After a roller coaster week, Kendra Skaggs sat down to vent on her blog. She had used that space to document her 13 month journey of adopting a young girl named Polina from Russia. But now, with that dream just weeks away from fulfillment, she described her frustration, fear and anger as she watched it being snatched away.
"I have no control. I'm on the other side of the world and I can't hold and comfort my daughter as I wait to hear if we will forever be separated," she wrote in a passionate entry
Her writing seemed to speak for hundreds of American parents whose hopes of adopting a Russian orphan were dashed today when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a controversial ban on adoptions to the United States. The move is part of Russia's retaliation for a set of human rights sanctions passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama earlier this month. Critics, including the U.S. State Department, say the adoption ban is playing politics with the lives of children.
Russia is the third most popular country for Americans to adopt from, but in recent years the issue has become a political football in Russia. Americans have adopted over 60,000 Russian children since the fall of the Soviet Union, but Russian officials have seized on the cases of 19 children who died after being adopted by Americans.
Soccer Player Kick-Starts New Career After Viral Video Watch VideoIn 2010, a 7-year-old adopted boy named Artyom was put on a plane back to Russia alone by his adoptive mother from Tennessee with little more than a note saying she did not want him anymore. The case touched off a wave of fury in Russia and adoptions to the United States were nearly halted.
Just a week ago Kendra and her husband visited Polina at her orphanage outside Moscow. The bubbly 5-year-old suffers from spina bifida, a condition that has left her numb from the waist down and unable to walk. They showed Polina photos of her new bedroom and told her about her new family. They played together, hugged each other, and promised to see each other soon when they returned in January to bring her home to Arkansas.
The adoption ban legislation, meanwhile, had just been introduced by Russian lawmakers. Kendra had hoped their case, which was nearly completed, would sneak in under the wire. She held out hope again after a Moscow court approved her adoption on Monday. All that was needed was a 30 day waiting period before they could bring Polina home.
It appears even that was too late. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, but Russian officials have said even cases of 52 children who are within weeks of traveling to the United States are now frozen. Authorities have pledged to find new homes for them in Russia.
For the Skaggs family, it is agonizing to be so close to bringing her home, yet so far. Kendra fears Polina will think she was abandoned again.
"It's the fear of what she is going to think, that we forgot her," she said in an interview with ABC News.
"She's out there and I can't take care of her," she said, crying softly. "I can't help her. I can't tell her I love her. So it's really hard."
She also worries what will happen to Polina in Russia, a country with scarce accommodations for the handicapped.
"Russia really isn't set up for people with disabilities. You can't get into the metro even to get around because it's just levels and levels of stairs that you have to go up and down and there's no handicapped access to the buildings," Kendra said.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/putins-adoption-ban-makes-american-mom-cry/story?id=18082631
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50314266/
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2012 had its fair share of big days on the stock market. Here's a look back at what set off the biggest moves in the Dow Jones industrial average.
The Biggest Drops:
? Nov. 7: Down 313 points. On the day after the presidential election, investors worried that a divided government wouldn't reach deal on the budget in time to avoid across-the-board government spending cuts and tax increases Jan. 1.
? June 1: Down 275 points. A dismal report on hiring and employment for May sent the market swooning.
? June 21: Down 251 points. A sharp decline in a closely watched measure of manufacturing in the Northeast got investors worried about the U.S. economy. China also reports a slowdown at its factories.
? October 23: Down 244 points. Big companies including Xerox, DuPont and 3M report slumping revenues for the third quarter.
? April 10: Down 214 points. Rising borrowing costs for Spain and Italy made investors worry that those two major countries would become the latest to be engulfed in Europe's government debt crisis.
The Biggest Gains:
? June 6: Up 287 points. Hope that European officials would find ways to ease the region's debt crisis launched a rally.
? June 29: Up 278 points. Markets storm higher after European leaders came up with a plan to rescue banks, relieve debt-burdened governments and restore investor confidence.
? Sept. 6: Up 244 points. Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, unveils a program to buy government bonds from the region's struggling countries with the aim of lowering their borrowing costs.
? March 13: Up 218 points. U.S. banks led a powerful rally after JPMorgan Chase said it plans to buy back as much as $15 billion of its stock and raise its dividend. The government also reported strong retail sales for February.
? Aug. 3: Up 217 points. The U.S. government reported a sharp increase in hiring for July.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/look-back-memorable-days-wall-203325775.html
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-press-headline-package-064047025--spt.html
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At the end of the most recent season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the cast was divided into two very uneven teams: Caroline Manzo, Jacqueline Laurita, Melissa Gorga and Kathy Wakile versus Teresa Giudice. Teresa, the Italian cookbook author and mother of four little girls, was the obvious villain of season 4. She was accused of spreading malicious gossip about her family, selling out her friends to the tabloid press, and covering up her husband Joe Giudice's bankruptcy, possible illegal activities and probable infidelity. By the time the three-part reunion show rolled around, Teresa looked anything but "fabulicious."
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Amy Poehler Tackles Jealousy [The Frisky] Demi Lovato Sings for Newtown Victims [HollyWire] Nelson Mandela Leaves Hospital [The Celebrity Cafe] Kelly Osbourne Rocks Bikini on Cosmo [The Blemish] Kate Winslet Secretly Ties the Knot [The Huffington Post] Janet Jackson Engaged [Radar Online] CNN Anchor Erin Burnett Off the Market [Bump Shack] David Gregory in Trouble ...
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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/12/tinseltown-dirt-8/
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(By Balaseshan) Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG), which provides insurance brokerage and third-party claims settlement, said it has purchased Heiser Insurance Agency Inc. in Morton, Illinois for an undisclosed sum.
Heiser Insurance Agency Inc. (HIA) is a retail insurance broker providing retail property/casualty, employee benefits and risk management insurance services for their commercial clients throughout the Midwestern United States. They specialize in both the transportation and manufacturing industries.
Sam Parrott and his team will continue to operate in their current location under the direction of Thomas Gallagher, head of Gallagher's Midwest retail property/casualty brokerage operations.
On December 26, Arthur J. Gallagher said it has purchased Ahrold Fay Rosenberg (AFR) in Des Moines, Iowa for an undisclosed sum. AFR is a retail insurance broker providing retail property/casualty, employee benefits and risk management insurance services for their commercial clients throughout the Midwestern U.S.
On December 13, the company said it has acquired a 21.3% interest in Casanueva Perez S.A.P. de C.V. (Grupo CP), headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico for an undisclosed sum. Grupo CP is an insurance broker and risk management company.
On December 12, Arthur J. Gallagher said it has purchased Western Benefit Solutions, LLC headquartered in Boise, Idaho for undisclosed terms. Founded in 1997, Western Benefit Solutions, LLC (WBS) provides a wide range of employee benefit insurance brokerage and consultation services.
On December 11, the company announced the acquisition of Charter Lakes Marine Insurance Agency, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1986, Charter Lakes operates as a retail property/casualty insurance broker, program administrator and managing general agency specializing exclusively in commercial and personal marine insurance products and services.
?
On December 4, Arthur J. Gallagher said it has bought Brendis & Brendis Inc. located in Omaha, Nebraska for undisclosed terms. Founded in 1989, Brendis & Brendis provides a wide range of employee benefit program consulting services for their employer group clients throughout the Midwest.
AJG is trading down 0.43% at $34.68 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $32.01 and $38.24 for the past 52 weeks.
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A man of the highest social echelon, as evidenced by his choice of eyewearStudio-Annika/iStockphoto.
Eustice Tilley, the dandyish mascot of The New Yorker, telegraphs his estimable class status with a number of chic-yet-dignified sartorial choices, a top hat and topcoat among them. But the accessory that most efficiently communicates Mr. Tilley?s caste is his monocle: a single, bespoke lens secured round his neck by a fine string and held aloft before his discerning eye. By the time Tilley graced The New Yorker?s inaugural cover in 1925, the image of the bemonocled man-about-town had already become a thing of caricature. How did the monocle become a symbol of wealth?
It was a symbol of wealth from the start. The standard monocle is essentially a small magnifying glass without a handle (though early versions generally had one). The monocle can be helpful in reading small print and before the advent of modern refractive-error testing it was thought to be capable of correcting myopia, but sporting one as a general part of one?s attire was always something of a fashionable affectation. Like the lorgnette, spyglass, and, a direct ancestor, the quizzing glass, the monocle basically originated as a faddish accessory of those with the cash and the inclination to purchase such things. It was most popular with the moneyed classes in Europe in the 1820s and ?30s, and experienced a revival in the 1890s.
Though the exact origins of the monocle are unclear, fashion historian Richard Corson sets their general appearance around the turn of the 19th century in Great Britain, with quick adoption and further development in Germany. According to a 1950 article from Optical Journal, from the beginning the single lens carried with it ?an air of conscious elegance,? making it ripe for ridicule: ?[O]ne had the feeling the wearer was being a trifle foolish, an attitude which resulted to some extent from the fact that monocles frequently did not fit and kept dropping out of place.?
Indeed, the impractical design of monocles ensured their status as a luxurious object. In order to avoid muscle strain, the frame of the monocle?which may be made of gold, silver, tortoise shell, and other materials?must be custom-fitted to the wearer?s eye, an expensive proposition. Additional support may come from a ?gallery,? a raised edge that helps keep the lens away from the wearer?s eyelashes and more firmly ensconced in the eye orbit. Due to their sensitivity to gravity, monocles are almost always attached to a chain or string.
The association of monocles with a stereotype of the rich, especially with the rich and pretentious, began at least as early as Charles Dickens? skewering of young Mr. Barnacle?s intractable eyepiece in Little Dorrit, serialized between 1855 and 1857. In America, the image was largely popularized by E.A. Sothern?s portrayal of the silly English nobleman Lord Dundreary in Our American Cousin, first performed in 1858.
Still, there?s traditionally been at least some demand for the eyepiece among the less-moneyed. Mass-produced monocles of inferior quality were available throughout the 1800s and worn by men?and occasionally women?of more modest means. Currently, a monocle in ?whisky tortoise? can be had from the eye-dresser Warby Parker for $50.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=5a176aa52cce0f38494e34528b05ed84
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Vanity Fair
Jessica Chastain for Vanity Fair
Fall magazine issues tend to be the biggest and most important of the year ? fat with ad pages. Magazine publishers thus try to get the hottest celebrity possible to grace their fall covers.Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain, who was buzzworthy this year for her role in "Zero Dark Thirty," nabbed the desirable September cover of Vanity Fair. Magazines she was on the cover of sold almost 700 pages of advertisements this year. That's no small feat.
But Chastain doesn't hold the coveted top spot of most ad pages sold, though. That title goes to another young actress who starred in the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year. (And if you're interested in more, see our ranking from 2011.)
*Special thanks to MagazineRadar for gathering our data. The company at these 14 top magazines: Vogue, InStyle, Marie Claire, People StyleWatch, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, W, Playboy, Glamour, Cosmo, Allure, Self, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrity-magazine-ad-page-sales-2012-12
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