Reuters – The policies of U.S. President Barack Obama and his potential Republican rivals differ, but when it comes to campaign trail fashion they could not be more alike with their style at the frontline of winning votes.
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U.S. campaign style at frontline of winning votes
(Reuters)
Less than a week ago a baby girl was born to the Meske family in Crystal Lake, Ill. This new addition’s name wasn’t chosen by parents Lindsey and Dave though — at least not completely. More than 4,000 people helped make this momentous decision.
Lindsey Meske with her two daughters. The newest bundle was born Jan. 31. (Photo: Facebook)
(Image: Facebook)
Madelyn Rae Meske (Photo: Facebook)
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Would You Let the Facebook Community Pick Your Baby’s Name?
Markets closed up on Wall Street today: Dow +0.78 percent S&P +1.11 percent Nasdaq +1.53 percent Oil +0.15 percent Gold +0.37 percent On the commodities front Oil ( NYSE:USO ) climbed to $100.86 a barrel Gold ( NYSE:GLD ) climbing to $1,661.70 an ounce while Silver ( NYSE:SLV ) rose 1.16 percent to settle at $30.49 (Related: World Bank Cuts Global Growth Forecasts ) Today’s markets were up because: 1) Europe: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seeking to boost its war chest by $500 billion. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said yesterday that her staff are studying options for more than doubling the size of the fund’s lending capacity in order to better insulate the global economy against Europe’s debt crisis after identifying the potential for a $1 trillion global financing gap in the next two years. Greek government officials also resumed talks with the group representing private sector investors and banks today. Institute of International Finance director Charles Dallara, who represents the private sector in negotiations, said that final terms could be reached within days, ensuring that private holders of Greek bonds accept a writedown that cuts Greece’s debt load by more than a quarter. 2) Housing: Investors were encouraged by a housing report today, which claims “builder confidence” in the market for newly built, single-family homes to have climbed four points in January. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index , or HMI, also rose to 25 points. 3) Goldman: Despite reporting fourth-quarter revenue well below expectations, Goldman Sachs shares shot up almost 7 percent today after the firm reported earnings that beat forecasts and CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement that he is seeing “encouraging” signs of improvement in the market and economy. Goldman’s results come just one day after Citigroup missed earnings estimates and Wells Fargo met expectations with its fourth-quarter report. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will report on Thursday. [ Editor’s note: the above is a cross post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet . ]
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Market Recap: Stocks up on Housing, Goldman Sachs
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office have received proposals from Apple that indicate the electronics company is working on products powered by hydrogen fuel cells, that they claim have the potential to stay charged for weeks, and “eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy battery.” Remarks by the company in the patent fillings would indicate that the proposal to shift to hydrogen fueled products was influenced not by user experience but customer awareness: “Our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling. These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources.” A hydrogen fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and electrical energy. The Telegraph notes that the technology has long been touted as a potential power source for cleaner cars and electronics manufacturers have shown growing interest in replacing batteries with such fuels cells that would last longer and produce only water as a by-product. In October, another pair of Apple patent applications were published showing that the company was looking into ways to grasp more fuel from lighter hydrogen fuel cels. The Daily Mail notes that while the iPhone 4s was released shortly after Apple icon Steve Jobs’s death, “a technological breakthrough like an entirely different battery would be a massive upswing for the company.” Check out a diagram presented to the patent office with Apple’s proposal:
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Apple’s Incredible New Plans Revealed
Vander Plaats and Hurley both referred to Santorum as the potential “Mike Huckabee” of the Iowa caucus.
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Influential Iowa Social Conservatives Endorse Rick Santorum
Earlier this week, we reported that Apple’s iPhone 4S voice-activated personal assistant “Siri” wouldn’t find abortion clinics when asked, sometimes even directing the person asking to pregnancy crisis centers. Siri also wouldn’t directly answer questions about emergency contraception, and, when asked if she was pro-life she said “No comment”. Apple has come out with a statement over the fact that Siri won’t answer these questions, although she will help people do things like figure out where to bury a dead body or find an escort. The New York Times reports that Apple said the fact Siri doesn’t seem to help people seeking information about women’s health issues was not intentional and attributes it to Siri still being a beta product: “Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn’t always find what you want,” said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, in a phone interview late Wednesday. “These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone. It simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better, and we will in the coming weeks.” 9 to 5 Mac reports that perhaps it’s not really Apple’s fault, pointing the potential for it to be location providers pulling up manipulated results “like when Google’s search algorithm pulls up manipulated results”.
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Update: Apple Says Siri’s Seemingly Pro-Life Stance Was Unintentional
**Written by Doug Powers Would you have expected anything less from Motor Trend’s Car of the Year ? From Autoblog : The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a statement on its investigation into a Chevrolet Volt fire that occurred at the organization’s facilities. NHTSA had done a side-impact test on a Volt then parked it outside, and three weeks later Chevy’s plug-in hybrid caught fire. The battery was determined to be the cause, after its coolant line was ruptured during the side-impact test. That led the NHTSA to consider a ruling forcing hybrid and electric-car batteries to be drained after a wreck. On Friday, NHTSA said it is opening “a formal safety defect investigation” to study the risks of fire in Chevy Volts that have been in major accidents. To be clear, though, the larger story is that this isn’t just about the Volt, this is about any vehicle with a battery pack, with NHTSA gathering “additional information about the potential for fire in electric vehicles involved in a crash…” The NHTSA obviously knows it’s working on thin ice when it comes to popping lucrative (for some) “green” bubbles : NHTSA issued an unusually lengthy, even apologetic, statement saying electric vehicles have “incredible potential” to reduce gasoline consumption but said it was necessary to determine whether the batteries in electric cars are safe. There’s one positive aspect of practically every wildly expensive taxpayer-supported product that is pushed by the government for reasons other than consumer demand: The inevitable recall won’t inconvenience very many people . Update: GM is offering loaner cars to concerned Volt owners. The loaner will be a Hummer H3 (just seeing if Al Gore’s paying attention). **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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NHTSA Performing ‘Formal Safety Defect Investigation’ on Chevy Volt; Update: GM to Offer Loaner Cars
