Thousands in Chicago protest financial industry

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of people including teachers, religious leaders and union workers marched in downtown Chicago on Monday to voice mounting anger over joblessness and income inequality in protests that snarled rush-hour traffic.
Chanting "We are the 99 percent" and "Tax, tax, tax the rich," some demonstrators marched on Michigan Avenue and gathered outside the Chicago Art Institute where a U.S. futures industry trade group was holding an evening cocktail reception.
Others marched outside a luxury hotel near to where the American Mortgage Bankers Association was holding a meeting downtown.
Five separate "feeder marches" -- which converged into one giant march up Michigan Ave -- were inspired by, but not formally affiliated with, the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York last month and sparked smaller protests nationwide.
Police estimated a crowd of around 3,000 protesters at the events, organized by the "Stand Up Chicago" coalition with the stated goal of reclaiming "our jobs, our homes and our schools," according to the group's website.
"We really want to highlight the role the financial industry has played," said Adam Kader of Arise Chicago, an interfaith workers' rights group and part of the coalition.
"They're here in our backyard, so this is the time to send a message about how we're really hurting," he added, saying the demonstration would focus on foreclosures, unemployment and lack of municipal funding for key services.
Police arrested 26 demonstrators, many wearing Chicago Teachers Union T-shirts, who linked arms and sat down in Monroe Street as they chanted "Save our schools, save our homes!" They were ticketed and released. Another demonstrator was arrested and faces a charge of battery on a police officer.
source: ca.reuters.com

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Space-obsessed teenagers sought by YouTube

YouTube is asking space-obsessed teenagers to come up with ideas for science experiments to be carried out in space. Two lucky winners will have their experiments carried out by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Space-obsessed teenagers will be interested in this one. YouTube is working with Chinese computer company Lenovo to give teenagers aged between 14 and 18 the opportunity to have their science experiments live streamed from the International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth.
The competition, called YouTube Space Lab, has been launched by Google-owned YouTube and will be judged by NASA chiefs, astronauts and Professor Stephen Hawking.
Six regional finalists will be brought to Washington, DC in March next year where, in recognition of their efforts, they’ll get to experience a thrilling (and possibly stomach-churning) zero-G weightless flight. They’ll also receive a Lenovo IdeaPad.
At the special event in DC, the two best science experiment ideas will be chosen by the panel of judges. The two winners will have their experiments carried out by astronauts on the International Space Station.
And there are more goodies in store for the two global winners – they can either enjoy a trip to Tanegashima Island in Japan to watch their science experiment blast off in a rocket heading for the International Space Station, or travel to Star City in Russia to take part in an astronaut training session alongside Russian cosmonauts.
YouTube says it hopes the competition will “inspire a new generation of space enthusiasts by allowing them the extraordinary opportunity of becoming real scientists whose research is conducted in space.”
for more detail visit digitaltrends.com

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Former Washington Gov. Rosellini dies at age 101

Former Washington Gov. Albert Rosellini, a son of Italian immigrants who became the oldest living former governor in America, died Monday. He was 101.

A Democrat who always wore a rosebud on his lapel, Rosellini served as governor for eight years ending in 1965. His tenure in office was defined by efforts to reform state prisons and modernize mental health institutions while shepherding through the creation of the 520 floating bridge that now bears his name.

Rosellini's daughter, Lynn, recalled how he was able to connect with voters so quickly because of his ability to identify with average people and his interest in their concerns.

"He always said if he shook somebody's hand it was a vote," Lynn Rosellini said. "He would look at you like there was nobody else in the room."

The family said Rosellini's health had declined in recent weeks because of pneumonia. He died at a retirement community in Seattle.

Albert Dean Rosellini was born in Tacoma in 1910 and developed his characteristic work ethic as a child. He remembered selling newspapers at age 9 while also doing odd jobs for a woman for a penny a day.

He was a boxer in college and took three jobs to put himself through school, working as a butcher in Pike Place Market, working on an Alaska steamer and law clerking.

source: blueridgenow.com

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Apple's future: Trying to outlive an icon

Steve Jobs is gone, leaving behind a void at the company he founded similar to the gaps left by other American visionaries like Walt Disney, Sam Walton, Henry Ford and Ray Kroc upon their passings.
That kind of genius is never replaced -- but companies that lost an iconic leader must decide how to move on.

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The best course of action is not always apparent. The list of companies that lost their way following the exit of a visionary founder is a long one.
Walt Disney Productions, now known as The Walt Disney Co. (DIS, Fortune 500), actually left its founder's desk vacant for years following his 1966 death. The company stayed in the family, and the question, "What would Walt do?" permeated every strategic discussion. Afraid to do anything new, the Disney family unsuccessfully attempted to replicate Walt Disney's vision for two decades.
for more detail visit money.cnn.com

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Wall Street protesters disgusted with both parties

NEW YORK -- Although their main concern is Wall Street practices and economic inequality, some demonstrators in New York and across the U.S. say politicians from both major parties are to blame for policies they say protect corporate America at the expense of the country's middle class.
"At this point I don't see any difference between George Bush and (Barack) Obama. The middle class is a lot worse than when Obama was elected," said John Penley, an unemployed legal worker from Brooklyn.
The Occupy Wall Street movement, which began last month with a small number of young people pitching a tent in front of the New York Stock Exchange, has expanded nationally and drawn a wide variety of activists, including retirees, union members and laid-off workers. As new groups continue to organize, demonstrators Thursday marched in Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Anchorage, Alaska, carrying signs with slogans such as "Get money out of politics" and "I can't afford a lobbyist."
The protests are in some ways the liberal flip side of the tea party movement, which was launched in 2009 in a populist reaction against the bank and auto bailouts and the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
But while tea party activists eventually became a crucial part of the Republican coalition, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are cutting President Barack Obama little slack. They say Obama failed to crack down on the banks after the 2008 mortgage meltdown and financial crisis.
"He could have taken a much more populist, aggressive stance at the beginning against Wall Street bonuses, and exacting certain change from bailing out the banks," said Michael Kazin, a Georgetown University history professor and author of "American Dreamers," a history of the left. "But ultimately, the economy has not gotten much better, and that's underscored the frustration on both the right and the left."
source: www.forbes.com

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Rescuers find 18 bodies in Indonesia plane crash

The bodies of all 18 people who were on board a plane that crashed into the jungle-covered mountains of western Indonesia were recovered from the wreckage Saturday, rescuers said.

The Spanish-designed CASA C-212 lost contact with air traffic control early Thursday while flying from North Sumatra to Aceh province. Minutes later, it sent out a distress signal, then dropped off the radar.

Rugged, forested terrain and bad weather had prevented rescuers from reaching the crash site by foot, and the wreckage was spotted from a helicopter Friday in the Leuser mountains at an altitude of 5,000 feet (1,524 meters).

Early Saturday, 13 rescuers were lowered from a helicopter by rope to the crash site, following two others who had reached the site just before darkness fell Friday.

"They found the bodies still tied with the seat belt on their seats," Sunarbowo Sandi, head of the local search-and-rescue team, told The Associated Press from his monitoring post in a village near the crash site in the Bahorok region, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Jakarta.

The bodies included all 14 passengers and four crew members. Four of the dead were children.

Hopes had been raised that there may be survivors after the aircraft was spotted intact with one of its doors open, and rescuers dropped food and medicine down to the crash site.

The victims' relatives, who had been waiting for information, broke down in tears when they learned that their loved ones were found dead.

Read More: chron.com

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