XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Friday, 25 June 2010

Lady Gaga and President Obama’s Facebook Pages in Race for Most Fans - first living person to hit 10-million fans -

Move aside, John McCain: Lady Gaga is now positioned to be the next big challenger to President Obama. It’s not exactly a race either necessarily chose to enter, but the Facebook pages of the president and the sequined pop phenomenon are deadlocked in a competition to become the first living person to hit the record-busting 10-million fan mark on Facebook.

Obama’s page was beating Lady Gaga’s in the unofficial contest Friday morning, but by noon, Lady Gaga’s 9,126,024 fans had surpassed the president’s 9,104,015. Meredith Chin, a corporate communications manager for the social networking site, tells Fox News that either of them could reach 10-million fans by later today, or this weekend.

Obama’s page is updated by Organizing for America, the president’s political arm that is run by the Democratic National Committee, and the page lists “Basketball, writing, and spending time with kids” as President Obama’s interests, and “Sportscenter” as his favorite television show. Obama’s “Favorite Pages” include Michelle Obama (she has 1,315,884 fans) and Vice President Biden (trailing at 223,830 fans).

The page also features photos from his June 4th trip to Louisiana and excerpts from recent speeches.

Lady Gaga’s page lists her upcoming concerts and includes an article about her rise to fame. “I want to invite you all to the party,” she tells her fans in the article. “I want people to feel a part of this lifestyle.”

For her own part, Lady Gaga’s Facebook page quotes her as saying: “I’m just trying to change the world one sequin at a time.”

It’s not the first time her sequins and his public policy have competed for attention. At a dinner for LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., on October 10, 2009, President Obama spoke and Lady Gaga performed. He quipped, “It’s a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady Gaga…I’ve made it.”

The following day at a gay rights rally on the West Front of the Capitol, Lady Gaga yelled, “Obama, I know that you’re listening. Are you listening? We will continue to push you and your administration to bring your words of promise to a reality. We need change now.”

Lady Gaga has been championing for more gay rights and is noted for having a large following among the gay population. President Obama has slowly been implementing more benefits for gays, but has receivedcriticism both from the left and the right for either not doing too enough or doing too much. Just this week he expanded the family medical leave act to gay and lesbian employees.

Facebook says the next runner up in the race to become the first living person to have over 10 million fans is actor Vin Diesel (at 9,047,448), with actress Megan Fox (at 7,666,005) at a distant fourth. Late singer Michael Jackson holds the all time record for the most fans at over 13 million.

Kellogg Recalling 28 Million Boxes of Cereal - an "uncharacteristic off-flavor and smell coming from the ...package." -

Breakfast-cereal giant Kellogg (K: 52.44, -0.4, -0.76%) said it will be voluntarily recalling 28 million boxes of cereal due to an "uncharacteristic off-flavor and smell coming from the liner in the package."

The cereal brands being recalled include Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops, and Honey Smacks. The cereals being recalled have the letters "KN" next to the "Better if Used Before Data" are included in the recall, Kellogg said.

Kellogg said there was low potential for serious health problems related to the consumption of the cereal, but eating it may result in temporary nausea and diarrhea.

"We apologize to our consumers and our customers and are working diligently to ensure that the affected products are rapidly removed from the marketplace," said David Mackay, president and chief executive officer of Kellogg, in a statement.

Consumers with questions or who want to inquire about a replacement may contact Kellogg at (888) 801-4163 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Shares of Kellogg were down 0.3% on Friday at $52.69 a share.

Thursday, 24 June 2010

Obama says Twitter accounts might eliminate the need for dedicated red phone lines between Russian and U.S. leaders -

President Barack Obama says Twitter accounts might eliminate the need for dedicated phone lines between Russian and U.S. leaders.

In a lighthearted moment Thursday, Obama said that both he and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev use the popular social networking program.

Obama said "we may be able to finally throw away those red phones" that were designed to allow immediate contact between the Kremlin and the White House during the cold war.

Obama made the remarks at the start of a joint news conference with Medvedev at the White House.

7 reasons why U.S. real estate market is already a total nightmare -and 7 reasons why things are going to get even worse-

This week headlines across the United States screamed that new home sales in the U.S. had declined to the lowest level since the U.S. government began keeping track in 1963. But in the news stories covering this data in the mainstream media, they were always very careful to give their readers lots of reasons why things are going to "get back to normal" very soon. But the truth is that is simply not going to happen. Right now the United States is heading for another real estate crash. The only thing that has been holding it back was the huge bribe (called a tax credit) that the U.S. government was giving people to buy houses. Now that the tax credit has expired, there is no artificial incentive to buy homes and the real estate market has fallen through the floor. Unfortunately, there is every indication that things are going to get even worse. Read on to find out why....

The following are 7 reasons why the U.S. real estate market is already a total nightmare....

#1) In May, sales of new homes in the United States dropped to the lowest level ever recorded. To be more precise, new home sales dropped 32.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000. A "normal" level is about 800,000 a month. New homes have never sold this slowly ever since the U.S. Commerce Department began tracking this data back in 1963.

#2) The median price of all new U.S. homes sold in May was $200,900, which represented a 9.6% drop from May 2009. If prices are still falling on new homes that means that the real estate nightmare is not over.

#3) New home sale figures for the previous two months were also revised down sharply by the government. Apparently their previous estimates were far too optimistic. But those were supposed to be really good months for home sales with so many Americans taking advantage of the tax credit right before the deadline. So the fact that the data for the previous two months had to be revised downward so severely is a very bad sign.

#4) Newly signed home sale contracts in the U.S. dropped more than 10% in May.

#5) According to the U.S. Commerce Department, housing starts in the U.S. fell approximately 10 percent in May, which represented the biggest decline since March 2009.

#6) Internet searches on real estate websites are down about 20 percent compared to this same time period in 2009.

#7) The "twin pillars" of the mortgage industry are a complete and total financial mess. The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the final bill for the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could be as high as $389 billion. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to hemorrhage cash at an alarming rate, but the truth is that without them there wouldn't be much of a mortgage industry left in the United States.

The following are 7 reasons why things are going to get even worse....

#1) The massive tax credit that the U.S. government was offering to home buyers has expired. This tax credit helped stabilize the U.S. real estate market for many months, but now that it is gone there is no more safety net for the housing industry.

#2) Foreclosures continue to set all-time records. In fact, the number of home foreclosures set a record for the second consecutive month in May. Not only that, but the number of newly initiated foreclosures rose 18.6 percent to 370,856 in the first quarter of 2010. A rising tide of foreclosures means that there is going to be a growing inventory of foreclosed homes on the market. As of March, U.S. banks had an inventory of approximately 1.1 million foreclosed homes, which was up 20 percent from a year ago. There is no indication that the number of foreclosed homes that need to be sold is going to decrease any time soon. This is going to have a depressing effect on U.S. home prices.

#3) Another giant wave of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset in 2011 and 2012. This "second wave" threatens to be as dramatic as the first wave that almost sunk the U.S. mortgage industry in 2007 and 2008. Unfortunately, what this is going to cause is even more foreclosures and even lower home prices.

#4) Banks and lending institutions have been significantly tightening their lending standards over the past several years. It is now much harder to get a home loan. That means that there are less potential buyers for each house that is on the market. Less competition for homes means that prices will continue to decline.

#5) Home prices are still way too high for most Americans in the current economic environment. Based on current wage levels, house prices should actually be much lower. So the market is going to continue to try to push home prices down to a point where people can actually afford to buy them. Right now Americans can't even afford the houses that they already have. The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that more than 10% of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one mortgage payment during the January to March time period. That was a new all-time record and represented an increase from 9.1 percent a year ago.

#6) The overall U.S. economy is caught in a death spiral. Unemployment remains at frightening levels, a large percentage of Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt andmore than 40 million Americans are now on food stamps. If people don't have jobs and if people don't have money then they can't buy houses.

#7) The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the greatest environmental disaster in U.S. history, and it is threatening to become one of the greatest economic disasters in U.S. history. Already, real estate agents along the Gulf coast are reporting that the oil spill has completely killed the real estate industry in the region. As this disaster continues to grow worse by the day, homes in the southeast United States will continue to look less and less appealing. In fact, many are now projecting that the crisis in the Gulf will actually crush the housing industry from coast to coast.

So honestly there is not a lot of reason to think that the housing industry in the U.S. is going to rebound any time soon. In fact, for those waiting for a "rebound" the truth is that we have already seen it. Where we are headed next is the second dip of the "double dip" that so many of the talking heads on CNBC have been talking about. For those seeking to sell their homes this is really bad news, but for those looking to buy a home this is actually good news.

Who knows? Home prices may actually come down to a point where many of us can actually afford to purchase a home.

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

6 scary-sounding food additives - and what they really are -

6 scary-sounding food additives - and what they really are -

1. Xanthan gum

Sure the word "xanthan" sounds a little ominous, and yes, the stuff is made from the bacteria that cause black rot on broccoli plants. But xanthan gum is a pretty benign substance. When the bacteria (called Xanthomonas campestris, if you're a scientist) is mixed with corn sugar, it produces a tasteless, colorless goop that can be used as a thickener. It keeps ice cream from crystallizing and is what gives gluten-free bread its spongy texture. Some people may be allergic to it, but it's pretty much as harmless as you can get.

2. Tertiary butylhydroquinone

In his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Michael Pollan wrote that this additive –- known as TBHQ -– was "perhaps the most alarming ingredient" in a chicken nugget. He listed a bunch of terrifying symptoms that might result from ingesting a single gram of the stuff. Of course, to get a whole gram, you'd need to eat over 300 nuggets at one sitting. So while TBHQ is pretty nasty stuff, it probably won't do anything bad to you in the short term. It's an antioxidant; it keeps cooking oil from going bad. Derived from petroleum, it's also popularly used in paints and varnishes.

3. Sodium stearoyl lactylate

You know how you use the expression "like oil and water" for two things that will never blend? Through the magic science of sodium stearoyl lactylate, oil and water blend perfectly well. It's used in flour tortillas and many other packed baked goods. No studies have shown it to be harmful, but because the chemical is made from lactic acid, it does tend to make vegans a little nervous. Most of what's used in food comes from cocoa butter and other vegetable sources, though, so they can eat all the tortillas they want.

4. Phosphoric acid

That tangy "bite" you feel when you take a swig of cola comes from phosphoric acid, an inexpensive chemical made from minerals treated with sulfuric acid. It's also used in paint stripper, but in much higher concentrations. Those stories you might have heard about soda melting metal aren't really true; soft drinks aren't any more corrosive than orange juice. But the jury's till out on phosphoric acid. Some studies have suggested that it can leach calcium out of the body, leading to weaker bones.

5. Cochineal extract

Good news: cochineal extract is all natural and has been used as a coloring for centuries. Possibly gross news: It's made from bugs. Tiny insects that live on cactuses in Mexico and South America are dried and crushed to make the bright red coloring. The Aztecs dyed their clothing with it. Since several artificial red food colorings were found to cause cancer, it's been used more in food. You can find it juice drinks, processed meats, cheese and cookies (a more refined version is known as carmine or Natural Red #4). Some people have mild allergic reactions, but other than the ick factor, there's nothing harmful about the substance.

6. Soy lecithin

Soy lecithin shows up in a lot of ingredient lists. In candy bars, it keeps the cocoa and the cocoa butter from separating; in baked goods, it makes the dough less sticky. It's a natural product, chemically extracted from the sludge left over after pressing soybean oil. While some anti-soy crusaders claim it should be avoided, other studies suggest that it could lower your cholesterol: It contains the nutrient choline, which is a popular supplement in vitamin shops.

Monday, 21 June 2010

The World's 11 Richest Dogs - Conchita the Chihuahua just inherited a $3 million joining Leona Helmsley’s dog Trouble -

Conchita the Chihuahua just inherited a $3 million trust fund after her owner died, joining Leona Helmsley’s spoiled dog Trouble and other furry—and very fortunate—heirs.

Gail Posner and her dog, Conchita

Conchita

Mystery and accusations may be swirling around, but all Conchita knows is that now she's very rich. On second thought, she probably doesn't—she's a Chihuahua. The only Chihuahua in the world, in fact, with a $3 million trust fund and an $8.3 million mansion in Miami Beach. She inherited the fortune from her owner Gail Posner, the daughter of the takeover master Victor Posner, after she died in March. But after noticing that some $26 million were also left to her housekeepers, Ms. Posner's only living child, Bret Carr, isn't convinced that this is what his mother really wanted. He says his mother's aides drugged her and forced her to change her will, so he is suing all of them, according to The Wall Street Journal. Conchita certainly has high standards—in an interview last year, Posner said she considered buying her pet her own Range Rover and that the dog's favorite bauble was a Cartier necklace valued at $15,000.

Leona Helmsley and her dog, Trouble (Newscom)

Trouble

Trouble certainly lived up to her name in 2007 when she inherited a $12 million trust fund from her owner, New York real-estate mogul Leona Helmsley. It only became a problem when it emerged that Helmsley, who was not known for her friendly side, had written two of her four grandchildren out of her will—and yet still included the Maltese. (The dog also apparently took after her "Queen of Mean" owner and bit people on several occasions.) It took a judge's decision for the grandchildren to receive an inheritance and for Trouble's trust fund to be reduced to $2 million.

The Roddenberry Dogs

When Majel Barrett Roddenberry, wife of the creator of Star Trek and the voice of the computer on the USS Enterprise, died in 2009, she took care of any potentially angry relatives in her will first. Her son inherited $100 million and then her dogs picked up a cool $4 million, a mansion, and an appointed caretaker. In all likelihood, some of the funds also went to the plan she and her husband, Gene Roddenberry, devised for their ashes before he died in 1991—they wanted their remains shot into orbit.

Tina and Kate

Nora Hardwell's three great loves were gardening, poetry, and her dogs. The former secretary from England had no children, no other relatives, and a hefty amount of money in her savings. So when she died in 2002, she left nearly $1 million "for the maintenance of any dog or dogs which I may own at my death for the period of 21 years from the date of my death or until the death of my last of my dogs if earlier." For Tina and Kate, the pair of collie mixes that outlived their owner, it was plenty.

Article - Richest Dogs - Eleanor Ritchey

Eleanor RitcheyMusketeer

Oil heiress Eleanor Ritchey had a tendency to accumulate things. By the time she died in 1968, she had more than 1,700 pairs of shoes and more than 150 stray dogs. Auburn University stood to greatly benefit from her death, but they would have to wait. Auburn would collect some $12 million, including 113,328 shares of Quaker Oil common stock, real estate, bonds, and Treasury bills only if it used an additional $4.2 million of Ritchey's to take care of all the dogs for the rest of their lives andsupport research on canine diseases. Just to make sure the university held up its end of the bargain, the will stated the university would not be able to collect the $12 million until the last dog died. It took 16 years before the last survivor, a mutt named Musketeer, expired.

Tobey

Built in the 19th century, the Wendel farmhouse on 39th Street and Fifth Avenue was an oddity in New York. When the last of the elder Wendel's daughters, Ella, died in 1931, her $35 million estate drew 2,303 mostly made-up claims. But during the last years of her life, she lived in the house alone with her pampered poodle Tobey because, she said, he still needed a place to play. And it was Tobey who remained in the house after she died while her estate was being settled. Though he did not technically inherit it, he was the direct beneficiary of her death since he continued to live there with two servants of his own.

Gunther IVGunther IV

The tale of Gunther IV sounds almost too outrageous to be real—and it's possible it isn't. Gunther IV, a German shepherd, inherited a fortune of at least $65 million from his father Gunther III, who had been the sole heir of a German countess named Karlotta Liebenstein who died in 1992. Since then, someone acting on behalf of Gunther IV bought a $9 million Miami villa from Madonna in 2000. Later that year, Gunther, with help from a pair of caretakers, paid more than $1,500 to buy a rare white truffle at auction. But it seems that the law firm in the Bahamas, which supposedly handles his financial affairs, has only the sketchiest of details to provide about him.

Fannie

In what is one of the earliest instances of a dog inheriting a vast sum of money, Anne E. Dier left her dog Fannie the better part of a $25,000 estate in 1909. Technically, it was left to a couple in Buffalo with the stipulation that most of it be spent on Fannie. For Mrs. Dier's husband, the will added insult to injury. He had shot her to death.

Samantha

Sidney Altman's girlfriend, Marie Dana, had a right to be upset when she saw Altman's will. After he died in 1998, sitting on a fortune earned distributing upscale bathroom fixtures, it turned out that he had left a $6 million estate to someone named Samantha. Perhaps more insulting than if she'd been another woman, Samantha was Altman's cocker spaniel. So Dana, who became the dog's legal guardian, sued for $2.7 million, arguing that his will was "stale" and did not reflect her importance in his life, since he had written it four years before his death.

JasperJasper and Jason

Brewery heiress Diana Myburgh first adopted Jasper, an illegitimate Labrador Doberman cross from a dog shelter. And she cared for him, along with a whippet named Jason, until she died at age 74 in 1995. Each of them inherited £25,000—with Jasper collecting Jason's share when he died. And, miraculously, no one was outraged that she bequeathed money to her pets. In fact, quite the contrary. Her former son-in-law, Sir Benjamin Slade, was left in charge of managing the money for Jasper, who lived in a country mansion. He more than tripled it in the stock market, according to the Daily Mail. Slade's salary for taking care of Jasper is £11, paid out from the dog's account.

Dixie

Despite his relatives contesting his will all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court, G.S. Richberg's American pit bull finally received an inheritance in 1948. Much to his family's chagrin, Richberg, a Memphis barber, had left Dixie a $4,500 estate to be paid out in $35 increments every month for the rest of the dog's life. Dixie was 8 years old at the time of his owner's death—and continued to receive his allowance.

Inventors have created a female condom which 'bites' a man's penis in a bid to ward off or catch would-be rapists -

Inventors have created a female condom which 'bites' a man's penis in a bid to ward off or catch would-be rapists -

The device has gone on sale in South Africa where Dr Sonnet Ehlers is distributing the condom — called RapeX — for free during the World Cup.

South Africa has one of the worst rape rates in the world.

The woman wears the condom and during intercourse its jagged teeth-like hooks attach themselves to the man's penis.

RapeX ... condom with teeth

www.antirape.co.za

Once it grabs on only a doctor can remove it.

Dr Ehlers said: "It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on.

"If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter, however it doesn't break the skin and there's no danger of fluid exposure.",

She plans to distribute 30,000 of the free devices during the tournament before selling them for $2 each.

"The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she's going out on some kind of blind date ... or to an area she's not comfortable with," she said.

Dr Ehlers said she consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to ensure the condom's design was safe.

And she even asked rapists in jail whether the device would have deterred them - some admitted it would have, she said.

But critics say if the man is trapped by the device it puts the woman at risk of further harm and describe it as "medieval".

"Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it's for a medieval deed that has been around for decades," Ehlers said.

"I believe something's got to be done and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman."