Indexes edge up as Fed slowdown fears ebb

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are ending slightly higher after a report of tepid U.S. economic growth raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus program.

The government lowered its estimate for growth in the first three months of the year to 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent.

Stocks slid last week on concerns that the Fed might slow its bond purchases.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 points to 15,324 Thursday, or 0.1 percent. The Dow was up 95 points in the afternoon, then faded in the last hour.

The Standard & Poor?s 500 rose six to 1,654, or 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq rose 23 points to 3,491.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.

Source: http://feeds.salon.com/salon/index

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K-Rod slams door on Braves for Brewers win

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:30 p.m. ET June 22, 2013

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Two months ago, Francisco Rodriguez was out of baseball, hoping for a chance to get back to the major leagues.

Given another opportunity by the Brewers in May, Rodriguez has made it pay off. He converted his sixth straight save Saturday - the 300th of his career - to help Milwaukee beat Atlanta Braves 2-0 for the second straight day.

Rodriguez went 2-7 with a 4.38 ERA during the 2012 season and was released by the Brewers.

"A lot of people thought that I was done, that I had retired," he said. "People forgot that I was just 31- years-old. In my career, just last year was a really bad year. I know what I am capable of doing."

Rodriguez gave up one of the Braves' four hits in becoming the 25th closer to reach the 300-save milestone. He was aided by a barehanded pickup and throw by shortstop Jean Segura to get leadoff hitter Jordan Shafer.

Andrelton Simmons then singled, but Rodriguez got Jason Heyward to line out and Freddie Freeman struck out. After the strikeout, Rodriguez pumped his fist and pointed to the sky.

Rodriguez, who began the season out of baseball, was signed by Milwaukee May 16. He has converted all six of his save opportunities and has not been scored upon in 15 of his 16 appearances.

"It feels great," Rodriguez said. "You have no idea how happy and excited I am. I have to continue working hard and hopefully play for many years to come."

Rodriguez said Segura's play to start the ninth inning was key to his success on Saturday.

"It was huge, especially with the score just 2-0," he said. "Now I can go out there and attack them and put them away. That play definitely changed the whole inning."

Donovan Hand, making his first big league start, allowed only two hits in 4 2-3 innings for Milwaukee. He struck out three and walked one in helping extend Atlanta's scoreless streak to 24 innings.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Hand did a great job for his first start.

"He really mixed his pitches and threw a lot of strikes," Roenicke said.

Hand, whose made eight relief appearances this year, said his goal was to pitch three or four innings.

"I felt great out there," he said. "I kept the ball out of the middle of the plate and gave my team a chance to win."

Burke Badenhop (1-3) entered after Hand walked Dan Uggla and got Chris Johnson to groundout to end the fifth.

Milwaukee has beaten Atlanta eight straight times at Miller Park, outscoring them 31-9.

Tim Hudson (4-7) lost his sixth straight decision, despite giving up just two runs and seven hits in six innings. He allowed RBI singles to Juan Francisco, in the fourth, and Aramis Ramirez, in the fifth inning.

The Braves have scored just 10 runs in Hudson's last nine starts. He has not won in those starts, his worst winless stretch of his career since an eight-start stretch in 2002.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Braves are not swinging the bat well.

"We're getting on base, but when we do hit the ball hard, it's at somebody or somebody makes a good play," he said. "I feel like, at any moment, some of the at-bats that you're seeing, at any moment you're going to turn that around."

Uggla paid tribute to Rodriguez after the game.

"He's got great stuff," he said. "He throws hard, got an awesome curveball and an awesome changeup and he throws strikes. He's done it for a long time."

NOTES: The Braves last run same in the third inning of their 4-3 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday. ... Brewers RHP Marco Estrada will make a rehab start Sunday at Class A Wisconsin. Estrada has been on the disabled list since June 5 with a strained left hamstring. ... Gonzalez said RHP Brandon Beachy would throw a bullpen session next week as he continues to try to come back from Tommy John surgery in June 2012. He felt tenderness in his pitching arm during his fifth minor league start June 13. ... Brewers OF Caleb Gindl's pinch-hit single in the sixth inning was his first major league hit. ... Brewers RHP Alfredo Figaro (1-1) will start in the series finale Sunday against Atlanta (LHP) Paul Maholm (7-6).

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Returning ... when?

CSN Washington: Bryce Harper wants to take his rehab slowly. The Nationals want him to speed things up. Who will win this battle of wits?

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/52285879/ns/sports-baseball/

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Take a Hypnotic Trip on Tokyo's Automatic Rails

You are not watching CGI. Despite the kaleidoscope of colors and shapes rising from the infinite horizon, this is all real footage of the 12-mile Yurikamome line in Tokyo. Hold onto your butts.

The visuals were captured by photographer Gundam Videographer from the front of the train using a mirror then cleaned up and vertically flipped later in Adobe Premiere. [Vimeo via Colossal]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/take-a-hypnotic-trip-on-tokyos-automatic-rails-534928768

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Google's Waze acquisition catches FTC's investigative eyes

Google officially acquired the crowd-sourced mapping and traffic app Waze earlier this month, but the $1.1 billion deal is hitting a last-minute jam. The search giant has confirmed with Reuters that the Federal Trade Commission recently opened an antitrust investigation into the purchase, even though Waze will mostly operate independently. According to the New York Post, Google didn't file a review with the FTC because Waze makes less than $70 million annually, which is below the bar for an "automatic review." Reuters notes that the FTC can put a magnifying glass to any closed deals at its discretion, namely to ensure there was no prior intent simply to stifle competition. These latest happenings might make for a temporary roadblock between the integration of certain data from Waze and Google, notes the Post -- assuming the deal indeed gets an okay from The Man. Either way, we'd imagine concessions will be made if needed, as Google's no stranger to these types of proceedings.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation, Software

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Source: Reuters, New York Post

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/VUW5-d13gZ8/

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From mobster to CIA boss, Gandolfini had range

Pop culture

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

8 minutes ago

Anthony Neste / AP

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano in an episode from the first season of "The Sopranos."

James Gandolfini, who died June 19 at the age of 51, reinvented the television anti-hero with his iconic portrayal of Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos."

He won three Emmys for playing the anxious mobster, but the New Jersey native was also acclaimed for his extraordinary resume as a character actor.

'The Sopranos'

Gandolfini became an unlikely sex symbol as the complex gangster patriarch, a caring family man and psychotherapy patient who could hug his daughter in one scene and beat a man to a bloody pulp in the next. Instead of being killed off in the polarizing series finale, the last scene simply faded to black as Soprano enjoyed a quiet dinner out with his family.

'True Romance'

One of the actor's breakthrough roles was as Virgil in Quentin Tarantino's 1993 film (directed by Tony Scott). No one who's seen "True Romance" can forget his wiseguy's savage beatdown of Patricia Arquette.

'Zero Dark Thirty'

Snap Stills / Rex Features

James Gandolfini in "Zero Dark Thirty."

Gandolfini shied away from the spotlight in the years following "The Sopranos" series finale, but he made a memorable appearance in the 2013 Oscar best picture nominee. In the film dramatizing the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Gandolfini commanded the screen as the unnamed CIA director based on Leon Panetta.

'The Mexican'

Gandolfini was also lauded for his portrayal of a gay hit man in the 2001 film starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.

"My business is surrounded by loneliness and finality," his character mused to his hostage (Roberts). "When people die, it's scary, and they go alone."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/mobster-cia-director-remembering-james-gandolfinis-great-roles-6C10387811

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Afghan Taliban say they killed 4 U.S. troops

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for an attack in Afghanistan that killed four American troops just hours after the insurgent group announced it would hold talks with the U.S. on finding a political solution to ending the nearly 12-year war in the country.

The deadly attack underscores the challenges ahead in trying to end the violence roiling Afghanistan through peace negotiations in Qatar with militants still fighting on the ground.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents fired two rockets into the Bagram Air Base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, late on Tuesday. American officials confirmed the base had come under attack by indirect fire ? likely a mortar or rocket ? and that four U.S. troops were killed.

The attack came as the Taliban opened a political office in the Qatari capital of Doha, and announced they were ready for peace talks. The decision was a reversal of months of failed efforts to start negotiations while Taliban militants intensified a campaign targeting urban centers and government installations across Afghanistan.

The Taliban announcement followed a milestone handover in Afghanistan earlier Tuesday as Afghan forces formally took the lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition for security nationwide. It marked a turning point for American and NATO military forces, which will now move entirely into a supporting role. It also opened the way for the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 18 months.

President Barack Obama cautioned that the peace talks with the Taliban would be neither quick nor easy but that their opening a political office in Doha was an "important first step toward reconciliation" between the Islamic militants and the government of Afghanistan.

In setting up the office, the Taliban said they were willing to use all legal means to end what they called the occupation of Afghanistan ? but did not say they would immediately stop fighting.

American officials said the U.S. and Taliban representatives will hold bilateral meetings in the coming days. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's High Peace Council is expected to follow up with its own talks with the Taliban a few days later.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-taliban-killed-4-us-troops-063613090.html

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Report: US adult smoking rate dips to 18 percent

ATLANTA (AP) ? Fewer U.S. adults are smoking, a new government report says.

Last year, about 18 percent of adults participating in a national health survey described themselves as current smokers.

The nation's smoking rate generally has been falling for decades, but had seemed to stall at around 20 to 21 percent for about seven years. In 2011, the rate fell to 19 percent, but that might have been a statistical blip.

Health officials are analyzing the 2012 findings and have not yet concluded why the rate dropped, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC released its study Tuesday.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. It's responsible for the majority of lung cancer deaths and is a deadly factor in heart attacks and a variety of other illnesses.

Concerned about the stalled smoking rate, the CDC launched a graphic advertising campaign last year that was the agency's largest and starkest anti-smoking push. The campaign triggered an increase of 200,000 calls to quit lines, and CDC officials said thousands of smokers probably went on to kick the habit. The CDC did a second wave of the ads earlier this year.

The new report is from a survey of about 35,000 U.S. adults. Current smokers were identified as those who said they had smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and now smoke every day or some days.

The rate was only 9 percent for people ages 65 and older, but about 20 percent for younger adults. More men than women described themselves as current smokers.

The report did not include teens. About 16 percent of high school students were smokers in 2011, according to an earlier CDC report.

Patrick Reynolds, executive director of the Foundation for a SmokeFree America, told The Associated Press that he was elated that the adult smoking rate, for years at about 20 percent, had dropped below that longstanding plateau.

He said factors he thinks have contributed to fewer adults smoking include rising state and federal tobacco taxes, more spending on prevention and cessation programs, and more laws banning smoking in public.

"This is a real decline in smoking in America. I'm ecstatic about it. It's proof that we are winning the battle against tobacco," he said by telephone from Los Angeles.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-us-adult-smoking-rate-dips-18-percent-044517830.html

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