Google's Collecting Thousands of Endangered Languages Before They Go Extinct [Linguistics]

The Internet is all about communication, which is super, but unfortunately, it's putting a lot of languages at risk of extinction by promoting more commonly spoken languages. It's sad that we're losing that culture. Google's stepping up to make sure they're not lost from the face of the earth altogether. More »

f/a 18 f 18 crash virginia tenebrae the lake house petrino arkansas roy williams matt lauer

Install Hardwood Flooring that Will Improve the ... - IdeaMarketers.com

by Colleen S.Lee
Send Feedback to Colleen S.Lee
Request Reprint | Print | About Author | Report Problem | Tweet This

Install Hardwood Flooring, floor instal More Details about Install Hardwood Flooring, floor instal here.

Since today most of the people prefer to go through the flooring of their home as the best one, it is essential for them to go through the things. One of the types of flooring that most people prefer to get for their home is hardwood flooring. When you decide to install the hardwood flooring for your home, the main thing that you need to consider is about the type of sub-floor that is already installed. It is better to analyze about the actual base floor and that may be plywood or concrete one. This is because there are different types of hardwood flooring methods available and you have to select with the one depending on the base floor type. Even though most of the hardwood flooring installation methods will be suitable for all kinds of floors, this option can make you to get with the best installation option. Types of installation When you consider about getting through the installation of hardwood flooring, then you will probably end up with different types of installation methods. The different installation methods are as follows: * Glue-down installation This is one of the best methods that can be used at the time of installing plank wood floor on the concrete sub floor. In this method glue is used to spread out the sturdiness of the floor as the best one. The main thing that you need to consider while installing the flooring is having to clean all the dusts of the sub floor and also to spread the glue as the even one * Nail-down installation It is the best installation option for the solid wood floors. In this method glue can't be used in a proper way and hence have to go through the nailed down methods to make the contact with the floor as the best one. Since the hardwood floor has to be very sturdy one that too in solid wood floor, this is the best option * Staple-down installation When you consider about the current flooring installation methods, engineered floorings are considered as the best one. If you want to install the plank wood floor on the plywood sub-floor, then this method will be the best installation that you can go with. But, in this method it is necessary to make sure about the staple sizes on the floor. This is because some floors are designed in such a way to compatible with only some kinds of staple sizes * Free float installation Compare to other installation methods that are designed by gluing the floors, it is even better to go through the separate installation of floors. This method of installation is considered as the advantageous one and also the expanding and contracting can be done in the easiest way with this method If you keep all these installation methods in your mind, then you can select with the one that is suitable for your home and also you can select that depending on the sub floors. Whatever method you select with, it is efficient to go through the installation with the help of experts.

Read more details about install hardwood flooring and many other relevant topics.

awesome comments

Contact the Author

Colleen S.Lee

colleenlee506@yahoo.com
More Details about Install Hardwood Flooring, floor instal here.

Related Articles

Keywords: Install Hardwood Flooring, floor installation hardwood

This article has been viewed 12 time(s).

Does this article infringe on your copyright?

It is a violation of our terms and conditions for writers to submit material which they did not write and claim it as their own. If this article infringes on your copyrights, you MUST either call us at 706-866-2295 or send proof of infringement along with the offending article's title, URL, and writer name to

IdeaMarketers.com
Attn: Marnie Pehrson - Copyright Concern
514 Old Hickory Ln
Ringgold GA 30736 USA
If you email us or use our problem submission form, we CANNOT guarantee we'll receive your notice!

?

?

melanie amaro x factor boise state jordans prometheus movie posterior michelle obama adam lambert arrested

Beating The Summer Heat With Cool Down Foods And Drinks ...

?

Searching for ways to beat the summer heat? If yes, look no further than your dining room table. You can beat the summer heat with what you eat and drink! Hearn Kirkwood has for you some delicious food and drink recipes you can serve yourself and guests to stay cool without cranking up the AC. Read about these no-cook summer recipes now.

?

One great ways to stay cool during summer is to water down your meals. No, we don?t mean drench your meals in water. Instead, serve high water content foods such as watermelon, cucumbers, celery, iceberg lettuce, and tomatoes. These foods will keep you hydrated and help your body more effectively release heat.

?

Serve yourself a watermelon gazpacho (here) for those hot days.

?

Next, add some spice to your meals. Spicy foods help your body induce sweat, which naturally lowers your internal temperature. A delicious, spicy recipe you can try today is the Szechuan Shrimp. Now you know why people in desert environments, such as the Middle East, love spicy meals during the summer.

?

Another way to stay cool during the summer is to go green. Eat big, leafy, green salad every day of summer. Greens help thin your blood and allow your body to release body heat and cool down. A spinach salad with summer strawberries should do the trick. Here is the salad recipe.

?

With your salad, have a mojito. Mojitos have menthol from the mints that cause your body to feel cool. Mints also have a hint of spice to help with body sweat flow. But best of all mints have calming properties, so you will remain cool, calm and collected during those hot summer days.

?

Last but not least, add garlic to your meals. Garlic helps to reduce blood clotting and can decrease your body heat. This is possible because garlic increases blood circulation and allows the body to sweat moderately. Roast and spread garlic on your grilled corn this summer.

?

For a great selection of nutritious and fresh foods, shop at Hearn Kirkwood, contact Hearn Kirkwood by calling 410.712.6000 (Baltimore), 301.621.2992 (Washington DC), or?visit our website!

?

Hearn Kirkwood is a privately held Food Service Distributor specializing in produce, meat, poultry, dairy, and seafood. Since our founding in 1946, we have grown from a store front on the downtown Baltimore Produce Market to a 60,000 sq. ft. facility. Hearn Kirkwood purchases 90% of our fresh produce direct from California, Florida, Texas, etc. with the balance supplied by local markets. We are located within one mile of Route 295 and I95 providing us with easy access to Baltimore, Washington and Virginia.

?

Hearn Kirkwood currently operates a fleet of 33 refrigerated trucks. Our service area includes all of Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware and Northern Virginia ? with limited service to Fredericksburg, Philadelphia, and New Jersey.

?

You can follow us on?Facebook?and?Twitter?as well!

?

?

?

Source: http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/what-to-eat-to-beat-the-summer

Tags: beat the summer heat, Beating The Summer Heat With Cool Down Foods And Drinks, dairy, delicious food and drink recipes, facebook, hearn kirkwood, high water content foods, meat, Mojitos, no-cook summer recipes, nutritious and fresh foods, poultry, produce, salad recipe, seafood, spicy meals, spinach salad with summer strawberries, Szechuan Shrimp, watermelon gazpacho

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Healthy Choice, Healthy Eating For Teens, Seafood, Summer Parties. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

extreme couponing taylor lautner sinead o connor dan marino passing record ipad 2 cases movie times serene branson

Because I Can: The GOP's "Legal" Immigration Coalition

It's so hard to keep track of all the right wing organizations that are pushing disgusting and heinous legislation and ideas across the United States - there are so many of them.

But one organization that people should be aware of in relation to the President's recent push for amnesty for children is the State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) group.? Their push is a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment - which over the long-term could result in disastrous results for almost every person in the United States.

The press release from the SLLI webpage states:

State Legislators for Legal Immigration Condemns Obama?s Backdoor Amnesty Decree

6/18/2012

HARRISBURG ? State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), founded by Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe, announced its opposition to President Obama?s most recent attempt at incremental amnesty for illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.

Friday?s Executive Order would allow for illegal aliens, between the ages of 16 and 30, to receive a two-year legal work authorization. Limited criteria must be met to qualify and it is anticipated that anywhere from 800,000 to one million illegal aliens will be eligible. The work authorization will also able to be renewed an indefinite number of times.

?This is just yet another attempt at backdoor amnesty that violates the balance of power established by our Founding Fathers and it is a blatant attack on our Constitution,? said Metcalfe. ?Obama continually chooses to represent the interests of foreign national illegal aliens over the interests of the American people.?

From the webpage of State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) you have these few snips from the Founder ? Daryl Metcalfe (PA-ALEC)

Dear Friends:

Each and every self-evident truth contained in the Declaration of Independence was designed to abolish all foreign government power from the borders of the American colonies.?

Similar to the American Revolution, the personal and economic safety of Pennsylvanians and all American citizens depends upon definitive action being taken by our federal, state and local governments to end the ongoing invasion of illegal aliens through our borders.?

State Legislators for Legal Immigration represents a 21st Century Declaration of Independence to protect Pennsylvanians and United States citizens from property theft, drug running, human trafficking, increased violent crime, increased gang activity, terrorism and the many other clear and present dangers directly associated with illegal immigration.

Since Washington DC remains AWOL on fulfilling its Constitutional responsibilities to secure our nation's borders against foreign invaders, it is not only incumbent, but the obligation of state lawmakers in Pennsylvania and across the nation to step up and do the job that our federal government refuses to do.?

So what does this innocuous and seemingly harmless statement suggest?

The first reporting of this was back in January 2011 ? with this press statement from SLLI (my emphasis)

Pennsylvania State Representative and State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) founder Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County), state lawmakers and Constitutional scholars from across the nation convened in Washington D.C. today to unveil historic model legislation to correct the monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This historic press conference was held on the same day as the swearing-in of the 112th Congress; encouraging that one of the first actions should be to uphold their oath and defend the Constitution to protect the states from the illegal alien invasion.?

?According to the 14th Amendment, the primary requirements for U.S. citizenship are dependent on total allegiance to America, not mere physical geography,? said Metcalfe. ?The purpose of this model legislation is to restore the original intent of the 14th Amendment, which is currently being misapplied and is encouraging illegal aliens to cross and cost American taxpayers $113 billion annually, or nearly $1,117 yearly per individual taxpayer.?

Currently, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are crossing U.S. borders to give birth and exploit their child as an ?anchor baby,? as a means to obtain residency, access taxpayer-funded benefits and steal American jobs for themselves and for their families.

During an 1866 Congressional debate, U.S. Representative John Bingham of Ohio, considered one of the fathers of the 14th Amendment, said ?...every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen...???

?I?ve long considered birthright citizenship to be the holy grail of the illegal immigration debate,? said Oklahoma State Rep. Randy Terrill. ?It has created a perverse incentive for foreign nationals to break U.S. law and proven to be a policy disaster for our Republic.?

snip

?Today we are here in Washington D.C. to serve Congress with notice that both the U.S. Constitution and the federal government were created by the states,? said Metcalfe. ?Just like any other national policy, America?s immigration laws must protect the lives, liberty and property of American citizens, rather than foreign invaders.???

Including Pennsylvania, lawmakers from 40 state legislatures, or 80 percent of the nation, have now signed on as members of SLLI.???

??

Ready????? ?? The ALEC/IRLI/SLLI States of America want power over the 14th Amendment so they can control ?illegal? aliens.

Then you have this from Media Matters - my emphasis

On January 5, 2011, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, a group called State Legislators for Legal Immigration held a press event announcing their intention to change meaning of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, which has granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" ever since it was ratified in 1868. The group wants to force a reinterpretation of the amendment to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from obtaining citizenship, thus removing (in SLLI's view) an incentive for people to cross the border illegally.

Their primary weapon in this crusade is a model bill that says children must have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen (or resident alien) in order to be eligible for state citizenship. The bill, which runs contrary to over 100 years of legal precedent, was designed so that legislators could take it back to their states, work to get it passed, and then get sued with the hope that the case makes it all the way to a Supreme Court which would then overturn that precedent.

.

AND YES ALEC IS INVOLVED as noted in the Media Matters article:

IRLI is not the only conservative organization pushing model legislation on this issue. A similar model bill approved by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in 2008 provides for state legislatures to call on Congress to "enact legislation clarifying the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution as denying citizenship status to children of illegal aliens."

Both ALEC and IRLI draft and disseminate model legislation to state legislatures to promote conservative interests. IRLI defines their mission as being "dedicated to advocating for the rights and interests of United States citizens in immigration-related matters," while ALEC, backed by a range of corporate giants, tailors model bills for a broad range of (mainly economic) issues. ALEC's 2008 bill to "clarify" the 14th Amendment came out of their Public Safety and Elections task force, which was recently scuttled after drawing fire for promoting controversial "Stand Your Ground" gun laws. Though the task force is now defunct, its former chairman told Media Matters that immigration policy is "certainly still very much on the table."

Check your state legislators
Are they a member of SLLI
and
a member of ALEC?
The legislator from Minnesota is a member of both.

If you were to push this to the extremism that the right wing is so well known for now-a-days
- here are some issues that YOU may have to consider.

It doesn't matter where you were born in the US
It doesn't matter how long your parents or grandparents have lived in the US
It doesn't matter if you're parents were born in the US
It doesn't matter what color your skin is - or what color your eyes are
?- it does not matter!
YOU have to prove your great-grandparents, grandparents and? parents were legal US citizens
- if you can not prove ALL your ancestors came into this country legally
- YOU are an illegal immigrant.

Could you prove your ALL your ancestors came into this country legally?
Can you prove your grandparents were legal citizens?
Can you prove your great grandparents came into the US legally?.
? If you cannot prove it - your entire family are illegal immigrants.
CAN YOU PROVE IT?

Who was the anchor baby in your family?
One of your parents?
One of your grandparents?
One of your great grandparents?

My grandparents and my mother came over from Europe in the early 1900's.
Can I prove they entered the country legally?
NOPE.
Is my oldest sibling the "anchor baby"?
Am I the 60+ year old child of illegal immigrants?

How far are the right wing extremist willing to push their?

model legislation to correct the monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The group wants to force a reinterpretation of the amendment to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from obtaining citizenship,

Crazy right wing extremist groups - flying under the radar - cause there are so many of them - one for each extreme right wing idea.

blade runner close encounters of the third kind norovirus beyonce and jay z baby droid 4 ann coulter tom brady sister

Nikon D3200

The Nikon D3200 ($699.95 direct with 18-55mm lens) is the company's entry-level D-SLR, and as such offers a wealth of features that should appeal to photographers in search of their first interchangeable lens camera. The 24-megapixel shooter improves upon the 14-megapixel resolution of the D3100 ($699.95, 4 stars) and also provides full manual shooting controls for seasoned shutterbugs. It does well in low light, and offers continuous autofocus during video recording, but doesn't quite oust our current under-$1,000 Editors' Choice D-SLR, the Nikon D5100 ($899.99, 4.5 stars),?with its broader feature set including a sharp, articulating rear LCD.

Design and Features
Even though it dwarfs point-and-shoot cameras, the D3200 ?is quite compact for an SLR. The body measures 3.8 by 5.0 by 3.1 inches and weighs an even pound (sans lens), slightly smaller than the 3.9-by-5.1-by-3.1, 1.1-pound Canon EOS Rebel T3 ($599.99, 3.5 stars). Even though the included 18-55mm (27-82.5mm equivalent) zoom lens is small compared with professional telephoto zoom lenses, it feels larger than it is when mounted on the small camera.

The biggest advantage that an SLR has over a mirrorless compact interchangeable lens camera like the Sony Alpha NEX-F3 ($599.99, 4.5 stars) is its optical viewfinder. While you do have the option of adding an EVF to many mirrorless compacts, it isn't the same as looking through the lens. However, like most other entry-level SLRs, the D3200 skimps a bit on viewfinder quality. It uses a pentamirror design, which uses a series of mirrors to direct the light captured by the lens to your eye. Enthusiast and professional D-SLRs, like the Pentax K-5 ($1,249.95, 3.5 stars) and Nikon D800 ($2,999.95, 4 stars), use a solid glass pentaprism to redirect the light, which results in a larger, brighter image. If you're accustomed to a point-and-shoot, the D3200's viewfinder will be a huge step up, but old-school photographers may be surprised at just how small the finder is compared with classic 35mm SLRs.

If you have a stable of old Nikkor lenses that you would like to put to use on a digital body, you'll be happy to know that pretty much any lens manufactured after 1977 will mount on the D3200. Most, even those that support screw-drive autofocus, will be limited to manual focus mode only?the D3200 doesn't have a focus screw to support these lenses that lack internal focus motors. Couple that with the relatively small viewfinder, and you'll quickly realize that this was not a camera that was designed with manual focus in mind. If you have autofocus Nikon lenses without internal motors, you should consider the D5100 , since it includes the hardware needed to focus them.

If, on the other hand, you're a complete novice, you'll like the D3200's killer feature?its Guide Mode. Switching the Mode Dial to Guide brings up a colorful menu on the rear display that asks you if you'd like to shoot, review photos, or configure the camera. The Shoot menu is broken up into Easy and Advanced situations which feature presets for landscapes, close ups, low light portraits, fast action, and other common photographic subjects. This, along with select number of scene modes that live on the Mode Dial, goes a long way into configuring the camera to best capture the image at hand, without the need for encyclopedic knowledge of photographic technique.

The D3200's shooting controls are scattered about its body. The Movie Record, Info, and EV Compensation buttons are located directly behind the shutter release, and you'll only find a four-way controller, Drive Mode control, Exposure Lock, and Live View button on the rear of the camera. The button to raise the flash and control its output, as well as a Function button, round out the shooting controls?they both live on the front left of the camera, right above the Lens Release button.

Aside from EV Compensation, shutter speed, and aperture, which are visible in the viewfinder, you'll need to use the rear 3-inch LCD to view settings as you adjust them. The 4:3 display is quite bright and sharp thanks to a 921k-dot resolution, but it doesn't tilt away from the camera's body like that of the Canon EOS Rebel T3i ($899.99, 3.5 stars) or the Sony Alpha 65 ($999.99, 4 stars). Hitting the I button, which is located to the left of the LCD, gives you quick access to Image Quality, White Balance, ISO, Drive Mode, Focus Mode, AF Area, Metering, EV Compensation, Flash Compensation, and Flash Mode. If you need to adjust anything else, you'll have to dive into the full menu.

john kerry prince fielder state of the union address 2012 obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address jorge posada maurice sendak

Vampires vs. zombies: Who would win?

Photo: Stephen Vaughan / 20th Century Fox

Benjamin Walker plays Abraham Lincoln who moonlights as a vampire hunter in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

By Cody Delistraty

Vampires and zombies will be forever pitted against one another. Between HBO?s ?True Blood? and AMC?s ?The Walking Dead,? this summer?s ?Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? and next year?s Brad Pitt-vehicle ?World War Z,? the dichotomy is only becoming clearer.

In the Tim Burton-produced film,?Honest Abe?is reimagined as a nighttime?vampire hunter, taking down blood-sucking evildoers. He?s the country?s finest leader during the day and the nation?s greatest assassin come nightfall.

Yet Lincoln himself may fall into the category of "vampire."

Like the blood-sucking creatures, he?s smart and charismatic, debonair and independent. He leads with adroit aplomb and destroys evil beings with sexy smoothness?-- his well-worn top hat earns him fashion points while the axe he so gracefully wields creates macabre destruction that?s pleasing to the aesthetically-discriminating eye.

If Lincoln were a zombie, he wouldn?t be able to create the beautiful chaos that Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the book on which the film is based, claims he brought about. He would be a myopic plodder, seeing blurry visions of incoming assailants, unable to retaliate with cunning or with any thought at all.?

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" comes out June 22nd.

?

This is not to underestimate the zombies of our society. While our presidents and philanthropists?are more vampire than zombie,?the world's movers and shakers are often?groups with a?common mission: take Occupy Wall Street, for example, or that?group of angry moms?who want?yet another stop sign in?the neighborhood.?These "zombies" achieve their missions in large groups, taking down mere individuals who stand in their way.??

In Marc Forster?s upcoming movie??World War Z,? the?task of stopping?a zombie?pandemic falls to Gerry Lane, a United Nations worker played by Brad Pitt. While the movie has been having its fair share of budget-related troubles as of late,?a zombie?apocalypse could spell out even greater trouble. Zombies, with their undead arms extended,?wreak havoc en masse, easily collecting a nearly unstoppable group hell-bent on mindless destruction -- a feat that eludes the self-absorbed, hedonistic vampires.

Lincoln may be a vampire but perhaps the real power lies in the masses -- groups that have a common goal, a common faith or a common enemy.

Director of ?Quantum of Solace,? Forster takes on this zombie idea?from?Max Brooks? novel of the same name with a sense of seriousness, telling the Los Angeles Times that the film has ?the grounded, gun metal realism of, say, Matt Damon?s Jason Bourne series tethered to the unsettling end-times vibe of AMC?s ?The Walking Dead?.? In fact, ?World War Z? achieved such a serious realism that the Hungarian Anti-Terrorism Unit raided a warehouse that housed the film?s prop weapons?during shooting in Budapest, thinking they were smuggled weapons.

Clearly, zombies are serious business. So?who would come out on top if zombies and vampires faced off?

Initially, zombies would seem to be at a great disadvantage. Their lumbering, soulless bodies are often too slow and their lack of intelligence or rational thought makes them prone to falling for tricks and cleverness. However, while vampires are fast, seductive and smart, their egos can easily be exploited. They are obsessed with their own desires, putting their wants above any sense of morals or principle goodness; they're?easily corrupted and unable to control themselves.

Indeed, it?s extremely difficult to pick a winner between the two (but that hasn't stopped some from trying). ?World War Z? has an A-list actor and a budget nearly twice that of ?Vampire Hunter,? but that doesn?t mean ?Vampire Hunter? won?t be able to better market its witty concept to outdo ?World War Z? at the box office.

Who, then,?is superior??Heroic individuals like Lincoln? Or the inspired masses??

That's for you to decide, but?both films hold the vampire characteristics of sleek, seductive and funny.?They'll just need to channel their inner zombie?if they want to?attract the necessary hordes of excited theatergoers.

"Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" opens June 22. "World War Z" was recently postponed until 2013.

Who do you think has the upper hand: vampires?or zombies? Will you see "Vampire Hunter" and/or "World War Z"? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

{"contentId":"12189325","totalVotes":"923"}

Who would win in a fight?

Related content:

casey anthony video diary joe johnson lamarcus aldridge jeremy renner justin timberlake engaged bluefin tuna jonestown

Stocks snap higher on hopes for new Fed action

Specialist Patrick King works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 18, 2012. U.S. stocks are falling after the opening bell as Europe's debt crisis roils markets despite the victory of a pro-Europe party in Greek elections. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Patrick King works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, June 18, 2012. U.S. stocks are falling after the opening bell as Europe's debt crisis roils markets despite the victory of a pro-Europe party in Greek elections. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks rose sharply on Wall Street Tuesday as traders turned their focus back to corporate news from the U.S. and hopes that the Federal Reserve will come up with a plan to jumpstart the economy. Banks and materials stocks led the market higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared 95.51 points to 12,837.33, its highest close in a month. Microsoft was one of the biggest gainers in the Dow. The stock jumped 3 percent after the company announced a new tablet computer called Surface to compete with the immensely popular iPad from Apple. Microsoft was up 86 cents at $30.70.

Stock traders are also latching on to recent signals from the Federal Reserve that the central bank may reveal plans to stimulate the economy at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday.

"A good portion of today's strong market action is from a hope factor that we're going to get more easing from the Fed," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

Economists say that even if the Fed does not act after its meeting, it will send a clear message that it is standing by to do so if needed.

Financial companies were among the best performing stocks as investors hoped for Fed action: Bank of America soared 4.5 percent, Citigroup gained 3.5 percent, JPMorgan Chase was up 2.2 percent and Morgan Stanley rose 3 percent.

Bank investors were also pleased to learn that a federal housing agency will clarify the process under which home lenders are forced to buy back soured home loans. The buybacks have cost banks billions of dollars. The uncertainty surrounding how much loans they will have to repurchase from the government has led them to reduce lending.

The agency's statement comes just as the housing market is showing signs of healing. American builders broke new ground on more single-family homes in May and requested more permits to build homes and apartments than they have in the past three and a half years.

The Commerce Department also said April was much better for housing starts than first thought. The government revised the figures up to 744,000, the fastest building pace since October 2008.

Material stocks rose on the prospect of demand from home construction. US Steel rose over 9 percent and Freeport-McMoran Copper rose over 3 percent.

In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 13.20 points to 1,357.98. Seven of the 10 industry groups in the S&P rose. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 34.43 points to 2,929.76. The Dow Jones Utility average touched the highest level since August 2008 before closing slightly lower.

In Europe, borrowing costs eased for Spain: its benchmark 10-year bond yield fell below the key 7 percent level to 6.99 percent.

Spain raised $4.28 billion in an auction of 12- and 18-month bills, more than analysts had expected. However Spain's cost to raise the money skyrocketed. The Spanish government had to pay an interest rate of 5.07 percent for the 12-month bills, up sharply from 2.98 percent at the last such auction on May 14.

Still, investors were heartened to see that people were willing to lend Spain money.

"Even though it cost Spain dearly and yields rose to a record, the fact is that it was not shut out of the markets," said Cardillo.

Major European stock markets rose: Spain's IBEX 35 index rose 2.7 percent. Germany's DAX added 1.8 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 1.7 percent.

The dollar and Treasury prices fell as traders moved money out of low-risk assets. The dollar fell about a penny against the euro to $1.27 and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.62 percent from 1.58 percent late Monday.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Oracle soared 84 cents, or about 3 percent, to $27.96 after the software maker surprised investors with the early release of its fourth-quarter earnings. The results beat Wall Street's forecasts, and the company said new software licenses increased sharply.

? J.C. Penney plunged $2.08, or 8.5 percent, to $22.25 after the chain store announced that Michael Francis, the former Target executive brought in to help redefine the company's brand, was leaving the company. It was the biggest loss of any stock in the S&P 500.

? Barnes & Noble fell 61 cents, or 4 percent, to $14.63 after the book store chain reported a wider loss than Wall Street was expecting. It also reported that its Nook e-reader sales fell 11 percent in the quarter.

? Walgreen plunged $1.87, or 5.85 percent, to $30.09 after the company said it is buying a $6.7 billion stake in European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots. Investors worried about a deal that would expose the biggest U.S. drugstore chain to a continent beset by worries of a recession.

Associated Press

david garrard bethenny frankel miguel cabrera michael bay ninja turtles san antonio weather mike daisey nicollette sheridan