LOS ANGELES ? Current-season shows on The CW including "The Vampire Diaries" and "Gossip Girl" are coming to Hulu.
The five-year deal announced Friday means that before the end of the year, the online video service will feature shows from five of the largest six broadcasters ? ABC, NBC, Fox, The CW, and Univision. The only holdout is CBS.
Under the new deal, subscribers who pay $8 a month for Hulu Plus will get the five most recent episodes from The CW's lineup the day after they are broadcast on television. The same episodes will then be available for free on CWTV.com three days after broadcast. Eight days after broadcast, the episodes will be available on the free version of Hulu for computers.
All the versions will come with ads. But episodes on Hulu and Hulu Plus have about half the regular ad load of television, or about two or three ads per break. CWTV.com will host shows that have the same number as on television, or about four per break.
The deal is the latest move by Hulu to bulk up on its library of content since its owners ? The Walt Disney Co., News Corp., Comcast Corp. and Providence Equity Partners ? decided not to sell it earlier this month.
Hulu's senior vice president of content, Andy Forsell, said the offering will resonate with The CW's tech savvy audience, which is focused on young women aged 18-34.
"Their audience is obviously a generation that is really comfortable online," he said. "They're very comfortable going back and forth."
The CW sees the move as a way to capture new licensing revenue, but also bring viewers back to watching the debut broadcast on television.
"They can actually help drive viewers back to the network and the local stations that are airing our shows," said Mark Pedowitz, president of The CW.
Putting shows on the free version Hulu eight days after the initial broadcast is not unusual. Fox imposed the delay on its shows starting in August, although it allows day-after access to subscribers of certain pay TV subscribers.
Earlier this month, The CW also agreed to make all its previous seasons' shows available to subscribers of Netflix Inc.'s streaming plan, which also costs $8 a month. Those episodes come without ads.
The CW is co-owned by CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros.
The Latest From Betaworks: Findings. A New Way To Share Book Passages And Web Marginalia
Reading, which began as a solitary activity, is increasingly becoming a social experience. We share links constantly on Twitter and Facebook to the latest blog posts and articles we are reading, and electronic books such as Amazon's Kindle allow you to share your highlights and notes with the world. A few days ago, betaworks soft-launched a new product called Findings, which is aimed at sharing passages from digital books and the web. Findings is a pet project of Betaworks CEO John Borthwick and author Steven Johnson. The service lets you share your highlights from Kindle books as well as articles on the web via a bookmarklet. But it is not intended to be a web clipping service. It is really more about reading in the digital age, sharing quotations from books and other writings that resonate with you and making them your own by collecting them into a feed. In many ways it harkens back to an earlier form of reading hundreds of years ago when Englishmen would hand-assemble their own collections of quotations into a "commonplace book."
Hunter S. Thompson's 'The Rum Diary': movie review
Johnny Depp plays a boozy American journalist in the style of Hunter S. Thompson in 'The Rum Diary.'
Johnny Depp was good friends with legendary gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and has played variations on him twice ? in Terry Gilliam?s 1998 ?Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? and now in ?The Rum Diary,? based on a semiautobiographical previously unpublished novel that Depp himself helped get into print in 1998.
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Depp?s Paul Kemp ? a stand-in for Thompson ? is a boozy American newspaperman slumming in Puerto Rico in 1960 for the San Juan Star. Anti-American sentiment is running high; cutthroat US business interests are running rampant. Paul ends up an improbable crusader against those interests but not before gallivanting gonzo-style with a pair of newspaper buddies (well played by Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Rispoli) who make him seem almost sane by comparison.
Depp is disappointingly recessive here, as he often is when he?s playing characters who don?t have an antic streak. (See, or better yet, don?t see ?The Tourist.?) One might have thought that his connection to Thompson would bring out some more vibrant colorations. Maybe Depp just doesn?t want to upstage his hero. Grade: B- (Rated R for language, brief drug use, and sexuality.)
State Police arrest Occupy Nashville protestors early Friday morning Oct. 28, 2011 at the site where a few dozen Wall Street protesters have been encamped for about three weeks. Authorities began moving in early Friday using a newly enacted state policy that set a curfew for the grounds near the state Capitol, including Legislative Plaza where the protesters had been staying in tents. (AP Photo/JOHN PARTIPILO\ - THE TENNESSEAN)
State Police arrest Occupy Nashville protestors early Friday morning Oct. 28, 2011 at the site where a few dozen Wall Street protesters have been encamped for about three weeks. Authorities began moving in early Friday using a newly enacted state policy that set a curfew for the grounds near the state Capitol, including Legislative Plaza where the protesters had been staying in tents. (AP Photo/JOHN PARTIPILO\ - THE TENNESSEAN)
Occupy Nashville protestors who were arrested overnight at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville, hold up their citations after they were released from jail Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 in Nashville. Twenty-nine Wall Street protesters in Nashville have been issued misdemeanor citations for criminal trespassing after being arrested by state troopers overnight. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo) JOHN PARTIPILO/THE TENNESSEAN
Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons, left, and Col. Tracy Trott, commander of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, hold a press conferences about clearing Wall Street protesters from the Legislative Plaza across from the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. Gibbons says Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's office approved a pre-dawn roundup of Wall Street protesters from the state Capitol grounds. Twenty-nine protesters were arrested overnight and issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)
State Police arrest Occupy Nashville protestors early Friday morning at the site where a few dozen Wall Street protesters have been encamped for about three weeks. Authorities began moving in early Friday using a newly enacted state policy that set a curfew for the grounds near the state Capitol, including Legislative Plaza where the protesters had been staying in tents. (AP Photo/JOHN PARTIPILO\ - THE TENNESSEAN)
State Police arrest Occupy Nashville protestors early Friday morning Oct. 28, 2011 at the site where a few dozen Wall Street protesters have been encamped for about three weeks. Authorities began moving in early Friday using a newly enacted state policy that set a curfew for the grounds near the state Capitol, including Legislative Plaza where the protesters had been staying in tents. (AP Photo/JOHN PARTIPILO\ - THE TENNESSEAN)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Tennessee state troopers for the second straight night arrested Wall Street protesters for defying a new nighttime curfew imposed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam in an effort to disband an encampment near the state Capitol.
And for a second time, a Nashville night judge dismissed the protesters' arrest warrants.
The Tennessean newspaper reported early Saturday morning (http://tnne.ws/vE2PXN) that Magistrate Tom Nelson told troopers delivering the protesters to jail that he could "find no authority anywhere for anyone to authorize a curfew anywhere on Legislative Plaza."
Occupy Nashville protesters ? including many of the 29 arrested in a pre-dawn raid on Friday ? returned to the Legislative Plaza that evening and remained through the 10 p.m. curfew.
"To see it from the other side is even more infuriating," said Chip Allen, one of the protesters arrested in the first raid. "When you're in it, it's almost surreal. This takes on a whole 'nother flavor."
The arrests came after a week of police crackdowns around the country on Occupy Wall Street activists, who have been protesting economic inequality and what they call corporate greed.
In Oakland, Calif., an Iraq War veteran was seriously injured during a protest clash with police Tuesday night. In Atlanta early Wednesday, helicopters hovered overhead as officers in riot gear arrested more than 50 protesters at a downtown park. In San Diego, police arrested 51 people who occupied the Civic Center Plaza and Children's Park for three weeks.
In Nashville, more than 200 people came to Friday evening's meeting to discuss the first round of arrests and future plans, though those numbers had dwindled as the night wore on and temperatures dropped.
There was no noticeable law enforcement presence for nearly two hours after the curfew went into effect, while adjacent theaters let out and patrons filtered back through the plaza to their cars without being challenged for violating the restrictions.
"Nothing was done to them, they were not arrested," said protester Michael Custer, 46. "But we are arrested while we are expressing our constitutional right to free speech."
Once the theater traffic cleared, dozens of state troopers descended on the plaza and began arresting protesters and a journalist for the Nashville Scene, an alternative weekly newspaper.
Troopers wouldn't give any details other than that a press release would be issued later Saturday. After the arrested protesters were handcuffed, photographed and put on a bus, one trooper told another at the scene that 26 people had been apprehended.
Protesters remaining at the scene vowed to return Saturday, even if it means more arrests.
The 29 demonstrators arrested early Friday were taken to the Nashville jail, only to have Nelson, the night judge, rule the state had not given them enough time to comply with the new curfew. They were instead issued misdemeanor citations for trespassing, which carry a $50 fine if they are found guilty.
It was not immediately clear if other charges would be filed against those arrested Saturday morning.
The Haslam administration has cited what officials described as deteriorating security and sanitary conditions on the plaza, saying that acts of lewd behavior had been observed by workers in state office buildings.
Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said it was unrealistic to meet requests from protesters for a stronger law enforcement presence to help deter thefts and altercations often involving homeless people who had attached themselves to the encampment.
"We don't have the resources to go out and in effect babysit protesters 24-7 ... at the level that would have been necessary to address their concerns," Gibbons said during a press conference Friday.
YC-Funded Ridejoy: Make Some Dough On Your Next Roadtrip (And Maybe Some New Friends)
Looking to take a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles without putting a major dent in your wallet? Ridejoy, a YC-backed startup that's launching today, might have exactly what you're looking for. The service allows drivers who are already planning to take a roadtrip to 'sell' their extra seats to other users. The net result: drivers earn money on trips they were planning on taking anyway, and Ridejoy passengers get a door-to-door lift, in some cases for less than they'd pay for a bus ticket. You may have seen Ridejoy before, at least in an early form: it did a one-off trial for Burning Man this year with BurningManRides.com ??a site that helped people coordinate their trips out to the Nevada desert. 1600 people signed up, 1150 rides were posted, and 400 rides were completed over a three-week span. In a neat twist, five pilots offered rides-by-air, completing a total of ten plane trips.
Obama voters, Muslims need not apply for Texas gun course
(Reuters)
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) ? A central Texas gun dealer ran radio ads advising "Socialist" liberals, those who voted for President Barack Obama, Arabs and Muslims that they need not apply for his concealed gun license class.
Crockett Keller, who owns Keller's Riverside Store, ran the ads on the radio station in his rural hometown of Mason, Texas, which is 120 miles west of the state capital of Austin.
"If you are a Socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner in chief, please do not take this class," Keller said in the ad. "You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law."
"Also, if you are a non-Christian Arab, or Muslim, I will not teach you the class," Keller said in the radio ad.
Keller said he is simply exercising his freedom to teach concealed handgun license classes to whomever he wants. He said he has received "hundreds" of calls from Americans who support his stance.
"I should have had the class next week instead of this week, I could have had 500 people in it," Keller said on Friday.
He said he was not joking when he put the lines about socialists in his commercial, because he knows some socialist liberals and did not want them to enroll in the class.
"I didn't want them to show up and have to tell them no," he said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the concealed carry program, and licenses instructors, said in a statement that "certified instructors are required to comply with all applicable state and federal statutes, and conduct by an instructor that denied service to individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion would place that instructor's certification at risk."
The department said it had begun an investigation into the matter, and would "take appropriate administrative action based on the findings of from the investigation."
Adults in Texas are allowed to carry concealed weapons if they have completed a class such as the one Keller teaches.
Keller wrapped up his radio by saying: "With no shame, I'm Crockett Keller. Thank you, and may God bless."
From left, Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Necas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor participate in a round table at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
From left, Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Necas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor participate in a round table at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a media conference after an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. A European Union official says the currency union's leaders have reached a deal with banks to take losses of 50 percent of their Greek bonds in a key move to solve the eurozone's debt crisis. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles during a media conference after an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. A European Union official says the currency union's leaders have reached a deal with banks to take losses of 50 percent of their Greek bonds in a key move to solve the eurozone's debt crisis. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, right, speaks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou during a round table at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou arrives for at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? European leaders clinched a deal Thursday they hope will mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing after a night of tense negotiations to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against the market turmoil.
After months of dawdling and half-baked solutions, the leaders had been under immense pressure to finalize their plan to prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and to protect their currency union from unraveling.
World stock markets surged higher Thursday on the news. Oil prices rose above $92 per barrel while the euro gained strongly ? a signal investors were relieved at the outcome of the contentious negotiations.
"We have reached an agreement, which I believe lets us give a credible and ambitious and overall response to the Greek crisis," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting ended early Thursday. "Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, it took us a full night. But the results will be a source of huge relief worldwide."
The strategy unveiled after 10 hours of negotiations focused on three key points. These included a significant reduction in Greece's debts, a shoring up of the continent's banks, partially so they could sustain deeper losses on Greek bonds, and a reinforcement of a European bailout fund so it can serve as a euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion) firewall to prevent larger economies like Italy and Spain from being dragged into the crisis.
After several missed opportunities, hashing out a plan was a success for the 17-nation eurozone, but the strategy's effectiveness will depend on the details, which will have to be finalized in the coming days and weeks.
The most difficult piece of the puzzle proved to be Greece, whose debts the leaders vowed to bring down to 120 percent of its GDP by 2020. Under current conditions, they would have ballooned to 180 percent.
To achieve that massive reduction, private creditors like banks will be asked to accept 50 percent losses on the bonds they hold. The Institute of International Finance, which has been negotiating on behalf of the banks, said it was committed to working out an agreement based on that "haircut," but the challenge now will be to ensure that all private bondholders fall in line.
It said the 50 percent cut equals a contribution of euro100 billion ($139 billion) to a second rescue for Greece, although the eurozone promised to spend some euro30 billion ($42 billion) on guaranteeing the remaining value of the new bonds.
The full program is expected to be finalized by early December and investors are supposed to swap their bonds in January, at which point Greece is likely to become the first euro country ever to be rated at default on its debt.
"We can claim that a new day has come for Greece, and not only for Greece but also for Europe," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose country's troubles touched off the crisis two years ago. "Let's hope the worst is over."
Since May 2010, Greece has been surviving on rescue loans worth euro110 billion ($150 billion) from the 17 countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund since it can't afford to borrow money directly from markets.
In July, those creditors agreed to extend another euro109 billion ? but that plan was widely panned as insufficient.
Now, in addition to euro30 billion in bond guarantees, the eurozone leaders and IMF said they will give Greece euro100 billion ($139 billion) in new loans.
With the banks being asked to shoulder more of the burden, though, there were concerns they needed more money in their rainy-day funds to cushion their losses. So European leaders have asked them to raise euro106 billion ($148 billion) by June.
The last piece in the complicated plan was to increase the firepower of the continent's bailout fund to ensure that other countries with troubled economies ? like Italy and Spain ? don't get dragged into the crisis. The third- and fourth-largest economies of the eurozone are too large to be bailed out like the smaller euro nations Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already been.
To that end, the euro440 billion ($610 billion) European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure part of the potential losses on the debt of wobbly eurozone countries like Italy and Spain, rendering its firepower equivalent to around euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion).
That should make those countries' bonds more attractive investments and thus lower borrowing costs for their governments.
"These are exceptional measures for exceptional times. Europe must never find itself in this situation again," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after the meetings.
In addition to acting as a direct insurer of bond issues, the EFSF insurance scheme is also supposed to entice big institutional investors to contribute to a special fund that could be used to buy government bonds but also to help states recapitalize weak banks.
Such outside help may be necessary for Italy and Spain, whose banks were facing some of the biggest capital shortfalls.
Using the insurance promise, the eurozone also hopes to attract big institutional investors from outside the eurozone, such as sovereign wealth funds, to contribute to a separate fund that would back up the EFSF.
Sarkozy was due to speak to Chinese President Hu Jintao later Thursday. On Friday, the head of the EFSF, Klaus Regling, will travel to China, which has huge cash reserves, to detail the insurance plan.
So far, Beijing has promised to help only by continuing business as usual, trading with Europe and stockpiling some of China's multibillion-dollar trade surpluses in the safest European government bonds.
On the markets, European trading was buoyant from the outset Thursday on the news. Britain's FTSE climbed 2.1 percent to 5,670.12. Germany's DAX jumped 3.5 percent to 6,227.61 and France's CAC-40 gained 3.6 percent to 3,282.32. Shares in Asia posted solid gains earlier in the day.
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DiLorenzo contributed from Paris. Juergen Baetz and Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Raf Casert, Don Melvin and Robert Wielaard in Brussels, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris also contributed.
What is the key to great business leadership? It may be different for every individual. But certainly leadership is an important ingredient in entrepreneurial success. In this roundup, we look at some ideas about leadership, some case studies and some things entrepreneurs need to know to run their businesses. Do you have what it takes for great business leadership?
Leadership Qualities
Being a great leader: Do you have what it takes? Being an entrepreneur often means being a great leader, at least on some level. And while leadership qualities have always been somewhat elusive, here?s a look at what researchers say may truly create the ?managerial mystique.? Inc.com
A few more thoughts on leadership. Some people would argue that leaders and managers aren?t the same and that understanding the difference between the two, their strengths and the way they approach problems and the world, is crucial in business and beyond.?Seth Godin?s Blog
Branding & Customer Relations
The key to understanding brand. For entrepreneurs starting a new business, understanding brand can be hugely important. Clearly brand includes more than simply a logo and a company name. What brand are you building for your product or service?or for yourself or your company. Youngentrepreneur
The real key to business success. The real key to business success isn?t creating the perfect product, developing the perfect brand, developing the perfect marketing plan or inventing the perfect system of distribution. The real key to business success is simple: knowing your customer?s needs. Seth Godin?s Blog
Strategy
Going global from home. The Internet has made going global a possibility for even the smallest businesses given the right product or service. But going global with a home-based Internet business does require considering a few important points. Youngentrepreneur
Don?t forget your customers. You may know where your company is headed, but don?t forget about the needs of the customers who put you where you are today. This case study on the missteps of a large company that misread its customers can be a warning to all entrepreneurs of the dangers in loosing site of your business?s most important resource. Yahoo! Finance
Tips & Trends
Wholesaler?s success strategy takes the cake. Check out this interview with David Overton, who transformed his parents? struggling wholesale cheesecake business into a brand worth millions using limited marketing and an unusual success strategy. WSJ
Exporting entrepreneurship. In a highly competitive global economy where great entrepreneurship is one of the keys to recovery and prosperity, the U.S., with its current immigration law, may be exporting its entrepreneurial talent at a time when it can least afford to do so. Inc.com
Financing
Looking for funding alternatives. There are financing options for businesses beyond VC investment or bank loans. The key is to find the financing option that is right for you. Here is a look at one of those options in detail. Be sure to explore all?the opportunities?when raising money for your business. AVC
Final Thought
Why entrepreneurs need to be on fire. In this humorous but on-the-money guest post by the mysterious FAKEGRIMLOCK (readers who aren?t fans of The Transformers will have to Google this one) we look at the real motivation behind business leadership. Are you on fire as a leader in your business? Feld Thoughts
Explanation For Investing In Silver : Idaho ? Business and Finance
You are here: Home / Finance / Explanation For Investing In Silver
When viewing durability and dependability of metals, silver is second to gold. It?s a wise vehicle to put money in on, especially with the value of gold constantly going up. Positively, individuals are seeing the many uses of silver in the everyday lives of men.
Convenience And Practicality Silver is an awesome metal to start with for a person who wants to begin an investment. Whoever has constricted budget can start with the basics like coins or scrap silver. One doesn?t require shell out loads of money just to start investing.
It cannot be denied that silver is one of most sought after precious metals for industrial use today and yet the production of silver in the world cannot take care of the demand of many consumers. This alone is a superb ground to get started on investing in silver.
In 2008 recession, nearly all markets crashed and it include bonds and stocks. It resulted from very low interest paid out by bonds. This makes silver a extremely attractive investment for many. Evidently, over the next years the value of silver exploded. Experts say, if you happen to think the investment will continue to work poorly over the next 5 years, it is advisable to invest 20% of your portfolio in precious metals like silver.
Portability Silver may also be stored at your home. Unlike gold, you do not have an accredited vault. Just find a good place in your own home that you feel is safe enough. Also, silver is easy to relocate.
Silver Applications Since time immemorial, silver was used as decorative arts. Silver is not only desirable for its captivating beauty, but also for its practicality. The demand for silver is continuously on the rise. For goldsmiths who are newly practicing the art, it is suitable for them to use silver as it would be cheaper than the other precious metal.
As said before before, the demand for silver is increasing daily due to the advancement of modern technology. To obtain these, the creators of modern technology product must recognize the different application of silver. Besides, its practicality and lower value, it is a good conductor of electricity and heat.
Medicine is another area where silver is greatly used. Silver can manage a range of health issues for instance burns and indigestion. A lot of the physician?s instruments are made of silver. Catheters that are used to patients are mainly coated with silver. Why so? Several medical instruments are manufactured or coated with silver because this special metal is known to prevent infection. Imagine how many bandages and band aids are now being used daily. They too, contain silver compounds. Research studies are being conducted in the field of medicine to further widen the use of silver in the industry.
Diversify Investment Putting your whole funds and resources in a single precious metal can be seen as an extremely risky move.
An exceptional businessman must know that investing on just one type of product is precarious. Having that said, you will need to diversify your portfolio. In case you have invested on silver coins and bars or platinum, then buying silver may very well be a clever idea.
Venturing might possibly be tricky especially if you are gullible where to invest on. The reasons given above are just some of the best reasons why you should start investing in silver. Be familiar with silver before adding this valuable metal in your portfolio.
What?s the current trend in silver exchange? Ktoday more about valuable facts and risks involved in silver exchange when you go to the links today.
? Post Ad Purchase:??Intext Link hospital drug treatment
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Robin Williams married his girlfriend Susan Schneider over the weekend in Napa Valley, the section of northern California known for wine and romance, the actor's representative said on Monday.
The 60-year-old Oscar-winning comedian met Schneider in 2009, after she helped nurse him back to health following surgery to a faulty heart valve, the actor told British newspaper The Guardian in 2009. It is his third marriage.
The actor's daughter, Zelda, on Saturday posted on Twitter "Let the wedding madness begin!" with updates from the festivities throughout the day.
Williams has enjoyed huge success in Hollywood, but has had a turbulent personal life, battling alcoholism, health issues and going through two divorces.
He was previously married to Valerie Velardi, with whom he has one child, and Marsha Garces, whom he divorced in 2008 after having two children.
Williams, who has a career spanning over three decades, is best known for family comedy films like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Night at the Museum." He is an established stand-up comedian and won an Oscar for supporting actor in "Good Will Hunting" in 1998.
The actor will next be heard voicing two characters in the upcoming animated comedy, "Happy Feet Two."
(Reporting and Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Wayne State University study of heroin users to examine links between stress, drug use
Wayne State University study of heroin users to examine links between stress, drug usePublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Julie O'Connor julie.oconnor@wayne.edu 313-577-8845 Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
A Wayne State University researcher is using a three-year, $1.55 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health to learn more about the links between stress and drug use by applying behavioral economics.
Mark Greenwald, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences in the School of Medicine and director of the Substance Abuse Research Division, will study a group of heroin users to see how pharmacologically induced stress affects their decisions to seek money or drugs when given the choice. Over the next three years, 30 participants will be selected from more than 100 heroin-addicted volunteers who currently are not being treated; then, they will undergo extensive screening.
"The application of this research is potentially much more far reaching than heroin abuse or even substance abuse," Greenwald said, adding that it also could affect treatment for other addictive disorders or obesity.
While medications exist to treat drug addiction, alcohol abuse and cigarette smoking, he said, they don't directly tackle stress, which is the focus of his study and one of the key precipitators of drug use and relapse.
"In biological terms, stress means pushing the organism beyond its normal homeostatic limits so that it's forced to adapt to a more challenging situation, and that produces both biological and behavioral effects," Greenwald said. "Those are things we're capable of measuring in a controlled, experimental human laboratory setting."
Study participants will be given different oral doses of yohimbine, which has been shown to increase drug-seeking behavior, and different oral doses of hydrocortisone, another stress inducer. During the inpatient study period, participants will be stabilized on buprenorphrine, a medication known to mitigate heroin withdrawal symptoms.
During multiple three-hour sessions, each participant will be presented with 12 opportunities to work on a computer task for money or the drug Dilaudid, an opioid painkiller whose effects are similar to that of heroin. With each choice they make, however, the response cost the "price" of earning money or the drug exponentially increases. Before the work sessions, they will receive placebo, yohimbine alone, hydrocortisone alone, or the combination of yohimbine and hydrocortisone, in random order. During each session participants will be given the chance to work for money, drugs or a mixture of both, or they may choose not to work at all.
Researchers then will record how varying the levels of stressors or withholding them affects drug-seeking behavior. Greenwald predicts that higher stress levels will result in more drug seeking. He said that actually measuring those levels is a chance to develop a deeper appreciation for the mechanisms by which stress increases drug use. For instance, the behavioral economic approach will be used to examine whether stressors increase drug seeking regardless of drug price, or only when drug price is high.
Researchers will track some biological reactions and note participants' self-reported mood changes. Learning and memory functions known to be sensitive to emotion-inducing situations also will be measured.
In an experimental setting, Greenwald said, money has been shown to be a good generalized alternative to drugs, and that combining non-drug incentives with anti-stressor medication could be used to drive down drug demand. He believes his study will have broad importance because it will enable better understanding of how stress might increase drug use of all types, and perhaps at different phases of the addiction cycle.
That understanding could lead to more individually tailored treatments that combine anti-stress medications, other medications and behavior therapies, Greenwald said, adding that combining therapies works better than using them in isolation. Treatment in many cases can be a better alternative to the incarceration that many substance abusers now face.
"There's good reason to think that more cost-effective use of resources than just across-the-board incarceration can tip the balance in favor of treatment," he said. "Our hope is that in the long run it will be a great benefit to all substance abusers and society in general, given that stress is something that can lead to the initiation of drug use. Hopefully that will help society by bringing down the costs of dealing with substance abuse so we can allocate our resources elsewhere."
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Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu
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Wayne State University study of heroin users to examine links between stress, drug usePublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Julie O'Connor julie.oconnor@wayne.edu 313-577-8845 Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
A Wayne State University researcher is using a three-year, $1.55 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health to learn more about the links between stress and drug use by applying behavioral economics.
Mark Greenwald, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences in the School of Medicine and director of the Substance Abuse Research Division, will study a group of heroin users to see how pharmacologically induced stress affects their decisions to seek money or drugs when given the choice. Over the next three years, 30 participants will be selected from more than 100 heroin-addicted volunteers who currently are not being treated; then, they will undergo extensive screening.
"The application of this research is potentially much more far reaching than heroin abuse or even substance abuse," Greenwald said, adding that it also could affect treatment for other addictive disorders or obesity.
While medications exist to treat drug addiction, alcohol abuse and cigarette smoking, he said, they don't directly tackle stress, which is the focus of his study and one of the key precipitators of drug use and relapse.
"In biological terms, stress means pushing the organism beyond its normal homeostatic limits so that it's forced to adapt to a more challenging situation, and that produces both biological and behavioral effects," Greenwald said. "Those are things we're capable of measuring in a controlled, experimental human laboratory setting."
Study participants will be given different oral doses of yohimbine, which has been shown to increase drug-seeking behavior, and different oral doses of hydrocortisone, another stress inducer. During the inpatient study period, participants will be stabilized on buprenorphrine, a medication known to mitigate heroin withdrawal symptoms.
During multiple three-hour sessions, each participant will be presented with 12 opportunities to work on a computer task for money or the drug Dilaudid, an opioid painkiller whose effects are similar to that of heroin. With each choice they make, however, the response cost the "price" of earning money or the drug exponentially increases. Before the work sessions, they will receive placebo, yohimbine alone, hydrocortisone alone, or the combination of yohimbine and hydrocortisone, in random order. During each session participants will be given the chance to work for money, drugs or a mixture of both, or they may choose not to work at all.
Researchers then will record how varying the levels of stressors or withholding them affects drug-seeking behavior. Greenwald predicts that higher stress levels will result in more drug seeking. He said that actually measuring those levels is a chance to develop a deeper appreciation for the mechanisms by which stress increases drug use. For instance, the behavioral economic approach will be used to examine whether stressors increase drug seeking regardless of drug price, or only when drug price is high.
Researchers will track some biological reactions and note participants' self-reported mood changes. Learning and memory functions known to be sensitive to emotion-inducing situations also will be measured.
In an experimental setting, Greenwald said, money has been shown to be a good generalized alternative to drugs, and that combining non-drug incentives with anti-stressor medication could be used to drive down drug demand. He believes his study will have broad importance because it will enable better understanding of how stress might increase drug use of all types, and perhaps at different phases of the addiction cycle.
That understanding could lead to more individually tailored treatments that combine anti-stress medications, other medications and behavior therapies, Greenwald said, adding that combining therapies works better than using them in isolation. Treatment in many cases can be a better alternative to the incarceration that many substance abusers now face.
"There's good reason to think that more cost-effective use of resources than just across-the-board incarceration can tip the balance in favor of treatment," he said. "Our hope is that in the long run it will be a great benefit to all substance abusers and society in general, given that stress is something that can lead to the initiation of drug use. Hopefully that will help society by bringing down the costs of dealing with substance abuse so we can allocate our resources elsewhere."
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Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu
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Justice earned a Grammy nomination for best electronic/dance album for its 2007 debut, "Cross." They should earn another one for their new effort, but it could be for another category: Best alternative album.
"Audio, Video, Disco" is an 11-track set that is a groovy, psychedelic and rock-filled ? a departure for the French-based duo.
"Horsepower," the opening track, is light and dreamy, and ends with the sound of the electric guitar. "Ohio," which features Vincent Vendetta of Australian band Midnight Juggernauts, starts off like a futuristic gospel medley with its vocal layers, and "On'n'on" could easily be mistaken for a song by MGMT.
As great as the group's sophomore album is, it's not as good as "Cross," which featured some of the past decade's best dance tracks with "D.A.N.C.E." and the epic jam "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy," with fellow Parisian Uffie on vocals. It's a sound you'll miss, though you'll get a hint of it on the upbeat "Helix" and the title track, which nicely closes the album.
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: The song "Audio, Video, Disco" is Justice at its best.
Blood test could identify smokers at higher risk for heart disease, UT Southwestern researchers find
Blood test could identify smokers at higher risk for heart disease, UT Southwestern researchers findPublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: LaKisha Ladson lakisha.ladson@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Oct. 25, 2011 A simple blood test could someday quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. smoke, and smoking-related medical expenses and loss of productivity exceeds $167 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Levels of a lung protein found in the blood of smokers could indicate their risk of dangerous plaque buildup in blood vessels, said Dr. Anand Rohatgi, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and co-lead author of the study available in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a publication of the American Heart Association.
"We now are close to having a blood test to help measure the smoking-related effects that contribute to atherosclerotic heart disease," Dr. Rohatgi said. "Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to the development of heart disease."
Smokers are at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and dying from heart disease, but the risk varies among individuals. Until this study, there had been no simple blood test to measure the varied effects of smoking on heart disease.
Researchers determined the amount of circulating pulmonary surfactant B (SP-B), a protein found in damaged lung cells, in more than 3,200 Dallas Heart Study participants ages 30 to 65. The Dallas Heart Study was a groundbreaking investigation of cardiovascular disease that first involved more than 6,100 Dallas County residents who provided blood samples and underwent blood vessel scans with magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography.
The researchers found that smokers who had higher levels of SP-B also had more buildup of dangerous plaque in the aorta the largest artery in the body, with branches leading to the abdomen, pelvis and legs.
The test is still being evaluated and is not available for commercial use. The next step, said Dr. Rohatgi, is to investigate whether SP-B causes atherosclerosis or is simply a marker of the disease, and to determine whether decreasing levels of SP-B will improve heart disease outcomes.
###
Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were co-lead author Dr. Ann Nguyen, resident in internal medicine; Dr. Christine Garcia, assistant professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and in internal medicine; Colby Ayers, faculty associate in clinical sciences; Dr. Sandeep Das, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Susan Lakoski, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Jarett Berry, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Amit Khera, associate professor of internal medicine; Dr. Darren McGuire, associate professor of internal medicine; and Dr. James de Lemos, professor of internal medicine.
The study was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Alere provided assay measurements.
Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/heartlungvascular to learn more about clinical services in cardiology at UT Southwestern.
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Blood test could identify smokers at higher risk for heart disease, UT Southwestern researchers findPublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: LaKisha Ladson lakisha.ladson@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Oct. 25, 2011 A simple blood test could someday quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. smoke, and smoking-related medical expenses and loss of productivity exceeds $167 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Levels of a lung protein found in the blood of smokers could indicate their risk of dangerous plaque buildup in blood vessels, said Dr. Anand Rohatgi, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and co-lead author of the study available in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a publication of the American Heart Association.
"We now are close to having a blood test to help measure the smoking-related effects that contribute to atherosclerotic heart disease," Dr. Rohatgi said. "Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to the development of heart disease."
Smokers are at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and dying from heart disease, but the risk varies among individuals. Until this study, there had been no simple blood test to measure the varied effects of smoking on heart disease.
Researchers determined the amount of circulating pulmonary surfactant B (SP-B), a protein found in damaged lung cells, in more than 3,200 Dallas Heart Study participants ages 30 to 65. The Dallas Heart Study was a groundbreaking investigation of cardiovascular disease that first involved more than 6,100 Dallas County residents who provided blood samples and underwent blood vessel scans with magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography.
The researchers found that smokers who had higher levels of SP-B also had more buildup of dangerous plaque in the aorta the largest artery in the body, with branches leading to the abdomen, pelvis and legs.
The test is still being evaluated and is not available for commercial use. The next step, said Dr. Rohatgi, is to investigate whether SP-B causes atherosclerosis or is simply a marker of the disease, and to determine whether decreasing levels of SP-B will improve heart disease outcomes.
###
Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were co-lead author Dr. Ann Nguyen, resident in internal medicine; Dr. Christine Garcia, assistant professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and in internal medicine; Colby Ayers, faculty associate in clinical sciences; Dr. Sandeep Das, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Susan Lakoski, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Jarett Berry, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Amit Khera, associate professor of internal medicine; Dr. Darren McGuire, associate professor of internal medicine; and Dr. James de Lemos, professor of internal medicine.
The study was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Alere provided assay measurements.
Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/heartlungvascular to learn more about clinical services in cardiology at UT Southwestern.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
US special envoy to Myanmar begins second visit
(AP)
YANGON, Myanmar ? The United States' special envoy to Myanmar began his second visit in less than two months on Monday amid hope that the country's new government is serious about political reform.
Derek Mitchell will be in Myanmar for two days and will meet with democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi, senior officials including Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, and representatives of civil society, U.S. State Department spokeswoman for East Asia and Pacific affairs Darragh Paradiso said in Washington.
Mitchell said last week after Myanmar released about 200 political prisoners that Washington sees encouraging signs of openness in the country, which was under direct military rule for decades until this year.
President Thein Sein, who took power in March following November elections, says his government is trying to ease tensions in the country. He is considered a moderate compared to previous leaders but critics have accused him of creating a facade of liberalization to prompt Western nations to lift sanctions imposed over the country's political and human rights record.
"Ambassador Mitchell plans to visit Burma frequently to build on our ongoing principled engagement, including dialogue with the Burmese government and local stakeholders," a U.S Embassy statement said. Washington uses the country's old name, Burma, which is preferred by many opponents of military rule.
In his talks with government officials, Mitchell will raise "our long-standing core concerns, including the need for the release of all political prisoners, dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minorities, adherence to Burma's international obligations on nonproliferation, and end to violence against ethnic minorities," the statement said.
Washington sought for years to isolate Myanmar's previous military government with political and economic sanctions, but the policy seemed to have little positive effect. The Obama administration has sought to engage Myanmar, and after two years, there are signs of change.
Myanmar is also seeking to assume the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014 and may be trying to impress ASEAN leaders before a November summit when the decision could be made.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Galaxy Nexus, RAZR, Rezound release dates on Verizon slip out
(Digital Trends)
With Apple now setting a new standard following the release of the iPhone 4S, attention has shifted to the other smartphone-makers of the world and the imminent release of the latest generation of competing devices. Three of those phones now have potential release dates pinned to them, for Verizon at least, thanks to a leaked product listing obtained by Android Central.
Three noteworthy upcoming phones are listed on the sheet. Motorola fans will be pleased to note that the just-announced Droid RAZR is nearly upon us, with a Verizon release set for the coming week, on October 27, assuming the product listing is accurate.
The other two new and noteworthy phones on the list are both seemingly set to arrive on November 10. The HTC Rezound and Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the flagship handset for the launch of the Ice Cream Sandwich update for Android operating systems. All three phones will apparently be available for $299.99 with a contract. This still doesn?t qualify as official confirmation, but it ought to be enough to get Android fans stirring.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
ZANESVILLE, Ohio?? Gov. John Kasich on Friday signed an executive order cracking down on dangerous exotic pets, just days after an animal collector set dozens free and committed suicide.
The order does not ban sale or ownership of wild animals, but allows authorities to use existing legal authority ? including arrest powers available to county humane society officers ? to deal with exotic animal issues, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Wild-animal auctions will be restricted and unauthorized auctions will be shut down.
Kasich had let an order from the previous administration banning the sale and purchase of exotic animals expire this spring, arguing it "had no teeth" and would have been impossible to enforce.
A stakeholders' group has been working to draft permanent legislation on the issue.
Federal documents show the owner of dozens of wild animals who freed them before killing himself was an avid gun collector who had traded weapons for a monkey, a leopard and a tiger cub.
Terry Thompson built his collection of exotic animals by swapping guns, sheltering animals no longer wanted by their owners and buying others at auctions, according to public records released Friday and interviews with those who knew him.
"Once you have an exotic animal, you're somewhat tagged as someone who will take unwanted or abandoned animals. And that's how it grew," Thompson said, according to a deposition that was part of the government's attempt to seize 133 weapons from him.
No one knows for sure why Thompson freed 56 animals including lions, tigers and bears on Tuesday and then committed suicide, triggering a big-game hunt in the Ohio countryside as police officers shot and killed 48 of them for fear they would harm humans. A 49th animal was killed by one of the big cats. The remaining animals were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo.
The frightening situation put a spotlight on the lack of oversight on exotic pets in some states. Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions.
Video: Ohio gov. halts sale of wild animals (on this page)
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Deputies killed 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions and eight bears in a hunt across eastern Ohio that has been criticized by some who say the animals should have been saved. The officers were ordered to kill the animals instead of trying to bring them down with tranquilizers for fear that those hit with darts would escape in the darkness before they dropped and would later regain consciousness.
Over the years, neighbors complained about a lion running loose and regularly called the sheriff about Thompson's horses roaming away from the property where the wild animals were kept.
Thompson, 62, had his share of troubles in the last year. He owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes, had marital problems and just returned home only a few weeks ago after spending a year in federal prison for possessing unregistered weapons.
A week before Thompson killed himself, a sheriff's deputy visited his farm because a neighbor complained about his horses getting out again.
Thompson promised he'd check the fences and admitted he was struggling to take care of all the animals, authorities said.
"Terry stated to me that he had just recently got home out of prison and he has not had very good control over any of his animals since he had been locked up," the deputy wrote in a report released Friday.
Thompson's estranged sister said he likely was overwhelmed financially when he committed suicide.
"I can just see him standing on that hill looking at every animal, thinking, 'How am I going to do this?'" Polly Thompson told The Associated Press. "And I'm sure he thought, 'Nobody wants me.'"
Terry Thompson got by financially on proceeds from a motorcycle business he sold, sales of horse trailers and other equipment and a small family inheritance. He also was a pilot who occasionally flew chartered planes for businesses.
Polly Thompson reluctantly testified against her brother about five years ago when he was charged with starving bison and cattle kept at their parents' farm near Zanesville.
"Anybody that has animals should take care of them," she said in an interview at her home on the outskirts of Zanesville.
Terry Thompson was a gun dealer in Zanesville for many years but told federal authorities he never hunted, according to court records. "Absolutely unequivocally not a hunter," he said.
His wife, Marian Thompson, told investigators that they never sold the animals or opened the farm to visitors.
"We don't want them on display," she said.
She told detectives in the past that they took in the animals because no one else wanted them. She also said she was trying to end the practice.
"I'm going to put a stop to bringing in all these animals. I'm telling Terry, 'No more,'" she said in a report filed in April 2005.
Authorities and animal experts went to the farm three years ago during a cruelty to animals investigation and found that some of the cages weren't padlocked and a few were secured with plastic ties that had been partially chewed, according to the records released by the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office.
The director of animal management from a wildlife preserve in Ohio said the bottoms of fences weren't secured and gates meant for dog kennels were used in pens housing the big cats. He also noted that a cage housing two lions should have had a much higher fence.
"There was also a tree in this cage area, and there was nothing to prevent the animal from climbing the tree and escaping," a report said.
Animal pens were scattered on the patio and driveway of the Thompsons' home on the property, and there were several others inside the garage and basement. They had a black leopard in the basement and two tigers and two lion cubs in the garage.
On a patio next to the Thompsons' pool, two lion cubs and one black bear cub were in the same pen.
A veterinarian from Columbus Zoo saw that a tiger was missing its tail and thought it had been ripped or bitten off by another animal in an adjoining cage. Two tigers were in a cage filled with standing water, rotting carcasses and lots of bones.
The zoo officials also expressed concerns about malnutrition and the sizes of the pens.
Thompson also kept a monkey in a cage too small for it to stand up in, kept a wolf in an old car and had a zebra in a horse trailer, said a Muskingum County resident familiar with Thompson who saw the conditions and spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions over the comments.
Authorities decided not to take the Thompsons' animals because there were no serious health problems but told the couple to fix the cages or they would get a court order forcing the changes.
Within three weeks, taller fences had been constructed. A county prosecutor then told detectives there was little else they could do because they had no authority to regulate anyone who keeps wild or exotic animals.
Even after the changes, detectives wrote in their final report that "it is impossible for the sheriff's office to say the Thompson property is safe."
The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
GE profit up 18 percent, driven by foreign growth
(Reuters)
(Reuters) ? General Electric Co reported an 18 percent profit rise that met Wall Street's expectations, helped by strong revenue growth in key foreign markets including Brazil, Russia and China.
The largest U.S. conglomerate said on Friday it expects earnings to rise at a double-digit percentage rate next year, following peer United Technologies Corp in trying to assuage investors' fears about Europe's brewing debt crisis.
"We continue to successfully navigate a volatile global economy," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in a statement.
Investors took heart in the company's 16 percent growth in industrial equipment orders -- an important indicator of future revenue, and in the 25 percent rise in international sales. GE has been counting on strong demand in rapidly developing economies to offset weak U.S. and European demand.
"The revenue number was strong and the organic growth rate in industrial was strong," said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "Those are telling and they give us a little bit of a look into next quarter and beyond."
But GE shares declined 1.4 percent to $16.40 in premarket trading as some raised concerns that its profit margins were weaker than expected in the quarter, with a low tax rate helping the company to meet expectations.
"Margins missed our forecast and were down year on year in the four big industrial businesses," said Jeffrey Sprague, managing partner at Vertical Research Partners. "There is little or no operating leverage in GE's portfolio due to low priced equipment in backlog and R&D headwinds."
The report comes amid a wave of generally strong earnings reports from big U.S. manufacturers. Also on Friday, Honeywell International Inc reported a 45 percent profit rise. Fellow blue chips Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co will report next week.
Still, investors remain concerned whether Europe's crisis could drag down global demand by shaking the financial system.
"Possible concerns going forward are going to be related to Europe and what impact that may have, not just there but on global growth in general," said Perry Adams, vice president and senior portfolio manager at Huntington Private Financial Group in Traverse City, Michigan. "There's elevated uncertainty."
BUYS BACK BUFFETT STAKE
The world's biggest maker of jet engines and electric turbines reported third-quarter earnings attributable to common shareholders of $2.34 billion, or 22 cents per share, compared with $1.98 billion, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.
The results included an 8-cent-per-share charge to buy back the preferred shares the company had sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc during the financial crisis.
Buying back the Buffett stake, which carried a preferred dividend, will boost GE's annual earnings by 3 cents per share in the coming years.
Factoring out one-time items, profit came to 31 cents per share, meeting analysts' average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue was little changed at $35.37 billion, above the $34.94 analysts had forecast.
GE's weak point on profit remained its big energy infrastructure division, where earnings slipped 9 percent despite a 30 percent rise in revenue, reflecting pricing pressure on wind turbines. The company has said that business will resume profit growth next year.
"That's bottoming out. It will start to turn up probably in the next quarter but definitely in 2012," said Harbor's De Gan. "It's a margin issue. Margins have contracted because wind is just so terrible."
Before today, GE shares had fallen about 9 percent so far this year, while the Dow Jones industrial average has declined less than 1 percent.
(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston, additional reporting by Nick Zieminski, Edward Krudy and Ryan Vlastelica in New York, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Derek Caney)
Reading, which began as a solitary activity, is increasingly becoming a social experience. We share links constantly on Twitter and Facebook to the latest blog posts and articles we are reading, and electronic books such as Amazon's Kindle allow you to share your highlights and notes with the world. A few days ago, betaworks 
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