Earnings Preview: Berkshire Hathaway 3Q earnings

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? When Berkshire Hathaway Inc. releases third-quarter earnings Friday, they will be dissected by investors looking for clues about the economy's health, what CEO Warren Buffett might invest in next, as well as any estimate of Berkshire's insurance losses from Superstorm Sandy.

Investors will also be interested to see how Berkshire's BNSF Railway fared as major freight railroads grapple with weak coal demand.

But the bottom-line profit the company reports could differ significantly from the operating results for Berkshire's 80-odd businesses because the paper value of its derivatives tied to several stock-market indexes varies widely.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Berkshire owns several large insurance and reinsurance companies, including Geico and General Re, so it often pays out sizeable claims after any major disaster.

For instance, Berkshire recorded a $2.4 billion loss from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Insurance losses from Superstorm Sandy aren't likely to be a big concern for Berkshire, which has about $40 billion cash on hand, but they will affect fourth-quarter profit.

Jeff Matthews, an investor who wrote "Secrets in Plain Sight: Business & Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett," said it will be interesting to see how BNSF fared after other railroads reported lower coal volume and increases in crude oil and automotive shipments.

Matthews expects derivative contracts to be somewhat positive for Berkshire in the quarter. Last year Berkshire recorded a $1.53 billion paper loss on its derivative contracts and investments in the third quarter.

Several Berkshire subsidiaries are tied closely to residential housing ? including Shaw carpet, Acme Brick, Clayton Homes and HomeServices of America real estate ? so the quarterly report will offer some insight into the U.S. housing industry's recovery.

WHY IT MATTERS: Buffett's remarkable investing track record has earned the company a devoted following. Berkshire is also watched closely because the conglomerate's results offer a glimpse into a variety of industries.

WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Berkshire to report earnings of $1.38 per Class B share on $39.04 billion in revenue.

LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: Berkshire's net income fell 24 percent last year to $2.28 billion, or 92 cents per share, because of a sharp decline in the paper value of its derivative contracts.

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Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: www.berkshirehathaway.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earnings-preview-berkshire-hathaway-3q-earnings-200923678--finance.html

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Sandy Takes Out 25% of Cell Towers | Public Safety Communications

PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

People in New York's Tribeca neighborhood, without power because of superstorm Sandy, wait for a chance to charge their mobile phones on an available generator setup on a sidewalk, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Superstorm Sandy knocked out a quarter of the cell towers in an area spreading across 10 states, and the situation could get worse, federal regulators said Tuesday.

Many cell towers that are still working are doing so with the help of generators and could run out of fuel before commercial power is restored, the Federal Communications Commission said.

The landline phone network has held up better in the affected area, which stretches from Virginia to Massachusetts, the FCC said, but about a quarter of cable customers are also without service.

The FCC did not have an estimate for the number of people in the affected area.

Call centers for 911 service have held up relatively well, with only a few failures, according to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. Calls to those centers are being rerouted, but operators may not be getting the automatic location information that 911 centers normally receive.

Sandy left widespread destruction, but the water welling into southern Manhattan drenched one of the world?s densest communications nodes, taking out popular websites and forcing telecom carriers to reroute international traffic.

As commercial power was cut to the southern tip of Manhattan on Monday, data centers and facilities of phone companies in the Wall Street area were forced to switch to diesel generators. Data centers that failed to keep running on backup power brought down news and gossip sites Gawker, Huffington Post and many popular New York-based blogs.

Gawker was still down Tuesday afternoon, but Huffington Post was back online. Their webhost, Datagram Inc., said power was out and flooding in their basement was preventing their backup generators from pumping fuel. Internet connectivity from three providers was also down.

Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest phone company in the region, had some of its facilities in downtown Manhattan flooded, shutting down phone and Internet service.

Further uptown, data centers hosted in a ?telecom hotel? that spans a whole block and houses Google?s New York headquarters were reporting outages as well, apparently because backup power failed when commercial power was cut Monday evening.

Renesys Corp., which monitors the pathways of the Internet, said the storm caused major outages in New Jersey and New York. The city is a major transit point for international telecommunications traffic, and the firm said carriers were scrambling to route traffic around it.

Cablevision Systems Corp., which serves parts of Long Island, New York City and New Jersey, said it?s experiencing widespread outages due to the loss of power. The company said it doesn?t yet know the extent of outages in New Jersey, which bore the brunt of the storm.

Time Warner Cable Inc., the other big New York-area cable company, said it had no reports of significant damage to its network, but customers without power had no cable service.

AT&T Inc. said there are ?issues? in hard-hit areas, and it?s in the early stages of checking for damage and restoring service.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Source: http://psc.apcointl.org/2012/10/31/sandy-takes-out-25-of-cell-towers/

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Forget dances, 'DWTS' judges judge each other

ABC

Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli disagree on "Dancing With the Stars"

By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

The dance floor was a little light on glamour and little heavier on twang Monday night as "Dancing With the Stars" kicked off Country Night in honor of Thursday's upcoming CMA Awards, which just so happens to share a network with the ballroom bash.

But despite the sudden proliferation of cowboy hats and boots in the ballroom, it wasn't the sidesteps and country kicks that really stood out. Instead, the judges stole the "Dancing" spotlight as they just couldn't agree about much of what they saw on the floor or what they heard from each other.

The bickering began after Melissa Rycroft delivered her best routine of the season so far. The countrified Viennese waltz featured a strong solo (in a dance that doesn't exactly lend itself well to solo efforts) and saw the reality-star-turned-host overcome her recent neck injury with smooth moves.

It also packed a rule-breaking lift -- not that the judges saw it that way. They were too busy getting caught up with their own problems.

First, head judge Len Goodman broke from his usual reserved manner and stood up to applaud the dance. He then told Melissa she had the "how" and the "wow" ... whatever that means. Bruno Tonioli was equally impressed, going way over the top by comparing Melissa to Cyd Charisse in "Brigadoon."

But Carrie Ann Inaba? She complained that Melissa wasn't "dancing out enough." Her moves needed more, well, outness.

As far as Bruno was concerned, those were fighting words. He bolted out of his seat and spoke over Carrie Ann until neither one of them could be heard -- save for one comment from him. He looked to Melissa and assured her that Carrie Ann was "making a point that doesn't exist."

Despite all of the hubbub, Melissa's scores put her just a half-point from perfect for the night. So much for all the disagreement.

But the judges weren't through grumbling. When Shawn Johnson cha-cha'd to "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," Bruno loved the dance and told the gymnast she was the sexy one, while Len just complained about the presence of a tractor on the ballroom stage (and he wasn't too happy about the big plastic cow, either). Carrie Ann didn't like the solo section of the routine, calling it stiff. Bruno endured the dissenting opinions without shouting that time, but he made plenty of exaggerated expressions of disgust. At one point he even stuffed his notes in his mouth to keep from voicing his real take on the matter.

This time the disagreements showed up on the scoreboard, as the points ranged from 8.5 (Len) to 10 (Bruno).

The next incident came when Kirstie Alley took the stage for a sleek and sexy rumba. After a hard week in rehearsals, which saw the actress continuing her recent trend toward teary moments, she pulled off the dance surprisingly well -- though she could have used bit more hip action.

Carrie Anne love it all and called Kirstie the queen of sexy. Bruno agreed. Len, on the other hand, to the obvious disapproval of the others, nitpicked that aforementioned hip problems. He concluded, "I like it, but not much."

Still, with just a one-point spread between the points, Kirstie's 27.5 wasn't anything to argue about.

In fact, that was it for the big fuss between the esteemed panelists. But when the judges weren't judging each other, the viewers (at least this one) sure were.

After all, while Apolo Anton Ohno's emotional Viennese waltz was his best dance of the season -- and certainly scored big as a sentimental favorite of the night -- the perfect score the judges gave it didn't exactly line up with all the moves. The best, most lyrical maneuvers in the routine were Karina's, and Apolo's weren't bad. They also weren't perfect.

Then there was Emmitt Smith's big foxtrot, which turned out to be a big letdown. The retired running back just wasn't feeling the country groove, and save for his wild moment in the solo spotlight, the dance was stiff, with more than one poorly executed pass.

It seemed like the judges felt the same way, as they ticked off some of those problems in their reviews, but when it came time to score it, Bruno really fell under the judgmental glare of fans (or fan, ahem). Len and Carrie Anne gave the routine a very generous 8.5 points each. But Bruno came up with a 9.5 based on ... a bad dance.

There wasn't much controversy when it came to the rest of the night's dances. OK, sure, maybe Sabrina Bryan's comeback rumba wasn't quite worth 30 points. But Gilles Marini's 27.5 point cha-cha, with slightly off steps and loose hips, seemed about right. (Though an extra half point for the see-through shirt and shiny black pleather pants wouldn't have gone amiss.) And Kelly Monaco's snap-free tango might have merited a slightly higher score than 27 (when compared to the scoring curve for the night) thanks to great footwork, but it was close enough too. Plus she was rewarded with a kiss from pro Val Chmerkovskiy, so she's got nothing to complain about.

No, the only other real injustice of the night was the group dance, which saw every hoofer hit the stage in a jumble of moves. The clear standouts were Gilles and Kelly, who outdanced the competition by far. But it was Kirstie who picked up the 2-point bonus for a cute, partner-smacking but not so dance-packed moment. Apparently the judges can agree on one thing: They like to see Kirstie's pro, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, get spanked.

So, after that hoedown, who's set to?giddyap?and get out of the ballroom Tuesday night? It's tougher than ever to say. After all, Monday night's votes will not only be added to the judges' scores from the same night, but also to last week's group efforts and solo dances. In other words, it's anyone's guess.

Who do you think put on the very best performance Monday night? Take our poll below and then share your thoughts about the show on our Facebook page. And be sure to join us on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 ET to chat about who you think might be going home!

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/10/29/14787018-dancing-with-the-stars-judges-judge-each-other-on-country-night?lite

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LG Nexus 4 outed on video by carrier in Sweden

 

And here we have another video of the LG Nexus 4, which might or might not be announced today. Looks like this one comes from Three in Sweden. As it so happens, we've got a Swede on staff (more than one, now that we think about it).

The video talks up the beautiful, thin design of the "Nexus 4 by LG." It mentions the power button on the right-hand side, and the volume and micro SIM on the left. (Nothing we couldn't tell by watching, of course.) "Here is the familiar pure Android interface," it continues. Folders, main menu. Fast web browsers, high-resolution screen.

Also mentioned is the status bar, with "easily accessible settings." And, indeed, there are quick settings, though different than we might have expected.

Update: And the video's been pulled, as we figured it would.

Thanks, Dennis!

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/uOZ5yfFM6rY/story01.htm

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HBT: World Series gets Taiwanese animation treatment

I do not know who?Takuya Tsuchida is beyond the fact that he?s an 18 year-old Japanese outfielder, but the Indians have signed him, reports Paul Hoynes. Hoynes says he?s ?a left-handed hitter with speed and athleticism, who can play several positions,? including center field and second base. The Indians don?t have a need for a?

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/30/because-of-course-there-is-a-taiwanese-animation-of-the-2012-world-series/related/

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Mobile web design | Traffic Secrets

It?s a fact Mobile Internet has exploded very quickly. Soon connection speeds will be as or even quicker and more reputable than the normal High speed connection. So if you are running a business you need to consider the attributes of a mobile web site when you have companies like there-fore.com which producing mobile sites at only 245.00 is it worth missing a fantastic rout to advertise.
Here are just a few things to take into account
Mobile websites are specifically suitable for handheld devices ? nobody wants to browse a full size desktop website on their Smart phone! Research on mobile web site usability shows that mobile-optimized websites significantly improve consumer experience. This improves the satisfaction factor, which makes an optimistic first impression when it counts.

Web design Newcastle

A mobile internet site allows you to immediately participate your future consumers with mobile-specific features this kind of as click-to-call, mapping functions. Additionally, if you?re a local business mobile is particularly significant as more and more guests will find your site by way of location-aware technology that connects users to your website when they are in immediate geographic proximity.
Brand recognition yes actions speak louder than words ? a mobile website immediately helps you stand out along with presents a positive, modern day brand identity for the organization. A mobile-optimized website makes a positive statement before you?ve explained anything. Plus your mobile site can be accessed everywhere, any time. This level of constant connectivity has an unprecedented opportunity to talk with target audiences in new ways, anywhere they may be.
You may have a fantastic main web site but have you tried to look at and use it on mobile you?ll be blown away at how difficult it looks and the simplicity factor is non existing , if your web site doesn?t look good over a Smartphone users will move on to one that really does. A specially designed along with produced mobile website through there-fore.com puts you able to stand out among competitors. Your new mobile website ensures that you and not your competition capture visitor interest and get the business.
Your mobile web is no longer a concept; it?s a mainstream reality that will impact on all company in the future that seeks to communicate with goal audiences online. Most business analysts project that within a few quick years, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the commonest Web access device globally. The responsibility now falls on website owners to adopt advantage of the unique chances mobile offers for connecting with all the growing number of guests who will inevitably accessibility their website on mobile gadgets.Don?t be left behind and for only 245.00 you can contact there-fore.com today via email eric@there-fore.com or telephone 0191 286 9833.

For more information about Mobile web design please visit the website.

Mobile web design Other

Source: http://traffic-secrets.org/mobile-web-design

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Is permission-based SMS marketing a half-filled glass? - | SA IT NEWS

Many companies are still stuck in a broadcast-only paradigm resulting in annoyed customers, loss of brand equity in the market, and SMS communication as a marketing channel being seen in a poor light.

It seems surprising that it is still necessary to encourage brands to embrace personalised permission-based SMS marketing given all the advantages of this approach and the technical advances that have made the practice easy and manageable today.

But unfortunately many companies are still stuck in a broadcast-only paradigm resulting in annoyed customers, loss of brand equity in the market, and SMS communication as a marketing channel being seen in a poor light.

Let?s take a step back and look at how quickly and dramatically things have changed. Only a decade ago marketers had little choice over how they communicated with customers: TV, radio, cinema and print were the primary one-to-many communication channels, with fixed-line telephones the best one to reach people on a one-to-one basis. How did companies get the consumers? telephone numbers? This was usually done by reaching for the printed phone books that we all were happy to be listed in. Telephone calls were expensive, so we weren?t bombarded with unwanted calls.

Fast-forward to today and the price of telecommunications has dropped and the options for reaching individuals have increased. Is it any wonder that we balk at the thought of listing either our email address or mobile phone number in the modern day equivalent of the phone book? Instead, we embrace walled gardens such as Facebook and other social media where we can control who can communicate with us.

Brands stuck in a broadcast-only world should sit up and take notice of the fact that even though we do guard our privacy fiercely, we do also allow brands into our walled gardens. These are the brands that resonate with us, share useful and targeted information, ask our opinions and answer our questions, and most importantly, respect our privacy. We want special treatment from the brands we do allow in: this could be as simple as being the first to know a piece of news or to be told of an upcoming sale. We?ve become used to asking and receiving only the information that we want to see, when we want to see it.

Even the brands who are getting this customer experience right could take it a step further. Take loyalty cards schemes for example. Rather than just asking for permission to contact a customer, ask the customers what information is of interest to them. So perhaps I want to hear from a chain store about the food offers, but not the clothing sales. Not only will the brand benefit from the goodwill created from sending this targeted information and the increased impact of these targeted messages, they will also save money by not sending customers irrelevant information that simply gets ignored.

If this isn?t incentive enough for brands to embrace permission-based marketing, consider this: consumers? tolerance for unwanted marketing communications has dropped dramatically and for very good reason too. Not only have digital communication volumes increased, think about your email inbox and the balance between legitimate and unwanted email as well as shifting through increasing numbers of unwanted direct marketing messages, but it now costs consumers time and money to remove themselves from email and SMS lists.

Rather than suffer in silence, consumers are increasingly harnessing the power of social networks to name and shame companies that disregard their wishes to opt-out from a contact list. This allows people to compare notes and out the brands that persistently offend consumers. This type of online exposure negatively impacts on a brand?s reputation.

Brands can?t afford to treat permission-based marketing as an administrative nuisance. They should rather see it as an opportunity to re-connect with their customers, learn about their requirements and initiate valuable conversations. The tools exist to make this both easy and affordable to do. With the move away from broadcast-only channels of communication to interactive mediums of enabling conversational marketing such as SMS messaging or via social media campaigns, large and small companies have the opportunity to target their niche markets affordably and effectively without resorting to cold calling.

The bottom line is that in order to succeed in this world of digital media that is increasingly accessed via a cellphone, brands need to change their broadcast mentality, respect consumer privacy and come to understand why consumers resent unwanted communications so much. Brands need to start learning about the information their target audience does want and see permission-based marketing as not something to be ignored but as an exciting and cost-effective opportunity to connect with their customers and grow their brand equity in their target market.

By Pieter Streicher, managing director of Bulk SMS.com

Related News :

• By now, most companies should have woken up to the fact that if they want to stay in business for any length of time, permission-based marketing is the order of the day. In other words, get permission from customers and potential customers bef ?

• The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) allows sending unsolicited direct marketing communications (which is commonly seen as spam by many consumers) under certain conditions. However, if one looks more closely, it turns out that it is simply not po ?

• Twitter and Facebook are rapidly becoming the new kids on the block as a way for customers to complain, get information, and provide feedback to companies.

  Twitte ?

• Exceptional customer service is the holy grail of business. Communication and marketing teams around the world focus on this key element, and yet as much focus as it receives, exceptional service remains elusive at best, and frequently highly ?

• In 2012, it would be shocking indeed to see a communications plan that doesn?t feature social media. In the contact centre environment, most brands are rushing to expand their contact channel mix to include social media, such is the pace of ad ?

Source: http://saitnews.co.za/mobile/8156/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=8156

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Alternative AVENGERS: Saving Gotham

You are a member of the new Avengers, you have been commissioned by Batman to help rebuild Gotham city.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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Can i reserve a spot? I will make mine maybe tomorrow...

MiraMija

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Sure can, just make sure you post at least once every three days

WadeJackel

Member for 1 years

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I'm all over this, Wadeykins. Will need some time to come up with a character, though!

kexia

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Cool, oh your exempt from the five day thing, you always follow through on RPGs ;)

WadeJackel

Member for 1 years

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Post a reply

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New York streets flooded as Sandy slams into eastern U.S.

NEW YORK/REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) - Sandy, one of the biggest storms to hit the United States, pounded the east coast on Tuesday, flooding large parts of New York City, bringing transport to a halt and interrupting the presidential campaign.

More than 5.5 million people were left without electrical power by the storm, which crashed ashore late on Monday near the gambling resort of Atlantic City, New Jersey. More than one million people across a dozen states were ordered to evacuate.

Heavy snows threatened mountainous regions inland, and huge population centers of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. lay in the storm's path.

"We have not seen the kind of flooding problems that certainly could have happened thus far, but we've still got a long ways to go to get through this storm," Washington Mayor Vincent Gray said on local television.

Streets of New York City filled with floodwater, raising fears that the city's subway tunnels could be inundated, and flying debris blew along deserted sidewalks. The city closed down subway, bus and commuter train systems on Sunday night.

In lower Manhattan, firefighters used inflatable orange boats to rescue utility workers trapped for three hours by rising floodwaters inside a power substation.

One of the Con Ed workers pulled from the floodwater, Angelo Amato, said he was part of a crew who had offered to work through the storm.

"This is what happens when you volunteer," he said.

Two people were killed in the New York borough of Queens -- a man in a house hit by a falling tree and a woman who stepped into an electrified puddle of water. Massachusetts police said one man was killed in Peabody in an accident related to the bad weather. Toronto police also recorded one death, a woman hit by flying debris.

Power and back-up generators failed at New York University hospital, and patients were being elsewhere for care.

Trees were downed across the region, falling debris closed a major bridge in Boston and floodwater and gusts of wind buffeted coastal towns such as Fairfield, Connecticut, home to many commuters into New York City, where police cruisers blocked access to the beaches.

"People are definitely not taking this seriously enough," said police officer Tiffany Barrett. "Our worst fear is something like Katrina and we can't get to people."

LARGEST EVER

The storm's wind field stretched from the Canadian border to South Carolina, and from West Virginia to an Atlantic Ocean point about halfway between the United States and Bermuda, easily one of the largest ever seen.

The National Hurricane Center said Sandy came ashore as a "post-tropical cyclone," meaning it still packed hurricane-force winds but lost the characteristics of a tropical storm. It had sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, well above the threshold for hurricane intensity.

With eight days to go before the election, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney canceled scheduled campaign events. Both candidates acted cautiously to avoid coming across as overtly political while millions of people are imperiled.

U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday for the first time since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and were set to remain shut on Tuesday. The federal government in Washington was closed, and schools were shut up and down the East Coast.

NYSE Euronext said there had been no damage to the New York Stock Exchange headquarters that could impair trading floor operations, but it was making contingency plans in case of such damage.

One disaster forecasting company predicted economic losses could ultimately reach $20 billion, only half insured.

Governors up and down the East Coast declared states of emergency. Maryland's Martin O'Malley warned there was no question Sandy would kill people in its path.

Sandy made landfall just south of Atlantic City, about 120 miles southwest of Manhattan. Casinos in the gambling destination had already shut down.

In New York, officials evacuated neighbors of a 90-story super luxury apartment building under construction after its crane partially collapsed in high winds, prompting fears the entire rig could crash to the ground.

New York electric utility Con Edison said it expected "record-size outages," with 588,000 customers in the city and nearby Westchester County without power. The company is facing both falling trees knocking down power lines from above and flood waters swamping underground systems from below.

While Sandy does not have the intensity of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, it killed 66 people in the Caribbean last week before pounding U.S. coastal areas as it moved north.

An AccuWeather meteorologist said Sandy "is unfolding as the Northeast's Katrina," and others said Sandy could be the largest storm to hit the mainland in U.S. history.

Off North Carolina, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members who abandoned the replica ship HMS Bounty, using helicopters to lift them from life rafts. The Coast Guard later recovered the body of an "unresponsive" 42-year-old woman while continuing to search for the 63-year-old captain of the ship, which sank in 18-foot seas.

In New Jersey, Exelon Corp declared an alert around its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant be ause of rising waters, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Officials said if waters rise further, they may be forced to use emergency water supplies from a fire hose to cool spent uranium fuel rods.

An alert-level incident, the second-lowest of four action levels, means there's a "potential substantial degradation in the level of safety" at a reactor.

(Additional reporting by Michael Erman, Edith Honan, Greg Roumeliotis, Janet McGurty, Scott DiSavino and Martinne Geller in New York, Barbara Goldberg in New Jersey, Mary Ellen Clark and Lynnley Browning in Connecticut, Daniel Lovering in Boston, Ian Simpson in West Virginia, Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Heavey in Washington, Jane Sutton in Miami, Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Paul Thomasch and Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/massive-storm-sandy-crashes-ashore-jersey-001837944--finance.html

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New McCaskill ad declares: 'Todd Akin is scary'

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill on Monday launched a Halloween-week ad casting her Republican challenger Todd Akin as "scary" because of his remarks about "legitimate rape." Akin, meanwhile, is gaining some outside help in his quest to oust Missouri's senior senator.

McCaskill's ad aired as Akin teamed up with Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe for a series of campaign events in the St. Louis area. Inhofe was attending an energy roundtable discussion and fundraiser, then touring an aerospace and defense firm with Akin. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Akin was to campaign in the Kansas City area with former House speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

McCaskill has not been on the campaign trail because she is spending time with her critically ill mother. But that hasn't stopped the first-term senator from launching new ads against Akin. Her latest begins with a woman proclaiming: "Todd Akin is scary." The ad then features a video clip from mid-August in which Akin says women rarely get pregnant from rape. Akin is shown saying: "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Another woman in the ad says: "He has no idea how it even works and he wants to legislate about it?"

Akin has repeatedly apologized for his remark and said he was wrong, but the suburban St. Louis congressman has continued to campaign on his staunch opposition to abortion in all cases except when a woman's life is endangered.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee and other deep-pocketed GOP interest groups dropped their advertising plans for Akin after the rape remark, and top national Republicans such as presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on Akin to quit the race. Akin instead forged ahead with his campaign. He has received support from Republicans, such as Gingrich, but has not regained the backing of Romney or the GOP's Senate campaign committee.

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-29-Missouri%20Senate/id-8119df887c944db8b556df8dc32de52e

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UK transport department knew rail bid model was flawed - report

LONDON (Reuters) - The Department for Transport (DfT) was aware that its forecasting model for the West Coast rail franchise was flawed before it awarded the contract, a report into the botched tender has found.

The findings of an initial report into the debacle, published on Monday, are a further embarrassment for the government after it was forced to pull the contract it had awarded to FirstGroup ahead of the incumbent Virgin Trains.

The 13-year franchise, due to begin in December, was pulled this month after the DfT said that serious flaws in the process were uncovered while it was preparing for a legal challenge from Virgin.

In Monday's report, Sam Laidlaw, a DfT non-executive board member and chief executive of Centrica, said the inquiry had seen credible evidence that the DfT knew in advance of faults in the process.

The DfT required bidders to put up a performance bond, season ticket bond and subordinated loan facility (SLF), which they would lose if they failed to fulfil the contract. The size of the SLF depended on the DfT's evaluation of the risk in the respective bids.

However, Laidlaw's report said that the companies were not provided with adequate information to predict the likely size of any SLF requirement, undermining the capital structure of their bids.

"The DfT was aware of a lack of transparency in the SLF process and decided nonetheless to continue with the franchise process and to accept the risk of a bidder challenge," the report said.

In a statement to the House of Commons on Monday transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that Laidlaw's report made "uncomfortable reading" as he outlined the findings.

The bungled process, which led to the suspension of three DfT employees and the freezing of other franchise competitions, has cost taxpayers about 40 million pounds in compensation to the four shortlisted bidders.

The report said that inadequate planning and preparation, a complex organisational structure and weak governance had all contributed to the flawed process.

The DfT has since asked Virgin to continue operating the service, which runs from London to Scotland, for at least nine months from December while it runs a competition for an interim agreement.

As well as technical flaws and a lack of transparency in the bidding process, Laidlaw's report said that the DfT's published guidance was not followed when bids were being processed and there were inconsistencies in the treatment of bidders.

Laidlaw's final report will be published by the end of November.

(Additional reporting by Neil Maidment; Editing by David Goodman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-transport-department-knew-rail-bid-model-flawed-185318622--finance.html

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Contrasting Profiles in Hope: Obama vs. Romney | Psychology Today

I have made a career of studying hope. As a clinical psychologist most of my focus has been on the role of hope in relation to anxiety and depression, or the healing power of hope when confronting a serious illness.

As a result of Barack Obama?s 2008 campaign of ?hope and change? I have increasingly been asked to comment on the role of hope in presidential politics. In 2010, I decided to do some research on hope and the presidency to see what I might learn. I am revisiting the topic in this blog as we approach the 2012 election and Romney pits his own message of ?optimism? and ?change? against that of the president.

The major study conducted by my research team focused on the last ten elected presidents, from Eisenhower to Obama, five Republicans and five Democrats. We wanted to find out how much and what kind of hope these men offered in their first (or only) inaugural address. More recently, we decided to supplement our research by looking at the amount and kind of hope expressed in Mitt Romney?s 2003 inaugural address when he became governor of Massachusetts.

Presidential inaugural speeches were studied years ago by David Winter at the University of Michigan to explore the motives of U.S. presidents (he studied power, achievement, and affiliation). Winter was able to relate the motive profiles of each president to their behavior in office. Could ?hope profiles? yield the same or even higher levels of predictive power?

In my book, Hope in the age of anxiety, I explain that hope is based on four great needs: attachment (trust and openness), mastery (empowerment and purpose), survival (liberation and self-regulation) and spirituality (empowerment, connection, and assurance via a higher power).

Using with this integrative perspective, my research team (Kristen Wallin, Daniel Graham, and Sarah Stevenson) spent six months in 2010 developing a scoring system to measure the levels and kinds of hope contained in a sample of text. In other words, we created scoring rules to identify themes of hopeful mastery, attachment, survival, and spirituality. As part of the process we broke down each of these four dimensions of hope into the following more basic sub-units.

?

Mastery

Plans: The president promises successful planning and goal setting.

Collaboration: The president commits to collaborate and/or encourages a spirit of teamwork.

Higher Goals: The president calls for the pursuit of higher goals, ideals or transcendent values.

Attachment

Trust: The president and administration will be trustworthy and honest.

Continued presence: The president promises to be inclusive and engaged with the public.

Openness: The president invites public feedback; the administration will be transparent.

Survival

Protection/liberation: The president promises to protect or liberate.

Resilience: The president notes the resilience of the American people.

Fear reduction: The president uses words to calm the public or assuage fears.

Spirituality

Spiritual inspiration: The president invokes a higher power to empower or justify actions.

Spiritual presence: The president suggests a higher power is continually present.

Spiritual assurance: The president appeals to a higher power for protection of the nation.

?

Highlights of 2010 Findings

Obama scored highest in total hope with 32 themes. This was an interesting finding given that we were able to empirically validate Obama?s platform of hope and change via his inaugural speech. Obama also ranked first in mastery hope. This too may have been anticipated given that he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

Nixon ranked first in attachment. While this may appear ironic to casual observers of the presidency, more in-depth psychological studies of Nixon have unearth the strong role of frustrated attachment needs in his background.

Kennedy ranked highest in themes of survival. Obama ranked second. This is significant because we found that survival was the type of hope most strongly associated with historian?s rankings of presidential greatness. Perhaps this is because some of our greatest presidents have ushered the nation through great crises (e.g. Lincoln or FDR).

GW Bush ranked first in Spiritual hope. This was also not surprising given his documented efforts to ?integrate faith with public policy at the most practical level?, including the establishment of ?faith-based? initiatives?.

We also created ?hope profiles? for each president based on the amount of attachment, mastery, survival, and spiritual content in their speech. These profiles proved to be a good fit with the kind of policy initiatives each president undertook during their time in office.

For example, it was noted that Kennedy had the highest survival score. In particular, he relied on many themes of liberation. In his inaugural address he vowed to ?pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty?. For much of his presidency, Kennedy?s focus was on liberation abroad. In the Bay of Pigs, the intent was the liberation of Cuba. In Vietnam, the aim was to curtail the perceived loss of liberty from spreading Communism. Kennedy, hesitant at first, eventually put his political resources behind the Civil Rights Movement to liberate minorities.

Ronald Reagan ranked 3rd in mastery (he was high in idealism, moderate in both mastery and collaboration). He ranked third in survival, focusing on themes of protection/liberation and resilience. Political observers pay respect to Reagan?s optimistic vision for America. His stress on personal freedom spanned both domestic and foreign policies. He championed a return to ?rugged individualism? and promised to get big government ?off our backs?. He railed against the Soviet ?evil empire?, culminating in his speech on the Berlin Wall, ?Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall?.

Romney?s Hope Profile

Earlier this month, we repeated our method of having two raters on different ends of the political spectrum score a speech sample. This time we scored Romney?s inaugural address as governor. We explored how Romney?s hope scores would compare with the past ten elected presidents. We also went back to see which of the past nine presidents were most similar to Obama.

Romney?s 20.5 themes of hope put him in 6th place, tied with GWH Bush. His 13 mastery themes put him in 2nd place, right behind Obama. His 3.5 attachment themes put him in the 8th spot. Romney?s 3 survival themes put him in a tie for 8th place with Carter and Johnson. His single spiritual reference would put him in a tie for 5th place. In summary, Romney?s hope profile consists of high mastery, low attachment, low survival, and moderate spirituality.

Obama vs. Romney: Hope for mastery

Romney?s mastery profile (high planning, high collaboration, zero higher goals) is most similar to Clinton. Neither has ever been accused of being an ideologue. Obama?s mastery score (high planning, high collaboration, high higher goals) is most similar to Reagan. Interesting both Obama and Reagan ran on explicit platforms of hope or optimism.

Obama vs. Romney: Hope for attachment

Romney?s attachment score was similar to that of GHW Bush (low to moderate trust). Obama?s was closest to Carter (high trust). Many readers will recall the night that GHW Bush looked at his watch during the presidential debate with Clinton which reinforced the stereotype of an ?out of touch? leader. Carter, despite many criticisms of his policies, has always rated high in integrity in presidential surveys. Romney has been characterized as distant and ?walled off? by fellow Republicans as well as Democrats. Obama began as a community organizer and has been both praised and criticized for his effort to ?reach across the aisle?.

Obama vs. Romney: Hope for survival

Romney?s survival score is most similar to Johnson (low protection, high resilience, zero fear reduction). Obama?s was closest to Kennedy (high protection, high resilience, moderate fear reduction). Johnson?s primary goal was to stay the course after Kennedy?s assassination. Romney?s former business associates have praised his cool, efficient handling of crises. In the final presidential debate, Romney also appeared to endorse a strategy of ?staying the course? in foreign policy. Kennedy came into power at the height of the cold war and fears of encroaching Communism. Obama came into power in the midst of a global recession and two wars against terrorism.

Obama vs. Romney: Hope through spirituality

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hope-today/201210/contrasting-profiles-in-hope-obama-vs-romney

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Orangutan shot with air gun rescued in Borneo

In this undated photo released by the UK-based Orangutan Foundation, a female orangutan named Aan receives medical treatment after being rescued, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. A conservationist said Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, Aan that was shot with an air rifle has been rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo. Rescuers are working to remove 104 pellets from her body. (AP Photo/Orangutan Foundation) NO SALES

In this undated photo released by the UK-based Orangutan Foundation, a female orangutan named Aan receives medical treatment after being rescued, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. A conservationist said Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, Aan that was shot with an air rifle has been rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo. Rescuers are working to remove 104 pellets from her body. (AP Photo/Orangutan Foundation) NO SALES

In this undated photo released by the UK-based Orangutan Foundation, paramedics examine a female orangutan named Aan after being rescued, in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. A conservationist said Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 Aan that was shot with an air rifle has been rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo. Rescuers are working to remove 104 pellets from her body. (AP Photo/Astri Siregar, Orangutan Foundation) NO SALES

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ? An orangutan that was shot with an air rifle has been rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo, and rescuers are working to remove 104 pellets from her body, a conservationist said Saturday.

The wounded female ape was discovered this month on a palm oil plantation in Central Kalimantan province, according to Tigor Nainggolan, a manager with the British-based Orangutan Foundation.

It's not known who shot the orangutan, believed to be about 15 years old.

Nainggolan said veterinarians managed to remove 32 of the pellets lodged in her body and head during a three-hour surgery on Oct. 20 at a hospital in the town of Pangkalan Bun, where an X-ray found 37 bullets in her head and 67 others in the body.

He added that another operation will be performed depending on her condition.

The ape, named Aan, was blinded in her left eye by the pellets.

Indonesia is home to about 90 percent of the orangutans left in the wild, but half its plush rain forest been cleared in the past half-century in the rush to supply the world with timber, pulp, paper and more recently, palm oil.

As a result, most of the remaining 50,000 to 60,000 apes live in scattered, degraded forests, putting them in frequent, and often deadly, conflict with humans.

A survey last year by the Nature Conservancy and 19 other private organizations, including the WWF and the Association of Indonesian Primate Experts and Observers, found that villagers living on the Indonesian side of Borneo killed at least 750 endangered orangutans in a year, some to protect crops from being raided and others for their meat.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-27-Indonesia-Orangutan/id-350aeb6d415244b58f401be5336d706b

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Gunny battles cancer, prepares for marathon - Marine Corps News ...

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2012/10/marine-gunny-jerry-embry-battles-cancer-readies-corps-marathon-102712w/

By Erin Massey - Medill News Service
Posted : Saturday Oct 27, 2012 10:04:07 EDT

Gunnery Sgt. Jerry Embry and his nurse, Agnes Sicat, know what it?s like to face hurdles. In 2011, Embry, a motor transport mechanic and 22-year Marine, was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer known as non-Hodgkin?s Lymphoma.

Since Embry?s diagnosis, Sicat, a nurse at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., has been there every step of the way.

On Sunday, they?ll face another challenge together: the 37th Marine Corps Marathon.

?Jerry is nothing short of inspiring,? Sicat said. ?He is one of my heroes; positive, strong and of course a Marine who acts like it?s no big deal.?

Although Sicat was not Embry?s primary nurse, they became instant friends.

?Words just flowed,? Embry said.

Known as the ?People?s Marathon,? the event is the world?s largest to not offer prize money to participants. Each year, thousands of runners from around the world flock to the nation?s capital or participate in shadow runs in remote places such as Afghanistan and Kuwait.

This year?s marathon is expected to draw the largest number of participants in the race?s history. About 30,000 runners between the ages of 14 and 86 from every state ? and 54 countries ? will race through the streets of northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Embry, 39, has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and South Korea, and said the demands of being a Marine have helped keep him in top physical shape and probably had something to do with how well he responded to treatment.

Embry has undergone about seven chemotherapy treatments since his diagnosis.

Sicat said Embry?s positive attitude has made a positive impact on those around him, including her.

?Jerry taught me the importance of good humor and had the whole room laughing all of the time,? Sicat said.

Today, the cancer is virtually undetectable in his blood, though non-Hodgkin Lymphoma is rare for his age and considered a chronic condition because it can re-emerge.

For now, though, Embry and Sicat have their sights set on the finish line.

?I never accepted the fact that I was sick, nor did I ever fear that I wouldn?t beat it,? Embry said.

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Source: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2012/10/marine-gunny-jerry-embry-battles-cancer-readies-corps-marathon-102712w/

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Management: Lil Wayne hospitalized and released

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95% The Sessions

All Critics (77) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (4)

It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life.

The achievement of this simply told, exceptionally fine film is the clarity with which it portrays the drama of a good soul in an inert body.

Hawkes' performance is the must-see hook of The Sessions, but Hunt gives this funny, touching movie its soul.

Character actor John Hawkes is often cast as a frightening rustic (Winter's Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene), but he gives a tender and witty performance here as Mark O'Brien.

The joy of The Sessions goes beyond sexual healing. It makes physical intimacy far more a matter of the heart, and you won't be alone wiping an occasional tear.

O'Brien was the subject of an Oscar-winning short "Breathing Lessons," and it seems likely that "The Sessions" will receive a few nominations of its own. It deserves them.

A powerful expression of our common needs, fears, and consolations.

For better and for worse, The Sessions has 'crowd-pleaser' written all over it.

Neither an issue-pushing disability drama or a crude, American Polio-style sex comedy, The Sessions is sweet and winning - 'feel good' minus the fingers down the throat.

Another dynamite vehicle for John Hawkes, in which Lewin's affecting script overcomes his pedestrian direction.

Skilled direction, a talented cast and a simple but elegant story will garner a lot of sympathy from its targeted, more mature audience.

It offers a relatable depiction of the powers of a positive mental attitude and perseverance in spite of horrendously bad luck. And some Oscar-caliber acting, to boot.

An incredibly low-key and feel-good adult movie about sex that's much funnier than most people are probably expecting, highlighted by a pair of Oscar-caliber performances by its two leads.

A frank exploration of sex and disability, The Sessions compensates for a minor structural misstep with an acute ear for tone and stellar performances throughout.

The bottom line here is that yes, a movie about a physically disabled man makes for one of the sexiest date nights of the year. Unless you're allergic to over-20s.

With Ben Lewin's film The Sessions, Hawkes is given the biggest and juiciest leading role of his career, and he pulls it off with remarkable grace and humor.

Less dreary than uplifting, The Surrogate succeeds as a light romance with heavy material.

More Critic Reviews

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sessions/

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The key to the housing recovery is still investors ... - Fortune Finance

FORTUNE? -- After witnessing one too many false starts in the recovery of America's housing market, it's hard not to be a little skeptical about what kind of recovery we should expect. Will it improve steadily, or experience choppy stops and starts?

One way to determine that is by looking at who is driving home sales: Is it investors buying up homes in bulk with hopes of turning a profit or individual buyers simply looking to live in the homes they purchase?

There isn't an easy answer, but the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta recently looked into it. The topic is especially timely, given that Wall Streeters are increasingly turning foreclosed properties into rentals as an investment. Whereas in the past smaller investors typically played landlord, big investors such as private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX), are betting that the homes they buy today will turn decent profits years from now.

If investors drive the housing recovery, sales could eventually drop off once prices rise to a point where it's not as worthwhile for them to buy. By contrast, we might see a longer and more sustainable rally if individual buyers dominate home sales.

MORE:?3 scariest things about this earnings season

Both investors and typical buyers have signaled bigger appetites to buy. In September, sales of existing homes, which investors tend to flock to, rose by 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. And for seven months in a row, the median price for existing homes rose -- it's now $183,900, up 11.3% from the previous year. Sales of new homes, which generally attract individual buyers, have risen as well. The median price for a new house rose to $242,400 in September, 11.5% higher than a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

For now, it's unclear who is driving the recovery. In the Southeast region, the Fed estimates that investors made up about 25% of home sales. This is roughly what others have estimated nationally, based on a survey of realtors called the Multiple Listing Survey. To be sure, though, the share is likely higher because the survey doesn't reflect bulk sales to investors by banks or at auctions where there's usually no realtor involved.

Nonetheless, investors' part in the recovery has steadily risen. And if trends continue, they could surely dominate home sales. In 2011, single-family and condo sales sold to investors rose by 65.3% to 1.23 million properties nationwide, compared with 749,000 the previous year. That reflects 30% of existing home sales, according to California-based real estate investment firm Norada Real Estate Investments. Many of these sales have occurred in markets that were burned the most, says Marco Santarelli, a broker at Norada. That includes Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Riverdale, CA.

MORE:?This year's hottest IPO: A mortgage broker

That's similar to the way Fed analyst Jessica Dill sees it. In her look across the Southeast, the share of home sales to investors markedly dropped to 20% from 25% when Florida ? among the states hardest hit from the housing crash ? was excluded. This suggests investors may be driving the recovery especially in markets that saw the worst of the housing bust. If that continues, sales could eventually decline unless individual buyers are able to pick up where investors leave off. Not to say that would be less than a genuine recovery, but at the end of the day, investors can move the market only so far.

The rest will depend on consumers and a host of uncertain factors, from an improving jobs market to being able to qualify for a home loan.

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/26/housing-recovery-3/

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Police detain 1, seek motive in LA family shooting

Business owner Dean Wright, 82, pauses outside his neighbor's family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif. Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. A gunman killed three people and injured two, including a 13-year-old boy, Wednesday in two separate attacks on a family at their business, United States Fire Protection Services and nearby residence. Police say the five family members who were shot had been targeted by the gunman. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Business owner Dean Wright, 82, pauses outside his neighbor's family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif. Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. A gunman killed three people and injured two, including a 13-year-old boy, Wednesday in two separate attacks on a family at their business, United States Fire Protection Services and nearby residence. Police say the five family members who were shot had been targeted by the gunman. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Business owner Dean Wright, 82, expresses his grief for the killings outside his neighbor's family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. A gunman killed three people and injured two, including a 13-year-old boy, Wednesday in two separate attacks on a family at their business, United States Fire Protection Services and nearby residence. Police say the five family members who were shot had been targeted by the gunman. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Police investigators talk to people across the street from a family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Five people were shot and at least two died in shootings at the business and a residence in a Los Angeles suburb Wednesday, according to Downey police Lt. Dean Milligan. The shootings occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at a business and at a nearby home, where family members of the business owner live. A woman was found dead at the home, he said. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Flowers and votive candles are seen outside the home of the owners of a family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif. Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. A gunman killed three people and injured two, including a 13-year-old boy, Wednesday in two separate attacks on a family at its suburban Los Angeles business and nearby residence. Police say the five family members who were shot had been targeted by the gunman. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Flowers and votive candles are seen outside the home of the owners of family-owned business, United States Fire Protection Services, in Downey, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. A gunman killed three people and injured two, including a 13-year-old boy, Wednesday in two separate attacks on a family at its suburban Los Angeles business and nearby residence. Police in suburban Los Angeles say the five family members who were shot had been targeted by the gunman. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

DOWNEY, Calif. (AP) ? Authorities say a man held for questioning matches the description of a gunman who killed three people and critically wounded two others at a family-owned fire extinguisher business and a relative's nearby home in suburban Los Angeles.

The man was one of four people detained and questioned Thursday, Downey Police Lt. Dean Milligan said. The other three, two men and a woman, were released after detectives determined they had no connection to the shootings, which left friends and neighbors grappling for answers as authorities remained mum about a motive.

The gunman doesn't appear to be a former employee, friend or family member of the victims, Milligan said. Police, however, said they don't believe the killings were a random act of violence.

Authorities also recovered a stolen black Chevrolet Camaro, which they say the attacker used to get away after the shootings.

Milligan identified the three people who were killed as Josimar Rojas, 26, Irene Cardenas, 35, and Susana Perez-Ruelas, 34.

Rojas and Cardenas were killed at the business, United States Fire Protection Services Inc., where another woman was wounded, the Los Angeles Times reported. She remains in stable condition.

The gunman then went to the home of the business owner a few blocks away and killed Perez-Ruelas and wounded her 13-year-old son.

A portrait began to emerge Thursday of a tight-knit family who threw large parties and ran a successful company.

Prayer candles and flowers were left at the home and nearby business where the shootings took place. A sign decorated with pink hearts and flowers was left outside the house, reading "RIP Susana, to a great mother."

Workers returned to the industrial strip where the first shots were fired at the small family-owned fire extinguisher company.

"This is absolutely heartbreaking," said Dean Wright, who owns the septic supply business next door. "The guy who did this had to be absolutely crazy."

Richard Mercado, 36, a family friend, said he grew up with the two brothers who ran U.S. Fire Protection, which sells professional firefighting gear and equipment.

Property records show the business is owned by Robert Salinas, 35, and the house is owned by Antonio Salinas, 34. Attempts to reach anyone at either location were unsuccessful and others associated with the family refused to talk when reached by phone.

Mercado said the siblings made a lot of money with the business and that they also liked to buy and sell motorcycles and cars.

"If they saw money to be made they would invest in it," Mercado said. "They always had extra money."

Police said the deadly encounter began around midday Wednesday and that someone called from the business to reporting a shooting.

A few minutes after police arrived, a 13-year-old boy called dispatchers from the family house just down the street, authorities said, where the second shooting happened.

A female secretary and a male employee were killed at the business, according to Wright. At the family's home, the shooter killed the wife of one of the brothers, he said.

The woman and teenager were originally at the business, but somehow got to the home in the Camaro before being shot, according to police. Police don't know whether they drove themselves or were kidnapped by the suspect.

There was no sign of forced entry at either location and police believe the suspect spoke with the victims at both locations before the shooting began. The teen victim, however, did not recognize the gunman, Milligan has said.

The house is a duplex facing foreclosure in a process that began last December, according to real estate records. The property was scheduled to be auctioned Nov. 26 with an asking price of about $837,000.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press video journalist Raquel Maria Dillon in Downey; and staff writers Robert Jablon, Gillian Flaccus, Brian Melley and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-26-Suburban%20Shooting/id-984612017c74495db8502ba41149beeb

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