Cities erupt in youthquake: Millennials swell populations

Greg Toppo and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY11:13 p.m. EDT May 22, 2013

The nation's big cities are riding out the first years of the post-downturn era with plenty of company — boosting their population via a youth movement.

Census Bureau data released Thursday show that 48 of the 50 most populous U.S. cities have grown since 2010, compared with only 40 of the top 50 in the first two years after the 2000 Census. Of the top 100, 93 have grown since 2010, compared with just 72 a decade ago.

Many of the biggest — New York, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego and Dallas, among others — are outpacing the nation's 1.7% growth rate since 2010.

"Urban America is recovering faster than more remote, more rural places," said Robert Lang, a professor of urban affairs at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Lang said urban areas appeal to Millennials (those born from about 1982 to 2001) "in part because they haven't seen cities in crisis. They missed the riots of the 1960s, the urban decline of the 1970s and the crack epidemic of the 1980s. "If you're a kid born in 1993 or 1992 and you're in college now, you're looking around the country thinking about where you want to move ... you've seen fairly ... tranquil cities, in relative terms to what their history was."

Only two big cities — Detroit and Cleveland — lost population between 2010 and 2012, according to the population estimates from July 1, 2012.

The urban resurgence is led by mid-sized cities including Austin and Fort Worth and Charlotte. Austin grew 6.6% in two years, leapfrogging Jacksonville, Indianapolis and San Francisco to become the USA's 11th-largest city. In 2000, it was No. 17.

Other trends:

• New York City, by far the USA's most populous city, grew 2%, adding about 161,500 residents since 2010. Since 2000, about 328,000 more people have called themselves New Yorkers, a group bigger than the entire population of St. Louis;

•New Orleans continues to recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, growing 7.4% since 2010 to top 369,000 — more than 80% of its pre-Katrina population but shy of its Census 2000 population of 485,000.

• Government budget crunches have put state capitals in a bind: Nine have shrunk since 2010; half are lagging the growth rate of their regions.

Perhaps the biggest exception to the capital crunch is Austin, which has grown more than 26% since 2000. Brookings Institution demographer William Frey says Austin enjoys a "trifecta" of qualities that make it attractive: It's hip, it's a high-tech city with a flagship state university, and it's in Texas, a magnet for newcomers. "In some ways it's a prototype of what other cities would like to become," he says.

"Our city is strong, getting stronger every day," says Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell. "Our growth and economic success are not accidental."

Frey notes that Charlotte, which grew 5.4% since 2010 has grown into a high-tech and financial center whose industries do business not just with those in other U.S. cities but with the rest of the world.

Many cities actually grew faster in 2012 than in 2011, even as the housing crisis eased and city dwellers had a chance to move to the suburbs, Frey says. Those who were forced to stay put during the recession because of troubled mortgages or job losses may be "taking a second look" at cities.

Also a new generation of young urbanites may be less willing to move to the suburbs, even as their kids enter school. "I think the jury is still out a little bit as to whether that's going to ease up when the housing market gets better," Frey said. As the recession recedes further, he said, "they may follow in the footsteps of many generations before them out to the suburbs."

But Kenneth M. Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute, says that as young city dwellers enter their 30s and 40s, a shortage of high-quality public schools could be "a deal breaker."

"It's going to take a little bit more than a couple of years of growth for the cities to convince me that there's some generational change going on," he said. "Maybe this generation is more attracted to the cities than the last two or three generations have been. I think it's too early to tell."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...osses/2353215/

L.A. election turnout is 23.7 percent -- higher than March primary

Los Angeles Daily Newsdailynews.com
Posted: 05/22/2013 12:02:36 PM PDT
May 22, 2013 7:6 PM GMTUpdated: 05/22/2013 12:06:08 PM PDT



Turnout in Tuesday's election was 23.7 percent, up slightly from the March primary election, city officials said Wednesday. There were a total of 427,392 ballots cast in the election, although there remains 82,185 outstanding ballots to be counted, City Clerk spokeswoman Kimberly Briggs said.
These include provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots that were turned in on Tuesday at polling places. The City Clerk's office has three weeks to certify the results.
The number of outstanding ballots is not expected to affect the outcome of any races, since they generally break down in the same way as votes cast at the election.
The turnout in the March primary election was 20.79 percent.
　
　
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_23300117/l-election-turnout-is-23-7-percent-and

Air Force Picks First Three KC-46A Bases


By Brendan McGarry Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 6:36 pm
Posted in Air, Policy
The U.S. Air Force has picked the first three bases to station the new KC-46A refueling tanker, the service announced.
The service selected Altus Air Force Base, Okla.; McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; and Pease Air National Guard Base, N.H.; it said in a May 22 release.
The decision, first announced by lawmakers from those states, drew instant criticism from colleagues on Capitol Hill who weren’t so lucky. Air Force officials were careful to say the selection is “preliminary” and may change, pending the outcome of a year-long environmental review.

“These are the preferred alternatives,” Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Air Force at the Pentagon, said in a telephone interview. “A final basing decision won’t be made until the environmental impact statement is complete.”
The Air Force initially plans to buy 179 of the Boeing Co.-built planes as part of an effort to replace more than 400 KC-135 and 59 KC-10 tankers, according to the service. The first phase of the program is expected to cost about $35 billion and conclude in 15 years.
The selection of the bases was based on site surveys, operational assessments and cost estimates and made by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh.
Senators from Oklahoma, Kansas and New Hampshire were ecstatic and didn’t wait for the Air Force’s official announcement to share the news.
“This decision will have a positive impact on Oklahoma and the city of Altus for decades to come,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the top ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
Altus Air Force Base, located in the southwestern corner of Oklahoma, was selected as the preferred spot to host the unit that will train pilots to fly the tanker.
The Air Force plans to house the aircraft at a total of 11 bases, including a training site and 10 operational sites, according to Stefanek.
McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., located in Wichita, was picked as the top spot for the first active-duty main operating base and Pease Air Guard Station, N.H., was selected as the best location for the first Air National Guard main operating base.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said in a statement. “Our state and the city of Wichita have a long history of supporting air mobility and standing behind the air men and women who call McConnell home.”
New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, made similar comments.
“This is great news for Pease and the dedicated members of the 157th Air Refueling Wing,” they said in a release. “We’re thrilled that the Air Force recognizes Pease’s many strategic advantages.”
Lawmakers from states such as Washington, North Dakota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, were upset that installations there weren’t initially selected.
“I’m extremely disappointed by the Air Force’s decision today, and I have plenty of questions on how they reached this conclusion,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “Later today and in the coming weeks, I will raise my deep concerns about this decision with the highest levels of our military.”
　
　
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/05/22/air-force-picks-first-three-kc-46a-bases/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaig n=Feed%3A+originalnews%2Ffeed+%2riginal+News%29

Chicago board votes to close 50 schools

By CNN Staff
updated 6:50 PM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013

(CNN) -- The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools, a controversial move that drew sharp criticism from the city's teachers union.

The vote comes two months after officials announced plans to shutter the schools.

The closures "will consolidate underutilized schools and programs to provide students with the quality, 21st century education they need to succeed in the classroom," Chicago Public Schools said in a statement Wednesday.

The Chicago Teachers Union opposed the closures, which it said would disproportionately affect African-American students.

"Today is a day of mourning for the children of Chicago. Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board, acting at the behest of a mayor who has no vision for improving the education of our children," said Karen Lewis, the union's president. "Closing schools is not an education plan. It is a scorched earth policy."

In a written statement, Lewis said district officials had manufactured "the underutilization crisis," and that shuttering the schools will not save a significant amount of money.

The union also had warned that the move would expose students to gang violence and turf wars, an apparent reference to neighborhood loyalties.

The union went on strike last year. The city's nearly 30,000 teachers walked out on September 10, objecting to a longer school day, evaluations tied to student performance and job losses from school closings.

With school districts across the country dealing with financial shortfalls and pressures to make reforms, the strike quickly gained national attention. It pitted the teachers union against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who spoke in support of the school closings in March.

"This decision has been delayed for a decade, and it's our children and our city that have paid the price for inaction," he said. "Consolidating schools is the best way to make sure all of our city's students get the resources they need to succeed in the classroom."

CPS currently has 403,000 students, with seats for more than 511,000, and close to 140 of its 681 schools are more than half empty, according to the district.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/us/ill...res/index.html

Massachusetts: Lieutenant Governor to Resign

By JESS BIDGOOD
Published: May 22, 2013

The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, Timothy P. Murray, said on Wednesday that he would resign on June 2, a move that surprised the political establishment there. Mr. Murray, who has played a prominent role in the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick since 2007, was once considered likely to try to succeed his boss, but his public image suffered from an early-morning accident in 2011 in which he crashed a state-owned car, and from a current state inquiry into campaign fund-raising done on his behalf by a public housing official, Michael McLaughlin, who this year pleaded guilty to federal charges. Mr. Murray is taking a new job leading the chamber of commerce in Worcester, Mass., where he was mayor from 2002 to 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/us...sign.html?_r=0

Global warming debunked: NASA report verifies carbon dioxide actually cools atmosphere

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 by:
Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Practically everything you have been told by the mainstream scientific community and the media about the alleged detriments of greenhouse gases, and particularly carbon dioxide, appears to be false, according to new data compiled by NASA's Langley Research Center. As it turns out, all those atmospheric greenhouse gases that Al Gore and all the other global warming hoaxers have long claimed are overheating and destroying our planet are actually cooling it, based on the latest evidence.

As reported by Principia Scientific International (PSI), Martin Mlynczak and his colleagues over at NASA tracked infrared emissions from the earth's upper atmosphere during and following a recent solar storm that took place between March 8-10. What they found was that the vast majority of energy released from the sun during this immense coronal mass ejection (CME) was reflected back up into space rather than deposited into earth's lower atmosphere.

The result was an overall cooling effect that completely contradicts claims made by NASA's own climatology division that greenhouse gases are a cause of global warming. As illustrated by data collected using Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER), both carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitric oxide (NO), which are abundant in the earth's upper atmosphere, greenhouse gases reflect heating energy rather than absorb it.

"Carbon dioxide and nitric oxide are natural thermostats," says James Russell from Hampton University, who was one of the lead investigators for the groundbreaking SABER study. "When the upper atmosphere (or 'thermosphere') heats up, these molecules try as hard as they can to shed that heat back into space."

Almost all 'heating' radiation generated by sun is blocked from entering lower atmosphere by CO2

According to the data, up to 95 percent of solar radiation is literally bounced back into space by both CO2 and NO in the upper atmosphere. Without these necessary elements, in other words, the earth would be capable of absorbing potentially devastating amounts of solar energy that would truly melt the polar ice caps and destroy the planet.

"The shock revelation starkly contradicts the core proposition of the so-called greenhouse gas theory which claims that more CO2 means more warming for our planet," write H. Schreuder and J. O'Sullivan for PSI. "[T]his compelling new NASA data disproves that notion and is a huge embarrassment for NASA's chief climatologist, Dr. James Hansen and his team over at NASA's GISS."

Dr. Hansen, of course, is an outspoken global warming activist who helped spark man-made climate change hysteria in the U.S. back in 1988. Just after the release of the new SABER study, however, Dr. Hansen conveniently retired from his career as a climatologist at NASA, and reportedly now plans to spend his time "on science," and on "drawing attention to [its] implications for young people."

You can read more details of the new NASA SABER study by visiting:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/22mar_saber/

You can also check out a informative, four-minute video report on the solar storm here:
http://youtu.be/EEFQHDSYP1I

Sources for this article include:

http://principia-scientific.org

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...2/22mar_saber/

http://youtu.be/EEFQHDSYP1I

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040448_so...global_warming

Tesla pays off its $451 milllion federal loan

Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY4:42 p.m. EDT May 22, 2013

Electric car maker Tesla Motors, in a move that is sure to buoy the spirits of both the company and the Obama administration, announced that it has paid off its entire federal loan.

It is paying off $451.8 million of the remaining loan approved by the Energy Department in 2009 -- with interest.

The loan program has been a major controversy, with Republicans pointing to the failure of solar panel maker Solyndra and likely bankruptcy filing by plug-in hybrid car maker Fisker in question why the government made risky "green energy" loans. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney cited Tesla, along with Fisker, in bashing President Obama over the loans during the presidential campaign last year.

Tesla's move had been anticipated since last week when it took advantage of a soaring stock price to issue more stock shares and make a bond offering. The stock price rose after the company reported that it had earned a profit in the first quarter, the first since its founding.

Tesla makes the all-electric Model S sedan, which has received critical acclaim -- including a 99 out of 100 score from Consumer Reports in its testing and Motor Trend Car of the Year -- but remains out of the price reach of most car buyers. Prices start around $70,000. It is due to start production of an equally expensive gull-winged SUV, the Model X, later this year.

Tesla, in announcing the payback, said it is the first automaker to fully repay its loan.

. "I would like to thank the Department of Energy and the members of Congress and their staffs that worked hard to create the (advanced vehicle loan) program, and particularly the American taxpayer from whom these funds originate," said Tesla Elon Musk in a statement. "I hope we did you proud."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...tment/2351945/

Americans Spend $61 Billion on Pets Annually

A new report shows that Americans spend more on their pets than they do on alcohol, land-lines


By Danielle Kurtzleben
May 22, 2013

Americans cut back in some types of disposable spending during the nation's financial crisis, but spending on Fido held steady and is picking up again.
Americans cut back in some types of disposable spending during the nation's financial crisis, but spending on Fido held steady and is picking up again.


It turns out even the deepest recession in decades can't kill off pet spending. A new report from the Labor Department shows that while Americans cut back in some types of disposable spending during the nation's financial crisis, spending on pets held steady and has begun to pick up again.


[RELATED: The 10 Cities With the Highest Pet Spending]

The report shows that Americans spent over $61 billion on their pets in 2011, with the average household spending just over $500 on their pets during the year. That's more than the average household spent on alcohol, men's clothing, or landline telephones. The data show that pet spending hit a peak in 2008, at $571 per household, then dropped off sharply, eventually hitting $480 in 2010. However, spending on Fluffy and Spot as a share of households' total spending picked up slightly during the recession, from 0.9 percent in 2007 to 1.1 percent during the heart of the downturn in 2008 and 2009.

The Labor Department data show that Americans remained selflessly devoted to their pets during the recession, holding their spending on pet food steady through the downturn while cutting back on the luxury of eating out.



A major economic downturn may not dramatically cut pet spending, but having kids does. Single people spent over $400 on average on their pets in 2011, while single-parent households spent two-thirds that. Likewise, husbands and wives with no children at home spent the most on their pets, at nearly $700, while those with the youngest children spent less than 60 percent of that, at just over $400.



The data may also signal fatter times ahead for America's pets. Americans age 55 to 64 spent the most on their pets of any age group, at $636 per year, in 2011. In addition, homeowners spent $653 on average, compared to renters, at $221. With baby boomers entering retirement and a housing recovery in place, that may mean the population willing to spend big on their animals is about to grow.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/...ors_picks=true

GOLDMAN: 3 Reasons The S&P 500 Is Going To Surge To 2100

Cullen Roche, Pragmatic Capitalism | May 22, 2013, 4:21 AM

With a modestly positive economic environment, high profit margins, improving private investment, high budget deficits and a belief that stocks are cheap….the bulls get increasingly optimistic. This is from Goldman’s Chief Equity Strategist David Kostin and his team:

“We are raising our S&P 500 dividend estimates and index return forecasts for 2013 through 2015. We expect S&P 500 index will rise by 5% from the current level to 1750 by year-end 2013, advance by 9% to 1900 in 2014, and climb by 10% to 2100 in 2015. We expect a 3-month return of 2% to 1700 and a 10% return during next 12 months to 1825. Our previous 2013-2015 year-end targets were 1625, 1775, and 1900, respectively.

1. We expect S&P 500 dividends will rise by roughly 30% between 2013 and 2015. We forecast dividend growth of nearly 11% in both 2013 and 2014 and about 9% in 2015. Our earnings forecasts remain unchanged but we have boosted our payout ratio assumptions. While 1Q year/year earnings growth of 6% was in line with expectations, dividends surged by 12% led by surprisingly large hikes from Financials and Consumer Discretionary firms. Our dividend forecasts are now in line with the dividend swap market for 2013 and 2014 but slightly above the implied levels for 2015 through 2022. Together our dividend and price target forecasts imply an S&P 500 annualized dividend yield of 2.2% from 2013 to 2015.

2. Our US Economists forecast above-trend growth in 2014 for the first time in six years. In advanced economies, the final year of economic stagnation before GDP growth exceeded trend has been associated with P/E multiple expansions averaging 15%. Our year-end 2013 forward P/E of 15x would be 14% above last year’s 13.2x. The S&P 500 currently trades at 14.6x bottom-up consensus and 15.0x our top-down NTM EPS estimates.

3. The macro investment environment supports an above-average S&P 500 valuation. Our standard valuation approaches point to a P/E multiple of 14x forward earnings. However, our revised forecast estimates an S&P 500 P/E multiple of 15x-16x during the next three years that is above the long-term average but in line with the post-1990 experience. The S&P 500 forward P/E multiple has averaged 12.9x since 1973 but 15.3x since 1990.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/1.

http://www.businessinsider.com/goldm...to-2100-2013-5

With U.S. market share surging, Ford ramps up production capacity

By Ronald D. White
May 22, 2013, 11:22 a.m.

Ford Motor Co. is expanding its production capacity to take advantage of the shift in buyer sentiment toward smaller cars and SUVs and for F-series truck sales spurred by the housing market recovery.

Ford said it will increase production by about 200,000 vehicles to 3.4 million this year. Part of that expansion will take place at the automaker's Flat Rock, Mich., assembly plant, which will be adding workers and shifts to meet strong demand in California and the West Coast.

Ford said California has become its fastest growing market for sales of its Fusion midsize sedan, which have climbed by 118% in the state through April, up to 7,000 cars.

Ford will be adding about 3,500 entry-level workers as part of the expansion.

"We have a great opportunity here," said Erich Merkle, U.S. sales analyst for Ford, in an interview. "This is much different from the recoveries of the past. We are getting to play both sides of it, in smaller cars and SUVs and in full-size trucks."

What Merkle meant was that this was not a single shift from higher efficiency and better mileage cars to trucks. The U.S. auto sales booms is moving in two, very distinct and separate directions, he said.
The transition from larger cars and SUVs to smaller vehicles is "still very much alive," Merkle said, adding full-size truck sales growth "is a separate phenomenon" tied to the housing market recovery.
Photos: What cars, trucks and SUVs are truly American made?

Through the first four months of this year, Ford has sold 808,800 vehicles in the U.S., a 12.7% gain from the same period a year earlier. Its U.S. market share has jumped to 16.3% from 15.4% in the same period a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.

Other domestic automakers also are gaining a bigger share of the U.S., just not as much as Ford.

General Motor Co.'s share of U.S. auto sales climbed to 18.1% through the first four months of this year, up from 17.7% in the same period a year earlier. Chrysler Group’s share of the U.S. market also grew rose to 11.8% from 11.6%.

Fusion sales are a big part of the surge, said Jeff Schuster, global forecaster at LMC Automotive.

"Fusion sales were a little slow out of the gate, but now that it is out in the showrooms it is doing really well," Schuster said.

Alex Gutierrez, senior market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said Ford had seen a 25% increase in sales of the Fusion in the U.S. in the first quarter in the midsize sedan segment, which overall increased by just 1.5%

Gutierrez said that sales of small SUVs in the U.S. were up 18% in the first three months of the year, but sale of the Ford Escape jumped by 30%.

"Both the Fusion and the Escape have been doing very well," Gutierrez said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...,2145510.story

“Worst Tornado In The History Of The World”: KFOR TV Video Report Including Tornado Time-Lapse Footage


Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:11


(Before It's News)
I have added a horrifying video of the tornado from the ground, up close and very clear in this now viral video below. At the end the videographers perform search and rescue while driving through the shocking aftermath minutes after the tornado struck. Worst tornado in the history of the world? You be the judge. Initial report below this video.

The tornado that struck in Oklahoma on Monday has been called “the worst tornado in the history of the world” by a meteorologist for KFOR-TV. The scenes of devastation in the aftermath are overwhelming. Video reports showing the aftermath from KFOR-TV and time lapse footage of the tornado are below. Coincidentally, the tornado took nearly the exact same path as a tornado outbreak back in 1999. From EpochTimes with much more below.:





A tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City, on May 20, reaching wind speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, flattening entire neighborhoods, and destroying Briarwood Elementary School. The death toll has reached 51, according to local broadcaster News 9, and officials expect the toll to rise as search and rescue teams continue looking for survivors. Another several hundred are trapped by debris at another elementary school.

The tornado is being called one of the worst to hit the entire country, ever. A meteorologist for local broadcaster KFOR-TV, meanwhile, called it ”The worst tornado in the history of the world.”






http://beforeitsnews.com/weather/201...Fzimbra%2Fmail

Garcetti wins race for L.A. mayor; Greuel concedes

By Seema Mehta and Laura J. Nelson
May 22, 2013, 3:27 a.m.

Wendy Greuel called Eric Garcetti early Wednesday morning to concede the mayoral election, a Greuel campaign source told The Times, ending a two-year campaign to determine Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's successor and the new political leader of Los Angeles.

Garcetti will be the first elected Jewish mayor of the city. At 42, he will also be the youngest in more than a century. He is scheduled to take office July 1.

"Thank you, Los Angeles," Garcetti wrote in a tweet posted at 2:52 a.m. PDT. "The hard work begins but I am honored to lead this city for the next four years. Let's make this a great city again."

During early returns Tuesday, Greuel led the race by a slight margin. But as the night wore on, Garcetti's lead grew. Election tallies from the city clerk's office posted at 1:38 a.m., with nearly 73% of precincts reporting, showed Greuel had fallen 8 points behind Garcetti.

Live video analysis: Wednesday, noon to 2 p.m.

After seeing those numbers -- Greuel 46%, Garcetti 54% -- she called Garcetti at 1:42 a.m. to concede the race.

"It was positive," the source, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity, told The Times. Greuel told Garcetti, "Congratulations. You did a great job. I'll officially concede tomorrow, but it looks like the results are in."

Greuel is expected to officially concede the election in Van Nuys on Wednesday morning.

She had hoped that absentee ballots, which are sometimes counted later than ballots cast at polling places, could make a difference, the source said.

FULL COVERAGE: L.A.'s race for mayor

"When there was evidence that the absentees weren’t exactly as everyone thought, you begin to think, if that’s wrong, what else is wrong? You hold out, you wait for the results to come in and wait for the votes to be counted. That’s what Wendy Greuel did.”

Greuel was positive and upbeat and went into election day aware of the race's contours, the campaign source said.

"The math tells you it’s going to be an uphill battle," the source said. "So you prepare yourself, and that’s what she did."

Garcetti, a city councilman, and Greuel, the city controller, were onetime City Council allies. Both raised in the San Fernando Valley, Garcetti and Greuel were vying to be the leader of a city of 3.8 million people that has only recently shown signs of lifting itself out of a five-year economic mire -- one that triggered perennial budget deficits, layoffs and cuts in basic services such as street paving and tree trimming.

After pushing past six other candidates in the March primary, Garcetti and Greuel leaned on large, unregulated spending by outside groups. Garcetti repeatedly criticized Greuel for the nearly $6 million that outside groups, including the union for Department of Water and Power workers, contributed to her campaign.

At $33 million, the mayoral campaign was the most expensive in city history. The flood of money and advertising from those groups largely went toward tearing down the two contenders, alienating many Angelenos who hadn't already been left cold.

Garcetti spent three terms representing a district that includes Hollywood and Silver Lake.

As city budget deficits spiraled into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Garcetti -- then the council president -- was at the center of negotiations to balance the books. He helped persuade his council colleagues to agree to cutbacks, including reducing the city workforce, raising the retirement age for future civilian workers from 55 to 65 and increasing the amount employees pay toward pensions and healthcare.

Before she was elected controller, Greuel, 51, represented parts of the San Fernando Valley on the council for eight years.

She began her political career working in Mayor Tom Bradley’s office, worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration and served as a political operative at DreamWorks SKG.

In the primary, Greuel and Garcetti defeated three serious but underfunded contenders -- Republican radio host and attorney Kevin James, Councilwoman Jan Perry and technology executive Emanuel Pleitez. All three endorsed Garcetti.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,6850215.story

African Coins Found in Australia Thought to Be 1,000 Years Old: May Rewrite History
2013 05 21




Five copper coins and a nearly 70-year-old map with an ‘‘X’’ might lead to a discovery that could rewrite Australia’s history.

Australian scientist Ian McIntosh, currently Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University in the US, plans an expedition in July that has stirred up the archaeological community.

The scientist wants to revisit the location where five coins were found in the Northern Territory in 1944 that have proven to be 1000 years old, opening up the possibility that seafarers from distant countries might have landed in Australia much earlier than what was currently believed.


Back in 1944 during World War II, after Japanese bombers had attacked Darwin two years earlier, the Wessel Islands — an uninhabited group of islands off Australia’s north coast — had become a strategic position to help protect the mainland.

Australian soldier Maurie Isenberg was stationed on one of the islands to man a radar station and spent his spare time fishing on the idyllic beaches.

While sitting in the sand with his fishing-rod, he discovered a handful of coins in the sand.

He didn’t have a clue where they could come from but pocketed them anyway and later placed them in a tin.

In 1979 he rediscovered his ‘‘treasure’’ and decided to send the coins to a museum to get them identified.

The coins proved to be 1000 years old.

Still not fully realising what treasure he held in his hands, he marked an old colleague’s map with an ‘‘X’’ to remember where he had found them.

The discovery was apparently forgotten again until anthropologist McIntosh got the ball rolling a few months ago.

The coins raise many important questions:

How did 1000-year-old coins end up on a remote beach on an island off the northern coast of Australia?

Did explorers from distant lands arrive on Australian shores way before the James Cook declared it ‘‘terra nullius’’ and claimed it for the British throne in 1770?

We do know already that Captain Cook wasn’t the first white seafarer to step on Australia’s shores.

In 1606 a Dutch explorer named Willem Janszoon reached the Cape York peninsula in Queensland, closely followed a few years late by another Dutch seafarer Dirk Hartog.

And the Spaniard Luiz Vaez de Torres discovered the strait between Papua New Guinea and Australia, which was later named Torres Strait in his honour.

However, none of these explorers recognised that they had discovered the famed southern continent, the ‘‘terra australis incognita‘‘, which was depicted as a counterweight to the known land masses of the northern hemisphere on many world maps of the day.

McIntosh and his team of Australian and American historians, archaeologists, geomorphologists and Aboriginal rangers say that the five coins date back to the 900s to 1300s.

They are African coins from the former Kilwa sultanate, now a World Heritage ruin on an island off Tanzania.

Kilwa once was a flourishing trade port with links to India in the 13th to 16th century.

The trade with gold, silver, pearls, perfumes, Arabian stoneware, Persian ceramics and Chinese porcelain made the city one of the most influential towns in East Africa at the time.

The copper coins were the first coins ever produced in sub-Saharan Africa and according to McIntosh have only twice been found outside Africa; once in Oman and Isenberg’s find in 1944.

The old coins might not be of monetary value, but for archaeologists they are priceless, said McIntosh.

Archaeologists have long suspected that there may have been early maritime trading routes that linked East Africa, Arabia, India and the Spice Islands even 1000 years ago.

Or the coins could’ve washed ashore after a shipwreck.

When Isenberg discovered the copper coins he also found four coins that originated from the Dutch East India Company — with one dating back to 1690 raising memories of those early Dutch seafarers that stepped on Australian shores well before Cook.

McIntosh wants to answer some of these mysteries during his planned expedition to the Wessel Islands in July.

And it’s not only about revisiting the beach that was marked with an ‘‘X’’ on Isenberg’s map.

He will also be looking for a secret cave Aboriginal legends talk about.

This cave is supposed to be close to the beach where Isenberg once found the coins and is said to be filled with doubloons and weaponry of an ancient era.

Should McIntosh and his team find what they are looking for, the find might not only be priceless treasure, but relics that could rewrite Australian history.

Article from: stuff.co.nz

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Control Freak Rent-A-Cop Fired After Starting Brawl Over The Videotaping Of A Traffic Accident

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 18:05






(Before It's News)
The Ohio Valley mall security guard who started a near brawl in a mall parking lot over photographs and videos being taken of an accident scene has been fired. After this video went viral, it seems that mall management had no choice but to let this person go. There certainly were many better ways to handle the situation you can watch unfold in the video below. First we get an update from wtrf.com:

The mall security guard at the center of a parking lot brawl with another woman has been fired.

Mall Director of Corporate Communications, Joe Bell, told WTRF that an internal investigation has been concluded, and company officials “determined that the guard had not performed to the standards required of the company’s security guards.”



The guard’s employment was terminated as of Monday. The Belmont County prosecutor’s office is still deciding whether criminal charges will be fired against the guard or the woman she scuffled with.

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This is what we call a useful idiot and our Country is full of these kinds of nut cases who think a uniforms gives them power of all of us!!!