What's Happening in YOUR World?

Monday, February 6, 2012

Give Your Valentine a FREE iPad

Give Your Valentine a FREE iPad
Click Here: http://tinyurl.com/7awaggh

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Who Will Win the Super Bowl?

Who Will Win the Super Bowl? Patriots or Giants?
Click Here to Vote: http://tinyurl.com/6w56khm

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Who Will Win the Super Bowl?

Who Will Win the Super Bowl? Patriots or Giants?
Click Here to Vote: http://tinyurl.com/6w56khm

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Check out Tiger Woods' sparkly new $50 million bachelor pad

If you happen to be a single dude in south Florida and you think you're going to impress the ladies with your car or your oceanfront condo, you might just want to pack it in now. Tiger Woods is in town, friends, and his place has room to store yours in a forgotten corner of the attic.

Behold Tiger Woods' personal Xanadu, the recently completed $50 million estate in Jupiter Island, Florida. In this aerial photograph, commissioned by Jeff Lichtenstein Realty, you can clearly see not only the $35 million original estate but much of the $15 million sunk into improvements. As FanHouse noted when Woods purchased the property in 2007, the original estate was 9,729-square feet on a 12-acre lot. The additions included a 6,400-square-foot gym/media room/bar, as well as an elevator, a reflecting pond, and a slim lap pool.

Eagle-eyed observers will note that there appears to be several golf-type formations scattered around the estate. Cary Lichtenstein, part of the real estate group that took the photographs, offered this assessment of the golf aspects of the estate. [Note that this photo is taken looking eastward, so north is to the left and south is to the right.] Lichtenstein's take:

It appears he has one tee box in the southeast ... corner to hit drivers. The entire area just west of the lap pool can be used to hit long, medium and short irons into any of the 4 greens. Each green is guarded by a single trap except the green in the northwest corner which appears to have 3 pot bunkers.

Tiger has enough open space to practice his short game from any angle, any wind condition, which really appears what this practice area is all about.

His putting green is totally surrounded by dense vegetation. One wonders if he is trying to block out the wind by doing this or if he is cutting off both sunlight and air circulation. He probably has a sub-air temperature/humidity control system beneath the green, otherwise it would be worthless in the heat of the summer, especially if the grass there is bent or some northern grass.

What, no windmills?

News broke about Woods' mansion right about this time last year, and at the time it appeared to be a fortress for him and his beloved Elin to hide from the world's prying eyes. Shortly after that, Woods had a close encounter with a certain hydrant, and pretty much everything changed forever.

Regardless of all the hue and cry about Woods, both pro and con, the guy made his own bed, and now he's going to have to sleep in it. Clearly, though, that bed's going to be in one heck of a swank house.

Friday, January 27, 2012

What is Facebook Worth?

More than 50 mutual funds say they own shares of the closely held social-media giant Facebook, according to investment-research firm Morningstar. And some closed-end funds are investing the bulk of their portfolios in private firms, including Facebook. The catch: No one seems to agree how much the shares are worth.

Facebook could file papers for an initial public offering as early as next week, The Wall Street Journal reported, with a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion. As of the end of 2011, funds had widely differing estimates of its value—and that could have significant implications for investor returns.

Fidelity Investments, which has two dozen mutual funds with Facebook shares, valued the company at $25 a share. T. Rowe Price Group, which has a dozen funds with Facebook shares, valued them at about $31.15. Other funds priced the shares somewhere in between.

Over the past couple of years, small investors have been keenly interested in getting exposure to pre-IPO companies but have had few vehicles for doing so, because the Securities and Exchange Commission restricts the sale of such shares to "accredited" investors with a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding their home, or an annual income of more than $200,000.

The restrictions leave mutual funds and closed-end funds as the easiest avenues for individuals to get a stake in such companies, though the stakes typically are small and diluted among many other fund holdings. But the pricing discrepancies mean that buyers of the funds are effectively paying different prices for their stakes in Facebook and other private firms, experts say.

Lawrence Friend, a former SEC chief accountant, says that in an open-end fund, either the buyers or the sellers will suffer: "You're hurting the purchasers if your price is too high, or the redeemer if it's too low."

At the end of last year, for example, the Morgan Stanley Focus Growth fund had 3.68% of its portfolio in Facebook, valuing it at $27 a share, according to its portfolio disclosure form. At the time, investors could buy the fund at $33.63 a share.

If Morgan Stanley Investment Management had instead used T. Rowe Price's valuation of $31.15 per Facebook share, investors would have had to pay about $33.82 a share of the fund, a 0.57% increase. On the other hand, investors redeeming shares of Morgan Stanley funds made less money than they otherwise would have using T. Rowe Price's higher valuation. By comparison, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index's return for 2011 was 2.11%, including dividends.

Since the end of the year, Morgan Stanley or T. Rowe Price and other fund companies may have changed their valuations.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment. A T. Rowe Price spokesman said the company's fair-valuation process includes a variety of factors, including a company's financial performance and prospects, and subsequent transactions between other parties.

The law allows fund companies some discretion in deciding how to price private companies, says Doug Scheidt, the SEC's associate director of investment management. Some firms use price quotes from third-party brokers, such as SharesPost or Second Market, while others use internal valuation models with multiple inputs.

The Tocqueville Opportunity fund, which had about 1.87% of its portfolio in Facebook at the end of last year and priced the company at $27.90 a share, takes quotes from secondary markets and applies a discount based on illiquidity and share restrictions, says fund manager Thomas Vandeventer.

He says one of the issues he has brought up with the valuation committee is that if Facebook goes public at a premium, "we have a hidden discount."

The lure of private companies has grown stronger since the tech bubble, as high-profile technology firms wait longer to go public, says Kevin Landis, portfolio manager of Firsthand Technology Value, a closed-end fund with almost its entire portfolio in private investments like Facebook and social-media company Yelp. Closed-end funds have a fixed number of shares and trade throughout the day like stocks. Their share prices can deviate significantly from the value of their underlying assets.

The Firsthand fund sells at about $17.25 a share, which the company says is a 30% discount to the value of its underlying assets. But because nearly all of its investments are in private companies, investors won't really know how much those assets are worth until the companies go public, says Geoffrey Bobroff, a mutual-fund consultant based in East Greenwich, R.I.

Mr. Landis says Firsthand uses an outside firm to value its holdings: "We want to have the most accurate values that we can."

The pricing issues mean that investors hoping to catch the IPO wave in a mutual fund have to be wary, Mr. Friend says.

"It's similar to figuring out what your home's worth when you apply for a mortgage," says Tocqueville's Mr. Vandeventer. "We try our best but all have different methodologies."

Vicks VapoRub: Cough Remedy

VICKS VapoRub - INTERESTING

During a lecture on Essential Oils, they told us how the foot soles
can absorb oils. Their example: Put garlic on your feet and within 20
minutes you can 'taste' it.

Some of us have used Vicks VapoRub for years for everything from
chapped lips to sore toes and many body parts in between. But I've never
heard of this. And don't laugh, it works 100% of the time, although the
scientists who discovered it aren't sure why. To stop night time coughing in
a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks VapoRub generously
on the soles of your feet, cov er with socks, and the heavy, deep coughing
will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of
relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even
very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely
soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly

Just happened to tune in A.M. Radio and picked up this guy talking
about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good, due to the
chemicals in them This method of using Vicks VapoRub on the soles of the
feet was found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children
at bed time. In addition it seems to have a soothing and calming effect on
sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

My wife tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and
persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt
like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes. So
she went from; every few seconds uncontrollable coughing, she slept
cough-free for hours every night she used it.

If you have grandchildren, pass this on. If you end up sick, try it
yourself and you will be amazed at how it works.

DON'T SHUN THIS ONE.. TRY IT THE NEXT TIME YOU GET A BAD COLD.
THE ONLY THING YOU CAN LOSE IS YOUR COUGH.

Unemployment Survey

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Graceann Rumer, 17, started driving only two weeks ago. But when her school bus driver collapsed from a heart attack Tuesday afternoon, she didn't hesitate to use what she knew to steer a bus full of children to safety.

"I just realized that there's no one driving this bus... I need to do something," Rumer said.

The 17-year-old senior at Calvary Christian Academy in northeast Philadelphia had been driving herself to school recently for practice, but on Tuesday she opted for the bus.

Rumer and about three dozen other students were riding the bus home when 51-year-old driver Charles Duncan suddenly crumpled to the floor at about 3:30 p.m. Duncan died soon after.

With the driver obstructing the brake pedal, Rumer acted quickly -- grabbing the wheel of the moving bus and making a U-turn to slow it down and change direction, as it was heading into oncoming traffic, witnesses say.

With still no access to the brake pedal, Rumer put the bus into park and successfully and safely stopped it, according to witnesses and bus company officials.

"I usually panic at like everything but I just reached over... grabbed the wheel and I pulled it over to the side and got off the road," Rumer said.

None of the students were injured.

Parents of fellow students, friends and school officials all praised Rumer’s quick thinking and action.

"We had three of our children on the bus along with dozens of other kids and the outcome could have been much different," said Renee Lawsin, one of the parents. "She did something very heroic."

But Rumer dismisses being a hero, instead saying she was just the closest student to the front of the bus who had any driving experience.

"I don't think it was that heroic though. But it was a legit miracle," Rumer tweeted Thursday. "God really protected us."

How a typo led to a marriage

The next time you make a particularly strange typo, don't throw your keyboard out the window — instead just smile. Smile, because it's possible for a simple typo to lead to a marriage.

After all, it was a typo that brought together Rachel P. Salazar and Ruben P. Salazar despite the fact that they lived about 9,000 miles apart and were "completely unaware of each other's existence."

Apparently an email intended for Rachel accidentally went to Ruben — thanks to their similar email addresses and some sloppy typing skills — in Jan. 2007. Ruben politely forwarded that email along to its intended recipient and began an email chain that led to a marriage proposal.

You can hear Ruben and Rachel share the details of their love story in the video below. It is an animated clip created by the folks behind StoryCorps, a non-profit organization with a mission of providing "Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories" of their lives. (I strongly recommend checking out the organization's YouTube page after you're done watching the video. There are many more gems to be found there.)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Obama's Solyndra Scandel

Alaska Airlines discontinues controversial prayer cards

Would you be offended by a prayer card?

In a memo sent to its frequent fliers Wednesday, Alaska Airlines announced that the prayer cards it has been providing to passengers on meal trays for the past 30 years will be discontinued as of Feb. 1.

“A former marketing executive borrowed the idea from another airline and introduced the cards to our passengers in the late 1970s to differentiate our service,” the memo written by the company's chairman and president explained.

But airline spokesperson Bobbie Egan told msnbc.com that over the years the airline has received letters and e-mails from customers for and against the card. Last fall the company decided to stop distributing the cards because, Egan said, “We believe it's the right thing to do in order to respect the diverse religious beliefs and cultural attitudes of all our customers and employees.”

Meal tray service in the coach class ended six years ago, so the prayer cards have been provided only to passengers in the first class cabin. MVP Gold flier Roz Schatman gets the cards on her meal tray quite often. “In the spirit of diversity, I find them offensive,” she said.

The Alaska Airline statement said that while some passengers enjoyed the cards, reactions like Schatman’s were not unusual.

“…[W]e've heard from many of you who believe religion is inappropriate on an airplane, and some are offended when we hand out the cards. Religious beliefs are deeply personal and sharing them with others is an individual choice.”

“It always seemed odd to me,” said George Hobica of the consumer travel website Airfarewatchdog.com. “Flying on a wing and prayer? I don’t think those two go together.”

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Can President Obama be defeated in 2012?

WHY OBAMA WILL BE RE-ELECTED IN 2012

Dr. Williams' prediction: Maybe you have read some newspaper articles written by Dr. Williams a conservative economist. He has taught at several Universities and is currently teaching at George Mason University .

No Matter What

By Dr. Walter Williams

Can President Obama be defeated in 2012? No. He can't. I am going on record as saying that President Barak Obama will win a second term. The media won't tell you this because a good election campaign means hundreds of millions (or in Obama's case billions) of dollars to them in advertising.

But the truth is, there simply are no conditions under which Barak Obama can be defeated in 2012. The quality of the Republican candidate doesn't matter. Obama gets reelected. Nine percent unemployment? No problem. Obama will win. Gas prices moving toward five dollars a gallon? He still wins. The economy soars or goes into the gutter. Obama wins. War in the Middle East? He wins a second term.

America's role as the leading Superpower disappears? Hurrah for Barak Obama! The U.S. government rushes toward bankruptcy, the dollar continues to sink on world markets and the price of daily goods and services soars due to inflation fueled by Obama's extraordinary deficit spending? Obama wins handily.

You are crazy Williams. Don't you understand how volatile politics can be when overall economic, government, and world conditions are declining? Sure I do.

And that's why I know Obama will win. The American people are notoriously ignorant of economics. And economics is the key to why Obama should be defeated.

Even when Obama's policies lead the nation to final ruin, the majority of the American people are going to believe the bait-and-switch tactics Obama and his supporters in the media will use to explain why it isn't his fault. After all, things were much worse than understood when he took office.

Obama's reelection is really a very, very simple math problem. Consider the following:

1) Blacks will vote for Obama blindly. Period. Doesn't matter what he does. It's a race thing. He's one of us,

2) College educated women will vote for Obama. Though they will be offended by this, they swoon at his oratory. It's really not more complex than that,

3) Liberals will vote for Obama. He is their great hope,

4) Democrats will vote for Obama. He is the leader of their party and his coat tails will carry them to victory nationwide,

5) Hispanics will vote for Obama. He is the path to citizenship for those who are illegal and Hispanic leaders recognize the political clout they carry in the Democratic Party,

6) Union members will vote overwhelmingly for Obama. He is their key to money and power in business, state and local politics,

7) Big Business will support Obama. They already have. He has almost $1 Billion dollars in his reelection purse gained largely from his connections with Big Business and is gaining more every day. Big Business loves Obama because he gives them access to taxpayer money so long as they support his social and political agenda,

8) The media love him. They may attack the people who work for him, but they love him. After all, to not love him would be racist,

9) Most other minorities and special interest groups will vote for him. Oddly, the overwhelming majority of Jews and Muslims will support him because they won't vote Republican. American Indians will support him. Obviously homosexuals tend to vote Democratic. And lastly,

10) Approximately half of independents will vote for Obama. And he doesn't need anywhere near that number because he has all of the groups previously mentioned. The President will win an overwhelming victory in 2012.

-- Dr. Walter Williams

IN ADDITION TO THE VOTING BLOCKS HE MENTIONS, THERE IS ANOTHER HUGE GROUP: THE NEARLY ONE-HALF OF ALL ADULTS DO NOT PAY ANY TAXES AND, IN FACT, MOST OF THEM RECEIVE MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT. THESE PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO "SHAKE THE BOAT" TO DO ANYTHING TO STOP THE FLOW OF TAXPAYER MONEY TO THEMSELVES.

It's believed the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this.

If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom

Friday, January 20, 2012

Man shot nail into brain and didn't know it

Gail Glaenzer still can't believe that her fiance unknowingly shot a nail into his skull, let alone that he posted a picture of the X-ray on Facebook during his ambulance ride between hospitals for surgery.

But she was joking about the circumstances Friday, a day after doctors successfully removed the 3.25-inch(8.25-centimeter) nail from Dante Autullo's brain.

"Dante says, 'I want it, to make a necklace out of it,'" Glaenzger said.

Glaenzer sat Friday in the lobby of Advocate Christ Medical Center, where Autullo, 32, was listed in fair condition in the hospital's intensive care unit. She was still trying to process just how lucky the father of her four children was.

"He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he's talking normal, he remembers everything," said Glaenzer, 33. "It's amazing, a miracle."

Autullo was in his workshop using the nail gun Tuesday when it recoiled near his head, Glaenzer said.

He felt what he thought was the point of the gun hit his head. But what really happened was that when the gun came in contact with his head, the sensor recognized a flat surface and fired, she said.

"I looked at it when he got home, and it just looked like (his head) was cut open," she said.

With nothing to indicate that a nail had not simply "whizzed by his ear," as Autullo explained to her, she cleaned it with peroxide.

Neither thought much about it, and Autullo went on with his day, even plowing a bit of snow. But the next day when he awoke from a nap, feeling nauseated, Glaenzer sensed something was wrong and suggested they go to the hospital.

At first Autullo refused, but he relented after the two picked up their son at school Wednesday evening.

A couple hours later an X-ray was taken, and there in the middle of his brain was a nail. Doctors told Autullo and Glaenzer that the nail came within millimeters of the part of the brain that controls motor function.

Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said the surgery took two hours, and the part of the skull that was removed for surgery was replaced with a titanium mesh. The surgeon didn't want to put that part of the skull back in place, fearing it might have been contaminated by the nail, he said.

Glaenzer said that while Autullo hasn't really talked about how scared he was about what might have happened, he did express a recognition about coming close to death.

"He was joking with me, (after surgery), 'We need to get the Discovery Channel up here to tape this,'" she recalled him saying. "'I'm one of those medical miracles.'"

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Gratitude

The Whale ... If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude. I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.

Winds of Change....

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY AN EMAIL:

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and
participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this
contract with Congressmen/women.

Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will
only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive
the message. Don't you think it's time?

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.
You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

5 reasons 'American Idol' may go on nearly forever — or not

American Idol sounds like a hit broken record: It has been TV's top-rated show year after year after year after year after …

That isn't likely to change in the 11th season that kicks off Wednesday night (8 ET/PT) either, which raises a key question: How long can the Fox reality singing competition remain a ratings and pop-cultural juggernaut?

Probably a long time, say observers who've followed a show that has survived the addition and elimination of judges Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres, the loss of Simon Cowell, and even the victory of Lee "Who?" DeWyze in the eminently forgettable Season 9.

"I think it could be like Saturday Night Live," says MJ Santilli of MJ's Big Blog (mjsbigblog.com), which follows Idol and other shows in the genre. "At some point, it may not be as popular as it was. It may not be as huge a cultural touchstone as it was at its height. But I don't see any reason why it couldn't go on for a really long time, even with personnel changes. I know people were saying in Season 9, when Simon was going to leave: 'One more season and Idol is done.' Wrong."

But, as they say on Wall Street, past results aren't a guarantee of future performance. To that end, here's a a look at five reasons Idol may be singing a happy tune well into the future — and why things could get a little pitchy along the way.

1. It's America's choice.

Idol has been TV's top-rated show for a record seven consecutive seasons (eight among young adults), in recent years by a wide margin. Last year, Idol's numbers actually went up 4% to 25.2 million viewers — part of an impressive Season 10 rebound — while its ages 18 to 49 audience (11.1 million) was down just 3%.

While the sight-unseen predictions are for Idol to slip a bit this season, common for shows as they age, it should remain dominant and "head and shoulders above" everything else in the singing genre, says analyst Brad Adgate of ad firm Horizon Media.

"It's extraordinary. I think it could go on for a number of years. I think the show will last at least 15 years and still be a force on the television landscape, and that's only four more years," he says. "Last year, it overcame a hump. There were a lot of questions with the show, Simon had left, there were new judges, they were moving to Thursday nights. There were some of the biggest changes the show has had in its tenure on television, and it came out smelling like a rose."

But: Despite last year's uptick, Idol's ratings have been in gradual decline, down 18% in viewers and 32% in young adults since their Season 5 peak. Its audience is aging, too, from a median age of 32 to 47, which means a growing portion of its audience has outgrown the young-adult demographic prized by advertisers.

"It's been gradually creeping older. Younger folks are not watching Idol like in the days of (Season 1 and 2 winners) Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard," Adgate says. "Kids are on to other things, whether it's stuff like Jersey Shore or Real Housewives, for their reality fix."

That audience may reflect a safer approach taken by the show, says Richard Rushfield, author of American Idol: The Untold Story. "The turn they made last year into a much more positive, uplifting, middle American (show) with their corniest champion yet — who has done very well — they've clearly cut out what their space is now. It is older and very down the middle, schmaltzy, tearjerker land. That's a huge thing. None of the other shows are competing with them to be that. But that could well be the biggest audience."

2. It's the leader of its pack.

While over the years there have been other singing competitions, most faded quickly. "We've been there the longest. I like to think we're the gold standard," executive producer Ken Warwick says. "We put a bit of comedy and humor in it. We don't take ourselves too seriously. The judges are great. When you want that little extra bit of bite, we have (music producer) Jimmy Iovine there. And I also like to think we produce better stars and talent than everybody else."

Says Randy Jackson, who has been at the judges' table since Day One, "We are the originals of this whole thing. You want to learn from the OGs, the original people that created something that was authentic. And this is just a great, great talent show. I still think it's the best of its kind. There have been many copies and there will be other versions, but this still is based on the talent."

But: The genre is rapidly getting crowded, and the newcomers are sticking around longer. With the addition of Fox's X Factor and NBC's The Voice (Feb. 5, after the Super Bowl, before moving to Mondays), which had successful first seasons but lag far behind Idol, the question arises whether there are too many singing competitions, and whether they'll cannibalize each other's viewers (if not their talent pool). NBC's America's Got Talent also should get a boost this summer from the addition of Howard Stern.

Warwick sees "audience fatigue" as the one potential threat to continued dominance. "It's kind of strange how all these shows are totally new and totally fresh and nothing like Idol. But, of course, they are identical, really. They change one little nuance."

Judge Steven Tyler isn't worried: "If there is competition, bring it on. We won't look too bad in the end," he says, before going off on the kind of riff that pleased Idol audiences last year: "Just tell them that the things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those that got there first. And that would be us."

Jackson follows Tyler with a dig at The Voice, which is bringing on Clarkson as an adviser. "And if you're looking for real talent, just look at Idol and choose some mentors from Idol."

3.Young blood freshened an aging show.

Fox reality chief Mike Darnell thinks that new judges Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are "great. I really think they did an amazing job. They are who they are and I want them to be true to their personalities." And he says they can do it without snark: "All Steven Tyler has to say is that he's disappointed in, say, a rock-and-roll guy. I've seen these kids devastated. So it has the same impact; it's just how they do it."

Last year was an improvement over its predecessor, says Atlanta Journal-Constitution blogger Rodney Ho, who writes about Idol. "To some extent, Steven, Jennifer and Randy do work reasonably well as a trio, better than Ellen, Kara, Randy and Simon. That didn't work at all. Chemistry really does matter. Randy has the respect of being there from the beginning. Jennifer and Steven respect each other as equals, as artists, and they seem to genuinely like each other."

But: Some felt that the critiques by the judges, especially Tyler, became bland and repetitive, especially as the series progressed into the live performances.

Ho says the judges' comments grew tired when there were about seven or eight contestants left, although he says that isn't uncommon as the show starts to wind down. While he feels that Lopez "did a good job overall," he says Tyler "just kept saying the same stupid things over and over again. … I hope this time he'll put more effort into it."

Santilli thinks superstar judges may have a tendency to hold back to avoid alienating their fan bases. "I thought the judging got kind of boring toward the end of the season," she says. "Steven ran out of things to say, which I think was a problem. He is a pretty funny guy. When they could edit him for the auditions, he was pretty hilarious. Once he got in front of the camera, he was repeating himself a lot."

Lopez says the judges were direct, but their less confrontational style may have disguised that to some degree. It may be more apparent this year, now that they have a season under their belts.

"I think people were more taken by the fact that we were kind. But we were giving them good notes and good criticism, constructive criticism. Criticism doesn't have to be given in a non-constructive way," Lopez says. "We're still the same this year, but again, I think we're a little bit more direct, we cut a little bit more to the chase. We know what our job is. We were getting our footing last year."

4. Its simple, successful formula focuses on the contestants.

X Factor and The Voice combine the roles of judging with mentoring, giving those who are supposed to critique a rooting interest in some contestants over others, and inciting feuds among the judges.

"The problem with The X Factor and The Voice (is) there's so much emphasis on the coaches, on the judges. …Idol really knows how to get viewers invested in the contestants," Santilli says. "We're Americans. We're aspirational. We want to see that kid from the small town who comes on Idol and gets his big break. It's not about the judges. It's about the kids. Idol understands that perfectly."

Lopez adds, "We enjoy the process as much as the audience does. It's so exciting to watch. It's a great journey and a real journey. It's not overproduced. You walk into a room, you audition and you keep going through rounds and rounds and rounds until you're in front of America and they get to vote. It's a very authentic process."

On Idol, which will feature no major changes this season, singers bloom before viewers' eyes, Tyler says. "When they first come here, they think they can sing. And then once we give them a little confidence and we let them through and they get themselves through to the next door and the next door and the next door, this flower comes out, this person that you didn't see the first time," he says.

But: Viewers often are drawn to shiny new things, whether it's The Voice's chair-spinning, blind auditions or X Factor's smoke-filled, laser-lit, heavily choreographed productions. "The Voice has younger, hipper judges. They do more modern styles. American Idol has really defined itself. They are in pageant land," Rushfield says.

X Factor and The Voice "are obviously a little fresher. The Voice has existing artists (known by) people under the age of 30. If you like a glossier product, X Factor is right up your alley," Ho says. (Clarkson will be an adviser this season on The Voice.)

5. It's a proven starmaking machine.

From Season 1's Clarkson to Season 10's Scotty McCreery, who just went platinum with his debut album, Clear as Day, Idol has a track record of creating or introducing stars, including Grammy winner Carrie Underwood, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert. Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee stars next month in NBC's musical series, Smash. "The list of stars they have from the show is amazing. I've never seen a show like it," Darnell says.

Last year was rich in talent, which could bode well for the future, Newsday pop music critic Glenn Gamboa says.

"They found a whole bunch of new talent, and if they can really sell themselves as a place to find new talent, they'll be set for a while. Seven of (Season 10's) finalists got major label deals. That hasn't been seen in I don't know how long," he says. "I think Scotty will be a real star in country and that's the kind of thing last year's class showed, that if you're really good in a specific niche, you can still do well in the show."

But: The machine has slowed recently. The bulk of Idol's big names come from the earlier years of the competition.

"They haven't found the next Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. Those levels of stars don't come around very often," Gamboa says. "I think it's just tougher to launch a new star in general, no matter where they come from."

There also has been predictability but not much diversity, with white men winning the last four competitions, and only two women qualifying for those season finales. Rushfield says Idol shifted into more of a popularity contest a few seasons ago, with voters more focused on picking a winner as an end in itself rather than finding someone whose career they would support.

"Idol has its reign of the cute white boys. That's not the producers' fault, but you design a certain kind of show for this middle-American audience, this older audience, you're going to get a certain kind of result come out of that," he says. "Going into this season, if you're not a cute white boy, you've got to be thinking the best you can shoot for is No. 3, which makes it a different kind of competition."

Darnell counters that last year's field was very diverse, with the first country winner in a number of years. And he says the overall track record speaks for itself.

"I think the show's been amazing. It's unrealistic to think that every winner is going to become a superstar. We've had fully somewhere around a dozen people come from this television show (and become) bona fide celebrities, bona fide stars," he says. "Yes, I think we're doing fine. How's that?"

World Bank warns countries to prepare for a global slump

The World Bank warned Wednesday of a possible slump in global economic growth and urged developing countries to prepare for shocks that could be more severe than the 2008 crisis.The bank cut its growth forecast for developing countries this year to 5.4% from 6.2% and for developed countries to 1.4% from 2.7%. For the 17 countries that use the euro currency, it forecast a contraction, cutting their growth outlook to -0.3% from 1.8%.

Global growth could be hurt by a recession in Europe and a slowdown in India, Brazil and other developing countries, the Washington-based bank said. It said conditions might worsen if more European countries are unable to raise money in financial markets.

"The global economy is entering into a new phase of uncertainty and danger," said the bank's chief economist, Justin Yifu Lin. "The risks of a global freezing up of capital markets as well as a global crisis similar to what happened in September 2008 are real."

Developing countries that have enjoyed relatively strong growth while the United States and Europe struggled might be hit hard, Lin said. He said they should line up financing in advance to cover budget deficits, review the health of their banks and emphasize spending on social safety nets.

Many governments are in a weaker position than they were to respond to the 2008 global crisis because their debts and budget deficits are bigger, Lin said at a news conference.

In the event of a major crisis, "no country will be spared," Lin said. "The downturn is likely to be longer and deeper than the last one."

The bank's outlook in its "Global Economic Prospects" report issued twice a year adds to mounting gloom amid Europe's debt crisis and high U.S. unemployment.

"It is very likely that most European countries, including Germany, entered recession in the fourth quarter of last year," said Hans Timmer, the World Bank's director of development projects.

Investors cut investments in developing countries 45% in the second half last year, vs. the same period in 2010, Timmer said.

The report follows similar warnings about the global economy by its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund, and private sector forecasters.

For the United States, the bank cut this year's growth forecast to 2.2% from 2.9% and for 2013 to 2.4% from 2.7%. As reasons, it cited the anticipated global slowdown and the on-going fight in Washington over spending and taxes.

Global growth might suffer from the interaction of Europe's troubles and efforts by China, India, South Africa, Russia and Turkey to cool rapid growth and inflation with interest rate hikes and other measures, the bank said.

China's expansion slowed to a 2½-year low 8.9% from a year earlier in the three months ended in December , vs. the previous quarter's 9.1%.

As Europe weakens, developing countries could find "their slowdown might be larger than is necessary to cope with inflation pressures," Lin said.

A global downturn would hurt developing countries by driving down prices for metals, farm goods and other commodities and demand for other exoprts, the World Bank said.

Slower growth is already visible in weakening trade and commodity prices, the World Bank said.

Global exports of goods and services expanded an estimated 6.6% in 2011, barely half the previous year's 12.4% rate, the bank said. It said the growth rate is expected to fall to 4.7% this year.

Prices of energy, metals and farm products are down 10% to 25% from their peaks in early 2011, Timmer said.

The United States is already feeling some pain from Europe's crisis. Exports to Europe fell 6% in November, the Commerce Department said last week.