WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama to US media: 'Behave'

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? One element of President Barack Obama's Africa policy is to encourage a free press, although he offered repeated reminders for U.S. reporters traveling with him on the continent to be on their best behavior.

"Americans, behave yourselves," he needled as a contingent of U.S. and South African media was pulled from a quick photo-op Saturday with President Jacob Zuma.

Obama spoke just before their news conference and may have been trying to suggest his press corps keep its questions tight.

Both U.S. and South African reporters asked multi-part questions. Obama didn't try to cut anyone off, but instead said the U.S. press corps must be happy the news conference was taking place in a wood-paneled chamber inside Pretoria's grand Union Buildings.

"This is much more elegant than the White House press room," Obama said, referring to the more cramped media quarters in the West Wing. "It's a big improvement."

He kept up the theme of a long-winded U.S. press at the start of his meeting with African Union Commission Chairwoman Dlamini-Zuma.

"I might take some questions, except earlier in the press conference you guys asked 4-in-1 questions," a grinning Obama teased.

At his earlier stop in Senegal, Obama apologized to host President Macky Sall on behalf the American media.

"Sometimes my press ? I notice yours just ask one question," Obama said. "We try to fit in three or four or five questions in there."

Minutes before that comment, Obama had praised democratic progress in Senegal, specifically mentioning "a strong press" as part of that movement. However, the first Senegalese reporter to be called on lobbed a softball, simply asking Sall to describe the visit and any new prospects it posed for Africa.

___

Zuma's dinner in honor of Obama's visit to Pretoria began with a moment of silence for ailing former President Nelson Mandela. Then came a longer, unintended and much more awkward silence.

Zuma came to the podium to deliver a toast but said his notes were not there. He asked the audience, "Just bear with me for a minute."

But the minute grew into 2 1/2, initially only broken by the sound of waiters popping champagne corks in preparation. Zuma cleared his throat and chuckled nervously in the quiet. "What is here are the remarks of President Barack Obama," Zuma said with an extended laugh from the audience

The seven-piece South African Navy Band decided to fill it by striking up "The Girl from Ipanema," and finally an aide delivered Zuma's remarks.

Obama took his turn at the podium and said his staff felt pretty good by the mix-up.

"This is not the first time that a president has come to the podium without notes that were supposed to be there," Obama said. "And they are gratefully relieved that does not only happen to them."

___

Questioned about foreign policy, Obama said more than the security issues that "take up a lot of my time," he gets great satisfaction from listening to regular people talk about building their businesses.

A priority is the war that's drawing to a close in Afghanistan, with U.S. combat troops scheduled to return home by the end of next year.

Another is keeping the U.S. public safe. "I can't deviate from that too much," Obama said before also mentioning the need to focus on turmoil across the Middle East.

But "as much as the security issues in my foreign policy take up a lot of my time, I get a lot more pleasure from listening to a small farmer say that she went from one hectare to 16 hectares and has doubled her income," Obama said. "That's a lot more satisfying and that's the future."

The president apparently was still feeling good after the stop in Senegal. On Friday, he toured an exhibit showcasing the Senegalese agricultural sector with a focus on nutrition and fortified foods and chatted up several of the farmers who were there. The programs get help from Feed the Future, a public-private partnership begun by Obama that he touted in Senegal, including to reporters aboard Air Force One.

___

Obama's trip has been quite a family affair.

He's traveling with his wife, Michelle, their daughters Malia and Sasha, his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, and a niece, Leslie Robinson. Other relatives are with him in spirit.

He spoke Saturday about his late mother, anthropologist Stanley Ann Dunham, and what he said she always used to tell him.

"You can measure how well a country does by how well it treats its women," he said, quoting her.

On Thursday in Senegal, he quipped about how he had disappointed his maternal grandmother by becoming a politician, not a judge as she had hoped.

___

Obama was looking forward to visiting Robben Island for a special reason: the opportunity to take his daughters with him.

The tiny island off the coast of Cape Town is where many opponents of South Africa's former system of white-minority rule were sent to prison.

Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars on the island. He was elected president a few years after his release.

Obama has visited the island previously, but called it a "great privilege and a great honor" to be able to bring Malia, who turns 15 next Thursday, and Sasha, 12, to teach them the history of the island and South Africa and how those lessons apply to their own lives growing up in America. The family was scheduled to ride the ferry over on Sunday.

The Obama girls could have visited Robben Island in 2011 when they accompanied their mother on her visit to South Africa, but the trip was scrubbed at the last minute due to rough seas.

___

Michelle Obama says she definitely would take more risks if she could go back and relive her teenage years.

She avoided getting too specific, though, saying simply that she'd try more things and travel more.

"I wouldn't be as afraid as I was at that age to fail," she said in Johannesburg during a Google+ Hangout chat involving scores of young people in Africa and several cities across the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Houston. Singer-songwriters John Legend and Victoria Justice also participated.

After some of the students seated on stage with the first lady were asked to name their dream jobs, the question was then put to her.

Mrs. Obama didn't identify her dream job, but said that back then she could never have envisioned participating in such a forum. She often has said she never saw herself becoming first lady, either, and used her example to try to inspire the audience. She told them to keep their dreams big and embrace failure.

"Don't take yourself out of the game before you even start, because there's no telling what life has in store for you," Mrs. Obama said.

___

Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler in Johannesburg and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-notebook-obama-us-media-behave-170718184.html

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Researchers Discover Species-Recognition System in Fruit Flies

June 27, 2013 ? A team led by UC San Francisco researchers has discovered a sensory system in the foreleg of the fruit fly that tells male flies whether a potential mate is from a different species. The work addresses a central problem in evolution that is poorly understood: how animals of one species know not to mate with animals of other species.

For the common fruit fly D. melanogaster, the answer lies in the chemoreceptor Gr32a, located on sensory neurons on the male fly's foreleg. "In nature, this sensory system would prevent the creation of hybrids that may not survive or cannot propagate, thereby helping the species preserve its identity," said senior author Nirao M. Shah, MD, PhD, a UCSF associate professor of anatomy.

The work is reported in a paper published online in Cell on June 27, 2013.

Before mating, the researchers found, the male approaches a prospective female and taps her repeatedly on the side with his foreleg. "As he does so, he is using Gr32a to detect, or actually taste, unpleasant-tasting waxy chemicals on the cuticle, or outer skin, of individuals of other species, said co-author Devanand S. Manoli, MD, PhD, a UCSF postdoctoral fellow in anatomy and fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry. "If the prospective mate is not of the same species, and Gr32a is activated, the mating ritual stops right there, even if the male has never encountered a female of another species before."

The researchers also found that if the male fly's Gr32a neurons are activated directly, courtship with other species can be suppressed in these male flies. "These and other findings show that Gr32a neurons are both necessary, in terms of having this taste receptor, and sufficient, in terms of their activity, to prevent males from courting females of other species," said Manoli.

Remarkably, said Shah, Gr32a mediates the rejection of a large range of fruit fly species that last shared a common ancestor with D. melanogaster two to 40 million years ago.

"Indeed, D. melanogaster males lacking Gr32a will attempt to mate with fruit flies of other species even if these species are two to three times larger and look different to the untrained human eye," Shah said. "Of course, these other species reject such mating attempts."

Likewise, when the section of the foreleg with Gr32a neurons is surgically removed, said Manoli, the male will court females of other species. "We also observe this behavior when we remove the forelegs of males in species that are closely related to D. melanogaster," he said, "but not in D. virilis, which is a more distantly related species. It's possible that D. virilis is using a different mechanism to distinguish other species -- we don't know yet."

Another discovery in D. melanogaster, said Shah, is that neurons in the fly's brain, expressing male-specific versions of the gene known as fruitless, "seem to connect up with these Gr32-sensing neurons on the foreleg. So we've begun to delineate not only the sensory pathway but also the central components of the neural circuit that is activated when the male encounters an animal from another species."

Interestingly, said Shah, males use a mechanism that is "similar, but not identical," to inhibit the courting of other males of the same species. "That system involves additional chemoreceptors and neural pathways, which makes sense," he said, "since if you're a male, other males of your own species might be competing with you for food, territory and mates, and so you would be identifying them for different reasons, in different circumstances."

The scientists were surprised to discover that although a D. melanogaster female has neurons that express Gr32a, she does not use them to reject males of other species. "This does make intuitive sense," said Shah. "Males and females have evolved different systems for rejecting potential mates from other species because they have different biological needs for reproduction. Females invest far more energy in generating offspring -- laying eggs, for example, or in mammals, carrying young in the womb. Males generate sperm in large numbers, which is not as energetically expensive."

Manoli noted that other animals may have equivalent mechanisms for distinguishing members of other species, "but these are going to be specific to the ecological niches of those species -- that is, how they function in their environments. Rodents, for example, like flies, primarily use smell to find mates and food, and avoid predators. Some species of fish use electrical impulses. Many primates, including humans, rely on visual and auditory cues."

Yeast are known to use chemosensory mechanisms to not initiate sexual modes of reproduction with other yeast species, said Shah, who cited pioneering research in yeast done by UCSF faculty, including David Julius, PhD and the late Ira Herskowitz, PhD.

For Shah and his team, the next step is to investigate whether other fruit fly species also use Gr32a to tell other species from their own. "We want to see if this system is conserved across related species," he said.

Co-authors of the study are Pu Fan and Osama M. Ahmed of UCSF; Yi Chen of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA; Neha Agarwal, Sara Kwong, Allen G. Cai, Jeffrey Neitz, PhD, and Adam Renslo, PhD, of UCSF; and Bruce S. Baker, PhD, of HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA.

The study was supported by funds from the China Scholarship Council, HHMI, a NARSAD grant, the UCSF Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research, the National Science Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the McKnight Foundation for Neuroscience and the Sloan Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/pkVr9nZfxa4/130627124540.htm

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Can You Use a Refrigerator as a Faraday Cage?

Earlier this week a New York Times article claimed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden asked a group of lawyers visiting him to put their cell phones in the refrigerator?the idea being that it would act as a Faraday cage. But does it actually work?

This video, by MAKE's Michael Colombo, suggests it might not be quite as effective as Snowden hoped. But a cocktail shaker? Now you're onto something. [YouTube via BoingBoing]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/can-you-use-a-refrigerator-as-a-faraday-cage-595625999

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Senate on verge of historic immigration vote

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate is on the cusp of approving historic immigration legislation offering citizenship to millions in the U.S. illegally and spending billions of dollars to secure the border.

The vote on final passage of the White House-backed bill was expected as early as Thursday, after a series of test votes so far this week demonstrated supporters command a bipartisan majority well over the 60 votes needed to secure passage and send the bill to the House. First must come two more procedural tests set for Thursday.

"We're on the edge of passing one of the most significant pieces of legislation that this body has passed in a very long time," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "The vast majority of members in this body realize that the immigration system is broken and needs fixing."

Supporters posted 67 votes or more on each of three procedural tests Wednesday. More than a dozen Republicans sided with Democrats on each, ensuring bipartisan support that the bill's backers hope will change minds in the House.

The outlook there is uncertain. Many in the GOP-controlled House oppose the pathway to citizenship at the center of the Senate bill. And many prefer a piecemeal approach rather than a sweeping bill like the one the Senate is producing.

The House Judiciary Committee is in the midst of a piece-by-piece effort, signing off Wednesday on legislation to establish a system requiring all employers within two years to check their workers' legal status.

The Judiciary Committee was turning its attention Thursday to a bill on high-skilled workers. Last week it approved two more measures, one on agriculture workers and a second to make illegal presence in the country a federal crime, instead of a civil offense as it is now.

At its core, the legislation in the Senate includes numerous steps to prevent future illegal immigration, while at the same time it offers a chance at citizenship to the 11 million immigrants now living in the country unlawfully.

It provides for 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, requires the completion of 700 miles of fencing and requires an array of high-tech devices to be deployed to secure the border with Mexico.

Businesses would be required to check on the legal status of prospective employees. Other provisions would expand the number of visas for highly skilled workers relied upon by the technology industry. A separate program would be established for lower-skilled workers, and farm workers would be admitted under a temporary program.

The basic legislation was drafted by four Democrats and four Republicans who met privately for months to produce a rare bipartisan compromise in a polarized Senate. They fended off unwanted changes in the Senate Judiciary Committee and then were involved in negotiations with Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee on a package of tougher border security provisions that swelled support among Republicans.

Outnumbered critics insist the bill falls short of the promises made for it.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., called it "the mother of all amnesties."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-verge-historic-immigration-vote-061838460.html

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Google Play edition device kernel sources now available for download

Sources required to be available under the GPL are now ready for devs to take a look at

Right on time, the full kernel sources for both the HTC One and Galaxy S4 Google Play edition devices are ready for download courtesy of links from JBQ on the Android Building Group. For the enterprising developers that want (or need) it to work with for a deeper understanding of these two devices, the kernel source is a big resource to have available. This isn't at all unexpected, however, as the terms of the GPL require that it be made freely available.

It should also be noted that the availability of the kernel source for these devices doesn't mean that we have a full ROM or any proprietary binaries available. Things in this area are understandably still a little murky, and while we surely hope that those additional files that would give users a complete working ROM will be offered, nothing is guaranteed.

If you are someone who has a need for the kernel source and want to get right into it, you can grab a direct download for both devices from the "download" links below. HTCdev is also hosting an independent download from its own site for the HTC One.

Source: Android Building Group

Downloads: HTC One / (HTCdev); Galaxy S4

HTC One Google Edition Forums | Galaxy S4 Google Edition Forums

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Vku24YwZ5aQ/story01.htm

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Optimize Your Businesses Presence On The Internet - Maynas Eric

Online marketing is one of the most useful tools to ensure that your business is reaching as many people as possible. This article will provide you with valuable insight for using Website marketing to build sales and visibility. By following these suggestions you will have an increased chance for marketing success.

Always keep a track of what your competition is doing and see if you can boost your own sales from using, or modifying, some of their tactics. If they are succeeding, you need to analyze what they are doing.

Web marketing can seem difficult. But don?t get discouraged and quit. You might just be doing one or two things wrong that you could easily change. The most important thing to remember is to have everything organized and well researched before launching your website. This can require a lot of effort. Always stay focused, and remember the work will pay off later.

TIP! Ponder what strategies you will use to promote your site. A good way to advertise your page is to give something away, tell people about it in blogs, or put ads out at businesses.

Provide something really unique on your website. This will most likely get you a ton of traffic. The customer will look at other things you have to offer, this will make your site legitimate and give you a higher rank.

You need to make your site stand out from the competition. The web is inundated with business, so you need to become innovative in order to set yourself apart from the pack. One way to begin distinguishing your website from others is to emphasize a service you offer that no one else does.

Advertise special deals on your check-out page. You can add discounted prices for grouped items. Clearing out old or overstocked inventory and marketing them at a steep discount or a freebie can help boost sales and get those product off your hands.

TIP! Marketing is all about finding a need and filling that need. When you start your business, be aware of the problems you are solving.

Always have a signature for your emails, even if the email is only personal. This is like a business card, only printed on pixels instead of on paper. Giving the recipient a glimpse of your business may result in a new customer and another sale.

It can be challenging to choose which direction to lead your business in and design the accompanying website. Make a list of interests and continue to narrow the list down until you have made a decision. Before creating a website, find a niche that suits your business and personality. A clearly defined goal eases your ability to properly market your website.

It is important to use social media in your Internet marketing plans. A Facebook page where people can leave feedback and comments is a good place to start. Also, make sure that you establish a Twitter name to facilitate communication.

TIP! Take time to learn all the basics of website creation. A tremendous source of information is available online where you can find excellent tutorials on learning HTML, CSS and everything else that goes into designing web pages.

When you can, avoid spam. People can tell the difference between comments that have been mass generated and ones that you?ve thoughtfully written yourself. If you do not personally connect with your customers, people will not trust you and your online business could fail.

Make sure that you stay on top of all of the newest Internet developments. Keep pace with all the rapid changes and improvements on the Internet so you can always be ready to get your services placed in front of as many eyes as possible.

Affiliate marketing can give your company more visibility. Online marketing helps fill the gaps in exposure that conventional advertising cannot reach. Learn from these tips and incorporate them into your marketing strategy.

TIP! Make your website unique when using Internet marketing. There are endless sites that are in direct competition with yours, so if you want to attract your share of visitors, you need to offer something unique.

Join me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/optimize-your-businesses-presence-on-the-internet-2

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Asia stocks gain on hopes Fed stimulus to stay

HONG KONG (AP) ? Stock markets from Sydney to Shanghai extended gains for a second day Thursday after the U.S. said quarterly growth may be weaker than expected, raising investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay plans to wind down its stimulus program.

Further signs of easing in China's money markets also helped lift stocks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 percent to 13,142.50 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.3 percent to 20,607.27. South Korea's Kospi surged 3 percent to 1,837.45.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.8 percent to 4,818.80. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan also rose.

The U.S. government cut its estimate for second-quarter economic growth to 1.8 percent, down sharply from 2.4 percent because of lower than predicted consumer spending.

While news of the weakness in the world's biggest economy was disappointing, it was also positive for investors, who were rattled last week after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank would slow its bond-buying program if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen. That program has kept interest rates low and made stocks more attractive.

"This doesn't put a new spin on the outlook but it certainly makes one wonder all the more about the Fed's 'new and improved' outlook for 2014," economists at DBS Bank wrote in a commentary.

Mainland Chinese benchmarks opened sharply higher after a report that Chinese industrial profits grew strongly in May, though they pared their gains by midday. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent to 1,959.25 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 913.87.

Markets were also buoyed as interbank lending rates in China continue to ease after a pledge earlier in the week by authorities to shore up banks facing cash shortfalls.

"We expect the interbank rates will come down further in the coming weeks," J.P. Morgan analysts Haibin Zhu, Grace Ng and Lu Jiang said in a research report. But they said that they didn't expect the rates to fall to the level they were at previously.

The central bank had allowed rates that banks pay to borrow from each other to soar last week, part of an attempt by Beijing to clamp down on massive credit in the informal lending industry.

Fears of a credit crisis in the world's second-biggest economy had contributed to a rout in global markets that ended when policymakers in China softened their stance with the promise to provide "liquidity support" if needed.

Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 39 cents to $95.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 18 cents to end at $95.50 a barrel on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3031 from $1.3012 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 97.76 yen from 97.74 yen.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-gain-hopes-fed-stimulus-stay-033130732.html

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Food Additives Banned Elsewhere, Legal Here? ? CBS Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) ? They sound like things that belong in a chemistry lab, but they?re ingredients you can probably find in your pantry right now.

A new book called ?Rich Food, Poor Food? identifies several common additives found in foods like cereal, sports drinks and poultry, but are banned by Canada and several European nations.

Doctor Michael Harbut, with Karmanos Cancer Institute, says those countries take a very different approach to food safety. ?He said the?U.S. falls behind other countries in regulating these additives.

?What we do is we take the chemical company?s word for it and allow them to put additives and do modifications to our foods, and then ask someone to prove to us that it?s dangerous,? Harbut said.

?We are only now making up a list of chemicals which are known as endocrine disruptors ?meaning the body recognized them as hormones,? he said. ??We?re not regulating them. We?re just making up a list of what chemicals should be looked at. This is outrageous!?

See a list of some of these banned additives?HERE.

Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/06/26/food-additives-banned-elsewhere-legal-here/

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Stocks rise on higher home prices, durable goods

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stocks rose in midday trading Tuesday, pushed higher by a trifecta of encouraging economic reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,739 at noon Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's index was up 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,583. Bank stocks, which sank the day before, rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the index.

Investors were encouraged by three main data points. The Commerce Department said U.S. businesses made more orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, including a surge in commercial aircraft orders. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed year-over-years gains in all cities tracked for the fourth straight month, a sign that the housing market is continuing to recover. And the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence rose sharply in June to the highest level in more than five years, bolstered by an improving outlook for hiring.

Shares of homebuilders, including Toll Brothers and KB Home, rose after the Case-Shiller report. Homebuilder Lennar, which also reported quarterly results that beat analysts' expectations, rose $1.20, or 3.4 percent, to $36.19. The company said demand in all its housing markets continues to outpace supply.

Jonathan Lewis, chief investment officer at Samson Capital Advisors, cautioned against reading too much into a single day of economic reports. That's been a familiar refrain among market watchers this year, as practically every sign that the economy is improving seems to be met with another that says it's stagnating.

"It's nice to see that consumer confidence came in well over expectations, but of course they also revised down last month's," Lewis said. "Of course it's nice to see home prices up ... but the sharp rise in rates means mortgage rates are rising higher."

In recent weeks, the market has been driven not so much by economic fundamentals, but by speculation about when the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates or pull back on a bond-buying program that is meant to stimulate the economy. Stocks plunged Wednesday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could rein in its bond-buying program this year. Though in some ways that is good news ? after all, it means the Fed thinks the economy is improving ? investors have largely treated the idea of a Fed pullback as bad news, worrying how the market will fare without the central bank propping it up.

Starting Wednesday, the Dow plunged by triple digits for three out of four days. The fact that the second quarter ends this Friday will probably add to the volatility: Money managers need to book profits for their clients before then.

Lewis said he thought that the market's Tuesday morning gain was partly due to investors stepping back and taking a more reasoned, less reactive view of the Fed's potential pullback plan. For example, the Fed wants the Fed wants the jobless rate to be at 6.5 percent before it starts raising short-term interest rates. Last month, it was 7.6 percent.

"This is the day," Lewis said, "where the dust appears to be settling."

The stronger economic news released Tuesday led investors to sell U.S. government debt, sending bond yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many kinds of loans, rose to 2.59 percent from 2.54 percent late Monday. Investors have also been selling bonds in anticipation of the Fed winding down its stimulus program.

Despite the gains in U.S. stocks and the rise in U.S. bond yields, there were ample reminders of economic uncertainty around the world. Stocks continued to fall in China, where investors are fretting that the government's new efforts to curb unregulated lending will hurt companies and choke already-slowing economic growth.

In debt-riddled Greece, new cabinet members met for the first time after a hasty reshuffling of top government posts that the prime minister was forced to agree to after his contentious order to close the state broadcaster, a move meant to save money. And the head of Germany's central bank, Jens Weidmann, called for a "strict and thorough" review of the finances of European banks, even as the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, defended an ECB stimulus program that German leaders have criticized.

In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index was up 17 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,335.

Commodities prices were mixed. Gold fell $2.30 to $1,274 an ounce and the price of crude oil rose 40 cents to $95.57 a barrel.

Among stocks making big moves:

?Walgreen, the nation's largest drugstore chain, slipped after reporting earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations ? a result, the company said, of lower-than-expected sales outside the pharmacy. Walgreen fell $3.85, or 8 percent, to $44.20.

?Barnes & Noble dipped after reporting that its loss more than doubled in the latest quarter. The bookseller has struggled to compete with online retailers and discounters, and its Nook e-book continues to lose money. The stock fell $3, or 16 percent, to $15.82.

?Clothing chain Men's Wearhouse rose after saying it had fired executive chairman George Zimmer, the company's founder and star of its TV commercials, because he had advocated for "significant changes that would enable him to regain control." The stock rose $1.90, or 5.4 percent, to $37.03.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-rise-higher-home-prices-durable-goods-142656999.html

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Page Not Found - Yahoo!

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/oddlyenough

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Fireworks Spectacular Ends With Thrilling Finale; Scare Sends Some In Crowd Running | Detroit Free Press

The International Freedom Festival Fireworks colorfully light up the Detroit, Michigan sky, June 23, 2008.

Detroit Free Press:

Music pumped, fireworks popped and the crowd cheered as the color of life filled the sky over the Detroit River on Monday night during the Ford Fireworks.

Thousands of people lined both the Detroit and Windsor banks of the river for the 23-minute, 10,000-fireworks show.

Read the whole story at Detroit Free Press

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Filed by Kate Abbey-Lambertz ?|?

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1. HuffPost
2. Detroit

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/fireworks-spectacular-end_n_3495951.html

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Rescue copter from India flood zone crashes, 8 die

GAUCHAR, India (AP) ? An air force helicopter returning from a rescue mission in flood-ravaged northern India hit a mountain and fell into a river, killing the eight people on board, officials said.

Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts in Uttarakhand state, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have died and thousands of others remain stranded in remote areas because of landslides and floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains. Other air force helicopters were unable to take off due to poor visibility, Group Capt. Sandeep Mehta said.

The air force has ordered an inquiry into the crash in the temple town of Kedarnath, said Priya Joshi, an air force spokeswoman. Five crew members and three civilians were on board the helicopter, she said.

Joshi said 45 aircraft were involved in rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand.

Hundreds of thousands of Hindus make the Char Dham Yatra to four temple towns in Uttarakhand each year, usually returning home before monsoon rains in July make the mountainous area much more treacherous. Unprecedented heavy rains fell around mid-June this year and caught many unaware.

Air force chief N.A.K. Browne has assured flood survivors that the air force would rescue everyone stranded in Uttarakhand, but bad weather and poor visibility have frequently canceled the evacuation flights.

About 90,000 people from hundreds of villages and towns hit by the floods have been rescued. Landslides flattened entire towns, roads were washed away and communication links snapped, cutting off many people and necessitating air rescues.

Troops are also trying to rescue about 5,000 people who remain stranded in Badrinath town eight days after the torrential rains began.

In the town of Gauchar, the center of the rescue and relief operations, authorities made arrangements to send about a dozen Hindu priests to Kedarnath. The temple is one of Hinduism's most revered pilgrim sites.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said deaths in Uttarakhand would exceed 1,000; at least 600 bodies were found buried in silt in and around the Kedarnath temple.

Authorities were preparing to cremate hundreds of flood victims' bodies. Truckloads of wooden logs were loaded onto air force transport planes and flown to Kedarnath to be used in a mass funeral and cremation. Medical teams are taking DNA samples and photographs of the unidentified bodies before they are cremated.

The federal health ministry said Tuesday it has sent more than 1 million chlorine tablets to purify drinking water supplies in Uttarakhand. The ministry has also sent several teams of doctors to help flood survivors.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rescue-copter-india-flood-zone-crashes-8-die-014307568.html

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Mayor's Office Recognized for Health and Wellness | Maui Now

June 24th, 2013 ? No Comments ? Maui News

File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Maui Now Staff

The mayor?s office on Maui is being honored for a second consecutive year as one of the healthiest employers in the state by the Pacific Business News, according to a county announcement.

The recognition is part of an award program conducted by the publication, which recognizes companies that are committed to creating a healthy workplace for employees.

Maui was recognized in the large company category which is for employers of 200 or more people, according to information released by the county.

County programs aimed at improving quality of life include the ?Walking on Wednesdays? initiative, health fairs, fitness classes, and other activities.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa said the programs were created ?to help employees improve their quality of life.? He said the achievement is one that ?we can all take pride in.?

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Tags: Alan Arakawa?maui health and wellness?maui healthiest employers?Pacific Business News?pbn healthiest employers?walk on wednesdays maui

Editor's Note:

Maui Now is an open forum and we welcome any views. However, please apply your sense of aloha when posting comments - remarks that are unnecessarily offensive will be blocked. ? By publishing a comment, you are acknowledging that you are personally responsible for its contents.

Source: http://mauinow.com/2013/06/24/mayors-office-recognized-for-health-and-wellness/

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Snowden leaves Hong Kong, may be heading for Venezuela

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A former U.S. security contractor charged by Washington with espionage was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, his final destination not confirmed, because a U.S. request to have him arrested did not comply with the law, the Hong Kong government said.

Edward Snowden, who worked for the National Security Agency, had been hiding in Hong Kong since leaking details about U.S. surveillance activities to news media.

The United States wanted him to be extradited to face trial and is likely to be furious about reports that he was travelling to Moscow on Sunday before flying on to Cuba and Venezuela.

"It's a shocker," said Simon Young, a law professor with Hong Kong University. "I thought he was going to stay and fight it out. The U.S. government will be irate."

A source at Russia's Aeroflot airline said Snowden would fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then planned to go on to Venezuela. The South China Morning Post earlier said his final destination might be Ecuador or Iceland.

The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website said it helped Snowden find "political asylum in a democratic country".

It added in an update on Twitter that he was accompanied by diplomats and legal advisers and was travelling via a safe route for the purposes of seeking asylum.

"The WikiLeaks legal team and I are interested in preserving Mr Snowden's rights and protecting him as a person," former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon, legal director of WikiLeaks and lawyer for the group's founder Julian Assange, said in a statement.

"What is being done to Mr Snowden and to Mr Julian Assange - for making or facilitating disclosures in the public interest - is an assault against the people."

Assange has taken sanctuary in the Ecuadorean embassy in London and said last week he would not leave even if Sweden stopped pursuing sexual assault claims against him because he feared arrest on the orders of the United States.

U.S. authorities have charged Snowden with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, with the latter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.

The United States had asked Hong Kong, a special administrative region (SAR) of China, to send Snowden home.

"The U.S. government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden," the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

"Since the documents provided by the U.S. government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR government has requested the U.S. government to provide additional information ... As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."

It did not say what further information it needed.

The White House had no comment.

CHINA SAYS U.S. "BIGGEST VILLAIN"

Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and although it retains an independent legal system, and its own extradition laws, Beijing has control over Hong Kong's foreign affairs. Some observers see Beijing's hand in Snowden's sudden departure.

Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden, a former employee of contractor Booz Allen Hamilton who worked at an NSA facility in Hawaii.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this month that Russia would consider granting Snowden asylum if he were to ask for it and pro-Kremlin lawmakers supported the idea, but there has been no indication he has done so.

The South China Morning Post earlier quoted Snowden offering new details about the United States' spy activities, including accusations of U.S. hacking of Chinese mobile telephone companies and targeting China's Tsinghua University.

Documents previously leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

China's Xinhua news agency, referring to Snowden's accusations about the hacking of Chinese targets, said they were "clearly troubling signs".

It added: "They demonstrate that the United States, which has long been trying to play innocent as a victim of cyber attacks, has turned out to be the biggest villain in our age."

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America who pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in Shanghai, Nishant Kumar in Hong Kong and Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas; Alexei Anishchuk and Steve Gutterman in Moscow, and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Anna Willard and Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-nsa-contractor-snowden-leaves-hong-kong-moscow-080843121.html

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This is your science brain on 100% government funds ? sociology ...

Where is the vision?

The Australian Government have reissued their research priorities for science. Sadly it?s infected with the eco-virus. There are seven ?sustainables?,? and ten aspects of ?change?. When it comes to maximizing our competitive advantage, the first point is the development of??reliable, low cost, low emission energy.? Say no more. After applying a wheel-clamp to the economy, we?re paying scientists to figure out how to drive cars with wheel-clamps on.

The Australian Academy of Science ?welcomes the release? which tell us exactly how useful they are. They think this is a ?long-term, strategic vision for Australia?. I think this is an eco-pop wish-list of bland mediocrity on a dead-end road. It?s time for real scientists to ditch the current associations, which have forgotten what science is, and start some new ones.

What should Australian public funded scientists be discovering?

I envisage priority number one as stopping the ravages of disease and misfortune, conquering cancer, and the common cold. As a bonus we?d sell the products for trillions to a clamouring world, to make us rich beyond our wildest dreams, the envy of the world, and a top destination for productive people and very wealthy tourists seeking the hearts and livers they used to have.

The Australian government has other ideas. Their top priority for Australian scientists, is, wait for it?. to ?help Australians live in a changing environment? ? something Australians have been doing for nigh on 40,000 years. (And we wonder why school children think science is irrelevant?) The Big Vision here is to try to help people and plants cope with a climate that is already about as good as it gets ? a warm patch amongst bone-crunching ice-ages. Right now there are no super volcanoes, the big asteroids have missed, the black plague is not common, and hardly anyone is starving in Australia.

New? Strategic Research Priorities (PDF)

(The new Research Priorities my quick web page copy with the media release)

The environment is number one

The list:

• Living in a changing environment

• Promoting population health and wellbeing

• Managing our food and water assets

• Securing Australia?s place in a changing world

• Lifting productivity and economic growth.

Australia is so overrun by the global-warming religion that our number one priority is the environment, and the first goal is ecological sameness: ?Research will identify the level of environmental change human and natural systems can tolerate before fundamental ecological processes are irreversibly changed?.

Ominously the word ?behaviour? crops up in all three of the top environmental themes. Apparently, one of our most pressing aims is to ?Enable societal transformation to enhance sustainability and wellbeing?. So who voted to be transformed? And ?Sustainability? has a double meaning. On the one hand, it?s a motherhood statement that hardly anyone disagrees with. I mean really, who would tick the box ?I want to ruin the country for the grandkids?? But the dark side of ?sustainability? comes with baggage. It?s code for set of political ideas. Who defines what level is sustainable, or what method is the best way to get there? It sounds like a call for the Psychs to apply for grants to help recalcitrant voters see the light. The minister would no doubt deny this, and hide behind the benign motherhood definition. Actual ARC funding begs to differ: on some science topics, if you aren?t a green voter, you are a? denier.

Health research?

There is no big-sky medical advance aim here, no attempt to catch the medical revolution sweeping across the world: the stem cells, the telomeres, the gene therapy. This is small time, tin-tack, sociology medicine. The government?s Big Idea, is to wonder how to make our medical system ?sustainable? (that word again). How about we try inventing and discovering medical things here instead of trying to buy them later from the nations who are doing the real research now? The PBS would be affordable, wouldn?t it, if Australians owned the patents?

And I wonder why we are boosting ?population? health and not so much, individual health. Resilient communities is all very well, but what about healthy people? It may seem picky, but the Nanny State mindset is trying to treat groups and communities. That?s not the government?s job, it?s the job of the people in those groups and communities.

What happened to ?Breakthrough science??

In the old version there was a category called ?breakthrough science? and ?frontier technologies? and astronomer, Roberto Soria, laments that there is no room in the new version for most of what Astronomy does:

??the old item 3.1 (?Breakthrough science?) has now disappeared, and the new topic is much more focused on applied research. Pretty much every astronomy ARC application ticked the old box 3.1 (breakthrough science to understand some fundamental physical processes in nature, etc ) as well as 3.5 (with this project we will attract and train new students in science and maths, and they will then be able to work as engineers for the new economy etc). I know it was a bit of a stretch, but that was all we could do, and review panels understood that. Now even the fig leaf of ?breakthrough science? seems to be gone, so I don?t know where quantum physics, astronomy and other pure research proposals are supposed to fit in. It?s clear from the new priorities that in this government?s mind, the role of a good scientist should be to change society?s behaviour (or shall we say, to provide academic justification to those political interests who want to change society?s behaviour), rather than old-fashioned pursuits such as observing and understanding how the forces of nature work.? ? Dr Roberto Soria

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New? Strategic Research Priorities (PDF)? |? Australian Research Priorities (my quick web copy)? | (The former priorities)

Has anyone seen the Coalition science plan?

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Rating: 10.0/10 (7 votes cast)

Australia's Big Science Vision - an eco-green form of sustainable mediocrity., 10.0 out of 10 based on 7 ratings

Source: http://joannenova.com.au/2013/06/this-is-your-science-brain-on-100-government-funds-sociology-and-small-minded-enviro-research/

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Enterprise Leaders Marc Benioff, Jeff Weiner and Doug Leone At Disrupt SF

San Francisco, here comes Disrupt. Starting on September 7th, our annual conference kicks off at the San Francisco Design Concourse. As usual we've rounded up Silicon Valley's luminary entrepreneurs and savviest investors along with the best up and coming startups. And this year's show is going to be great. Today we're excited to announce Marc Benioff, Doug Leone, and Jeff Weiner are set to take the Disrupt stage.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/19RdpI284ko/

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HBT: K-Rod earns 300th save in Brewers win

Brewers closer Francisco ?K-Rod? Rodriguez earned the 300th save of his career this afternoon, wrapping up a 2-0 victory over the Braves. He becomes the 25th member of the 300-save club. It was his sixth save of the year and he lowered his ERA to 0.59 (in 15.1 innings) in the effort. However, the Brewers had planned to make Jim Henderson the closer once Rodriguez achieved his milestone.

At 31-42 and just one game out of the cellar in the NL Central, the Brewers should draw interest from contending teams looking to bolster their bullpen, such as the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/k-rod-notches-300th-career-save/related/

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Don't Get Suckered Into a Bad Book Deal - Affiliate Magazine

I?ve heard from a number of Affiliate Summit East 2013 speakers that they have been solicited by a company offering up a ?potential book deal.?

As part of the pitch, the company stated?

In order to take advantage of this unique window of opportunity, we?d have you work with a 5-person writing team at [company name] to get the book written. We would only need three to five days of your time to bring you out to our writer?s retreat in [exciting location] to help expedite the process of getting the book written and published in time to be included in our annual catalogue.

It turns out the cost for this ?opportunity? is $35,000. Yes, the cost! Unlike a ?traditional? publisher that would pay an advance, rather than taking one.

In return, the author gets 25% commission on the book and 1,000 copies for this vanity project.

Just to give you some perspective, if you have some content you?d like to publish, you can self-publish digitally with Amazon?s Kindle Direct Publishing, and a physical book at places like CreateSpace and Lulu for free.

And it?s pretty easy. I am giving a presentation at the Affiliate Summit meetup in Austin on June 24, 2013 on turning content into a Kindle book.

This is based on my experience publishing my book, Extra Money Answer on Kindle, earlier this year.

I also just published my book through CreateSpace, and it was a quick and easy process ? I did the same on Lulu to compare the processes and final product. Both were very nice quality and intuitive.

You can buy copies for yourself at cut rates from self-publishing companies and they get better with more volume. I just purchased 120 copies of my 143 page 8 1/2 x 11 book for $6.26 each through Lulu.

Of course, you?d be doing your own marketing when self-publishing, but that?s a reality for pretty much any first time (or many times) author with a big publishing house. And there was no mention of that $35,000 including any marketing.

Speaking of marketing, any folks looking to get into publishing their own books should also check out the Author Marketing Club.

The post Don?t Get Suckered Into a Bad Book Deal appeared first on Affiliate Marketing Blog.

More Info: Click here

Source: http://feedfront.com/archives/article007324

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U.S. lawmakers slam Russia for abetting Snowden flight

By Paul Eckert and Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Sunday said former national security contractor Edward Snowden's reported flight to Russia with a plan to flee onward to Cuba or Venezuela undermined his whistle blower claims and they slammed Moscow for helping a fugitive.

An aircraft thought to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday after Hong Kong let the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor leave the territory, despite Washington's efforts to extradite him to face espionage charges.

According to a source at Russia's Aeroflot airline, Snowden was traveling to Moscow and was planning to go to Venezuela via Cuba.

Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Schumer charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely knew and approved of Snowden's flight from Hong Kong to Russia. He said that will "have serious consequences" for a U.S.-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights.

"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden," Schumer told CNN's "State of the Union," adding that China may have had a role as well.

"It remains to be seen how much influence Beijing had on Hong Kong," Schumer said. "As you know, they coordinate their foreign policies and I have a feeling that the hand of Beijing was involved here."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Snowden's reported choice to fly later to Cuba and Venezuela undermines his claim to be a fighter for freedom of information.

"Everyone of those nations is hostile to the United States. I mean, if he could go to North Korea and Iran, he could round out his government oppression tour," the Michigan Republican said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

Rogers urged the Obama administration to exhaust all legal options to get Snowden back to the United States. "If he really believes he did something good, he should get on a plane, come back and face the consequences of his actions," he said.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Snowden needed to be caught and brought back for trial as secrets he was carrying could do a lot of damage to U.S. interests.

"I think we need to know exactly what he has," she told CBS's "Face the Nation." "He could have a lot, lot more that may really put people in jeopardy."

Schumer aimed most of his fire at Putin, saying "it is almost certain he know, and likely approved" the flight by Snowden, who had been hiding in Hong Kong since leaking details about U.S. surveillance activities to news media.

"What is infuriating here is," Schumer said, was Putin "aiding and abetting Snowden's escape." The New York lawmaker is the No. 3 Senate Democrat.

The United States has been told by Hong Kong that Snowden has left Hong Kong for "a third country" and Washington will seek cooperation with countries Snowden may try to go to, a Justice Department official said on Sunday.

"We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel," Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said in a statement.

The United States contacted Hong Kong on Saturday seeking Snowden's extradition, Chitre said.

But a second Justice Department official told Reuters "They came back to us late Friday with additional questions and we were in the process of responding."

The U.S. request to Hong Kong authorities "met the requirements of the agreement," the official said.

While many blasted Snowden, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and one of the chamber's most conservative members, said, "it's going to be an open question how this young man is judged."

"If he goes to an independent third country like Iceland and if he refuses to talk to any sort of formal government about this, I think there's a chance that he'll be seen as an advocate of privacy."

"If he cozies up to either the Russian government, the Chinese government, or any of these governments that are perceived still as enemies of ours, I think that that will be a real problem for him in history." Paul said in a separate appearance on CNN's "State of the Union."

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal and David Brunnstrom; editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-senator-sees-damaged-relations-russia-over-snowden-142507488.html

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Sculpting a Career in Fashion

When I first contacted Alice Wu, she had just returned from a week of meetings with store buyers and fabric suppliers in Los Angeles, but she promised to get in touch with me soon. The following week, she was on the road for sales appointments in the Pacific Northwest. Ten days later, she wrote a warm, apologetic note from a cab en route to the airport; she was about to fly to Taipei, Taiwan, to visit family before returning for another week of promoting her Feral Childe brand. In fact, Wu is almost always going about the business of making and touting her surprising creations, but she still endeavors to do even more.

Designed by the bicoastal team of Alice Wu, who?s based in Oakland, Calif., and Moriah Carlson of Brooklyn, N.Y., Feral Childe is a women?s clothing line that exudes a maddeningly effortless elegance. It is perhaps best known for its quirky, original prints:?One season?s designs resemble stars or little jolts of electricity, while another?s hide secret details like tepees and sea horses.?You get the sense that you could pile on any combination of layers and feel comfortable, mysterious, and a little bit badass.?

Unlike many fashion designers, Wu and Carlson both come from fine arts rather than fashion backgrounds. Wu studied sculpture at the Yale School of Art; Carlson studied painting at the New York Studio School. They met at Wellesley College, where they studied as undergrads, when a printmaking professor hired them to wash eggshells for an art installation. Their clothing line began in New York as a casual collaboration. Fifteen years later, this serendipitous beginning has evolved into sophisticated-yet-whimsical seasonal collections that are made in midtown Manhattan and sold all over the world.?

Before she embarked on a career in fashion, Wu created colorful and minimalist sculpture and video art. Using found materials?felt, construction paper, scrap wood, broken furniture, other artists? discarded materials?Wu describes her artistic practice then as ?dumpster diving in the name of art.?

When she graduated from Yale and moved to New York, she and Carlson both worked to balance office jobs with creating art in their respective studios. Trying to find their place in the art world was a struggle, ?scrounging for scraps, always fighting for survival like a wild thing.? To support one another?s artistic practice, they collaborated on printmaking and sewing projects, making editions of utility aprons in fabrics like red silk satin or pink fake fur. Or one of them would create a dress and the other would re-create it with a twist??like playing exquisite corpse in 3-D,? Wu says.

One day on the subway, Wu met a stranger with a business idea. Awed by her hand-sewn outfit, this woman told her that a friend was opening a shop on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and was looking for edgy new designers. ?She scribbled down her friend?s contact information and dashed out of the car. Moriah and I decided to present our clothing together. We had nothing to lose.?

When it came time to choose a name for the line, the two thought back to their shared experience of struggle and creativity in the city. Inspired by the post-apocalyptic world of the Mad Max movies, and, in particular, the growling, boomerang-toting character of the Feral Kid, they decided on the name Feral Childe. (They added an extra ?e? to convey an old-timey, fairy-tale aesthetic.) Wu explains, ?In those early days, our clothes were very punk. While our aesthetic has evolved over the years and our fabrics and construction have become more refined, we remain true to the spirit of our name.?

As Feral Childe gained visibility, Wu says she and Carlson participated in group fashion shows, hosted trunk shows at their studio, and were contacted by store owners who were interested in carrying the line.?At first, financing their growing business was tough, and they paid for everything with personal credit cards, loans, and savings from their part-time jobs. They finally got their big break selling clothing at SCOPE, a global contemporary art fair, where they were invited to fill a booth with their sculptures and clothing. ?We decided to fill the booth and then invite our friends and the band Taigaa! to perform daily.?It was a real contrast to the rest of the hyperpolished, slick offerings at the art fair.? Over the course of the fair, they sold enough to pay back their loans.

After that, though, Wu says things got only harder. Since they came from outside the fashion industry, they had to learn as they went along. ?To grow Feral Childe, we needed to adjust our design schedule to coincide with the industry calendar. In the beginning, we made one-of-a-kind pieces, and they?d be in stores that season, but to sell to more stores we had to start designing collections nine months in advance. You need all that time to source new fabrics, develop the prints and draft new patterns, sew up sales samples, photograph everything, take it to market to show buyers and press, order fabrics, and get them printed and dyed, and then have everything cut and sewn into finished garments. There was a very sharp learning curve to get from sewing everything ourselves for fun to learning about production and having a proper business.?

While making clothes certainly isn?t the same as creating sculpture, Wu says she doesn?t miss making art for art?s sake. With Feral Childe?s seasonal collections, she says there?s always a new opportunity to explore a theme. (Past themes have included Dust Bowl portraits, Jorge Luis Borges, the ancient Roman city of Tarquinia, and Walter De Maria?s earthworks.) She and Carlson create original prints in marathon drawing/painting/collaging sessions and come up with props and styling for photo shoots. They have even made animated films (one shows paper dolls roaming through Yosemite wearing miniature versions of Feral Childe clothing) and put on performances, like the time they outfitted hip-hop dancers, who then choreographed K-pop-inspired routines and performed them to live music. Wu and Carlson aspire to make clothing that can be cherished for years, just like the works of art they once solely focused on creating.

Wu says running the company is rewarding in a surprising number of ways: ?Finally having clothes that fit me. Meeting people who tell us they feel good wearing our clothes. Forging a business and making art with my best friend. Getting to see the world because of it!? She adds, ?Sculpture can be overwhelmingly open-ended. With fashion you refine your ideas and whittle everything down to an elegant size.?

Asked what advice she would offer to someone looking to switch careers, Wu says there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But, the advice she offers is this: ?Work for others in the field. Start local. Keep physically fit. Know your numbers. Don?t be afraid to ask for help. Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself.?

This month, Slate is sharing stories of people who started over?like budget wonk Ina Garten,?better known as the Barefoot Contessa?and fashion designer-turned-director Cindy Meehl?in our "Second Acts" Hive. We want to hear your tales, too. Please hit the "Enter your proposal" button or?go here?to submit your story about starting over.

• I am a high school dropout. School just wasn't my thing. I loved animals, I loved to read, and I loved people. So what does a high school dropout do ? opens a pet shop at 24 years old. Read More?
  Submitted by S.Segner | June 17, 2013

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Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/second_acts/2013/06/sculpting_a_career_in_fashion.html

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