news blog from Irma

They were dogs and cats, a horse, and, in one case, a python.The pet blessings, organized in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, were the city-run animal shelter’s unorthodox way of promoting animal adoption.Churches typically hold pet blessings throughout October to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, Christianity’s patron saint of animals. Though many thought Saint Francis was crazy, Powell said, he believed that animals deserved to hear the gospel.”Let’s not make the decision they can’t understand, because they might,” said Powell, who came to the shelter known as BARC for the second straight year to perform the blessings.After Powell blessed each animal, the owner received a certificate commemorating the ceremony.Among the 20 or so people who brought animals was Lynn Milson, an animal technician at the shelter, who came with one of his 16 snakes.”Everyone’s like, snakes are evil and creepy,” he said. “I think it’s funny when people see my certificate that a preacher blessed a snake.”BARC is home to about 680 pets, 100 more than the shelter was designed to hold, said Carlene Lormand, community outreach manager for the shelter. Each day, the shelter receives about 125 new animals, including a number that are the victims of animal cruelty, she said.”It seems like this year, there’s been an incredible uptick in cruelty,” Lormand said. “We have dogs that have been set on fire, animals that have been thrown off buildings. What we see here every day is the worst of what our society offers to animals.”That’s why it’s a welcome change to organize an upbeat event, she said.Carol Barnwell, director of communication for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, brought the pet blessing idea to the mayor’s office last year and was given the green light, she said.”You always receive more from your pet than you give, love-wise,” Barnwell said.Barnwell encourages churches in the diocese to include mobile adoption clinics when they conduct pet blessings.At BARC on Saturday, a dozen pets had found new homes by early afternoon. The shelter is also implementing a program designed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called Meet Your Match.”It’s a Match.com for animals and people,” Lormand said. Animal behaviorists study and classify the pets, while prospective owners take personality tests and are matched accordingly.But it’s because of the pets that aren’t lucky enough to be adopted that Powell returned to BARC for a second year.”It’s very powerful to lay your hand on an animal’s head knowing that because of its own inability to play well will others, we’re going to put it down,” Powell said. “I had to come back and do it again.”Inside the wards of sick and lost pets, Powell walked a lap around the cages, looking each animal in the eye and greeting some. Loud barks and wagging tails clanged against the metal cages.”All right guys,” he yelled as he raised one arm, “let us pray.”

Nearly one in four people who thronged Apple stores from Tokyo to San Francisco told Reuters on Friday they were ditching BlackBerries, discarding Nokias or even giving up Google Android-based phones, hoping for something better.The majority of the 127 iPhone 4S buyers polled informally by Reuters in the United States, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Britain were Apple diehards upgrading their devices.But 28 claimed they were making a switch, with some saying they were disillusioned by Research in Motion after this week’s global BlackBerry outage that enraged millions.”I was with Nokia before, but I guess they’ve sort of lost their way in terms of the interface and everything. Plus, most of my friends use Apple,” Myles Geissler, 25, said while shopping for an iPhone in Sydney.Apple had already pre-sold over a million during the first day it went live on the Internet — a week before it hit stores selves in seven countries on Friday.RIM’s BlackBerry and smartphones by manufacturers such as Nokia — which abandoned Symbian and will this year unveil devices based on Microsoft software — have been losing ground to the iPhone, which is facing a serious threat only from Android phones.The new phone looks similar to the previous iPhone 4 but has a faster processor, better camera and a voice-activated software dubbed “Siri”, which lets users ask the phone questions and helps in logging calendar items.”I am going into fashion and it’s like the official phone of the industry. Also, I am tired of the Blackberry issues, like stuff going down every six months,” said fashion publicist Adam at the Times Square store.RIM’s share of the global smartphone market fell to 11.7 percent in the second quarter, from 13.0 percent in the first, according to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney. Android’s share rose to 43.4 percent from 36.4 percent, and Apple’s rose to 18.2 percent from 16.9 percent.Sprint reported record single days in the United States for any device — by 1 p.m.”We are seeing a nice mix of people who are first-time smartphone purchasers as well as those who are switching from competitors,” said Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney.Away from the notoriously fickle consumer-gadget marketplace, Apple also appears to be making strides.Apple appears to be a winner when workers get to pick their own phones, in a trend known as the consumerization of IT. Companies can save money when they let employees buy their own phones and pay their own monthly bills.An Aite Group poll of 402 wealth managers conducted before the outage found that 45 percent would choose an iPhone or iPad, compared with 14 percent for a BlackBerry.”Siri is pretty amazing. With Android, you have to memorize commands. I don’t understand why it can’t be on all (Apple) phones,” said James Thompson, who had braved the six-hour drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco just to get in line — overnight — with his brother.

Instead of splashing out on gold jewelry, appliances or maybe even a car during the biggest shopping season of the year, 28-year-old Patil must count his rupees after costs of everything from fuel to labor soared while cotton prices have fallen by nearly half.India will celebrate one of its most important holidays, the Diwali festival of lights, later this month.Producers of other major summer-sown crops such as rice, sugarcane, soya bean and maize also have to contend with falling prices and rising costs, which may ultimately contribute to crimping the growth of Asia’s third-largest economy.”Like last year, I was planning to buy some gold for my family members during Diwali. But now it is not possible. Cotton prices have dropped and gold has rallied,” Patil said.”I have spent more money than last year. The cost of seeds, fertilizers rose. Labor wages jumped, but my profit fell,” he said, adding that he spent about 400,000 rupees ($8,107) for cultivating 16 acres of cotton, compared to 290,000 rupees a year ago.Rising rural incomes have been a key driver of India’s broader economic growth as well as revenues for makers of consumer products, such as Hindustan Unilever and Godrej Consumer, and motorbikes including Hero MotoCorp Ltd and Bajaj Auto Ltd.Usually, a good monsoon and strong crop yields raise rural spending. Weaker rural demand may exacerbate slowing growth, although it could also cool inflation, which remains near double digits despite 12 interest rate increases since March 2010.About 600 million Indians make a living from farming, even though agriculture makes up only 14.6 percent of the economy, down from 30 percent a decade ago.The sector is infamous for the large number of suicides committed by farmers, whose livelihood depends almost exclusively on the whims of the weather.India, the world’s second most populous country, aims to produce record food grains of 245 million tonnes in the current crop year to June, an increase of 1.4 percent thanks to good monsoon rains.Record output, however, is pushing down prices, and government minimum support prices have not risen in line with higher input costs.Soybean futures prices have dropped 19 percent from this year’s peak, while corn and rubber have dropped 27 percent and 13 percent respectively, from year highs. Turmeric and cotton prices are at half their peak levels.WAGE SPIRALMaharashtra produces the largest cotton crop after top producer Gujarat.After months of delay, India in June raised the state-set price of diesel by 9 percent, lifting the cost of plowing, tilling and other land preparation operations for farmers.A jump in fertilizer prices in the world market and a government move to ease its subsidy burden forced fertilizer makers to pass rising production costs to farmers.What has hurt profitability most, farmers said, is rising wages for laborers, driven by government efforts to ensure a minimum level of paid work for rural households under its National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).”Farm laborers’ wages have gone up sharply. And even after paying higher wages there is no guarantee you will get workers,” said George Valy, president of the Indian Rubber Dealers’ Federation. “The biggest task for farmers is to find workers.”Daily wages for female farm workers in the Jalgaon area, where Patil farms cotton, have risen to 100 rupees this year from 75 rupees a year ago and for male farm workers to 200 rupees from 150 rupees. Overall, farm wages in the area have more than doubled over four years.The NREGA’s impact on labor markets and broader inflation prompted India’s farm ministry to ask the rural development ministry to halt the scheme during the sowing season.”For farmers, labor cost is a dominant factor in production expenses and labor wages are going up. Laborers are demanding higher wages as they are also feeling pinch of higher food and fuel inflation,” said Ashwini Bansod, a senior analyst at MF Global Commodities India.PRICE RESISTANCERising production costs have prompted farmers to resist selling their produce at lower prices whenever possible.Sugar cane farmers in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh states, which account for over 60 percent of India’s total output, have demanded prices above the federal government-set level. The dispute over prices has delayed the start of the crushing season.In parts of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, rice farmers protesting higher production costs and lower returns refused to plant. The federal government is now considering raising the purchasing price for rice.”Production cost has been rising much faster than farm gate prices. You may see a rise in prices of farm commodities, but profit is not rising. It is shrinking,” said Raju Shetty, a farmers’ leader and member of parliament.”Production cost of each and every crop has gone up. This year we have seen a rise in fertilizer, diesel and electricity prices. This needs to be compensated by higher prices.”Some farmers who in better years would be splashing out on everything from electronics and gold to cars and clothes ahead of Diwali are saving more for winter-sown crops, which will demand higher investment than last year.”I can’t do Diwali shopping like last year,” said Jaydeep Koruchi, after harvesting his soybean crop in the Sangli district of Maharashtra.”Soybean prices have fallen. So whatever little profit I will get from the crop I need to spend it on sugar cane that I am planning to cultivate,” Koruchi said.($1=49.34 Indian rupees)