Home sales hit five-year high, factories regain footing

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. home sales vaulted to a five-year high in June, while other data on Wednesday showed an acceleration in factory activity in July, boosting hopes of a third-quarter pick-up in economic growth.

Showing no signs yet of slowing in the face of higher mortgage rates, single-family home sales increased 8.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008, the Commerce Department said.

Economists, who had expected sales to advance only to a 482,000-unit rate, said buyers sitting on the fence had probably rushed into the market to lock in lower rates in anticipation of mortgage rates moving even higher.

"The recent increase in mortgage rates hasn't slowed demand as long as home affordability remains high," said Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans in Detroit. "We are, however, seeing an increased urgency from potential new home buyers as they move to secure today's historically low rates."

Though the government revised down sales from March through May by a total 38,000 units, the overall tone of the report was bullish. Compared with June last year, single-family home sales were up 38.1 percent, the largest increase since January 1992.

There had been worries that higher borrowing costs could crimp the housing market recovery after a report on Monday showed a surprise drop in home resales in June.

Mortgage rates have been rising in anticipation of the Federal Reserve starting to reduce its massive monetary stimulus later this year. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased 0.53 percentage point in June to 4.07 percent, its highest level since October 2011.

Still, mortgage rates, which edged lower last week, remain low by historical standards and economists, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, believe the fundamentals in the housing market are strong enough to withstand the rise in borrowing costs.

SUPPORT FOR FACTORIES

The strengthening housing market is lending support to manufacturing, which has been hit by deep federal government spending cuts and slowing global demand.

A rebound in new orders helped to lift factory activity to a four-month high in July. Financial data firm Markit's "flash," or preliminary, U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 53.2 this month from 51.9 in June.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the nation's factory sector. The acceleration in factory activity offered a hopeful sign for the economy, which has shifted into low gear amid tighter fiscal policy.

The economy is expected to have expanded at a rate below 1 percent in the second quarter, a sharp slowdown from the 1.8 percent pace recorded in the first three months of the year.

"The improvement in the July PMI suggests that the manufacturing sector has picked up a little momentum lately after a pretty soft second quarter," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.

While the inventory of new homes on the market last month increased to its highest level since August 2011, supply remains tight, putting upward pressure on prices. The median new home price increased 7.4 percent in June from a year ago.

Economists said the strong sales pace, which is keeping supply low, should spur builders to break ground on new projects and boost gross domestic product growth.

"We believe housing demand can continue to improve despite the fairly sharp increase in mortgage rates in recent months," said Michael Gapen, a senior economist at Barclays in New York.

"However, we would expect rising interest rates to pass through to housing activity with a lag, and we look to future reports to further assess the response of housing demand to higher mortgage rates."

At June's sales pace it would take 3.9 months to clear the houses on the market, down from 4.2 months in May. A supply of six months is normally considered a healthy balance between supply and demand.

Sales last month rose in three regions, rising to a five-year high in the South. They, however, fell 11.8 percent in the Midwest.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson in New York; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-sales-hit-five-high-prices-soar-140356638.html

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Judge delays enforcement of Alabama abortion law until 2014

By Verna Gates

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday delayed until next year the enforcement of Alabama's new abortion law, which tightens restrictions on providers and, according to opponents, could force the closing of more than half of the state's abortion clinics.

The law, signed by Republican Governor Robert Bentley in April, requires every doctor who performs an abortion at a clinic to have staff privileges at a local hospital and mandates the clinics meet the same facility standards as ambulatory care centers.

The law was set to go into effect on August 15.

Tuesday's order by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson delays the law until March 24, 2014, while the court moves forward on a lawsuit filed in June by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The delay comes as similar laws have been passed in a number of states.

A law in Mississippi threatens to close the state's sole abortion clinic, which has been unable to obtain hospital privileges for its physicians.

Nine states, including Alabama, have laws on the books requiring abortion clinics to conform to ambulatory care center standards, according to the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Supporters of the law argue it is intended to make abortions safer and improve patient care. But critics say the law will unnecessarily restrict a woman's right under the U.S. Constitution to have an abortion.

The lawsuit said the law will lead to the closure of three out of the state's five licensed health centers that provide abortions.

Most Alabama clinics hire out-of-town physicians to perform abortions and partner with local doctors who have hospital admitting privileges to provide follow-up care.

Doctors at the clinics are often unable to obtain staff privileges because local hospitals oppose abortion or they live too far from the area, the lawsuit said.

The law "would unconstitutionally restrict the ability of Alabama women, including victims of rape and incest, to access safe and legal abortions," said Wayne Sabel, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood Southeast.

State Representative Mary Sue McClurkin, a Republican who sponsored the legislation, said the law's aim was not to shut abortion clinics.

"I am surprised they are filing lawsuits instead of bringing the clinics up to code," she said when the suit was filed.

(Reporting by Verna Gates; Editing by Karen Brooks and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-delays-enforcement-alabama-abortion-law-until-2014-014233658.html

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Iran club coach resigns after attack

Mojtaba Taghavi has parted company with Mes Kerman less than two months into the job after fans attacked him during a training session

Mes Kerman coach Mojtaba Taghavi resigned days before Iran's new season kicked off having been attacked by supporters.

Taghavi and assistant Bijan Taheri were taking a practice session in preparation for the first game of the new campaign against Rah Ahan, when 30 to 40 fans attacked Taghavi, showing their unhappiness at his appointment.

Taghavi, 45, was unveiled as the coach of Mes Kerman on June 1 following a ninth-placed finish with Saipi last season.

The Iranian coach announced his resignation due to unsafe working conditions, lasting less than two months in charge of the club.

Source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/14/asia/2013/07/25/4142707/iran-club-coach-resigns-after-attack

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'Johnny Baseball' up next at Williamstown Theatre Festival

Tuesday July 23, 2013

WILLIAMSTOWN -- If there's one thing the collaborators behind the Red Sox musical "Johnny Baseball" know about, it's second chances.

When the musical debuts this week on the Williamstown Theatre Festival's Nikos Stage, playwright Richard Dresser and songwriting brothers Willie and Robert Reale, will be taking a second swing at presenting "Johnny Baseball" to the public -- an almost completely revamped version since its first run at the American Repertory Theatre (ART) in 2010.

?I think it's great to give ?Johnny Baseball' a second chance," WTF Artistic Director Jenny Gersten said during a recent press conference at the Williams Inn. "When it was done at the ART, it was a great first look at that musical, but as we all know, musicals take a great long while to figure out."

Billed as the "quintessential American musical," Johnny Baseball brings to life the "Curse of the Bambino" through the stories of three orphaned souls -- hard-luck 1919 Red Sox right-hander Johnny O'Brien; his idol, Babe Ruth, and Daisy Wyatt, a dazzling African-American blues singer. Their intertwining fates reveal the source of the curse and the secret to its triumphant end in 2004, while also examining social and racial undertones that have impacted the team throughout its history.

"We started talking about this musical in 2003 when Aaron Boone hit that cheap tragic home run ...," Dresser said. "My collaborators, both Yankee fans, called up not to gloat, but with this notion that maybe the team really was cursed. Then [the Red Sox] won in 2004. We felt we couldn't do this musical because there was no curse, but then we realized the Red Sox had given us the end of the show."

Since debuting in 2010, the musical has been through several workshop performances and numerous rewrites. Songs have been deleted, others added. Characters have been rewritten, roles expanded and themes softened.

"There were too many times in the script, where we were coming up boldly about racism. There were all these things that played a part in the production that we ultimately took out," Dresser said. "It's really a great thing to have another shot. There's six new songs. About 60 percent of the book is new. It has a completely new look and feel."

Director Gordon Greenberg, who recently joined the production, described it as "a really joyful collaboration" and "one of the most democratic, current and American new musicals I've worked on in a long time."

"It tells this wildly theatrical story, which is still rooted in what we all know and love: baseball and Massachusetts," he said. "Yet it stands for something much more bigger. It uses baseball as an allegory for America and it explores the causes of racism, the ideas of redemption and second chances, letting go, broadening your perspective -- all kinds of healthy, adult ideas -- but it comes in this juicy, joyful, sugary, fun package."

One of the most prevalent changes in the musical is the expansion and deeper look at the love story between Johnny O'Brien and Daisy, who's also been transformed from a wide-eyed country girl to a stronger version -- a woman intent on becoming something in a world that sees her as an outcast.

Actress De'Adre Aziza, who plays Daisy, said she fell in love with the character because of her strength and the women she represents -- women who rolled the dice and struck out on their own to follow their dreams.

"I won't call her a dreamer, but she has huge dreams. She is ambitious. In doing research, I found there were so many young black women in that time just trying to make a place in the world and figure out their place in society without really any laws to protect them," she said. "If you look at that time span -- post emancipation to that time period (1919), it's just one generation away -- they probably had parents coming from very unfortunate circumstances. But it was that idea of possibility and potential [that motivated them]."

The Essentials

"Johnny Baseball"

Book by Richard Dresser

Music by Robert Reale

Lyrics by Willie Real

Directed by Gordon Greenberg

Cast: De'Adre Aziza, James Snyder, Tom McGowan, Brooks Ashmanskas, Joe Cassidy, Derrik Baskin, Allan H. Green, Rodger Robinson, Kelly Karbacz, Andrew Kober, Rebecca LaChance, Kyle Cameron, Molliann McCully

When: July 24 to Aug. 3

Where: Nikos Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival

Tickets: $55; Purchase by phone: 413-597-3400; online at wtfestival.org or at the Box Office at the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance, 1000 Main St., Williamstown

Source: http://www.thetranscript.com/ci_23712144/rsquo-johnny-baseball-rsquo-is-up-next-at?source=rss_viewed

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SwiftKey Cloud syncs your keyboard profile, includes trending phrases (video)

Here's something we've all been wanting for some time. SwiftKey Cloud is launching today with a bunch of new functionality including -- you guessed it -- cloud backup and synchronization across multiple devices. By keeping your keyboard profile and settings online, you no longer have to re-teach Swiftkey your typing habits if you upgrade to a new tablet or lose your phone. Trending phrases is another new feature which analyzes relevant and localized phrases that are trending on social networks and other media and adds them daily to the keyboard's vocabulary. It supports US / UK English and eleven other languages at launch, with more coming in the future. Finally, SwiftKey Cloud makes its easier than before to personalize your keyboard by connecting it with your GMail, Facebook, Twitter and now Yahoo! mail accounts. We've been using the beta for about a day now and everything's working as advertised. Check out the gallery below, then it the break for the promo video and PR.

Gallery: SwiftKey Cloud

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

Comments

Source: Play Store

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dG1CpobhvQA/

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The Most Powerful Advocacy Tool For People With Disabilities

By Anita Cameron, The Mobility Resource

There are several tools that, as advocates and activists, we use to be effective in our work. Most of us tend to use what I refer to as the ?nice? tools ?- letter writing, meetings, action alerts and ?- quite often ?- policymaking, which is crafting public policy or legislation to address or resolve an issue.

In fact, in the disability advocacy world, policymaking is a favorite tool, as it is considered ?safe." It is used almost exclusively by the large ?mainstream? disability organizations. Some even offer training on policymaking for their employees and other disability rights advocates.

Advocacy and policy training are great and necessary but there is a tool in the toolbox glaring all in the face, yet the advocacy and policy types don?t want to discuss or utilize it -- it?s called direct action.

What is direct action?

It?s what activists call ?taking it to the streets? and can include marches, vigils, protests and civil disobedience.

All the civil rights that we enjoy today were gained by direct action, then, the policy stuff came into play.

Read more from The Mobility Resource: Special Needs Parents On Grieving The Imagined Child

Hundreds, even thousands of people, including children, marched, protested and were jailed fighting for civil rights for African Americans. Some people even gave their lives. Many, many suffragettes were beaten and dragged to jail for fighting for the right to vote.

In the arena of disability rights, every major piece of disability legislation or rules were gained by direct action by grassroots groups and movements.

There are veteran disability rights activists who participated in the 504 actions and sit-ins demanding that children with disabilities have the right to an education. I was a small child back then, but it had a direct effect on my life ?- I was not only able to attend school, I was mainstreamed, meaning I was able to be in regular classes in an ordinary elementary school, rather than a segregated ?special school.? ADAPT, the national, grassroots, disability rights group that I have been a member of for 27 years of its 30-year existence, is well known for nonviolent civil disobedience that often results in arrests.

Being nice has its place. Meetings have their place. Policy discussions are definitely important and there are times for those, as well.

There comes a time, however, when advocates must realize that they?re being strung along, bamboozled, screwed or when an opponent simply says no. That?s where direct action comes in.

When, during a meeting at the White House, President Obama told ADAPT members ?no? to including provisions for long term care in the Affordable Care Act, we didn?t shrug our shoulders, hang our heads and go home to pray. We walked out of that meeting and 99 of us chained ourselves to the White House gate and were arrested. That eventually led to the inclusion of the Community First Choice Option in Obamacare.

Direct action isn?t for everyone or for every group. Some groups, due to their funding sources, particularly if they receive federal funding, cannot engage in such activities.

I also understand that direct action isn?t always warranted; it, too, has its place and time, and doesn?t always have to include civil disobedience or arrests.

Avoiding direct action simply because ?it?s not nice," "our reputation will be ruined,? or ?that is so pass?? only serves to perpetuate the status quo.

Even though fear of retaliation is a very valid concern, that fear cannot stop a group; that is what the opponent wants. Direct action, when used correctly, can be a powerful and effective tool in the advocacy and activist toolbox, particularly when all of the ?nice? measures have been tried, to no avail. Even if it isn?t used eventually, it should be part of advocacy training as a viable option.

My point is this: One cannot talk about the sacrifices of advocates in our movement and community without acknowledging the work of those of us who went all the way and went to jail for our resolve, for fighting for the rights of people with disabilities. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the policy folks in our community DON?T want to do. They forget that our civil rights were not gained by policy, alone, but by a combination of advocacy tools, most notably (and dramatically), direct action.

Besides, at least in ADAPT the strongest, fire-in-the-belly activists can make excellent policy folks. I know ?- I?m one.

This post originally appeared on The Mobility Resource blog.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/direct-action-disability-rights_n_3636511.html

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VINCENT BONSIGNORE: Dallas Cowboys are California dreaming

,

OXNARD -- The pleasant 65-degree weather Sunday in this coastal Ventura County city was a distinct tipoff the Cowboys were no longer in Dallas.

And considering the scorching 93 degrees most of Texas was sweating through back home - with 43 percent humidity - that was a good thing.

As for the hundreds upon hundreds of fans decked out in Cowboys gear screaming their favorite players' names through most of a late afternoon practice, well, that was Dallas through and through.

In other words, you can take the Cowboys out of Texas but that won't stop their legion of fans from following them wherever they end up.

On Sunday - and for the next six weeks or so - that would be Oxnard, California, the Cowboys' on-again, off-again summer training camp home.

And a cooler, more agreeable home it is, the players soaking in the delightful conditions as they took their first step on a journey they hope will deliver them to the postseason for the first time in three seasons.

Rather than withering in the steamy conditions back home in Texas.

"It was a great start," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. "I think our football team took some steps to get better. I think they did that during the offseason, so I'm excited about the way the day went and what we're doing to get better."

The Cowboys returned to Oxnard for the eighth time since 2001 in search of a launching pad more conducive to building a championship team, the hope being the better weather results in

better work habits resulting in a team better prepared to navigate its way back to the playoffs.

Somewhere Dallas hasn't been since 2009.

Three years without a postseason appearance doesn't go over very well in Dallas, most notably the big office occupied by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at the club's Valley Ranch headquarters.

Presumably, a fourth straight season out of the playoffs will put head coach Jason Garrett in imminent danger of losing his job, although Jones downplayed any of that talk as his club prepared to kick off training camp.

"Everything I'm thinking about is not only about how to beat the Giants when we open up (the season), but also about what our future is in a plus manner or in a positive way with Jason," Jones said. "I look to the future with Jason, not just through his contract that we're sitting here with right now. I think he has a couple of years left on his contract, but that's not a thought.

"It is not what is implied when you say, 'This is an Armageddon year for him.' It's not that with me."

Read what you want into that, but it sure sounds like the dreaded vote of confidence to me.

And with Jones working on his seventh coach over his 24 years owning the Cowboys, it's obvious he has a tendency to quickly run out of patience if things are operating at an optimal level - optimal being the Cowboys consistently knocking on the door of the Super Bowl.

Still, Jones went out of his way to reduce the heat to the seat on which Garrett sits, pointing out Garrett's strong relationship with Romo and the role Garrett's played in Romo's development iinitially as an assistant and now the head coach.

"He's been directly involved in the coaching of Romo for six years. When he got here, Romo had never had the same guy two years in a row. We've got to take advantage of that. His safety-net presence for what we're doing not only as a team but on offense is a big part of the plan. It gives us a real advantage. "Romo has the kind of skills, by everyone that has ever been around him, to do what we're asking him to do. I don't mind telling you, it'd be tough to go there if you didn't have Jason who has been involved and right there as quote, if you will, 'the safety net' as to how we're going to not only put the team together, but what we're doing offensively, make no mistake about it.

"To answer your question specifically, one of the neatest things about not only this year but a positive about this year is that, if you're in close here, you see how Jason is responding to obviously unsatisfactory times. And I can tell you firsthand that's impressive, so I like that looking ahead at the future. It is very good."

Perhaps, but that didn't prevent sweeping changes on the coaching staff this year as Garrett and Jones try to strike the perfect balance, the most notable change Garrett relinquishing play calling duties in favor of taking a more broader role in the running of the team. Garrett, who has called plays for the Cowboys since 2007, is handing the job over to former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan.

"It'll just give you a practical opportunity to kind of step away from the offense a little bit," Garrett said. "I made a very conscious effort over the last couple of years to coach the whole football team. I spent time with the defensive guys on their side of the practice field. I spent a lot of time in the defensive meetings and the special teams meetings. I've always done that.

But just the mechanics of someone else calling the actual plays allows me to maybe take a different view of it. So you'll see that on the practice field. That's how we operated all throughout the offseason in our OTAs and our mini-camp, and it worked very smoothly for us, and we'll continue to do that."

As for Romo, he was cleared for full practice Sunday after having a cyst removed from his back last April. Sunday also marked his first practice after signing an eight-year, $108 million contract that includes $55 million in guaranteed money.

That's an enormous amount of money invested in a quarterback that hasn't won a playoff game - and it's more than Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco got from the Baltimore Raven last offseason.

But the Cowboys are clearly comfortable with hitching their wagon to Romo, and step one was getting through the initial practice with a clean bill of health.

"I feel good," Romo said. "I've been running and throwing and doing all of that stuff. But I was excited about getting out here. Honestly, just the smell of the grass of a football field is a great feeling. You never want to take that for granted."

The Cowboys aren't taking anything for granted these days. Three seasons out of the playoffs will do that to a team. Vincent.bonsignore@dailynews.com @DailyNewsVinny

Source: http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_23703432/vincent-bonsignore-dallas-cowboys-are-california-dreaming?source=rss

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