Новости за 24.04.2012

Homosexuality was a taboo until well-known faces such as these came out of the closet and talked about gay rights and their own sexual orientation. Time and again the issue of equal rights for gays has been raised at several platforms, levels and at different enormity; however, even today societal acceptance of gay men and women is not very easy to come by. They are often perceived as different and not normal. Nevertheless, celebrities are ambassadors of change and they have brought about a very... Читать дальше...

(Reuters) - George Rathmann, who helped build Amgen Inc from a start-up into the world's biggest biotechnology company as its founding CEO, died on Sunday, the firm said in a statement. He was 84. Rathmann was Amgen's first chief executive, from 1980 to 1988, and board chairman until 1990. One of Rathmann's chief accomplishments was finding the funds Amgen needed during its start-up years, while he also guided the company through its first public offering, California-based Amgen said.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), the No. 2 computer company, announced a 13 percent boost in its dividend Tuesday, as well as a $7 billion share buyback. As a result, the quarterly dividend on IBM shares will be 85 cents, Last year, the dividend was boosted to 75 cents. The increase takes effect June 9 for shareholders of record on May 10. The Armonk, N.Y., company also said it will repurchase shares valued at $7 billion, boosting the total amount available for buybacks to $12.7 billion. Читать дальше...

Kim Kardashian is yet to announce her status with rumored new beau Kanye West. However, the pair's affectionate gestures at a Monday night event suggested that the duo have gone official with their relationship.

The 400-year-old diamond, the Beau Sancy, is expected to sell for $4 million at an auction at Sotheby's, an aunction house. The Beau Sancy, which weighs 34.98 carats, is one of the world's oldest diamonds with a rare cut in the shape of a pear. The jewel is currently on display in Paris, but will move to London and Zurich before it goes up for auction in Geneva on May 14. It is a colorless, rounded, pear-shape diamond, cut with 110 facets, according to Famous Diamonds.

Pilar Sanders, the estranged wife of Deion Sanders, was arrested for assaulting her husband with a friend of hers in front of the couple's children on Monday. Sanders was arrested for assault family violence, according to the Colin County Jail website. The pair has been involved in a bitter divorce process, including Pilar Sanders levying cheating allegations against Deion Sanders, but it took a seriously ugly turn on Monday. That assault came to light after Deion Sanders began live tweeting the incident.

Delphi Automotive Plc (NYSE: DLPH), which makes car batteries and interiors, on Tuesday reported sharply higher earnings for the first quarter on higher sales and increased efficiency and raised its full-year earnings outlook. The company increased its 2012 guidance to between $3.63 and $3.85 per share from $3.44 to $3.69. Income rose to $342 million, or $1.04 per share, from $291 million, or 42 cents per share, in 2011. Likewise, revenue rose to $4.1 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent, or 4.7 percent... Читать дальше...

Sarah Burge, known as the Human Barbie for the immense amount of plastic surgery procedures she has underwent, first made headlines for giving her seven-year-old daughter Poppy gift certificates for breast implants and liposuction. Now, the 51-year-old mother has plans to hold children's parties in a Botox clinic to give young girls the wow factor through makeovers.

Mark Abaire was unable to post bond after he was arrested on felony theft charges for allegedly filling a cup of soda worth $1 from a Florida McDonald's and not paying for it. Abaire, 52, was arrested on theft charges last week after he asked the McDonald's in East Naples, Fla., for a cup and filled it up with soda instead of water. Abaire should have paid $1 for the soda. Because Abaire didn't pay for the soda, he now faces up to five years in prison, if convicted of theft, trespass and disorderly intoxication.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), the No. 1 telecommunications carrier, reported first-quarter earnings and revenue rose solidly, ahead of estimates, as smartphone customers spent more time on the network. As a result, net income rose nearly 6 percent, to $3.6 billion, or 60 cents a share, as revenue inched up 1.8 percent to $31.8 billion, compared with the year-earlier's net income of $3.4 billion, or 57 cents a share, on revenue of $3.4 billion.

Bashar al-Assad is finished and his international allies have to persuade him to leave power to avoid further bloodshed, according to Tunisian President Moncef al-Marzouki. In a newspaper interview published on Tuesday, al-Marzouki urged Assad's Russian, Chinese and Iranian allies to abandon support for the beleaguered dictator and hand over [power] to his deputy. The call follows reports of widespread violence throughout Syria, with the opposition Syrian Movement for Human Rights claiming 11 people died in attacks on Tuesday... Читать дальше...

The American market for single-family homes fell to new lows in February, but prices declined at a slower rate compared to the previous month, a private report showed Tuesday, as the housing market continues to struggle. Single-family house prices in a group of 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller composite index fell by 3.5 percent from January, slightly better than the 3.6 percent decline estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The 10-city composite... Читать дальше...

This past November, 17-year-old Justin Bieber took a paternity test to prove that he was not the father of 20-year-old Mariah Yeater's baby. Yeater had claimed that the pop star got her pregnant at the Staples Center. Bieber promises that his upcoming album, Believe, will touch on the subject of Yeater's allegations.

Bradley Manning, who could face life in prison for allegedly leaking classified military records to the website WikiLeaks, will return to Fort Meade, Maryland, on Tuesday for a pre-trial hearing in his court-marital proceedings. He has already spent almost two years in a military prison. A military judge will consider several motions filed by Manning's defense attorney, David E. Combs, that seek to either reduce or completely dismiss the charges. A total of 22 charges have been leveled against Manning including aiding the enemy... Читать дальше...

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities fell 0.8 percent in February, on a non-seasonally-adjused basis -- hitting its lowest level in nearly a decade. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, prices rose 0.2 percent in Febraury, slightly higher than the Bloomberg consensus estimate of an 0.1-percent month-to-month gain for the 20-city index.

April 24th 2012, Democratist has sometimes been accused of being “theoretical.” We do not deny this charge. For us, using “theory” means the ability to generalize rational insight from experience.  Although not without limitation, any attempt to explain (and by extension change) the world without some kind of rational framework will amount to little, and incautious abandonment leaves one vulnerable to a variety of […]

Finally a day to rejoice for the Adobe fans! The company unveiled Creative Suite 6 along with Adobe Creative Cloud on Monday at an event in San Francisco. Creative Cloud, which is a digital hub, is an optional membership-based program formed of three pillars: Creative Services, Creative Community and Creative Applications, explained Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade Tuesday are: Texas Instruments, Baker Hughes, Sprint Nextel, 3M Co, AT&T, Netflix, Big Lots, Waters Corp and Coach Inc. Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) stock surged 3.64 percent to $33.05 in pre-market session. The company reported first quarter net income of $265 million or $0.22 per share compared to $666 million or $0.55 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue declined to $3.12 billion from $3.39 billion last but above the analysts’... Читать дальше...

Microsoft and Facebook announced a definitive agreement on Monday, under which Microsoft will assign to Facebook the right to purchase a portion of the patent portfolio it recently agreed to acquire from AOL Inc. Facebook has agreed to purchase this portion for $550 million in cash. In the original AOL auction, Microsoft secured the ability to own or assign approximately 925 US patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL's remaining patent portfolio, containing around 300 additional patents that were not for sale.

The inevitable passing of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the radicalization of the Tibetan diaspora and the fervor of the international campaign to free Tibet are bound to keep the Himalayan dispute on the world's front pages. India, which has sheltered the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of his followers, today increasingly sees Tibet as a bargaining chip with China in its overall bilateral relationship. Home to some 20,000 Tibetan refugees and wedged precariously between the assertive Asian giants... Читать дальше...

Before the launch of the iPhone 4S, Apple fans expected the company to offer a completely revamped model of its flagship smartphone. But that didn't happen and people didn't experience anything new from the device's look as it was pretty much identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 4. This must be the main reason for growing rumors that Apple will finally bring some momentous change to the form factor of its sixth generation iPhone.

Jennifer Aniston & Justin Theroux (L) Image Credit: Facebook. Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie (R) Image Credit: Reuters

Asian stock markets pared earlier losses and ended with gains Tuesday as investors turned their attention on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which kicks off today, for any hints at monetary easing. This is the second two-day meeting of the year and the committee will release the members' assessments of the appropriate timing and pace of policy changes via the Fed funds rate.

Futures on major US stock indices point to a higher opening Tuesday ahead of key new home sales data and corporate earnings. Futures on the S&P 500 are up 0.33 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 0.26 percent and Nasdaq100 futures are up 0.51 percent. Investors are likely to focus on the latest batch of data including new home sales, Conference Board consumer confidence and S&P/CaseShiller house price index.

Kurt Cobain, lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana, died in 1994, but a new documentary is releasing a previously unheard track from the former rock star. The song, Stinking of You, is a duet with wife Courtney Love, the lead singer of Hole. Hit So Hard is a new documentary following the life of Hole drummer Patty Schemel during the 1990s in Seattle. The film, which has been playing at festivals, and is set to hit select cities, features archival footage of Kurt Cobain with wife Courtney Love and their daughter, Frances Bean.