Report: Food labels need Energy Star-like ratings (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Just like that Energy Star tag helps you choose your appliances, a new report says a rating symbol on the front of every soup can, cereal box and yogurt container could help hurried shoppers go home with the healthiest foods.

Thursday's report urges the Food and Drug Administration to adopt new food labeling that clears the confusing clutter off today's packages and gives consumers a fast way to compare their choices.

It wouldn't replace the in-depth Nutrition Facts panel that's now on the back or side of food packages. But few shoppers stop to read or heed that fine print in the middle of the grocery aisle.

The Institute of Medicine says it's time to put right upfront the most important information for health: how many calories per serving ? and just how big that serving is ? along with stars or some other symbol to show at a glance how the food rates for certain fats, sodium and added sugars.

"American shoppers are busy shoppers," said Ellen Wartella, a psychology professor at Northwestern University who chaired the IOM committee that studied the issue at the government's request.

"We want a really simple system that says if you have three marks, that product is healthier than one with two marks."

How to get Americans to eat more wisely is a huge problem as obesity and diet-related diseases are skyrocketing. The FDA already was working to change the food-labeling system to make it more user-friendly. The agency didn't say if it would adopt a ratings approach but called Thursday's report a thoughtful analysis that would help it decide next steps.

"FDA agrees consumers can benefit from a front-of-pack labeling system that conveys nutrition information in a manner that is simple and consistent with the Nutrition Facts panel," said spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey.

But the IOM's recommendation would face an uphill battle with food manufacturers who are pushing their own version of on-the-front food labels and don't like the idea of ranking one food as healthier than a competitor's.

"We believe the most effective programs are those that trust consumers and not ones that tell consumers what they should and should not eat," said Scott Faber, a lobbyist for the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_he_me/us_med_food_labels

safety razor safety razor star wars blu ray star wars blu ray trans siberian orchestra trans siberian orchestra drive

Obama looks to South in bid to help keep his job

President Barack Obama jogs to the stage before speaking at the YMCA at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama jogs to the stage before speaking at the YMCA at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama speaks at the YMCA at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama speaks at the YMCA at the Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama greets people inside Reid's House Restaurant in Reidsville, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama talks with James Totton as he greets people outside the Reid's House Restaurant in Reidsville, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(AP) ? Three years after his surprising wins in Southern states, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is doubling down in the region, hoping to turn changing demographics into electoral wins and offset potential losses in traditional swing states next year.

Obama's Southern strategy is at the heart of the president's three-day bus trip this week through North Carolina and Virginia. Obama won both states in 2008, becoming the first president to win the Republican strongholds in a generation.

With 28 electoral votes up for grabs between them, wins in North Carolina and Virginia could help Obama make up for defeats in Rust Belt states like Ohio and Indiana, which he won in 2008 but could be hard-pressed to carry next year.

The president's bus tour started Monday in Asheville, N.C., whose mountains have attracted retirees from the Northeast, and took Obama through rural swaths of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He spent the night in Greensboro, where four black students launched a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter to protest segregation in 1960, a year before Obama was born.

On Tuesday, Obama was making stops in rural Emporia, Va., and Hampton, Va., where the region's large number of black voters helped him carry the state three years ago.

Both states have seen economic and demographic changes that could alter the politics. North Carolina's economy has shifted from textiles and tobacco to banking and research, while Virginia's population has boomed in the state's northern suburbs outside Washington, D.C., with the expansion of large defense contractors and firms tied to the federal government.

Along his bus tour, Obama was making unscheduled stops at local restaurants and general stores, giving him a chance to engage in the type of personal politics that is so prevalent in presidential campaigns, but hard to come by in the White House.

Obama was the first Democrat to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and the first to win North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Yet picking up states in the South again could be difficult. Obama's poll numbers in North Carolina and Virginia are down, in line with national trends. A recent Elon University poll put the president's approval rating in North Carolina at 42 percent, and a Quinnipiac University poll had it at 45 percent in Virginia.

That has Obama's campaign putting both states near the top of its priority list. The Democratic party will hold its convention in Charlotte, N.C., next summer, and North Carolina and Virginia are already showing up frequently on Obama's travel itinerary ? a trend that is expected to continue through the election.

"My intention is to win North Carolina again like we did last time," Obama said in an interview Monday with Charlotte news station WCNC. "It will be close because obviously folks are frustrated with the challenges that we still face in the economy."

Obama's Southern strategy extends beyond the two states.

His campaign plans to compete heavily in Florida, the ultra-swing state that decided the 2000 election, and campaign officials consider Georgia a place where they could challenge Republicans on their turf. Obama lost Georgia by five percentage points in 2008, but Democrats see potential in the influx of black and Hispanic voters in suburban areas outside Atlanta.

"It won't be easy," said Mike Berlon, chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party. "But we are working to register new voters and we think the demographics are on our side."

Southern Democrats suffered big losses in last year's midterm elections. Twenty Democrats in Congress from across the region lost their seats and Republicans seized control of chambers in North Carolina, Louisiana and Virginia. Republicans picked up 17 state House seats, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Republicans view the strategy as a sign of larger problems for Obama's team in the Upper Midwest and Rust Belt, which Obama swept in 2008, and in Western states won by Obama, like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

"He's in a world of hurt in the Great Lakes, there's no doubt about it. They're right to look for places that might offset that. But they don't have a happy hunting ground," said Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman. "They need to shore up the Southwest and Southeast ? Virginia and North Carolina ? in hopes of offsetting losses they're going to sustain in the Great Lakes."

Democratic presidential candidates have had trouble in the South since Carter swept his home region to win the White House in 1976. Bill Clinton won his home state of Arkansas, along with Louisiana and Tennessee during his two presidential campaigns ? he also carried Georgia in 1992 and Florida in 1996 ? but Al Gore and John Kerry both came up empty in the South.

In 2008, Obama blitzed North Carolina with millions of dollars of television ads, a large staff and an emphasis on early voting. He boosted turnout among black voters and took advantage of demographic shifts in the state, especially in a stretch from Charlotte to Raleigh along Interstate 85 where many retirees from northern states have moved.

In Virginia, Obama was helped by a strong turnout among young people, broad support from Hispanics and black voters and increases over Kerry's performance in every region of the state's western slice. The state is quickly becoming one of the nation's most competitive states in politics, with statewide campaigns typically won and lost in fast-growing areas outside the suburbs of Northern Virginia; in the region surrounding Richmond, the state's capital; and in the Virginia Beach area, which includes large pockets of black voters.

Dave Beattie, a Florida-based Democratic pollster who has worked on campaigns throughout the South, said Obama will need to maximize turnout among black and Hispanic voters, excite the Democratic base but also "show the voters in the middle that don't like politics that he's really working for them."

Obama will lavish more attention to the weeks ahead. Next month, Obama is paying homage to something many Tar Heels hold dear ? the University of North Carolina men's basketball team. The president plans to attend next month's Carrier Classic on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego, where North Carolina will face Michigan State.

___

Associated Press writer Shannon McCaffrey in Atlanta and Jennifer Agiesta, deputy polling director for The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-10-18-Obama-Southern%20Strategy/id-a162eee79bef4c5cbb633fed70c34394

happy feet jerry lewis tumblr avatar the last airbender red box steve irwin gran torino

Harbaugh, Schwartz won't be fined by NFL (AP)

NEW YORK ? The NFL will not fine coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz for their postgame tiff Sunday.

In celebration of a victory at Detroit, 49ers coach Harbaugh gave Lions coach Schwartz a roundhouse handshake and a backslap that Schwartz took offense to. A scrum broke out, with coaches and players involved.

"Fortunately, there was no fighting and thus no basis for a fine," a league spokesman says Monday. "However, both coaches told (NFL executive VP) Ray Anderson today that their postgame conduct was wrong and will not happen again. We believe their response is the correct one and that their postgame conduct going forward will be more appropriate."

The 49ers won 25-19 to improve to 5-1 and hand the Lions their first loss after five victories.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_harbaugh_schwartz_no_fine

amzn michael jackson trial amanda palmer listeria monocytogenes chipper jones chipper jones jordan jefferson

Real Estate Investing Mistakes To Avoid | Rai Chertkoff Real Estate ...

Real Estate Investing

Article by Jonas Jonsson

You?ve no doubt seen them or read them. Glossy ads or four-color spreads in magazines and newspapers promising to teach you all the juicy details about successful real estate investing. And all you have to do to learn all these real estate investing secrets is to pay a rather high sum for a one-or two-day seminar.

Often these slick real estate investing seminars claim that you can make smart, profitable real estate investments with absolutely no money down (except, of course, the hefty fee you pay for the seminar). Now, how appealing is that? Make a profit from real estate investments you made with no money. Possible? Not likely.

Successful real estate investment requires cash flow. That?s the nature of any type of business or investment, especially real estate investing. You put your money into something that you hope and plan will make you more money.

Unfortunately too few newbies to the world of real estate investing think that it?s a magical type of business where standard business rules don?t apply. Simply put, if you want to stay in real estate investing for more than, say, a day or two, then you?re going to have to come up with money to use and invest.

While it may be true that buying real estate with no money down is easy, anyone who?s even made a basic real estate investment (like buying their own home) knows there?s much more involved in real estate investing that can cost you money. For example, what about any necessary repairs?

So, the number one rule people new to real estate investing should remember is to have available cash reserves. Before you decide to actually do any real estate investing, save some money. Having a little money in the bank when you start real estate investing can help you make more profitable real estate investments in rental properties, for example.

When real estate investing in rental properties, you?ll want to be able to select only qualified tenants. If you have no cash flow when real estate investing in rental properties, you might be pressured to take in a less qualified tenant because you need somebody to pay you money so that you can take care of repairs or lawyer fees.

For any type of real estate investing, meaning rental properties or properties you buy to resell, having cash reserved can allow you to ask for a higher price. You can ask for a higher price from your real estate investment because you won?t feel financially strapped as you wait for an offer. You won?t be backed into a corner and forced to accept just any offer because you desperately need the money.

Another downfall of many new to real estate investing is, well, greed. Make a profit, yes, but don?t become so greedy that you ask for ridiculous rental or resale rates on any of your real estate investments.

Those new to real estate investing need to see real estate investing as a business, NOT a hobby. Don?t think that real estate investing is going to make you rich overnight. What business does?

It takes about six months to determine if real estate investing in for you. If you?ve decided that, hey I love this, then give yourself a few years to really start making money. It usually takes at least five years to become truly successful in real estate investing.

Persistence is the key to success in real estate investing. If you?ve decided that real estate investing is for you, keep plugging away at it and the rewards will be greater than you imagined.

More Real Estate Investing Articles

Incoming search terms:

property in real estate,real estate investments

Related posts:

  1. Investing In Luxury Real Estate Dubai Villa
  2. Reasons for Having Reliable Real Estate Agents

Source: http://www.rai-chertkoff.com/2011/10/17/real-estate-investing-mistakes-to-avoid/

prius c crocodile dundee crocodile dundee urban meyer sharjah sharjah lacuna

Southwest flight makes emergency landing in Texas (AP)

AMARILLO, Texas ? The FBI says initial indications are that an unruly passenger who prompted a Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing had no terroristic intent.

FBI Special Agent Mark White in Dallas said the bureau's investigation will continue, but that no threat was found on the U.S. citizen.

Amarillo Aviation Director Patrick Rhodes says the man became unruly and confronted the cabin crew.

Southwest Airlines spokesman Brad Hawkins said the flight crew of Flight 3683 from Los Angeles to Kansas City decided on an unscheduled landing about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Amarillo as a precaution. He said the passenger was turned over to federal authorities for questioning.

Hawkins said none of the 136 passengers and five crew members was injured and the aircraft took off after a security sweep.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_re_us/us_southwest_unruly_passenger

columbus day tim tebow mark davis bank holidays bank holidays john galt john galt

Tanks and jets: Kenyan military moves into Somalia (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? Kenyan tanks, artillery and hundreds of fighters are moving through militant territory in Somalia, residents said Monday.

Fighter jets and helicopters have been flying overhead since Kenyan forces moved en masse into Somalia on Sunday. The invasion came one day after Kenyan defense officials said the country has the right to defend itself against al-Shabab militants after a string of kidnappings inside Kenya. Four Europeans have been abducted and one killed.

Witnesses in the Somali town of Dhobley on Monday said an estimated 40 Kenyan military vehicles entered the town on Sunday. Ali Abdullahi, a resident in Dhobley, said the army vehicles were towing what he described as "big guns."

No large-scale fighting has yet broken out, the residents said.

Late Sunday evening, a military helicopter crashed and caught fire inside Kenya from an apparent mechanical malfunction, a diplomat and a resident said. No civilian casualties were reported but the status of the pilots on board was not immediately known.

Kenya's government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said Kenyan troops "are pursuing al-Shabab across the border." He did not give any other details.

In response, al-Shabab, Somalia's most dangerous militant group, tried to raise the alarm in areas it controls. Residents in the town of Qoqani who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals said militants were going into homes and forcibly recruiting new fighters.

"Are you ready to live under Christians?" one al-Shabab official shouted on a militant radio station. "Get out of your homes and defend your dignity and religion. Today is the day to defend against the enemy."

A Somali government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said his government welcomes logistical support from "our Kenyan brothers," but said Somalia did not need Kenyan troops.

"Our forces are ready to combat al-Shabab and they are doing so effectively. They are ready at the borders, so sending troops is not needed," Osman said.

The helicopter crashed in Liboi, a town about 10 miles (20 kilometers) from the Kenya-Somalia border. The Liboi resident asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. The diplomat's employer does not allow him to be identified.

Mutua and Kenya's military spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kenyan troops have frequently crossed the border into Somalia, but Sunday's push appears to be a bigger and more concerted effort. Minister of Internal Security George Saitoti told a news conference on Saturday that Kenyan forces would pursue al-Shabab into Somalia.

"For the first time our country is threatened with the most serious level of terrorism," he said.

The public declaration to attack al-Shabab came two days after armed militants kidnapped two Spanish aid workers with the group Doctors Without Borders from the Dadaab refugee camp, a sprawling expanse of temporary homes where almost 500,000 Somalis live. The population of Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp, has swelled by tens of thousands in recent months because of Somalia's famine.

On Oct. 1, Somali gunmen took a wheelchair-bound Frenchwoman from her home near the resort town of Lamu. Somalis also abducted a British woman from a Kenyan coastal resort in September. Her husband was killed in the attack.

Kenya's push north into Somalia will open another front that Somali militants must contend with. African Union forces from Uganda and Burundi have expanded their control of Mogadishu in recent months and have almost completely forced al-Shabab out of the capital.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_kenya

bergen bergen india news current news sons of anarchy sons of anarchy season 4 jacksonville jaguars

Disc Spins Its Way to $1 Million Oil Spill Clean Up Prize

More 60-Second Earth

Subscribe via iTunes

When oil started spewing from BP's Macondo well in April 2010, there weren't too many options for cleaning it up. Concentrated slicks on the ocean surface could be set ablaze. Booms kept oil off the shores, as long as the waves stayed calm. And chemical dispersants of unknown toxicity could be sprayed to break up oil patches.

But thanks to the Wendy Schmidt X Prize that won't be true next time. A company from Illinois known as Elastec / American Marine won the $1 million first prize by tripling previous clean up rates.

Over 10 weeks this summer, 10 finalists out of 350 entrants demonstrated their technology at the largest outdoor saltwater wave test facility in North America. Elastec's Grooved Disc Skimmer scooped up 4,670 gallons of oil per minute and didn't leave much behind.

The machine looks like a giant, thick, grooved vinyl record spinning at high speed to capture nearly 90 percent of the oil on the waters. And there's no shortage of oil spills for it to work on. The latest is underway in New Zealand, as a stranded cargo ship leaks heavy oil onto a coral reef and local beaches.

?David Biello


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cb91e8a9b5d45e6f440de675d1eb3f0a

taxi castle the hangover 2 sumo sumo fossil snoop dogg

Nutshell Smartphone Wallet Review

New Zealand’s Nutshell Corporation makes a series of cases for handheld devices called “Tuff-as-Nuts”. Gadgeteer Mike Reigel verified that the name was appropriate back in 2003. They combine that reputation with an interesting fastener in a tough wallet case for your smartphone. The main body of the case is a nice piece of gorgeous leather [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/17/nutshell-smartphone-wallet-review/

sneakers sneakers microsoft security essentials microsoft security essentials npd oliver twist ky