Photo courtesy of Hank Mitchell via Flickr

Nov. 19 is World Toilet Day, so let’s talk about “the toilet.” Around the world, the word ‘toilet’ is known by many names: the loo, the WC, the outhouse, and the porcelain throne just to name a few. However, no matter what you call it, the toilet ultimately means the same thing: a sigh of relief.

Despite this, the truth remains that the ability to go to an actual toilet is seen as a privilege globally. This is what the United Nations General Assembly sought to remedy by officially designating Nov. 19 as World Toilet Day, in effect launching a call to action on sanitation and the global health crisis of open defection. The goal: make the use of the toilet less of a privilege and more of a right.

Actor Matt Damon is one of the leading advocates for solving the global water and sanitation crisis. He and environmentalist Gary White founded Water.org to help provide access to safe water and sanitation. Damon and White talked with CCTV America’s Shraysi Tandon about the issue.

Even so, real change only comes along when it is followed by a change in mindset and awareness. That’s why CCTV America is giving you these five fast facts to plunge out everything you thought you knew about what it means to use the toilet.

Keep in mind: That’s not even a ‘proper toilet’ by our Western standards, but a toilet simply understood as a fixed place for a person to relieve oneself without constant exposure to the results of that relief. Open defecation resulting from a lack of access to a toilet has been found to cause such illnesses as cholera, hepatitis, worm infestations, and diarrhea, and can also contribute to undernutrition and impaired cognitive function.

“The flush toilet, more than any single invention, has ‘civilized’ us in a way that religion and law could never accomplish.” — Thomas Lynch, author and poet

Fact No. 2: One in every three women risks harassment because she has no access to a toilet

One in every three: that’s over one billion women put at risk of rape and abuse due to lack of access to a toilet. Doesn’t sound very ‘civilized’, does it?

Interestingly enough, the risk of a woman being assaulted because of this in India became so bad that the government implemented the ‘No Toilet, No Bride’ campaign. Under this campaign, Indian women were encouraged not to marry into families that did not have their own toilet.

“Rules governing defecation, hygiene, and pollution exist in every culture at every period in history. It may in fact be the foundation of civilization: What is toilet training if not the first attempt to turn a child into an acceptable member of society?” — Rose George, journalist

Fact No. 3: A child dies every two and a half minutes by water contamination via open defection

That’s the equivalent to the rate of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.

In India, about 28 million children cannot access the toilet at school, resulting in open defecation. Research has shown that water contamination by open defecation also stunts children’s growth.

“No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by the invention of the toilet. But it did not go far enough. It only reached one-third of the world.” — Sylvia Mathews Burwell, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Fact No. 4: Inadequate sanitation costs the world’s poorest countries $260 billion

Infographic provided by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program

The costs to implement necessary sanitation processes also varies worldwide, ranging from $4.88 per person in Africa for a small latrine, to $13.38 per person in Latin America and the Caribbean for a household sewer connection.

“When you’ve finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, wrote “The Little Prince”

Fact No. 5: The world aims to end open defecation by 2025

The U.N. campaign’s hope is that by this time, everyone will have access to proper sanitation facilities, and with that, a proper toilet. How will this be possible? Ultimately, the U.N. plans to achieve this with the support of a large number of international actors, from world leaders, every day citizens, and even movie stars. Watch CCTV America’s interview with Matt Damon to learn more about his water project with Water.org. So no matter where the call of nature may lead you, lets hope that ultimately, it leads everyone around the world to the sweet relief that comes with a toilet.

[readon1 url="http://www.cctv-america.com/2014/11/19/5-facts-to-flush-out-your-misconceptions-about-the-toilet"]Source:www.cctv-america.com[/readon1]

Jorge Davila and Melanie Campagne join chamber team

Melanie Campagne	Jorge Davila Originally from Puerto Vallarta

Hailing from a city of nearly 2 million people, Jorge Davila is the new Member Relations Coordinator for the Homer Chamber of Commerce, and he couldn’t be more excited about it.

“I used to work as a manager of a hotel, working around people all the time,” Davila said. “That’s why I decided this would be a good job for me. Because I’m always working with people.

Davila, originally from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, has spent three years living in Homer, slowly adjusting to the different way of life. He said it was a big transition from the beginning, as the food, the weather and the size of Homer were all really different.

Nevertheless, the community eventually won him over.

“I feel lucky,” he said. “I get up for work everyday and do something I love; that is amazing. I love this community.”

Romance is the reason Davila said he first came to Alaska, following the woman who is now his wife after meeting her while she was vacationing in his hometown.

“We were back and forth between Mexico and Alaska, and we just decided this is where we wanted to be,” Davila explained. “This is where we have made our home and decided to stay.”

Having lived in Homer for three years and wintering in the warm temperatures of Puerto Vallarta, Davila said he is ready for the cold and the snow for his first full winter here.

“This winter, I want to try snowboarding and already have my gear ready,” Davila said. “I’m also looking forward to trying cross country skiing. I like the outdoors, I love to hike in the forest and then have the feeling that a bear might jump out; just to keep it a little spicy.”

The average temperature in Puerto Vallarta is about 80 degrees. Davila says he enjoys the cold more than warm, making Alaska winters just fine by him. With so much change having brought him here, he said he is excited for the future of the chamber and to bring his ideas to the table.

“Changes always scare people, but change is always good,” Davila said. “New things are coming for the chamber in the future; new ideas and fresh air. We just want the community to feel like the chamber wants to connect with them. We want to include all people of the community.”

Davila said many of his community relationships began with time spent volunteering for both Head Start and the youth indoor soccer program for the Soccer Association of Homer, creating opportunity to connect with people from all aspects of life in Homer town.

“My first year, I was the coordinator for 211 kids,” Davila said of the program. “Plus, I was the head coach for six teams. Imagine how many families I met! That helped put me out there and see how cool our community is. There are owners of businesses, policemen, firemen, mechanics — everybody.”
Back home, the coordinator studied business administration for two years and pursued professional soccer for a time before Alaska came into the picture.

“I played soccer growing up as a kid, and then I began to play professionally for a couple of years,” Davila said. “I didn’t continue playing because it was a lot of politics, so I decided to keep going with my life. But I love soccer. Soccer and talking to people are two of the best things I can do.”
Comfortable with chaos and challenge, Davila said he feels all of his experiences have made him ready for anything his new position will bring.

“I’d like people to know we are a new face to the chamber; to see us as a team to make this good for the community,” Davila said. “I would be more than happy to hear ideas from people. My doors are wide open, we just want to make things better and better.”

Better and better for Davila means more community involvement for both members and non-members, as well as a connection between the chamber and the greater community of Homer.

“Community is the thing I love the most about living in Homer,” he said. “I love people around here. I haven’t seen people not being helped when they need it, and that is a rare thing where I am from. People help other people here.”

When asked what he misses the most, Davila said only two things compare with his sweet life in Homer.
“Tacos,” he said with a smile. “I miss tacos and family, but other than that, I am so happy to be here. This is my home now.”

For Melanie Campagne, joining the chamber is an opportunity for new energy and focus on the future.
“I am looking forward, not looking to the past,” the new derby and raffle coordinator said of the changes at the chamber. “There is a new energy. Homer is a fun town, and we want to do more for the community; we want to give back.”

You may have seen Campagne at Save-U-More the last few weeks, selling raffle tickets and inviting customers to spin a wheel to win a prize. Campagne said being out and about in the community has enabled her to hear ideas about how to make chamber activities even better.

“I want people to know, I do listen when they share their opinions,” she said. “Right now. I’m just absorbing; eventually I’ll start changing the bad and upgrading the good.”

Having been on the job for four short weeks, Campagne says that though there has been much to learn, she feels her new job is the “best of both worlds.”

“I like the fishing industry, but I enjoy the business end of it,” she said. “I am not a deckhand. I have tried it, and I don’t like slime in my hair. But I love coordinating and I love making it happen for those who do want slime in their hair.”

For the young coordinator, the greatest part about fishing is teaching people they can get their own food.
“You can eat something you caught,” Campagne said. “That’s an instinct we all have inside that brings us back to basics. I think that’s why people enjoy it.”

Campagne now oversees the Winter King Salmon Tournament. The tourney attracted 1,000 anglers in 2013, not including family and friends who tagged along for the festivities.

“They need food, they need lodging, they need groceries and equipment,” Campagne explained. “We do that essentially for the community. We’re bringing in a lot of people and the jackpot derby does the same thing.”

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Georgia, Campagne said she enjoys traveling and can relate well to travelers coming to visit the Great North.

“We’re trading in our residencies,” Campagne said with a smile. “My boyfriend and I have been here two years, but I’ve been a snowbird, traveling to Northern California for the last two winters. I have spent some time in the Virgin Islands, but this is home now. My boyfriend just got his captain’s license, so we have put roots down that we have never put anywhere else.”

When asked what prompted the move, Campagne responded with “why not?”

“I like to make my moves, at least a few thousand miles apart,” Campagne said. “People hear about Anchorage, and they hear about Fairbanks and Nome. But Homer is someplace you hear about through someone else who has been to here. It is a very interesting process of word of mouth, and I am down the line of a few people who came up here because of a few other people.”

For Campagne, summers in Homer began with a job for Rainbow Tours. The following year, she took a position at Inlet Charters. Future plans involved staying in the fishing industry, but with the season nearing its end, Campagne wasn’t sure what was next.

“I love it,” she said of the industry. “It is exciting; I love the chaos and madness of it, and then this job came up and I thought, ‘this is the best of both worlds.’ It’s year-round work and I am in the fishing industry; what could be better?”

No stranger to nature, Campagne prefers to be outside during her off time.
“My boyfriend and I like to hike, and we have a chocolate lab who is the love of my life,” she said laughing. “We go up on Ohlson mountain and like to go across the Bay when we can. We took a 10-day road trip to Fairbanks at the end of the season and camped the whole way. We pretty much froze, but we saw the northern lights. We just like to go outside and play.”

For Campagne, putting down roots in Homer has much to do with a way of life.

“We love it here because we feel like Homer protects itself,” Campagne said. “They fought off Wal-mart, they fought off big business and want to keep it very much home and country style, and we like that. Plus, people who live here enjoy living here, but they always travel.”
Noting the diversity of residents in Homer, Campagne said a question she hears others asked often is, “how did you get here?”

“People want to hear that maybe they could do it too,” said Campagne. “That it is easy, because everyone has an adventurous side.”

Campagne said if there was one thing she would really like to communicate, it would be an invitation for ideas and feedback.

“I really do listen to what people have to say,” she said “I keep that (feedback) in mind, because we are all a community effort and without them, we would be nothing.”

[readon1 url="http://homertribune.com/2014/11/homer-chamber-gains-youthful-energy/"]Source:homertribune.com[/readon1]

A reigning beauty queen and her sister went missing just days before she was scheduled to fly to London for the Miss World competition.

Miss Honduras, María José Alvarado, 19, and her sister, Sofia Trinidad, vanished after attending a friend’s birthday party late Thursday night near their hometown of Santa Barbara, according to several reports.

Police initially said the disappearance was not being treated as a crime but later confirmed that four people had been arrested and were under questioning, the Telegraph reported.

“They include the owner of the party venue and Sofia Trinidad's boyfriend. They are being investigated,” Police Chief Jose Coello said, according to the British news site.

Pageant director Eduardo Zablah told told CNN affiliate Televicentro that the young women were last seen stepping into a vehicle after the party.

Alvarado had been spending a few days with her parents before setting off for the United Kingdom.

"Open your hearts and understand my pain," her mother pleaded Sunday night, the Telegraph reported. "There is an all-powerful God that sees everything, and I hope you set them free."

Alvarado was crowned Miss Honduras on April 26 in San Pedro Sula after defeating 18 other contestants.

Her Miss World profile says she is a student who aspires to work as a diplomat for her country and enjoys playing sports in her spare time.

The Miss World contest is slated to start on Thursday and culminate in the crowning of a new winner on Dec. 14.

[readon1 url="https://news.yahoo.com/miss-honduras-maria-jose-alvarado-missing-210454056.html"]Source:news.yahoo.com[/readon1]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Upcoming bracelets with technology from Intel Corp and design cues from fashion brand Opening Ceremony will connect the wearer with Facebook, Google and Yelp via an AT&T data plan without having to carry a smartphone.

Called My Intelligent Communication Accessory, or MICA, the snakeskin bracelets are aimed at fashion-conscious women and are an attempt by the two companies to stand out in a growing field of often-clunky smartwatches and fitness brands that have yet to catch on widely with consumers.

"We really approached this first and foremost about why would a woman want to wear this everyday, and how can it be incorporated into her wardrobe,” Humberto Leon, creative director at Opening Ceremony, said in a phone interview last week.

As well as lapis stones, obsidian and an 18k gold coating, the devices include a sapphire curved screen on the inside of the wrist that displays text messages, calendar items and events from Google and Facebook, and recommendations of nearby restaurants and stores from Yelp.

After Intel was late to smartphones and tablets in recent years, Chief Executive Brian Krzanich has been determined to make sure the top chipmaker is at the forefront of future trends in mobile computing.

Krzanich gave the green light for the chipmaker to develop the bracelet with Opening Ceremony after his wife wore a prototype for several days and liked it, he recently said.

Incoming alerts discreetly vibrate the bracelet instead of making a noise. Its $495 price tag includes a two-year data plan with AT&T, which means it does not rely on a smartphone for connectivity, as do most smartwatches, the companies said in a press release on Monday.

As well as working with Opening Ceremony, Intel in March bought fitness bracelet maker Basis Science and it has teamed up with watch retailer Fossil Group to develop other wearable computing devices.

The bracelets, which Intel says have a battery life up to two days, will be sold starting by early December through Opening Ceremony and Barney's upscale department stores.

news.yahoo.com

Good things come to those who wait — with, perhaps, the exception of good cruise deals. Those who plan ahead can reap significant savings on sailings, and as dark days and cold temps begin to set it, why not plan on a bright spot soon, courtesy of a great-rate 2015 vacation? We’ve rounded up a slate of eight strong cruise deals for 2015, with early-booking rates starting at just $169/person (and none higher than $879). Plus, all of these sailings leave from (and return to) convenient, close-to-home ports. Whether it’s sun and surf, Alaskan wilds, or exotic Latin American flavor that floats your boat, we’ve got you covered. (Note: These prices are subject to change day to day.)

1. Short-and-sweet Bahamas retreat from Miami

Tour the Bahamas for three nights on the Carnival Ecstasy. (Courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines)

The islands of the Bahamas are perfect for a quickie three-night escape, especially when snagging a steal of a deal on board the 2,052-passenger Carnival Ecstasy, sailing to Nassau from Miami. In port, sun, surf, and sand reign supreme, while on deck, the WaterWorks aqua park, Serenity adults-only retreat, and resort-style main pool deliver more fun in the sun.

Rates from $169/person; lowest rates on January 2015 departures; www.carnival.com.

2. Italy-in-the-Caribbean cruise from Miami

Old San Juan (Photo: Thinkstock)

Caribbean cruising provides la dolce vita, especially on Italian-inspired MSC Cruises. Get there for less with a weeklong sailing aboard the 3,502-passenger MSC Divina out of Miami. Embarking on Feb. 7 (and heading back to port on Valentine’s Day), cruise to Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, where guests can wander the centuries-old streets of Old San Juan or set out for some superb snorkeling. Onboard, enjoy authentic Italian food (including two Mario Batali-backed Eataly restaurants), a wine-immersion experience via Blend Craft, and even opera performances.

Rates from $249/person, or from $519 for balcony cabins (kids 11 and under are free); embarks Feb. 7, 2015; www.msccruisesusa.com.

Related: A 12-Year-Old’s Expert Tips on How to Book a Family Cruise

3. Fall foliage fling from New York City

Halifax, Nova Scotia (Photo: Thinkstock)

If you literally missed the boat on a fall foliage sailing this year, now’s the time to plan ahead for great-rate 2015 cruises to the foliage fantasylands of New England and northeastern Canada. Carnival runs a series of seven-night sailings in September and October aboard its 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor. Sail round-trip from NYC with port calls in Boston; Portland, Maine; St. John, New Brunswick; and Halifax, Nova Scotia. When not out leaf peeping or lobster eating in port, guests can enjoy onboard diversions such as the 23,000-square-foot Cloud 9 Spa, an all-seasons glass-roof-covered pool, and Dr. Seuss-inspired kids’ programming.

Rates from $459/person; 2015 sailings on Sept. 6, 13, 20, 27, and Oct. 4; www.carnival.com.

4. South-of-the-border sailing from San Diego

A beach excursion in the Cabos (Courtesy of Holland America Line)

The Mexican Riviera beckons for a sun-soaked, R&R-infused getaway from laid-back San Diego. Sail seven nights aboard Holland America’s 1,350-passenger Veendam in March, with port calls in Los Cabos, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. Nature- and beach-driven excursions await, including whale watching, beachfront horseback riding, or visiting a turtle sanctuary. Plus, three serene days at sea allow guests to sample the many onboard amenities and activities, including a piano bar, “Dancing with the Stars” contest, and culinary arts center.

Rates from $599/person; embarks March 7, 14, or 21 in 2015; www.hollandamerica.com.

Related: The Cruiser: What I Love/Hate About Taking Cruises

5. Panama Canal and Colombia cruise from Galveston

Old town of Cartagena (Photo: Thinkstock)

A 12-night exotic Latin American cruise vacation for less than what a flight alone might cost to get you to South America? Vamos! This March, Carnival’s 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph sails from Galveston, Texas, to Grand Cayman in the Caribbean; Colón, Panama; and Cartagena and Santa Marta in Colombia. From Colón, guests can take an excursion to explore the engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal (note that the ship itself does not transit the canal) and also enjoy the cruise line’s first foray to the seaside Colombian city of Santa Marta.

Rates from $879/person; embarks March 2, 2015; www.carnival.com.

Related: WATCH: Sting Dishes on His (Brief) Stint as a Cruise Ship Singer

6. Bermuda break from New York City

The Norwegian Breakaway in Bermuda (Courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)

Set sail from the concrete jungle of NYC for the pink-sand beaches of Bermuda aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s 1.5-year-old, 3,969-passenger Norwegian Breakaway. The seven-night voyage includes three days in port at King’s Wharf, Bermuda, where guests can set out swimming, snorkeling, and more. Onboard, enjoy three days at sea with diversions that include 29 dining experiences, plus entertainment options like Broadway’s Rock of Ages and dance sensation Burn the Floor.

Rates from $599/person; best rates on May and October sailing dates; www.cruisesonly.com.

7. Alaskan adventure from Seattle

Glacier Bay, Alaska (Courtesy: Holland America Line)

 Early-season Alaskan sailings in May provide terrific value, as is the case with Holland America’s Westerdamcruises from Seattle. The port-packed seven-night itineraries include just one day in transit, with the rest of the time spent actively exploring Alaskan ports in Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan, along with a whirl through Glacier Bay and a stop in Victoria, British Columbia. Port adventures beckon with active excursion options such as dogsledding by helicopter, viewing black bears by floatplane, and joining fisherman on a crabbing expedition in the Bering Sea.

Rates from $749/person; lowest rates available on select dates in May 2015; www.hollandamerica.com.

8. Latin American escape from Houston

Excursions include a visit to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. (Thinkstock)

Spice up your next sailing with some Latin American flavor, courtesy of this seven-night itinerary aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s recently refurbished 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jewel. Departing from Houston, the ship stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; and Trujillo, Honduras. Embark on cultural excursions to Mayan ruins, or set out on active adventures such as cave tubing or ATV rides through the jungle. Onboard, guests can choose between a staggering 16 dining options and 13 bars and nightclubs, along with the family-friendly Nickelodeon at Sea program.

Rates from $379; lowest rates on sailings in January 2015; www.ncl.com.

Designed to WOW: Quantum Cruising Introduces More Innovation and Firsts at Sea

[readon1 url="https://www.yahoo.com/travel/8-affordable-2015-cruises-to-book-now-102476413162.html"]Source:www.yahoo.com[/readon1]

Joy to the nudies!

The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro got its first official nudist beach this week, in what one activist calls a "courageous decision" by lawmakers.

The spot is Abrico Beach, about an hour's drive from the city's center. At least one "naturist" group has been gathering here on weekends for years -- and now everyone is officially welcome, whether in swimsuits or merely a birthday suit.

And this is happening in Brazil... can you say sexy?

Brazilian sunbathers call Abrico the perfect nudist spot for its "private and peaceful" setup with "lots of foliage." The Abrico Beach Naturist Association meets there regularly to host "games" and "reunions," basking in what they call the "physical and psychological benefits" of naked socializing.

Other visitors say the beach has beautiful scenery and is less crowded and not as noisy as Rio's other major beaches, though we have a feeling this may be about to change.

The beach's designation as a nudist spot comes at the perfect time, as Rio rides a high from hosting the 2014 World Cup and prepares to become an even hotter tourist spot during the 2016 Summer Olympics.

What's more, nude proponents say the sanction will give them some much-needed "security and respect."

We say give us a towel and a caipirinha!

[readon1 url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/rio-nude-beach_n_6152546.html"]Source:www.huffingtonpost.com[/readon1]

Skechers Retail Stores Now Located in More Than 75 Countries Worldwide

After winning the 2014 Company of the Year award from Footwear News and experiencing third quarter 2014 growth that resulted in the Company’s highest quarterly revenues in its history, SKECHERS achieved a new milestone: the opening of the one thousandth SKECHERS retail store.

The far-reaching locations of SKECHERS stores around the world illustrate the extensive global reach of the brand across six continents and more than 75 countries. The Company hit the thousandth store mark with the opening of a new store in Mexico City today, preceded by an additional store opening in Mexico earlier this week and two in California last week.

“When we opened the first SKECHERS retail store almost 20 years ago, it was hard to imagine we’d one day hit this amazing milestone that truly showcases our global reach,” said Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. “Being profitable marketing vehicles, every SKECHERS store is a living, breathing catalog that offers consumers the largest assortment of SKECHERS, and now we’re improving that experience with an omnichannel approach to retail in our domestic market. As a key component of our distribution model, SKECHERS retail stores strategically grow our footprint and combine with marketing to support our wholesale business and build brand awareness worldwide.”

The first SKECHERS retail store opened in 1995 down the street from the Company’s Manhattan Beach, CA, corporate headquarters, and the first international stores opened in 2001 in Paris, London and Tokyo. The Company continued its global expansion, opening in new markets each year, including earlier this year with its first stores in Angola, Algeria, Belarus, Georgia, Latvia, Libya and Romania to be followed by Slovakia, Nepal and Zimbabwe later this year. By the end of 2014, an additional 35-45 SKECHERS stores will open worldwide bringing our total to approximately 1,050 stores. The look and feel of the SKECHERS company-owned and franchisee stores is consistent around the world.

SKECHERS offers an assortment of more than 3,000 lifestyle and performance footwear styles for men, women and kids. The Company raises awareness for its collections through celebrity endorsees that currently include: iconic drummer Ringo Starr, multi-platinum recording artist Demi Lovato, English model and actress Kelly Brook, TV personality Brooke Burke-Charvet, country music star Danielle Bradbery, legendary quarterbacks Joe Montana and Joe Namath, as well as baseball stars Pete Rose and Mariano Rivera. In addition, Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi, elite runner Kara Goucher, and pro golfer Matt Kuchar represent the Skechers Performance Division.

SKECHERS USA, Inc. (SKX), based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States via department and specialty stores, Company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, and in over 100 countries and territories through the Company’s international network of subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Japan, and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia and distributors around the world. For more information, please visit skechers.com, and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company’s future growth, financial results and operations, its development of new products, future demand for its products and growth opportunities, its planned opening of new stores, advertising and marketing initiatives, and the expansion and automation plans for the Company’s European Distribution Center. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the resignation of the Company’s former independent registered public accounting firm, and its withdrawal of its audit reports with respect to certain of the Company’s historical financial statements; international, national and local general economic, political and market conditions including the ongoing global economic slowdown and market instability; entry into the highly competitive performance footwear market; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers, decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. The risks included here are not exhaustive.
The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

[readon1 url="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/skechers-opens-1-000th-retail-140000557.html;_ylt=AwrTWf1K1mhUKToA_vHQtDMD"]Source:finance.yahoo.com[/readon1]

At first, the fishermen were excited with the massive volume of their catch: a 660-pound shark caught while on a fishing trip off the coast of Surigao, Philippines. And then they were horrified.

The crew of five pulled the gigantic fish onto their boat and, after celebrating and probably anticipating a good payday – two pounds of shark meat goes for about $1.40 in the local market – opened the animal and got the shock of their lives. They found a human head and parts of a leg.

According to the news agency, UPI, the head was "partially digested."

“It was so disgusting. We couldn’t bear the awful smell,” Bodoy Gorgod, one of the fishermen, told Minda News , a news co-operative based in Mindanao, the Philippines' second-largest island.

The shark was caught between the waters of Bohol and Camiguin islands last week.

“We feared that the human remains may bring bad luck to us, so we opted to drop to the sea the shark’s body and what’s inside its belly,” Gorgod, 48, added.

The only things they kept were the massive jaw and fins of the fish, though the wife of another fisherman objected to the jaw, too, saying she feared the spirit of the shark’s victim might come back to haunt them.

“I don’t want the sight of that jaw, knowing that the shark had eaten a human being. Who knows – the victim’s spirit might visit us,” she told Minda News.

Some of the locals speculated that the remains could belong to one of two male passengers still missing from the wreckage of a ferry, the M/V Maharlika 2, that sank on Sept. 13 off the nearby island of Leyte. [readon1 url="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/11/12/partially-digested-human-head-leg-found-inside-shark-caught-by-filippino/"]Source:latino.foxnews.com[/readon1]

We all know long haul travel stinks, but when we finally step off the plane and inhale those heady aromas of our destination, it somehow stinks a little less.

Fragrances, apparently, help create some of the best memories we take home from our vacations.

With this in mind, the UK's Heathrow Airport has installed a "Scent Globe" to try to cheer up departing passengers with a squirt of the exotic smells awaiting them at their destinations.

The globe, positioned in the newly opened Terminal 2, offers whiffs representing five nations -- Brazil, China, Japan, South Africa and Thailand.

"These specially created scents will give passengers traveling through Terminal 2 an exclusive preview of destinations that only Heathrow connects to [from the UK]," says Normand Boivin, the airport's chief operating officer.

So what do these countries smell like?

Design in Scent, the team behind Heathrow's globe rely on complex odor infusions to bring them to life in a nasal-compatible form.

'Mystical temple incense'

South Africa's fragrance "captures the adventure of safari with notes of tribal incense, wild grass and musky animalics through the scent of Hyraceum."

Brazil "embraces the scents of its rich rainforest fauna with a palette of coffee, tobacco and jasmine."

Japan "is brought to life through cool, oceanic tones with a mix of seaweed and shell extracts, green tea and Ambergris, capturing the essence of small coastal villages so synonymous with the great Pacific Island."

China's features "mystical temple incense and subtle Osmanthus Fragrans flower" while Thailand's uses "an appetizing mix of lemongrass, ginger and coconut."

Leaving aside the fact that the true scent of intercontinental travel is actually a warm blend of stranger's armpit infused with essence of brutally stewed airline food, pairing countries with odors is an entertaining idea

Which country smells best?

[readon1 url="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/06/travel/country-smells/index.html?hpt=wo_mid"]Source:edition.cnn.com[/readon1]

Apartment owners in Manhattan’s Trump Plaza are facing as much as $1 million in fees to purchase the ground their apartment building stands on–even though they have already paid for their apartments.

The owners of the land beneath the building, at 167 E. 61st Street, said they wanted to sell amid the sky-high Manhattan property market, putting the apartment owners at risk that a new ground owner might jack up the ground lease. “That scared the people there, the board,” says Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate attorney who some of the apartment owners have contacted, but who is not handling the case. So the co-op board offered the landowners $185 million, a price that would get passed on to the apartment owners, as Bloomberg was first to report.

In New York, co-op residents buy shares in a corporation that owns their building; condominium owners get individual deeds to their properties. Co-op shareholders must pay a monthly maintenance fee to cover the joint costs of the building, including mortgage payments, rent for the ground, and operating expenses.

Trump Plaza is an unusual situation because the apartment owners don’t own the land that their apartment building stands on, whereas most co-ops do own the land under their buildings. Donald Trump is not the landowner, though he did build Trump Plaza. The landowners appear to be the Estate of Donald S. Ruth, based in Cedarhurst, N.Y., according to public records.

Trump Plaza, a 39-story building, has 154 units and was built in 1983, according to Streeteasy.com

[readon1 url="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/11/06/manhattans-trump-plaza-apartment-owners-face-1-million-fee/"]Source:www.forbes.com[/readon1]

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Climate change is happening, it's almost entirely man's fault and limiting its impacts may require reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero this century, the U.N.'s panel on climate science said Sunday.

The fourth and final volume of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's giant climate assessment offered no surprises, nor was it expected to since it combined the findings of three reports released in the past 13 months.

But it underlined the scope of the climate challenge in stark terms. Emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, may need to drop to zero by the end of this century for the world to have a decent chance of keeping the temperature rise below a level that many consider dangerous.

The IPCC didn't say exactly what such a world would look like but it would likely require a massive shift to renewable sources to power homes, cars and industries combined with new technologies to suck greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The report warned that failure to reduce emissions could lock the world on a trajectory with "irreversible" impacts on people and the environment. Some impacts already being observed included rising sea levels, a warmer and more acidic ocean, melting glaciers and Arctic sea ice and more frequent and intense heat waves.

"Science has spoken. There is no ambiguity in their message. Leaders must act. Time is not on our side," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the report's launch in Copenhagen.

Amid its grim projections, the report said the tools are there to set the world on a low-emissions path and break the addiction to burning oil, coal and gas which pollute the atmosphere with heat-trapping CO2, the chief greenhouse gas.

"All we need is the will to change, which we trust will be motivated by knowledge and an understanding of the science of climate change," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri said.

The IPCC was set up in 1988 to assess global warming and its impacts. The report released Sunday caps its latest assessment, a mega-review of 30,000 climate change studies that establishes with 95-percent certainty that most of the warming seen since the 1950s is man-made. The IPCC's best estimate is that just about all of it is man-made, but it can't say that with the same degree of certainty.

Today only a small minority of scientists challenge the mainstream conclusion that climate change is linked to human activity.

Global Climate Change, a NASA website, says 97 percent of climate scientists agree that warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.

The American public isn't as convinced. A year-old survey by Pew Research showed 67 percent of Americans believed global warming is occurring and 44 percent said the earth is warming mostly because of human activity. More recently, a New York Times poll said 42 percent of Republicans say global warming won't have a serious impact, a view held by 12 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of independents.

Sleep-deprived delegates approved the final documents Saturday after a weeklong line-by-line review that underscored that the IPCC process is not just about science. The reports must be approved both by scientists and governments, which means political issues from U.N. climate negotiations, which are nearing a 2015 deadline for a global agreement, inevitably affect the outcome.

The rift between developed and developing countries in the U.N. talks opened up in Copenhagen over a passage on what levels of warming could be considered dangerous. After a protracted battle, the text was dropped from a key summary for policy-makers — to the disappointment of some scientists.

"If the governments are going to expect the IPCC to do their job," said Princeton professor Michael Oppenheimer, a lead author of the IPCC's second report, they shouldn't "get caught up in fights that have nothing to do with the IPCC."

The omission meant the word "dangerous" disappeared from the summary altogether. It appeared only twice in a longer underlying report compared to seven times in a draft produced before the Copenhagen session. The less loaded word "risk" was mentioned 65 times in the final 40-page summary.

"Rising rates and magnitudes of warming and other changes in the climate system, accompanied by ocean acidification, increase the risk of severe, pervasive, and in some cases irreversible detrimental impacts," the report said.

World governments in 2009 set a goal of keeping the temperature rise below 2 degrees C (3.6 F) compared to before the industrial revolution. Temperatures have gone up about 0.8 C (1.4 F) since the 19th century.

Emissions have risen so fast in recent years that the world has used up two-thirds of its carbon budget, the maximum amount of CO2 that can be emitted to have a likely chance of avoiding 2 degrees of warming, the IPCC report said.

"This report makes it clear that if you are serious about the 2-degree goal ... there is nowhere to hide," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group. "You can't wait several decades to address this issue."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the report demands "ambitious, decisive and immediate action."

"Those who choose to ignore or dispute the science so clearly laid out in this report do so at great risk for all of us and for our kids and grandkids," Kerry said in a statement.

The IPCC said the cost of actions such as shifting to solar and wind power and other renewable sources and improving energy efficiency would reduce economic growth only by 0.06 percent annually.

Pachauri said that should be measured against the implications of doing nothing, putting "all species that live on this planet" at peril.

The report is meant as a scientific roadmap for the U.N. climate negotiations, which continue next month in Lima, Peru. That's the last major conference before a summit in Paris next year, where a global agreement on climate action is supposed to be adopted.

The biggest hurdle is deciding who should do what. Rich countries are calling on China and other major developing countries to set ambitious targets; developing countries saying the rich have a historical responsibility to lead the fight against warming and to help poorer nations cope with its impacts. The IPCC avoided taking sides, saying the risks of climate change "are generally greater for disadvantaged people and communities in countries at all levels of development."

[readon1 url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/02/un-climate-change-report_n_6089392.html"]Source:www.huffingtonpost.com[/readon1]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan poses inside the new Ak Saray (White Palace) presidential palace on the outskirts of Ankara on October 29, 2014. He then hosted a reception marking the country's annual Republic Day, which celebrates the founding of modern Turkey in 1923.

The world's Most Extravagant Presidential Palaces

[readon1 url="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/29/world/gallery/presidential-palaces/index.html?hpt=ila_t3"]Source:edition.cnn.com[/readon1]