Stocks surge on European debt deal; Dow gains 339 (AP)

NEW YORK ? The Dow Jones industrial average surged nearly 340 points Thursday after European leaders agreed on a deal to slash Greece's debt load and prevent the crisis there from engulfing larger countries like Italy. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is close to having its best month since 1974.

Commodities and Treasury yields soared as investors took on more risk. The euro rose sharply against the dollar.

Europe's sweeping agreement, reached after an all-night summit meeting, is aimed at preventing the Greek government's inability to pay its debt from escalating into another financial crisis like the one that happened in September 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds they hold. Europe will also strengthen a financial rescue fund to protect the region's banks and other struggling European countries such as Italy and Portugal.

"This seems to set aside the worries that there would be a massive contagion over there that would have brought everything down with it," said Mark Lamkin, head of Lamkin Wealth Management.

Stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings also drove markets higher. The government reported Thursday that the economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 339.51 points, or 2.9 percent, to 12,208.55. All 30 stocks in the Dow rose, led by Bank of America Corp. with a 9.6 percent gain. It was the first time the Dow closed above 12,000 since Aug. 1

The Dow is up 11.9 percent for the month so far. With only two full days of trading left in October, the Dow could have its biggest monthly gain since January 1987. The Dow's jump was its largest since Aug. 11th, when it rose 423.

The S&P 500 rose 42.59, or 3.7 percent, to 1,284.59. The gain turned the S&P positive for the year for the first time since Aug. 3, just before the U.S. government's debt was downgraded. The index is up 13.5 percent for the month, its best performance since a 16.3 percent gain in October 1974.

The Dow and S&P have both fallen for the previous five months.

The Nasdaq composite jumped 87.96, or 3.3 percent, to 2,738.63.

Small company stocks rose more than the broader market. That's a sign investors were more comfortable holding assets perceived as being risky but also more likely to appreciate in a strong economy. The Russell 2000 index jumped 5.3 percent.

Raw materials producers, banks and stocks in other industries that depend on a strong economy for profit growth led the way. Copper jumped 5.8 percent to $3.69 a pound and crude oil jumped 4.2 percent to $93.96 a barrel.

The euro rose sharply, to $1.42, as confidence in Europe's financial system grew. The euro was worth $1.39 late Wednesday and had been as low as $1.32 on Oct. 3. European stock indexes also soared. France's CAC-40 rose 6.3 percent and Germany's DAX jumped 6.1 percent.

Investors sold U.S. Treasury notes and bonds, an indication they were moving away from safer investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose to 2.38 percent from 2.21 percent late Wednesday.

European leaders still have to finalize the details of their latest plan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao amid hopes that countries with lots of cash like China can contribute to the European rescue.

Past attempts to contain Europe's two-year debt crisis have proved insufficient. Greece has been surviving on rescue loans since May 2010. In July, creditors agreed to take some losses on their Greek bonds, but that wasn't enough to fix the problem.

Some analysts cautioned that Europe's problems remained unsolved. "The market keeps on thinking that it's put Europe's problems to bed, but it's like putting a three-year old to bed: you might put it there but it won't stay there," said David Kelley, chief market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. Kelly said that Europe's debt problems will remain an issue until the economies of struggling nations like Greece and Portugal grow again.

Worries about Europe's debt crisis and a weak U.S. economy dragged the S&P 500 down 19.4 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3. That put it on the cusp of what's called a bear market, which is a 20 percent decline.

Since then, there have been a number of more encouraging signs on the U.S. economy. Despite the jitters over Europe, many large U.S. companies have been reporting strong profit growth in the third quarter.

Dow Chemical rose 8.2 percent after its profit last quarter rose 59 percent on strong sales growth from Latin America. Occidental Petroleum Corp. jumped 9.7 percent after reporting a 50 percent surge in income.

Citrix Systems Inc. rose 17.3 percent. The technology company's revenue rose 20 percent last quarter, and it forecast growth of up to 13 percent for 2012. Akamai Technologies Inc., whose products help speed the delivery of online content, jumped 15.4 percent after the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

Avon Products Inc. fell 18 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its contacts with financial analysts and Avon's own probe into bribery in China and other countries.

Nine stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy at 6.5 billion shares.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Betcha won't eat just one: Study shows people consume more candies when they're indivdually wrapped

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
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Contact: Jamie Hanlon
jamie.hanlon@ualberta.ca
780-492-9214
University of Alberta

If you believe that good things always come in small packages, University of Alberta researcher Jennifer Argo's new study may change your mind -- especially this close to Halloween.

In an article forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, Argo explores how our consumption behaviours change when it comes to treats like chocolates and candies are placed in smaller packages. She says that people eat more of a product when it is placed in small packages rather that a regular-sized packages.

However, she said, those with low-appearance self-esteem -- the term researchers use to describe people who are concerned about their body, weight or physical appearance -- tend to consume more than the average population, especially when certain conditions seemed favourable.

"The low-appearance self-esteem people ate the most when they were told that the caloric information was favourable (low in calories), when the caloric information was on the front of the package and when the product was visible (clear packaging)," said Argo. "People in the high-appearance self-esteem category -- those who did not indicate concerns about weight or physical appearance -- still ate more, but there was a big jump in the consumption quantity for [those with low self-esteem]."

Giving in to the dark chocolate side

Argo says that information contained on the packages in the study samples did have an effect on the low-appearance self-esteem participants. This group tended to eat less when the product wasn't visible, the caloric information was missing or they believed there were more calories in the small packages than what they expected.

She said elements such as a visible product and content labeling information served as cues to the group's susceptibility, which Argo noted gave this group a false sense of belief that the package would help them manage consumption and help them achieve potential weight-management goals. While this might be true if only a single small package is present, Argo says that, in reality, small packaged goods are often sold in multiples and her study showed that these helpful, small packages are detrimental to consumers' waistlines.

"These consumers are basically saying, 'this package is going to protect me; it's going to help me achieve my goal,' and so they relinquish control to the package," she said. "They throw up their hands and say, 'I don't have to worry because the package is taking care of everything for me.' As soon as they've given up initial control, they have no control to deal with that next package that's presented to them."

Self-defense against small packages

Argo says that buying the regular-sized packages of these types of snacks and exercising portion control will not only reduce calories, but also save money as well, although she says that some people may still opt to buy the small packages out of convenience. For this group, she counsels that they retake control and limit the number of packages they take out at any one time. And especially with the seductive call of leftover Halloween candies around the corner, Argo says the old adage of "watch what you eat" may not be a bad idea.

"Relinquishing control to small packages is "a very cognitive process; people are purposefully doing this," she said. "(In the study) we found that if we interrupt the participants, if we distracted them with a task, they don't fall prey (to overeating).

"When it's a small package, distractions are actually beneficial in some respects."

###



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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jamie Hanlon
jamie.hanlon@ualberta.ca
780-492-9214
University of Alberta

If you believe that good things always come in small packages, University of Alberta researcher Jennifer Argo's new study may change your mind -- especially this close to Halloween.

In an article forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, Argo explores how our consumption behaviours change when it comes to treats like chocolates and candies are placed in smaller packages. She says that people eat more of a product when it is placed in small packages rather that a regular-sized packages.

However, she said, those with low-appearance self-esteem -- the term researchers use to describe people who are concerned about their body, weight or physical appearance -- tend to consume more than the average population, especially when certain conditions seemed favourable.

"The low-appearance self-esteem people ate the most when they were told that the caloric information was favourable (low in calories), when the caloric information was on the front of the package and when the product was visible (clear packaging)," said Argo. "People in the high-appearance self-esteem category -- those who did not indicate concerns about weight or physical appearance -- still ate more, but there was a big jump in the consumption quantity for [those with low self-esteem]."

Giving in to the dark chocolate side

Argo says that information contained on the packages in the study samples did have an effect on the low-appearance self-esteem participants. This group tended to eat less when the product wasn't visible, the caloric information was missing or they believed there were more calories in the small packages than what they expected.

She said elements such as a visible product and content labeling information served as cues to the group's susceptibility, which Argo noted gave this group a false sense of belief that the package would help them manage consumption and help them achieve potential weight-management goals. While this might be true if only a single small package is present, Argo says that, in reality, small packaged goods are often sold in multiples and her study showed that these helpful, small packages are detrimental to consumers' waistlines.

"These consumers are basically saying, 'this package is going to protect me; it's going to help me achieve my goal,' and so they relinquish control to the package," she said. "They throw up their hands and say, 'I don't have to worry because the package is taking care of everything for me.' As soon as they've given up initial control, they have no control to deal with that next package that's presented to them."

Self-defense against small packages

Argo says that buying the regular-sized packages of these types of snacks and exercising portion control will not only reduce calories, but also save money as well, although she says that some people may still opt to buy the small packages out of convenience. For this group, she counsels that they retake control and limit the number of packages they take out at any one time. And especially with the seductive call of leftover Halloween candies around the corner, Argo says the old adage of "watch what you eat" may not be a bad idea.

"Relinquishing control to small packages is "a very cognitive process; people are purposefully doing this," she said. "(In the study) we found that if we interrupt the participants, if we distracted them with a task, they don't fall prey (to overeating).

"When it's a small package, distractions are actually beneficial in some respects."

###



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?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/uoa-bwe102611.php

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Electric DeLorean DMC-12 prototype goes round and round (and round) in test drive video

It's already clear that you're selling everything you own in an effort to purchase a 2013 DeLorean DMC-12 EV (and in turn, apply for a home tax deduction when you begin to live out of it), but what hasn't been clear is exactly how it'd perform on the wide open road. Truthfully, we still aren't entirely certain of that, but thanks to a raucous new video of a prototype on the track, we do know that it looks like the most (PG) fun you can have while sitting atop four wheels. We aren't going to hold you here any longer -- hop on past the break and mash play. 60mph in 4.9. 88mph in however long you want.

Continue reading Electric DeLorean DMC-12 prototype goes round and round (and round) in test drive video

Electric DeLorean DMC-12 prototype goes round and round (and round) in test drive video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/electric-delorean-dmc-12-prototype-goes-round-and-round-and-rou/

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Stocks fall as hopes for Europe debt deal falter (AP)

NEW YORK ? Lower corporate earnings and reports that a key meeting between European financial ministers had been cancelled pulled stocks lower Tuesday. Assets that tend to hold their value in a weak economy like U.S. government debt and gold rose.

The Dow Jones industrial lost 75 points in midday trading after several poor earnings reports from major U.S. companies. Manufacturing conglomerate 3M cut its 2011 earnings forecast, and U.S. Steel warned that demand for its products could slow. Netflix Inc. plunged 36 percent after the company cut its profit forecast and said it is losing subscribers following a price increase in July.

The market was also pulled lower by a report that consumer confidence plunged in October to the lowest level since March 2009. The Conference Board index measures how shoppers feel about business conditions, the job market and their outlook for the next six months.

The Dow fell 0.6 percent to 11,837. 3M fell 5.3 percent, the largest drop among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow average.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11, or 0.8 percent, to 1,243. The Nasdaq dropped 27, or 1 percent, to 2,671.

Prices for assets perceived to be safe havens rose. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 2.18 percent from 2.23 percent late Monday. Bond yields fall when investors send their prices higher. Gold rose 3 percent.

The latest headlines from Europe cast doubt over whether leaders there can agree on a comprehensive solution for the region's debt crisis in time for a summit Wednesday. Europe's ongoing debt crisis has been behind much of the market's big moves lately.

European officials are working to patch together a plan that will prevent banks from taking huge losses if the Greek government defaults on its bonds. A messy default could lead to a credit freeze-up similar to the one in 2008 following the fall of Lehman Brothers.

United States Steel Corp. dropped 7 percent after the nation's largest steelmaker warned that demand for some of its products could decline in the final three months of the year if the economy slows down more.

Delta Air Lines Inc. slumped 2.5 percent after the airline reported results that missed Wall Street's expectations. Delta cut its flights 1 percent in the most recent quarter and said it would cut as much as another 5 percent during the last three months of this year.

United Parcel Service fell 1.5 percent after the company said its growth in Asia was slowing.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Official convicted in West Virginia mine disaster

(AP) ? The former head of security at a West Virginia mine was convicted Wednesday of impeding the investigation into a 2010 explosion that killed 29 men.

A federal jury in Beckley found 60-year-old Hughie Elbert Stover guilty of lying to investigators and disposing of thousands of security-related documents following the explosion. He was the first person criminally prosecuted in the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in decades.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday morning after hearing two days of testimony in which prosecutors painted Stover as an obstructionist and defense attorneys claimed he was a scapegoat.

He remains free pending a Feb. 29 sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments Wednesday that Stover misled investigators following the disaster and then sought to throw out thousands of security-related records, perhaps to protect himself.

"There's too much at stake here," Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ellis argued, while urging the eight men and four women on the jury to "send a message that this investigation ought to be allowed to go forward."

Stover's defense portrayed the former Marine and law enforcement officer as a victim of the government's zeal to blame someone for the deadly explosion.

"You wanted justice, and this is who they brought you," defense lawyer William Wilmoth said during his closing argument in the trial that began Monday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Blaire Malkin had earlier reminded jurors of testimony from others at the Raleigh County underground mine. These witnesses alleged that Stover instructed mine guards to send out alerts by radio whenever inspectors entered the property. Such a practice is illegal. One of the criminal charges alleges Stover denied in a November 2010 interview with investigators that there were any advance warnings at the mine.

"This so-called by-the-book guy had his own playbook and terminology," Malkin said.

The other count alleges that Stover sought to destroy the documents the following January, by ordering a subordinate to bag and then throw them into an on-site trash compactor. Ellis suggested to jurors Wednesday that those records would prove that Stover had lied about inspection tip-offs. The attempted disposal also violated repeated warning from the mine's then-owner, Massey Energy, to keep all records while the disaster remained under investigation. Massey officials told investigators of the trashed documents, which were recovered.

Wilmoth attributed Stover's November statements to confusion over evolving policies at the mine, run by Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co. As for the document disposal, Stover had called that the "stupidest, worst mistake" of his life when he testified Tuesday in his defense.

Questioning criminal intent, Wilmoth said Stover could have burned, shredded or otherwise destroyed the records himself, instead of delegating the task of throwing them out to a subordinate during daylight hours and in front of a security camera. Prosecutors said the documents were dumped around 6 a.m., and after being placed in trash bags. Hauling them out in their cardboard storage boxes would have drawn notice, as would Stover performing the deed himself, prosecutors argued.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-26-Mine%20Explosion-Trial/id-b450da69f56a444a802bf83c77f2dfb8

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Analysis: Japan governance debate mute despite Olympus, for now (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese media interest has been muted, regulators are mostly mum and many politicians seem unaware that anything is amiss.

A scandal over questionable deals at Japan's Olympus Corp has so far generated little domestic heat in a country where critics say corporate governance is lax, but signs are emerging that the wall of indifference might crack.

Olympus fired its British chief executive Michael Woodford on October 14, charging that he had failed to understand the 92-year-old firm's management style and Japanese culture.

Woodford -- who joined the company in 1980 -- says he was sacked for questioning a massive advisory fee paid in a 2008 takeover as well as other deals.

"The implications for investor confidence in corporate governance in Japan are pretty severe," said Jamie Allen, secretary general of the Hong Kong-based Asian Corporate Governance Association.

"What would be positive is if Olympus fronted up ... and the regulators actually took some tough action. I think regulators can turn it around. Whether they will is another matter."

A niche Japanese business monthly magazine broke the story of possible misdeeds at Olympus, a maker of cameras and medical equipment, but mainstream media have been slow to take it up even after Woodford was fired.

Explanations of the initial laid-back response range from cozy ties between media and corporate Japan, a tendency to await official leaks rather than dig and even fears that yakuza crime syndicates are somehow involved.

Signals that the tide might change, however, have begun to trickle out, following a pattern seen in the past when a domestic magazine unearths dubious deeds, foreign media pick up the tale and mainstream Japanese media finally jump in.

Asahi TV and the Nikkei Business magazine ran interviews with Woodford on Wednesday, and the mass circulation Mainichi newspaper, noting the many puzzling aspects to the case, called on Olympus to clarify the facts while urging regulators to take strict steps.

"This is a situation that is likely to hurt the image of Japanese firms," the paper said, noting the high level of interest among foreign media. That followed a similar editorial in the Nikkei business daily the day before.

"MEASURED" REGULATORY RESPONSE

What action authorities take will be key to whether investors' broader concerns are soothed.

"Companies make mistakes and corruption occurs. It's the response that matters," said Pelham Smithers, managing director of Pelham Smithers Associates in London.

"So far the response has been measured ... there is nothing wrong with taking time for a conclusion to be reached," Smithers said. But he added: "If the details of this continue to be covered up so that investors cannot make a rational decision about investing in Japanese companies, then we have a problem."

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) said on Monday it was urging Olympus daily to disclose more information and Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi has said the watchdog would do its duty. In a heads-up to investors, the TSE said on Wednesday it had begun publishing short-selling data.

Woodford has written to Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) asking it to look into the matter although the SESC -- like Britain's Serious Fraud Office which the ex-CEO has also approached -- has not commented publicly.

Woodford said on Tuesday he was in touch with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the advisory fee, most of which went to an obscure Cayman Islands firm.

Experts said more was doubtless afoot in Japan than met the eye. "I expect that authorities internationally will coordinate," said Shin Ushijima, a prosecutor-turned-lawyer.

"I don't mean that something illegal must have been done, but the authorities will be interested in finding out ... Authorities including the SESC must definitely be interested. It is impossible that they are not."

GOVERNANCE GAPS

The Olympus scandal could re-ignite debate on what critics say is a deep-seated weakness of Japanese management -- a lack of strong independent oversight of boards that risks inefficient use of capital and gives shareholders' rights short shrift.

"You don't have to have fraud to have a corporate governance problem. The bigger problem is the lack of transparency on how the board is making decisions," Allen said.

"The lack of outside independent directors is simply a symptom of the underlying issue that companies are run by a tight group of people who have been in the company for decades."

That mind-set was also a factor behind a failure by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) to take steps to prevent disaster at its tsunami-hit Fukushima atomic power plant in March.

A review of company and regulatory records has shown that the utility as well as the government repeatedly played down the danger and ignored warnings.

"The public ought to be screaming out loud that this (Fukushima) is a governance problem. It was a failure of oversight," said Nicholas Benes, representative director of the Board of Director Training Institute of Japan.

Despite some improvements over the past decade, including a requirement by the TSE from this year that all companies have at least one independent director or auditor, many companies still appear unconvinced of the need for strong outside oversight.

"Companies themselves have been dragged into it. They haven't bought into it," said Darrel Whitten, managing director at Investor Networks Inc, an investor relations consultancy.

"The playing field has shifted ... but corporations haven't been able to keep up with the shifts.

Japanese institutional investors have long been criticized for not pressing management, although here too change is under way as more institutions seek good returns rather than simply buying shares to cement strategic business ties.

Nippon Life, Japan's largest private insurer and Olympus's biggest shareholder, last week joined foreign investors in calling for answers from Olympus, prompting the firm to announce it would set up an independent panel to investigate.

But many domestic institutions still tend toward silence on matters of corporate governance.

"Japanese institutional investors are not standing up and asking vocally for changes because in many cases they are conflicted," Benes said. "They come from a background of cross-shareholding and it's tied to their DNA not to rock the boat."

DISTRACTED POLITICIANS

In some ways, corporate governance would appear a tailor-made topic for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which had pledged to take steps to foster better governance in its platform ahead of the 2009 election that vaulted it to power.

Senior Democratic lawmaker Tsutomu Okubo sounded the alarm on Tuesday, urging Olympus to provide an explanation and regulators to probe the affair to prevent investors from losing confidence in the company and corporate Japan.

"There's a possibility that Japanese companies will be perceived as lacking corporate governance, so to prevent that from happening we need to re-examine our systems," Okubo, the Democratic Party's deputy policy chief, told Reuters.

But efforts by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who took office last month, to repair ties with the main business lobby Keidanren, which frayed under his predecessor Naoto Kan, could work against any efforts to put fire into the governance debate.

"The attempt to reconcile with Keidanren puts the DPJ on the wrong footing when they deal with issues like this," said Sophia University political science professor Koichi Nakano.

"They don't want to come across as anti-business unless public opinion, led by media, pushes in that direction."

With politicians distracted by other policy problems including whether to join talks on a U.S.-led free trade initiative, how to combat a strong yen that is hurting exports and the need to tackle social security and tax reforms, they may not have much scope to take on another headache now.

"I don't see this spreading as an issue for now," said one political source. "Of course, that could change if Japanese TV broadcasters take up the case."

(Editing by Dean Yates)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111026/bs_nm/us_olympus_governance

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UK brains are under threat

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
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Contact: Pressoffice
Pressoffice@esrc.ac.uk
Economic & Social Research Council

The British appetite for zombies is becoming a growing trend. From computer games and films to organised zombie walks though Britain's cities, the proliferation of zombies seems to be everywhere. Yet, this high interest in zombies enables researchers to link zombie-like behaviours to current models of public attitudes and actions.

Researcher Dr Nick Pearce will present findings from his new study of Britain's zombie phenomenon at an event organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Festival of Social Science 2011. The event will be an interactive talk on the metaphor of the zombie in everyday life, followed by a screening of the first ever zombie film, White Zombie (1932).

"Zombies are very now," Dr Pearce points out, "but what's really interesting and potentially worrying is how far today's zombies - whether on TV, films or computer games have departed from the original concept."

Early zombies, as first portrayed in the White Zombie film, were the demoralised, undead slaves of voodoo priests. "Crucially, the end of that film and others of its time, spoke of hope and featured the overthrow of the controlling voodoo master by his 'zombie' slaves," Dr Pearce explains. From the late 1960s the nature of zombies changed and they were portrayed as hordes of brain-consuming monsters with no voodoo context and no controlling master."

"With no voodoo master, today's zombies have no clear controller to turn against and free themselves from," Dr Pearce argues. "That means there are no effective plans for resistance and no hope for the future. Zombies may well be popular today because they speak to a similar feeling of powerlessness shared by many members of our society."

"The key question," he continues, "is why, like today's portrayal of zombies, are we unwilling to take a stand against the powers-that-be and are overwhelmed by a lack of political interest. It seems the time is right to reclaim the original zombie concept of a controlling sorcerer but one that can successfully be resisted. Today's zombie phenomenon is a really good opportunity to get people thinking about who may be wishing to control our brains and what resources we have to resist."

But what do we feel powerless against? Among the many possibilities, researchers suggest private ownership is a high profile offender. Clearly it's in the interests of competition to encourage mindless consumerism. "In the past, zombies wandered around consuming brains, but today's zombies are encouraged to wander around consuming the latest, heavily advertised, branded goods," Dr Pearce explains. And for those with power, it's clearly useful to them to have a 'zombified' society that does not challenge their decision-making under any circumstances.

###

For further information contact

Dr Nick Pearce
Email: n.a.pearce@durham.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191-334-8278

ESRC Press Office:

Danielle Moore
Email: danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone 01793-413122

Jeanine Woolley
Email: jeanine.woolley@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone 01793-413119

Notes for editors:

1. Can Zombies help us understand today's society?
Organiser: Dr Nick Pearce, University of Durham
Date: 2 November 2011 19.00
Venue: Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle
Audience: Suitable for general audience
For more information: Can Zombies help us understand today's society?

2. The Festival of Social Science is run by the Economic and Social Research Council which runs from 29 October to 5 November 2011. With events from some of the country's leading social scientists, the Festival celebrates the very best of British social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives - both now and in the future. This year's Festival of Social Science has over 130 creative and exciting events aimed at encouraging businesses, charities, government agencies; and schools or college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. Press releases detailing some of the varied events are available at the Festival website. You can now follow updates from the Festival on twitter using #esrcfestival

3. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2011/12 is 203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.



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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Pressoffice
Pressoffice@esrc.ac.uk
Economic & Social Research Council

The British appetite for zombies is becoming a growing trend. From computer games and films to organised zombie walks though Britain's cities, the proliferation of zombies seems to be everywhere. Yet, this high interest in zombies enables researchers to link zombie-like behaviours to current models of public attitudes and actions.

Researcher Dr Nick Pearce will present findings from his new study of Britain's zombie phenomenon at an event organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Festival of Social Science 2011. The event will be an interactive talk on the metaphor of the zombie in everyday life, followed by a screening of the first ever zombie film, White Zombie (1932).

"Zombies are very now," Dr Pearce points out, "but what's really interesting and potentially worrying is how far today's zombies - whether on TV, films or computer games have departed from the original concept."

Early zombies, as first portrayed in the White Zombie film, were the demoralised, undead slaves of voodoo priests. "Crucially, the end of that film and others of its time, spoke of hope and featured the overthrow of the controlling voodoo master by his 'zombie' slaves," Dr Pearce explains. From the late 1960s the nature of zombies changed and they were portrayed as hordes of brain-consuming monsters with no voodoo context and no controlling master."

"With no voodoo master, today's zombies have no clear controller to turn against and free themselves from," Dr Pearce argues. "That means there are no effective plans for resistance and no hope for the future. Zombies may well be popular today because they speak to a similar feeling of powerlessness shared by many members of our society."

"The key question," he continues, "is why, like today's portrayal of zombies, are we unwilling to take a stand against the powers-that-be and are overwhelmed by a lack of political interest. It seems the time is right to reclaim the original zombie concept of a controlling sorcerer but one that can successfully be resisted. Today's zombie phenomenon is a really good opportunity to get people thinking about who may be wishing to control our brains and what resources we have to resist."

But what do we feel powerless against? Among the many possibilities, researchers suggest private ownership is a high profile offender. Clearly it's in the interests of competition to encourage mindless consumerism. "In the past, zombies wandered around consuming brains, but today's zombies are encouraged to wander around consuming the latest, heavily advertised, branded goods," Dr Pearce explains. And for those with power, it's clearly useful to them to have a 'zombified' society that does not challenge their decision-making under any circumstances.

###

For further information contact

Dr Nick Pearce
Email: n.a.pearce@durham.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191-334-8278

ESRC Press Office:

Danielle Moore
Email: danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone 01793-413122

Jeanine Woolley
Email: jeanine.woolley@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone 01793-413119

Notes for editors:

1. Can Zombies help us understand today's society?
Organiser: Dr Nick Pearce, University of Durham
Date: 2 November 2011 19.00
Venue: Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle
Audience: Suitable for general audience
For more information: Can Zombies help us understand today's society?

2. The Festival of Social Science is run by the Economic and Social Research Council which runs from 29 October to 5 November 2011. With events from some of the country's leading social scientists, the Festival celebrates the very best of British social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives - both now and in the future. This year's Festival of Social Science has over 130 creative and exciting events aimed at encouraging businesses, charities, government agencies; and schools or college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. Press releases detailing some of the varied events are available at the Festival website. You can now follow updates from the Festival on twitter using #esrcfestival

3. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2011/12 is 203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.



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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/esr-uba102611.php

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Income of top 1 percent far outgrew others: report

Incomes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans nearly tripled from 1979 to 2007, far outpacing income growth for all other groups, said a new report that underscored sharply increased U.S. income disparity.

As demonstrators nationwide protest the power of Wall Street and the wealthy, the Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday gave further evidence that, in the last three decades, the United States has become a far more unequal nation.

"For the 1 percent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007," said the report from the CBO, a nonpartisan budget and tax analysis arm of Congress.

The next-highest 19 percent of earners saw their income grow by 65 percent over the same period. Income grew by just under 40 percent for the 60 percent of the population in the middle, while the 20 percent at the bottom of the scale saw income growth of only about 18 percent, the report said.

The CBO's conclusions will likely figure in the debate over whether tax increases on the rich should play a role in cutting budget deficits and reducing the U.S. national debt.

"This report confirms what the American people already know," said Representative Sander Levin.

"The rules have been changed by the unfair tax policies of the last decade and our tax code is doing less to level the playing field than it was in the past."

Levin is the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

As a result of this uneven shift, income was substantially more skewed toward the very top of the income scale in 2007 than it was in 1979, CBO said.

So much so, it said, that in 2005-2007, just before the financial crisis, the top 20 percent of the population received more after-tax income than the entire bottom 80 percent.

CBO said it measured the period between 1979 and 2007 because those years both immediately preceded recessions, making for similar endpoints in the study.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45044618/ns/business-personal_finance/

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