Longtime GOP Senate moderate Arlen Specter dies

FILE - In this Monday, March 29, 2010, file photo, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., leads a Senate field hearing, in Philadelphia. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - In this Monday, March 29, 2010, file photo, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., leads a Senate field hearing, in Philadelphia. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - In this May 17, 2010 file photo, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. campaigns in New Cumberland, Pa. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE -This November 1965 file photo shows Arlen Specter posing for a portrait. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican-turned-Democrat who played a key role in many Supreme Court nominations, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. . He was 82. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In a June 29, 2010 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, talks with committee member Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a break in Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing before the committee. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama arrives at a fundraising event for Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, longtime Senate moderate and architect of one-bullet theory in JFK death, died Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. He was 82. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? For most of his 30 years as Pennsylvania's longest-serving U.S. senator and prominent moderate in Congress, Arlen Specter was a Republican, though often at odds with the GOP leadership.

He helped end the Supreme Court hopes of former federal appeals Judge Robert H. Bork, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Decades later, he was one of only three Republicans in Congress to vote for President Barack Obama's economic stimulus.

His breaks with his party were hardly a surprise: He had begun his political career as a Democrat and ended it as one, too.

In between, he was at the heart of several major American political events. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as an assistant counsel to the Warren Commission, developing the single-bullet theory in President John F. Kennedy's assassination. He came to the Senate in the Reagan landslide of 1980 and was a key voice in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of both Bork and Clarence Thomas.

Specter died Sunday died at his home in Philadelphia from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said his son Shanin. He was 82. Over the years, Specter had fought two previous bouts with Hodgkin lymphoma, overcome a brain tumor and survived cardiac arrest following bypass surgery.

Intellectual and stubborn, Specter took the lead on a wide spectrum of issues and was no stranger to controversy.

In one of his last major political acts, Specter startled fellow senators in April 2009 when he announced he was joining the Democrats. He said he was "increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy," though he said the Democrats could not count on him to be "an automatic 60th vote" that would give them a filibuster-proof majority.

He had also concluded that he was unlikely to win a sixth term as a Republican, and his frankness about why he returned to the Democratic Party was packaged in a powerful TV ad by his primary opponent, then-U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who hammered away at the incumbent as a political opportunist.

"My change in party will enable me to be re-elected," Specter says in TV news footage used in the ad.

The announcer ends the ad saying, "Arlen Specter changed parties to save one job ? his, not yours."

Democrats picked Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral, over Specter in the 2010 primary, ending his decades of service. Sestak lost Specter's seat to conservative Republican Rep. Pat Toomey in the general election by 2 percentage points.

Specter rose to prominence in the 1960s as an aggressive Philadelphia prosecutor and during his time on the Warren Commission.

In 1987, Specter helped thwart Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court, earning him conservative enemies who still bitterly refer to such denials as being "borked." But four years later, Specter was criticized by liberals for his tough questioning of Anita Hill at Thomas' Supreme Court nomination hearings and for accusing her of committing "flat-out perjury." The interrogation, televised nationally, incensed women's groups and nearly cost him his seat in 1992.

Specter took credit for helping to defeat President Bill Clinton's national health care plan ? the complexities of which he highlighted in a gigantic chart that hung on his office wall for years afterward ? and helped lead the investigation into Gulf War syndrome, the name given to a collection of symptoms experienced by veterans of the war that include fatigue, memory loss, pain and difficulty sleeping. And following the Iran-Contra scandal, Specter pushed legislation that created the inspectors general of the CIA, which later exposed Aldrich Ames as a Soviet spy.

But he was not afraid to buck his fellow Republicans.

As a senior member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Specter pushed for increased funding for stem-cell research, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease, and supported several labor-backed initiatives in a GOP-led Congress. He also doggedly sought federal funds for local projects in his home state.

In 1995, he launched a presidential bid, denouncing religious conservatives as the "fringe" that plays too large a role in setting the party's agenda. Specter, who was Jewish, bowed out before the first primary because of lackluster fundraising.

Specter's irascible independence caught up with him in 2004. He barely survived a GOP primary challenge from Toomey by 17,000 votes of more than 1.4 million cast. He went on to easily win the general election with the help of organized labor, a traditionally Democratic constituency.

Specter was diagnosed in 2005 with stage IV Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Announcing the diagnosis with his trademark doggedness, Specter said: "I have beaten a brain tumor, bypass heart surgery and many tough political opponents and I'm going to beat this, too."

"Arlen Specter was always a fighter," Obama said in a statement Sunday. "From his days stamping out corruption as a prosecutor in Philadelphia to his three decades of service in the Senate, Arlen was fiercely independent ? never putting party or ideology ahead of the people he was chosen to serve. He brought that same toughness and determination to his personal struggles."

Specter wrote of his illness in a 2008 book, "Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate," saying he wanted to let others facing similar crises "ought to know they are not alone."

Cancer handed him "a stark look at mortality" and an "added sense of humility," Specter told The Associated Press.

Born in Wichita, Kan., on Feb. 12, 1930, Specter spent summers toiling in his father's junkyard in Russell, Kan., where he knew another future senator ? Bob Dole. The junkyard thrived during World War II, allowing Specter's father to send his four children to college.

Specter left Kansas for college in 1947 because the University of Kansas, where his best friends were headed, did not have Jewish fraternities. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951 and Yale law school in 1956. He served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1953.

Friends say his childhood circumstances made him determined, tough and independent-minded. Specter considered his father's triumphs the embodiment of the American dream, a fulfillment that friends say drove him to a career in public life.

He entered politics as a Democrat in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, when he was an assistant district attorney who sent six Teamsters officials to jail for union corruption.

Working on the Warren Commission in 1964, Specter was the chief author of the theory that a single bullet had hit both Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally, an assumption critical to the conclusion that presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The theory remains controversial and was the subject of ridicule in Oliver Stone's 1991 movie "JFK."

After working on the Warren Commission, he returned to Philadelphia and challenged his boss, James Crumlish, for district attorney in 1965. Specter ran as a Republican and was derided by Crumlish as "Benedict Arlen." But Crumlish lost to his protege by 36,000 votes.

Specter lost re-election as district attorney in 1973 and went into private practice. Among his most notorious clients as a private attorney was Ira Einhorn, a Philadelphia counterculture celebrity who killed his girlfriend in 1977.

Finally, in 1980, Specter won the Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Richard Schweiker, defeating former Pittsburgh Mayor Pete Flaherty.

After leaving the Senate in January 2011, the University of Pennsylvania Law School said Specter would teach a course about Congress' relationship with the Supreme Court, and Maryland Public Television launched a political-affairs show hosted by the former senator.

He also occasionally performed standup comedy at clubs in Philadelphia and New York. He played squash nearly every day into his mid-70s and liked to unwind with a martini or two at night.

A funeral was scheduled for Tuesday in Penn Valley, Pa., and will be open to the public, followed by burial in Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

Specter is survived by his wife, Joan, and two sons, Shanin and Steve, and four granddaughters.

___

Associated Press writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia and Lara Jakes contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-14-Obit-Arlen%20Specter/id-20c93a11223b4fabb3398389d5c161f2

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Fly genomes show natural selection and return to Africa

Saturday, October 13, 2012

When ancestral humans walked out of Africa tens of thousands of years ago, Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies came along with them. Now the fruit flies, widely used for genetics research, are returning to Africa and establishing new populations alongside flies that never left ? offering new insights into the forces that shape genetic variation.

That's one of the findings from two new papers published this month by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and their colleagues that describe the genomes of almost 200 strains of the tiny flies.

The work reveals strong evidence of pervasive natural selection throughout the D. melanogaster genome, said Charles Langley, professor of genetics in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis and an author on both papers. That is in striking contrast with what is known of the human genome, which shows comparatively little evidence of adaptation over the last 100,000 years.

The overall aim of the research is to better understand the forces that shape genetic variation, Langley said. Human geneticists are working to sequence a thousand human genomes to get at the same issue. The knowledge from studying fly genetics has and will help in that effort, he said.

"Most of the theory and statistical methods in human genetics were originally motivated by studies of flies, because they're easier and faster to work with," Langley said. "Model organisms like these play a critical role in developing tools and ideas."

The first paper, published Oct. 1 in the journal Genetics, reports the genomes of 37 strains of Drosophila collected in Raleigh, N.C., and six strains from the sub-Saharan nation of Malawi. The other paper, to be published in Public Library of Science Genetics and currently available online as a preprint, describes the genomes of 139 fly strains covering 22 African and one European population.

Drosophila melanogaster, like humans, originated in Africa, and that's where they show the most genetic diversity ? just as humans do. The flies are thought to have appeared in Europe about 50,000 years ago, along with modern humans. On the way, both humans and flies squeezed through genetic bottlenecks that reduced the diversity in the population. Over generations, different fly strains evolved quite specialized niches ? such as a fondness for colonizing breweries, for example.

But the African fly genomes show that just in the past couple of decades, flies similar to those found in Europe or the U.S. have established populations back in Africa, often in new environments such as urban and industrial developments. For example, where modern breweries and bottled beer have displaced traditional African brewing, "Europeanized" brewery flies have followed.

The spread of those "European" genes is more rapid than if it were occurring by random processes, the researchers write.

"It may be that urbanization and development favor the more 'European' flies," Langley said.

###

University of California - Davis: http://www.ucdavis.edu

Thanks to University of California - Davis for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124447/Fly_genomes_show_natural_selection_and_return_to_Africa

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Grand Canyon works through list for river trips

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) ? The Grand Canyon boasts some of the most spectacular views in the world, revealing a rich geological history that few ever see from the Colorado River that formed it millions of years ago.

Those eager to watch rare animals emerge from the cliff sides, camp under the stars and get an adrenaline rush as they soar over rapids must get a permit if they want to lead one of hundreds of the trips available through a lottery each year.

One in eight will get one ? a dramatic shift from a system that once had applicants waiting up to 27 years for that chance. While it's a gamble that results in more losers than winners, the National Park Service and rafters say there is renewed hope for those wanting to run private trips.

"Most people have some pretty good hope for this," said Steve Sullivan, river permits manager for Grand Canyon National Park. "In the old way, it squashed that."

Grand Canyon National Park has collected six years of data on the lottery system since it made the switch from the waiting list in 2006 and doubled the amount of private launch opportunities. Paying a rafting company for a commercial trip leads to a much faster launch for those wanting to snake down hundreds of miles of the river, and joining another private river trip could, too.

But people like Tony Petrocco see value in picking his own crew and charting his own journey. He's a carry-over from waiting list and has been favored in a sense to win through the lottery, gaining extra points by transitioning. If he doesn't participate in a river trip by 2020, the Park Service will step in and boost his chances by either tripling his points or letting him pick a launch date within five years.

By that time, he'll be in his 60s, and will have waited 20 years for a permit. He's trying to cut that time short by applying for the lottery, looking for other trips to join and closely watching for cancellations. He just hasn't had any luck yet.

"You have to proactive versus digging your head in the sand," said Petrocco, of Marble, Colo. "It's a crapshoot, but what are you going to do?"

The Park Service conducts the lottery every February for launch dates the following year. The one in eight odds for the lottery don't factor in additional drawings held when trips are canceled or unclaimed and often have repeat applicants. Of the 449 launch opportunities for private boaters in 2013, nearly 3,630 applications were submitted. Additional trips were reserved for those who transitioned from the waiting list, which is down to 3,000 from 7,300.

About a quarter of applicants for private trips are from Colorado, followed by California, Arizona and Utah.

Wally Rist, who has logged 53 trips on the river and is president of the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association, said flexibility is the key to getting a trip by teaming up with someone who already has a permit or picking the less popular dates. September has the highest demand.

"Even if it weren't a lottery, no matter what, there are just too many people who want to go on a river trip to think they all have a right to get a private permit," said Rist, of Olathe, Kansas.

Allane Brine, of Prince George in the Canadian province of British Columbia, also transferred from the waiting list to the lottery system but favors the list. Brine believes it provides more certainty in a launch date that would work best for her family, which happens to be in the more popular months.

"Chances of me and my family ever going to the Grand Canyon are now slim to none with this new system, unless we go with a commercial company and pay an absolutely ridiculous price," Brine said.

Commercial trips can cost more than $3,000 a person, but the pricing depends on the season, the length of the trip and other things. The nearly 600 launch opportunities are allocated to businesses that contract with the Park Service and can include up to 32 people.

Private trips can last up to 25 days and have up to 16 passengers. Participation in either trip is limited to once a year.

Dave Mortenson, of Kent, Wash., chose a date less desirable for most during the winter after he transferred from the waiting list. Icicles formed as water splashed on the shore, and the ropes on the boat were frozen during the trip, which he said was beautiful nonetheless.

His wife met him at the end of the trip and told him she had won a permit as a first-time applicant under the lottery system. They set out again earlier this year in much warmer weather.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/grand-canyon-works-list-river-trips-202350663.html

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AP Impact: Feds muff kid jewelry cadmium crackdown

This Oct. 10, 2012, photo shows jewelry containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium purchased by The Associated Press at small shops in Los Angeles during a 19-month period ending in March 2012. Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves, despite their vow to keep such toxic trinkets out of children's hands, an AP investigation shows. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

This Oct. 10, 2012, photo shows jewelry containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium purchased by The Associated Press at small shops in Los Angeles during a 19-month period ending in March 2012. Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves, despite their vow to keep such toxic trinkets out of children's hands, an AP investigation shows. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010, file photo, Inez Moore Tenenbaum, chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, appears during a joint news conference following the second China-EU-US high-level Trilateral Summit on Product Safety in Shanghai, China. Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves, despite their vow to keep such toxic trinkets out of children's hands, an Associated Press investigation shows. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

This Oct. 10, 2012, photo shows jewelry containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium purchased by The Associated Press at small shops in Los Angeles during a 19-month period ending in March 2012. Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves, despite their vow to keep such toxic trinkets out of children's hands, an AP investigation shows. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Federal regulators failed to pursue recalls after they found cadmium-tainted jewelry on store shelves, despite their vow to keep the toxic trinkets out of children's hands, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Officials at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also have not warned parents about the contaminated items already in their homes.

More than two years after the AP revealed that some Chinese factories were substituting cadmium for banned lead, the CPSC still hasn't determined the extent of the contamination.

Contaminated jewelry is surely less prevalent in the U.S. than before its widespread presence was first documented. However, rings, bracelets and pendants containing cadmium and marketed for preteen girls were purchased over the last year. The AP and representatives of two consumer groups were able to buy the items in Los Angeles, suburban San Francisco, central Ohio and upstate New York.

Despite touting its work as a model of proactive regulation, the agency tasked with protecting Americans from dangerous everyday products often has been reactive ? or inactive.

Take a "children's jewelry sweep" the CPSC conducted at stores nationwide. Testing showed that six different items on shelves ? including one referred to as a "baby bracelet" ? were hazardous by the agency's guidelines. Yet the agency neither pursued recalls nor warned the public about the items, records and interviews show.

In addition, the CPSC allowed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Meijer, a smaller Midwest chain, to pull from shelves jewelry that flunked safety testing without telling parents who had previously purchased such items. And it did not follow through on evidence it developed that cadmium jewelry remains on sale in local shops.

Agency staffers have consistently sided with firms that argued their high-cadmium items shouldn't be recalled ? not because they were safe in the hands of kids, but because they were deemed not to meet the legal definition of a "children's product." Also, the CPSC trusted retailers and jewelry importers to self-police their inventories for cadmium, but did not check whether they had done so for at least a year.

In response to AP's reporting, the CPSC said it did all it could given limited resources. A spokesman credited the agency's focus on intercepting jewelry before it got onto shelves as the reason that cadmium did not become the widespread scourge that lead was several years ago.

To be sure, the CPSC does have challenges.

Though the agency's resources have been growing, by federal standards the CPSC is a minnow ? a $115 million budget supports just 545 full-time employees responsible for regulating thousands of products.

And, under agency rules, it is difficult to mandate that a firm recall an item.

While CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum has claimed credit for reducing the presence of cadmium in children's jewelry, in fact, faster and more forceful efforts have come from elsewhere.

For example, major retailers including Wal-Mart and Target Corp. began requiring safety testing ? not the CPSC.

And new laws in six states and national legal settlements ? not the CPSC ? created strict, binding limits on cadmium in jewelry.

There are no known injuries or deaths due to cadmium in children's jewelry, but contaminated jewelry can poison in two ways: slow and steady through habitual licking and biting, or acutely through swallowing. The CPSC estimates that several thousand kids are treated annually at U.S. emergency rooms for accidentally ingesting jewelry.

Once in the body, cadmium stays for decades. If enough accumulates, it can cripple kidneys and bones ? and cause cancer.

___

To examine the agency's performance on the cadmium issue, the AP conducted three rounds of testing, analyzed hundreds of agency test results and reviewed hundreds of pages of internal documents obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Dozens of regulators, scientists, members of industry, or consumer advocates were interviewed.

National chain stores ? which closely manage their public images and invest in product testing ? appear to have cleaned up their inventories. Shops that sell discount jewelry are a different story.

The AP made three visits to a dozen small shops in Los Angeles' jewelry district during a 19-month period ending in March. A reporter bought bracelets, necklaces and charm bracelets that salespeople said would make a good gift for a kindergartner.

Twenty of 64 items purchased were at least 5 percent cadmium, and often much higher, according to tests using an Olympus Innov-X X-ray fluorescence gun that estimates what metals are in jewelry. Subsequent lab testing showed that several pendants were hazardous based on CPSC guidelines. One was 85 percent cadmium.

Additional proof that cadmium jewelry was being sold comes from testing by two advocacy groups, the California-based Center for Environmental Health and Michigan-based Ecology Center. Lab results indicated that trinkets bought at Halloween costume stores last fall in the San Francisco Bay area and discounters in New York and Ohio over the winter were between 20 and 30 percent cadmium.

While the items would appeal to kids, they weren't recalled, apparently because the CPSC did not consider them children's products. If jewelry isn't "primarily intended" for kids 12 and under, it's an adult product ? and adult products have no cadmium restrictions.

Results of the testing by AP and the advocacy groups reinforce ongoing reporting on the larger question ? whether the CPSC has kept its word on taking the strongest steps possible to clean up store shelves and children's jewelry boxes.

In fact, the CPSC has been aware that cadmium jewelry was being sold in some discount shops since at least September 2010. That's when the agency's lab reported hazardous readings from a children's pendant bought at a small shop in New York City. As with jewelry AP bought in Los Angeles, there were no manufacturer markings on the packaging ? and that made it difficult to track the pendant to its source.

The agency's investigator bought all the samples at the shop, but didn't look to see whether the pendant was sold elsewhere, CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said.

"We've got to make some tough decisions with our investigators in terms of when they stay on the trail," Wolfson said. "There needs to be a rationale for it."

___

In January 2010, Tenenbaum mobilized her agency in reaction to AP's initial investigation. She told parents to toss cheap metal trinkets and promised to investigate all high-cadmium jewelry the agency learned about.

While five jewelry recalls followed, none began at the agency's initiative. The first three covered products AP highlighted; the last two came after companies approached the CPSC. All the recalls were voluntary.

Then the recalls stopped, though not because the CPSC thought cadmium was gone from the marketplace.

Instead of clearing contaminated products from store shelves, the agency focused on a policy of restricting future flow. At first, that meant warning Asian manufacturers to stop substituting cadmium for lead. Later, the agency started scattered cargo checks at U.S. ports and pressed a private-sector group led by the jewelry industry to adopt voluntary cadmium limits.

It took nearly two years for those standards to be enacted. And while several cadmium jewelry shipments were intercepted, with just 19 inspectors at 15 ports, the agency touches a minuscule fraction of the billions of consumer goods that enter the U.S. each year.

At a product safety conference in March, Tenenbaum claimed victory: "The proactive steps we have taken in China, at the ports, and in the standards environment have stopped cadmium from being the next lead."

But it wasn't until early 2011, a full year after AP's original report, that the agency had began seriously checking children's jewelry on store shelves. Even then, the scale of sampling was not great enough to draw broad conclusions.

Tenenbaum said in an interview that inspectors didn't check store shelves earlier because agency scientists had not decided what cadmium levels would qualify a piece of jewelry as hazardous. And they haven't checked more since 2011 due to other priorities, particularly items that children have died using, such as faulty cribs and ATVs.

___

Before 2010, the consumer agency ignored scattered reports of cadmium-contaminated jewelry. Emails obtained under FOIA show an agency working in the days immediately following AP's initial report to turn revelations about past indifference into a success story. But a reconstruction of the ensuing events suggests an agency that started out strong soon began to back off.

Just six months in office in early 2010, Tenenbaum found in cadmium an opportunity to contrast herself with her predecessor, who was cast as weak and ineffective during the 2007-08 Chinese product scares.

"These are a priority for the Chairman, so they are to be given priority," a senior official in CPSC's compliance division emailed testing lab colleagues about samples of bracelet charms on Jan. 14, 2010.

Two weeks later, the agency announced the first-ever cadmium-related recall ? 55,000 "The Princess and The Frog" movie-themed pendants sold at Walmarts.

Almost immediately, Tenenbaum was shaping the narrative the agency would tell and retell ? that fast action allowed it to "get ahead" of the cadmium problem.

By early 2011, the CPSC had finally done a national "children's jewelry sweep" to gauge what was on store shelves. That February, CPSC chemists reported a troubling analysis of three jewelry samples bought by agency inspectors. Testing showed that hazardous amounts of cadmium would dissolve into the stomach acid of a child who swallowed the jewelry.

Over the next few weeks, three more items failed the test, including the baby bracelet.

While the number of jewelry pieces with hazardous readings was not great ? 711 samples were screened ? some of the six items had even more alarming cadmium readings than jewelry that had been recalled. One was 27 times higher than the agency's acceptable limit.

Yet the CPSC neither informed consumers nor initiated recall efforts. Instead, the agency asked a distributor where two of the items were found to destroy its inventory. For another item, the inspector only rounded up all samples in the store.

Spokesman Wolfson gave several reasons why the agency took no further action. Two of the items were discontinued in 2005, according to the distributor, which meant "a recall was not warranted" ? despite the 2011 purchase. One had packaging that didn't identify the manufacturer or distributor. And in the three other cases, field inspectors had picked up jewelry that they thought was for children but that agency headquarters decided was actually for adults.

"We firmly believe that we took the right action based upon the work we did and the information we gathered," Wolfson said.

Because there were no recalls, the agency can't reveal what the products were or where they were bought.

Aside from the jewelry sweep, in at least two cases the agency let major retailers avoid informing the public that they had pulled jewelry after their testing turned up cadmium.

In May 2010, Wal-Mart announced it had removed "the few products" that failed checks it started doing on children's jewelry; it did not identify the items. The retailing giant had started running a European Union safety test that was similar to the stomach-acid test the CPSC used.

Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said that despite failing a safety test, the items were not dangerous. He would not share the results.

"We're talking about components within these items that just didn't rise to the level where it posed a safety risk," he said.

Because Wal-Mart unilaterally yanked the products, no public notification was required by CPSC ? and Wal-Mart gave none.

The agency never pressed for a recall of items that had already been sold.

A similar scenario occurred at the Midwest retailer Meijer.

The CPSC learned of jewelry with hazardous test readings but, despite a pledge to follow any leads about cadmium jewelry, didn't open an investigation until AP began asking about the items six months later.

The agency never pressed for a recall because it decided the jewelry was primarily intended for teens or adults, not children.

Yet on the sales receipt, the items were listed as "girls jewelry" and "girls accessories" and a Meijer spokesman described them as "children's jewelry." He said they were briefly removed from store shelves, then returned, then pulled again when AP began inquiring.

Nowhere were the agency's conclusions more curious than the biggest recall of 2010 ? 12 million drinking glasses sold by McDonald's to promote the animated movie "Shrek Forever After." Cadmium used in red decorations on the glass could rub onto a child's hand, and eventually get into the mouth.

Months after the recall, the agency said the glasses shouldn't have been pulled because they were not mainly for kids.

And then there was the agency's assessment of brightly colored bracelet charms shaped like flip flops. Sold exclusively by Wal-Mart, the charms were 90 percent cadmium.

"Before you decide for certain that you want to recall the Flip Flop Charms, take a look at the image of the product in the attached email," Wal-Mart's then-director of product safety and compliance, Kyle Holifield, wrote the CPSC in January 2010. "There just isn't anything about the product itself or its packaging to indicate that it was designed or intended primarily for use by children."

Holifield's email only included the front of the packaging. The back of the packaging says the charms are "For ages 3 and over."

According to guidelines drafted by Wal-Mart's own product safety staff and endorsed by the jewelry industry, such labeling statements make jewelry a children's product.

That should have made the charms subject to cadmium limits ? and eligible for a recall.

In a written statement, Wal-Mart said: "When CPSC asked us about this item, we considered it an adult jewelry item because it was displayed alongside other adult jewelry-making items, and not intended for use by children."

Even CPSC field investigators who collected items for sale during the "children's jewelry sweep" were confused by what qualifies as children's jewelry under agency guidelines. At headquarters, CPSC experts decided some of the products were not for children after all.

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Click on an interactive that allows readers to determine whether everyday items are considered "children's products" under U.S. law: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/cadmium/

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Associated Press researcher Julie Reed in Charlotte, N.C., contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate(at)ap.org

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Contact Justin Pritchard at http://twitter.com/lalanewsman

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-14-Cadmium%20Jewelry-CPSC/id-6b4453abe799461492fcd6f0f84127cd

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TiVo opens up Developer Channel, lets third parties create apps for your DVR

Other than what feels like a very slow pace of updates, one of our gripes with TiVo's Premiere DVR platform has been a relative lack of new apps being released. Hopefully that could change soon, now that the company has opened up its Developer Channel to allow interested parties access to its SDK and tools to build their own apps. Although as our friend Dave Zatz points out, it doesn't guarantee apps will be released even if certified, anyone ready to get down with TiVo's Adobe-based environment should take a peek around. The notes do reveal some interesting details like the fact that only one app can run at a time so when an app is launched the TiVo UI is suspended, and that apps are restricted to 720p resolution only, 32MB of system memory, 20MB graphics memory and 1MB hard drive space quota. We don't know yet what can be constructed with those tools, but go ahead -- surprise us.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

TiVo opens up Developer Channel, lets third parties create apps for your DVR originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Sam Biller (Twitter)  |  TiVo Developer Center  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/14/tivo-opens-up-developer-channel-lets-third-parties-create-apps/

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Archery Indoor Practice League | Enumclaw Sports & Recreation ...

Enter your tip here and it will be sent straight to April Chan, Steve Powell, Jennifer Chancellor, Dan Kearney, Akiko Oda, Brent Champaco, Editor Lauren Padgett, Greg Johnston, Editor Lisa Baumann, Editor Jeanne Gustafson, Caitlin Moran, Venice Buhain, Tony Dondero, and Kendall Watson, Enumclaw Patch's (incredibly grateful) editors.

Source: http://enumclaw.patch.com/events/archery-indoor-practice-league

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Mark Webber feels confident after Friday practice of 2012 Korean ...

Mark Webber feels confident after Friday practice of 2012 Korean Grand Prix ? Formula 1 news

Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has said that he is feeling very much confident for the 2012 Korean Grand Prix after the free Friday practice but insisted that they still have some work to do ahead of the qualifying.

Webber set the second fastest time in FP2 and was just 0.032s behind his teammate, Sebastian Vettel who topped the timesheets during the afternoon.

Even though, he said that he is very happy with the overall performance of the car and admired his team for making the significant developments. Nevertheless, he said that they still need to make some necessary step-ups before the qualifying so as to take the optimal advantage of their update package.

?We had a pretty good programme set out and we both managed to get the best out of it,? he said. ?We'll look at where we can improve tonight, it's always a compromise at a track like this with high speeds in the first sector and then the last sector where the track is pretty twisty in terms of rhythm. We've got to learn what the tyres need a little bit more and also look at the long run performance from both of us. We both managed to get quite a lot of laps on the options so we'll analyse that tonight.?

Although, many drivers complained about the dusty track during the morning session due to which they could not gather the required level of information concerning their upgrades. However, the Australian driver seemed contended with his run and asserted that the conditions at the Korea International Circuit were almost the same as it can be at any other track in the calendar.

In addition, he said that they are hoping to see improvements in the track conditions tomorrow and are aiming to perform well in the qualifying in order to secure competitive grid slots. Besides, he expressed that he is eagerly waiting for the race day and is targeting to attain good result for his team.

It will be exciting to see how the drivers of the Milton Keynes based team perform in the upcoming race.?

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Mark-Webber-feels-confident-after-Friday-practice-of-2012-Korean-Grand-Prix-Formula-1-news-a194285

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Best Buy To Price Match Amazon And Other Online Retailers This Holiday Season

By raise of hands, who goes to Best Buy to try something they intend to buy on Amazon or Newegg? Everyone? In what could be the retailer's smartest move in years, Best Buy intends to match the prices of online retailers including Amazon this holiday season. The word comes from the WSJ which reports Best Buy is attempting to increase store's close rate by preventing showrooming. The retailer states that about 40% of store visitors leave without making a purchase. No doubt a good chunk of those consumers are using Best Buy as a showroom for an Internet retailer who sells a particular item at a lower cost.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8fBqkX0C2g4/

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The Last Mouse You'll Ever Need Is Your Battlemodo-Winning Deal of the Day [Dealzmodo]

Upgrading your mouse is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your computing experience. Sure, it won't make your old rig run faster, but it'll add a touch of niceness to an everyday activity. Quality mice feel great—a little bit of ergonomics goes a long way. And there aren't many mice nicer than the Logitech Performance Mouse MX. It won the Best Wireless Mouse Battlemodo, and it's on sale on Amazon for $50 right now. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HcSd9v0kMq8/the-last-mouse-youll-ever-need-is-your-battlemodo+winning-deal-of-the-day

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When you and employer split, sparks can fly over social media

By Bob Sullivan

If you and your company get an ugly divorce, does your company get to keep the friends?

A controversial court ruling last week has shined a light on this made-in-the-digital age problem: Who owns Twitter followers, Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections when employers and employees part ways? With personal and professional lives mingled online as never before, a distinctly 21st Century fight is brewing over who owns your friendships.

A ?federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 4 rejected a claim by Linda Eagle that her prior employee had illegally accessed her LinkedIn account after she left her company, Edcomm. Workers there changed Eagle's password after her departure, preventing her from accessing critical contacts and, she claimed, damaged her ability to find new work.?

But the judge dismissed most elements of her lawsuit, giving fuel to those who argue that social media groomed at work belongs to employers.

"The initial outcome of the case is very troubling," said Bradley Shear, a Washington, D.C.,-area lawyer who specializes in social media. It opens the door for employers to claim ownership of any social account -- even personal accounts -- because Eagle's account was created under her own name, he warned. "It demonstrates there's a need for people to become much more educated about this."

---

Other court rulings have hinted that courts might be inclined to see things the employer's way.? Earlier this year, a federal California court allowed a publication named PhoneDog to proceed with a lawsuit against former writer Noah Kravitz, who had amassed 17,000 Twitter followers while working there.

Kravitz claimed the followers were his, but PhoneDog sued for ownership in 2011, and the judge denied a motion to dismiss the case in a February ruling ? a positive sign for PhoneDog?s legal argument. Two other recent cases also sided with firms making ownership claims on social media contacts.

Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, cautioned that each of these cases is "incredibly fact specific," and none establishes a universal principle that could be widely applied. Still, workers should be on notice that their employer getting their ?friends in the divorce is not so far-fetched.

"People should learn from this that it's dangerous to mix business with pleasure," he said.

In many ways, the "who owns the connections and the conversations" issue is unique to social media and the digital age.? In the past, there was never any question that a public relations professional was speaking on behalf of a company, and that communication was company-owned ?? ?as were the contact lists. But what of a long-time flack who arrives at a new firm with a long list of her own Twitter followers, and who writes messages using that account that are decidedly personal?? Who owns those messages, and those contacts? The issue is as murky as most employees' work-life balance.

?Many of these accounts have 'mingled interests,' " Goldman said. ?That makes things difficult.?

In fact, the very nature of social media means the accounts don't really work unless they have a touch of personality. Tweeted press releases aren't interesting on Twitter; personal wit is regarded above all, and encouraged at every smart firm with a social media presence.?

On the other hand, it's reasonable to think of LinkedIn contacts as akin to customer lists, which are clearly proprietary and belong to employers as intellectual property. For decades, firms have claimed ownership of client lists (and employees have tried sneak out the door with them). If a LinkedIn account is little more than a list of business connections that are directly related to a job, why wouldn't a company claim it?

Of course, fights over Rolodexes aren?t new ? but old-fashioned piles of business cards make a poor analogy for a long-curated group of Twitter followers. ?Besides, users who have a developed a personal relationship with a social media creator aren't likely to be much use to a company which takes over an account, Goldman noted.

?You can grab the Rolodex, but you can?t really grab the relationship?? he said.

There's also the subtle "you are nothing without me" argument. When television anchor and early Twitter adopter Rick Sanchez left CNN, he had a follower list of 150,000. Without CNN, Sanchez would not have compiled such a following, and when he left, observers imagined a brewing controversy. A fight was averted when CNN Sanchez keep the list as long as he changed his Twitter handle, from @ricksanchezcnn to @ricksancheznews .

LinkedIn hasn't offered a lot of guidance in the issue, but in a brief statement to NBC News, the company seemed to suggest that it might take up the fight on behalf of users at some point.

"We don't know the specific facts and circumstances of the relationships or agreements between Ms. Eagle and her former employer, nor are we parties to the lawsuit, so we can't comment on it specifically," said LinkedIn spokesman Hani Durzy. "However, LinkedIn prides itself on being a members-first organization, and in general we believe that a member's professional profile belongs to them.?

Other digital-era issues offer conflicting notions.? In the United States, employees have no right to privacy over emails they write at work, even if they are using personal email accounts. Employers are within their rights to employ snooping software to watch everything workers do with company computers.? That might suggest any Facebook or Twitter work done by an employee on company property belongs to the company. On the other hand, there's a long history of domain name confusion that sides with workers. Employees who register company domains in their own names, for example, often end up with an awful lot of leverage after they leave the company -- they can redirect the domain, for example.

To Shear, the lawyer specializing in social media, that leads to a practical question for companies that might be inclined to make claims on social media accounts.

"LinkedIn is an external system. Why are you are putting resources into an external system that you don't have control over?? Companies prefer their own email to Gmail for this reason," he said.?

One critical element of the Eagle case is that she had shared her password with a coworker, who updated the LinkedIn page for her. That put the company in a good position to make a claim -- it could change the password, lock her out and ask questions later.? So should employees refuse such password sharing? Some companies compel users to do so, though increasingly state legislatures are considering laws making the practice illegal. ?Meanwhile, most social networks -- including LinkedIn -- say it's against their terms of service to share passwords.

There may already be existing laws that cover a lot of this controversy. Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements -- which prevent workers from contacting clients after exiting a firm -- prevent a lot of the issues that businesses are really concerned about when they make social media contact claims.? Still, those are often unenforceable, particularly in California, which has broad employment right laws. That has Shear and Goldman concerned that future employment agreements will contain the broadest possible provisions, with companies seeking rights to all online relationships while workers are in their employ.

"That would be an egregious overreach," Goldman warned.

It would also kill the spirit of social media, as popular Twitter posters would disappear overnight, each time they change jobs.

"In the end, we as readers will be the losers, because we won't be able to find the people we are looking for," he said

There is one saving grace in this discussion: Despite our pride of amassing a few thousand friends or followers, Goldman points out that most social media accounts are not so valuable that they are worth fighting over in court.

"The economics don't support litigation," he said. "How much is an account with 17,000 followers worth?? At $1 a follower, that's $17,000 -- that would hardly even get (the lawsuit) filed."

RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS
Both Shear and Goldman stressed that companies need to have very specific social media policies -- pre-nuptial agreements, if you will -- specifying who gets what when the inevitable breakup arrives.?

For workers who are concerned, Shear offers three quick tips.

• Make sure the email used to set up the social networking account is a personal email that you control, not a corporate email address that can be cut off -- and could be used as evidence of ownership in litigation. Also, use personal contact information, such as a home number and address.
• Make sure the name on the account is personal -- Sally Smith, not Sally_XYZCompany. Finally, use a personal photograph, rather than a company logo, in the profile picture.

* Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook.
* Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter.

?More from Red Tape Chronicles:?

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Source: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/12/14373762-when-you-and-employer-split-who-gets-your-friends-and-followers?lite

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The Hug family take on the debate (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Best 3 Benefits of Internet Marketing

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Source: http://rightyaleft.com/business/benefits-of-internet-marketing/

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Researchers turn to 19th century math for wireless data center breakthrough

Researchers from Microsoft and Cornell University want to remove the tangles of cables from data centers. It's no small feat. With thousands of machines that need every bit of bandwidth available WiFi certainly isn't an option. To solve the issue, scientists are turning to two sources: the cutting edge of 60GHz networking and the 19th century mathematical theories of Arthur Cayley. Cayley's 1889 paper, On the Theory of Groups, was used to guide their method for connecting servers in the most efficient and fault tolerant way possible. The findings will be presented in a paper later this month, but it won't be clear how effectively this research can be applied to an actual data center until someone funds a prototype. The proposed Cayley data centers would rely on cylindrical server racks that have transceivers both inside and outside the tubes of machines, allowing them to pass data both among and between racks with (hopefully) minimal interference. Since the new design would do away with traditional network switches and cables, researchers believe they may eventually cost less than current designs and will draw less power. And will do so while still streaming data at 10 gigabits per second -- far faster than WiGig, which also makes use of 60GHz spectrum. To read the paper in its entirety check out the source.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking, Science, Alt, Microsoft

Researchers turn to 19th century math for wireless data center breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wired  |  On the Feasibility of Completely Wireless Datacenters (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/researchers-turn-to-19th-century-math/

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Detox Deliciously: Apple and Cabbage Salad | Health X Pert Articles ...

Early Fall is a perfect time to give the body a clean slate, but detox mode isn?t defined by a diet of lemons and maple syrup. Candice Kumai of Top Chef fame began developing this recipe on her search for a healthier version of fat-laden coleslaw. What Kumai ended up creating was a detox and diuretic salad that stands strong on its own. Apples at the peak of their season marry with the dynamic duo of red and Savoy cabbage, combining for a fiber-filled meal that aids in digestion. The addition of fennel seeds adds to the fiber factor, plus a kick of cayenne boosts your metabolism. Keep reading for this Fall detox salad recipe.

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Detox Deliciously: Apple and Cabbage Salad

Source: http://healthxpert.org/detox-deliciously-apple-and-cabbage-salad/

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Taliban's "Radio Mullah" sent hit squad after Pakistani schoolgirl

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - One of the Taliban's most feared commanders, Maulana Fazlullah, carefully briefed two killers from his special hit squad on their next target.

The gunmen weren't going after any army officer, politician or Western diplomat. Their target was a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who had angered the Taliban by speaking out for "Western"-style girls' education.

Tuesday's shooting of Malala Yousufzai was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the fearless, smiling young girl against one of Pakistan's most ruthless Taliban commanders.

Their story began in 2009, when Fazlullah, known as Radio Mullah for his fiery radio broadcasts, took over Swat Valley, and ordered the closure of girls' schools, including Yousufzai's.

Outraged, the then-11-year-old kept a blog for the BBC under a pen name and later launched a campaign for girls' education. It won her Pakistan's highest civilian honor and death threats from the Taliban.

Yousufzai was not blind to the dangers. In her hometown of Mingora, Fazlullah's Taliban fighters dumped bodies near where her family lived.

"I heard my father talking about another three bodies lying at Green Chowk," she wrote in her diary, referring to a nearby roundabout.

A military offensive pushed Fazlullah out of Swat in 2009, but his men simply melted away across the border to Afghanistan. Earlier this year, they kidnapped and beheaded 17 Pakistani soldiers in one of several cross border raids.

Yousufzai continued speaking out despite the danger. As her fame grew, Fazlullah tried everything he could to silence her. The Taliban published death threats in the newspapers and slipped them under her door. But she ignored them.

The Taliban say that's why they sent assassins, despite a tribal code forbidding the killing of women.

"We had no intentions to kill her but were forced when she would not stop (speaking against us)," said Sirajuddin Ahmad, a spokesman of Swat Taliban now based in Afghanistan's Kunar province.

He said the Taliban held a meeting a few months ago at which they unanimously agreed to kill her. The task was then given to military commanders to carry out.

The militia has a force of around 100 men specialized in targeted killing, fighters said. They chose two men, aged between 20-30, who were locals from Swat Valley.

The gunmen had proved their worth in previous assassinations, killing an opposition politician and attacking a leading hotelier for "obscenity" in promoting tourism.

Their trademark is to kill by shots to the head.

Such hits, although dangerous, are also a badge of honor among the Taliban. The fighters who carry them out often receive personal calls of congratulations from senior leaders and may also get cash or guns.

Now it was Yousufzai's turn.

"Before the attack, the two fighters personally collected information about Malala's route to school, timing, the vehicle she used and her security," Ahmad said.

They decided to shoot her near a military checkpoint to make the point they could strike anywhere, he said.

On Tuesday, the two men stopped the bus she was riding home in. They asked for Yousufzai by name. Although the frightened girls said she wasn't there, the men fired at her and also hit two other girls in the van. One of them remains in critical condition.

Shot in the head and the neck, Yousufzai still lies unconscious in hospital, unaware that world leaders from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to U.S. President Barack Obama have pledged support. Schoolchildren in Swat prayed for her recovery.

"The American people are shocked by this deplorable shooting of a girl who was targeted because she dared to attend school," a statement from the White House said.

On Wednesday, the singer Madonna dedicated a song to Yousufzai during a L.A. concert. In a gesture that bemused many Pakistanis, she performed a striptease that revealed Yousufzai's first name, Malala, written across her back.

Her would-be killers said they had no idea their attack would propel their victim, already a national hero, into a global icon.

"Actually the media gave it so much importance and now even Ban Ki-moon used dirty language against us," Ahmad said. The international community stayed silent when the Pakistani security forces killed women during a crackdown, he complained.

Now that they had failed to kill Yousufzai, they would target her father, Ahmad said.

Ziauddin Yousufzai, the headmaster of a girls' school, is on their hit list for speaking against them, his activities to promote peace in the region and for encouraging his daughter.

"We have a clear-cut stance. Anyone who takes side with the government against us will have to die at our hands," Ahmad warned. "You will see. Other important people will soon become victims."

(Writing by Katharine Houreld)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/talibans-radio-mullah-sent-hit-squad-pakistani-schoolgirl-102133286.html

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US wholesale prices jump 1.1 percent in September

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A second month of sharp gains in gasoline costs drove wholesale prices higher in September. But outside of the surge in energy, prices were well contained.

Wholesale prices rose 1.1 percent in September following a 1.7 percent gain in August which had been the largest one-month increase in more than three years, the Labor Department said Friday.

In both months, overall prices were pushed higher by gasoline, which rose 9.8 percent in September following an even larger 13.6 percent gain in August.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy, were unchanged in September, the best showing since they held steady in October 2011. In August, core prices rose 0.2 percent.

Food prices, which had jumped 0.9 percent in August, showed a smaller 0.2 percent rise in September.

Wholesale inflation has been stable over the 12 months that ended in September. In that time, overall prices have increased just 2.1 percent. Core inflation is up 2.3 percent over the 12-month period. The government's produce price index measures cost pressures before they reach consumers.

Low inflation means consumers have more money to spend, which helps the economy. It also gives the Federal Reserve more room to keep interest rates low in an effort to spur economic growth. If prices were to begin rising rapidly, the central bank might be forced to raise rates in response.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the modest gains in wholesale prices should translate into further moderation in consumer inflation, keeping it close to the Fed's 2 percent inflation target. Ashworth said that would allow the central bank to keep focusing its policy efforts on reducing the unemployment rate.

The 0.2 percent rise in food prices in September was the smallest change since prices dropped for two months in April and May. In June, July and August, prices showed larger gains, reflecting in part this year's severe drought in the Midwest.

That has raised the price of corn, soybeans and other grains. Corn is used in animal feed and most products found in the supermarket, from cereal to cosmetics. More expensive corn prices can push up beef and pork prices. In September, beef and veal prices rose 2.3 percent. The biggest food gain during the month was an 11.1 percent increase in the price of fresh fruits and melons. Blueberries, blackberries and cantaloupes all showed big price gains.

In addition to big gains in gasoline prices, the cost of diesel fuel was up 9.2 percent and home heating oil rose 3.1 percent.

Energy prices have eased since September but could rise further because of continued tension in the Middle East.

Gas prices averaged $3.81 a gallon nationwide on Wednesday, up three cents from a month ago, according to a survey by AAA's Fuel Gauge.

Outside of food and energy, the price of light trucks was up 0.3 percent in September but computer prices fell 1.5 percent, the biggest drop in a year.

The government will issue its September report on consumer prices on Tuesday. In August, consumer prices rose 0.6 percent. The gain was also because of a big jump in gas prices. Excluding food and energy costs, consumer prices inched up just 0.1 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-12-Wholesale%20Prices/id-f0d5f7de322647e19cef206ce140118e

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How to Avoid Wasting Precious Writing Time on Social Media ...

If you?re a writer, then you?ve probably heard about using social media to attract readers. The attention around it has been pretty difficult to ignore. However, some say social media is all hype and that the effort an author spends there doesn?t do much for book sales. Over the past few months, some have questioned whether it?s valuable at all for writers and authors to spend their time marketing books on social media.

With social media marketing experts recommending a writer spend 80 percent of their time building a platform on social media and a mere 20 percent writing, as some of those skeptics claim, I can see why. That doesn?t leave much time for writing, which is the only thing that can make you a more successful writer.

I have always struggled with how not to feel like I?m wasting my time on social media. And while I?m sure it?s no magic ticket to literary stardom, I do recognize the value of being in a place and sharing what I do where so many people are congregating and communicating. For that reason, I continue to plug away at my social media marketing. But I try to be strategic and realistic about it.

Make a Social Media Plan

Part of being strategic is having a plan. When I came across this tutorial on making a social media marketing plan, I thought I would share it with you. Basically, your social media plan is like the rails that your social media train runs on. Without the rails, a train could still move quickly. But it would undoubtedly run off the track and away from the direction you want it to go. The same goes for social media.

You can spend a lot of time on social media without actually getting much done. You can even repel people by spending too much time promoting yourself on social media. On the flip side, with a strong social media plan, social media can be an incredibly powerful tool for connecting with people and finding new readers.

So what should you include in your social media plan?

Core Goals and Metrics to Track

To start with, you should have your core goals and your core metrics figured out right at the very beginning.

Begin with your goals. What do you want to use social media for? Are you trying to connect with potential readers? Are you trying to land speaking engagements? Are you trying to expose your writing to more people? Are you trying to build up your follower count? Are you trying to drive traffic to your site and get actual book buyers? In all likelihood, you?re after a combination of those things.

The metrics you?d track stem directly from your goals. For example, if you?re trying to build up your follower count, you can keep track of the number of new followers you gain per day and how many people share your updates. On the other hand, if you?re trying to make book sales, visitors to your website might be your most important metric.

You can?t have a good social media plan without clear goals. Start your planning by figuring out what your goals are, then pick your core metrics to track.

What Social Media Sites You Plan to Cover

Your plan should cover exactly which social networks you plan to be on. The networks you use depend mostly on who you?re trying to reach.

Let?s say you?re trying to land more speaking gigs. In this case, being on Facebook might not be the best way to reach your target audience. Instead, getting on LinkedIn is probably your best avenue, followed by Twitter.

Don?t neglect smaller social networks either. For reaching an early adopter crowd, Google+ could be a very viable option. Smaller communities might have their own social networks setup on Ning (as shown below).

The long and short of it is this: Go where your audience is.

?

Breakdown of How to Spend Your Time

Your plan should have a detailed outline of how you plan to spend your time. For example, your plan might look something like this:

Monday: 30 Minutes Scheduling Facebook Posts, 30 Minutes Scheduling Twitter Tweets
Tuesday: 30 Minutes Replying to Messages, 30 Minutes Posting on LinkedIn Q&A
Wednesday: 60 Minutes Post on Forums, Comment on Blogs
Thursday: Repeat Monday
Friday: Repeat Tuesday

Try to segment your activities into different ?buckets.? When your time in one bucket runs out, move on. Don?t let yourself get sucked into one thing for too long. Also, don?t rely too heavily on automated updating. It starts to feel like spam after a while.

List of Essential Social Media Actions

What are the most important things you have to get done every week?

If you?re trying to land speaking gigs, then an essential action should be to respond to any conference organizer within three business hours. It doesn?t matter what else you?re doing, this takes precedence.

If you want to foster connections (and in social media, you should), then maybe you commit to reaching out to and interacting with ten people per day.

If you?re trying to build a social media following, your essential action might be not missing a post. You have a schedule and you stick to it rigidly. If something might detract you from hitting your posting deadline, those things have to wait.

Having a list of your essential actions can help you prioritize tasks when you?re busy trying to write.

A Plan for Outreach and Connection Building

Two things you should have as part of your plan are building your audience and deepening your connection with your community.

Your outreach strategy should be, again, tailored to your goals. If you?re trying to reach people high-profile book reviewers or people with the power to influence many others, you might comment on their blogs for several weeks before shooting them a direct Twitter message. If you?re trying to build a Facebook audience, your strategy might involve putting out innovative content every month.

As for building connections, the most important thing to realize on social media is the value of a single person. It?s easy to get lost in the statistics and the crowd of a thousand likes. But often time?s your biggest breakthroughs?winning over a new reader, getting booked to speak, scoring a review in a high-profile publication, etc.?will come from the most unexpected places.

Whenever you can, reach out and get in touch with people one on one. Acknowledge your fans and build real connections.

Treat Your Social Media Plan as a Living Document

If you don?t want to waste your precious writing time doing things that aren?t really working for you, then don?t treat your social media marketing plan as something that?s set in stone. Let it grow and move organically. See what works for you and do more of that, and don?t waste time doing what doesn?t. Your plan should grow as you grow and as your audience grows.

Most importantly, don?t mistake social media marketing for a fast ticket to success. It should, probably for most authors and writers, be a piece of the larger marketing picture. Use it as a tool to keep yourself and your book marketing efforts on track as you head towards your goals. But keep in mind that social media works best when combined with other marketing and platform building methods, such as live speaking engagements, readings, blogging, and publications. And social media, or any other marketing tactic, will never make up for poor writing. The most important thing you can do to make yourself a more successful writer and author is to write!

Questions or comments?

Related posts:

1. Grow Your Following of Readers: Social Media Book Marketing Basics
2. Authors: Blog Your Way to Friends, Followers, and Readers
3. Build Your Author Platform by Getting Quoted in the Media
4. Twitter in 10 Minutes a Day
5. How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Writing a Nonfiction Book

Tagged as: social media book marketing, social media for writers

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