Venezuela vote a critical test for divided nation

Presidential guards wait in line to vote in the presidential election at a polling station in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Presidential guards wait in line to vote in the presidential election at a polling station in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Residents check for their names at the voters list at a polling station in the Catia neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is running for re-election against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Residents look for their names in the voters list at a polling station in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is running for re-election against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.(AP Photo/Enric Marti)

Residents line up at a polling station to vote in presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Election campaign posters of presidential candidates, President Hugo Chavez, left, and Henrique Capriles, of the opposition, cover a wall at a polling station during the presidential election in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

(AP) ? President Hugo Chavez's crusade to transform Venezuela into a socialist state, which has bitterly divided the nation, was put to the stiffest electoral test of his nearly 14 years in power on Sunday in a closely fought presidential election.

Reveille blared from sound trucks around the capital to awaken voters and the bugle call was later replaced by folk music mixed with a recording of Chavez's voice saying "those who love the homeland come with me." At many polling places, voters started lining up hours before polls opened at dawn.

Chavez's challenger, Henrique Capriles, has united the opposition in a contest between two camps that distrust each other so deeply there are concerns whether a close election result will be respected.

The stakes couldn't be higher.

If Chavez wins a new six-year term, he gets a free hand to push for an even bigger state role in the economy, further limit dissent and continue to befriend rivals of the United States.

If Capriles wins, a radical foreign policy shift can be expected along with a loosening of state economic controls and an increase in private investment. A tense transition would likely follow until the January inauguration because Chavez's political machine thoroughly controls the wheels of government.

Many Venezuelans were nervous about what might happen if the disputes erupt over the election's announced outcome.

David Hernandez, a Chavez supporter, agreed the mood was tense but he blamed the opposition.

"Chavez is going to win and Capriles will have to accept his defeat," Hernandez said, standing next to his parked motorcycle on a downtown street. "If Capriles doesn't accept his defeat, there could be problems."

Chavez's critics say the president has inflamed divisions by labeling his opponents "fascists," ''Yankees" and "neo-Nazis," while Chavez backers allege Capriles would halt generous government programs that assist the poor.

During Chavez's final rally Thursday in Caracas, he shouted to the crowd: "We're going to give the bourgeoisie a beating!"

In various parts of the city, long lines of hundreds of voters snaked along sidewalks and around blocks.

"I'm really tired of all this polarization," said Lissette Garcia, a 39-year-old clothes seller and Capriles supporter who voted Sunday in the affluent Caracas district of Las Mercedes. "I want to reconnect with all my friends who are 'Chavistas.'"

Violence flared sporadically during the campaign, including shootings and rock-throwing during rallies and political caravans. Two Capriles supporters were shot to death in the western state of Barinas last weekend.

Troops were dispatched across Venezuela to guard thousands of voting centers Sunday.

Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva said as he voted that all had been calm in the morning and he hoped that would continue. He said if any groups try to "disturb order, they should know there is an armed force prepared and equipped and trained... to put down any attempt at disturbances."

He didn't identify the groups to which he was referring.

Chavez held an impromptu news conference Saturday night, and when asked about the possibility of disputes over the vote, he said he expected both sides to accept the result. He says he has successfully emerged from about a year of cancer treatment.

"It's a mature, democratic country where the institutions work, where we have one of the best electoral systems in the world," Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace.

But he also said he hoped no one would try to use the vote to play a "destabilizing game." If they do, he said, "we'll be alert to neutralize them."

His opponents mounted a noisy protest in Caracas and other major cities on Saturday night, beating pots and pans from the windows of their homes to show displeasure with Chavez ? and also their hopes for change. Drivers on downtown streets honked horns, joining the din.

The 40-year-old Capriles, a wiry former governor affectionately called "Skinny" by supporters, has infused the opposition with new optimism, and opinion polls pointed to him giving Chavez his closest election.

Some recent polls showed Chavez with a lead of about 10 percentage points, while others put the two candidates roughly even.

"Chavez is going to fight until his last breath. He doesn't know how to do anything else," said Antonio Padron, a bank employee backing the president.

Padron expressed optimism that the 58-year-old Chavez would win, noting the leader has survived a fight with cancer that has included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

But Padron predicted a close finish: "It's a tough fight. The opposition has never been this strong."

Chavez won the last presidential vote in 2006 with 63 percent of the vote.

A former army paratroop commander first elected in 1999, Chavez has presided over an oil boom and has spent billions of dollars on government social programs ranging from cash benefits for single mothers to free education.

But he has suffered declining support due to one of the world's highest murder rates, 18 percent inflation, a deteriorating electrical grid and a bloated government accused of endemic corruption and mismanagement.

While his support has slipped at home, Chavez has also seen his international influence ebb since he emerged in the mid-2000s as leader of a like-minded club of newly elected Latin American leftist presidents.

"I want to tell President Chavez, I want to tell him his cycle is over," Capriles said at his final campaign rally Thursday.

Capriles says Chavez has stirred up hatred, hobbled the economy by expropriating private businesses and squandered oil wealth. He criticized Chavez's preferential deals supplying oil to allies, including one that lets Cuba pay with the services of Cuban doctors.

"We aren't going to finance the political model that exists in Cuba," Capriles said in a TV interview last week. "But we aren't going to break off relations with Cuba."

Chavez accumulated near-absolute power over the past decade thanks to his control of the National Assembly, pliant institutions such as the Central Bank and friendly judges.

Gino Caso, an auto mechanic, said he would vote for Capriles because he thought Chavez was power-hungry and out of touch with problems such as crime. He said his son had been robbed, as had neighboring shops.

"I don't know what planet he lives on," Caso said, gesturing with hands blackened with grease. "He wants to be like Fidel Castro ? end up with everything, take control of the country."

Political analyst Ricardo Sucre said he expected the election to show "two halves, more or less even." Regardless of the result, he said, Venezuelans are likely to remain deeply divided by politics for years to come.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Toothaker, Jorge Rueda and Vivian Sequera contributed to this report.

___

Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-07-Venezuela-Election/id-c84414c527804b0491b8b33389341b0c

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160 International Football: Title race not over says Kluivert

Former Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert believes the La Liga title race between Real Madrid and Barcelona will go down to the wire.

The former Holland international's old team have made a storming start to the season and hold a healthy lead over their arch-rivals ahead of their first meeting in the league on Sunday.
However, Kluivert believes no matter what the result is at the Nou Camp this weekend, Real Madrid will be pushing Barcelona for the title throughout the campaign in Spain.
He told Mercado: "This Clasico will not decide anything because we are at the beginning of the season, and both are very good teams that will be challenging at the end of the season.
"These matches are always good, and it will be even better tonight because both teams are playing very well at the moment."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clubcall/~3/Ylvh1Amkfek/title-race-not-over-says-kluivert-1481995.html

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Home Price Index Shows Values Rising 3.7% From One Year Ago ...

Home Price Index from peak to presentTuesday, the?Federal Home Finance Agency?s Home Price Index (HPI) showed home values rising 0.2% on a seasonally-adjusted basis between June and July 2012, and moving +3.7% on an annual basis.

Home values have not dropped month-to-month since January of this year ? a span of 6 months.

For today?s home buyers and sellers throughout San Juan County , though, it?s important to recognize on what the HPI is actually reporting.

Or, stated differently, on what the HPI is not reporting.?The Home Price Index is based on home price changes of some homes, of certain ?types?, with specific mortgage financing only.

As such, it excludes a lot of home sales from its results which skews the final product. We don?t know if home values are really up 0.2% this month ? we only know that?s true for the home that the HPI chooses to track.

As an example of how certain homes are excluded, because the HPI is published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and because the FHFA gets its access to home price data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it?s upon data these two entities upon which the Home Price Index is built.

Home price data from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), from local credit unions, and from all-cash sales, for example, are excluded from the HPI because the FHFA has no awareness that the transaction ever happened.

In 2006, this may not have been a big deal; the FHA insured just 4 percent of the housing market at the time. Today, however, the FHA is estimated to insure more than 20% of new home purchases. Furthermore, in August,?more than 1 in 4 sales?were made with cash.

None of these home sales were included in the HPI.

Furthermore, the Home Price Index excludes certain home types from its findings.

Home sales of condominiums, cooperatives, multi-unit homes and planned unit developments (PUD) are not used in the calculation of the HPI. In some cities, including Chicago and New York City, these property types represent a large percentage of the overall market.?The HPI ignores them.

Like other home-value trackers, the Home Price Index can well highlight the housing market?s broader, national trends but for specific home price data about a specific home or a ZIP code, it?s better to talk with a real estate agent with local market knowledge.

Since peaking in April 2007, the Home Price Index is off 16.4 percent.

Source: http://fridayharborsji.com/2012/09/fhfa-home-price-index-july-2012/

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PSY finds his success with 'Gangnam Style' unreal

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/psy-finds-success-gangnam-style-unreal-100644121.html

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Poor customer service is exactly what Brits deserve? | Business ...

So says leading customer feedback experts, Rapide, speaking out after receiving the shocking results of its latest research. Rapide has revealed that a staggering 91 per cent of people in the UK don?t always complain about bad service and yet 51 per cent don?t expect the service to improve if we don?t speak up.

The worst offenders in this nation of ?can?t be bothereds? are men. The boys win hands-down with a quarter of those who don?t always speak up saying it?s because they can?t be bothered to complain. And nearly half of us in the UK as a whole say we don?t try and pull businesses up by their boot strings as we feel there is no point ? businesses simply don?t care.

Rest assured we do still have a few grumpy Brits who are prepared to speak-up. You?ll find plenty of moaning coming from the South-East with results revealing 28 per cent of people here always or often complain. This compares to just 15 per cent ? less than one in six ? saying they often or always feedback after a poor service in both the East Midlands and Northern Ireland.

There is certainly a great British culture of non-complaining ? and more than half of those questioned agree that if we won?t speak up we?re getting the service we deserve. So what will persuade us to stop mumbling into our cuppas and start telling businesses what we think? An instant response, according to these recent revelations.

Nigel Shanahan, Managing Director at Rapide, says: ?The results are quite startling ? businesses are giving the impression they don?t care and consumers aren?t speaking up when there?s a problem ? resulting in a nation of people who think they receive poor customer service but won?t do a thing about it.

?Consumers want to know they have been heard and they want a response. We can all understand the frustration of sending a long winded email complaining to be completely ignored ? feeling like you?ve been listened to makes all the difference!?

Source: http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/10932/poor-customer-service-is-exactly-what-brits-deserve/

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FXI's Cotton Candy finally starts to ship, hopes your sugar rush remains (video)

Way back at CES, FXI's Cotton Candy was a sweet looking slice of Android and / or Linux mini-PC. Since then, the pendroid club has seen quite a few more join its number. However, if you were one of the faithful that got on-board with FXI's particular take on the form-factor early, then that little box of ARM Cortex A9 joy is finally available to buy. We've received word that pre-orders are now finally ready to be fulfilled, with early buyers getting developer versions. This of course means that you might pay a small price for such eager adoption, with a list of limitations including mixed video playback and streaming support, as well as potential issues with power from USB hosts. That said, we suspect that if you've been able to wait this long, these are small prices to pay, along with the $199 asking price, naturally. Give the source a whirl to get your teeth into one now.

[Thanks, Michael]

Filed under: ,

FXI's Cotton Candy finally starts to ship, hopes your sugar rush remains (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/fxis-cotton-candy-finally-starts-to-ship/

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Managing Diabetes With Your iPhone: Glooko Now Supports 17 Different Glucose Meters

Glooko_Logbook_icon_webAccording to the Center for Disease Control, 25.8 million Americans (or 8.3 percent of the population) have diabetes, while an estimated 79 million people (aged 20 and older) have prediabetes -- making it one of the most pervasive diseases in the U.S. Startups like Rock Health grad Omada Health and Glooko are addressing diabetes head-on, from prevention and intervention to making the lives of those who live with the disease better -- through technology.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/K_fW84zPVkk/

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Dusty Baker will resume managing Reds next week

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker watches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. The game is Baker's 3,000th as a manager in the majors. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker watches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. The game is Baker's 3,000th as a manager in the majors. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Cincinnati Reds acting manager Chris Speier, left, questions a call with home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski during a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, in Cincinnati. Reds manager Dusty Baker remained in a Chicago hospital after experiencing an irregular heartbeat. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

(AP) ? Dusty Baker won't manage the Cincinnati Reds until the final series in St. Louis, giving him time to recover from an irregular heartbeat that left him hospitalized last week.

Baker met with owner Bob Castellini and his team on Tuesday before a game against the Brewers. Bench coach Chris Speier said he'll manage the final three home games against Milwaukee and three in Pittsburgh over the weekend, with Baker taking over for the last three games next week.

The 63-year-old manager was hospitalized in Chicago last Wednesday for an irregular heartbeat, a problem he's had for a while. He was in the hospital for four days, missing the Reds' 6-0 win over the Dodgers on Saturday night that clinched the NL Central title.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-09-25-BBN-Reds-Baker/id-21a51d2c348c4872b8cad704dc0f3514

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Report: Yemeni women worse off after revolution

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Women in Yemen are worse off now than a year ago, when they played a significant part in the country's revolution that promised political and economic change, an international aid agency has concluded.

In a report released Monday, Oxfam International said four out of five Yemeni women claim their lives have worsened over the past 12 months. Faced with an intensifying humanitarian crisis, which has left a quarter of women between the ages of 15 and 49 acutely malnourished, they say they're struggling to feed their families and are unable to participate in the country's transition.

"The food crisis is the biggest impediment," said Sultana Begum, an Oxfam humanitarian policy advisor who authored the report. "How do you expect people to participate in this very important process which is going to decide the future of a country when they're focused on day-to-day survival?"

The United Nations' World Food Program says 10 million Yemenis, nearly half the population, do not have enough food to eat. The crisis is blamed on a number of factors, including soaring food and fuel prices in the past year. Markets in cities and villages are brimming with fruits, vegetables and meat, but private organizations say the food is not affordable to people who are grappling with high unemployment, unrest and internal conflicts that have displaced families.

Many have sold off their land and livestock, pulled their kids out of school and resorted to other desperate measures to make ends meet. Oxfam said more parents are marrying off their daughters early, some as young as 12, and sending their sons across the Saudi Arabian border to smuggle qat, the narcotic leaf.

"I've been to villages where mothers have lost their children and they say it's because they couldn't feed them properly; it's because of the hunger," said Caroline Gluck, an Oxfam spokeswoman in Sanaa, the capital.

The report, which surveyed 136 women across Yemen in July and August, also says the majority of women asserted they felt less safe than a year ago. They cited concern over the proliferation of small arms; gun battles in the streets of Sanaa; and the risk of sexual assault. In camps for internally displaced individuals, such as in Haradh in the north, women said pressures from current crises have led to higher levels of domestic violence.

Displaced women also said they felt unsafe returning to their homes in provinces like Abyan to the south, where the government recaptured areas from al-Qaida militants this summer. In addition, women said there was a lack of protection provided to them by police and other security authorities.

On the political front, women were emboldened after last year's uprisings, but now claim they are feeling "sidelined by the transition process and say they have been shut out of decision-making by political parties and the government," the report said.

Some of those interviewed said there should be quotas to include women in parliament and committees overseeing the transition in the new government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who replaced ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February.

Oxfam officials said they've had to scale back some of their relief efforts, which include cash distribution to needy families, because of a lack of funding. Among the recommendations in the report, they're asking the Friends of Yemen, scheduled to meet in New York this week, to immediately allocate humanitarian aid to hit the ground. Donors in the group have pledged $6.4 billion, but Oxfam says there needs to be more transparency in tracking where the money goes.

"Right now, Yemen is mired in a quagmire of a humanitarian crisis, it can't pull its way out at the moment and it desperately needs more money," Gluck said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-yemeni-women-worse-off-revolution-051528363.html

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BlackBerry maker plants seeds for comeback attempt

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research in Motion, speaks about the new BlackBerry 10 at the BlackBerry Jam Americas conference in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research in Motion, speaks about the new BlackBerry 10 at the BlackBerry Jam Americas conference in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research in Motion, speaks about the new BlackBerry 10 at the BlackBerry Jam Americas conference in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins is promising to restore the BlackBerry phone's stature as a trailblazing device even as many investors fret about its potential demise.

Heins took the stage Tuesday at a conference for mobile applications developers to rally support for the upcoming release of BlackBerry 10, a new operating system that Research In Motion Ltd. is touting as its salvation after years of blundering wiped out some $80 billion in shareholder wealth.

With BlackBerry 10 still four to six months away from hitting the market, Tuesday's gathering in San Jose, Calif. felt more like a revival meeting than a product preview. RIM, which is based in Canada, has been laying off thousands of workers to offset mounting losses after being outmaneuvered by iPhone maker Apple Inc. and other phone makers relying on Google Inc.'s Android software.

"We recognize the need for change," said Heins, who was promoted to CEO eight months ago as RIM's troubles deepened. "There is a new energy and a lot of fighting spirit at RIM."

RIM aimed its message of hope and resilience at an audience of app developers because those programmers hold one of the biggest keys to its future. The success of the iPhone has proven that a broad selection of apps that make smartphones more fun and convenient can help drive sales of the devices.

One of the BlackBerry's biggest shortcomings has been its relatively small inventory of apps. RIM says BlackBerry has about 105,000 apps, which pales next to the more than 700,000 apps in Apple's iTunes store. Google's Play store is stocked with more than 600,000 apps.

RIM is wooing app developers by offering them more tools to work with on BlackBerry 10 and offering financial incentives to persuade them they will make money on the new platform. The company told developers Tuesday that they can start submitting BlackBerry 10 apps for approval on Oct. 10. The new system already plans to feature built-in apps from four popular digital networking services ?Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare.

As part of its attempt to win over more app developers, RIM played a humorous music video set to the tune of REO Speedwagon's "Keep on Loving You." Although the reworking of the tune drew laughter, the reference to a song released 32 years ago threatens to reinforce perceptions that RIM and BlackBerry have become relics in the rapidly evolving mobile computing market. Apple, in contrast, wrapped its unveiling of the iPhone 5 two weeks ago with a live performance by the Foo Fighters, a band that is still winning Grammy awards for its music.

In an effort to prove RIM is preparing for the future, Heins and other top company executives spent most of Tuesday's conference providing a glimpse at some of BlackBerry 10's new features. Phones running on the redesigned software won't be sold until sometime during the first three months of next year. Heins and other RIM executives declined to provide a more specific timetable Tuesday.

That means RIM's new software won't be available during the holiday shopping season, costing the company more sales during a period when millions of people are expected to be snapping up the latest iPhone, Android devices and even a new handset from another struggling mobile phone company, Nokia, which is tying its fate to Microsoft's latest Windows software.

Despite RIM's missteps, the BlackBerry still commands a huge following with 80 million subscribers. That's up from 78 million in early June. The company intends to share more details about its recent subscriber gains on Thursday, when it's scheduled to release its fiscal second-quarter results. RIM has lost a total of $643 million in is previous two quarters.

In Tuesday's presentation, Heins did his best to argue that the BlackBerry 10 will be worth the long wait. The software was supposed to be released this fall before Heins decided the company needed more time to make it work right.

"We are committed to making BlackBerry 10 an inflection point in mobile computing," Heins said.

The system is being designed to make it easier to find and use multiple applications simultaneously by swiping a finger across the phone's display screen instead of relying on the iPhone's system requiring people to press on a home button to switch from one program to the next. All notifications from various applications are supposed to be sent a nerve center known as the BlackBerry Hub.

In an attempt to cater to its main customer base of business users, RIM also promises BlackBerry 10 will offer more security features, better calendar management and more ways to connect with other workers.

RIM is retooling the software to adapt to the growing number of people who want a smartphone that can fulfill both their personal and professional needs. In an effort to make its phones better suited for this "bring your own device" phenomenon, the new system includes a feature called "BlackBerry Balance." That enables users to touch an icon on the screen to switch between two different menus of applications and services, one set up for personal activities and the other programmed for work.

"We are convinced this platform will shape the next 10 years as profoundly and as positively as BlackBerry shaped the last decade," Heins said.

Investors appeared to be heartened by what they heard and saw from RIM Tuesday. The company's stock gained 30 cents, or nearly 5 percent, close Tuesday at $6.60. That's still far below the stock's peak price of about $148, reached in June 2008. Back then, the iPhone was still considered to be a high-tech toy for affluent geeks and the first wave of Android-powered devices had not yet been released.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-09-25-BlackBerry-Revival%20Meeting/id-c47ec51df68447959b0c3b6d392956ef

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