Substantial Characteristics Of Full Assistance Automotive Repair ...

Posted by admin on December 6th, 2011

One must understand the benefits that he can get to a full-serviced repair shop. In this way, he can also have peace of mind since he knows that his car is being well taken care of. On one way or another, the location is one best factor to be considered in availing any service of an auto shop. The automotive repair shops you must choose are the ones which are nearest on your house or workplace. There isn?t any sense if you hire some services elsewhere and patronize them without experiencing any convenience from it. Fuel is an expensive product that needs to be saved for the benefit of the car owner himself.

Automotive repair shops which offer complete set of maintenance and repair has an edge among the others. Computer diagnostic services are the most accurate type of procedure that a repair shop must have. It will be great if your car can avail any service from minor to major so you will not have a hard time to seek for other repair services that your car needs. Automotive repair shops that employ a qualified mechanic with the right experiences and trainings comes to be the best idea to make sure that the cars are being professionally crafted and repaired.

To ensure that the employee is the right one you are looking for, try to ask some proofs or documents that will support what he is claiming. Their qualifications must pass the National Automotive Service Excellence. A document that will prove that he has any relevant work experience with the industry is another way to check if he qualifies to be your mechanic. Choosing automotive repair shops are not as easy as picking out the color of your shirt or your ties. It need careful observation in order for you to be able to take care your car and maintain It to the fullest.

Wide range of parts and services should be possessed by the automotive repair shops as well. There are a lot of various types and brands of cars such as Lincoln, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, and many others. They require a lot of different materials and tools as well as replacements so the repair service shop must be ready for this in order to have a mutual satisfaction between the shop and the customers.

The automotive repair shops should give out reasonable warranty on all their assistances. This will be greatly appreciated by the customers who pay. It will be another way of attracting more clients especially if the warranty will cover both labor and parts for a certain period of time. If you are targeting a shop with all these qualities, there?s no reason for you to back out. Guaranteed, your investments on your car will be worth it most especially when you got to work with friendly and hospitable employees of the particular repair service shop.

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Christopher Lane: Doing Justice to Agnosticism

"I was raised among people who knew -- who were certain. They did not reason or investigate. They had no doubts... In their creed there was no guess -- no perhaps." These words by Robert G. Ingersoll, the celebrated American orator and political thinker, appear in his 1896 essay "Why I Am an Agnostic," and they help remind us that in the 19th century the word agnostic had a much-stronger meaning than it does today. At a time when the term infidel (or unbeliever) was still the accusation of choice, the rejoinder that one was a-gnostic -- literally, "against gnosis" -- meant that he or she was taking a principled stand against ancient systems of belief.

To Ingersoll, a Republican freethinker justly dubbed "The Great Agnostic," his parents' and relatives' certainty sparked anguish and contention in him. "I examined maps of the heavens," he recalls in the essay, a searing account of lost faith, and "found that, compared with the great stars, our earth was but a grain of sand -- an atom." On turning from Calvin to Thomas Paine and other freethinkers, he adds, "the old belief that all the hosts of heaven had been created for the benefit of man" came to seem "infinitely absurd."

Today, with Republican freethinkers more of a rarity and agnosticism often derided as timid fence-sitting, Ingersoll's vigorous defense of both makes clear that agnosticism was conceived as a form of healthy skepticism that questions everything, including itself. Standing capably and forcefully for the benefit and necessity of doubt, it dealt a blow to dogma and certainty, whether about faith or unbelief.

Rereading Ingersoll and other 19th century doubters today suggests that our assumptions about them have become caricatures, based on a misunderstanding of what in fact they doubted. Ingersoll's "Why I Am an Agnostic" does more than refute those caricatures: In recapturing the term's original meaning as a-gnostic, it underlines how far we've drifted from that earlier, 19th century focus. His essay also prompts us to wonder whether there's enough room for doubt in cultures such as ours that are increasingly polarized between belief and unbelief. When people are expected to stake a position regarding their belief (or lack of it) and defend it to the letter, is agnosticism of the kind that Ingersoll imagined possible? If not, is it not therefore all the more necessary?

Anyone who assumes that Ingersoll's agnostic stance implied a tepid handling of religious controversy is in for a big surprise. He was scathing about zeal and sanctimony, calling biblical accounts of hell not just "frightful dogma," but also an "infinite lie" that was, he thought, tied to a sadistic "belief in eternal pain." Nor did he concede any high ground to the devout. Instead, he railed at the presumption that they had attained one. He saw life in terms of integrity and civitas (citizenship), without religion. Yet "to live a moral and honest life -- to keep your contracts, to take care of wife and child -- to make a happy home -- to be a good citizen, a patriot, a just and thoughtful man, was," he wrote, about those presuming to judge and caricature him, "simply a respectable way of going to hell."

Still, Ingersoll did not embrace atheism, or belief in no God, and he was quick to explain why. "I do not deny," he writes in the essay, published three years before his death at age 66. "I do not know." Despite vehemently rejecting Christianity, then, he did not close the door on religious belief. Instead, like many other agnostics at the time -- including Leslie Stephen, George Eliot, Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley (who coined the term agnostic three decades earlier, in 1869) -- he thought belief should rest on evidence, not faith, but also that evidence itself was in some key instances wanting.

That stance irks absolutists on either side who have come to consider agnosticism as spineless and wishy-washy, and agnostics as people who can't or won't make up their minds. According to Quentin de la B?doy?re, science editor of the Catholic Herald, for example, the Catholic historian Hugh Ross Williamson respected firm religious belief and certain unbelief, but "reserved his contempt for the wishy-washy boneless mediocrities who flapped around in the middle." Richard Dawkins not only repeats the same line in his recent book, The God Delusion, but prefaces it with similar invective from a "robust Muscular Christian" preacher of his schooldays, for whom agnostics were "namby-pamby, mushy pap, weak tea, weedy, pallid fence-sitters."

Open Ingersoll's "Why I Am an Agnostic" at almost any page, however, or trace the vast literature it cites. Over and again the same biting criticism of theology appears right alongside an urging that humanity not replace one form of dogmatism with another. "Man knows nothing of the Infinite and Absolute," Stephen warns similarly in "An Agnostic's Apology" (1876), with "apology" meaning justification or formal defense rather than being an expression of regret. "Knowing nothing, he had better not be dogmatic about his ignorance." He was using the phrase "knowing nothing" in a broadly metaphysical sense, not as a way of discrediting science and scientific evidence, which he unequivocally supported.

Like Ingersoll, Stephen was the son of an influential Evangelical, carefully schooled in its intricate theology. His essay, appearing in England's Fortnightly Review, is distinguished by its being the first on agnosticism by someone who applied the term to himself. He did so, moreover, after solemnly renouncing holy orders as a deacon -- an act grave enough at the time to push him to the brink of suicide.

"Whilst you trumpet forth officially your contempt for our skepticism," he writes of orthodox critics, "we will at least try to believe that you are imposed upon by your own bluster."
Heated? Indeed. "Weak tea, weedy, pallid fence-sitting"? Hardly. Like Ingersoll's essay, Stephen's is a bracing polemic -- a powerful stand against certainty and what had come to seem to him credulity.

We need more, not less, discussion about such doubts. A sense that agnosticism can be entertained and vigorously defended as a serious expression of such doubts, rather than endlessly demeaned and dismissed as an expression of weakness. As Ingersoll, Stephen, Huxley, and so many others have shown us, agnosticism is both a powerful critique of religion and a principled way of acknowledging when one doesn't have all the answers.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-lane/doing-justice-to-agnostic_b_1116320.html

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Jefferson County Finance Director Jeff Hager has resigned | al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Jefferson County Finance Director Jeff Hager today handed in his resignation and gave two weeks notice, said County Manager Tony Petelos.

Petelos said Hager is taking a job in the private sector.

"He has found another job and is moving on," Petelos said. "We've got some people who are going to step in and pick up the slack" after Hager leaves, Petelos said.

Hager tonight declined to identify the company he will be working for and said he decided to leave his county job because he felt he was being left out of discussions of financial decisions.

"Decisions have been made and continue to be made regarding the financial future of Jefferson County that I was not involved in in any way," Hager said.

Among those decisions was the filing of Chapter 9 bankruptcy, Hager said.

"I was not consulted at all," Hager said. "I don't have enough information to second-guess the commissioners' decision because I was not at the table. I would have pursued every option I could find."

County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, who oversees county finances, said Hager was a valuable asset to the county, but he questioned whether he should have been involved in discussions of filing bankruptcy.

"Mr. Hager was an asset to the organization and fulfilled the role assigned to him very, very well," Stephens said. "I don't know that he should have been included in the bankruptcy filing. That was a policy decision made by commissioners in an open meeting."

Hager in June 2010 was named the county's chief financial officer after beating out more than a dozen other applicants.

The position had been mostly vacant since September 2007, when then-finance director Steve Sayler resigned. Technically, the position of finance director had been eliminated and replaced with chief financial officer.

Before taking the job, Hager served as chief financial officer for the past six years at Montgomery-based Kelly Aerospace Inc., which manufactures aircraft accessories for general aviation aircraft. Prior to that, he served six years as CFO for Trussville-based Southern Comfort Conversions.

Until June, Hager was one of the three highest paid county employees and received an annual salary of $181,646. However, Hager took a $30,000 pay cut that month when he was named finance director. Hager at the time said he was glad ''to do his part to help'' out the county during troubled economic times.

In 2009, Hager beat out 11 other finalists from among almost 130,000 doughnut contest creations submitted online to win the first-ever ''Create Dunkin's Next Donut'' contest with his Toffee for Your Coffee doughnut.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/12/jefferson_county_finance_direc.html

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Chavez: New regional group revives Bolivar's dream

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, and Cuba's President Raul Castro raise hands prior to the inauguration ceremony of a summit by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. The two-day, 33-nation summit welcomes nations from Brazil to Jamaica, adding one more bloc to a region with other smaller organizations like Unasur, Mercosur and the Caribbean Community. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, and Cuba's President Raul Castro raise hands prior to the inauguration ceremony of a summit by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. The two-day, 33-nation summit welcomes nations from Brazil to Jamaica, adding one more bloc to a region with other smaller organizations like Unasur, Mercosur and the Caribbean Community. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Brazil?s President Dilma Rousseff, left, speaks with Venezuela?s President Hugo Chavez during an agreement signing ceremony at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Rousseff is in Venezuela to attend the Latin American and Caribbean Community, CELAC, summit that starts Friday in Venezuela?s Capital. The woman at center is a translator. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this photo provided by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, left, stands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in front of a painting of her late husband Nestor Kirchner after signing bilateral agreements at the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Miraflores Presidential Office)

Presidential guards stand at the entrance of the Teresa Carreno theater before the start of a presidential summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. Presidents of Latin American and Caribbean nations will attend the Community of Latin American and Caribbean (CELAC) summit starting Friday in Caracas. The two-day, 33-nation summit welcomes nations from Brazil to Jamaica, adding one more bloc to a region with other smaller organizations like Unasur, Mercosur and the Caribbean Community. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, and Cuba's President Raul Castro talk during the inauguration ceremony of the Latin American and Caribbean States Community , CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. The two-day, 33-nation summit welcomes nations from Brazil to Jamaica, adding one more bloc to a region with other smaller organizations like Unasur, Mercosur and the Caribbean Community. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

(AP) ? South American independence hero Simon Bolivar once dreamed of unifying several nations as a counterweight to their powerful hemispheric neighbor, the United States.

Two centuries later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tapped into that legacy Friday as he welcomed leaders from across the Americas to a two-day summit. Chavez described the new regional bloc that excludes the U.S. as a tribute to his idol Bolivar, saying the time has come to put an end to U.S. hegemony.

"Only unity will make us free," Chavez said to applause at the opening ceremony. "This is the path: Unity, unity, unity!"

He called it an achievement that Latin America has been seeking for 200 years, and shouted: "Viva Bolivar!"

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega echoed Chavez's sentiments, saying Latin American and Caribbean countries should ensure the policy of U.S. intervention to protect the region's nations, declared by President James Monroe in 1823, is never revived.

"We are sentencing the Monroe Doctrine to death," Ortega said.

The 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States includes every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unlike the Washington-based Organization of American States, or OAS, it will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

Cuban President Raul Castro said that if it's successful, the creation of the new bloc known by its Spanish initials CELAC will be "the biggest event in 200 years."

"I'm sorry it isn't Fidel who is occupying the place that I am, because he is the one who deserves it," Castro said of his elder brother, who permanently stepped down from Cuba's presidency in 2008.

Many Latin American leaders say they see CELAC as a forum to build closer economic and political relations across the region, but not as a platform for challenging U.S. policies.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said at the summit's opening ceremony that it will be a group "to work in favor of unity and prosperity." He hosted a summit last year at which leaders pledged to form the new bloc.

Chavez embraced leaders one-by-one, and later launched into a wide-ranging speech discussing poverty-reduction efforts as well as reading excerpts of Bolivar's letters and a passage from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

The summit was Chavez's international debut after months of cancer treatment that forced him to postpone the meeting orignally scheduled for July.

Talking about his struggle with cancer, Chavez credited Fidel Castro with saving his life by insisting he undergo thorough medical tests that turned up a tumor during a June visit to Cuba.

Chavez said he had wanted to go ahead with the summit in July, but Castro had advised him: "You choose: the summit or your life. ... The summit can wait."

Following surgery to remove the tumor in his pelvic region, Chavez finished chemotherapy in September and declared himself to be cancer-free. He drew a standing ovation from the leaders when he referred to the recent cancer diagnosis of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saying: "Lula will win that battle, too."

After initial speeches, the Venezuelan government treated the leaders to a concert by conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Outside the summit, small groups of Chavez opponents including university students put up protest signs on Caracas overpasses. Denouncing the country's high crime rate, some signs read: "Presidents, welcome to the crime capital." Police swiftly removed the signs.

Many leaders referred to Bolivar's legacy, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who called Bolivar an inspiration, but did not cast Washington as the region's unwelcome neighbor.

"Our countries are demonstrating this vocation for a common future," Rousseff said at a meeting with Chavez on Thursday. "I believe in Bolivar's dream."

Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Silva.

Chavez has long sought inspiration in the legacy of Bolivar, who in the early 1800s served as president of Gran Colombia, a republic made up of much of northern South America and modern-day Panama until it broke up into individual states following years of dissent and political upheaval.

Chavez calls his political movement the Bolivarian Revolution and has changed the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Last year, Chavez even oversaw the opening of Bolivar's coffin to re-examine the cause of his death, and the Venezuelan government is building a new mausoleum to house Bolivar's remains.

Bolivar was an admirer of the American Revolution, although he warned that the unrivaled power of the United States could eventually pose a threat to the young nations of Latin America that had won independence from Spain.

___

Associated Press writers Ian James and Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

___

Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-02-LT-Venezuela-Summit/id-452cf5166dad46f9b32a18daa7993da8

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Mass. AG hits big banks with foreclosure lawsuit (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Thursday she filed the lawsuit partly because it has been taking too long to hammer out a nationwide settlement.

For more than a year, state and federal officials have been negotiating a deal in which banks would pay billions of dollars in fines - to go toward housing relief - in exchange for legal protection against future suits.

The Massachusetts lawsuit, filed in state court in Boston, accuses Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and GMAC of deceptive foreclosure practices, such as using robo-signers and false documents.

"Our suit alleges that the banks have charted a destructive path by cutting corners and rushing to foreclose on homeowners without following the rule of law," Coakley said in a statement.

The attorney general in Iowa, Tom Miller, who is leading the negotiations for the states, said in a statement they hope to reach a settlement "soon." He also said Coakley had indicated she is still open to joining the settlement.

"We're optimistic that we'll settle on terms that will be in the interests of Massachusetts," Miller said.

However, analysts said Coakley's lawsuit is a bad sign for banks, which hope a deal with states and federal authorities could help the industry move beyond the legal fallout that has dogged it since the peak of the financial crisis.

"I can't say anything is dead, but it sure looks like this is a negative. The banks are going to have these suits out there for years." said Paul Miller, a bank analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

The mortgage servicing units of the five banks are accused of taking shortcuts as a way to deal with a deluge of foreclosures in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis.

State attorneys general, the Justice Department, and other federal officials have been talking with the banks for more than a year.

The discussions have been bogged down by states concerned the deal was either too lenient or provided the wrong kinds of relief, and by the banks who sought release from mortgage-related claims beyond the original conduct at issue.

GOING IT ALONE?

The Massachusetts complaint accuses the banks of using fraudulent documents when processing foreclosures; of foreclosing on properties without holding the actual mortgage; and of failing to uphold promises to modify loans for the state's homeowners.

It also names the banks' private mortgage registry, MERS, as a defendant, accusing it of dodging fees and corrupting the state's land recording system.

On Thursday, Coakley was firm that she would not sign a mortgage settlement that included "broad liability release regarding MERS and other issues."

A person familiar with the talks said Massachusetts has sought to protect its ability to pursue certain claims against the banks for their use of MERS. Those liability issues are still being hashed out in negotiations, the person said.

The banks targeted in the suit said Coakley's move imperils chances for broader relief.

Bank of America said in a statement that a collaborative resolution, rather than continued litigation, would more quickly heal the housing market and help drive an economic recovery.

Chase said in a statement that it is disappointed Massachusetts filed a lawsuit when negotiations are ongoing on a broader settlement that it said could bring immediate relief to borrowers.

GMAC said it was unhappy that Massachusetts "elected not to continue a more constructive path that could help borrowers in the state, but rather has chosen to use the court process."

Wells Fargo disagreed with Coakley that it has not kept a promise to modify loans.

Citi said it had not yet reviewed the lawsuit, but the bank believes it has operated appropriately and in compliance with existing laws.

Coakley, who took office in 2007, has been aggressive in moving against Wall Street firms and U.S. banks. Her office said it has secured more than $600 million in relief for investors and borrowers, while keeping more than 24,000 people in their homes.

(Additional reporting by Scott Malone, Svea Herbst, Rick Rothacker and Joe Rauch; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/bs_nm/us_banks_foreclosure

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Stocks slip, a day after biggest rally in 2 years (AP)

NEW YORK ? Stock indexes are drifting lower in midday trading, a day after the market had its best day in two and a half years. Bank stocks and energy companies fell the most.

The Labor Department said initial applications for unemployment benefits rose to 402,000 last week. The increase means that layoffs are rising slightly.

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 40 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,005 as of 11:45 a.m.

The Dow soared 490 points the day before, its biggest gain since March 2009, after central banks around the world slashed borrowing costs to shore up European banks and avert a deeper credit crisis.

The S&P 500 index is down 4 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,242. The Nasdaq composite is down less than 1 point to 2,619.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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TSX ends lower but posts big weekly gain (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? Toronto's main stock index was higher on Friday morning, on track to post its biggest weekly gain in more than two years, pushed up by strong bank earnings, encouraging U.S. jobs data and talk of more action to ease Europe's debt.

Royal Bank of Canada was the most heavily weighted gainer, up 3.8 percent at C$48.80, after Canada's biggest lender reported a quarterly profit that beat expectations, helped by solid growth in mortgages and business loans, which overshadowed weak capital markets-related income.

"The (bank) earnings reports have surprised most people to the upside, especially the Royal Bank's report," said Douglas Davis, chief executive at Davis-Rea. "There was a lot negative chatter about the Royal Bank, including (CEO Gordon Nixon's) speech in the States when he said that loan growth had slowed a lot, and I think people thought 'uh-oh, he's preparing the market for a bad announcement'. But it didn't happen."

Canada's No. 2 lender, Toronto-Dominion Bank, was the second top advancer, up 2.4 percent at C$73.63, after announcing stronger-than-expected results on Thursday.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to a 2-1/2 year low of 8.6 percent in November as companies stepped up hiring, further evidence the U.S. economic recovery was gaining momentum.

Markets also latched on to chatter that policymakers appeared to move a step closer to tackling Europe's debt crisis.

Bloomberg cited sources as saying the European Central Bank was gearing up to lend as much as 200 billion euros ($270 billion) to the International Monetary Fund in a bid to ease the debt crisis.

Earlier this week, officials told Reuters at a euro zone finance ministers' meeting that they had not fixed a figure for a possible increase in funds for the IMF.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her strong support for the euro, and called for a rapid European Union treaty change to remedy the root causes of the euro zone's debt crisis. She warned, however, that Europeans faced a long, hard "marathon" to restore lost market credibility.

"The seems to be, I won't say exuberant today, but certainly it's feeling better today," Davis said. "I think that what's happened is the problem is in focus and now everyone is starting to work hard to help to solve the problem and in time I think that they will solve it."

At 10:32 a.m., the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was up 93.68 points, or 0.8 pct, at 12,206.97, its highest level in more than two weeks. Six of the index's 10 sectors were in positive territory.

Earlier this week, the index had its biggest single-day gain since March 2009, spiking more than 4 percent.

Equity strategists and fund managers polled by Reuters predict stocks will continue to grind higher in 2012 as policymakers iron out the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis and improving economic data in Canada and the United States soothes investor concerns about global growth.

The heaviest decliner was Research In Motion, which plunged 8.3 percent to C$17.25 after the BlackBerry maker warned it would fall short of its financial targets after taking a huge charge to write down inventories on its languishing PlayBook tablet.

Bank of Nova Scotia was the second biggest drag on the TSX, down 1.4 percent at C$49.55, despite announcing a 10.7 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit.

($1=$1.02 Canadian)

(Reporting By Claire Sibonney; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_markets_canada_stocks

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Readers Respond to "How New York Beat Crime" and Other Articles

August 2011 Image:

WHY CRIME DROPPED
In ?How New York Beat Crime,? Franklin E. Zimring refers only incidentally to a decline since 1990 in the ?percentage of the population in the most arrest-prone bracket, between 15 and 29,? in both New York and the nation. The nationwide decline in that age group must be a contributing factor to the crime drop in that city and the U.S. as a whole. The book Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, attributes the nationwide decline in crime to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion. The logic is that as more unwanted pregnancies are terminated, fewer unwanted (and unloved) children are born, so fewer will grow up to be criminals. And the timing is perfect for the decline in the arrest-prone age bracket.
Steven Stone
Cupertino, Calif.

Zimring?s analysis of the period of the New York City crime drop was excellent but failed to refer to what came before. As a result of the 1970 Knapp Commission investigation into police corruption in the city, the New York Police Department instituted rules and policies designed to stamp out corruption that had the unintended effect of encouraging an uncommonly docile police force. This docility continued through the 1990s until the appointment of William J. Bratton as police commissioner. The Bratton-led department ushered in novel changes in tactics and policies as well as raising the level of aggressive policing in the rank and file.
Bob Vializ
Mahopac, N.Y.

Near the end of Zimring?s article, he mentions that even New York City?s much reduced homicide rate is far higher than that of most major European cities and Tokyo. He suggests that New York must address social issues to further reduce its crime rate but seems to ignore a major pachyderm in the parlor: namely, that in these foreign nations gun ownership is far smaller.
George Schuttinger
Mountain View, Calif.

ZIMRING REPLIES: The famous theory that Roe v. Wade reduced U.S. crime in the 1990s that Stone refers to is discussed in my book The Great American Crime Decline (Oxford University Press, 2008). I am skeptical about the decision having a major impact on nationwide U.S. crime in the 1990s because it did not strongly affect the births of children considered to be at high risk of becoming criminals.

But a major influence from legalized abortion on the New York City difference is particularly implausible for three further reasons: First, what separates New York from other cities is a decline from 2000 to 2007. Why should the effects of legalization last longer in Gotham? Second, crime in New York State?s other cities did not follow the New York City trend, yet abortion is a function of state law. Last, the same situational and contingent features of crime that explain police effectiveness in stopping it argue against the deterministic view that one generation?s births will control the volume of the next generation?s crime.

Vializ?s logic that policing after 1990 had such powerful effects in New York in part because the police were not very effective before 1990 is impeccable. But because we do not know whether the aggression of more recent efforts added value to strategies such as hotspots, there is no way to test the contribution of unaggressive prior efforts to the larger marginal changes over time.

Finally, Schuttinger is no doubt correct that handgun use inflates the rate of American homicide. All the more remarkable, then, is the more than 80 percent drop in New York City killings despite this handicap.

BIGGER BORDER
It has been my understanding for a while that the radius of the observable universe is roughly 13.7 billion light-years. Yet the box entitled ?What Lies Beyond?? in ?Does the Multiverse Really Exist?? by George F. R. Ellis, says that astronomers see out to a distance of about 42 billion light-years, our cosmic horizon.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a9490d17dfdf36c308bc68dcb83a35e2

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