Hunter: She and John Edwards no longer a couple

This image released by ABC shows Rielle Hunter during an interview on the morning show "Good Morning America," Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in New York. Hunter says she and former presidential candidate John Edwards have ended their relationship. Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she and Edwards were still a couple until late last week, as details from Hunter's memoir "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me," became public. The breakup was painful, but Hunter said Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn, who is 4 years old and lives with Hunter. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC shows Rielle Hunter during an interview on the morning show "Good Morning America," Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in New York. Hunter says she and former presidential candidate John Edwards have ended their relationship. Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she and Edwards were still a couple until late last week, as details from Hunter's memoir "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me," became public. The breakup was painful, but Hunter said Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn, who is 4 years old and lives with Hunter. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC shows co-host George Stephanopolous, left, speaking with Rielle Hunter during an interview on the morning show "Good Morning America," Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in New York. Hunter says she and former presidential candidate John Edwards have ended their relationship. Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she and Edwards were still a couple until late last week, as details from Hunter's memoir "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me," became public. The breakup was painful, but Hunter said Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn, who is 4 years old and lives with Hunter. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2009 file photo, Rielle Hunter leaves the Terry Sanford Federal Building and Courthouse in Raleigh, N.C. Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, that she and former presidential candidate John Edwards are no longer a couple. She says the breakup was painful but that Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn. (AP Photo/Jim R. Bounds, File)

This image released by ABC shows co-host George Stephanopolous, left, speaking with Rielle Hunter during an interview on the morning show "Good Morning America," Tuesday, June 26, 2012 in New York. Hunter says she and former presidential candidate John Edwards have ended their relationship. Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she and Edwards were still a couple until late last week, as details from Hunter's memoir "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me," became public. The breakup was painful, but Hunter said Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn, who is 4 years old and lives with Hunter. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? Rielle Hunter says she and former presidential candidate John Edwards have ended their relationship.

Hunter told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she and Edwards were still a couple until late last week, as details from Hunter's memoir became public. The breakup was painful, but Hunter said Edwards will still be involved with their daughter, Quinn, who is 4 years old and lives with Hunter.

"We are a family, but as of the end of last week, John Edwards and I are no longer a couple," Hunter said on Tuesday's show. "We decided together to end it."

Asked why the relationship ended, Hunter responded, "I think that's private." She referenced "media scrutiny" the couple had endured but gave no specifics, only saying, "It's hard, and it wears you down after a while."

The book, "What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter and Me," is being released Tuesday through a Dallas-based boutique publisher, BenBella Books. The Associated Press reported on the book last week.

In the book, Hunter describes intimate details about her affair with Edwards, whose campaign hired her as a videographer, and sheds light on his thoughts as federal prosecutors mounted a case against him on illegal campaign contribution charges.

An attorney for Edwards said she would forward to him a message seeking comment.

Prosecutors had accused the Democratic politician of masterminding a scheme to use about $1 million in secret payments from two wealthy political donors to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008.

According to Hunter, Edwards told her he would probably wind up in a low-security prison in Virginia if he was convicted, and Hunter said she planned to move nearby with their daughter if that happened. A judge declared a mistrial last month, and federal prosecutors have opted not to retry Edwards.

Hunter's memoir also includes intimate details about her affair with Edwards as his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of cancer. On Tuesday, Hunter said she felt it was necessary to tell the truth about her relationship, even if doing so was painful for her, Edwards or his other children.

Saying that she still loves Edwards, and that she believes he still loves her, Hunter said Tuesday that she was unsure of the future.

"We'll see what happens," she said. "I have no plans."

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP .

Associated Press

walking dead comic kratom broncos broncos lehigh walking dead season finale matt flynn

Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip

The Galaxy S III was widely tipped to possess a Wolfson digital-to-analog converter for high quality audio output -- a feature not seen in this range since the first Galaxy S. That notion has just been confirmed by the Scottish electronics firm itself, which says its WM1811 Audio Hub has been selected for use in Sammy's flagship. The chip promises "crystal clear voice call quality" and "enriched audio playback for music and video" thanks to its 24-bit hi-fi DAC, active noise reduction circuits and other wizardry. The GS II, meanwhile, used a Yamaha DAC to convert digital data (e.g. in an mp3 file) into an analog signal that could drive a speaker (for example in your headphones), but even if most people couldn't hear the difference, audiophiles have insisted they preferred the sound in the older Galaxy. Check out the More Coverage links for further reading.

Continue reading Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip

Wolfson confirms the Samsung Galaxy S III uses its audio chip originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

nfl power rankings week 13 patrice patrice tether lana peters lana peters jennifer nettles

No Plan Results in Accidental Parenting

As your child?s teacher, think about what you hope to teach during the 18 years you have to teach him. Actually, you will probably only have the first 13 to 15 years. Older teens often think they know more than you do.

What has to be done to keep a home and family functioning? What skills and attitudes will your children need if they are to be capable adults? Some skills and attitudes might include being able to relate to healthy role models; have a sense of belonging to the family and feeling needed and important; believe that they can solve their own problems; self-discipline and self-control; be able to relate to other people; be able to problem solve; and be able to make good judgments based on a good value system.

Specific Skills Your Children Must Learn

What are the specific skills your child must learn? These would include personal care, clothing care, household skills, cooking, money management, mobility skills, maintenance and repair. You will want to make your own detailed list. Then make a plan. If you have no plan, your children may grow up ill prepared to function well in a complex world.

?

?

?

?

?

?

jordan hill tony nominations dark knight trailer dallas mavericks washington capitals elizabeth warren delmon young

Locksmith Services Benefits | DIY Home Improvement

There are some situations in which we need to get some help from locksmith services. When we are locked out of our car or even of our home, this situation can be very frustrating. When dealing with this situation, calling a locksmith such as?Locksmith?DC?would be very helpful. The fact is this situation is a pretty common situation that could happen once or twice. Aside from this situation, there are other reasons why we should consider getting some help from locksmith services.

When we need to change the locks on our business or home, calling a lock professional would be a perfect solution. Changing the locks ourselves can be very time consuming. The fact is doing this kind of task can be very difficult especially if we have no experience with this kind of procedure. It is important to secure our home as it will prevent from any unexpected situations such as residential burglaries. Calling a lock professional can also be very helpful when it comes to alarm system installation. It is not only useful when dealing with alarm system installation, a lock professional can also handle other cases such as intercom installation, secured lock system and also automated lights. Knowing how helpful locksmith services can be, it is important to start finding reliable locksmith services. When it comes to improving the security of our home, they are ready to help us by providing the best security system. Speaking about services that a lock professional will offer, they can handle some different tasks such as lock change and installation, emergency lockout services, high security locks and also replacement keys. If you want to get a reliable one,?DC?Locksmith?can be a good choice to consider. It doesn?t matter what type of security system you want to install at your home, they are ready to help you.

adminPosted in: UncategorizedTagged: business, car, change, choice, Emergency, Home, locksmith services, Locksmith Services Benefits, replacement, security, solution, this situation, type

nbc madonna madonna superbowl halftime ufc 143 results kickoff time super bowl 2012 superbowl national anthem

Video: Romney?s reinvention

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

vaclav havel vaclav havel kim jong ii dead snapdragon snapdragon kim jong ill dead wedding crashers

Dallas to Washington from $372 roundtrip.

Leaving from:

Going to:

kendrick perkins steve jones emily maynard kola boof burmese python national signing day ferris bueller

Japan Inc's ritual hiring past sell-by date

TOKYO (Reuters) - Each April, hundreds of new graduates report for work in Japan's corporate world, all on the same day, all dressed in standard business black, and all ready to be molded into staunch company loyalists.

Across the country, companies select and groom new staff under a decades-old formula that puts an emphasis on loyalty, diligence and conformity, not the vision or out-of-box thinking that experts say corporate Japan badly needs to halt its decline.

The current heads of Japan's companies are often criticized for failing to keep pace with fleet-footed foreign rivals, but most are a product of that system and there is nothing to suggest it will change any time soon.

"Companies were assessing your personality and looking whether you would fit," says Erina Seki, 23, one of the students Reuters followed through the annual five-month ritual of dozens of job fairs, workshops and interviews.

"At one insurance firm, I was told that I wouldn't fit because I was too vocal about my opinions," said the fourth-year accounting major from Tokyo's Rikkyo University, who finally landed a job with an outplacement service company.

"I thought companies were looking for perfect matches with the corporate culture."

Unlike in many other parts of the world where the ability to deal with the unexpected or devise new solutions to problems are prized, the top concern for Japanese employers seems to be how well a recruit would blend in and get along with others, the students said.

They recounted being asked same generic questions over and over again in what could be up to a dozen of interviews for a single prospective employer.

The outcome? A culture where even outsiders brought in to shake things up struggle to challenge the status-quo.

The six-year reign of Welsh-born Howard Stringer at the helm of Sony Corp , which ended after a dismal run of losses, and the ouster of another Briton, Michael Woodford, as head of camera and endoscope maker Olympus are cases in point.

Both were replaced by company veterans.

A shortage of strong leaders and risk-takers, which the present recruitment and training system seems unable to produce, is seen as a major cause of the woes of Japanese companies, from its once-famed electronics industry to auto giants.

Toyota Motor , once the world's biggest automaker, has seen its market share slip to General Motors and Volkswagen and has South Korea's Hyundai in its rear-view mirror.

Electronics giants Sony , Panasonic and Sharp , slow to revamp loss-making TV businesses, suffered a combined $20 billion loss in the past fiscal year, hammered by competition from South Korea's Samsung Electronics .

Squeezed by nimbler foreign rivals overseas, Japanese companies also face a shrinking market at home. The population peaked in 2008 at just over 128 million and the government forecasts it will keep falling over coming decades to about 90 million in 2060 when 40 percent of Japanese will be 65 or older.

Almost every major Japanese company participates in the annual mass-hiring ritual that dates back to the country's post-war economic miracle, when skilled workers were in short supply and companies began hiring graduates in bulk, trained them for months and secured their loyalty by guaranteeing a job for life.

That guarantee is no longer there, but the ritual continues.

STAMINA NOT FLAIR

With just over nine jobs awaiting every 10 of the 381,000 students graduating and looking for work this year, and the most coveted with the likes of Toyota or Nomura even more scarce, job-hunting has become fiercely competitive.

Between early December when big companies start advertising entry-level positions and April when they make offers to fourth-year students, each student will typically send up to a hundred or more applications, attend dozens of presentations and endure multiple interviews with 20-30 prospective employers.

"At the peak, I attended 2-3 seminars a day, I almost had no time to attend school," said Yuki Yamamoto, a law graduate from Keio University.

"School was in an exam period in January but irrespective of this, job seminars continued. Some students even gave up taking exams."

The system has also led to a flourishing industry in cram schools.

Chihiro Obata, a senior official at Vein Carry Japan that offers courses to candidates, says the number of such private schools has quadrupled over the past three years in Tokyo to about 80.

Her company charges 105,000 yen (about $1,300) for courses that teaches students how to write CVs and job applications, how to bow and exchange cards and simply look good in interviews. It offers to refund the fee if students do not land a job.

Last year, a Tokyo department store even organized a workshop for students of both sexes on how to use skin lotions to look fresh in interviews.

Under a voluntary pact, the country's leading 840 or so companies grouped in its top business lobby Keidanren, recruit during the same five-month window. Uniform entry salaries, today at around 200,000 yen per month, are also common.

Rehearsed and scripted, the process leaves little room for spontaneity and frustrated students talk of a mad scramble of job fairs held in vast convention halls.

"Skills seem to carry little importance," says Shunsaku Funaki, a 21-year-old politics major from Tokyo Kokushikan University who so far has not found a job.

"Companies want to train and educate students from scratch and that hasn't changed over the years. I want the culture of uniform job-hunting activity to be destroyed and want companies to seek students with variety."

FOLLOWERS OR LEADERS?

Not only the students are fed up. Management experts and recruitment professionals say that if Japanese companies are serious about change, the system that defines their DNA has to change first.

"If you bring somebody in when they just graduate, they practically have no business experience, so how are they going to come up with new ideas?" says Christine Wright, Asia operations director with Hays recruitment firm.

"They would just think the way the company thinks."

Hiring managers however say the old formula has its merits.

"We are able to secure a certain number of students who meet certain criteria relatively easily, and it helps reduce costs of employee education because that is done simultaneously," says Hiroshi Ishihara, recruiting group manager at home electric appliance maker Hitachi .

Takashi Shinohara, human resources manager with office equipment maker Ricoh , says the system allows his company, which hires 200-300 graduates each year, plan and maintain a steady age profile of its workforce.

Although mid-career hiring is on the rise, at most big firms the track to top management still involves joining the company fresh out of school.

Ricoh's Shinohara acknowledges the need for changes but says it is hard to envisage a radical overhaul.

"Companies do hiring and students do the job-hunting simultaneously. This system is entrenched."

Online retailer Rakuten , which uses English as its main language and has been recruiting engineering graduates from China, has modified rather than ditched the system even though it is not part of the Keidanren pact.

Yoshinori Kondo, head of its global talent development office, says it is important for newcomers to stick together, so Rakuten still hires them in batches. But it does so twice a year to accommodate foreign students who graduate in the autumn rather than in spring like their Japanese peers.

Other companies also focus on foreign graduates as a source of new ideas. Hitachi, for example, wants to double the number of graduate positions filled by foreigners to 10 percent.

Hiring Japanese educated overseas is also an option to bring in some diversity. However, the number of Japanese studying abroad has been declining since 2004 as they are reluctant to leave for fear of missing the mass hiring.

Experts also warn that firms that hire foreigners will not succeed in getting diversity and new thinking if they try to squeeze them into the old seniority-based system and pre-determined career path.

For now, signs are that even an exponent of a new, more dynamic Japan, such as Rakuten, is not quite ready to let go.

While its employees are expected to show initiative and "venture spirit," they should do so in the vein of "The 5 Concepts of Success" laid down by company founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, it says.

($1 = 80 Japanese yen)

(Additional Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Linda Sieg; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

albert haynesworth banana republic apple store academy barnes and noble nook 12 days of christmas a christmas carol