreciation mixed in with dividends. Then there are the costs to consider, some of which include trading fees and taxes as well as your original investment sum. It?s important to track these numbers because you certainly want to see a return on your investment.

Also, the IRS taxes you at different levels on dividends as well as short and long-term capital gains. Rumors abound that dividends will soon be taxed as regular income. Capital gains taxes could increase from their current 15% maximum to 20% maximum for long-term investments. Meanwhile, short-term capital gains are being taxed at regular income tax levels.

Taxation of your hard-won stock trading profits is the biggest reason why holding onto stocks for at least one year (or longer) is recommended. Other recommendations for maximizing your ROI will be discussed next week in my ongoing article series on how to successfully invest in stocks and make a passive income.

Source: http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2012/09/24/how-to-successfully-invest-in-stocks-and-make-a-passive-income-part-ii/

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