US economy adds 155K jobs, rate stays at 7.8 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers likely kept hiring last month at a modest but steady pace, despite tense negotiations that pushed the economy to the brink of the fiscal cliff.

Economists forecast that employers added 155,000 jobs in December, according to a survey by FactSet. That would be slightly higher than November's 148,000. The unemployment rate is projected to remain at 7.7 percent.

Stable hiring would mean the job market held up during the talks between Congress and the White House over tax increases and spending cuts that were not resolved until the new year.

A trio of encouraging reports Thursday on private hiring and layoffs suggested companies did not panic last month, although the Labor Department report will offer a more accurate measure of how businesses responded to the uncertainty in Washington.

"Given that we have restraints, the labor market data do appear to be improving," said Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse.

While Congress and the White House reached a deal this week that removed the threat of income tax increases on most Americans, they postponed the more difficult decisions on cutting spending. And the government must also increase its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit by around late February or risk defaulting on its debt.

Congressional Republicans are pressing for deep spending cuts in return for any increase in the borrowing limit. President Barack Obama has repeatedly said he wants the issues kept separate.

Depending on December's figure, hiring may finish the year slightly below its 2011 pace.

Employers added 1.84 million jobs in 2011, the most in five years. In the first 11 months of 2012, employers added 1.67 million. Job gains would have to top 170,000 in December to push 2012 ahead of the previous year. Some economists do expect gains at that level or higher.

On a monthly basis, the differences are slight. Job gains averaged 151,500 a month in the first 11 months of 2012, compared with 153,000 in 2011.

Hiring probably won't rise above the current 150,000 per month trend until after the borrowing limit is resolved, economists say.

A similar fight over raising the debt ceiling in 2011 was only settled at the last hour and nearly brought the nation to the brink of default.

"That's not an environment where you're likely to be taking risks," such as adding jobs, said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Reports Thursday indicated the job market is improving slightly.

The most encouraging sign came from payroll provider ADP. Its monthly employment survey showed businesses added 215,000 jobs last month, the most in 10 months and much higher than November's total of 148,000.

Economists tend to approach the ADP survey with some skepticism because it has diverged sharply at times from the government's job figures.

But some economists were also hopeful after seeing businesses were less inclined to cut jobs last month.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that the number of announced job cuts fell 43 percent in December from November, and overall planned layoffs in 2012 fell to the lowest level since 1997.

The decline in layoffs coincided with a drop last month in the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits. The four-week average was little changed at 360,000 last week. That's only slightly above the previous week's 359,750, which was the lowest since March 2008.

Still, the unemployment rate remains high. It fell to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October. But that was mostly because many of the unemployed stopped looking for jobs. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for work.

There are signs the economy is improving. The once-battered housing market is recovering, which should lead to more construction jobs this year. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth.

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Follow Chris Rugaber at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/steady-us-hiring-expected-last-050213494.html

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Evidence contradicts idea that starvation caused saber-tooth cat extinction

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

In the period just before they went extinct, the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene were living well off the fat of the land.

That is the conclusion of the latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth of these great cats recovered from the La Brea tar pits in southern California. Contrary to previous studies, the analysis did not find any indications that the giant carnivores were having increased trouble finding prey in the period before they went extinct 12,000 years ago.

The results, published on Dec. 26 in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, contradicts previous dental studies and presents a problem for the most popular explanations for the Megafaunal (or Quaternary) extinction when the great cats, mammoths and a number of the largest mammals that existed around the world disappeared.

"The popular theory for the Megafaunal extinction is that either the changing climate at the end of the last Ice Age or human activity ? or some combination of the two ? killed off most of the large mammals," said Larisa DeSantis, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt, who headed the study. "In the case of the great cats, we expect that it would have been increasingly difficult for them to find prey, especially if had to compete with humans. We know that when food becomes scarce, carnivores like the great cats tend to consume more of the carcasses they kill. If they spent more time chomping on bones, it should cause detectable changes in the wear patterns on their teeth."

In 1993, Blaire Van Valkenburgh at UCLA published a paper on tooth breakage in large carnivores in the late Pleistocene. Analyzing teeth of American lions, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves and coyotes from La Brea, she found that they had approximately three times the number of broken teeth of contemporary predators and concluded, "...these findings suggest that these species utilized carcasses more fully and likely competed more intensely for food than present-day large carnivores."

The latest study uses a new technique, called dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), developed by co-authorPeter Ungar at the University of Arkansas. It uses a confocal microscope to produce a three-dimensional image of the surface of a tooth. The image is then analyzed for microscopic wear patterns. Chowing down on red meat produces small parallel scratches. Chomping on bones adds larger, deeper pits. Previous methods of dental wear analysis relied on researchers to identify and count these different types of features. DMTA relies on automated software and is considered more accurate because it reduces the possibility of observer bias.

DeSantis and Ungar, with the assistance of Blaine Schubert from East Tennessee State University and Jessica Scott from the University of Arkansas, applied DMTA to the fossil teeth of 15 American lions (Panthera atrox) and 15 saber-tooth cats (Smilodon fatalis) recovered from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles.

Their analysis revealed that the wear pattern on the teeth of the American lion most closely resembled those of the present-day cheetah, which actively avoids bones when it feeds. Similarly, the saber-tooth cat's wear pattern most closely resembled those of the present-day African lion, which indulges in some bone crushing when it eats. (This differs from a previous microwear study using a different technique that concluded saber-tooth cats avoided bone to a far greater extent.)

The researchers examined how these patterns changed over time by selecting specimens from tar pits of different ages, ranging from about 35,000 to 11,500 years ago. They did not find any evidence that the two carnivores increased their "utilization" of carcasses throughout this period. If anything, their analysis suggests that the proportion of the carcasses that both kinds of cats consumed actually declined toward the end.

The researchers acknowledge the high rate of tooth breakage reported in the previous study, but they argue that it is more likely the result of increased breakage when taking down prey instead of when feeding.

"Teeth can break from the stress of chewing bone but they can also break when the carnivores take down prey," DeSantis pointed out. Species like hyenas that regularly chew and crack bones of their kills are as likely to break the rear teeth they use for chewing as their front canines. Species like the cheetah, however, which avoid bones during feeding are twice as likely to break canines than rear teeth. This suggests that they are more likely to break canines when pulling down prey.

The researchers report that previous examinations of the jaws of the American lions and saber-tooth cats from this period found that they have more than three times as many broken canines and interpret this as additional evidence that supports their conclusion that most of the excess tooth breakage occurred during capture instead of feeding.

In addition, the researchers argue that the large size of the extinct carnivores and their prey can help explain the large number of broken teeth. The saber-toothed cats were about the size of today's African lion and the American lion was about 25 percent larger. The animals that they preyed upon likely included mammoths, four-ton giant ground sloths and 3,500-pound bison.

Larger teeth break more easily than smaller teeth. So larger carnivores are likely to break more canine teeth when attempting to take down larger prey, the researchers argue. They cite a study that modeled the strength of canine teeth that found the canines of a predator the size of fox can support more than seven times its weight before breaking while a predator the size of lion can only support about four times its weight and the curved teeth of the saber-toothed cats can only support about twice its weight.

"The net result of our study is to raise questions about the reigning hypothesis that "tough times" during the late Pleistocene contributed to the gradual extinction of large carnivores," DeSantis summarized. "While we can not determine the exact cause of their demise, it is unlikely that the extinction of these cats was a result of gradually declining prey (due either to changing climates or human competition) because their teeth tell us that these cats were not desperately consuming entire carcasses, as we had expected, and instead seemed to be living the 'good life' during the late Pleistocene, at least up until the very end."

###

Vanderbilt University: http://www.exploration.vanderbilt.edu

Thanks to Vanderbilt University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126092/Evidence_contradicts_idea_that_starvation_caused_saber_tooth_cat_extinction

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Instant View - Manufacturing PMI jumps to fifteen-month high in December

LONDON (Reuters) - British factory activity jumped unexpectedly in December to grow at its fastest pace since September 2011, a survey showed on Wednesday, raising the chance that the economy eked out growth at the end of 2012.

****************************************************************

- Highest headline manufacturing PMI index since September 2011

- Highest output component since April 2011

- Highest new orders component since March 2011

- Highest new export orders component since September 2012

- Highest input prices index since March 2012

- Highest output prices index since April 2012

- Highest employment index since August 2012

****************************************************************

ECONOMISTS' COMMENTS

BRIAN HILLIARD, SOCIETE GENERALE

"A belated Christmas present. The most encouraging feature was the surge in the output index... Export orders are still down, so that would suggest that it's domestic demand which is picking up, which is surprising if true.

"So it's a welcome surprise, it's difficult to know what's driving it.

"The biggest uncertainty about Q4 (GDP) is going to be construction numbers. The October (official non-seasonally adjusted) figures suggested that we could see a bounce, but it's very early days. It's a very uncertain number. Barring distortions to construction, even with a slightly more encouraging manufacturing output number, it (Q4 GDP) should be around flat."

GEORGE BUCKLEY, DEUTSCHE BANK

"The jump in the output index is very encouraging, to 54. Obviously there's a risk that it might not be sustained but if it is, then we are moving, it would suggest, from a period of negative growth in the final quarter of last year to positive growth again.

"It's obviously very difficult to read, because we don't know what the services survey did but if you plot it against GDP, it is consistent with an improvement into positive territory, so it's encouraging in that sense."

ROSS WALKER, RBS

"The big question is over the official manufacturing output figures; we've seen pronounced weakness in the official manufacturing figures since the summer.

"The fact that survey figures are easing up a little bit means we may see an improvement in the official figures, but it is not enough to prevent a sizeable fall (in manufacturing) in the fourth quarter."

ROB WOOD, BERENBERG BANK

"The sector seems to be showing some signs of improvement - probably as the euro zone crisis is easing a little bit and Chinese growth is bottoming out.

"But the big picture is that the UK economy has been bouncing along the bottom over the last year.

"Today's figures point to stabilisation rather than a return to growth."

ROB DOBSON, MARKIT

"UK manufacturing exited 2012 on a positive note, with December's PMI data signalling a reassuringly solid return to growth for the sector. However, this does little to change the view that the sector contracted over the fourth quarter as a whole, following the temporary growth surge of 0.7 percent in the third quarter.

"The domestic market remained the main spur for growth of production and new orders in December, although there are also signs that global trade flows are stabilising as China and the U.S. strengthen and the downturn in the euro zone eases. If the recovery in overseas markets continues to build at the start of 2013, this would be of major benefit to UK exporters."

"The latest survey also showed that manufacturers remain on a cost-cautious footing, leading to lower levels of purchasing, the running-down of inventories and a reluctance to increase payroll numbers.

"However, there are increasing signs of firms starting to move out of this cost-cutting mode, though it is clear that the outlook remains far from certain.

"Business confidence among producers therefore remains fragile and could easily be derailed by setbacks in key export markets, notably any resurgence of the euro zone debt crisis."

(Reporting by UK economics team)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/instant-view-manufacturing-pmi-jumps-fifteen-month-high-093328559--business.html

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Five relationship books that are actually worth your while | Love ...

For most of us, there's no more dysfunctional relationship in our lives than the one we have with self-help books that purport to tell us the secrets to relationships. We know they're silly, full of crap, and oftentimes detrimental (hi, "Why Men Love Bitches"!), but the human heart is a confusing place. And when we get lost, where do we go? To those blasted books. Maybe they'll be different this time, we rationalize. Maybe the next one will tell me the ultimate secret to love and everlasting happiness.

Well, probably not. But as a longtime lover/hater of such books, I've become a bit of a connoisseur. And I can tell you that if you read one of these five (admittedly not your typical self-help books, but instructional and relationship-oriented nonetheless), you won't hate yourself in the morning. In fact, you'll learn something useful along the way:

"Against Love"

Yes, it seems weird to start a list of "good books about love" with a book called "Against Love." But here's the thing: Nobody can really be against love any more than they can be against puppies or babies or beautiful sunsets. We do, however, sometimes need a bracing punch in the face about what, exactly, we want so badly when we go trolling for partners in smoky bars, at singles soccer league, online. Don't worry, Laura Kipnis' very entertaining look at all our dumb societal ideas about love will hardly turn you celibate, or even unromantic. It'll simply send you into the dating battle clear-eyed and (a little) more rational. As a bonus, it'll give you loads of intellectual conversation material.

"Committed"

Set aside your annoyance with author Elizabeth Gilbert's breakthrough, "Eat Pray Love." (It's not her fault the movie made it worse.) Here she merges the confessional memoir style that made her famous with the journalism that she practiced for years before that in an examination of what makes marriage marriage. As she ponders marrying her longtime boyfriend, partly because he needs a green card, she comes to terms with her aversion to the institution by exploring its history around the world. You'll learn a lot about love and commitment's cultural underpinnings and come out with a better understanding of what you're looking for in a life partner.

"Meeting Your Half Orange"

Amy Spencer's guide to using optimism to attract your perfect mate is far more reasonable and rational than its scare-tactic brothers and sisters in the relationship aisle. She also uses actual science to back up her approach, which essentially makes you into a beacon to attract the right person for you - by being totally comfortable with your authentic self. If you're going to read a traditional how-to on dating, this is the one.

"Marry Smart"

Author Christine Whelan also wrote "Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women." She uses real, legit data to back up her claim that, yeah, smart people marry smart people. So take comfort. You're welcome.

"Outdated"

Yes, this is a feminist dating book written by Feministing.com editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay. That's why it's reasonable, smart and awesome. She shows you the ways that, as the subtitle says, "dating is ruining your love life" - but, more accurately, how media and pop culture and self-help books and so-called experts are ruining your love life. You are not crazy, she tells you; the culture of gender wars and commercialization is. It may not solve all your problems, but awareness is half the battle.

HowAboutWe is the new way to go on fun dates, fast. Sign up at www.howaboutwe.com and meet other singles in your area who like what you like. Skip the endless messaging - go online to get offline. See more at www.howaboutwe.com

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@2013, HowAboutWe.com

See more at www.howaboutwe.com

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/01/03/4386406/five-relationship-books-that-are.html

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Strategies For Acquiring The Correct Health Insurance Prepare ...

Posted by fbl95 on Jan 2, 2013 in Clothing | 0 comments

health insurance florida Choosing the right health insurance for yourself and your family is tough and time-eating. But, several people find out the tough way, having medical health insurance is incredibly crucial in case there is an emergency. You will learn a great deal concerning how to get medical insurance and the way it will help you! florida combined life dental insurance

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Do you want to learn more about how precisely your insurance policies functions? Phone the organization to obtain answers to all your inquiries. A great deal of health care insurance organizations use a quantity in which you can speak with someone familiar with your insurance policy. Customer support repetitions can provide information and facts that could save you money.

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Read the manual that accompany your wellbeing insurance plan. Your company will be sending you with a guide covering all the details of the coverage and reading through it cover to cover is the only way to completely grasp all the benefits open to you. It could appear boring, but you absolutely have to know the data that is offered within.

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Have you been covered beneath a health care insurance prepare? Experiencing health insurance implies that you are going to get appropriate medical treatment in case you possibly want it. Utilize this info to pay you and your family. avmed provider

Source: http://s-u-a-v-e.com/strategies-for-acquiring-the-correct-health-insurance-prepare.html

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American Horror Story Season 2 Episode 10

An assassination attempt on Constantine prompts a frantic search to determine who's responsible. Meanwhile, Nate inadvertently puts a mobster's racehorse in danger; and Grace treats Brett's estranged brother after he's injured while cycling.

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The Mob Doctor stars Jordana Spiro as a cardiothoracic surgeon paying off her brother's gambling debt by doing medical work for gangsters. Evanston native Zach Gilford and Jamie Lee Kirchner play her day-job colleagues at a hospital, with William Forsythe as a mob boss.For most physicians, the Hippocratic oath is sacred.

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But for one Chicago doctor, who is indebted to the mafia, saving lives isn't her only concern. THE MOB DOCTOR is a fast-paced medical drama focusing on a young female surgeon caught between two worlds as she juggles her promising medical career with her family's debt to Chicago's Southside mob.DR. GRACE DEVLIN (Jordana Spiro) is a top resident at Chicago's Roosevelt Medical Center.

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Smart and self-assured, she's heralded as one of the country's most promising young surgeons. But family ties keep her glued to her Southside roots. To pay off her brother's life-threatening gambling debt, she makes a deal with the devil and agrees to work "off book" for the mafia men she once despised.

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From a Gamesmaster's point of view, I found the module generally quite bland and unimaginative. Essentially this was just your average monster hunt, there was no narrative plot twists or intrigue. From the time the party leaves Vintiver they already know 95% of the plot and all that remains is just going through the process of beating up things till module's end.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/_0ZyMPWfmuc/viewtopic.php

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Senate passes bill to avert fiscal cliff; House expected to vote today (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/274207032?client_source=feed&format=rss

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