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Jennifer Dimaano

Don't let the profile picture fool you--I don't EVER wear my glasses (my BFF persuaded me to wear them and said I looked like a "hot librarian" in them, the picture proves otherwise). I'm sassy, a little eccentric, and a mad evil genius. People usually think I'm a little older than I really am. I'm prone to socially awkward situations. -.-"" I love using emoticons :D , visually aesthetic things (stuff that fall under this category: people, clothes/style, photography, interior design, places etc.), Britney Spears, and traveling. I (seem) to dislike more things than I like, but I never dwell. I have a crazy ridiculous sweet tooth--which is almost insatiable--a dry sense of humor, more bankruptcy to my almost nonexistent income, an overcrowded closet, and most important the best company a gal can ever ask for :'] I am a dreamer, not a do-er--which is kinda sad--but I try my best. Secretly, I am a dancer, I have been dancing since I was 3 and will never, ever, stop. I'm a noob to writing :O bet you didn't think so!? I used to hate writing papers, grammar (despite being born in Chicago my first language was not English), and was so close to failing my high school English class. It wasn't until my freshman year in university I realized I have a real knack for it, which is all that matters. Did I scare you off yet? >:D

Nordstorm will soon be carrying Topshop merchandise

The trendy store, Topshop, will be bringing Nordstrom into a whole new spectrum

Nordstrom, the upscale department store chain, recently announced it’s collaboration with Topshop, the British based trendy fast-fashion store.

Nordstrom stores as well as Nordstrom.com will carry both Topshop and Topman merchandise, including cosmetics, shoes and accessories beginning in September. Fast-fashion stores such as Zara and H&M have become increasingly popular, providing consumer’s fresh product on a weekly basis.

The collaboration is expected to open up new markets for Nordstrom. “This will be a new customer for them, and a new customer for us,” Philip Green, Topshop owner, said during an interview at Topshop’s SoHo store.

“For a time, you had the same four department stores as mall anchors, and they had the same four brands…They need to spice things up,” said Deborah Weinswig, Citigroup analyst.

According to NYDaily, this isn’t the first collaboration Nordstrom has done to expand on their market range—trying to acquire the flash-sale site HauteLook and bringing e-commerce brand Bonobos into their stores.

Department stores want to attract younger shoppers, and strategy partnerships have become more prominent lately in doing so. J.C. Penney began carrying merchandise from Mango, under MNG by Mango. In recent light Neiman Marcus and Target announced both stores will be carrying a Christmas collection from 24 designers.

The collaboration is set to debut in 14 city store locations across the U.S. The locations vary in geographies, size and demographic, which will give Nordstrom a feel for which product merchandise will work, eventually delivering Topshop and Topman merchandises for most of its stores.

“Fast fashion implies cheap, and that’s not what we’re after…It wasn’t about how we sell a bunch of really cheap T-shirts. It’s about how we deliver credible new fashion to the customer” said Mr. Nordstrom.

Nordstrom will be allocating 2,500 square feet for women’s Topshop and 1,500 square feet for men’s Topman. Topshop has only three stores in the U.S.—SoHo, Chicago, and Las Vegas—but has 319 stores in Britain and 140 around the world.

Topshop currently isn’t selling merchandise under any other department store—in Canada, Topshop products are being sold at The Bay. Topshop has been approached by other department stores to collaborate, but the company was not interested in becoming a “mass-market store.”

Groupon shares drop

Shares fall to an all time low since public offering in November

Groupon stocks have hit its lowest level Wednesday since the company went public last November. Concerns regarding the low stocks come from the decline in traffic to the site and the influence Europe’s weak economy.

ComScore, Internet trends tracker, said Groupon traffic has declined 15% in June from last year. Last month, Groupon.com had 12.2 million unique visitors—down from 14.5 million back in June 2011.

Mark Mahney, a Citi Investment Research analyst, has expressed some concerns about Groupon’s exposure to Europe’s weak economy. A quarter of the company’s revenue comes from Europe. Mahney states that the combination of this and uneasy exchange trends, will weigh in heavily on the company’s expected earnings for the second quarter.

There is some skepticism that current decline in share prices are possible effects of “more fundamental flaws” within the business. Aaron Kessler, Raymond James senior research analyst, said, “There is investor concern over the sustainability of the model…consumer and merchant fatigue.”

Despite not being able to top analyst estimates for the April-June quarter, Wall Street expectations are more “reasonable.” From a FactSet poll, analysts are expecting revenue of $576.5 million, with expected earnings of 3 cents per share. Groupon target price has gone down from $22 to $19. Groupon shares fell 54 cents—6.5%, closing at $7.77 on Wednesday, just barely making it above its all time low of $7.72.

Groupon is known for selling spa and restaurant packages at a discounted price.

Another California municipal files for bankruptcy

San Bernardino files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy–no longer a “stigma”

Municipal towns across California have been declaring bankruptcy. The most recent to join is San Bernardino—the third city in California to file for bankruptcy in two weeks.

Many municipal towns across California and around the nation are struggling to cover costs—due to a weak economic—could have other municipalities following Stockton and file for bankruptcy.

“This is not the end. This is the beginning…As cities see it can be done and is being done, it will give them the idea to do it,” said Peter Navarro, business professor at University of California Irvine.

Billionaire, Warren Buffet foresees the climb in municipals filing for bankruptcy. In an interview done with In the Loop with Betty Liu Buffet says, “The stigma has probably been reduced when you get very sizeable cities like Stockton or San Bernardino to do it…The very fact they do it makes it more likely.”

Buffet disagrees on Meredith Whitney’s prediction in 2010 about the nation being on the “brink of hundreds of billions of dollars in defaults.” Buffet views the bankruptcy filings as a way to renegotiate.

“I don’t think we’re at the precipice…People will use the threat of bankruptcy to try and negotiate, particularly pension contracts, with their employees.”

San Bernardino City Council voted on Tuesday to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy after $10 million to $16 million in annual revenue has decreased in recent years as taxable sales dried up and property values went under.

According to the report, despite negotiating tens of millions of dollars in concessions and reducing its workforce by 20% over the past four years, San Bernardino would not have enough cash on hand to meet its obligations.

According to Navarro, bankruptcies are “a sign of short-term strife…But it’s also a sign they’ve hit bottom.”

New report mars Joe Paterno's legacy

A new report conducted by Louis Freeh indicates Paterno was well aware of the ’98 Sandusky investigation

Penn State’s late head football coach, Joe Paterno was formerly well-known for his great integrity. Now a new report attacks the integrity of the formerly beloved Penn State head coach, suggesting Paterno had some prior knowledge to the 1998 Jerry Sandusky child-abuse investigation.

Paterno testified last year to being unaware of the allegations against Sandusky. A report released on Thursday, by former Director Louis Freeh, states Paterno was not only aware of the investigation, but he followed the case closely. According to USA Today, 400 interviews and 3 million documents were used over a near eight-month investigation.

In the report, Freeh found that Paterno was among five Penn State officials who covered up the information to avoid bad publicity. Freeh said Paterno could have stopped the sexual abuse “if he wished.”

“The facts are facts…He was an integral part of the act to conceal,” said Freeh.

Contradicting to Paterno’s initial stance claiming to be unaware of the investigation, Freeh’s report finds evidence strongly suggesting the former coach was a vital importance in making the decision to not alert authorities.

The newly released report has made a huge impact that has marred Paterno’s reputation. Nike’s chairman, Phil Knight decided to change the name of the Joe Paterno Child Development Center at its Oregon headquarters.

Paterno’s family issued a statement against the report:

“It can be argued that Joe Paterno should have gone further…He should have pushed his superiors to see that they were doing their jobs. We accept this criticism. At the same time, Joe Paterno and everyone else knew that Sandusky had been repeatedly investigated by authorities who approved his multiple adoptions and foster children. Joe Paterno mistakenly believed that investigators, law enforcement officials, university leaders, and others would properly and fully investigate any issue and proceed as the facts dictated.”

The report portrays Paterno as an active participant to “conceal critical facts” and preserve the university’s reputation, by doing so the report says Paterno and the other Penn State Officials displayed “a striking lack of empathy” for Sandusky’s victims.

Taylor Swift was seen hanging with the Kennedy's for Fourth of July

Could there be something between Patrick Schwarzenegger and her?

Taylor Swift has been reported to be seen hanging out with the Kennedy clan on Fourth of July, especially with one Kennedy in particular: Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Taylor Swift, along with Glee star, Dianna Agron was spotted sailing the high seas of the Atlantic with Patrick’s extended family—Robert Jr., Ethel, Ted and Rory. The celebration took place a day before Independence Day in Hyannis Port, Mass., around the Kennedy compound.

As soon as night fell an onlooker told Us Weekly, “They were all playing capture the flag and tag and had a bonfire.” The onlooker adds, “Taylor was taking photos of everyone with a huge camera, and Dianna took one of Taylor with Patrick together…She mostly hung out with her girlfriends and played with the smaller kids.”

According to a source close to Swift, “She was invited for the 4th of July with her friends by the Kennedys…She is close with the whole family.”

“She really just loves my mother, which is so sweet,” Rory Kennedy told ABC in an interview done in January. “I’m a huge fan of hers. I have young girls, and we had been to a few of her concerts. I met her at one of them, and she had read a ton of books about our family.”

This isn’t the first time Swift has hung out with the Kennedys, in January Swift was at the Sundance Film Festival for the premiere Ethel, a documentary on Ethel Kennedy. Swift revealed to Vogue, “The only time in my life I have ever been starstruck was meeting Caroline and Ethel Kennedy.”

As for Taylor Swift and Patrick Kennedy? “They are getting to know each other, but she thinks he’s cute… They are getting to know each other. We will see! But she didn’t go there just for him.”

Cancer drug Eribtux fails to be beneficial for stage-three cancer patients

Declining sales result

Cancer drug, Eribtux, has failed to produce new results for the second month in a row for cancer patients with advanced stomach tumors in a late stage clinical trial. Erbitux is manufactured by Merck & Co., a German pharmaceutical company, one of the largest in the world.

In May, Merck reported Eribtux showed no benefit for stage-three colon cancer patients—whom had inoperable cancer and hadn’t received prior chemotherapy or radiation.

Florian Lordrick of Hannover Medical School in Germany said, “We are disappointed that the Expand trial did not show a benefit for patients…Patients with advanced gastric cancer currently have few treatment choices and a poor prognosis, and we will continue to investigate other treatment options for these patients in the hope of being able to offer improved outcomes.”

During clinical trials the drug was used in combinations with cisplatin and capecitabine; unfortunately, the results didn’t reap the benefits Merck had hoped for. Eribtux didn’t extend a patients life span without their disease getting worse. The new findings, however, don’t alter use in already approved indications to treat metastic colon cancer, or head and neck cancer.

Annalisa Jenkins, Head of Global Drug Development and Medical for the Merck Serono division said, “Understandably, these results are disappointing for patients with advanced gastric cancer, and as a company, we will continue to invest in oncology research and development to find new treatments for these diseases with high unmet medical need.”

According to Bloomberg reports, Merck shares declined 2.3% to 78.14 euros. Erbitux brought in 855 million euros in sales for Merck last year. The drug is already approved for colorectal cancer along with head and neck tumors. Merck expected growth back in May with Erbitux sales.

Merck applied to sell the drug for lung cancer in the EU; though, chances are “essentially zero,” wrote Martin Voegtli, an analyst at Kepler Capital Markets, in a report.

“This brings us exactly back to the roots of Merck’s current problems: Slow or declining key drug franchises and weak pipeline to offset future sales declines,” Voegtli reported on the declining sales.

According to Merck, 904 patients in 25 countries participated in the study. 

Iran can strike the U.S.

If threatened Iran “destroy” 35 surround U.S. bases in the Middle East

If threatened the Islamic Republic, Iran can destroy nearing U.S. bases and launch an attack on Israel within minutes—reflecting tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

CBS reported that both Israel and the U.S. have hinted of possible military strikes against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy do not rein in Iran’s nuclear development program—there are indications to believe Iran is building nuclear weapons. Iran claims the nuclear program is necessary for peaceful purposes.

General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, said 35 U.S. facilities were in range of missile war games used for target practice. The target replicated U.S. bases in the region.

Hajizadeh has talked about plans if there was ever a confrontation with the U.S., “We have thought of measures to set up bases and deploy missiles to destroy all these bases in the early minutes after an attack.”

Amir Ali Haji Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, was quoted by Fars News saying, “These bases are all in range of our missiles, and the occupied lands are also good targets for us.”

Officials from Washington and Israeli have yet commented.

Iran utilizes many military tactics due to the increasing tension from its nuclear program. The most recent was the EU oil embargo. Iran successfully stopped the embargo when Tehran threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz—a vital shipping channel where oil supplies pass—in retaliation. If the strait actually closed, it would have sent oil prices soaring.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports, “There’s a saber-rattling on both sides…The U.S. has been building up its own military presence in the Persian Gulf as a deterrent to Iran and also to Israel, which has threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

Palmer states the danger of growing tensions between the U.S. and Iranian military vessels can eventually lead “into open conflict.”

According to Hajizadeh, guards have test fired on anti-ship missiles that could sink a U.S. warship. The shore-to-sea ballistic missile has a range of 180 miles.

Malware could affect computer users on Monday

For those who have been infected, their Internet could be shut down.

Monday, tens of thousands may lose their Internet service due to malware infection that possibly could’ve dated as far back as 2007.

According to the Associate Press (AP), 277,000 computers worldwide probably have been infected. Back in April, numbers were 360,000, but 64,000 of the infected computers are most likely in the U.S.

The FBI will be shutting down domains that have the DNSChanger malware that has been spreading throughout the web since 2007. According to Mashable, the malware redirects traffic of unsuspecting visitors to paid advertisements where the ‘cybercriminals’ benefited the profit. It wasn’t until eight months ago the operation of the six Estonian Trojan creators were caught and arrested.

The infected computers will have to call their service providers for help deleting the malware and being able to reconnect to the Internet.

In light of the situation, the FBI brought in a private company—which is highly unusual—to assist in installing two clean Internet servers to take over the infected servers, so people wouldn’t have to lose their Internet. The FBI is foreseeing having to use this kind of practice due to authorities having to take on similar kinds of investigations.

Social networking sites and Internet providers have been keeping their users notified on issue; though, many users remain unaware if their computers have been infected or not. Many Internet providers are well equipped in handling the situation. Comcast has already reached out to its users about the situation and have a plan to deal with issue. Either the Internet providers come up with technical solutions or provide customers with information. If the server problem has been corrected, the Internet will work, but there is also a possibility that the malware will remain on the computer, posing future complications.

There is a site provided by the FBI where you can check if your computer has been infected: http://www.dcwg.org .

Chris Rock calls the Fourth of July White People's Day

The tweet causes mix responses

The outspoken comedian, Chris Rock is taking the heat for a tweet he posted on the Fourth of July.

“Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed the fireworks,” Rock tweeted as a joke.

Chris Rock caused some controversy—some intending to swear off his movies—but seemed unfazed by the amount of backlash his tweet caused. Herman Cain, a black Republican presidential candidate, strongly criticized Rock for the tweet, saying in an interview with CNN he was “holding on to the past.”

“I think it was Chris Rock who made fun of the fact, ‘Well, it might be Independence Day, but slaves weren’t free then’…Look at it this way, if America had not become independent, slaves might still be slaves.”

Twitter user Ben Howe had the same sentiments as Cain, tweeting, “Dear @ChrisRock: Without July 4, 1776, December 6, 1865, wouldn’t have happened.”

Despite the offensiveness in his tweets, not everybody was offended by Chris Rock’s statement. According to the Hollywood Reporter, actors Don Cheadle and Zach Braff defended Rock.

“Chris Rock was making a joke…If you don’t think it’s funny. Ok. But keep it in perspective,” he wrote.

Blog writer David Burge responded to Rock’s tweet, “@chrisrock Good one! I bet your Guatemalan house staff got a good chuckle.”

Elon James White, host of This Week In Blackness spoke to The Huffington Post— putting the situation into perspective—regarding Chris Rock’s controversial tweet:

“I find this Chris Rock backlash absolutely ridiculous. Really? Someone tells the truth and you mad? I’m American. I never claim otherwise. I never give the ‘We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock’ speech unless it’s in a really funny way. But part of being American, to me, is that I have to acknowledge all the bullshit that comes with it. Basically some folks come over, stole other people’s land, killed them, then started a country on the backs of my people, while killing them, and then at some point they freed the slaves but the oppressed them and killed them some more. Do I have the ability to do things here that I wouldn’t in some parts of the world? Yes. But my family paid the price for that in actual blood, sweat and tears. If more people were like Rock and acknowledged the truth maybe we’d be in a better place as a Nation.”

This isn’t the first time Chris Rock has caused a stir in what was intended to be funny. Back in 2005 when hosting the Academy Awards, Rock bashed fellow actors Jude Law and Tobey Maguire.

Casey Anthony rejected a plea deal

If Casey Anthony pled guilty earlier in the trial she could’ve avoided the death sentence

According to a recent article by the Associate Press (AP), Casey Anthony had been offered a plea deal, which her attorney Jose Baez strongly suggested. If she pleaded guilty during the earlier days of the case, she would have had a lesser charge and the death penalty would’ve been avoidable; though, Anthony insisted she had nothing to do with Caylee’s death.

In a book Baez recently wrote Presumed Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, if Anthony took the early plea deal to plead guilty to ‘aggravated manslaughter’ she would’ve served up to 13 years in prison. Baez thought it would be in Casey Anthony’s best interest, as an attorney, to take it.

“There were times, difficult times, when the evidence didn’t look good for Casey,” Baez said about his insistence for Anthony to take the plea deal.

Baez writes, Anthony “would not entertain it for a second.” Eventually Baez became convinced she would be acquitted—which she was last year except for four misdemeanors for lying to investigators.

“There was nothing in the trial that made me think Casey was guilty of anything as related to the murder…Every single piece of evidence favored us,” Baez said.

Prosecutors accused Anthony of suffocating her 2-year-old daughter with duct tape, so she could spend time with her boyfriend in the Orlando nightlife. Baez defended Anthony by stating Caylee drowned in the pool and that Anthony’s father, George Anthony, hid the body. Baez also claimed George Anthony sexually abused Casey; though, George Anthony denied the two allegations pitted against him.

It has been proven that Casey Anthony was a habitual liar—making up fake friends and going as far to leading investigators to a job she never had. Baez was asked if the lies might have been indicative that Anthony was guilty.

“I don’t think the lies are indicative of innocence or guilt…The lies were there long before Caylee passed away,” Baez said. According to Baez’s book, he writes Casey Anthony had built a “fantasy world” and her lies were indicative of someone with “serious mental health issues.”