Dodgers place Kemp on DL with shoulder trouble

PHOENIX (AP) ? The Los Angeles Dodgers placed center fielder Matt Kemp on the 15-day disabled list Monday with joint inflammation in his troublesome left shoulder.

Manager Don Mattingly said Kemp tried to take early batting practice before Monday night's game at Arizona but experienced more soreness and, with the All-Star break coming up, it didn't make sense to play short-handed while Kemp heals.

The move is retroactive to Saturday. Kemp was injured while swinging the bat against San Francisco on Friday night and hasn't played since. He received a cortisone shot Friday night but it hasn't helped much.

Mattingly said the team doesn't think the problem is related to the shoulder surgery Kemp had in the offseason.

"It's kind of a separate issue," Mattingly said. "It is that shoulder, though."

The Dodgers recalled outfielder Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Kemp's roster spot.

Los Angeles also placed right-hander Stephen Fife on the 15-day DL with right shoulder bursitis and added newly acquired right-hander Ricky Nolasco to the roster.

Nolasco, obtained in a trade with Miami, will start Tuesday night. Mattingly said left-hander Chris Capuano would take Fife's next scheduled start. Fife could be back for a scheduled start after the break.

Kemp will return to Los Angeles on Tuesday to see team doctor Neal ElAttrache. It's Kemp's second stint on the DL this season. He missed 24 games from May 30 to June 25 with a right hamstring strain.

Kemp was clearly frustrated.

"It's going to take more than a couple of days," he said. "I just want to play and I want to be 100 percent when I play. I'm not good when I'm 70-80 percent. I may be all right, but I want to be more than all right."

Mattingly said the team had expected the cortisone shot to help more than it did.

"He had a shot earlier this year that seemed to make everything go away for a long time. I think that was maybe April or spring or something," the manager said. "So that's why I think we expected this thing to be gone by today.

"I think we're being a little cautious. He probably would be able to play before the break, but it didn't seem to be worth it."

Kemp is hitting .254 with four homers and 24 RBIs in 61 games. Van Slyke was optioned to Albuquerque last Friday but did not appear in a game there. In Monday night's lineup, Andre Ethier moved from left field to Kemp's spot in center, with Carl Crawford inserted in left.

Fife also is on the DL for the second time this year. He missed 33 games from April 22 to May 30, also with right shoulder bursitis. Fife is 3-3 with a 2.76 ERA in eight starts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dodgers-place-kemp-dl-shoulder-trouble-003946908.html

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Stocks head higher for fourth day

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market nudged higher Tuesday, putting it on track for a fourth day of gains, as investors waited for more quarterly results from companies.

Investors are turning their attention to corporate earnings after spending much of the last month preoccupied with the outlook for the Federal Reserve's stimulus.

Alcoa was the first major company to announce second-quarter results. The aluminum maker late Monday reported a second-quarter loss that wasn't as big as financial analysts' expected. The company benefited from strong demand for aluminum used in autos and airplanes, although that was offset by weaker prices.

Traders weren't blown away by the results, though. After initially rising, the stock fell 4 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.88 by midday.

Along with the latest quarterly results, investors want to see how confident companies are about the rest of the year, said Cam Albright, director of asset allocation for Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors.

Major U.S. stock indexes have notched a series of all-time highs this year on expectations that earnings will remain at record levels.

"A lot of what the market has justified its advances on is a strong second-half for the economy and a strong second-half for earnings," said Albright. "It's important that we see verification of that."

Analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a note Tuesday that they expected second-quarter earnings growth of about 2 percent. They predicted that revenue growth would remain weak, however, hurt by a lackluster economy and a stronger dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,294 as of 12:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained nine points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,649. The Nasdaq composite rose 16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,501.

Investors on Tuesday bought companies that grow the most when the economic outlook is bright. Industrial companies notched the biggest gains among the 10 sectors in the S&P 500. Phone companies, which investors turn to when the outlook is gloomier, were the only sector to fall.

In another sign of investor confidence, the Russell 2000 gained 6 points, or 0. 6 percent, to 1,015. The index of small-company stocks has gained 3.8 percent in July and is at record levels.

The index has risen more this year than the Dow and the S&P 500. The gains suggest that investors are becoming more comfortable in taking on riskier investments.

"When you see that leadership from the smaller caps that's probably a good sign overall for the bigger blue chips to potentially follow suite," said Ryan Detrick, a senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "People are leaving the more defensive areas."

The Russell 2000 has gained 19.5 percent since the start of the year, compared to a rise of 16.6 percent for the Dow and a gain of 15.7 percent for the S&P 500.

Among individual stocks, a handful of medical companies were the top decliners in the S&P 500.

Intuitive Surgical, a maker of robotic surgery systems, plunged $88.19, or 18 percent, to $411.89 after the company forecast disappointing second-quarter sales late Monday. Laboratory Corp. of America fell $4.27, or 4.3 percent, to $95.86. Varian Medical Systems, a maker of medical devices and software for treating cancer, fell $2.06, or 3 percent, to $66.14.

IBM fell $3.39, or 1.7 percent, to $191.60 after a Goldman Sachs analyst lowered his rating and cut his price target on the stock, saying the company may face more pressure in the near term in emerging markets.

Corporate America's quarterly results should give Wall Street fresh fodder after investors and traders spent most of June trying to figure out where the Fed was headed with its economic stimulus program.

The central bank has been buying $85 billion in bonds a month to keep interest rates low and encourage borrowing and spending. Comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank planned to reduce the stimulus prompted the stock market to pull back from record levels reached in late May.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 2.64 percent early Tuesday. The yield has pulled back after surging to 2.74 percent Friday, its highest level in almost two years, after the government reported strong hiring for June.

In commodities trading, the price of oil rose 17 cents, or 0.2 percent to $103.33 a barrel. Gold rose $12, or 1 percent, to $1,246.90.

Among stocks making big moves:

? WD-40 rose $3.13, or 5 percent, to $60.77 after the maker of maintenance products reported earnings that beat financial analysts' forecasts.

? Barnes and Noble rose 64 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $18.32 after the bookseller said Monday its CEO is leaving after three years. The company didn't name a replacement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-07-09-Wall%20Street/id-1afe372a0b72459b988712653ce1801d

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Leader of standoff at polygamist compound is freed

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Addam Swapp, the man who bombed a Mormon church building and sparked a 13-day standoff in 1988 that left a corrections officer dead at a polygamist compound, was released from prison on Tuesday after more than 25 years behind bars.

Swapp, 52, was accompanied by family members as he left Sanpete County Jail three months after members of the state board of pardons and parole approved his release, saying he had shown remorse for leading the standoff in Marion.

At his September parole hearing, Swapp apologized and said he planned to join his wife Charlotte and wanted to use his freedom to live peacefully and "be a blessing to my fellow man."

"I desire when I get out of prison to live my life in such a manner that my family, friends, neighbors and community would find my presence in their lives a benefit and a blessing," Swapp said in a written statement, according to a transcript of the hearing posted online by The Salt Lake Tribune.

Swapp said he was a different man after serving time in state and federal prisons for manslaughter, attempted murder, possessing a bomb and other offenses.

"My core beliefs have completely changed," he said. "I am completely opposed to the violent acts I committed which got me sent to prison."

Ann House, the widow of the slain officer, Lt. Fred House, said Tuesday that she believes Swapp has had time to consider his actions, according to a statement obtained by The Deseret News.

"There has been much suffering by both of our families in the past years," she wrote. "Addam deserves a chance to reverse the damage done by doing good and now being an asset to his family."

The standoff began after Swapp detonated 87 sticks of dynamite at a Mormon church building in Kamas on Jan. 16, 1988. Swapp claimed it would lead to the overthrow of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and resurrect his father-in-law, John Singer, who was killed by police at the Marion compound in 1979.

Authorities said Singer was fatally shot when he pointed a gun at officers trying to arrest him over his refusal to send his children to public schools. Singer, 48, was a practicing polygamist and blamed the LDS church for his legal problems after he was excommunicated.

Swapp claimed he had a revelation that Singer would return to life on the ninth anniversary of his death, which was barely two weeks away.

Swapp, who went on to marry two of Singer's daughters, holed up in Singer's compound following the bombing. Nine children were among the 14 people barricaded with him in a log cabin. More than 100 officers surrounded the property after following tracks in the snow.

Throughout the standoff, officers flashed bright lights and circled in noisy snowmobiles in the middle of the night to psychologically weaken members of the Singer-Swapp clan. They resisted by shooting out police floodlights and used a lantern and mirrors to flash a crude Morse code message, "Cops not telling truth."

Shortly after dawn on Jan. 28, 1988, the showdown ended in a gun battle.

Fred House, a dog handler with the state corrections department, was killed after he was struck by a bullet between armored plates in his flak jacket. House was shot by Singer's son, John T. Singer, who was released from prison in 2006 after serving time on state and federal charges that included manslaughter and attempted murder.

Swapp was shot in the arm and chest during the shootout and waved a white towel through the doorway to surrender. The shootout was later recounted in a made-for-TV movie.

During court appearances, Swapp donned a buckskin coat fashioned by his wives that featured Indian signs, geometric symbols and a flag designed by his deceased father-in-law. He told the Salt Lake Tribune at the time that he believed God had chosen him to gather American Indians for the second coming of Christ. John Singer, he said, would be resurrected and unite lost tribes of Israel.

Swapp served 17 years in federal prison before beginning a state sentence in 2006. Officials opted to house him in Arizona rather than Utah because of his ties to a state officer's death.

At his parole hearing in September, Swapp wept and issued a long apology, including statements directed at the House family, the Tribune reported. Swapp said it had been a long, slow process to shift from what he called wrongful beliefs to Christ-centered beliefs.

"The end result is that I have come away with a complete change of heart and a radically new way of looking at life," he said.

___

Follow Michelle Price at http://www.twitter.com/michellelprice.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leader-standoff-polygamist-compound-freed-180838003.html

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"Angry Trayvon" mobile game pulled from Google Play

A mobile video game called "Angry Trayvon" has been pulled from Google Play, after it sparked outrage from protesters who said the app was exploitative of the death of a Florida teenager.

It appears a petition on the website Change.org to removed "Angry Treyvon" has been heeded. According to CNET, all traces of the mobile app and the game's Facebook page were removed on Tuesday.

The game's main character was an angry man in a hooded sweatshirt, whose goal was to complete a "world tour of revenge on the bad guys who terrorize cities everyday."

The petition's creators felt that the game referenced Trayvon Martin, the African American teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman last year. And wrote an letter to Google that reads:

This application unnecessarily promotes violence and exploits the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin. I am sure his parents not appreciate the image of their son as a gun toting vigilante. The death of this young man is NOT A GAME. This developer is using the Google Marketplace to exploit the death of an unarmed teen for profit while simultaneously promoting violence. Given the racial and social climate surrounding this issue and the unfair depiction of a deceased minor who perished as a result of gun violence, we are asking that this application be moved from the Google Play marketplace immediately.

The shooting stirred racial tension because Martin was unarmed when Zimmerman shot and killed him on Feb. 26. Zimmerman was taken into custody by police, but was soon released. He claimed to have acted in self defense. After the story went national, a wave of protests swept the country. Zimmerman turned himself in and was charged with second-degree murder on April 11.

The game's maker released a statement Monday, saying it would take down the mobile app and apologized for "the inconvenience," but said it was "by no means a racist game."

Google said it does not comment on individual applications.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsTheEarlyShowBoxOffice/~3/X7wVUAA6sYU/

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Shooting the Golden Goose? Californians Flee Taxes - Finance ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- California was once the dream destination of millions of people. But now many are fleeing the Golden State, and much of it has to do with high taxes and a generally anti-business attitude.

Economic analyst Jonathan Williams of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) points out what California lost in just the year 2011.

"Nearly 250 companies of all sizes left California for one of the other 49 states," he said.

MyTime.com?CEO Ethan Anderson started at Google before striking out to create two new companies on his own.

"I am hearing almost every single day somebody saying 'I'm leaving California' because they're trying to avoid the high taxes," the San Francisco-based entrepreneur said.

Ex Post Facto Tax Laws?

Now California is even taxing backwards in time, deciding to demand more money from entrepreneurs, investors, and businesses for past years. It claims a tax break used by them is no longer valid, and it wants them to pay up, even for the last five years.

Anderson said California is telling people like him, "Now you guys owe us taxes going back five years ago, and we want interest on those taxes as well."

"It's a very scary environment to operate in when the rules of the game can change, not just going forward, but going back in time," Anderson said.

"California's a fantastic place to live. Don't get me wrong. It's just not a great place to do business," AdverseEvents founder Brian Overstreet told CBN News.

Overstreet, who started up two businesses in California, has suddenly found himself owing an extra $250,000 because of this sudden move by the state to impose back taxes for the past five years.

"It's the perfect time to start new businesses," Overstreet said of the present economic climate. "But when the state of California is telling you, 'We're going to change the rules on you after the fact by up to five years,' that puts a lot of strain and that puts a lot of questions into people's minds as to whether they really want to go through that or not."

Anderson shared Overstreet's sentiment.
?
"Looking forward when I want to start another business here...maybe not," Anderson said. "Maybe it's a little too risky because what if they make the business I'm doing illegal? Or what if they decide they want to do another 50 percent tax increase on my business?"

Texas Beckons
?
It's not just a matter of taxes, but of over-regulation and over-litigation. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been launching verbal strikes into California to encourage unhappy companies to leave.
?
"When you have small businesses that it takes months if not over a year to get a simple permit to be able to build or do some work -- I mean the unions and the strangulation by regulation in California, it's just incredibly onerous," Perry told CBN News. "So they're doing a lot of things wrong."

Perry pointed to policies in Texas do just the opposite: free businesses up.
?
"Give people more freedom from over-taxation, over-regulation, over-litigation -- and it works," Perry concluded.

Overstreet said Texas and the especially hi-tech hub of Austin have such a wonderful reputation that they're tempting his business buddies to move there.

"I can tell you a number of them have told me specifically they are very seriously starting to look at that for their companies," Overstreet stated.

Eric Loeffel and his company Compass Learning have already made the move from California to Austin.

"It was hard for us to do business there, harder to do business there than it is to do business here in Texas," the Compass Learning CEO said of California.

The move was expensive, but the tax savings enormous.

"In the first year that we moved, we figured the savings was about a million dollars," Loeffel said.

One of the main benefits: no income tax in Texas, meaning a big hike in the paychecks of all the workers who moved.

"Everyone got an automatic increase in pay," Loeffel said with a big grin. "Automatic!"

Williams said the employers he knows talk about this all the time.

He paraphrased what they tell him: "Our employees are clamoring to leave high-tax locations that we have in California and go to lower cost-of-living states and lower tax states."

High-Tax States See Exodus

Now this urge to exit high-tax states has become a major national trend. Workers and businesses are fleeing in droves from the Top 10 high-tax blue states, like California, to the top 10 low-tax red states, like Texas.

"One American per minute has left one of the high tax states over the last decade," Williams stated.

That adds up to an exodus of about 4,500,000 Americans from the highest tax states to the lowest.

"People vote with their feet, and they're voting very strongly towards the low-tax states," the ALEC economist said.

"Talent and money are the most transferable things in this economy right now," Overstreet insisted. "And it doesn't much matter whether you work in Austin or California - if you can do better for yourself, you can provide your employees a better lifestyle, you have to be considering it."

If this trend continues, America could end up with a group of economically failing, possibly bankrupt states who chased their wealth away.

"You're going to lose your business leaders. And you're going to be left with a population that is more dependent on the welfare state," Overstreet pointed out.

Anderson agreed.

"California's going to end up getting less taxes than they would have gotten if they'd just left things alone because all these people who are generally wealthy are leaving," Anderson said.

Shooting the Golden Goose

Williams said lawmakers in well-to-do states are telling him they're frightened they'll be forced to someday bail out a bunch of deadbeat states.

"They say 'California's the new Greece. Why are we going to give our hard-earned tax dollars to bail out basket-cases like California and Illinois?'"

Anderson is worried his home state won't turn itself away from this economic downward spiral.

"California had so many gifts," he lamented. "How could this state actually be bleeding people? It seems like they're trying to shoot the goose who lays the golden egg."

Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/finance/2013/July/Shooting-the-Golden-Goose-Californians-Flee-Taxes/

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China's New Jet, Radar Complicate US Posture

China's New Jet, Radar Complicate US Posture

China's increasing military musculature continues to crush the margins of how far the US military can conduct operations near the mainland, experts say.

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Source: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130706/DEFREG03/307060004

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How Mexico City fixed its air pollution problem

Mexico City was once known for its smoggy landscape with industrial eyesores such as the 18 de Marzo Refinery spewing ozone-forming emissions such as sulfur dioxide. The cloud of contaminants hanging over the capital played into an apocalyptic reputation for pollution, crime, and overpopulation; and it fueled urban myths, like the one about birds dropping dead mid-flight because of the poor air quality.

But the refinery ? named for the day Mexico expropriated its oil industry ? was ordered closed in 1991, and converted into a park commemorating the country's 2010 bicentennial. It is but one example of industry exiting Mexico City and the steps taken to improve air quality over the past two decades in this megalopolis of more than 20 million people.

With urbanization advancing, economies expanding, and climate change a concern, Mexico City has emerged as an unlikely environmental example for cities in developing countries suffering similar air quality issues.

Mexico City recorded only eight days with air quality considered "good" in 1992. That compares with 248 "good" air days in 2012, reflecting the success of initiatives to relocate industry, kick clunkers off the capital's streets, encourage cleaner technologies, and expand public transit and cycling options.

"Mexico City is still perceived as one of the most contaminated [cities] in the world, but nowadays there are cities ... that have worse contamination," says Roberto Mu?oz, a biologist teaching at the Ibero-American University.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

Closing the refinery was among the first actions in cleaning up the capital as industries either invested in new technologies, ceased operations, or moved to other states.

The state oil company Pemex started selling lower-sulfur and unleaded gasoline, while a program known as "Hoy no Circula," or "No driving today," forced motorists off the road one day a week. Vehicles also had to undergo emissions tests.

Slowly but surely air quality improved here in spite of obstacles such as unfavorable geography, which keeps contamination in the Valle de M?xico ? the high-altitude valley containing Mexico City and the surrounding state of Mexico.

Left-wing administrations led by Mayors Andr?s Manuel L?pez Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard between 2000 and 2012 in the Federal District ? home to about 9 million residents; another 11 million live in municipalities in the state of Mexico ? took policies that targeted pollution even further.

The Mexico City government opened dedicated lanes for a public transport system known as Metrobus, built a new subway line, and launched a bicycle-sharing service, which was expanded after waits for new memberships reached six weeks. Mexico City is home to more than 4 million vehicles, and still faces notorious traffic problems, but this year it received the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy's Sustainable Transport Award.

Levels of ozone have dropped drastically, Mr. Mu?oz says, although the levels of particulate matter pollution ? tiny particles that can cause heart and lung problems ? remain a concern.

"The problem with contamination is [it's mostly] coming from vehicular sources" in Mexico City, Mu?oz says.

Cars are big contributors to air pollution in other parts of the country as well, where poor public policy is contributing to deteriorating air quality, says Gabriela Alarc?n, director of urban development studies at the think tank Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.

A glut of imported vehicles ? many illegal and older models ? have entered the country over the past 10 years and the federal government has spent more than $50 billion on gasoline and diesel subsidies since 2008, which has encouraged more private vehicle use across Mexico, Ms. Alarc?n says.

Government housing programs over that same time frame gave rise to far-off exurbs, creating lengthy commutes, adds Guillermo Velasco Rodr?guez, director of planning and projects for the Centro Mario Molina. Mr. Rodr?quez acknowledges the improvement in air pollution in Mexico City but cautions against prematurely celebrating.

"It sounds good if you compare it to 1992," he says, "but it's not [yet] what we want."

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/model-megacities-mexico-city-cleans-air-145300765.html

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