HowAboutWe launched its Couples product all the way back in September, but as an online dating site catering to both singles and couples, the startup is toying with the best way to market both products simultaneously. That said, HowAboutWe has launched a new commercial alongside a new site landing page with options for both singles and couples. The company has been testing the landing page, which expands and offers more information on either product, for the past three weeks. The new unified experience will now spread more rapidly throughout the New York area as HowAboutWe begins its transition from a traditional dating site to a lifestyle brand for relationships in all stages.
MILAN'S catwalks go regimental as models march out in gear that wouldn't look out of place on the parade ground.
Moschino's autumn winter collection for next year included mini-kilts, tartan trews and jackets, loveheart sporrans and Glengarry-style hats. That's sure to grab your atten-shun.
AppleInsider writes, As rumors swirl of a Pandora-style Internet radio service from Apple, Google is said to be working on a paid subscription music service akin to Spotify.
Continue reading Google planning Spotify-style subscription music service - report at AppleInsider
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Before he took a seat on the bench, LeBron James made sure to grab one more rebound.
James had 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his 35th career triple-double and the Miami Heat cruised to their 10th straight win, 114-90 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.
The three-time NBA MVP knew he was one board away from a special night so he went after it hard early in the fourth quarter. After Chris Anderson blocked Evan Turner's shot, James hauled it in, drove up court and banked a shot in for good measure.
"I was going to stay out there until I got it," James said. "I wasn't going to let this one slip away. I've had too many games where I was one assist, one rebound away. I wasn't coming out."
Dwyane Wade had 33 points, Mario Chalmers scored 14 and Chris Bosh added 13 to help the defending NBA champions improve to 39-14. The Heat have a comfortable 5?-game lead over Indiana in the Eastern Conference.
They've won four in a row on the road, including impressive wins over Oklahoma City before the All-Star break and Chicago on Thursday.
"It was a professional win," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "LeBron started it with his unselfishness, finding the open guy, making it contagious. Then it was an efficient shooting night."
Jrue Holiday scored 21 points and Nick Young had 19 for Philadelphia, which continues to fall further behind in the playoff chase. The Sixers entered 3? games behind Milwaukee for the No. 8 spot in the East.
A rare sellout crowd turned out for the nightcap of an NHL/NBA doubleheader at the Wells Fargo Center to see James, Wade and Co. There were even scalpers outside the arena selling tickets before the game for one of the few big draws of the season.
Fans roared when Spencer Hawes rejected James' shot late in the first quarter, swatting the ball back in his face.
Many of the same people jumped to their feet and cheered when James threw down a thunderous dunk off an alley-oop pass from Norris Cole late in the third quarter. By that time, the Heat were up 85-63 and the crowd was more interested in seeing James make a highlight play than rooting for the Sixers.
"He's so big and strong and powerful. He decides when he wants to be a passer or a scorer," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.
James got his first "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" after a no-look backdoor pass to Bosh for an easy layup in the first. Chalmers followed with a rainbow 3-pointer and a reverse lay-up to give the Heat a 24-22 lead and they never trailed again.
"I get more pleasure out of kicking the ball than scoring," James said.
After registering his third triple-double of the season and seventh since joining the Heat, James got a mixture of cheers and boos when he went to the bench with 10:15 left.
Wade came in after a brief rest and continued his hot shooting, scoring six straight points on a driving layup, two free throws and a long jumper. He was 12 of 14 at that point before missing a 3-pointer.
"I think we're better than last season because we understand each other a lot more," Bosh said. "Everyone is coming together as a team and we feel comfortable with each other. I think we're starting to play like we know we're capable of playing. It's shown in this win streak. Even with the break, we've continued to play well. I think if we keep playing at this type of level, the sky is the limit for us."
While the Heat are gearing up to make a run at a repeat, the Sixers have lost four straight to fall a season-worst nine games below .500 at 22-31.
"In the first half, we did a lot of things well," Holiday said. "We have to sustain that for 48 minutes."
It's been a disappointing year for Philadelphia, which knocked off top-seeded Chicago in the first round of the playoffs a year ago and then took Boston to seven games in the conference quarterfinals.
A season that began with promise after the acquisition of center Andrew Bynum quickly fell apart. Bynum has yet to play a game this season because of bone bruises in both knees. He said earlier in the week he plans to play at some point. At this rate, it won't matter much for the Sixers.
"Holiday is a great player, but he needs help," James said. "We all thought Bynum would be a huge piece for them."
Notes: The Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 in an afternoon hockey game. ... The Heat have won 12 straight regular-season games against Philadelphia. The Sixers won one playoff game against Miami in the first round of the 2011 playoffs. ... Heat G Mike Miller remained in Miami because of ear problems resulting from a head cold. He's missed three straight games. ... James has scored in double figures in 472 straight games, sixth-best in NBA history.
Kansas basketball faced the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 23. Kansas defeated TCU 74-48 after losing 62-55 to the Horned Frogs earlier this month in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ashleigh Lee is a junior from Wichita, majoring in journalism. Read more from Ashleigh Lee.
There was a time when car advertisements touted cars as a way for men to get women, or for a young secretary to impress her co-workers. Nowadays car ads are all the same ? they toss around buzz words like ?40 mpg,? ?innovation,? and ?technology.? Simply put, they?re boring, and that?s a shame. With that in mind, we?re starting up a new semi-regular feature dubbed ?Vintage Ads, and this week we?re featuring four selected 1964-1967 Ford Mustang ads, courtesy of The Henry Ford.
?Mustang Stampede? 1964: This one?s a classic. Not only does Ford take the time to trash its cross-town rivals at Chevrolet in the ad, but it also adds insult to injury by flaunting the Mustang?s status as the ?most successful new car ever introduced in America ? ever.?
?World?s Fair? 1964: World?s Fair is one of the original Mustang ads. It?s traditional in style, with a long-winded and, well, boring blurb on the new pony car. That said, we can?t argue with the idea of spreading an image of a Mustang coupe across two pages.
?A Youth Movement? 1964: Some things don?t change?such asMustang ads talking about how the car will make you feel young again. This ad shows ?65 Mustangs on a train being fast-tracked to dealerships. The blurb even touts ?young ideas? like disc brakes, a three-speed automatic, and even a reversible key. Wowza.
?Marriage Counselor?1967: It wouldn?t be hard to picture the ?Mad Men? developing this ad. It shows an older couple arguing, and proclaims, ?Why see a marriage counselor? Get a Select Shift.? According to Ford at the time, a three-speed slushbox with a selectable first and second gear was the ultimate compromise between an automatic and manual transmission in the ?60s.
Which ad is your favorite? Open all four in the gallery below and sound off below.
Today in show business news: Coach Taylor is headed to Rome, Christina Ricci has a surprisingly old daughter, and Kirstie Alley will soon be on TV again.
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Kyle Chandler is going celibate. Friday Night Lights's beloved Coach Taylor is headed back to television, for a role that will have him wearing a dress. Or a tunic. Or whatever they call it. The point is that he's playing a Catholic in a Showtime pilot called Vatican, which is about all the political maneuvering and whatnot in the modern-day Catholic Church. Chandler's character is progressive by Catholic standards, which I'm sure will find him running afoul of lots of stuffy squares. Matthew Goode is on the show as well, playing "the Pope?s closest confidante." Ohhh, like that sexy one Ratzinger had? Hm?? While this could potentially be an interesting show ? though it being on Showtime suggests it'll be a bit trashy ? it's hard to think about Kyle Chandler in this kind of role. He's such a salt of the earth, controlled twang kind of a guy. Putting him in priestly garb and sending him to St. Peter's seems strange. And a show all about priests? Will there be any women? I mean, probably, what, Chandler's character has a secret lover or something? But that's probably about it, lady wise. Which, actually, is a good thing. Too many women on TV. Time for the men to take it back. And what better men to take it back than a bunch of Catholic priests, and not just any Catholic priests, the ones in management, who've done such a good job these past few centuries. Terrific. [Entertainment Weekly]
iCarly actress Miranda Cosgrove has been cast in a NBC sitcom pilot, playing Christina Ricci's daughter. Yes. Christina Ricci's daughter. Her teenage daughter. Her 17-year-old daughter. Granted, the show, called Girlfriend In a Coma (like the song ? not, sadly, based on the Douglas Coupland novel), is about a teenager who has a baby she didn't know about while she's in a coma, so was a young mother, but still. Miranda Cosgrove! As Christina Ricci's daughter! It's pretty insane. I don't like it. What's next, Selena Gomez as Kirsten Dunst's granddaughter? [Deadline]
TV Land has picked up Kirstie Alley's new show to series. It's called Kirstie's New Show, because otherwise how the hell would you know that it's Kirstie Alley's new show. It's about "a Broadway star who finds her life turned upside down when her son turns up looking to reconnect with his biological mother after his adopted mom dies." Rhea Perlman and Michael Richards costar. No, Rhea Perlman is not playing the son. Although that would be sort of inspired. Anyway, there's a video about the show getting picked up. Yup. Here it is. [The Hollywood Reporter]
A new four-hour miniseries about Cleopatra is headed to cable, but don't get too excited. It's going to be on Lifetime: Television for Headaches. Meaning, cheaper than cheap sets, terrible writing, and worse acting. Ugh, Lifetime movies are the worst. I mean, some are great fun, but they always look like they cost about $12 to make and were filmed over a long weekend in some guy's back yard in Tsawwassen. I wish HBO was doing a Cleopatra miniseries. (I guess they kinda already covered her in Rome, huh. Sigh. I miss Rome.) Heck, I wish USA Characters Welcome was doing a Cleopatra miniseries over Lifetime, even TBS Very Funny would do a better job. On Lifetime it's going to be so junky and dumb and will look terrible and then no one will want to do anything like it for a while. Lifetime ruins everything. [Deadline]
Jennifer Lawrence is going back to work for her Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell. She's just joined the cast of his untitled movie about Abscam. Who will she be playing? Oh, y'know, just Christian Bale's wife. Yeah, 22-year-old Jennifer Lawrence playing 39-year-old Christian Bale's wife. Sure. Cool. That's great. David O. Russell likes setting J.Law up with older men! Very interesting! Interesting thing he's got going on there. Wooftie-doo. [Deadline]
Here's a second trailer for The Host, the movie based on the Stephenie Meyer novel. It shows lots of action and kissing and, best of all, plenty of Diane Kruger as the main villain. She kicks a door down! Good for her. Stephenie Meyer is terrible, and director Andrew Niccol hasn't a made a good movie since Gattaca, so there's really no reason to think this will be good, but, what the hell, I'm still kind of curious about it. If only in the hopes of seeing some weird-accented Saoirse Ronan vs. Diane Kruger butt-kickin'.
Looking like a futuristic radiator, the curved shield-like case is certainly a step away from last generation?s designs. A trio of icons provide notifications when the console is off. But will it fit under your TV? And where do discs go when you push them through the slot at the bottom?
Designer: Carlos Fernandes
Next No. 2: The Environmentalist
The Sony Playstation 4 is expected to be unveiled to the world in less than a week - Wednesday 20th of February to be precise. Cue excitement and early Playstation vs Xbox battle royales...
Naturally, we're champing at the bit for a glimpse at Sony's next-gen console. We've already look at the games we're expecting for next-gen consoles, but in our we've pulled together a few of the most striking concept ideas for the PS4. How far off the mark are these mock-ups? In a few days, we'll probably find out...
The Florida Supreme Court won't hear a case asking whether a judge and a prosecutor can be Facebook friends. A lower court advised skipping the social media friendship.
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Events and entertainment for President's week are ramping up here in Lake Placid. When the Northeast schools let out for the mid-winter vacation time, Lake Placid rolls out the fun.
If you arrive for an early start to the weekend, take your honey out for Valentine's Day. There are numerous options for celebrating the big day at area restaurants. Browse our dining pages for some ideas and check out special promotions. Live entertainment also abounds all weekend at various pubs and bistros.
Beginning on Friday, Lake Placid Center for the Arts presents "Comedy Theatre - The Complete World of Sports (abridged), a lively comedy that will delight every non-sports fan in the family. The Complete World runs Feb. 15 - 17, and again Feb. 22-23. Show time is 7:30 pm each night. Arrive early and take in the North Country Regional High School Art Show in the lobby gallery.
If you're in a competitive mood, enter the 47th Annual Lions Club North American Toboggan Championships on Saturday, Feb. 16th. Held annually on the Lake Placid Toboggan Chute, anyone can enter and you can even bring your own sleds, although sleds will be provided if you don't have your own. Registration starts at 6:30 pm and sliding begins at 7 pm. Get a four person team together (the heavier the better!) and show your stuff.
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The Wild Center will kick off Presidents Week on Sunday with an animal tracking event. Learn which animals make which tracks in the snow. Bring pictures of your tracks and stories for Vince Walsh to help identify for you. It all starts at noon and culminates with a walk around the Wild Center property to find tracks for you to ID. The Wild Center has a full schedule of events for the entire President's Week. The Center is open throughout Feb. 14 - 24, from 10 am to 5 pm, with special events every day.?
Whiteface Mountain will also play host to a profusion of daily activities and events especially for the President's Week skiers as well. Check out the list of special events and live entertainment on tap at the mountain.
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Lake Placid Ice Review is on tap at The Olympic Center on Saturday, Feb. 16. This figure skating extravaganza will feature 2011 US Champion Ryan Bradley, World Competitors Kim Navarro & Brent Bommentre, 2012 US Junior Silver Medalist Ashley Cain, select members of the US Intercollegiate Champion Dartmouth Figure Skating Team and a special appearance by the Vermont Children's Theater on Ice.
On February 23rd in our neighboring regions, Schroon Lake will host its 2nd Annual Chili Cook Off, and Fort Ticonderoga's Battle on Snowshoes Re-enactment. Both well worth the drive from Lake Placid for the day! Make plans to visit during the mid-winter break and you'll find lots to keep you outdoors or taking part in the numerous events on our President's Week schedule.
On March 3rd the Lost Dogs Home Pet Fest invites pet lovers to celebrate the organsation?s 100th birthday
Obviously, I was all like, OMG you guys! and wanted to take the time to celebrate with them. Here are a few milestones of note from the team at the Lost Dogs Home;
The New ?Lost Cats? Home?
In 2010 and 2011, Victorians opened their hearts and wallets to support the Lost Dogs Home capital campaign to expand their operations. Opened in January 2011, the $2.35 million The Lost Cats? Home was built on acquired factory space next door to the North Melbourne site.
This investment has taken their kill rate for unclaimed cats down from 90%+, to around 80%, so now only 8 out of ten cats die if left with the facility.
Successfully lobbying for BSL in Victoria
As one of the only animal welfare groups in the state of Victoria to come out in support of Breed Specific Laws after the Ayen Chol tragedy, the Lost Dogs Home Managing Director had worked for nearly a decade to get the laws expanded to include all dogs who, according to him, looked ?dangerous?.
This resulted in the deaths of dogs like Bear and Kooda, who were two dogs whose looks meant they were seized and destroyed.
Developing the ?Who?s for Cats? program
Launched in 2007, at the Home the ?Who?s for Cats? program was lauded to be an innovative public awareness campaign. In execution however, it demonised free-roaming cats and the people who showed them compassion, and increased impounds several fold. By 2008, there had been a 40% increase in complaints calls about cats and by 2010 the Lost Dogs Home was taking in more cats than dogs.
Their fellow shelter, the Cat Protection Society, maintains kill rates of over 90% for the around 12,000 cats it takes in annually, demonstrating that any program which appeals to cat-haters and asks them to seize cats, was always going to result in increased rates of killing.
?Oopsie? killing pets with owners
Brindle had a family who wanted to collect him, but he ended up dead.
Bubba had an owner who wanted to collect him, but he ended up dead.
Building the country?s biggest pound
By taking on pound contracts from no fewer than 10 cities, The Lost Dogs Home?s North Melbourne site is the biggest pound in Australia. This means they are currently servicing over 1,127,000 people, 150,000 registered dogs and 109,000 registered cats. Over 90% of their intakes to the facility are via their own impoundment staff and vehicles.
Currently, there is no way for owner to search for their lost pets online. The organisation instead recommends you visit from say, the outskirts of Hume, to their facility and peer into each cage until your pet is found.
Killing dogs
At North Melbourne, every second dog who remains unclaimed, is killed. One in every two.
(click here for a flyer of both cat and dog stats)
Pet Fest an opportunity for pet lovers to have their say
As you can see, there is just so much to celebrate on the 3rd March. So don?t forget to get down there, join in and talk to people about just how much the Lost Dogs Home does for pets.
Posted 4 hours ago on Feb. 13, 2013, 6:33 p.m. EST by WSmith (2637) This content is user submitted and not an official statement
POTUS w/the Mostest | Feb 13, 2013 | http://www.randirhodes.com/main.html
Now that was a State of the Union Address that really included the ?state of the union? part. Obama told Republicans the way things are! And more importantly, he told them how things are going to be. In one beautiful moment, Obama gave a shout out to a climate change bill once pushed by John McCain! McCain grinned, but you could tell he was mad. That will all just come out at somebody else at a confirmation hearing a year from now, and nobody will know why Grandpa is so angry.
The President said every child should have high-quality pre-school. Republicans are not going to want to provide pre-school for young kids. Now if there was a way to provide pre-pre-pre-school to fetuses, they?d be all for it! Obama proposed a bipartisan commission to look into the problems with voting. It would be good to have Republicans involved?they understand this problem. Heck, they designed it! Obama said ?We can fix this.? That was a very diplomatic way to put it. He could have just said ?Republicans need to stop doing this.? The crescendo of the speech came when the President spoke about gun violence. The President made a strong case for gun control when he pointed out all the people in the chamber who had been harmed by gun violence. He probably could have made an even stronger case if he had pointed out Ted Nugent.
Marco Rubio?s rebuttal speech was a real stretch. Bada boom! The only thing that came off worse than Marco Rubio lunging for a drink of water was when Rubio was actually speaking. Marco, next time, just drink water the entire time. You can try to talk while you?re doing it. It?ll be better if people can?t understand what you?re saying anyway. Rubio?s entire presentation was shaky, sweaty, and frightened-looking. I?ve seen hostage videos where the people on camera looked more comfortable.
Rubio made a big deal that he still lives in a blue-collar West Miami neighborhood home. He didn?t mention that he?s trying to sell it for $675,000. Rubio said ?Mr. President, I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in.? When you know the real story, you realize that isn?t a boast?it?s a complaint! ?Thank God I?m getting out. Hello Georgetown!?
IN DEPTH: The 2013 SOTU And Responses
If you missed the President delivering his State of the Union speech, or either GOP response, we've got them all here, to watch & read.
The Most Important Policies In President Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address
By National Journal Staff | February 12, 2013 | 11:33 p.m.
President Obama on Tuesday challenged Congress to find a way to dodge the sequester and seize the opportunity for more-enduring deficit reduction, using his fourth State of the Union address to paint lawmakers as the obstacle to a more prosperous and inclusive country.
On fiscal matters, immigration reform, and gun control, Obama depicted Congress?and Republicans, specifically?as the stumbling block, on the heels of a reelection campaign frequently decried for not offering concrete proposals.
Obama vowed that "America?s commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will endure,? but announced the withdrawal of 34,000 U.S. troops from that war zone within a year, and vowed that the war would be over by the end of 2014.
Citing a ?decade of grinding war? and the ?grueling recession,? Obama said, ?Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger.?
In one of two mentions of his erstwhile rival, Obama proposed boosting the federal minimum hourly wage to $9 from $7.25, and mentioned that he and Mitt Romney ?actually agreed? on indexing the rate to cost of living.
Obama?s minimum-wage overture reflects Democratic confidence that Republicans are wedged in an electoral bear trap. Accede too willingly to the president?s agenda, and they have abandoned their base and their principles. Oppose him at every turn?particularly on a matter as salient as minimum wage?and hazard being seen as callous to the plight of the working class, and unwilling to reinvigorate the middle class. The GOP hammered Democrats during the 2012 campaign with allegations of apathy toward small businesses?recall the crowing over Obama?s ?you didn?t build that? remark?and lost, and Obama has evinced little sign of yielding that advantage.
Did you see the viral video of former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson dancing Gangnam Style with a guy in a can costume, urging young voters to press Congress to fix the debt? That video was from The Can Kicks Back, a nonprofit whose aim is to organize 20- and 30-somethings to force the government to get its financial house in order and stop "kicking the can." They're calling for, as the Simpson-Bowles Commission did, $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. I met the young man in the can costume, Ryan Schoenike, recently, and was curious as to why any young person would get off the couch, stop going to happy hours, and get involved in trying to solve the national debt. Are there others like him, I asked? There sure are, he said. I spoke with three of them this week.
The first, Katelyn Williams, was a freshman last year at Hofstra University when her roommate?a former valedictorian on a merit-based partial scholarship?decided that being a pre-med major was economically unsustainable. Given the looming changes to the healthcare industry and the bleak employment prospects for young people, making a good living as a doctor was going to be difficult. On top of that she would be saddled with a crushing debt: the years of student loans that she would accumulate through the end of medical school. The young woman switched to majoring in business management.
[Check out U.S. News Weekly, an insider's guide to politics and policy.]
Young people today face a tough job market, which will make paying back student loans even more difficult. Williams points to the website for The Can Kicks Back, which tells students that prolonged negotiation in Washington over the debt leads to uncertainty. "Uncertainty leads to fewer jobs; by some estimates the unemployment rate would be 2 to 3 percent lower if we had more certainty. That's between 3.1 million and 4.6 million more jobs." While other kids were decorating their dorm rooms, Williams created a Facebook page detailing the implications of the debt for each college major. After attending a Q&A session on campus with Alan Simpson and former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles, she joined The Can Kicks Back.
I spoke with Sean Bayley, a former Marine who is heading to Cal Poly in the fall to double-major in math and engineering. "I'm looking at the entire system and saying, this is not sustainable at all," he says. He sees the "insanity" of uncontrollable entitlement spending as well as the largest single defense budget on the planet. This week the Congressional Budget Office projected that in 10 years, if nothing changes, the debt will reach a whopping 77 percent of GDP. "You could likely raise our generation's tax rates to 100 percent and it still wouldn't cover the projected growth of government spending," Bayley speculates. "Reform is long overdue." After watching Simpson on The Daily Show, he signed up to join the cause too.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]
There's also Aaron Tucek, a sophomore at Emory University who is double-majoring in political science and economics and is planning to go to law school. Like many of his friends, he'll have to take on a lot of debt to continue his education. When those student loans are combined with a tough job market and higher taxes because of spiraling interest on the national debt, he gets pretty alarmed. "There simply isn't a future where this is going to go away by itself. We have to find ways to come together and actually solve the problem," he says.
The problem, Tucek notes, is that many "millennials" like him?young people born between 1980 and 2005, a generation bigger than the baby boomers?have been disgusted by the tone of politics and chosen to disengage. Bayley agrees: "We don't believe everything the Republicans on TV tell us. We don't believe everything the Democrats on TV tell us." I can't blame them.
While others were signing up for fraternity rush last year, Tucek was a campus leader for Americans Elect at Emory, then joined the movement to draft former U.S. comptroller general David Walker for president as an independent. Friends from both parties asked him to join The Can Kicks Back. He jumped right in.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]
Tucek remembers being a third-grader when the 9/11 attacks happened; our nation has been at war ever since. He says, "It feels as if, for the majority of my life so far, our country has lurched from crisis to crisis. And so, politics is really something I wanted to get involved in. I have an interest here. I want to make a difference." Bayley agrees: "The country isn't going to run itself. We need good people."
(Reuters) - Retailer J.C. Penney Co Inc increased its borrowing capacity under a bank credit facility by $100 million to $1.85 billion and expanded an option to borrow more at a later date, raising concerns among analysts as it works on a turnaround.
"As we enter the second year of our transformation, today's announcement reflects the confidence of our banking group in our long-term strategy and further strengthens our liquidity position as we continue to execute our plan," J.C. Penny Chief Financial Officer Ken Hannah said in a statement on Tuesday.
However, analysts expressed reservations about the move as it would increase the company's borrowing capacity from $1.75 billion to $2.25 billion.
The new arrangements included a $150 million increase in the credit facility's accordion feature to $400 million and a $250 million increase in an additional feature, analysts said. An accordion feature allows a borrower to expand a credit facility at a later date.
"The credit risk profile of (J.C. Penney) continues to escalate as the company potentially increases leverage to bring about a so far disappointing transformation strategy," BMO Capital Markets analyst Wayne Hood said in a client note.
There were no changes in credit terms or covenants, he said.
"These hurried actions are not indicative of a financially healthy company," said Carol Levenson, director of research, at Gimme Credit, an independent research service on corporate bonds.
The department store operator's existing credit agreement is the subject of a default claim by a group of bondholders.
J.C. Penney appeared to have taken extra measures to reassure its bank lenders, signing a "reaffirmation agreement" reiterating the guarantees and the grant of security interest under the credit agreement, Levenson said.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The arrangement of the credit facility was co-led by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Wells Fargo Capital Finance, J.C. Penny said.
Chief Executive Ron Johnson said last week the company would return to growth in 2013, despite severe sales declines in fiscal 2012.
Penney, which operates 1,100 department stores, began a turnaround a year ago that called for the elimination of most coupons and sales events. Long-term customers, trained for years to seek out discounts, balked at the new pricing strategy and reeled in purchases.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler, Andre Grenon and Richard Pullin)
Last fall there was a curious report from Fox Business Network that John Henry and the other Red Sox owners were exploring a sale of the team. Curious because, unlike a lot of these sorts of things, it was not met with silence or businesspeak denials. It was met with a pretty pointed and specific refutation by Red Sox owner John Henry.
Today Henry met the media down in Fort Myers and once again made it clear that the Red Sox were not for sale:
?You just don?t get an opportunity to own something like the Boston Red Sox. As long as we can do it, the three of us are committed to being here,? Henry told reporters, while acknowledging team president Larry Lucchino and chairman Tom Werner. ?These thoughts that we?re somehow selling, those are just not true.?
In an age when a baseball team can sell for $2 billion, it?d probably be irresponsible to not at least look around to see what your team is worth. But it doesn?t sound like Henry is at all interested in getting out of the baseball business.
Imagine Jack Lew (Treasury Secretary nominee)?or Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announcing a price target for the DOW or S&P500 ... that seems extremely unlikley.? But in Japan ...
From MarketWatch: Japan stocks rally on yen in post-holiday return
Japan stocks surged in early Tuesday trade, as investors returned from a three-day weekend to find the yen at yet another fresh multiyear low, with the Nikkei Stock Average jumping 2.5% to 11,432.29, and the Topix up 2%.
And from the Japan Times: Japan?s economic minister wants Nikkei to surge 17% to 13,000 by March
Economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari said Saturday the government will step up economic recovery efforts so that the benchmark Nikkei index jumps an additional 17 percent to 13,000 points by the end of March.
?It will be important to show our mettle and see the Nikkei reach the 13,000 mark by the end of the fiscal year (March 31),? Amari said in a speech.
The Nikkei 225 stock average, which last week climbed to its highest level since September 2008, finished at 11,153.16 on Friday.
?We want to continue taking (new) steps to help stock prices rise? further, Amari stressed ...
Felix Salmon likes the idea: When the finance minister targets stock prices
I like this move: it shows imagination, and the upside is much bigger than the downside. The worst that can happen is that it doesn?t work, and the stock market ends up doing what the stock market would have done anyway; the best that can happen is that it helps accelerate the broad recovery that everybody in Japan is hoping for this year.
What?s more, Amari is not the first policymaker to talk about targeting asset prices. Minneapolis Fed president Narayana Kocherlakota, for instance, said quite clearly in 2011 that stock prices ?are really going to be a central ingredient in the recovery process?, adding:
In this kind of post financial crisis, post net worth driven recession, it makes sense to be thinking about asset value as a way to try to generate more stimulus than you do in a typical recession.
In other words, don?t look to government spending for stimulus: Japan, of course, has learned that lesson the hard way. Instead, simply goose the stock market instead.
There are risks to this approach: if it works too well, you create a bubble ? and when a bubble bursts, that can hurt confidence much more than a rising stock market helped it. But for the time being, the Japanese stock market still looks cheap, both on an absolute basis and in terms of its p/e ratio. Now?s no time to worry about overheating. Instead, Japan?s fiscal and monetary policymakers are working together to try to make the country as bullish and successful as possible. I?d do the same thing, if I were them.
CR Note:?I don't think this is?a good policy idea ...??
Amex has extended its Twitter sync feature to enable customers who have synced their Amex account information with Twitter to also pay for certain products by tweeting purchase hashtags. Amex launched its original Twitter Sync feature last March -- to allow customers get discount deals by tweeting offer hashtags. Now the card company has gone a step further by integrating payment into Twitter.
Warning: this preview promo contains some potential plot spoilers
An extended preview trailer for Pixar's Monsters University has been released ? warning it contains plot spoilers.
In the trailer, which you can watch by scrolling down the page and clicking, director Dan Scanlon talks us through the main plot for the sequel to the successful 2001 hit animated film Monsters, Inc.
Set ten years before the original title, the film promises to investigate the relationship between Sulley (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal), and show viewers inside their life as they attend university.
Although the pair go on to be best friends ? this isn't a plot spoiler, we know that already from Monsters, Inc - they began their relationship as enemies, with both competing to earn a place in the scare programme.
However, after they both fail to gain entry to the prestigious scare programme, they must work together to find a way to gain acceptance. What follows is a college caper movie where new friendships are formed and enemies are made.
Monsters University arrives in UK cinemas on July 12.
Military families finally got their say before Congress about the injustice of losing autism benefits for their children when they retire, even when due to being wounded in action. More than 100 members of the military and their supporters jammed into a Capitol Hill briefing today to talk about the special difficulties military families face caring for children with autism.
Hosted by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Congressman John Larson of Connecticut, the briefing also provided military families an opportunity to explain how they lose autism benefits once they or their spouse leaves active duty because of the current operation of the military?s TRICARE insurance program. A bill now before Congress, the Caring for Military Kids with Autism Act (HR.2288), would right that wrong by assuring that members of the military, regardless of their duty status are covered?
Stuart Spielman, senior policy advisor and counsel for Autism Speaks, said many of the challenges faced by military families ?do not have simple solutions.? There are good and bad school districts for special education.? Moving from one place to another may mean going to the back of a waiting list for Medicaid or some other program.? With access to behavioral treatments like applied behavior analysis, however, there is something we can do right now,? he said, in urging support for HR.2288.
Military members and their spouses at the briefing spoke of the difficulties they face accessing care and sufficient treatments for their children while on active duty, and their fears of losing all autism benefits when they retire.
Rachel Kenyon, the wife of a Connecticut Army Reserve platoon sergeant, related how her husband learned that their daughter had been diagnosed with autism while he was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
??What does that mean?? he said. ?Please. Please tell me that she isn?t going to fall down the deep dark hole of autism.?? But I had no answers for him. I had no hope to offer.?
Jeremy Hilton, a Navy veteran whose wife serves in the Air Force, explained how frequent redeployments? and being stationed in areas with few available providers frustrated their efforts to provide care for their daughter.
Karen Driscoll, the wife of a Marine Corps helicopter pilot with 27 years of service, questioned how members of the military can focus on their mission when worried about uncertain care for their children with autism back home. ?Our family is in debt because of TRICARE limitations on ABA therapy,? she said. ?We are struggling. And my husband is a Colonel.?
Geri?Dawson, Ph.D., chief science officer for Autism Speaks, provided background?about autism, the rapid rise in prevalence and the special challenges faced by military families. ?Studies show that?families of children with autism experience high levels of stress. For military families, this is compounded by the stresses associated with their service. When one parent is on active duty, the other may be facing these responsibilities alone. When a parent returns from active duty, their families may have the additional challenges of a parent with service-related mental or physical health problems.?
Leading up the briefing, Autism Speaks reached out to the military community to submit their stories by video. You can watch these compelling stories below. In addition, many others posted their comments through Facebook or in reply to blogs.
?There is almost nothing more stressful than the combination of military life and a child with special needs,? said Melanie Pinto-Garcia.
Janice Allmann McGreevy, posted: ?The government needs to understand that our heroes are not automatons. They are subject to emotions. They need to be supported, and that means knowing that their families are not fighting nonsensical battles here at home.?
You can help our brave members of the military. Ask your Member of Congress to support the Caring for Military Kids with Autism Act here. To learn more about military families and autism, visit the Autism Votes Military page here. Read more about this issue from the Huffington Post.
Ask your Member of Congress to support the Caring for Military Kids with Autism Act?here. To learn more about military families and autism, visit the Autism Votes Military page?here.
HowAboutWe launched its Couples product all the way back in September, but as an online dating site catering to both singles and couples, the startup is toying with the best way to market both products simultaneously. That said, HowAboutWe has launched a new commercial alongside a new site landing page with options for both singles and couples. The company has been testing the landing page, which expands and offers more information on either product, for the past three weeks. The new unified experience will now spread more rapidly throughout the New York area as HowAboutWe begins its transition from a traditional dating site to a lifestyle brand for relationships in all stages.
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?Mustang Stampede? 1964: This one?s a classic. Not only does Ford take the time to trash its cross-town rivals at Chevrolet in the ad, but it also adds insult to injury by flaunting the Mustang?s status as the ?most successful new car ever introduced in America ? ever.?
Amex has extended its Twitter sync feature to enable customers who have synced their Amex account information with Twitter to also pay for certain products by tweeting purchase hashtags. Amex launched its original Twitter Sync feature last March -- to allow customers get discount deals by tweeting offer hashtags. Now the card company has gone a step further by integrating payment into Twitter.
Set ten years before the original title, the film promises to investigate the relationship between Sulley (John Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal), and show viewers inside their life as they attend university.