Stock index futures signal steady open (Reuters)

(Reuters) Stock index futures pointed to a steady open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 flat, Dow Jones futures up 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.1 percent at 0936 GMT.

* European stocks were mostly unchanged in morning trade, while the euro fell to a 10-year low against the yen and its lowest in nearly a year versus the dollar, with investors nervous ahead of an Italian bond sale.

* Fertilizer producer Mosaic Co (MOS.N) said on Wednesday it will cut production of phosphate, a key nutrient used for crop production, because prices have fallen to unsustainable levels.

* S&P placed Sears Holdings Corp's (SHLD.O) credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, saying the retailer's plan to close at least 100 stores may not do much to improve its performance. Sears shares tumbled on Tuesday after the company said it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores and reduce inventory in an effort to cut costs and get rid of underperforming locations.

* Alibaba Group has hired a Washington lobbying firm in a sign that the Chinese e-commerce company would be willing to make a bid for all of Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) in the event that talks to unwind their Asian partnership fail.

* Alibaba Group (ALIAB.UL) has opened its group-buying platform, Juhuasuan.com, to other industry players such as Groupon's (GRPN.O) Chinese joint venture firm Gaopeng and the country's leading group-buying website Meituan.

* On the macro side, investors awaited weekly jobless claims as well as pending home sales for November. Economists in a Reuters survey expect pending home sales to show a 2.4 rise in November compared with a 10.4 percent rise in the previous month.

* U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday after a hefty year-end rally and the S&P 500 erased gains for the year on renewed concerns about the euro zone's financial health.

* The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 139.94 points, or 1.14 percent, to end at 12,151.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) dropped 15.79 points, or 1.25 percent, to 1,249.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 35.22 points, or 1.34 percent, to 2,589.98.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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93% Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

As a young child, my best friend was my stuffed Elmo toy. I took him everywhere and told him everything. My friends loved him, my family did, we all just loved Elmo. But until now, I never thought about why. Why did I love Elmo so much? Why is he so instantly lovable, and how was he created? What brilliant performer created the best friend of billions of children? Well my friends, be ready to be answered and moved by this lovely documentary.Being Elmo follows the career of Kevin Clash: a kid from Baltimore who loved puppets. When he got older, Kevin started to build his own muppets and was featured on local TV. As Kevin got better and better, he felt limited by his position. Then he met muppet builder Kermit Love (creator of Big bird, Snuffy, and Ms. Piggy), who taught Kevin everything he knew. After meeting Jim Henson, Kevin was well on his way to becoming the legend he is. And of course, the rest is history.Ok, I know that it looks like I gave the whole movie away, but I only outlined it. Kevin's journey through the world of puppeteering is so deep and interesting that there's no way I could cover it in a paragraph. Anyway, part of what makes the story so great is that Kevin is one of the best examples of someone who followed their dreams. He had real talent in a weird field and he made it through 100% pure hard work. He's never arrogant, never outspoken, and always thankful. Kevin is such a good person, you can see Elmo in him.Now, I don't consider myself a super macho dude, but I have my pride. And I am discarding that right now because I'm admitting that this movie made me cry. It wasn't sad, and I didn't cry a lot, but I cried. I remembered how much Sesame Street meant to me, and how amazing it is that Kevin Clash makes millions of kids believe they are loved by Elmo. Then there's the scene where all the muppets, including Elmo and friends, sing "Saying Goodbye" at Jim Henson's funeral. I dare you not to choke up.Being Elmo is special. It is a rare documentary that doesn't uncover political corruption or be pro environmentalism that isn't about a historical figure. Like Anvil last year, Being Elmo tells a story about someone who never, ever gave up. It's effective, informative, interesting, touching, and of course inspiring. Why does it work so well? To paraphrase one of the interviewed puppeteers: Elmo is love, and he loves you unconditionally. And you know what, I love him right back. Always.

November 17, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_elmo_a_puppeteers_journey/

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Award for Architects India

ArchiDesign Group is the most trusted platform for making an inroad into the hearts of architects, designers and other infrastructure and building industry professionals.

This movie is part of the collection: Community Video

Audio/Visual: sound
Keywords: ArchiDesign Group; ArchiDesign Awards; Architecture Awards; Best Architects India. Architecture and Design

Individual Files

Format	Size
AwardForArchitectsIndia_files.xml	Metadata	[file]
AwardForArchitectsIndia_meta.xml	Metadata	790.0 B

Source: http://www.archive.org/details/AwardForArchitectsIndia

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Phoenix Officials Must Release Portions of Mayor Phil Gordon's Security-Detail Logs, Court of Appeals Rules

?Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who only has about a week left in office, may be forced to release security-detail logs that track two years' worth of his movements.

The Arizona Court of Appeals reversed a ruling by a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Rea that protected those logs from being made public on the basis they contained confidential and security-related information.

The city has been in and out of court since May 2010 fighting to keep private the logs maintained by Gordon's security detail, a team of four Phoenix police officers.

The documents, created by the security detail, note how Gordon spent his days -- and who he spent them with -- while he was being shadowed by his taxpayer-funded bodyguards.

The latest legal opinion stems from a court battle Judicial Watch, a conservative think-tank based in Washington, D.C., initiated on May 2010 when it filed a complaint asking the Maricopa County Superior Court to compel Phoenix officials to produce the logs from December 30, 2007 to December 11, 2009 for inspection.

The lower court ruled that Phoenix didn't have to release the security-detail logs.

In reversing that decision, the appellate court said the judge erred in his ruling, in part, and directed city officials to redact confidential and security-related information from the logs and release the remaining information.

In another adverse ruling for Phoenix, the Court of Appeals judges upheld Judge Rea's ruling that the city "failed to demonstrate that the Mayor's privacy interest outweighs the public's interest" when it comes to inspecting the logs his security detail maintained for several years.
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Phoenix city attorneys are still reviewing court documents and have not made any decisions on what steps they will next take, a city spokesman tells New Times.

A legal representative for the city was not available today to discuss how much money the city has spent in legal fees protecting Gordon's security-detail logs, or whether the city will continue defending him and the more than two-year old documents after he leaves office on January 3.

Read the Court of Appeals' entire opinion.

Source: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/12/phoenix_officials_must_release.php

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