TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp said on Thursday it expects to beat its sales forecast for its PlayStation Portable handheld game gear for the year to March.
Sales of Sony’s PSP would likely hit 16 million units this year, instead of its previous outlook of 15 million units, it said.
Source — Yahoo!
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Officials in early voting states are reporting record turnout with Election Day still two weeks away.
The numbers indicate a record percentage of voters could participate in the presidential election, a voting expert said.
Michael McDonald, an associate professor of politics and government at George Mason University, said at least 2.2 million people already have voted using absentee or other types of ballots that allow them to vote before the polls open on November 4.
Twenty-nine states were accepting early ballots as of Tuesday, and two more — New Jersey and Oklahoma — will begin accepting early ballots next week.
In North Carolina, which has developed into a battleground state, nearly 500,000 voters have cast absentee ballots, according to the State Board of Elections. Officials at the State Board of Elections expect to surpass numbers from the 2004 election, when 700,000 people voted early.
Fifty-six percent, of those voting early in North Carolina were Democrats, while 28 percent were Republicans and 16 percent were not registered as a member of a party, the elections board said.
Officials in Houston, Texas, said more than 39,000 people voted on the first day of early voting Monday, nearly double the amount for the initial day in 2004, CNN affiliate KHOU-TV in Houston reported.
Early voting has also begun in the critical battleground states of Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Nevada and Virginia.
A record numbers of voters lined up to vote when Florida opened its early voting stations Monday, with some waiting hours to cast their ballots. The early polling stations will remain open until the weekend before Election Day.
Jennifer Davis, spokeswoman for the Florida secretary of state’s office, said several counties are reporting numbers far exceeding the 2004 turnout.
In Sarasota County, 4,700 people cast ballots Monday, compared with 2,088 on the first day four years ago, Davis said, leading officials there to believe that half the county’s ballots could be cast before November 4.
In Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, 6,688 people already had opted for early voting, compared with 1,088 on the first day in 2004.
The Jacksonville Times-Union reported long lines in northeast Florida, with at least two counties reporting problems with voting machines. In Duval County, 7 of 15 optical scanning machines used to count ballots had to be replaced, the newspaper reported.
The number of voters who already have cast their ballots could be much higher, McDonald said, because many states have not reported the number of ballots they have received so far.
Early voting suggests a record 213 million people are eligible to vote this year, said McDonald, who also works with the consortium that conducts election exit polling for broadcast and news networks.
“This will be the election in which the most people have ever voted in an American election in the history of our country,” he said.
McDonald said early voting is often a good prediction of the level of turnout on Election Day, and heavy early voting indicates the turnout this year will exceed the 60 percent turnout in the 2004 election.
“We have a very good chance of beating the 64 percent turnout in the 1960 election,” McDonald said. “We really could be looking at a historic election in modern American history.”
That race saw the highest level of turnout in American history, except the 66 percent turnout in the 1908 presidential election.
McDonald pointed to the record number of early votes already cast in Georgia as an example of the high interest in the race.
More than 690,000 Georgians already have voted, more than the entire number that cast ballots before Election Day in 2004, McDonald said. That figure represents nearly 21 percent of all the 3.3 million presidential votes cast in 2004, he said.
“If we see this persist across all states, we really could be in for an election of historic proportions,” McDonald said.
Of Georgians who voted early, a majority, 56 percent, were women, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office. About 60 percent of those voting were white, while 35 percent voting early were black, the office said.
Turnout was so heavy in Charlotte, North Carolina, that Mecklenburg County officials are extending voting hours and opening 20 voting sites this weekend instead of the originally planned five, WSOC-TV in Charlotte reported.
Like Georgia, a majority of those voting early in North Carolina — 56 percent — were women, the election board said. The board also reported that 68 percent of those voting early were white, while 28 percent were black.
When early voting began in Virginia last Wednesday, election officials in Mason District, in the northern Virginian county of Fairfax, had to turn their largest meeting room into a seating area to handle the number of voters wanting to cast early ballots.
“We needed to have enough room for people, so they wouldn’t go into the parking lot,” Supervisor Penny Gross said.
Gross said she had expected large numbers because “I had people in my office for weeks, asking if they could vote,” but said even she was caught off guard by the turnout.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd, surprised at the variety and quite frankly, the numbers,” she said.
Source — CNN
With persistent energy costs turning green habits from trend into standing policy, environmental measures that would have dazzled just a few years ago are becoming as expected and unimpressive as compact fluorescent light bulbs. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Motel 6 or truck stop without some level of green certification.
In a bit of a shock, this year’s Sustained Excellence award winner from the Environmental Protection Agency went to New York City’s downtown Marriott. Yes, that Marriott—in the sweltering asphalt of Manhattan’s Financial District. Insiders, however, weren’t surprised. Marriott announced a company-wide policy to cut energy consumption (not just costs) by 25 percent by 2017; they’ve also debuted “spudware,” biodegradable cutlery made from potato and soy, and turned golf courses into Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries.
With corporate titans making very public efforts to go green, it’s little surprise that some self-described Friends of the Environment aren’t what they claim to be. One hotel whose brochure claimed to be “eco-friendly” was backed up in practice by nothing more than an optional recycling program. Such puffery—called “green-washing”—is hampering the industry and the larger environmental movement. It always pays to double-check a hotel’s credentials and give so-called green thumbs the white-glove treatment.
Still, even in the last year, great strides have been made. Going green now entails more than unwashed towels and unlikely flavors of organic toothpaste. Sustainability is an important criterion for eco-conscious travelers—and not just for visitors from San Francisco and Vermont. At the Wyland Waikiki in Hawaii, for example, guests are treated to the largest collection of work by renowned marine artist Robert Wyland, whose murals of sea life are meant to inspire environmental preservation.
For your inner pedicured cowboy, Montana’s Bison Quest Sanctuary and Spa reconnects guests with wildlife through encounters with a buffalo herd. “We’ve had a bison herd for well over a decade,” says Pam Knowles, wildlife biologist and founder of the private sanctuary, “and it has become obvious to us over the years that people are fascinated with bison in a natural setting.” The 480-acre private ranch plans on staying small and sustainable in Big Sky country. “We currently have one cabin and two tipis, with the second cabin slated to be finished this fall,” Knowles says. “We don’t plan to ever be bigger than that.”
Though staying green is often about staying small and sustainable, many big urban hotels (like the Marriott) are getting in on the act. The Seaport Hotel in Boston, for example, boasts chemical-free, electrolyzed water instead of bleach for cleaning. Management also composts food waste with the first BioX decomposing system in New England and uses its purchasing power to encourage other industries to go green by buying from environmentally sound suppliers. And by cultivating an on-site herb and vegetable garden, they reduce their dependence on outside suppliers even more.
Clearly, if straight-laced Boston can be just as environmental as flowery San Francisco (where the Hotel Triton, a Kimpton hotel, has led the eco-charge), environmentalism is gaining traction in the public awareness. The same could be said for Arkansas, where the Lookout Point Inn in Hot Springs has got it going on, ecologically speaking. There, old sheets and towels are donated to charity and unused paper products are given to the staff. Having a natural hot spring to take a warm soak in also helps cut heating costs.
Heating costs may be low by default in sunny Key West, but the Banyan Resort still goes green with a solar-powered pool, a deck made from recycled lumber and grounds that are xeriscaped. That is, landscaped with water-conserving plants. Throughout the country, hotels’ growing array of eco-innovations provides inspiration to hoteliers and guests alike.
Source — MSNBC
KABUL, Afghanistan - An insurgent attack on an eastern compound killed a U.S. soldier on Thursday, bringing the year’s death toll to 112 and making 2008 the deadliest for American forces in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded the country in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The NATO-led force said the soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan “when insurgents attacked a compound.” It provided no other details, but a Western military official told The Associated Press that the soldier was American.
Afghanistan was the launching pad for al-Qaida’s terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In response, U.S. forces invaded in October 2001 and drove the Taliban out of power in a matter of weeks.
Once derided as a ragtag insurgency after the fall of their regime, Taliban fighters have transformed into a fighting force advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks. Suicide and roadside bombs have turned bigger and deadlier than ever.
The number of Arab, Chechen and Uzbek militants flowing into the Afghan-Pakistan theater has increased this year, bringing with them command expertise the Taliban had lacked in previous years.
Pakistan blamed
Top U.S. generals, European presidents and analysts say the blame lies to the east, in militant sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan. As long as those areas remain havens where fighters arm, train, recruit and plot increasingly sophisticated ambushes, the Afghan war will continue to sour.
Thursday’s death brings to 112 the number of troops who have died in Afghanistan this year, surpassing last year’s record toll of 111.
Some 33,000 U.S. troops are now stationed in the country, the highest level since 2001. Overall, more than 65,000 troops from 40 nations are deployed in Afghanistan.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Thursday remembered those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks during ceremonies at bases around the country. In Kabul, a top U.S. general said terrorism still remains a threat to the world.
Maj. Gen. Robert Cone told those gathered for a memorial ceremony at Camp Eggers that terrorists have struck in London, Russia and Bali, Indonesia since the 2001 attacks in the United States.
“These attacks are reminders that the threat of terrorism is real and still a danger to the entire world,” Cone said.
Cone’s command in Kabul trains and equips the fledgling Afghan security forces — the centerpiece of the American strategy of turning Afghanistan into a country that can defend itself and away from the days when Osama bin Laden used it as a safe haven to launch attacks in New York and Washington.
Source — MSNBC
(Travel + Leisure) – It’s no surprise: Americans are super-opinionated, especially about the cities they live in and the places they visit. In fact, their feelings are so strong that in the 2008 America’s Favorite Cities survey — conducted by travelandleisure.com and CNN Headline News — Americans voted more than 600,000 times on 45 characteristics of 25 cities, weighing in on things like shopping, food, culture and nightlife, as well as cleanliness and affordability.
In 2007, there was a lot of cheering from cities that clinched the No. 1 spots, like Chicago, Illinois, (dining) and Austin, Texas, (best singles scene). But we also saw a lot of upsets — upset people, that is. After all, someone had to come in last. Unfortunately for the proud people of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, America voted them dead last in the category of attractive people. And Los Angeles, California, took the prize for least friendly city, a category that most expected New York City to sweep.
Notable changes
For the winners in each category, 2008 brought some surprises. New Orleans, Louisiana, elbowed New York aside as the best city for fine dining. Las Vegas, Nevada, took the No. 1 spot for best singles scene as former No. 1 Austin tumbled to No. 5. In the cleanliness category, Portland, Oregon, swept Minneapolis, Minnesota, out of first place this year.
But other cities maintained their dominant positions. New York held its No. 1 ranking as the country’s best spot for people-watching, while Charleston, South Carolina, was once again voted America’s friendliest city.
Find your vacation
There’s plenty more to explore beyond the rankings. If you’re in the market for a great destination, the Vacation Finder at travelandleisure.com can help you find the perfect city for your interests. Austin and New Orleans, for example, are rollicking destinations for live music, cheap ethnic food and vintage shopping. If something more high-minded is your style, check out Washington D.C. (No. 1 for museums) or New York (No. 1 for classical music).
Travelers seeking the sophistication of cities paired with the exhilaration of the outdoors should head to Honolulu, Hawaii, (No. 1 for active/adventure vacations), Portland (No. 1 for public parks and access to outdoors), or Denver, Colorado, (No. 1 for athletic/active citizens).
If you’re planning a trip with the kids, Orlando, Florida, is still on top, but alternatives like San Diego, California, and Washington D.C. still rate high with travelers. Seekers of romantic getaways should try their luck in Honolulu, Charleston or San Francisco, California, which hold their own particular charms.
And what happened at the bottom of the scale? Did Philadelphia rally voters and push themselves up the attractiveness scale? Did Angelenos take the criticism about being the least-friendly city to heart and begin using a kinder, gentler salute to fellow drivers on the freeway? Read on to find out.
Here are the top three cities in some of the categories, as voted by visitors. Visit travelandleisure.com for the full results, best and worst, for each city and category, as ranked by residents and by visitors.
2008 America’s Favorite Cities Survey
travelandleisure.com and CNN Headline News collected 600,000 votes on 45 characteristics of 25 urban destinations across the United States. Here are the top three cities in some of the categories, as voted on by visitors:
Live Music/Bands
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Austin, Texas
3. Nashville, Tennessee
Destination Restaurants
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. New York, New York
3. San Francisco, California
People
1. Miami, Florida
2. San Diego, California
3. Austin, Texas
Skyline/Views
1. New York, New York
2. Chicago, Illinois
3. San Francisco, California
Source — CNN
