Liberty Newspost Dec-08-2011

Curated News Edition
- 08/12/11
http://www.LibertyNewspost.com
NATO fuel tankers set ablaze in Pakistan

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:13:09 AM
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Assailants torched more than 20 tankers in Pakistan carrying fuel for U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan on Thursday, in the first reported attack since Islamabad closed the border to protest coalition airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops last month. By Banaras Khan, AFP/Getty Images Pakistani firefighters extinguish flames on NATO tankers after an attack Thursday in Quetta. By Banaras Khan, AFP/Getty Images Pakistani firefighters extinguish flames on NATO tankers after an attack Thursday in Quetta. Several hundred trucks have been stranded at poorly guarded terminals around the country as they wait for Pakistan to reopen
its two border crossings into Afghanistan. Around 40 percent of the non-lethal supplies for U.S. -led troops in landlocked Afghanistan travel across Pakistani soil. Islamabad closed both frontier crossings into Afghanistan on Nov. 26, hours after airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition killed 24 Pakistani troops on the PakistanAfghanistan border. U.S. and NATO officials have said the incident was a mistake, and have pledged to investigate. Police officer Hamid Shakil says unknown men fired rockets at a terminal for the tankers close to the southwestern city of Quetta. He said at least 23 tankers were set ablaze. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Last year, Islamabad temporarily closed one of its Afghan crossings to NATO supplies after U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers. Suspected militants or criminals took
advantage of the impasse to launch many attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies. The deadly airstrikes at the border sent already tense relations between Pakistan and the United States to new lows, threatening Islamabad's cooperation in helping negotiate an end to the Afghan war. It came amid political tensions in Islamabad following the resignation of Pakistan's ambassador to the United States following an outcry from the country's powerful military establishment, which is in charge
of Afghan and U.S. policy. Envoy Husain Haqqani stepped down because of allegations he wrote a memo to Washington asking for its help to stop a supposed military coup. President Asif Ali Zardari has been under pressure because of the scandal, and on Tuesday flew to Dubai for medical treatment related to a heart condition. His trip led to rumors that the 56-yearold was losing his grip on power. Earlier Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. expected Zardari, an American ally, "will be able to return in full health in his duties" after receiving treatment. A statement for the presidency said Zardari's health was improving. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To
report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks. [unable to retrieve full-text content]
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Headline/
Feds probed Ariz. governor's role in son's Social Security

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 7:10:16 AM
Her spokesman, Matt Benson, wrote in an e-mail late Wednesday that the target of the Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's role inquiry has not been clear. "All in the collection of her son's that has been evident is that the Social Security benefits was under records of the governor's son Ron investigation for more than a year were of interest," he said. by federal authorities trying to Brewer's statement said she determine if about $75,000 in believed the investigation was a benefits was improperly paid on politically motivated attack on her behalf of her son. family. She said she believes it By Ross D. Franklin, AP began with an anonymous Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer speaks complaint to Social Security to members of the media on Nov. before last year's election. 21 in Phoenix. "To our family's knowledge, my S o u r c e s f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e son has never received any Social investigation said the case was Security benefits to which he was referred to federal prosecutors, not entitled, and all the benefits he who have declined to pursue has received have been spent charges. However, sources said, entirely for his care and well Social Security officials are being," the statement said. considering efforts to recover the The Republic has determined: money through administrative T h e c a s e i n v o l v e s a n procedures. One described the examination of Social Security case as "highly political." benefits paid on behalf of The precise scope of the probe Brewer's oldest son, Ronald. He could not be ascertained because first received benefits as a minor state and federal officials would after his father's death and not reveal the information, citing continued to receive them as an federal secrecy statutes and adult because of a disability from patient-confidentiality laws. mental illness. Brewer and her office have In 1989, Ronald was charged declined to discuss the matter in w i t h s e x u a l a s s a u l t a n d detail. Brewer said in a written kidnapping. The next year, he was s t a t e m e n t t o T h e A r i z o n a found not guilty by reason of Republic, after more than a month insanity and sent to the Arizona of interview requests, that she S t a t e H o s p i t a l . A c o u r t knows no specifics of the inquiry c o m m i s s i o n e r o r d e r e d J a n and never spoke to investigators. B r e w e r , a s R o n a l d ' s
"representative payee," to direct her son's monthly Social Security benefits toward the cost of his hospitalization. The Arizona Department of Health Services, which runs the hospital, declined to release records to The Republic regarding such payments, saying the records either were protected by privacy laws or did not exist. Court records said Ronald was receiving Social Security benefits when he was sent to the hospital in 1990. Federal law was changed in 1995, barring Social Security benefits to anyone institutionalized after being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Each year, Jan Brewer, as "representative payee," would have been asked by the Social Security Administration to sign a form regarding her son's status. That form requires the representative payee to confirm if there is any change in the living arrangements of the beneficiary. The signature line for that reporting form states: "A person who conceals or fails to tell SSA about events asked about on this form with the intent to fraudulently receive benefits may be fined, imprisoned, or both." Ronald did have a status change in 2002. Court records show he was conditionally released in May 2002 and returned to the hospital by September 2002. He currently
is confined to the hospital. The basis of the investigation was whether Ronald improperly received benefits at any time; the amount of money in question is about $75,000. Brewer said her son is no longer receiving benefits. The governor declined repeated requests for interviews or records regarding the investigation. Last Friday, the newspaper submitted written questions to the governor's chief of staff and Brewer's private attorney. Those questions were answered in part this week by a four-page statement from Brewer. Much of that statement focused on her family's efforts to manage the affairs of her son, whose institutionalization has required them to be involved in his financial affairs. "Federal laws have changed many times through the course of his life," Brewer said. "His benefits have changed through the years depending on his status. Our family, like many others, has repeatedly had to deal with a bureaucratic maze to fully understand and comply with the requirements of the Social Security system." Benson's statement Wednesday said the governor had regularly communicated with the Social Security Administration and filled out paperwork about her son over
the years. Given that, he said, "it is baffling that any sort of formal inquiry or investigation would be necessary if the SSA had a question regarding Ron's status, whereabouts or entitlement to benefits." The Republic has confirmed from multiple sources that the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General initially launched an investigation involving Brewer in a case tied to Ronald's benefits. The case was presented in fall 2010 to the U.S. Department of Justice, sources said, which sent it to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. That office is involved in the Department of Justice's lawsuit against Arizona and Brewer in her capacity as governor over the state's immigration law, Senate Bill 1070. A spokesman for the SSA said more than 1,200 Social Security cases were accepted for federal prosecution during the past fiscal year. A larger number of cases were declined because they were minor offenses, there was no loss to the government or there were "problematic" issues with evidence or procedure, the FEDS page 3
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spokesman said. The agency said other cases are prosecuted at the local level. When prosecution is declined, the Social Security Administration has the right in cases of overpayment of benefits to try to recover the money through civil lawsuits or administrative means. A Department of Justice spokeswoman on Wednesday said she could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Request for records During the course of The Republic's investigation, the newspaper obtained billing records of a Phoenix law firm retained to represent the Arizona Department of Health Services. In late September 2010, the state hired Gallagher & Kennedy "in responding to a subpoena," according to a letter that shows the hiring of the firm. So far, the state has paid the firm more than $50,000 "in order to fully respond to the subpoena and multiple subsequent records requests by The Arizona Republic," the governor's statement said. Typically, the state attorney general would be the statutory legal representative on such matters for ADHS and other state agencies. But when the subpoena arrived last year, then-Attorney
General Terry Goddard was running against Brewer in the November 2010 gubernatorial election. Gallagher & Kennedy was hired to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. The Republic also requested copies of any subpoenas, records of any payments to the hospital on Ronald Brewer's behalf, officials' calendars, and communications related to Ronald Brewer, the governor or the investigation. Various state agencies denied the requests on legal grounds or said they were unable to locate such records. In her statement, Brewer said: "I and my staff have adhered with all federal and state laws as they pertain to public records." The Brewer family hired an attorney in the office of a law firm that has offices in Nevada and Phoenix to represent her family. The attorney, Greg Brower of the law firm Snell & Wilmer, is the former U.S. attorney for Nevada and has expertise in defending against investigations by the Office of Inspector General. Brower did not respond to written questions about the case. The governor's statement said her family is paying for the private legal counsel. Questions over benefits Over the course of its attempts to
understand the nature of the federal investigation, The Republic learned that Ronald Brewer would have become eligible for his Social Security benefits via his birth father, Ronald Richard Warren, whom Brewer, then Drinkwine, married in 1963. The couple divorced in 1967, and Ronald Warren died in Southern California in August 1969, entitling his son to survivor Social Security benefits. After the future governor remarried in 1970, Ronald Jr. took the last name of her new husband, John Brewer. Ronald Brewer was 25 and living on his own in an apartment on July 29, 1989, when a woman knocked on his door, mistakenly thinking it was the apartment of a friend. According to a Phoenix police report, Ronald pulled her into the apartment, closed the door and forced her to perform oral sex. He was arrested, charged, found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix. The court order following his commitment required Jan Brewer to use her son's Social Security benefits his only income at the time to pay the Arizona State Hospital for "the cost of said
patient's examination, treatment and maintenance pursuant to court -ordered treatment." At the time of his 1990 commitment, Ronald Brewer's monthly Social Security check was $445. A year later, the court reiterated the order, and his monthly benefit had grown to $469. Those Social Security benefits are the only benefits involving the Brewers of which the newspaper is aware. Ordinarily, survivor benefits expire at age 18 or 19. But if a surviving child is found to be disabled before age 22, the benefits could convert to disability benefits and be extended indefinitely. Ronald Brewer would have met the Social Security requirements for disability at a younger age based on what court records say was an early diagnosis of mental illness. It is unclear when federal officials first questioned whether benefits were still being paid for Ronald Brewer even though he may not have been eligible because of his institutionalization in the Arizona State Hospital's forensic ward, where the average daily rate for care is $613. The governor said her son "currently does not receive Social Security benefits," and she noted that she has "never been served
with a subpoena, interviewed or deposed in the matter." Published Social Security policies state that payee representatives are required to fill out forms annually indicating whether there has been any change in the beneficiary's living arrangements and how the benefits were spent. An accompanying instruction sheet says Social Security benefits must be used for the "care and wellbeing of the beneficiary." In her statement, Brewer said she believes her "family will prevail with any additional or future inquiries in any fashion about his benefits." Contributing: Kevin Johnson of USA TODAY This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Headline/ Top News/
Obama defends Plan B decision as a father

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:53:00 AM
Uncommon Knowledge Interview With Andrew Ferguson and Gerard Baker (Part Four)
(The Front Page)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:01:00 AM
President Obama said today that "as the father of two daughters," he supports his health secretary's decision to block over-the-counter sales of the Plan B "morning after" birth control pill to girls under 17 years of age. "I did not get involved in the process," Obama said during a White House news conference, though he added he supports the decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius, overruling the Food and Drug Administration, said there are too many questions about the safety of the Plan B for girls who can bear children as young as 10 or 11 years old. "I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine," Obama said during an impromptu news conference at the White House. He said Sebelius decided 10- and 11-year-olds should not be able to buy the drug "alongside bubble gum or batteries" because it could
have an adverse effect if not used properly. He said "most parents" probably feel the same way. Women's rights and women's health groups have criticized the decision, but Obama noted the medication has been ruled safe and can be purchased by those over age 17. Also during the news conference, Obama: Bristled at claims by some Republicans that he has engaged in an "appeasement" foreign policy.
Asked if he would specify some of those options, Obama said: "No." Confirmed that he will delay his end-of-the-year vacation, scheduled to start Dec. 17, in order get Congress to act on an extension of the payroll tax cut that is scheduled to expire at the end of the month.
He accused House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of trying to "extract a price" from him and "dicker" over how to pay for the tax cut. "We are going to stay here as long as it takes to make sure the American people's taxes don't go up on Jan. 1," he said. "Maybe we'll have a White Christmas here in Washington," Obama told reporters. "Ask Osama bin Laden" and 22 of This entry passed through the 30 top al-Qaeda leaders killed or Full-Text RSS service if this is captured on his watch, Obama your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read said. R e i t e r a t e d t h a t h e i s the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content"considering all options" -- only/faq.php#publishers. Five including military -- when it Filters recommends: Donate to comes to Iran's nuclear program. Wikileaks.
by Uncommon Knowledge 12/08/2011 Ferguson: Fox does a lot of really terrible things. I mean, some of it is simply unwatchable particularly at night. But its effect on the body politic...has been almost completely salutary and admirable I believe. Baker: The view I take is it brings a much-needed diversity to the public discourse, which really, really would be absent it really
was absent without it. Uncommon Knowledge features Hoover fellow Peter Robinson interviewing political leaders, distinguished scholars, and leading journalists. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
China's Envoy to Africa Expresses Concern Over Sudan Oil, Border Disputes - Bloomberg
(china - Google News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:48:58 AM
Independent Online China's Envoy to Africa Expresses Concern Over Sudan Oil, Border Disputes Bloomberg China's top envoy for Africa urged Sudan and South Sudan to resolve disputes over oil and their mutual border, citing concern that future instability may harm its investments in the...
China Expresses Concern Over Sudan Oil, Border Disputes BusinessWeek China sends envoy to protect oil in bickering Sudans Sydney Morning Herald China trying to mediate oil impasse between Sudan, South Sudan, again stepping... Washington Post Reuters Africa all 376 news articles
Top News/
Obama in for a Radical Change as Islamist Egypt Emerges

(The Front Page)
conservative governorates. And there is no reason to expect the election for Egypts upper house, It is almost certain Americas ally the Shura Council, which takes Egypt will become an Islamist place between late January and state if last weeks vote is any March, to be any different. indication. President Barack Following those elections, the Obama, who supported Egypts new Islamist majority parliament revolution, had better prepare for w i l l c o n v e n e t o d r a f t a a radically different Middle East. c o n s t i t u t i o n w h i c h w i l l b e An Islamist Egypt, the largest submitted to a referendum. Then, Arab country and a longtime according to the Supreme Council American ally, could turn the o f t h e A r m e d F o r c e s Middle East on its head. It will ( S C A F ) E g y p t s m i l i t a r y likely exchange the 30-year peace r u l e r s t h e r e w i l l b e a with Israel for war, play host to presidential election no later than Islamic terrorists, embrace Sharia 30 June 2012. (Islamic) law, limit the use of the It is clear Egypt faces a cultural strategic Suez Canal, and spread and political tsunami. An Islamist radicalism across the volatile majority parliament will ignore region. the Tahrir Square pro-democracy Last weeks mostly urban vote movement that pushed former was the first of three rounds of President Hosni Mubarak out of Egypts complex parliamentary office. Worse, the more moderate elections to fill the Peoples Muslim Brotherhood will be Assembly (the lower house). The pushed to the Islamic right by its Islamist Muslim Brotherhoods Salafist allies. Then expect the Freedom and Justice Party (JFP) Islamists to display no pretense captured perhaps 43%, and about embracing radical Sharia surprisingly, the ultraconservative law. (Salafist) Al Nour (The Light) This outcome was widely party earned as much as 30% of p r e d i c t e d b y M i d d l e E a s t the vote. observers such as this author, but The final two voting rounds will leaders such as President Obama take place between now and early called the revolution that ousted January, and are expected to be Mubarak a positive force for a even more successful for the democratic Egyptian future. Islamists because the remaining Obama then said, I have an voters are in primarily rural, u n y i e l d i n g b e l i e f t h a t y o u
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:01:00 AM
[Egyptians] will determine your own destiny. One of the best indicators of Egypts destiny is what the Islamist leaders promise. The Brotherhoods supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, said Muslim regimes must confront Islams enemies, Israel and the U.S., and that waging jihad against them is a commandment of Allah. He called for all forms of resistance for the sake of liberating every occupied piece of land in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all [other] parts of our Muslim world. Badie said the Koran should become our constitution, and in
2007 then-supreme guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef drafted the Brotherhoods political platform. That platform states Islam will be the state religion and that Sharia is the main source for legislation. Non-Muslims and women are barred from the presidency, and the 1979 peace with Israel would be put to referendum, which means certain defeat in the 95% Muslim majority country. And tourists visiting Egypt must be in line with Islamic principles, values and laws, which would put a serious damper on Western tourism.
The most prestigious Brotherhood cleric, Shaykh Qaradawi, represents mainstream views, according to the Washington-based Brookings Institutes Shadi Hamid. Those views are radically anti-Israel. Qaradwi denies Palestinian suicide bombing attacks on Israeli civilians constitute terrorism, and he issued a fatwa (an Islamic ruling) stating that it was mandatory for all Muslims to support Iran terror proxy Hezbollah in its fight against Israel. Recently Qaradawi, who heads of the Union of Muslim Scholars, co -sponsored a massive rally in Cairos Al-Azhar mosque in which a 5,000-strong crowd chanted passages from the Koran vowing that one day we shall kill all the Jews, according to Israel's Ynetnews. The theologian also embraces radical views for everyday Egyptians. He accepts wife beating as a method of last resort, according to Londons The Guardian, and female circumcision for whoever finds it serving the interest of his daughters. He also believes that homosexuality should be punishable by death. The Brotherhoods Salafi partner, OBAMA page 13
Top News/
Inequality: The Eternal Wellspring of Collective Power

(The Front Page)
actually evidence that the top 1% of earners report more taxable income when tax rates are Enduring power flows from reduced on dividends, capital insoluble problems. gains and businesses filing under 12/08/2011 the individual tax code, explains Writing in the Wall Street Journal Reynolds. this week, Alan Reynolds of the Huge tax increases on the Evil Cato Institute made a very Rich would reverse this process interesting point about income to the inevitable detriment of inequality. He notes that the everyone who depends upon their ostensibly s h o c k i n g investments. Which, for those of Congressional Budget Office you who still take the Occupy report that concluded The share movement seriously, means of income received by the top 1% everyone else. grew from about 8% in 1979 to But Reynolds article inspired me over 17% in 2007 has been to ask another question about p r e s e n t e d i n a p r o f o u n d l y income inequality. The core disingenuous manner, because if thesis of Democrat Party politics, t h e r e p o r t h a d n t a b r u p t l y as retailed endlessly by President terminated in 2007, it would have Obama, is that the rich are getting noticed the share of after-tax richer, while avoiding their fair income of the top 1% had share of taxes. In 1979, the One dropped right back to 11.3% by Percent claimed an 8% share of 2009. The larger truth, all income, while a Tax R e y n o l d s n o t e s , i s t h a t Foundation table (which begins in recessions always destroy wealth 1980) shows them paying 19% of and small business incomes at the income taxes. By 2009, they top. earned 11.3% of the income but Furthermore, a great deal of the they paid 36.73% of income increased income reported by the taxes. One Percent was exactly that: Bearing in mind that the Tax an increase in reported income. Reform Act of 1986 changed the They responded to lower tax rates definition of Adjusted Gross by shifting more of their income Income enough to make the into taxable categories. In short, comparison inexact, it seems clear what the Congressional Budget that the One Percent are paying Office presents as increased far more than a proportionate inequality from 2003 to 2007 was share of income taxes, and the
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:01:00 AM
percentage they pay has been increasing much more quickly than their share of the income. Also, consider that the top marginal tax rate in 1979 and 1980 was an incredible seventy percent, while it was down to 35% by 2007, and remains at that level to this day. The top rate is much lower but the One Percent cover a far larger percentage of the income tax burden. So, to repeat the question defenders of economic liberty have been asking socialists for over a century: what percentage of tax paid by the Evil Rich would be fair? Its obviously not a tax burden equivalent to their share of income, because theyre paying two or three times that much now. Why dont we isolate that number, according to some logical formula, and put it on the table for consideration? The answer, of course, is that inequality is the eternal wellspring of collectivist power. It is the dragon that can never be slain, the Grail that can never be seized. It will always dance just out of reach and there will always be socialists leaning over our shoulders and whispering that we must hand over more control of our lives, so they can get us just a little bit closer. Theyll never tell us exactly what
fairness would be, because then we would know if we had achieved it. Blindness is an important tool of control. What if income inequality invariably increases with general prosperity? Its not an unlikely notion. Prosperity requires goods and services to be sold at a profit, on a widespread scale. No one would imagine a land in which everything was sold at cost to be prosperous, and you most certainly would not want to live there, unless you are fond of whips, and confident youd be on the less painful end of them. Profit tends to accrue more heavily to those who make a greater investment. Thats easy enough to understand without a detailed study of capitalism. If you invest more time in school to earn an advanced degree, dont you expect your labor to be more valuable? If you owned ten stores, wouldnt you hope to earn more profit than someone who owned only one and wouldnt that hope be your primary motivation for opening an eleventh? If the economy is booming, top income earners will be more likely to re-invest their profits. We should want them to do so, shouldnt we? How else will there be more jobs, and therefore more competition for labor
which is the only healthy and sustainable way for less wealthy people to earn more profit for themselves? Its not hard to see this process unavoidably increasing the income inequality gap, especially when discussing reported taxable income, even as every income level prospers. When everyone gets richer, the rich invest more of their money, and get richer faster. Is there really any way for everyone to get richer without this being true? We should have matured far past the point of believing that Big Government wealth redistribution is the answer. It might collapse the income inequality gap, but it always collapses the economy, too. In the end, only poverty is redistributed. And much of that reduction in inequality comes from the rich sequestering their income. In extremes, theyll move it out of the country entirely. The socialists will then produce figures showing the income gap declining, and tell the unemployed, impoverished remains of the middle class to be happy while reminding them how much work is left to be done before true equality is achieved, of course. INEQUALITY: page 13
Top News/
Angels agree with Pujols, Wilson in Thursday flurry - USA Today

(Top Stories - Google News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:35:33 AM
DALLAS -- In one of the most stunning series of player moves in recent baseball history, the Los Angeles agreed to terms Thursday morning with first baseman Albert Pujols and left-hander C.J. Wilson. Pujols, who won three MVP awards and two World Series championships while crafting a Cardinals legacy to rival Stan Musial, left the reigning champions of baseball for a 10year contract worth around $255 million, according to a person involved in the negotiations, who requested anonymity because Pujols must pass a physical for the deal to be final. Wilson, arguably the top pitcher on the free-agent market, left the defending AL champion Rangers for a five-year deal between $70 million and $75 million, according to multiple news media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times. PHOTO GALLERY: Pujols in pictures FANTASY: Pujols will make a huge impact in Anaheim MORE: Angels, Cardinals, Marlins size up what's next Pujols' deal, which includes a notrade clause, will be among the most lucrative in baseball history.
Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million with the Texas Rangers before the 2001 season and another 10-year deal, this time with the New York Yankees in 2007 for $275 million. Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, had been engaged in negotiations throughout the winter meetings, first with the Cardinals and Marlins and then with the Angels. The Cardinals offered him a nine-year contract for about $195 million early in spring training, but the slugger turned it down and ended talks until the season was over. The Cardinals improved on that offer this week, but the Angels came in late Wednesday and finished the deal Thursday. "Congratulations to Anaheim," said Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik. "It just makes it that much more difficult for everyone in our division." Pujols, 31, was the National League's Rookie of the Year in 2001 and its Most Valuable Player in 2005, 2008 and 2009. The Cardinals made the playoffs in seven of Pujols' 11 seasons, winning World Series championships in 2006 and 2011. Wilson, 31, is 31-15 with a 3.14 ERA since converting from a reliever to starter before the 2010 season, helping lead the Rangers to two consecutive World Series.
years to lure free agents such as Carl Crawford and Mark Teixeira only to lose out to the Red Sox and Yankees. But with a new general manager, Jerry Dipoto, and renewed commitment from owner Arte Moreno, they have been one of the most aggressive teams at the winter meetings. "I love this game. We have the Machine!!" tweeted Angels outfielder Vernon Wells about Pujols. Pujols gives the Angels a force Last season, he went 16-7 with a for the middle of their lineup and 2.94 ERA, finishing sixth in the a player to market throughout AL Cy Young Award voting. His Southern California. The Angels, 206 strikeouts were also sixth in according to the Los Angeles the AL. Times, are negotiating a new local Wilson was born in Newport TV contract. According to The Beach, Calif., and played baseball Times, their current deal with at Fountain Valley (Calif.) High. Fox, which expires in 2015, "Going back to where you're from provides $50 million in revenue is a difficult opportunity to turn per season. Pujols' presence could down," said Wilson, according to drive up the price of a new deal to the Orange County (Calif.) much higher than that. Register. In addition, the team continues to Here are two more Wilson quotes compete for attention and fans from the Register: with their neighbors to the north, On the Rangers, his former team: the Dodgers, whom owner Frank "I just want fans to know if things McCourt is selling in U.S. were a lot closer (the amount and Bankruptcy Court. years on the contract), it might The Angels ranked 10th in the have been a more difficult American League in runs last decision." season, instead relying on a topOn the Marlins, who offered ranked pitching staff to lead them more money: "If it was about to 86 wins. However, they still money, I'd be a Florida Marlin." fell short of the Rangers in the AL The Angels have tried in recent West for the second year in a row.
"Anaheim has always been a very good club and they're going to continue to have one of the better teams in the AL," Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. In St. Louis, Pujols will leave a gaping void after putting together an unparalleled first 11 seasons, hitting 445 home runs with a .328 batting average, .420 on-base percentage and lifetime OPS (onbase-plus-slugging percentage) of 1.037. After the Cardinals came back to defeat the Rangers in an epic seven-game World Series, Pujols reiterated his desire to return to St. Louis and both he and the club expressed optimism that a deal could be reached. "When you hear the dollars and the years, you have to listen," Zduriencik said. "It's a tremendous deal for him. ... Anaheim fans should be happy today." Prior to the Angels' flourish Thursday morning, the Marlins had been the attention-grabbers of the winter meetings, signing prize free agent shortstop Jose Reyes and closer Heath Bell. One team that has been quiet at the winter meetings -- and this offseason -- has been the Yankees, who have the majors' ANGELS page 13
Top News/
Lawmakers: Heads should roll over gunwalking - CBS News

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:26:33 AM
(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Republican lawmakers told Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to fire some Justice Department subordinates over the flawed arms -trafficking investigation called Operation Fast and Furious. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin said impeachment is an option if Holder does not "clean up this mess" quickly. Sensenbrenner and other Republicans hold the attorney general responsible for the operation, in which federal agents failed to track hundreds of illicitly obtained weapons that were later recovered in Mexico and the U.S., many of them at crime scenes. "If you don't get to the bottom of this," there is only one alternative, and "it's called impeachment," said Sensenbrenner, without specifying whom he had in mind. "Why haven't you terminated the people involved?" asked Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is investigating the armstracking operation. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the Justice
Department had given inconsistent statements about what Smith called "a reckless and dangerous law enforcement program." Smith said many questions remain about who authorized the operation. Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations Grassley calls on senior Justice Department official to step down over gunwalking scandal Holder, the sole witness at Thursday's hearing, says it was inexcusable for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to use a controversial tactic known as "gun-walking" in its effort to identify and prosecute major arms trafficking networks along the Southwest border. Amid probes by Republicans in Congress and the Justice Department's inspector general, the department already has replaced U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke in Phoenix, acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson and the lead prosecutor in Operation Fast and Furious. In that operation, two of the guns purchased at a Phoenix gun store were recovered from the scene of a shooting that killed border agent Brian Terry on the U.S. side of the border. On Wednesday, the senior Republican on the Senate
Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, whose inquiry brought the tactic used in Operation Fast and Furious to light, called for the resignation of one of Holder's top aides, criminal division chief Lanny Breuer. Breuer has said he made a mistake in not telling Holder and Deputy Attorney General James Cole that the controversial gunwalking tactic letting guns "walk" across the border in an effort to identify higher-ups in gun networks had been used in an earlier ATF probe called Operation Wide Receiver, which Breuer had known about since April 2010. Grassley said that in addition to not informing his superiors, Breuer gave misleading answers when the senator asked whether Breuer had reviewed a Justice Department letter to Congress last February that said ATF makes every effort to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally an assertion that was incorrect in both Operation Wide Receiver and Operation Fast and Furious. Breuer told Congress he cannot say for sure whether he saw a draft of the inaccurate letter and that he has no recollection of having done so. At the time the letter was drafted, Breuer told one of the letter's main drafters, "As usual, great work."
Breuer "needs to go immediately," Grassley said. In response, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said Breuer has acknowledged his mistake to Congress and to the attorney general and said Holder "continues to have confidence in assistant attorney general's Breuer ability to lead the criminal division." Schmaler said Breuer's division has led important prosecutions against high-ranking gang members, secured the extradition of dangerous fugitives and spearheaded efforts with Mexico to enhance that country's law enforcement capacity. There are also questions about whether the ATF tried to use the gun-walking policy to push controversial new rules about gun sales. Documents obtained by CBS News show that officials discussed using dealers' sales, including those encouraged by the ATF to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3." That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information. "There's plenty of evidence showing that this administration
planned to use the tragedies of Fast and Furious as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement. But, we've learned from our investigation that reporting multiple long gun sales would do nothing to stop the flow of firearms to known straw purchasers because many Federal Firearms Dealers are already voluntarily reporting suspicious transactions. It's pretty clear that the problem isn't lack of burdensome reporting requirements," Grassley said. Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, R -Calif., wrote Holder a letter in July asking if officials in his agency discussed how "Fast and Furious could be used to justify additional regulatory authorities." So far, they have not received a response. Justice Department officials also wouldn't comment to CBS News on whether gun-walking was used to support tighter regulations. CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson contributed to this report. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Top News/ Culture/
Delays in USPS May Hinder Elections

(Christianpost.com > Politics)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:07:24 AM
mandated retiree health benefit payments as required by the new healthcare overhaul. In short, the USPS is raking up drastic debts (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) On the by the minute and in order to deadline day for U.S. citizens to make a turnaround it must file their income tax returns, a implement drastic changes. These woman stands at the front of the changes are coming in the form of line at a mobile post office near drastic cuts. the Internal Revenue Service Along with overnight service, b u i l d i n g i n d o w n t o w n other cuts being considered Washington, April 15, 2010. include closing post offices and processing centers, and going T h e U S P S i s c o n s i d e r i n g from a six-day delivery service to eliminating overnight service for a f i v e - d a y o n e , d r o p p i n g first class mail to help cut costs S a t u r d a y . b u t P o s t a l R e g u l a t o r y The USPS estimates that by Commission Chairwoman Ruth ending Saturday mail service it Goldway told The Christian Post would save about $3 billion that delaying delivery time may annually, but its oversight agency, impact states that rely heavily on t h e P o s t a l R e g u l a t o r y mail-in votes for elections . Commission, puts the figure at The changes to delivery are only $1.7 billion. expected to be implemented Like us on Facebook sometime in the spring, so we are The USPS must cut $20 billion reviewing any modifications the by 2015 in order to begin making Postal Service may need to a profit. implement (in regards to PRCs Goldway expressed e l e c t i o n s ) , G o l d w a y s a i d . concern over the cuts. She noted T h e U S P S a n n o u n c e d i n that states that have gone to a November that it is in red ink. The completely mail-in voting system bureau lost $5.1 billion in the are likely to be the hardest hit by fiscal year of 2011 and, on top of these delays. If the new system that, owes the federal government poses a heavy burden on rural another $5.5 billion for the citizens, Goldway fears those
citizens may choose to not vote at all. Andrea Cantu-Schomus, director of communications at the Oregon Secretary of States office, told The Christian Post, We are very concerned about the rural areas of our state. Oregon does all of its voting by mail and the ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on election day in order to be valid. The USPS will be shutting down processing centers. This means that for a citizen in southern Oregon who wants to mail a letter to a recipient one mile down the road, the letter must pass through Portlands processing center first. This will delay the mail drastically, she continued. All mail must pass through the processing centers to be sorted and post marked before it can be delivered. According to Goldway, the USPS plans to reduce the processing centers around the country by 50 percent in order to cut costs. This will save an estimated $2.1 billion. If such delays are to occur, the Secretary of State for Oregon, Kate Brown, has asked the legislature to mail out ballots earlier so as to mitigate any burden the delay may have on
individual citizens. Currently, citizens have between 14 and 18 days to vote and decide how they will turn in their ballot. However, if the mailing system requires the voter to send off the ballot earlier, then Brown has argued that the ballots should be sent to the citizen earlier. Usually if the ballots are mailed, citizens expect overnight delivery so they will wait until Monday to mail out their votes, Goldway said. If there is no overnight, Oregon will have to be much clearer about when ballots must get into the mail. Goldway and Cantu-Schomus said that all partners involved with the mailing and election process have been working together to come up with a way to remedy any problem that may occur. The Postal Service is considering ways in which it can work with the registrar and voters, and the local government in order to provide a service that is in between first class and standard for voting purposes. That way, citizens wont have to pay that much more, as they would for first class mail and the ballot will get there sooner than with
standard, said Goldway. One of the things we will do is to see whether the zip codes pairs (first three digits to a zip code that defines region) reveal that the new service standard unfairly burdens rural America. Goldway added that the PRC will monitor these pairs after the new standards go into effect and continue to think of alternative ways to fix any problems associated with rural Americas mailing system, particularly when it comes to voting. We are encouraging people to participate, Goldway said, noting that citizens can go to the PRC website and give feedback about the mail system. We want them (citizens) to understand the process so that we can make it better. Be the first of thousands of iPosters by sharing your news, views, and analysis. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Charlie Brown baby in real life

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:22:00 AM
Redditor nichthomas shared a picture his boss snapped of his Charlie Brown baby. Good grief.
Total cuteness. Permalink| Leave a comment Via Reddit.
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Top News/
Corzine: 'I simply do not know' where MF Global money is - USA Today
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:28:11 AM
Corzine also said he was unaware whether there were "operational errors at MF Global or elsewhere, Former MF Global chief o r w h e t h e r b a n k s a n d executive Jon Corzine apologized counterparties have held onto "to all those affected" by the funds that should rightfully have brokerage's collapse Thursday as been returned to MF Global." he prepared to tell a congressional The proceeding was the first of committee he doesn't know what three Capitol Hill hearings for happened to $1.2 billion in w h i c h C o r z i n e h a s b e e n missing customer funds. subpoenaed to testify. 2009 photo by Mel Evans, AP The brokerage's implosion, Wall MF Global announced on Nov. 4 Street's largest since the 2008 that Jon Corzine resigned as bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, chairman and CEO. was triggered in part by $6 billion in bad bets on European sovereign 2009 photo by Mel Evans, AP debt. MF Global announced on Nov. 4 Challenging public criticism that that Jon Corzine resigned as has focused on those investments, chairman and CEO. Corzine's statement said the Scheduled to testify under brokerage's decision to seek subpoena at a House Agriculture bankruptcy court protection was Committee hearing, Corzine, a largely due to a $119.4 million former U.S. senator and ex- write-off of tax benefits that could Goldman Sachs chief, portrayed no longer be classified as assets. himself as "stunned" about the Corzine called the European debt massive shortfall that emerged as investments "prudent" and said he r e g u l a t o r s a n d f e d e r a l advocated them last year as one investigators began probing MF way to improve MF Global's Global's Oct. 31 bankruptcy. flagging profits and commissions "I simply do not know where the amid increased competition from money is, or why the accounts online brokerages and highhave not been reconciled to date," frequency traders. said Corzine, 64, in a written In his statement, Corzine told the statement, his first public H o u s e p a n e l " I a c c e p t utterance since his resignation responsibility" for that investment after the bankruptcy. strategy. But he pointedly added
brokerage's level of leverage, the use of borrowed capital for investment, was consistently around 30 during his tenure. "In fact, MF Global reduced leverage," he said in the statement. Until the bankruptcy, New Yorkheadquartered MF Global had t h a t t h e t r a n s a c t i o n s w e r e been one of the world's leading approved by MF Global's b r o k e r s i n m a r k e t s f o r directors and were disclosed to c o m m o d i t i e s a n d l i s t e d the brokerage's senior officers and derivatives. The brokerage, most a c c o u n t a n t s , a s w e l l a s t o of whose 2,870 employees have investors, through public filings been let go since the collapse, was with the Securities and Exchange also a broker-dealer in markets for commodities, fixed-income Commission. "As of today, none of the foreign securities, equities and foreign debt securities" involved in the exchange. European debt transactions "has The MF Global collapse has defaulted or been restructured," caused financial uncertainty and problems for many U.S. ranchers Corzine said in the statement. T h e F i n a n c i a l I n d u s t r y and farmers who turned to MF Regulatory Authority directed MF Global to make commodities Global last summer to increase market trades as financial hedges the brokerage's net capital with designed to protect them against regard to the European debt. swings in agriculture prices. A c k n o w l e d g i n g h e t r i e d , Many have had thousands of unsuccessfully, to change that dollars tied up as a courtdecision, Corzine said in the appointed bankruptcy trustee tries statement that the brokerage to transfer and distribute $2.1 "promptly complied" in August. billion in MF Global funds frozen Addressing criticism since the by the bankruptcy. A bankruptcy bankruptcy that MF Global took judge in New York is scheduled on too much risk in European debt to consider that issue Friday. and other deals, Corzine said the Darwin Rieck, 64, a Luzerne, Iowa farmer and MF Global
customer, said in a recent interview with USA TODAY he had to send more money to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to meet margin calls on several pending commodities futures trades. Although his brokerage account held sufficient excess funds, that money was frozen by the bankruptcy, he said. "If I hadn't sent the money, they would have liquidated the trades," said Rieck, who works with his son-in-law raising corn, soybeans and feed cattle. "It just doesn't seem like the way it's supposed to be." Trying to address such concerns, Corzine ended his statement by returning to a penitent note. "I sincerely apologize, both personally and on behalf of the company, to our customers, our employees and our investors, who are bearing the brunt of the impact of the firm's bankruptcy," the statement said. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Top News/
11
Richard Branson: Screw Business As Usual, And Make Your (Huge Piles Of) Money By Doing Good
Gregory Ferenstein (Fast Company)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:26:31 PM
"There's certainly not an incapability between doing well and doing good," eccentric
billionaire Sir Richard Branson tells Fast Company. Branson's new book, Screw Business As Usual(which goes on sale today), asks that as long as entrepreneurs can make extraordinary sums of cash while helping others, why do
business any other way? A business with a social conscience, he argues, will have more motivated employees, save resources, drive higher profits, and, paradoxically, be more satisfying than even the material
wealth it creates. (As a billionaire, Branson has the unusual experience of knowing just how much happiness money can buy.) Screw Business As Usual reads like a series of loosely related case studies and anecdotes that
chronicle Branson's jetset philanthropic life, from islandhopping with celebrities to help third-world villagers, to his boyhood arrest for distributing RICHARD page 14
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Top News/
Variety Launches Fact-Checked IMDB Alternative With $1,000 Subscriptions

Austin Carr (Fast Company)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:58:02 AM
For years now, all movie trivia arguments ended with IMDB, the Internet Movie Database. But today, Variety launches Flix Tracker, a database that aggregates all types of Hollywood data using the entertainment magazine's resources. The place to go to find out, say, the name of the dude who played Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane in the original Dukes of Hazzard ( James Best, duh) has for years involved four letters: IMDB. But the Internet Movie Database, which is owned by Amazon, is about to get some company. "Companies have become accustomed to dealing with inaccurate credits, out-of-date development lists, and incorrect contact information," says Mark Hoebich. "IMDB is crowdsourced. We get told all the time by frustrated people that even if you know there is a credit or piece of data that's incorrect, it's virtually impossible to get it changed." Hoebich is the founder of TV Tracker, an entertainment data tracking service that Variety acquired in June. Today, the entertainment magazine adds to its roster of services with the launch of Flix Tracker, a database
that aggregates all types of Hollywood data, including production credits and future developments, film budget and location information, and contact information. The subscriptionbased service is another example of a traditional business (publishing) trying to adapt to the digital age--in this case, repackaging the reporting from its most precious resource,
professional journalists, to build a new stream of revenue. "IMDB is a bit like Wikipedia," says Neil Stiles, president of the Variety Group. "We don't think IMDB is our main competition." Rather than crowdsourcing its system, Hoebich says the company's competitive advantage will be verifying its information, a labor-intensive process that depends on industry sources. Flix
Tracker's team includes veterans of studio and network development divisions, who will be able to provide forwardlooking information, something Hoebich says competitors such as IMDB Pro and Baseline don't have the resources to do. "Getting this information is very relationship driven," he says. "We have to get on the phone on a daily basis with these companies."
Additionally, Flix Tracker will take advantage of Variety's reporting to fill in gaps and keep the database up to date. "If you think about the competitive set, we know they use Variety's editorial pages to actually compile lots of [data]," Stiles says. Between the Flix Tracker and Variety teams, the service will be VARIETY page 15
13
OBAMA
INEQUALITY:
the Al Nour party, is the largest of Egypts three licensed Salafist parties and perhaps the most dogmatic. It calls for laws mandating a shift to the complete application of Sharia, including Islamic banking (no interest or fees for loans), just and equal distribution of income to the poor, restricting the sale of alcohol, providing special curricula for schoolchildren, and censoring the arts and entertainment. Sheikh Yasir Burhami, considered Al Nours godfather, previously rejected participation in politics and government because it conflicted with his religious principles. But he reconciled participation in the current election process by rejecting democracythe rule of the peoplewhile embracing democracys methodology (elections), which seems to be the best option available, or the lesser evil, Burhami said. Burhami advocates this lesser evil (elections) in order to change the basis for Egyptian law. In a March interview on AlKhaleejiah television, Burhami explained that under Islamic rule,
laws are based on the Koran and the Sunnah, the practice of Muhammad. Under democracy, he explained, it is the will of the people that he rejects. But then he implied Salafis joined this election as a means to leverage their popularity in order to change the basis for Egyptian law. Al Nours platform states there is a broad popular consensus among all sectors of Egyptian [society] regarding establishing Islam as the state religion, Arabic as the official language, and the principles of Islamic Sharia as the primary source of legislation." "We believe that Islam is the decisive [authority] in all domains of life, including politics, Burhami said. He argues that Islam is both religion and state, and cannot be separated from politics. He believes secularism amounts to atheism. There are at least five consequences of an Islamist Egypt. First, the Islamists will adopt a Sharia-based constitution that radically transforms the countrys security and trade arrangements, as well as the way it treats minorities such as Coptic
Christians (who are already leaving the country), as well as women. Keep in mind regional trade depends on Egypts Suez Canal, and vacating the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords with Israel, which the Salifists reject, could return the region to a war footing. Second, an Islamist Egypt would realign partnerships. Cairo would grow closer to the Palestinians, Syria, Lebanon, Islamist Libya, and radical Iran, while becoming hostile to most of the West. Third, an Islamist-controlled Egypt would eventually purge its American-trained and -equipped military, much like the transition that is now happening with Islamist Turkey. Egyptian guns could soon be pointing at Americans. Finally, Salafi terrorist groups would find safe harbor in Egypt, the ideological home of al-Qaeda. That would radicalize the region and could turn Egypt into another terrorist haven like Pakistan. The wild card in this political tsunami is the SCAF, which has goals starkly different from the Islamists, such as maintaining secular rule. Will it allow the
Islamists to radically transform Egypt? Recently the Obama administration called on the SCAF to transfer power to a civilian government as soon as possible. That may happen, but as the consequences of an Islamist Egypt play, out everyone should remember a similar transition 32 years ago in Iran. It appears Obama never learned the lessons of his predecessor President Jimmy Carter, who badly fumbled the Iran crisis. It now appears Obama is doing the same with Egypt. Robert Maginnis is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, and a national security and foreign affairs analyst for radio and television. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The only place in which everyone is totally equal is a prison, and thats assuming youre willing to forget about the guards. Otherwise, there will always be some degree of inequality, and if you concede the government enough power to fix it, you will also be giving them the privilege of defining it. Those definitions will always be vague enough to preclude a moment of definitive success and conceal a vast amount of failure. The long march to ultimate fairness will never be over, and no whip you give the drovers will ever be long enough. Knowing this, why should any free man choose to place his head in the yoke? This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
ANGELS
highest payroll ($202 million on opening day last year). "You should do what you're willing to do regardless of outside stimuli," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Just because someone else did something doesn't all of a sudden
change your focus. It doesn't mean we have to, all of a sudden, throw more chips on the table." Cashman told MLB.com he passed on a chance to talk to Pujols when he heard from the slugger's camp. "They touched base with me, but I
said no," Cashman said. "I gave it a nice, respectful no. We've made our commitments, we have guys we're committed to, and even though you can say he can fit on anybody's club, realistically our money is spent in those directions. Trying to add that, how do you
add that, with our commitments? You just can't, it's not feasible." Contributing: Seth Livingstone This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-
only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Top News/
RICHARD
venereal disease education pamphlets in college (which was illegal at the time). Now, as the head of the sprawling Virgin empire, he tries to instill a socialimpact component into each new venture. In one instance, Virgin Money, its retail banking arm, offered up its transaction infrastructure to reduce the credit-card fees that donors pay to runners-for-charity of the London Marathon (reducing fees from 6% to 2%). Branson writes that Virgin Money's impact on the $100 million fundraising event illustrates how business can have a much larger social impact than nonprofits. "The trouble is, not being businesses, [nonprofits] never made expansion one of their objectives and sadly all of us have made the mistake as donors to encourage this limited type of thinking. Often, they're geared around being drip-fed by philanthropists and foundations, usually on a project-by-project basisyou're never going to be in
a position to build the capacity that you need to make a big difference." While light on analysis, Branson's book does offer a few logistical reasons why socially conscious business is good for the bottom line. First, Branson contends that Virgin employees, motivated by their love of the company's social mission, work harder. "They realize that we are more than just a money-making machine. And, I think, because they're proud of working for the company. Because they're proud of going out in the evenings and having a drink and saying that they work for Virgin," he said. "I think they'll make that little bit of an extra effort, which is good for the bottom line." Indeed, it may not just be good for productivity, but a precondition for retention, as many employees (especially young ones), prioritize social impact and volunteer opportunities in their job search. Second, he says, waste is
enormously expensive; reducing resources is both good for the environment and good for keeping down costs. "Fuel is nearly 30% of our costs," Branson says of Virgin's Airlines. Branson is aiming to have 100% cleanburning fuels by 2020. "The airline industry could become one of the cleanest industries, rather than one of the dirtiest industries in the world." Third, as a billionaire, Branson has a unique perspective on the mindsets of the ultra-rich and famous. "I think most successful people in life do not start with the money-motive whatsoever," he says, citing examples such as Google, which he argues started out to "make a difference in people's lives." Indeed, Branson is one of the few living individuals who actually knows how much happiness money can possibly buy. Philanthropy has "enriched my life far more than having a few dollars in the bank account," he says, with conspicuous humility. "I was a lad of the '60s", he says,
"I was brought up to try to make a difference." Other successful CEOs aren't nefarious, he contends, they just haven't been reared to believe business can make a difference. "I suspect some of them don't even think about it, it's just the way business has worked to date," he says. "Hopefully a book like Screw Business As Usual will be the start of a new trend." Click here to read an excerpt from Screw Business as Usual. Follow Greg Ferenstein on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. Also, follow Fast Company on Twitter. [Listing Image: Flickr user Gulltaggen] [Top Image: Getty Images for Rock The Kasbah, Virgin Unite's Los Angeles book launch event]
China Forgets Inflation and Goes for Growth - BusinessWeek

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:07:23 AM
BusinessWeek China Forgets Inflation and Goes for Growth BusinessWeek China has just pulled off one big U-turn. After months of battling inflation, the government in Beijing has decided its new priority is faltering economic growth. The central bank announced on Nov. 30 it would cut reserve requirements... Shenzhen Development Bank Sees Looser Policy in 2012 Wall Street Journal all 6 news articles
China's WTO Decade - Wall Street Journal

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:39:57 AM
The Guardian (blog) China's WTO Decade
Wall Street Journal China's accession to the World Trade Organization 10 years ago Sunday dramatically changed the fate of an economy. Today
h o w e v e r , i t s d i v i d e n d s a r e manipulator' tag Financial Times waning. This is bad news for China's economy and the WTO China and the rest of the world. The Economist Prior to 2001, China faced... Recognizing China's market China shrugs off 'currency economy status opens the world
to new possibilities Xinhua Reuters- The Guardian (blog)BBC News all 415 news articles
Top News/ Technology/
15
Democrats Losing Ground in Key States for 2012 Election

(Christianpost.com > Politics)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:25:36 AM
VARIETY
Democratic registrations are down 5.4 percent in eight of the 12 expected 2012 election swing states or states that could go for either candidate while Republican registrations are down only 3.1 percent and independent registrations are up 3.4 percent. Those eight states have closed primaries or caucuses, meaning voters must identify their party when registering to vote, thus making it possible to observe voter identification patterns. In the other four swing states, in which you do not have to identify your party when you register, Third Way estimated partisan support with 2010 election results. The eight swing states where party registrations are identifiable are: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The other four swing states are: Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. Exit poll data from
kept fresh by a staff of 150 people. "We have the resources to make sure the information that we're listing is accurate," adds Hoebich. "What our competitors are doing is typically waiting for press release, and they're also utilizing our publication. But they are only getting what we choose these states show the proportion Virginia would be too close to call to print." of the electorate identifying and determine the outcome of the Still, both Hoebich and Stiles acknowledge IMDB is good for t h e m s e l v e s a s D e m o c r a t s election. decreased by five percentage While the decline in Democratic "lightweight information," such as points while the number of registrations could be partly due say, quickly looking up how many R e p u b l i c a n s g r e w b y t w o to disillusionment with the Pirates of the Caribbean films percentage points and the number Democratic Party after it gained Johnny Depp has starred in. "For of independents grew by one power in 2009, the lack of a that, IMDB is fabulous," says percentage point. Democratic nomination contest Hoebich. (IMDB is also one of Iowa saw the biggest difference likely plays a role as well. Some the world's most popular websites, in registrations from Democratic w h o a r e i n c l i n e d t o v o t e with roughly 18 million monthly t o R e p u b l i c a n . D e m o c r a t i c Democrat may not feel the need to uniques according to Quantcast.) registrations decreased by almost register as a Democrat because But Flix Tracker isn't serving a eight percent while Republican they know Obama will be their mass audience--it's going after industry professionals: network registrations increased by two presidential nominee. percent. C o n t a c t : and studio execs, writers, actors, Like us on Facebook napp.nazworth@christianpost.co managers, and so forth. The company will charge $1,000 per If Obama were to carry the same m p e r c e n t a g e o f D e m o c r a t s , Be the first of thousands of seat for the paid product, though Republicans and independents iPosters by sharing your news, with the new registration levels, views, and analysis. Third Way estimates, he would This entry passed through the only lose North Carolina and Full-Text RSS service if this is would still win the election. your content and you're reading it If Obama's performance among on someone else's site, please read independent voters were to mirror the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- (TREND HUNTER - The Latest that of independent voter support only/faq.php#publishers. Five Trends) for Democrats in the 2010 Filters recommends: Donate to Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:59:03 AM election, he would lose Florida, Wikileaks. North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa ( TrendHunter.com) This Cherries and New Hampshire. Ohio and Wingchair designed by Zutto is perfect for any gambler -- or
prices will go down if seats are bought in bulk. Typically, Hoebich says, the product is marketed to studios or production companies, which often buy anywhere from 20 to 250 seats. Stiles expects Flix Tracker to become a big part of Variety's revenue stream--a welcome supplement for the industry's declining ad revenue--that could help boost the magazine's circulation and branding. Lionsgate and Jerry Bruckheimer Films are two of the firms that have been beta testing the product. When asked whether there will be a free version of the service, both Hoebich and Stiles laughed. "There's nothing free anymore," Hoebich says. My how things have changed. [Image: Flickr user Pedrosimoes7]
Fruity-Fun Furniture - The Cherries Wingchair Adds a Splash of Color to Your Space (TrendHunter.com)
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Top News/ Technology/
Somali Terrorists Launch Twitter Feed, Microsoft And GE Team Up For Health Care IT, Facebook's Snappy Update For Android
Nidhi Subbaraman (Fast Company)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:56:06 AM
Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. Somali Terrorists Launch Twitter Feed. Al-Shabaab, a Somalian militant organization classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, has launched a Twitter feed. The account,@hsmpress(Harakat alShabaab Al Mujhadeen Press Office), currently has over 500 followers and posts Englishlanguage tweets representing AlShabaab's positions. BBC reporter Mary Harper notes that the account is part of an ongoing English-language propaganda blitz on Al-Shabaab's part. --NU --Updated 10:00 a.m. EST Google remembers Mexican artist Diego Rivera on today, his
125th birthday, with an autobiographical Doodle, in the mural style the artist is remembered for. Microsoft And GE Start Health Care Tech Company. The two companies are launching a joint venture health care IT company in Seattle, a short drive away from Microsoft's HQ in Redmond, WA.
The goal of the venture is to create what sounds like a universal open platform that developers can use to create new applications. GE Healthcare IT's existing applications and software will be tweaked for compatibility with the new platform. --NS Facebook Issues Snappy Update For Android. Speediness is key in
Grand Central Apple Store Opens Friday. Apple's new store in Grand Central Station, NYC, will lose the black draping now shielding it from curious commuters this Friday. The store will be open for business starting at 7 a.m. and will have store hours suited for commuters rushing in and out of the building. This fifth Manhattan Apple store will be staffed by 315 employees and will offer the Personal Pickup service, two Genius Bars, and Personal Training sessions. --NS the new Facebook app for the --Updated 5:30 a.m. EST Android store ( which crossed 10 Yesterday's Fast Feed: Nintendo billion downloads over the 3DS Gets 3-D Video, Verizon w e e k e n d ) . I n a b l o g p o s t , Planning Netflix Competitor, Facebook explains that the tweaks Android App Store Hits 10 will make tagging and uploading Billion Downloads, and more! photographs a lot easier. Also, the newly designed menu will keep the News Feed, Groups, and games within easy access. --NS
Voyager 1 has nearly left the solar system

Duncan Geere
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:48:00 AM
Nasa's Voyager 1 probe is about to become the first man-made object to leave the solar system
and enter interstellar space. The 722kg probe, which was launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter (in 1979) and Saturn (in 1980), has lasted considerably longer than expected in the
outskirts of the solar system. In
recent years, it's been sending back readings on the strength of the solar wind at the edges of the Sun's sphere of influence, but according to Nasa has now entered a zone of "cosmic
purgatory", a year after it recorded solar winds dropping to zero. By: Duncan Geere, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...
Business/ News Wire/ Featured/
17
These Corporations Will Bring $1.4 Trillion Back Home If They Don't Have To Pay The Full Tax Rate
Michelle Hirsch (Business Insider)
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even labor leader Andy Stern are all in favor of enacting a one-time repatriation initiative. Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:40:26 AM A 2005 repatriation program cut Congressional Republicans the top U.S. corporate tax rate for including Eric Cantor and Kevin companies repatriating foreign McCarthy are girding House profits from 35 percent to 5.25 Speaker Boehner this week to slip percent. However, influential a temporary tax holiday into a Republicans like House Ways and year-end tax deal to enable U.S. Means Chairman Dave Camp, Rmultinationals to shift overseas M i c h . , a n d S e n a t e F i n a n c e profits back into the U.S. at committee ranking member Orrin bargain basement tax rates. Hatch, R-Utah, have said they However, corporate tax chiefs would prefer to loop a repatriation from two major corporations that program into a broader tax reform might benefit from such an deal rather than enact it by itself. arrangement said Wednesday they A panel of executive tax officers would prefer to forego it and hold from Nike, Inc. and Boeing out to gut the whole tax code. assembled on Capitol Hill What's at stake is at least$1.4 Wednesday sided with Camp and trillion in offshore corporate Hatch, saying a temporary tax accounts, according to JPMorgan holiday would do them little good Chase. But many companies, unless it were attached to a including Cisco, Pfizer, General broader corporate tax reform deal Electric, Microsoft, and Google, to lower the permanent U.S. say they are prepared to bring corporate tax rate. those profits home in return for Repatriation, singularly, is not what would essentially be a one- helpful, said Wayne Monfries, year tax holiday. Chief Tax Officer of sporting A growing coalition of large giant Nike to the crowd of mostly corporations, congressional policy analysts organized by the R e p u b l i c a n s , a n d a f e w RATE Coalition, a lower tax Democrats including Sens. Chuck advocacy group. Repatriation Schumer of New York and Kay should be used as a tool to help Hagan of North Carolina, and the U.S. transition from the
current tax code to a new one, once it exists, Monfries said. Repatriation only impacts U.S. companies that operate globally. We want to make sure that corporate tax reform impacts everyone and helps everyone in the U.S.and that means reducing the rate. Boeings tax chief agreed. I think its best to deal with it [repatriation] in the overall context of tax reform as opposed to dealing with it on a one-off basis, said James H. Zrust of Boeing. Repatriation is a singular issue in the international area our elected officials need to work together to enact reform that is centered on a meaningful reduction in the corporate tax ratethat must be the cornerstone. The top U.S. corporate tax rate is currently 35 percentthe highest of any country besides Japan. And when state taxes are added to the mix, the rate soars to 40 percent. Yet few companies pay the full rate because of a convoluted system of tax write offs. The chairmen of key congressional committees as well as scores of business leaders have
repeatedly endorsed slashing the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent in order to make U.S. businesses more competitive with foreign counterparts and better able to invest in the U.S. A total tax code revamp, including abolishing a number of tax breaks, is unlikely to happen before the 2012 election. This post originally appeared at The Fiscal Times. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Kicking The Can Down The Road Will Officially Stop Working In 2013 How Your Company Should Approach Investing In South America BOOM! Obama Just Played The Bin Laden Card Presented By: Chicago Booth Business Forecast ChicagoBooth.edu/bfeo Ads by Pheedo
1. Lessons About Longevity From a 256-Year-Old 2. Chinese Admiral Threatens World War to Protect Iran 3. Cambridge University Disbands Chinese Students and Scholars Association 4. 12th Tibetan Self-Immolation Occurs Amid Harsh Repression 5. Tool Use by Fish May Be Underestimated This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
'Lying,' Holder Says, 'Has to Do With Your State of Mind'

Daniel Halper (The Weekly Standard)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:17:00 AM
This morning on Capitol Hill, Attorney General Eric Holder was asked whether he lied to Congress about the Fast & Furious gunrunning scandal:
18
Business/ World News/ Featured/
Chris Paul-to-Boston Is Just One Of The Many NBA Rumors Circulating The Blogosphere
Ariel Sandler (Business Insider)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:42:00 AM
Scuffle between Congress, BJP MPs at parliamentary panel meet NDTV

(Nation - Google News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:26:45 AM
NBA free agency is just over 24 hours away, and the Chris Paul talks are starting to heat up. Heres the latest in CP3 rumors, and every other whisper around the league. Chris Paul: Y! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski reports the Boston Celtics have reemerged in trade talks and are relentlessly pursuing Paul and have offered the Hornets as many as eight different scenarios. Boston is offering Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, two future No. 1 picks and contacting various third teams to create a worthy offer. Theyve spoken with Indiana about a deal that could send Rondo to the Pacers and bring Darren Collison, Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush and picks to New Orleans. With the Clippers refusing to deal Eric Gordon, and the Warriors unwilling to trade Stephen Curry, the Hornets are running out of options in hopes of making a deal
before the season. Both California teams worry about trading for the point guard without any assurance hell stay after the season. The only certainty in all of this? Paul will be dealt eventually now that hes told the organization he will not re-sign after the season. Dwight Howard: Nothing. Seriously. Shane Battier: Battier announced he will sign with the Miami Heat via Twitter. Heat fans are thrilled. So are Jimmy Buffet fans. Everyone else just threw up in their mouth. Tracy McGrady: McGrady, and his busted knees, will sign a oneyear deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Gred Oden: The perpetuallyinjured big man will re-sign with the Trail Blazers for thei one-year qualifying offer of $8.9 million. Not bad for someone who has played a TOTAL of 82 games in three seasons. Grant Hill: While the Knicks appear to be Hills likely destination, nothing is certain. He is still weighing his options
between New York, Chicago, San Antonio and re-signing with Phoenix. Caron Butler: Butler has narrowed his decision to four teams: San Antonio, Chicago, New Jersey, or the Los Angeles Clippers. The decision really comes down to money. Butler can sign with the Nets or Clippers for $7 million per season, or go to a contender like the Bulls or Spurs for the $5 million midlevel exception. Richard Jefferson: He is the reason the Spurs are now an option for Butler. RJ will become one of the first victims of the amnesty clause. Teams under the salary cap will be able to bid on Jeffersons services as part of a waiver claim. If he is not claimed, Jefferson will hit the free agent market. Jason Kapono: Lakers fans in need of a guy that can only shoot three-pointers can rejoice. Kapono has reportedly reached a handshake deal to join Los Angeles.
Eddy Curry: This isnt 2004. A reportedly in-shape Curry will sign with the Miami Heat. Speaking of names you thought youd never hear again Larry Hughes: The Orlando Magic has invited the former AllDefensive First Team member (in 2005) to camp. If this doesnt entice Dwight Howard to stay, nothing will. Please follow Sports Page on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Here's The Latest In The EverChanging NBA Rumor Mill The NBA Rumor Mill Is Out Of Control - And FANtastic RUMOR: The Lakers Are Trying To Make Two Massive Blockbuster Trades For Chris Paul And Dwight Howard Presented By: Chicago Booth Business Forecast ChicagoBooth.edu/bfeo Ads by Pheedo
India Today Scuffle between Congress, BJP MPs at parliamentary panel meet NDTV New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for parliamentary democracy, a scuffle broke out between Congress leader Rashid Alvi and Bharatiya Janata Party leader SS Ahluwalia in the parliament complex Thursday in full media view. The two senior politicians... MPs scuffle in Parliament: BJP's Ahluwalia pushed me from behind, alleges... Times of India UID Authority Bill not acceptable; Parliamentary panel asks govt to redraft Economic Times LD ALVI 2 LAST IBNLive.com Times Now.tv- India TodayFirstpost all 32 news articles
The GOPs Valentines Day Option

William Kristol (The Weekly Standard)
The always thoughtful Rhodes Cook writes: Conventional wisdom is that the
set, and that it is much too late for a new candidate to enter the race. Republican presidential field is
Business/ News Wire/ Technology/
19
Facebook Lawyers Drop "Bunker Buster" On Legal Foe Keeping You From Using Its Coolest New Feature
Nicholas Carlson (Business Insider)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:34:21 AM
After Facebook announced its new "Timeline" product earlier this fall, the small company that owns Timelines.com sued saying Facebook was infringing on its trademark. Then a court agreed to block it from releasing Timeline to anyone but Facebook developers. That temporary injunction has since run out. Then, today, Facebook dropped what PaidContent's Jeff Roberts called a "bunker buster" legal filing on Timelines.com: But on Tuesday, Facebook dropped the legal equivalent of a bunker-buster on its rival with a new filing that asks a court to strip Timelines.com of its trademarks. The claim asks the
court to declare that Facebook is not infringing and to cancel the marks because they are generic. Under trademark law, there are five categories of marks. The weakest ones are so-called generic and descriptive terms like fresh or fast and the strongest ones are what courts call fanciful ones such as Oreo or Spotify. Courts have the power to cancel weak marks. In its filing, Facebook provides examples to show that timeline is simply a descriptive, commonly -used word. It lists ten other websites that uses the word, including Google( NSDQ: GOOG) which offers an interactive timeline tool allowing users to travel through time of Googles company history. Facebook says the U.S. Trademark office referred to such sites in November when it refused
to expand the scope of Timelines.coms trademarks. In a tweet, Roberts says Facebook can launch its new product now, but that Timelines could seek another temp injunction forcing them to roll it back. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: BOMBSHELL: Huge Company Bans Internal Email, Switches Totally To Facebook-Type-Stuff And Instant Messaging All Googlers Will Get A Big Bonus This Year Thanks To Google+ Success Facebook Gets Gowalla Founders, But Gowalla Itself Is Dead
Senate Denies 2nd Obama Consumer Watchdog Pick

(FOXNews.com)
Passionate Beach Burnout Editorials The DEW Magazine Pre-January Issue Flows with Flair (TrendHunter.com)
(TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:39:07 AM
( TrendHunter.com) While most
issues kick off the year's end with garnished glamor, the DEW Magazine Pre-January 2011 issue takes a more relaxed, summery route. The year's end issue
shows intensity and passion, with models...
leaned on several Republican senators, even spotlighting bipartisan local lawmakers from President Obama's pick to head their states who support the the new Consumer Financial nomination, in an effort to Protection Bureau has been convince the senators to give blocked from a confirmation vote Cordray the go-ahead. Sens. Orrin in the Senate with only one Hatch, R-Utah, and Susan Collins, Republican, Sen. Scott Brown of R-Maine, both said this week their Massachusetts voting in favor of no-votes aren't an indictment of moving the nomination forward. Cordray, but of the Consumer Former Ohio Attorney General Financial Protection Bureau itself. R i c h a r d C o r d r a y i s s e c o n d The bureau is a product of the nominee the administration has Dodd-Frank financial overhaul sent to the Senate. Both he and that has been unpopular among consumer advocate Elizabeth Republican lawmakers and GOP Warren who oversaw creation of presidential candidates, many of the bureau, failed to get approval w h o m h a v e c a l l e d f o r t h e of a filibuster-proof majority l e g i s l a t i o n t o b e r e p e a l e d . needed to move forward on an up- The president said he won't rule or-down vote. out using a recess appointment to President Obama took to the push Cordray's nomination ahead. White House briefing room to Senate leader Mitch McConnell chastise Republicans for holding has suggested Republicans may up the nomination. hold the body in a pro-forma "We have a Congress right now, session to keep the president from Republicans in Congress right appointing Cordray to the post. now, who seem to have entirely This entry passed through the forgotten how we got into this Full-Text RSS service if this is mess," the president said referring your content and you're reading it to the financial crisis that plagues on someone else's site, please read t h e n a t i o n . " M y h o p e a n d the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentexpectation is that Republicans only/faq.php#publishers. Five who blocked this nomination Filters recommends: Donate to come to their senses." Wikileaks. This week the White House
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:37:03 AM
20
News Wire/
ECB downplays its role as EU seeks crisis deal

(Reuters: Top News)
illegal for the ECB or national central banks to lend money to the IMF to buy euro zone bonds, France's President Nicolas appearing to veto one firefighting Sarkozy sits next to German option under active consideration. Chancellor Angela Merkel and To counter that, he announced European Commission President unprecedented action to support Jose Manuel Barroso after he Europe's cash-starved banks with delivered his speech at the three-year liquidity tenders and Conservative European People's easier collateral rules and cut Party congress in Marseille, interest rates back to a record low December 8, 2011. 1.0 percent. C r e d i t : R e u t e r s / J e a n - P a u l The euro and European shares Pelissier dived as markets, increasingly By Eva Kuehnen and Catherine convinced that only the ECB has Bremer the power to protect the euro FRANKFURT/MARSEILLE, zone, focused on what Draghi was France| Thu Dec 8, 2011 11:48am c o o l a b o u t r a t h e r t h a n t h e EST measures he announced. (Reuters) - The European Central "One step forward, two steps Bank acted to soften a looming back," said Alan Clarke, UK and recession and avert a credit euro zone economist at Scotia crunch by cutting interest rates Capital. "The euro zone leaders and offering banks long-term might as well not bother. Pack funds on Thursday but doused their bags, go home, enjoy the hopes of dramatic crisis-fighting weekend and do their Christmas action in the euro area. shopping." ECB President Mario Draghi The ECB cut its main rate by a discouraged expectations that the quarter-point to a record low 1.0 bank would massively step up percent and flagged a strong buying of government bonds if chance of recession next year. European Union leaders agree on Draghi admitted the central moves towards closer fiscal union bankers had been divided even on at a crucial Brussels summit. that decision. He said the euro zone's EFSF "The intensified financial market rescue fund should remain the tensions are continuing to dampen main tool to fight bond market economic activity in the euro area contagion, despite the limits of its and the outlook remains subject to leverage, and added that it was high uncertainty and substantial
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:28:21 AM
downside risks," he told a news conference. French President Nicolas Sarkozy dramatized the danger facing the 17-nation single currency area hours before their eighth crisis summit of the year in a speech to European conservative leaders in the French port city of Marseille. "Never has the risk of Europe exploding been so big," he told leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the EU institutions. "The diagnosis is that the euro, which should inspire confidence, is not inspiring this confidence," the French leader said. "If there is no deal on Friday, there will be no second chance." France and Germany used the Marseille meeting to lobby for their plan to amend the European Union treaty to toughen budget discipline, which they want to have ready by March. But several countries are skeptical of fullblown treaty change. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was convinced leaders would find a solution to the euro crisis at the summit. The new ECB chief said his remark last week that "other measures" might follow if euro zone leaders agreed to seal a new fiscal compact had been overinterpreted as hinting the bank could step up bond
purchases. "I was surprised by the implicit meaning that was given," Draghi said, without offering an alternative interpretation. A Reuters poll of economists found that while 33 out of 57 believe the euro zone will probably survive in its current form, 38 of those questioned expect this week's summit will fail to deliver a decisive solution to the debt crisis. GEITHNER ENCOURAGED U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, winding up a visit to Europe to urge decisive action, said the world could be encouraged by the euro zone's progress in the last few weeks. It was essential for European leaders to strengthen their financial firewall to give economic reforms a chance to work, he said after talks with new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Milan. Monti is pushing through economic reforms after the euro zone's third biggest economy found itself sucked to the centre of the debt crisis. [ID:nL5E7N81NJ] Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has ramped up pressure by threatening a mass downgrade of euro-zone sovereign ratings. It extended that threat on Wednesday to include the European Union itself, which has
had a top-notch AAA rating since the mid-1970s, and large eurozone banks. In one glimmer of positive news for stressed euro zone countries, two big financial clearing houses cut the cost of using Italian bonds to raise funds following some easing in the country's bond yields. Euro zone officials said the summit was likely to decide to bring forward the launch date of a permanent bailout fund to 2012 from mid-2013. Before Draghi spoke, one euro zone source said negotiators were close to agreement for their central banks to lend 150 billion euros to the IMF for firefighting. However, a proposal to give the permanent European Stability Mechanism a banking license with access to ECB funding was "off the table" due to German opposition. The EU remains divided over the need for treaty change. Summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy is urging leaders to avoid a laborious full overhaul that could take up to two years and face uncertain ratification. He wants them instead to slip stricter budget enforcement through in a protocol to existing treaties. This infuriated Merkel and was ECB page 25
News Wire/
21
Corzine sorry, puzzled by missing MF Global money

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:45:43 AM
Jon Corzine, chairman and chief executive officer of MF Global Holdings, speaks during the Sandler O'Neill + Partners global exchange and brokerage conference in New York June 9, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON| Thu Dec 8, 2011 11:45am EST (Reuters) - Former MF Global chief Jon Corzine apologized to customers, employees and investors who have suffered because of the brokerage firm's collapse, but said he does not know where missing customer money is. "Their plight weighs on my mind every day -- every hour," Corzine, a former U.S. senator, said in 21 pages of remarks prepared for delivery on Thursday before the House Agriculture Committee. "I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date," he said. Corzine's contrite but defensive remarks are his first since MF Global's October 31 bankruptcy and his resignation days later. Revelations of massive bets on European sovereign debt caused markets to lose confidence in the
firm. The search for hundreds of millions of dollars in missing customer funds has sent reverberations through the farm belt and trading floors, and has attracted the attention of the FBI and federal prosecutors. Thousands of customers have had their money frozen. "It appears to me that nobody has learned a thing from what's gone on here. Wall Street is operating as if 2008 never happened," said Collin Peterson, the top Democrat on the Committee, referring to the recent financial crisis. In separate testimony, a top executive of futures exchange operator CME Group Inc said MF Global misused hundreds of millions of dollars of customer funds by moving the money to its own accounts, the strongest accusation yet against the bankrupt futures brokerage. "Transfers of customer funds for the benefit of the firm constitute serious violations of our rules and of the Commodity Exchange Act," CME Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy said in prepared remarks. CME, the biggest U.S. futures exchange operator, was a handson regulator of MF Global. Duffy said the brokerage admitted during a call with regulators that customer money was transferred
out of segregation to the firm's own accounts. The court-appointed trustee has estimated the shortfall of customer money at $1.2 billion, but CME has disputed that figure as being too high. In his prepared testimony, Duffy indicated the shortfall was roughly half that amount. Neither MF Global nor any of its executives has been charged with wrongdoing. "STUNNED" BY MISSING CUSTOMER MONEY Nine witnesses are scheduled at the hearing, but Corzine, a senator from 2001-2006 and a former governor of New Jersey, is the star. Corzine, due to testify later in the day, arrived just before the hearing started with little fanfare. Capitol Hill Police quickly escorted Corzine to the committee's holding room where he was expected to monitor the first panel. There were no active protesters, although people lined up hours before to get into the cramped hearing room. Corzine said in his testimony that while it is difficult for him to reconstruct the chaotic events leading up to the bankruptcy because he no longer has access to relevant documents, he feels compelled to answer lawmaker
questions. "As a former United States Senator who recognizes the importance of congressional oversight, and recognizing my position as former chief executive officer in these terrible circumstances, I believe it is appropriate that I attempt to respond to your inquiries," Corzine said. In his testimony, Corzine distanced himself from some hands-on aspects of the firm's business practices. "Even when I was at MF Global, my involvement in the firm's clearing, settlement and payment mechanisms and accounting was limited," Corzine said. "I was stunned when I was told on Sunday, October 30, 2011, that MF Global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money." He said he accepts responsibility for the repo-to-maturity trades that related to the firm's $6.3 billion bet on European sovereign debt. "At the time that MF Global entered into the transactions, I believed that its investments in short-term European debt securities were prudent," he said. However, he said MF Global reduced leverage during his tenure, and said he does "not claim to be an accountant"
regarding the treatment of that exposure. Mary Schapiro, the chairman of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has said her agency is probing the accounting treatment that helped mask MF Global's exposure to risky foreign sovereign debt. The SEC is also probing the disclosure of that exposure. Steve Luparello, vice chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said in his testimony on Thursday that MF Global was not fully candid with FINRA in 2010 when the firm was asked about its exposure to European debt. Luparello said the firm indicated in late September 2010 that it "did not have any such positions" in European sovereign debt. "We later learned that the firm began entering into transactions that carried European debt exposure in mid-September 2010," he said. (For more stories on MF Global, see TAKE A LOOK at [ID:nN1E79U0V8].) (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Christopher Doering, Rachelle Younglai and Philip Shishkin in Washington and Ann Saphir in Chicago, writing by Karey Wutkowski; editing by John CORZINE page 24
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News Wire/
Where's the Missing $1.2B? Corzine: 'I Don't Know'

(FOXNews.com)
many people in my situation would almost certainly invoke their constitutional right to remain silent -- a fundamental right that Reuters Ex-MF Global exists for the purpose of Holdings CEO and former New p r o t e c t i n g t h e i n n o c e n t , " Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine Corzine's testimony continued. "Nonetheless, as a former United Former New Jersey senator and States Senator who recognizes the governor Jon Corzine plans to tell importance of congressional a House committee on Thursday oversight, and recognizing my that he "simply" does not know position as former chief executive the location of clients' money that o f f i c e r i n t h e s e t e r r i b l e vanished from failed investment circumstances, I believe it is firm MF Global, the eighth- appropriate that I attempt to largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. respond to your inquiries." In prepared testimony posted on Corzine said his involvement in t h e H o u s e C o m m i t t e e o n the firm's clearing, settlement, Agriculture's website, Corzine p a y m e n t m e c h a n i s m s a n d apologized to "all those affected" a c c o u n t i n g w a s " l i m i t e d , " by the firm's estimated loss of according to his testimony. $1.2 billion in client funds. "The Members should also "I simply do not know where the understand that the Committee money is, or why the accounts turned down my request to testify have not been reconciled to date," voluntarily in January," Corzine's Corzine's prepared testimony testimony continued. "I had hoped read. "I do not know which that, by that time, I would have accounts are unreconciled or obtained and reviewed relevant w h e t h e r t h e u n r e c o n c i l e d records so that I could be more accounts were or were not subject helpful to the Committee." to the segregation rules." Thursday's hearing will mark first Corzine, 64, has been publicly time in more than 100 years that silent since MF Global filed for Congress has subpoenaed a bankruptcy on Oct. 31 after an f o r m e r s e n a t o r t o t e s t i f y , estimated $1.2 billion in client according to Senate historian Don funds vanished. He resigned as Ritchie. The occasion blends the CEO on Nov. 4 after leading the two worlds Corzine has occupied firm for roughly 20 months. for his professional life -- Wall "Considering the circumstances, Street and public office.
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:37:03 AM
Corzine said he was "stunned" to learn the funds were missing. James Kobak, an attorney for the MF Global bankruptcy trustee, said in prepared testimony that the firm is "fully committed" to returning customer funds as quickly as possible. "It is the Trustee's hope that, for the benefit of customers, the number will come down," Kobak testimony read. "No matter the exact size of the shortfall, however, its probable size is significant and will substantially affect the Trustee's ability to make a 100 percent distribution to former MF Global Inc. customers." Corzine, a Democrat, represented New Jersey in the Senate from 2001 through 2005. He later served as the state's governor. Before entering politics, he was CEO of Goldman Sachs from
1994 to 1999. Lawmakers in both parties may have a lot to ask him. Some have heard from farmers, ranchers and small business owners in their districts who are missing money deposited with the firm. Agricultural businesses use brokerage firms to help reduce their risks in an industry vulnerable to swings in oil, corn and other commodity prices. But MF Global increased risks by making big bets on European government debt - bets that proved disastrous. Legal experts say Corzine could be held personally liable for misrepresenting to investors the risks the firm had taken. Other top MF Global executives also could face legal jeopardy, they say. Several class-action lawsuits on behalf of shareholders have been filed against Corzine and three
other top executives. A bankruptcy court is consolidating the suits. They accuse the firm and its leaders of making false statements about MF Global's strength and cash balances. MF Global didn't list its European debt on its balance sheet for all to see. Instead, those holdings were shifted to an "offbalance sheet," deep in its financial statements. Some separate filings with regulators excluded the European debt entirely. Under a 2002 anti-corporate fraud law -- which Corzine helped write as a senator -- CEOs of public companies must personally certify the accuracy of financial statements. Corzine also may be questioned about his lobbying against a rule proposed last year by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The rule would have restricted how firms that handle futures contracts, such as MF Global, can invest customer money. Corzine lobbied CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs colleague, and his staff. Last summer, the CFTC board canceled a vote on the proposed rule. It was adopted this week. The last time a former senator WHERE'S page 24
News Wire/
23
'Fast and Furious' Legacy: Guns Will Be Used in Crime 'For Years to Come'
(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:37:03 AM
AP Dec. 8, 2011: Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Judiciary Committee. WASHINGTON Attorney General Eric Holder suggested Thursday that weapons lost during the course of the failed "Fast and Furious" gunrunning operation will continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico "for years to come." Holder, in testimony on Capitol Hill that comes as the congressional investigation into the program expands, decried the "gun-walking" tactic used in the operation as "inexcusable" and "wholly unacceptable." But a day after an influential senator called for the resignation of one of Holder's top deputies over the scandal, Holder denied department leaders played any role in the crafting of "Fast and Furious." He continued to assert that top Justice officials were not told about the "inappropriate tactics" until they were made public. Still, the top law enforcement official in the country conceded that, as a result of "Fast and
Furious," guns lost by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives remain in the hands of criminals. "Although the department has taken steps to ensure that such tactics are never used again, it is an unfortunate reality that we will continue to feel the effects of this flawed operation for years to come," he said. "Guns lost during this operation will continue to show up at crime scenes on both sides of the border." Congress has been investigating "Fast and Furious" for nearly a year. Scrutiny of the program intensified after guns from the program were found at the scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry's murder. Republican lawmakers in recent weeks have complained about inconsistencies in the Justice Department's public accounting of the program over the past year. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday pointed to those alleged inconsistencies in calling for the resignation of Lanny Breuer, chief of the department's criminal division. Grassley accused Breuer of withholding information about gunwalking tactics used in a Bush administration-era program
give the Justice Department broader legal tools to track firearms purchases. But Republican lawmakers continued to put pressure on Holder about how he's responding to the operation. "This project was failed and flawed from the beginning," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., questioning why Holder has not terminated the "many people involved" with the program. "Mr. Attorney General, the blame must go to your desk," Issa said. known as Wide Receiver, and of the inappropriate tactics employed Holder later said that he's not being forthcoming about in this operation until those tactics "ultimately responsible" for whether he saw a Justice letter to were made public and, as is actions in the department, but C o n g r e s s i n F e b r u a r y t h a t customary, turned to those with stressed the actions he's taken to inaccurately claimed ATF was not supervisory responsibility over get to the bottom of the operation letting illegal guns walk across the operation in an effort to learn once he learned about it. the U.S.-Mexico border. the facts." Despite the controversy over the Though Breuer denies seeing the Holder said such a program inaccurate February letter from memo, Grassley pointed to emails "must never happen again," but Justice, Holder also stated: that show he was sent a draft of effectively urged lawmakers to " N o b o d y i n t h e J u s t i c e the letter. move on -- and tackle the broader D e p a r t m e n t h a s l i e d . " The Justice Department is issue of the flow of firearms into This entry passed through the standing by Breuer, and Holder Mexico. Full-Text RSS service if this is testified Thursday that department "We cannot afford to allow the your content and you're reading it heads were not aware of the tragic mistakes of 'Operation Fast on someone else's site, please read program early on. and Furious' to become a political the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content"The documents produced to date sideshow or a series of media only/faq.php#publishers. Five also belie the remarkable notion opportunities," he said. "Instead, Filters recommends: Donate to that this operation was conceived we must move forward and Wikileaks. by department leaders, as some recommit ourselves to our shared have claimed," Holder said. "It is public safety obligations." my understanding that department He used the occasion to prod leaders were not informed about Congress to support efforts to
24
News Wire/
Jobless claims at 9-month low, outlook brighter

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:02:03 AM
WHERE'S
People wait to be interviewed during the Chase Bank Veterans Day job fair in Phoenix, November 11, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Joshua Lott By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON| Thu Dec 8, 2011 11:02am EST (Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a nine-month low last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting a labor market recovery was gaining momentum. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said, the lowest since late February. Economists had expected a smaller fall, to 395,000. The report, coming after data last week showing a rise in hiring and a sharp drop in the unemployment rate to a 2-1/2-year low of 8.6 percent in November, pointed to some strengthening in a sector that has been the Achilles heel of the economy's recovery. It was the latest sign of acceleration in economic growth in the current quarter after output expanded at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the July-September period.
"It looks as if the U.S. labor market does not know how to spell the words euro contagion," said Cary Leahey, economist at Decision Economics in New York. "This is a good report ... adds to the sense that the job market continues to brighten, though very slowly." STRONG SPOT The U.S. economy is relatively strong as much of the global economy is slowing and parts of the euro zone are already in recession, prompting the European Central Bank to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point a record low 1 percent on Thursday. The pickup in the U.S. labor market could improve President Barack Obama's prospects of winning a second term in what is shaping up to be a tough election next November. However, many analysts believe U.S. growth will lose a step in the New Year as the slowdown in Europe begins to weigh. "The downtrend in claims remains intact, reinforcing the improving underlying fundamentals in the U.S. economy which now looks to be outperforming most regions of the world, including China on a relative basis," said Eric Green, chief economist at TD Securities in New York. "However, good news can turn
bad quickly if the euro crisis takes a turn for the worse." Stocks on Wall Street fell as the ECB doused hopes of dramatic crisis-fighting action in the euro area. U.S. Treasury debt prices reversed earlier losses while the dollar rose against a basket of currencies. Other data on Thursday showed a jump in U.S. wholesale inventories in October, further boosting expectations of solid fourth-quarter growth. Wholesale inventories climbed 1.6 percent, the Commerce Department said, after gaining 0.3 percent in September. Liquidation of inventories by businesses in the third quarter contributed to a slower pace of gross domestic product growth. The drop in claims last week more than unwound the prior two weeks' increase, and pulled them back below the 400,000 level usually associated with improving labor market conditions. A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the state level data but noted that the labor market was now entering a period of seasonal layoffs. That could make claims in the coming weeks very volatile. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, fell 3,000 to 393,250, the lowest
since early April. The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid dropped 174,000 to 3.58 million in the week ended November 26, the lowest since mid-September 2008. Economists had forecast socalled continuing claims falling to 3.70 million from a previously reported 3.74 million. The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits declined 178,610 to 2.79 million in the week ended November 19, the latest week for which data is available. A total of 6.57 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, down 431,397 from the prior week. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
was subpoenaed to testify by a congressional committee was in 1908. Former Sens. Marion Butler of North Carolina and Matthew Butler of South Carolina were summoned by a House committee over a corporate lobbying scandal, according to the Senate historian's office. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Related Stories Corzine Apologizes for MF Global Debacle FULL TEXT: Corzine Testimony on MF Global Failure Corzine Requests Extra Time for Statement During MF Global Testimony This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
CORZINE
Wallace, Dave Zimmerman) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
World News/
25
ECB
one reason behind a gloomy briefing by a senior German official on Wednesday, who dampened hopes for a breakthrough and said some leaders and institutions still didn't understand the severity of the crisis. If all 27 EU states do not support more fiscal union by adapting the existing Lisbon treaty, which took eight years to negotiate, then Sarkozy and Merkel want the 17 euro zone countries to go ahead alone with more integration. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, speaking for a non-euro state, said: "We want to stick with the 27 concept of course because all of us are members of the European Union and we want to have our influence. We want to keep the European project together."
Sarkozy and Merkel are both due to hold bilateral meetings later with incoming Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy before they head to Brussels. "We need more binding and more ambitious rules and commitments for the euro area member states," Sarkozy and Merkel wrote in a letter to European Council President Van Rompuy, who has made his own proposals for tackling the crisis. The Franco-German plan would slap automatic penalties on countries that overshoot deficit targets and make countries anchor a balanced budget rule in their constitutions. The sanctions could be stopped only if three quarters of euro zone countries are against them. Not all euro zone countries are comfortable with all the French
and German proposals, with Finland opposed to their call for majority votes on major policy decisions. (Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas and Brian Love in Paris, Sakari Suoninen in Frankfurt, Jan Strupczewski in Brussels, and Terhi Kinnunen in Helsinki; Writing by Paul Taylor; Edited by Janet McBride/Mike Peacock) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Labour's economic credibility - The Economist

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:41:06 AM
BBC News Labour's economic credibility The Economist THE economy has slowed to a crawl, unemployment is rising and George Osborne's fiscaldeficit reduction plan is two years behind schedule, as he admitted in his bleak autumn statement on November 29th. So why are the chancellor of the exchequer and
the... George Osborne warns euro collapse would cause 'enormous damage' to UK economy Telegraph.co.uk Autumn statement shows Chancellor charting the wrong course Nouse Osborne warns of euro fail damage The Press Association BusinessWeek- Financial TimesThe Independent all 118 news articles
World Citizen: Syrian Conflict Puts Lebanon in Play

(World Politics Review: Articles)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:48:00 AM
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad under growing pressure from the domestic opposition, the fragile It is impossible to predict with status quo in Lebanon is also in certainty what the future, even in play. If and when the Assad the short or medium term, holds regime is toppled in Damascus, for the countries of the Middle his fall will unleash fierce East. But there is no question that political winds in Beirut. the future of Lebanon is closely Assad has played a key role in linked to that of its neighbor, the emergence of Hezbollah as the Syria. With the government of dominant power in Lebanon. His
collapse would cause Hezbollah, the heavily armed Shiite militia and muscular political party, to contend in short order with a series of significant setbacks. First and most obviously, Hezbollah would experience the loss of one of its two principal state supporters, the other being Iran. Second, Assad's fall would most likely remove Syria as the
principal conduit of armaments sent by Hezbollah's top patron, Tehran. In addition, Hezbollah would find itself weakened as a regional player, because the fall of Assad would crack the TehranDamascus-Hezbollah axis that has been at the center of the groups power. ... This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is
your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
26
World News/ Finance/
EUCOM Must Step Up Cooperation to Secure the Arctic
Police believe Port Denison deaths were murder-suicide - NEWS.com.au

home. THE Port Denison community... Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:23:05 AM Police say Port Denison deaths Sydney Morning Herald were murder-suicide Herald Sun (World Politics Review: Articles) successfully raised awareness of cruise-ship grounding off the Police believe Port Denison Third party in Port Denison deaths may be responsible: police environmental and development Canadian coast serve as reminders deaths were murder-suicide Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:48:00 AM Sydney Morning Herald issues in the region, especially by o f t h e c h a l l e n g e s f a c i n g NEWS.com.au Recent moves by Russia, Norway including representatives of operations in the Arctic. As is the Sisters Jane, 12, and Jessica Police suggest triple deaths were and even China have put a indigenous Arctic populations in case in other extreme locations, Cuzens, 10, who were found dead murder-suicide ABC Online spotlight on the High North, efforts to address them. However, the U.S. militarys expeditionary with their mother in Port Denison. The Australian- The Daily where warming temperatures have the lack of a dedicated forum to posture often means that grey- Picture: Perth Now Source: Telegraph- WA today led to greater seasonal ice melt discuss the interrelation of hulled ships and aircraft are the PerthNow Neighbours pay tribute all 330 news articles and access. With increased future military, security and other issues first to respond to a crisis, to mother and two daughters activity in the Arctic inevitable, in the Arctic means EUCOM is whether it is military in nature or found dead in their Port Denison the United States must begin to l e f t t o w o r k o u t s i d e t h e not. ... address some of the potential framework of the Arctic Council This entry passed through the security challenges that could to ensure security in the region. Full-Text RSS service if this is result. As part of this effort, the Due to the vast distances your content and you're reading it European Command (EUCOM) -- involved and the harsh operating on someone else's site, please read the U.S. military command environment, it is difficult for any the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- Jonathan Sibun (Finance News the UK as Britain's biggest retailer responsible for the Arctic -- must one state to comprehensively only/faq.php#publishers. Five - Business news from the UK reported its fourth successive leverage the progress made by the monitor the Arctic situation or Filters recommends: Donate to and world) quarterly drop in like-for-like Arctic Council in nonsecurity a d d r e s s a l l o f i t s n e e d s Wikileaks. sales. Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:31:25 AM matters to facilitate expanded unilaterally. The disaster that Tesco's much-hyped price cuts security cooperation efforts in the struck the Russian submarine campaign has failed to lift sales in region. The Arctic Council has Kursk in 2000 and last years
Tesco fails to get a lift from its Big Price Drop
Cardy family 'do not hate' child killer Robert Black - BBC News
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:36:18 AM
BBC News Cardy family 'do not hate' child killer Robert Black
BBC News The brother of Jennifer Cardy who was murdered by Robert Black in 1981 has said his family do not hate the killer. The serial child killer was sentenced to at
least 25 years in prison on Thursday. "I guess as a family we pity him.... Cardy's killer 'has a lot to learn' The Press Association Serial child killer Robert Black
jailed for life for Jennifer Cardy murder Mirror.co.uk Jennifer's mum 'would meet' killer U.TV Yorkshire Post- Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser- Sky News
all 610 news articles
World News/ Finance/
27
SM Krishna in trouble? FIR against external affairs minister in mining scam - Times of India
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:26:47 AM
NDTV SM Krishna in trouble? FIR against external affairs minister in mining scam Times of India BANGALORE: The Lokayukta police on Thursday registered FIRs against external affairs minister SM Krishna and two other former Karnataka chief ministers, N Dharam Singh and
HD Kumaraswamy, in connection with alleged illegal mining.... BJP asks Krishna to resign over mining scam FIR IBNLive.com Karnataka mining scam hits UPA, Krishna charged in FIR Hindustan Times BJP demands SM Krishna's resignation Indian Express Outlook- ManoramaonlineNDTV all 64 news articles
Local-government finance - The Economist

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:41:06 AM
Three-time killer John Coombes finally gets justice - Herald Sun

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:16:50 AM
The Guardian Local-government finance The Economist IT ALL seemed so simple 19 months ago when the new coalition announced a revolution in local-authority financing. The apron strings that tie local governments tightly to the centre were to be loosened. Councils
were to gain new freedom to raise and... Local authorities planning big council tax rises told to hold referendums The Guardian Tax rise councils 'must hold poll' The Press Association Council tax: Referendum needed for bill rise above 3.5% BBC News Public Finance- LocalGov all 20 news articles
Animal lover Jenna Donley Harvard drops Indian MP paid for her passion - The Subramanian Swamy's Daily Telegraph courses - BBC News
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:18:51 AM
Three-time killer John Coombes finally gets justice Herald Sun THE family of a woman who died at the hands of a serial killer twice paroled for murder is relieved he will never walk free again. Appeal judge Justice Bernard Bongiorno yesterday refused John Leslie Coombes leave to appeal his sentence, ruling he had... Triple killer Coombes loses appeal bid ABC Online all 8 news articles
Telegraph.co.uk Animal lover Jenna Donley paid for her passion The Daily Telegraph JENNA Donley was among the best and brightest of her class - a devoted and talented veterinarian due to graduate with first class honours next week. Now family and friends are in mourning after
Ms Donley was gored to death by a pygmy elephant in... It was a tragic accident, says elephant victim's mum Herald Sun mother says vet's work will live on The Australian Trail-blazing vet who loved big animals killed as elephant charges Sydney Morning Herald Nambucca Guardian News- ABC Online- The Age all 356 news articles

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:33:19 AM
The Hindu Harvard drops Indian MP Subramanian Swamy's courses BBC News Harvard University has dropped two economics courses taught by Indian MP Subramanian Swamy for writing two articles that "demonise" Islam. Mr Swamy, a trained economist, recommended
demolishing hundreds of mosques in the article.... More trouble for UPA as Oppn demands Chidambaram's ouster Hindustan Times 2G: Swamy's plea allowed; Oppn guns for PC IBNLive.com Court allows Swamy to depose; is PC's time up? Bangalore Mirror Times of India- Newstrack India all 307 news articles
Unemployment could hit 20pc if eurozone splits

Telegraph staff (Finance News Business news from the UK and world)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:27:47 AM
Citigroup economist and former central banker Willem Buiter has warned that a fully blown breakup of the eurozone could spell a global depression with unemployment of 20pc and economic pandemonium.
28
Technology/ Finance/
SCVNGRs New Mobile Payment Solution LevelUp Goes Device Agnostic With A Web App
Rip Empson (TechCrunch)
obstacles. So, the SCVGR spin-off is today Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:39:06 AM launching a mobile payments web Back in March, SCVNGR app to complement its existing launched a product to complement native apps to allow anyone on a its mobile scavenger hunt called web-connected device to pay with LevelUp that essentially took on their phone using any credit Groupon and the daily deals card or any web-connected device industry with a mobile product with a simple QR code. that focused squarely on one of For now (or until we see a more the biggest problems with that widespread adoption), LevelUp very industry: Customer retention allows users to bypass NFC or a n d l o y a l t y . L e v e l U p , a n d needing specific cards to link to a Founder Seth Priebatsch inked certain device and carrier on a deals with American Express and particular version of Android. a few others to enable users to Priebatsch wants to do away with redeem their deals by swiping the limitations imposed on mobile their credit cards. payments solutions by niche Fast forward to the last month of requirements, allowing anyone 2011 and LevelUp looks a bit with a web-connected device (and different than it did at the outset. soon an offline, HTML5 version The context is simple: Mobile of the app) to show up at their payment solutions stand to be a favorite merchants and just pay. big business over the next five Building on its previous years, but as they stand right now, functionality, LevelUp is now carriers and the makers of mobile combining mobile payments and OSes are finding it hard to come loyalty rewards as users can to terms ( see Verizons treatment visit any merchant that accepts of Google Wallet), and users L e v e l U p t o p a y w i t h t h e i r suffer by being subjected to these smartphones and save money
while doing it. LevelUp is designed so that users have instant credit waiting for them the first time they use the app, with the ability to unlock further credits toward their purchases when they revisit their favorite merchants. Merchants are able to use the solution by through a LevelUp reader or by downloading the LevelUp Merchant app, which then provides local businesses with analytics, insight into the behavior of their customers, which are their most loyal customers, savings on interchange fees, etc. LevelUp is currently available in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, with more than 200 merchants accepting the payments solution in Boston and Philadelphia, for example. As the second product from SCVNGR, LevelUp has access to the 2 million users and 5,000 enterprises using SCVNGR (and the nearly $20 million its raised in funding). SCVNGR is now at 104 employees, with 40
more joining in January to build out the LevelUp team, specifically the sales force, which will help speed up adoption among local businesses and push the product into further markets. Priebatsch said that LevelUp has already been seeing some encouraging adoption stats, among them that 60 percent of all LevelUp customers return to merchants which theyve already patronized, with the average LevelUp user saving $25 to $50 a month. LevelUp is currently at about 100K users a month, which the founder expects to increase as more SCVNGR users adopt and as the solution pushes into more cities. LevelUp has partnered with TMobile to help it achieve national scale, and distribute the merchantside payment solutions, which theyve been offering at discounts along with data plans to back the infrastructure of the LevelUp network.
Public services should be digital by default

Olivia Solon
Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:37:00 AM
Debt crisis: live

Amy Wilson (Finance News Business news from the UK and world)
Public services need to be digital by default where possible in order to save money and be more accessible and convenient to citizens, according to Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office. "We are moving on from the days when 'going digital' in government meant citizens could download a form, print it off, fill it out and send it off in the post," he said, speaking at the launch of the Government Digital Service in London this morning. "If it can be done digitally it should be done digitally by default," he added, referencing one of UK Digital Champion Martha Lane-Fox's recommendations to the Government in her 2010 Directgov 2010 and Beyond: Revolution Not Evolution. By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...
ECB says it won't start a bondbuying programme but announces further measures to ease credit
crunch among EU banks and cuts its main interest rate, ahead of a crucial EU summit.
Technology/ Obituaries
29
LevelUp Releases HTML5 Web App To Make Its Payments Solution Ubiquitous
Dan Rowinski (ReadWriteWeb)
payments initiative from SCVNGR here and here. What the Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:01:00 AM company does is provide Android LevelUp, the mobile payments phones to merchants with the wing of location-based gaming ability to scan QR codes that is startup SCVNGR, is launching a tied to a payments server. It uses a m o b i l e W e b a p p t o d a y t o triple-blind key system meaning compliment its Android and iOS there is no payment information apps. LevelUp has been available stored on the phone. The QR in San Francisco, Boston, New codes are personalized to the user York and Philadelphia and the and can be changed on the fly if Web app should help make it one compromised and tweaked at the of the most ubiquitous options for point of sale for the purpose of mobile payments available. tipping servers. This is a smart move for LevelUp "Currently, mobile payments are because it will free it from the still terribly limited by niche confines of the native platforms. requirements like Near Field The company uses QR codes C o m m u n i c a t i o n s c h i p s a n d instead of NFC or other mobile l i c e n s e s w i t h c e r t a i n c a r d payments methods to combine merchants, but it's just not going merchants and users meaning that t o w o r k u n t i l a n y o n e a n d any screen that can display black everyone can pay with their and white and connect to the phones," said Seth Priebatsch, Internet. founder of SCVNGR and Sponsor LevelUp in a press release. If you are unfamiliar with "LevelUp solves this problem by LevelUp, take a look at our allowing anyone with a webp r e v i o u s c o v e r a g e o f t h e connected device -- and, coming
a purchase. Go back to that merchant enough times and you can "level up" to obtain greater credits. SCVNGR has the right idea about mobile payments. It needs to be as painless as possible for both the merchant and the user. The launch of an HTML5 Web app is another step in this and can bring LevelUp to feature phones in addition to the iOS and Android. It will also give LevelUp soon, an offline HTML5 version the ability to be on Windows of the app -- to show up at their Phone and BlackBerry without favorite merchants and just pay." having to specifically develop LevelUp is available at nearly native applications for those 600 merchants across four cities platforms. and promises to launch the in What do you think about the m o r e c i t i e s s o o n . I t i s a concept of LevelUp? Do QR combination of payments and codes bother you? Or does it not loyalty rewards programs in one matter to you how you pay as app that gives merchants the long as it is easy? Do you think ability to offer discounts in the that LevelUp makes it easier and form of pre-paid credits. For more enticing to pay with your instance, if you visit a merchant phone? Let us know in the using LevelUp for the first time, comments. you may get $5 off before making Discuss
HP helps Shell improve seismic imaging

Olivia Solon
Submitted at 12/8/2011 7:31:00 AM
Diana Colbert, wife of author Charles Bock, dies (AP)

(Yahoo! News: Obituaries)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:08:48 AM
Shell and HP have teamed up to develop a sensing technology that allows them to record seismic data at a much higher sensitivity and at ultra-low frequencies. The system can be used to gain a more accurate understanding of the make-up of the rocks below the Earth's surface and therefore find more oil and gas to meet rising energy demands. Seismic imaging involves directing an intense sound source into the ground to evaluate the conditions under the surface. Receivers called geophones (essentially microphones) pick up the echoes that are reflected back. From the data received, this echo can be converted into images of the geologic structure. By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...
AP - Diana Joy Colbert, the wife of author Charles Bock whose battle with leukemia inspired
widespread sympathy and support among the New York literary community, died Thursday.
30
Technology/ Talk/
Personal Cloud Provider Box Beefs Up its iPhone & iPad Apps
Dan Rowinski (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:00:01 AM
Apple iOS 5 Integration Boosted Twitters Monthly Signups By 25 Percent

Leena Rao (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:33:07 AM
Personal cloud provider Box is updating its iPad and iPhone applications today with new capabilities that should help propel the company as one of the premier storage solutions for mobile devices. The iOS apps have an all-new code base that Box promises will make the apps faster, more stable and easier to navigate. Sponsor Box says that it has seen usage explode since it offered 50 gigabytes free to iOS users and the explosion has prompted the team to expand its mobile offerings on iPhone and iPad. The offer from Box lasted 50 days, meaning it expired last week. That makes this update very timely for Box to attract new paying users and expand upon those it gained during its offer. Check out below for what the new Box iOS apps have to offer. There are three main new features included in the Box update: Video and photo uploads: Box has added the ability to create new folders and upload photos and video to your account straight
from your iOS device. This is a smart offering as it expands Box's capabilities for file sharing on the go but also because photos and videos are much larger data hogs than simple files. More data consumed means more users will end up paying for storage through Box. Full-text search: This is not something that was available before and should help Box users locate files within accounts that have a lot of documents. Cannot find that memo from the meeting three weeks ago? The added fulltext search should be able to help you locate and share it with your co-workers on the fly. Favorites for offline: We noted
extremely optimistic about the partnership and even wrote a note to third-party developers recently At the Twitter news event today, explaining the importance of the that offline storage was one of the the company revealed a number integration. biggest trends in mobile apps in of compelling stats about its As you can see from the 2011 and Box has gotten on that service, namely that its Apple iOS c o m S c o r e c h a r t b e l o w , train with the ability to take a integration has boosted monthly Twitter.com saw a boost in traffic select few articles that you know signups by 25 percent globally. (to its web site, this doesnt A p p l e a n n o u n c e d a d e e p include mobile or other clients) in you are going to want to read on the road. It will also help users integration with Twitter in iOS 5 October, with 3.7 billion page surface important documents they earlier this year, which provided a views in October, up from 3.3 single sign-on for Twitter use on billion in September. While this know they come back to often. This is a significant upgrade to the device, and with any app you doesnt show the mobile traffic, the Box app for iOS. Yet, as our download, it will just ask you for clearly engagement with the site John Paul Titlow noted in October T w i t t e r c r e d e n t i a l s a n d and service is up. when Box announced its 50 GB p e r m i s s i o n . Twitter also announced that it has offer, neither the company nor the Apple also integrated Twitter into 7 0 0 e m p l o y e e s n o w . A n d other prominent personal cloud many of its own features and advertisers and brands seeing up app Dropbox, have the ability to applications like camera and t o 5 0 % e n g a g e m e n t w i t h provide "seamless, cross-device photos. You can also Tweet Twitters ad products. The syncing of things like contacts, articles and content directly from company will soon expand these calendars, reminders and Web S a f a r i , M a p s , v i d e o s f r o m products beyond just Twitter.com bookmarks." It also appears that YouTube, etc and add location as to mobile platforms as well. the ability to remotely back up well. you device is not included in this We know founder Jack Dorsey is update. These are capabilities that Apple's iCloud features prominently and some of the best reasons to set up your iCloud account in iOS 5. Does Box's update make you more likely to use the app? Or are trouble spots and focused you an existing Box user and are TEDTalks (TEDTalks (video)) ultrasound to treat such issues as now excited with these new Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:28:08 AM brain lesions, uterine fibroids and capabilities? Let us know in the Imagine having a surgery with no s e v e r a l k i n d s o f c a n c e r o u s comments. Discuss knives involved. At TEDMED, g r o w t h s . surgeon Yoav Medan shares a technique that uses MRI to find
TED: Yoav Medan: Ultrasound surgery -- healing without cuts - Yoav Medan (2011)
Technology/
31
Google Currents social news app for tablets imminent

Chris Davies (SlashGear)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:08:44 AM
Google is tipped to be on the precipice of launching its new socially-enabled news reader app, Google Currents, with the iPad and Honeycomb software expected to go live on Friday. Tipped back in September under its codename Propeller, now AllThingsDs source claim the app which will rival stalwarts like Flipboard and Pulse, as well as new challengers like Yahoo!s Livestand- is set to make its official debut before the week is out. Thats later than originally suggested, with a mid-November release tipped for the app. Its unclear what prompted the delay, or whether it was simply a matter of the project never being intended for any earlier than this. Either way, according to the
initial leaks Currents as it is now supposedly christened will pull together what Google learned from its axed Fast Flip news reading system, with a new injection of social networking. That social networking is likely to mean Google+, which has already consumed the sharing functionality previously found in Google Reader. The name Currents, meanwhile, is an obvious pun on the idea of current news and events. What remains to be seen is how Google will differentiate Currents from Reader, with the two occupying similar spaces. One possibility is that it will offer a more top-level view of the news, similar to Flipboard and Pulse, rather than attempt to throw all the headlines at a user. Flipboard, for instance, has introduced a semi-intelligent algorithm to suggest stories it things users may
Social Strategy Google+ Public Posts Now Appear In Social Search Google+ developer API in works confirms social chief Gundotra Google Updates Social Search, Your Friends Opinions May Now Affect Your Search Results HTC Android tablets delayed as Google puts support behind LG and Motorola Intel Pushes Cedar Trail/Oak Trail Chipsets for Tablets and Notebooks Google Currents social news app for tablets imminent is written by Chris Davies& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
be potentially interested in based on what they have read previously. Called Cover Stories, it debuted this week on the new iPhone version of the app, and will arrive on the iPad version next year. Relevant Entries on
SlashGear.com Google patent app puts fragmented social networks and services in one place Google Me social network debut at Google I/O? Google: All Employees Responsible For Success Of Our
Christian World Adoption

Christian World Adoption is one of the largest international adoption agencies in the United States. Since 1991, Christian World Adoption has placed
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to learn more about international adoption. Then, when youre ready, call our friendly adoption counselor, toll free, at 1.888.97ADOPT.
32
Technology/
Mobile Phone Payments Company Bango Signs Deal With Amazon

Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)
Startup Secret No. 3: Support is product

Rafe Needleman (CNET News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:59:01 AM
bills.) However, in Operas case, customers are able to use a credit Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:20:14 AM card or carrier billing to purchase V e r y i n t e r e s t i n g , B a n g o . apps. Sometimes the biggest deals are Bango wont confirm any details the ones where everyone is of the new agreement, including keeping mum. That seems to be how much the deal is worth or the case with this little blip of even what services, specifically, it news coming out of the mobile will be providing to Amazon. phone payments company Bango But the conclusion being drawn today. The company announced it from the news, of course, is that h a s s i g n e d a d e a l w i t h Bango will soon be providing Amazon.com, Inc. to provide carrier billing services to Amazon services. And yep, thats just for its app store, the Amazon App about all its saying. Store for Android, which is B a n g o p r o v i d e d a s h o r t available to any Android user (in statement, noting that Amazon is the U.S.) as an installable app. now a Bango customer, which The Store is also now a prominent makes it the third major customer feature on the companys new t o s i g n u p f o r t h e m o b i l e Android-based tablet, the Kindle payments platform. Previously, Fire. Whats interesting, however, Bango signed deals with Research is that the Fire doesnt come in a in Motion (RIM) and Opera, both 3G version, which could entail a of which involve offering carrier carrier relationship. Its a Wi-Fi b i l l i n g s e r v i c e s f o r t h o s e only device. Perhaps Bangos companies app stores. (Carrier news, then, hints at something yet billing is the payment mechanism to come? that allows users to pay for Then again, given that Bango purchases on their mobile phone also provides analytics services, it
could be something less exciting (to consumers, at least) than paying for apps via your phone bill. According to a Bango spokesperson, the company couldnt share any information beyond what it has already provided due to commercial sensitivities. This was very much just a regulatory announcement that Bango was required to release as it is a publicly quoted company. We hope to be able to release more information in 2012, the spokesperson said. The full statement reads as follows: Bango (AIM: BGO) announces today that it has signed an agreement to provide services to Amazon. The terms of this agreement are not being disclosed. The Board believes it is too early in the relationship to accurately forecast the level of business which it may generate.
"Make sure the support fits the product." --Josh Weinberg, The Digital Life Consulting Group. In response to my ceaseless whining about getting a cheap Dell desktop that I have at home repaired, Josh sent me this gem. I was complaining that Dell was insisting on sending a tech to my house to do the fix, that their scheduling system was inflexible and hard to work with, and that their policies did not mesh with the life of a person who works in an office but whose computer is at home. Josh adds, "Even if they offered great support, it's not great if it does not fit. This system would work for offices but clearly not residences."
So, today's puzzlers are: Who are your users? Where are they? How do they use your product? And how can you make the experience of using your support as close as possible to using the product itself? Startup Secrets is based on personal interviews with people building companies and from their blog posts and news stories. Subscribe to Startup Secrets on Twitter or come back to Rafe's Radar every day for a new one. See all the Startup Secrets. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Technology/ Culture/
33
Samsung iPhone 4S French ban attempt rejected

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:27:07 AM
Samsung has been given an embarrassing legal spanking by the French courts, which refused to grant a sales ban against the iPhone 4S and demanded that it pay Apple 100,000 ($134k) in legal fees. Although the sum is likely far less than Apple has actually paid its legal team in France, the decision is a blow to Samsung which had been enjoying a limited run of success against its Cupertino rival in Australia and the US. Samsung filed the suit against Apple back in October, requesting an injunction against the thenfreshly-launched iPhone 4S on the grounds that it infringed upon two 3G WCDMA patents the Korean firm holds. [Apple] has
continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free ride on our technology Samsung claimed, suggesting that it is now necessary to take legal action to protect our innovation. The specific patents involved and Samsungs trigger-happy legal attack have gone on to cause some headaches, with the EC now undertaking an investigation as to whether FRAND (fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory) licensing laws have been broken. Samsung had muddied the waters with its claims that as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. A similar hearing to the French one is scheduled to be staged in
iPhones may not actually be unlocked Senate tries second DTV delay bill: Broadcasters would decide on switch French iPhone exclusivity broken after regulator decision Samsung SNE-60 ereader to make expensive French debut YAAIP Yet Another Apple iPhone Picture Apple: Samsung cheated in 3G standardization Samsung iPhone 4S French ban attempt rejected is written by Chris Davies& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Italy on Friday, December 16 FOSS Patents reports, and while the outcome is obviously still undecided, Apple is likely quietly confident that the Italian court will feel the same way as their continental cousins.
Relevant Entries on SlashGear.com iPhone Developer Status Rejected! French Release of Iron Man to feature BD Touch Rumor: Unlocked French
Badass Body Art Editorials Matthew Brooks' the Prefect Guide Editorial is Rockabilly Inspired (TrendHunter.com)
(TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:49:06 AM
What's your calling?

(HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:00:56 AM
( TrendHunter.com) Models Daniel Bamdad, Luka Badnjar and Vinnie Woolston star in the
inked menswear editorial entitled 'The Perfect Guide.' The badass shoot, lensed by photographer Matthew Brookes, features a portrait series...
How many jobs have you had? Do you know the difference between networking and career branding? See if you have the s k i l l s t o a c e t h e U l t i m a t e Earn a point for every right Employment Quiz. If not, we're answer! Save your score at the telling your boss. end of the quiz.
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34
Technology/
How StageIt Plans to Reinvent Live Concerts For the 21st Century
John Paul Titlow (ReadWriteWeb)
StageIt is in no way going to replace concerts at live venues, but the service could enable Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:15:01 AM smaller artists to promote These days, with the traditional themselves in ways not previously structures of the music industry possible. Not every market has a blown wide open by the Internet, music scene with legitimate artists are constantly looking for venues, and in urban markets new ways to market themselves where music is thriving, not every and, if at all possible, earn money unsigned artist can get on a bill in the process. From streaming right away. Something like this services to DIY online marketing could provide a risk-free way to tools, there's seemingly no limit to build up an audience online or at the digital tools available to sales. Fans of the artist can watch least play for fans who might not the performance from their live near where the band is likely musicians these days. One such tool, StageIt, is hoping browser without having to get in to play in person. to put an innovative spin on live the car and stand in line at a To really take off with users, performances by bringing them venue. If they like what they hear, StageIt is going to need to attract attendees can add money to a the attention of bigger artists, or at online. virtual "tip jar," which provides least up-and-coming musicians Sponsor Here's the concept: a band or solo another incremental revenue w i t h e s p e c i a l l y s u b s t a n t i a l musician, however established stream for artists. followings. they may be, wants to host a live The service recently landed an The idea isn't too far off form the performance from their garage, investment from Sean Parker, online group listening craze we've basement, living room or where who's track record in the digital seen develop this year. If services ever. They can organize a show to music space includes co-founding like Turntable.fm and Chill can be streamed on StageIt and start Napster and being an eager get people to watch a DJ set or selling tickets, which can be set to investor in Spotify. He is perhaps video together on the Internet, any price. They even support a most well known for being the who's to say people won't attend a name-your-own-price scheme founding president of Facebook, virtual concert as well? similar to what some artists have which made its own foray into the Lead photo by givikat Discuss experimented with for album music space this year.
Apple releases 12 Days of Christmas app for European customers

Kelly Hodgkins (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
or iPad can download the 12 Days of Christmas app from the App Store. According to AppleInsider, Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:00:00 AM the app will be available to Each year Apple has a holiday Canadian customers soon. promotion that gives away free Apple releases 12 Days of music, movies or apps via its 12 Christmas app for European Days of Christmas app. The customers originally appeared on giveaway starts December 26 and TUAW - The Unofficial Apple ends January 6. Each day there's a Weblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 new seasonal treat to download, 11:00:00 EST. Please see our and the app notifies users when terms for use of feeds. the promotion goes live. Be sure Source| Permalink| Email this| to grab the goodie fast, as it's only Comments available for twenty-four hours. European readers with an iPhone
35
Rogue Amoeba launches Piezo for Mac App Store

Erica Sadun (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:00:00 PM
Lakshman Achuthan: You Won't Know If Our Recession Call Was Wrong Until One Year From Now
Joe Weisenthal (Money Game)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:20:13 AM
TUAW has long been a fan of Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack Pro application, which provides both audio capture and live filtering for OS X. Now, Piezo(US$10) brings many of those same features to the Mac App Store. Although Rogue Amoeba had to cut down on features to make it through app review, they were able to successfully create a product that can record any app. Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba said, "We really weren't sure this would be approved, so we submitted a barebones tech demo. When it was accepted, we commenced work on really polishing things and getting to our true 1.0." There were real compromises. Unlike AHP, Piezo cannot use "Instant On" technology to grab
audio from an already-running application. Instead, you must relaunch source applications from Piezo. Kafasis added, "While not as perfect as we'd like, it's a tradeoff we're willing to make, if it means more people are able to record audio as they desire." Rogue Amoeba found that the journey to Piezo was a complicated one. In order to comply with App Store regulations, they would have had to have demolished Audio Hijack Pro. "We could have chopped out a whole lot of functionality, but then it wouldn't be AHP," Kafasis explained. "Instead, we decided to go the opposite route, and make a new application. Even then, we
weren't sure it'd be approved, as noted. Thankfully, it was." Kafasis concluded, with a typical developer sigh, "Our feelings about the Mac App Store have always been complex, and they're evolving even now." Speaking as a developer, I know exactly what he's saying. I personally am looking forward to downloading Piezo and giving it a try. Even without Instant On, it looks like a well-priced offering into the app-recording arena. And as for why I love AHP, you might want to read this recent post, which talks about some of the tricks you can perform with it. Rogue Amoeba launches Piezo for Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
Lakshman Achuthan is the head of ECRI, the economic research firm that famously predicted an imminent recession at the end of September, when the economy was looking very dire. But since then things have seemingly gotten better, and his call has received much scrutiny and skepticism. He's currently on Bloomberg TV talking to Tom Keene, and he's standing by his call. The gist in one line: It's way to early to call it wrong, because the recession could start from anytime between the current quarter and Q2 2012. And so therefor it might be an entire year until you know if the recession call was wrong. He notes a couple things: His own forward looking data (which he doesn't dive into) continues to grind lower.
In past recessions, the labor market didn't weaken until well into the recession. The muddle through has "never happened" -- the market economy does not have a static state; it either accelerates or decelerates. We'll have more when we get it. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: GOLDMAN: This Is What The World Will Be Like In 2012 And 2013 HUSSMAN: Every Time This Index Has Behaved Like It Is Now, The US Economy Has Gone Into Recession Citi Predicts A Shocking 6 Consecutive Quarters Of Recession In Europe
Europe Says Europe Has "Lost Credibility"

Tyler Durden
*GERMAN BDB BANKING ASSOCIATION SAYS EBA `HAS LOST CREDIBILITY' Deeply philosophical headlines, * G E R M A N B D B B A N K via Bloomberg, from our A S S O C . C R I T I C I Z E S European allies: EUROPEAN STRESS TESTS
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:20:52 AM
*BDB SAYS STRESS TESTS HAVE NOT HELPED STABILIZE THE MARKET *BDB SAYS GERMAN BANKS A R E N O T UNDERCAPITALIZED
Average: Your rating: None Average: 5( 3 votes) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it
on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
36
Technology/
Galaxy Nexus on sale in Canada

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:45:26 AM
already have. Its a pentaband model supporting the 850/900/ 1700/1900/2100 UMTS/WCDMA Samsungs Galaxy Nexus has bands so if you decide to take a made its North American debut quick trip up from the US to grab but, unfortunately for those one in Canada, youll then be able hoping for some Verizon LTE to use it on T-Mobile USA or action, its the Canadian carriers AT&T when you get home. who are next to grab the Ice Fellow Canadian carrier Rogers Cream Sandwich smartphone. Wireless has already confirmed it Both Virgin Mobile Canada and will be offering the Galaxy Nexus Bell Canada are now offering the from January 2012, meanwhile. HSPA+ version of the Galaxy That leaves us waiting on the LTE Nexus that we reviewed last model for Verizon in the US, month, priced from CA$159.99 which earlier rumors tipped as with a new, three-year agreement. arriving tomorrow, December 9, Alternatively, you can grab the but more recent leaks indicate has HSPA+ Nexus for CA$649.99, if been pushed back perhaps into you want to use a SIM you next week.
leaked in Best Buy ad, on sale 11/ 27? Galaxy Nexus goes on sale Galaxy Nexus UK carriers confirmed Fixed Galaxy Nexus arrives in UK Verizon confirms Galaxy Nexus exclusive Galaxy Nexus on sale in Canada is written by Chris Davies& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
More on the Galaxy Nexus in our full review. [ via Android Community] Relevant Entries on SlashGear.com Galaxy Nexus lands Dec 8 in
Canada says Bell Samsung confirms Galaxy Nexus hits Europe November 17 Galaxy Nexus gets priced SIMfree Samsung (Galaxy) Nexus Prime
Daily iPad App: Fuego's River Adventure

Mike Schramm (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
uses some really interesting code. The game runs on your iPad 2, and it needs that camera to serve Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:30:00 PM as a controller. To play, you move Unfortunately, Fuego's River your body back and forth in front Adventure isn't actually that great of the camera, and that will guide of a game. It's extremely simple, Fuego down the river. The effect the controls aren't precise enough is very similar to Microsoft's to really make it fun, and while Kinect, though obviously not there are about 20 stages to float nearly as complicated. The app is through where you need to go basically just scanning the camera down a river dodging obstacles input for action, not actually and picking up bonus items. I was calculating where and how your done after about the second stage. b o d y i s m o v i n g . B u t i t i s Fuego's River Adventure works interesting to see in action and much better as a tech demo, but it works pretty well for what it is.
It's just too bad there's not a better game attached to it. For $1.99, it's hard to recommend Fuego's River Adventure for the fun. There is a lot more bang for
your buck available elsewhere on the App Store. But paying two bucks is more or less worth it just to see this Kinect-like technology in action, and heck, supporting
this app might lead to better games like this down the line. If you're interested in playing with the camera input for yourself, definitely give it a try. Daily iPad App: Fuego's River Adventure originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments
37
Reflect on your geekiness with a MacBook mirror

Edward Moyer (CNET News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:28:22 AM
the MirrorBook Air, with a form factor that would leave even a jaded tech journalist agape. A one...(Credit: W3sh Store) ...and a two.(Credit: W3sh Store) Admit it: Sometimes when you're The $26 MirrorBook is indeed working at a cafe, hacking out about the size of your typical CSS or putting the finishing compact. But is it really just for touches on your Facebook app, plucking the renegade nose hair or you fire up your Webcam to checking your teeth for bits of check yourself out and make sure grilled cheese sandwich from The you're at your best for all those Melt just prior to entering that babe-alicious telecommuters at pitch meeting with someone from adjacent tables. CrunchFund? We think not. Well, now you can replicate that We say it's really a profound surreptitious Webcam-vanity example of contemporary art. It moment without ever firing up makes a stirring comment about your laptop. Yes--hallelujah--it's how--like God molding Adam--
we shape technology to fit our image. Or maybe it's making a statement about how we've imprisoned ourselves within technology, or how we quite
literally can't get our faces out of our handheld devices. Actually, maybe it's just a clever little gift item for your favorite geek or geekette.
Then again, you probably could use it to signal for help if you ever got lost in the Googleplex. But don't let Sergey or Larry see it. It's a Mac after all, not an Android device or a Chromebook. (Via Laughing Squid) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The Next iPad Will Launch In February -- Citi (AAPL)

Jay Yarow (Money Game)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:33:00 AM
Apple is ready to roll with a new iPad, says Citi analyst Richard Gardner in a note today. According to "several sources" the next iPad will launch in February, and it will sport a
screen with double the resolution of the current model. Gardner says, "there do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining" to prevent a launch of a highresolution iPad, despite rumors to the contrary. For the December quarter,
Gardner thinks Apple sells 12-13 million iPads. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: THE APPLE INVESTOR: Critics Come Out Swinging
Against Apple's TV Future Apple Is Expected To Crush iPhone Sales This Quarter Apple Doesn't Own The 'iPad' Trademark In China
38
Technology/ Economy/ Culture/
Boring conversation? Snooze with phone pillow

Tim Hornyak (CNET News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:10:19 AM
The Hanashicom pillow will put you to sleep.(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/ CNET) If you can't bear to go beddybyes without a goodnight from your sweetheart, or if the person on the other end of the line simply bores you to sleep, lay your weary head on the Hanashicom pillow. The star-shaped headsets are fluffy pillows with embedded
microphones and speakers that link to your phone. Softbank group company Willcom is offering the pillows to new subscribers to its flat-rate Personal Handy Phone ( PHS) service through the end of February. Through Willcom's number of subscribers (4.2 million) is up from 10 years ago, PHS is still a minor network regarded as cheaper than regular cell carriers in Japan, and Willcom is the sole carrier.
PHS phones, however, are power -efficient, have weak electromagnetic signatures, and are often used in hospitals and
care facilities. Available in six colors, the Hanashicom pillows can connect to PHS or cell phones for hands-
free chatting and, of course, dozing off. Just be sure not to drool into the mic. (Via Japan Trends) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Iran Releases Ryan Seacrest to Replace Video Of Captured Matt Lauer on Today? US Drone Plane
Katie Henry (PopSugar)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:35:48 AM
Tyler Durden
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:04:41 AM
Due to our less than formidable Farsi skills, we present the following Iranian video showing the captured downed US drone plane without commentary. And as they reverse engineer our planes, so we reverse engineer their state media released video. Average:
Your rating: None Average: 5( 5 votes) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Ryan Seacreast in talks to replace Matt Lauer on Today?Hollywood Reporter Lindsay Lohan channels Marilyn Monroe for her Playboy spread- People Office star Ellie Kemper is engaged!- Us Weekly Is Colin Firth giving Gary Oldman Oscar winning advice?Lainey Gossip Alec Baldwin apologizes with a
lengthy letter- Celebitchy Coldplay announces North America tour dates- Lifeline Live The Bachelor sues over leaked
spoilers- Zap2It New rumors about a possible Top Gun sequel- Huffington Post Dita Von Teese models her own lingerie line- TooFab Nikki Reed is a badass thief in Catch .44- Rotten Tomatoes Celebrities love to dress up as Santa during the holidays- The Daily Beast Taylor Swift wants to perform a duet with Nicki MinajWonderwall
Economy/
39
Forget Europe Germanys Got Its Own Problems to Deal With

Phoenix Capital Research
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:57:14 AM
Every day that Germany continues to flirt with the idea of propping up Europe, is another day that the country gets closer to its own fiscal crisis. The mainstream media believes that Germany is somehow the bastion of fiscal strength. However, even a cursory look at the facts disproves this. For starters, German banks post some of the highest leverage rations in Europe: higher that Italy, higher than Ireland, even higher than Greece. In fact, German banks are actually sporting leverage EQUAL to that of Lehman Brothers when it went bust. Source: IMF data To make matters worse, Germany has yet to recapitalize its banks. Indeed, by the German Institute for Economic Researchs OWN admission, German banks need 147 billion Euros worth of new capital. Mind you, this is just NEW capital demands. In addition to this, German banks need to roll over 40% of their total outstanding debt within the next 12 months. This is at a time when the many European nations are relying on the ECB to insure they dont have
a failed bond auction (by the way Germany had a failed bond auction just a few weeks ago). Suffice to say, the German banking system isnt as rock solid as the mainstream consensus. The German government knows about this situation which is why its already preparing for the potential nationalization of Germanys largest banks should things get messy. Germanys sovereign balance sheet isnt a whole lot better either. Officially, Germany has a Debt to GDP ratio of 84%.
However, according to Axel Weber, the most recent head of Germanys Central Bank(he left April 2011), Germany is in fact sitting on a REAL Debt to GDP ratio of over 200%. This is Germany with unfunded liabilities equal to over TWO times its current GDP. Whats truly frightening about this is that Weber is most likely being conservative here. Jagadeesh Gokhale of the Cato Institute published a paper for EuroStat in 2009 claiming Germanys unfunded liabilities
were in fact closer to 418% (and that was two years ago). This further goes with my primary view: Germany has its own problems to deal with. So the idea that Germany is somehow going to prop up the EU is not really realistic. After all, if Germany was indeed going to serve as the mega-European backstop, dont you think it would already have done so? The truth is this: the German constitution wont permit the issuance of Euro bonds. And the German population/ social
contract between German politicians and voters will not stand for money printing of any kind. So dont bank on Germany coming to save the day. Indeed, even the option of Germany somehow taking over other EU nations budgetary controls is ridiculous as NO EU member would submit to that. Instead, I expect Germany to duck out of the Euro in the near future. It may happen in the next few weeks or it may happen in early 2012. But considering that the Federal Reserve had to step in to save the European banking system today I believe it will be sooner rather than later. If youre looking for specific ideas to profit from this mess, my Surviving a Crisis Four Times Worse Than 2008 report can show you how to turn the unfolding disaster into a time of gains and profits for any investor. Within its nine pages I explain precisely how the Second Round of the Crisis will unfold, where it will hit hardest, and the best means of profiting from it (the very investments my clients used to make triple digit returns in 2008). Best of all, this report is 100% FREE. To pick up your copy FORGET page 40
40
Economy/
These Corporations Will Bring $1.4 Trillion Back Home If They Don't Have To Pay The Full Tax Rate
Michelle Hirsch (Money Game)
FORGET
even labor leader Andy Stern are all in favor of enacting a one-time Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:40:26 AM repatriation initiative. Congressional Republicans A 2005 repatriation program cut including Eric Cantor and Kevin the top U.S. corporate tax rate for McCarthy are girding House companies repatriating foreign Speaker Boehner this week to slip profits from 35 percent to 5.25 a temporary tax holiday into a percent. However, influential year-end tax deal to enable U.S. Republicans like House Ways and multinationals to shift overseas Means Chairman Dave Camp, Rprofits back into the U.S. at M i c h . , a n d S e n a t e F i n a n c e bargain basement tax rates. committee ranking member Orrin However, corporate tax chiefs Hatch, R-Utah, have said they from two major corporations that would prefer to loop a repatriation might benefit from such an program into a broader tax reform arrangement said Wednesday they deal rather than enact it by itself. would prefer to forego it and hold A panel of executive tax officers out to gut the whole tax code. from Nike, Inc. and Boeing What's at stake is at least$1.4 a s s e m b l e d o n C a p i t o l H i l l trillion in offshore corporate Wednesday sided with Camp and accounts, according to JPMorgan Hatch, saying a temporary tax Chase. But many companies, holiday would do them little good including Cisco, Pfizer, General unless it were attached to a Electric, Microsoft, and Google, broader corporate tax reform deal say they are prepared to bring to lower the permanent U.S. those profits home in return for corporate tax rate. what would essentially be a one- Repatriation, singularly, is not year tax holiday. helpful, said Wayne Monfries, A growing coalition of large Chief Tax Officer of sporting corporations, congressional giant Nike to the crowd of mostly R e p u b l i c a n s , a n d a f e w policy analysts organized by the Democrats including Sens. Chuck RATE Coalition, a lower tax Schumer of New York and Kay advocacy group. Repatriation Hagan of North Carolina, and should be used as a tool to help
the U.S. transition from the current tax code to a new one, once it exists, Monfries said. Repatriation only impacts U.S. companies that operate globally. We want to make sure that corporate tax reform impacts everyone and helps everyone in the U.S.and that means reducing the rate. Boeings tax chief agreed. I think its best to deal with it [repatriation] in the overall context of tax reform as opposed to dealing with it on a one-off basis, said James H. Zrust of Boeing. Repatriation is a singular issue in the international area our elected officials need to work together to enact reform that is centered on a meaningful reduction in the corporate tax ratethat must be the cornerstone. The top U.S. corporate tax rate is currently 35 percentthe highest of any country besides Japan. And when state taxes are added to the mix, the rate soars to 40 percent. Yet few companies pay the full rate because of a convoluted system of tax write offs. The chairmen of key
congressional committees as well as scores of business leaders have repeatedly endorsed slashing the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent in order to make U.S. businesses more competitive with foreign counterparts and better able to invest in the U.S. A total tax code revamp, including abolishing a number of tax breaks, is unlikely to happen before the 2012 election. This post originally appeared at The Fiscal Times. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Kicking The Can Down The Road Will Officially Stop Working In 2013 How Your Company Should Approach Investing In South America BOOM! Obama Just Played The Bin Laden Card Presented By: Strengthen Customer Relationships Ads by Pheedo
today simply go to: http:// www.gainspainscapital.com and click on the OUR FREE REPORTS tab. Good Investing! Graham Summers PS. We also feature four other reports ALL devoted to helping you protect yourself, your portfolio, and your loved ones from the Second Round of the Great Crisis. Whether its my proprietary Crash Indicator which has caught every crash in the last 25 years, or how to stockpile food (where to get it, what to buy, and how to store it) our reports cover this information in great detail. And ALL of this is available for FREE under the OUR FREE REPORTS tab at: http:// www.gainspainscapital.com Average: Your rating: None This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Economy/ Culture/
41
Temporary and Contract Employment in Contraction Every Week vs. Same Week Year Ago Since Mid-August
noreply@blogger.com (Michael Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:51:00 AM
The Wall Street Journal reports Demand for Temp Help Cools Demand for temporary help is cooling. An index of temporary and contract employment, based on a survey of staffing firms, was 1.1% below its year-earlier level for the week ended Nov. 27. Temporary employment often is viewed as a good gauge of the labor markets overall health, but it can slip when employers sign temporary workers on to permanent positions. To put the above chart in better context, here is a chart of ASA Temporary and Contract Employment Index by the American Staffing Association since 2006. Year-Over-Year Comparisons 2006-2011 Since week 33 (mid-August), demand for temporary and contract help is below where it was for the same week in 2010.
Although 2011 is substantially better than 2008 and 2009, it is now lagging 2010 and considerably lagging 2006 and 2007. With the labor force dropping y-o -y by 67,000 vs. an expected increase of 1.5 million (125,000 per month), (see Unemployment Rate Dips to 8.6% as 487,000 Drop Out of Labor Force) it is hard to believe this decline is due to employers signing temporary
workers on to permanent positions. Instead, consider the possibility employers are slowly dumping temps and contract workers, and permanent employees may be next. Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http:// www.sitkapacific.com/ account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
10 Most Endangered Lighthouses in the World

Linda C. Brinson (HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
living quarters for the keepers. However, GPS, radio and other modern communications have Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:00:56 AM rendered most of the world's Staff evacuated Belize's Half lighthouses obsolete. Those still Moon Caye Natural Monument in in use have been automated; many September 2010 as Tropical have been decommissioned. Storm Matthew closed in. When When a lighthouse is deemed they returned on Sept. 30, they u n n e c e s s a r y , t h e a g e n c y found the island's 190-year-old responsible for it often can't lighthouse had fallen into a heap justify money for upkeep. Most of rubble at the edge of the sea. lighthouses fall victim to neglect Since the lighthouse had been and erosion related to the sea and taken out of use in 1997, erosion weather. Sometimes, people had moved the water closer and realize their value and try to closer to it. The storm was the last preserve them. Often, as in the blow. case of Half Moon Caye, they're A s i m i l a r f a t e t h r e a t e n s too late. lighthouses around the world. This list of endangered People have built lighthouses lighthouses, drawn up with the since the ancient Egyptians guidance of Russ Rowlett of the erected one on the island of University of North Carolina at Pharos at Alexandria around 285 Chapel Hill, includes 10 that are B.C. One of the Seven Wonders seriously threatened, but could be of the Ancient World, that saved with prompt action. lighthouse is gone, probably This entry passed through the toppled by an earthquake. Full-Text RSS service if this is The first lighthouse in the United your content and you're reading it States, in Massachusetts' Boston on someone else's site, please read Harbor, went up in 1716. The the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentBritish destroyed it 60 years later only/faq.php#publishers. Five during the American Revolution. Filters recommends: Donate to Lighthouses have been made of Wikileaks. wood, stone, concrete, brick, cast iron and steel. Some include
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Culture/
So, You Got a Space Rocket But Nowhere To Launch It?

Kristian von Bengtson (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:30:00 AM
So, you want to build a space rocket or maybe you already have? Unless you represent a government agency, have access to Californian deserts or Siberia you might soon realize you have problem. The problem faced by everyone building rockets. Where in hell are you going to launch it? Before getting into the darkest realm of it all (export issues) you should consider all options in your own country. In our case (Denmark) we are situated in a very dense populated area which is the case for most of Europe which makes it quite difficult for you to persuade anyone to launch at a random site on land. Most countries have test ranges for amateur rocketry and so do Denmark. But unless you want to stay (deliberately) below 2 km this is a no-go. Your next step could be looking into finding a country providing better launch options. I suggest just forgetting about countries which are out of your reach export wise. Exporting rockets is really pure hell. You cant argue about this or even if you can the mass of the final paper work will exceed the mass of your space rocket and
even though friendly countries are all members of the Wassenar Arrangement, controlling the transfer and use of dual-use technology, I only consider it to be a wall of pain. And still you got the US ITAR and the EU equivalent making it virtual impossible for guys like us to break through anywhere. For some reason less wise people have agreed to hinder the free flow of science and technology between countries which are supposed to be friends. But hey I just live here.. We managed to find countries where we could have a chance to legally sneak our rockets across the border such as Norway, Sweden and Iceland (there could be more). Sweden and Norway have some great test ranges (Esrange and Kiruna) but they all have a guy hired to answer a phone saying No. They dont like flying experimental rocket that hasnt flow before and if you mention anything about humans flying they will freak.
So what options do you and I have??? WATER! We found out that the legal boundaries of all countries ends about 12 nautical miles from the coast. From this line each country still has their Exclusive Economical Zone where they are entitled to exploit the ocean and sea bed bu t without any legal saying in what else is happening. Launching from water may sound completely mad but it has been done many times and for Sea Launch it is just another day at the office and if your project ends up dying due to legal land-launch issues why not take a trip into the ocean and have some fun. We cannot handle the legal issues but we know how to solve technical problem so the decision to launch from sea is really a way to replace legal issues with a technical solution. I am sure you are already thinking about stability, waves and rockets going crazy. But the ocean is just another technical
factor you have to add to the entire system and even though you have to start waiting on the shore until the waves, wind and sky is go for launch, but gives you an option to actually launch, it is just fine with me. So, in the beginning of 2010 Copenhagen Suborbitals began the production of our sea launch platform named Sputnik. It was quickly decided to make it as a 12 x 12 m catamaran for good stability with a center placed launch tower. We finally had a way to launch our rocket but in sea waves below 1 meter. Launch Platform Sputnik "launched". Image: Steen Andersen/CS Launch platform Sputnik and submarine Nautilus. Image: Bo Tornvig Sputnik launch tower top movement measured in app 1 meter sea waves. Image: Flemming Nyboe/CS Even though the nice side of the 12 nautical miles provide you with freedom you still have to
deal with the basic laws of maritime operations and requirements and do not forget that clearing the sky for any passing airliners is also a good idea. So it is highly recommended to actually engage in co-operation with the maritime authorities of your country because they also co -operate with the advisory airspace and will furthermore guide you about which parts of the sea is the best option for you. Our experience is that they are more than willing to do so. We have never met anyone going against our wishes for performing test launches. The maritime authorities of Denmark advised us to perform our tests in one of two military test ranges (ES D 139) in the Baltic Sea east of a Danish island called Bornholm. On a normal day the areas are used for normal traffic and fishing but by one phone call the area become a test range. SO, page 47
Culture/
43
EMC and Greenplum Dress Elephant for IT Parade

Eric Smalley (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:23:00 AM
EMC dresses up Hadoop for the IT set. Photo: Flickr/On The Go Tours Like so many others, EMCs Greenplum unit is dressing up Hadoop for a go at big business. On Wednesday, EMC announced a data analytics platform that starts with a structured database, adds the Hadoop Big Data software, and wraps them in a social network. Known as the Greenplum Unified Analytics Platform, it handles both structured and unstructured data, incorporating the companys SQL database and Hadoop implementation and allowing data to flow from one to the other. Organizations can use data stored in Hadoop from the Greenplum database much more easily now, said Luke Lonergan, Greenplum CTO, Vice President and CoFounder. Named after the yellow stuffed elephant that belonged to the son of its founder, Hadoop is opensource software that dices huge amounts of data and spreads the pieces across thousands of processors. The software is widely used to analyze the massive clickstreams that flow through the likes of Facebook,
Twitter, eBay, and Yahoo. Hadoop has been a tool for big Internet companies, for the most part. But thats changing in a hurry as enterprises increasingly deploy the software. Every major vendor that peddles databases is adopting the technology and proclaiming itself a player in the emerging Big Data market. The idea is to make working with Big Data as similar to working
with structured data as possible. The platform is the beginning of a 12-to 18-month process that will tie structured and unstructured data analysis more closely and allow a wide variety of tools to access the data, said Lonergan. Our objective is to get to store once, use many, he said. EMCs platform also includes a Facebook-ish social network dubbed Chorus. The network
allows dispersed teams of data scientists and analysts to work together. It also allows data scientists to make their work public. Searching for what others are doing is one aspect of being able to learn how to do these kinds of data science things, said Lonergan. You can create data sets using other peoples work within Chorus, he said. Chorus also allows business
people to keep tabs on projects and have input in the process, said Lonergan. Data scientists usually go off in a corner and work by themselves for months at a time, he said. What were doing is providing a social app for perhaps some of the most introverted people in the world: PhD statisticians, he said. EMC page 48
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Culture/
Nutrition And Training

Vince Del Monte (AskMen Latest Articles)
Dont be fooled and fall for the hype. Getting a midsection that sets you apart from the pack requires practicality and patience. Ripped six-pack abs-- the ones that cause jealousy -- are unquestionably the most desired visual benefit of hard-training fitness enthusiasts. Sure, its impressive to have bigger pecs, arms or legs, but most practical gym-goers are seeking visual impact from head to toe. A bulky physique doesnt look right when its intersected by a bulging stomach. Rule No. 1: Cut Your Calories By 20% On average, most individuals consume about 17 calories per pound of body weight each day. Its important to cut back the amount of food youre eating to create a slight caloric deficit, encouraging your body to tap into body fat for energy to make up the difference. Most men should reduce their overall caloric consumption by about 20% during the first two weeks, taking in about 14 calories per pound of body weight each day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be eating
digesting (glucose/sugar-based). When you consume this type of carb, they trigger an insulin spike that encourages body fat storage. Instead, slow-digesting carbs are better because they reduce your insulin response. They will also stay with you longer, preventing hunger pains, controlling appetite and preventing crashing during workouts. Carbs will also give your physique a full, strong and healthy appearance, not a weak and soft look. Consume slowdigesting, long-lasting carbs like around 2,800 calories a day (200 your muscle growth, and more oatmeal, brown rice, Ezekiel x 14 = 2,800). You can reduce muscle leads to more calorie cereal, quinoa, whole-wheat your calories another 20% if burning. My mantra: Eat solid breads or pastas, whole fruits, youre not losing at least 1% of food if you want to look solid. yams, sweet-potatoes, and whole your body weight per week. Rule Immediately after an intense vegetables such as broccoli, No. 2: Eat Five Solid Meals And workout, consume a liquid meal spinach, asparagus, and squash. In One Shake A regular schedule of consisting of fast-acting proteins addition to the recommendations five solid meals a day, rather than and carbs in the form of whey- above, include high-fiber foods, three meals a day, helps your isolate and carb powder, such as like beans and lentils, as well as body experience a slight increase K a r b o - L y n , V i t a r g o , low-fructose fruits. Your carb in calorie burning, because, every m a l t o d e x t r i n , d e x t r o s e , o r intake should be approximately time you eat, your body uses Gatorade. Consume fluids after 40% of your daily intake starting energy (calories) to break down, y o u r w o r k o u t b e c a u s e t h e out and can be adjusted up or digest and absorb the food. nutrients are delivered faster than down slightly based on the speed Consuming multiple meals helps whole food. RELATED VIDEO: of your metabolism. We have 3 lower cortisol levels (a catabolic 3 Effective Crunch-Free Core more essential tips for nutrition hormone), which results in W o r k o u t s R u l e N o . 3 : I t s and training, next... slightly elevated testosterone Paramount You Eat Clean Continue Reading l e v e l s ( a m u s c l e - b u i l d i n g Carbohydrates Not all carbs are hormone). The higher your created equal (too bad). In fact, testosterone levels, the greater many natural carbs are fast
Assignment Discovery: Jack the Ripper

(HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:00:56 AM
Playlist | Murder Videos Learn more with the 326 murder videos in this playlist. There are 326 videos tagged "Murder"' + ''; $('#googleAdRightRail').html(rt); } function getValidChannel() { var getChannel = function(subDomain) { return subDomain; } var validChannels = new Array("adventure", "auto","computer","electronics"," entertainment","food","health","h ome","mobiltravelguide","money" ,"people","recipes","science","trav el","www","reference","maps","vi deos","history","geography","ani m a l s " ) ; v a r subDomain=document.domain.spl it(".")[0]; if (subDomain) { var x; for (var x = 0; x This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Culture/
45
Organizational Strategies
Ross Bonander (AskMen Latest Articles)
There are numerous organizational strategies and concepts for the young professional to learn and follow, but many of them are overlooked. This is unfortunate because developing and implementing organizational strategies that are efficient and thoughtful will save you a tremendous amount of time and make a great impression on your boss. They also beget the kinds of productive and successful habits that will serve you well throughout your entire career. Lets take a look at some organizational strategies you can start implementing today. Anticipation and assessment At the start of every workweek, reserve an hour or two and devote that time to a careful assessment of the week ahead. Examine the feasibility of your schedule, upcoming deadlines and projects in development with an eye toward ascertaining what can and can not be accomplished. Also, try to spot any pitfalls or problems before they arise. Time control
and management Productivity is the end result of great organizational strategies, but not even the most efficient person can manage to evade every distraction that slows down our day. There are some ways, however, to reduce them. If possible, consider making some minor adjustments to your seating arrangement. See to it that theres virtually no chance that you can make eye contact with the many people who pass your cubicle or work station every hour. Ideally, you shouldnt even be able to see them in your periphery or off a reflection in front of you. The point isnt to appear rude or antisocial -- its
one of those organizational strategies designed to prevent the start of casual conversations. Five - to 10-minute chats are fine, but dont let others pull you into one. Avoiding eye contact sends a subtle message that youre busy. This way you can decide when to take a short break, not someone else. Handle your phone calls and emails in this manner as well. Instead of reading every e-mail as it arrives or answering each call (you can use caller ID to decide which ones need to be answered), turn off any sound indicators and schedule to check your e-mail and voice mail accounts every half hour. Similar to adjusting your
seating, take control of your emails and phone calls and tackle those issues when youre ready -not when others decide they need you. Computer applications and web-based tools In addition to the likes of Microsoft Outlook, there are a number of free web-based tools available to help you with your organizational strategies, and they typically allow you some freedom to develop a system in accordance with your personality and preferences. Signing up allows you to manage your tasks, receive telephone, e-mail or IM reminders, connect and share with contacts and colleagues, export to web-enabled PDAs, HTML, spreadsheets, and more. A few you might want to look into include RememberTheMilk.com, Swift To-Do List lite (dextronet.com/swift-to-do-listlite.php, which is the free version) and any number of tools that work with Outlook, such as DeskLook (xemico.com/desklook). Some more old-school organizational strategies Continue Reading
Dog groomers gone wild [video]

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:27:00 AM
Owners of fluffy dogs get unfairly pigeon-holed into a stereotype of being a bit uptight, so when they break out of the mold, they do it in a big way as evidenced by this Dog Grooming Expo that took place in Hershey, Pennsylvania. See poodle poofs were molded into everything from Rainbow Brite to Jurassic Park themes, with plenty of mohawks to go around in this amusing video of the event from The Cute Show. Full story at Vice via Neatorama. High maintenance pets. Permalink| Leave a comment
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Culture/ Science/
Make A Comeback
AskMen Editors (AskMen Latest Articles)
Tiger Woods finally won a golf tournament again. The former best player in golf knocked in a couple birdies to seal the victory at the 2011 Chevron World Challenge on Sunday. The win ended a drought that lasted 749 days and 26 tournaments. Tiger Woods has been many things to many people in his life and career. He's been a golf prodigy, an undisputed world champion, a role model, a family man, a walking nightmare of a scandal, and a late-night TV punchline. This win, however, might be taking Wood's on a new story arc: redemption. Throughout the horrible last couple of years, Woods has kept going. He's worked hard and has never given up on the sport that he loves or on himself. While most of us aren't rich pro-athletes, Tiger's tale has a lot of lessons for the ordinary guy. Whether you've lost a job, survived a horrible breakup or are just stuck in a rut, here are five tips to get you back on track and
Things You're Good At Sometimes it feels that nothing is going right. You suck at everything. Well, that's not true. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. If things aren't going well, go back to the fundamentals and do what you're good at. If work is getting you down, then go home and give your car a tune-up. If you can't find a job, cook your wife a world-class dinner. If you're lacking confidence, put yourself into situations where you know you can succeed. be more successful than ever. 1- can get better, even at the things Sometimes even the little things Keep A Positive Attitude You they're good at. Don't let yourself can help. 5- Enjoy Yourself might be having a bad day or a p l a t e a u . T i g e r d i d n ' t s t o p Nothing sucks more than feeling bad year, but things are only practicing when he was the best that you can't do something and going to get worse if you're down golfer in the world. And when he then getting down on yourself on yourself. You didn't just crash slipped in the rankings, he because of that. If you and your your car into a tree because your doubled his efforts. He broke lady are going through a rough wife found all the sexts that you down his swing and started over time, go and do something sent to pornstars. Things could be again. He wasn't happy just being together that you both love doing. worse. It's a crappy situation and good. 3- Project Confidence One Recreate a few of your first dates. you're in it. You're smart and of the first steps to succeeding is Go mini-putting or go to the drive capable, so figure out a way to being positive and showing others -in. Don't let everyday life depress deal with it. 2- Work To Get that you're capable of anything. you. Make it fun and you'll be Better, Not To Stay Good Sure, Smile in the face of adversity. surprised at just how easy it is to you might be good at something, Don't feel bad for yourself and dig accomplish your goals. but every day that you're not yourself even deeper. Stand tall Continue Reading improving means you're slipping and believe -- know -- that you behind everyone else. Everyone can and will succeed. 4- Do
Do You Give Holiday Tips or Gifts? [Ask The Readers]

Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:30:00 AM
End-of-year tipping for the service people who help us out throughout the year is upon us. The common recommendation is to give a cash tip or small present, depending on the kind of service. We're curious, Lifehacker readers, how do you handle holiday tips or gifts for the service people in your life? More
Sony Alpha SLT-A77

(Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:14:00 AM
SONY ALPHA SLT-A77 Sony The fastest camera
Sony made a DSLR that could continuously refocus high-speed bursts last year, but that camera's slow-to-refresh LCD viewfinder often displayed a delayed view of subjects. So on the 24.3-
megapixel A77, the company
swapped the LCD for a 2.3million-dot OLED that responds to changes millions of times a second-fast enough to keep up with a sprinting quarterback. For continuous focus, a two-way
mirror bounces light up to the autofocus sensor at the same time that the previous shot hits the image sensor.$2,000
Culture/
47
Google Adds Google+ Info to Gmail Contacts

Scott Gilbertson (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:50:00 AM
SO,
Dec 8 2011 File Under: Social, Web Services Google Adds Google+ Info to Gmail Contacts By Scott Gilbertson Google+ Circles in Gmail Google now includes Google+ profile information within contacts lists, both in Gmail and in the standalone Google Contacts manager. In addition to Google+ information about your contacts any Google+ circles youve set up will now be available inside the contacts manager. If youd like to see the new features in action, head over to the Google Contacts page(or click the contacts link in your Gmail account). Note that so far the integrated Google+ contacts dont appear to be available for Google Apps users. The move is part of Googles slow, but steady progress toward
link on a contact page and selecting the [Show external data] inline option. Chitu also reports that the Google Profile data is automatically added when you enter an email address associated with a profile. If you dont want the added social data you can delete the corresponding email address and it will be removed. Tags: Google Post Comment| Permalink Digg Stumble Upon its goal of adding Google+ Facebook features to all its myriad services. Delicious The new integration with the Reddit contacts list means that any Google Profile data your contacts This entry passed through the have entered will now show up Full-Text RSS service if this is below any information youve your content and you're reading it added. Alex Chitu, writing at on someone else's site, please read Google Operating System, notes the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentthat you can combine the two sets only/faq.php#publishers. Five of data what youve entered Filters recommends: Donate to and what your contacts have Wikileaks. entered by clicking the more
Test range area in the Baltic Sea. Image: Copenhagen Suborbitals During the time and sea operations using Sputnik we have changed its capabilities from being a platform which had to be towed/pushed to a self propelled unit with two Kobota diesel engines with all the additional and required systems on board. Sputnik launch platform in the Baltic Sea during launch operation 2011, self propelled. Image: Thomas Pedersen Sputnik during launch of HEAT1X/Tycho-Brahe-1. Image: Bo Tornvig The decision to launch at sea was our only option but also the best. Water is water wherever you go and it is really just a matter of creating a launch vessel capable of holding the size of your current or future rocket and capable of dealing with sea levels in whatever area of the world you want to operate from. At some point our rocket may become very large and Sputnik will not be our main launching
vessel. If so, it is just a matter of building a bigger catamaran, using a large barge or constructing something completely different. My favorite system is this! No matter what we find to be the right solution in the future we just know that the biggest issue has be solved. We found a way to launch our own space rocket. I recommend you might do the same if some guy says no in the phone when you are asking about land-launch. Ad Astra Kristian von Bengtson This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Culture/
EMC
Greenplum is boosting support for Hadoop in the platforms administration module, the Greenplum Command Center. Hadoop administration still requires a lot of manual work and high level of expertise from systems administrators, said Dan Vesset, vice president of business analytics at market research firm IDC. Unless you are one of the few Internet companies, this expertise is relatively hard to come by. Administration tools that help automate command and control of systems that include Hadoop are an IT productivity enhancement, said Vesset.
Greenplums Unified Analytics Platform is likely to be among the best in terms of integrating the analysis of structured and semistructured data, said Vesset. I say semi-structured because the vast majority of use cases for Hadoop involve analysis of web log or clickstream data that has some structure. The big question is whether EMC will succeed in the data analytics market, regardless of the quality of technology, said Vesset. Selling an analytics platform is not like selling storage solutions, and in this market EMC is competing against much bigger incumbents.
HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Teradata are all vying for big pieces of the enterprise Big Data pie. EMC might have the sharpest knife, but will it be able to elbow its way to the table? This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Google+'s "Find My Face" Gets You Tagged in Photos Almost Automatically, If You Wish [Google+]
Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:45:00 AM
Zac Efron Brings His Best Holiday Game to Jimmy Fallon

Lauren Turner (PopSugar)
Zac and Jimmy went head-to-head in a shoot out, though instead of Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:41:37 AM basketballs they used holiday Zac Efron suited up for an items like mini Christmas trees. appearance on Late Night With Jimmy ended up winning the Jimmy Fallon in NYC last night. match, but Zac was a good sport Zac was there to talk about New about the loss. Year's Eve, which hits theaters Zac threw on a tie later in the tomorrow, but the interview took evening to attend the premiere of a fun turn when Jimmy asked Zac New Year's Eve with Jessica Biel, Jessica Parker. Zac and Michelle to play a festive basketball game. Michelle Pfeiffer, and Sarah also shared the red carpet at
Monday's LA screening, but their costars Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michelle managed to steal much of the attention with their flirtatious behavior. Zac's the one taking the spotlight in our favorite shirtless star of 2011 poll, though, since he's got the most votes behind Robert Pattinson. View Slideshow
Google is rolling out a facial recognition feature for Google+ called "Find My Face". If you turn on this feature in your account (it's completely opt-in), when friends upload photos you're in, your name will be suggested for the tag. More
Culture/ TV/
49
Jessica Biel Works a White Hot Victoria Beckham Dress For Dave
Mackenzie Wagoner (PopSugar)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:48:46 AM
Jessica Biel braved the rain in NYC while wearing a sexy Victoria Beckham dress yesterday. It was a busy night of promotion for the star since she stopped by the Late Show With David Letterman before joining her costars at the premiere of New Year's Eve. Jessica slipped into a gold Valentino gown for the red carpet, which also brought out Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick as well as Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer. Zac and Michelle made the trip East after popping up at the LA premiere of New Year's Eve with the rest of the cast on Monday. Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michele's flirty poses stole the
spotlight at that event, though last night was all about SJP and Jessica. There are many famous faces in the ensemble comedy, though Jessica told Dave she didn't actually get to work with any of them except for Seth Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Meyers and Sarah Paulson. View Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:00:00 AM Slideshow ADWLauncher EX, one of our favorite launchers on Android, has updated to include a number of features that emulate Ice Cream Sandwich, including a better d o c k , d r a g - a n d - d r o p f o l d e r (Holy Kaw!) creation, and a new ICS-based Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:50:00 AM look. More Via Frugal Dad. (H/T @frugaldad) Light up an infographic. Permalink| Leave a comment
ADWLauncher EX Updates with Improved Dock, Drag-and-Drop Folders, and More Ice Cream Sandwich Goodness [Android Launchers]
Top 11 in '11: Most Entertaining Reality TV Stars

AOL TV Staff (AOL TV)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 5:45:00 AM
Tobacco smokes the world [infographic]
Filed under: Features Reality TV is a breeding ground for crazy, entertaining people doing insane watercooler-worthy things, but who do we consider the best of the best, the most entertaining of the entertaining? It's not easy to narrow down a list to 11 of the most entertaining reality TV stars -- because of sheer volume these days, but also fear of retaliation from the tougher personalities who didn't make the cut. Some of those 'Housewives' are brutal, y'all. But we did it. And we think we got it right. Take a look at our picks for Most Entertaining Reality TV Stars of 2011 -- along with our video playlist of proof, in case you need more convincing -and nominate your own favorites in the comments. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments
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Politics-Left/
EU leaders gather for 'do or die' summit

(AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:11:50 AM
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, wants tighter EU fiscal control, despite British opposition [EPA] European Union (EU) leaders are heading to Brussels for summit talks dubbed by some analysts as a "do or die" moment for the continent's euro, with Germany and France set to push for extensive fiscal reforms to save the debt-stricken single currency from collapse. With the entire 27-state EU placed under downgrade watch by international credit rating giant Standard & Poor's, leaders are trying to navigate obstacles to treaty changes required to enforce tougher rules on budgetary discipline. Speaking on Thursday in the sidelines of a political conference in Marseilles, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, "We need to re-think Europe, and we need structural changes, and our wish is that this change is with the 27, and no one is left behind". "Our greatest wish is that no one is opposed to the necessary reforms of the eurozone," he said. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised the same points, saying, "We need more Europe, this is why today and tomorrow we will be having many discussion and debates. "There will be changes here and there, but I'm sure at the end of
the day we will have a result." Earlier in the day, the Chinese rating agency Dagong cut its credit rating for France amid fears that the debt crisis in the eurozone could have negative consequences for the entire global economy. France is the second European
country in as many days to see its credit rating cut by Dagong after Italy's rating was downgraded from "A-" to "BBB" with a negative outlook due to the country's growing reliance on the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy its bonds and its declining
ability to repay debt. Germany and France, the eurozone's biggest economies, are pushing for a new EU treaty, saying stricter fiscal rules should be in place, but European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the EU's senior official, is offering
a plan which only requires amending existing treaties. "We are convinced that we need to act without delay," Merkel and Sarkozy wrote in a joint letter to Van Rompuy, adding that the new LEADERS page 53
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Egypt's army asserts constitutional control

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:25:12 AM
More than nine million Egyptians elected mostly Islamist candidates in the first round of parliamentary elections [EPA] Egypt's military rulers have forcefully asserted their role in the country's uncertain revolutionary politics, declaring their intention to preside over the drafting of a new constitution and insisting that the early results of parliamentary voting do not represent Egyptian society. In a rare briefing with foreign journalists on Wednesday, army General Mokhtar al-Mullah said that parliament's ability to choose the 100-member assembly that will draft the constitution will be constrained by military-approved "parameters" agreed beforehand, according to media reports. Just a day after the first round of parliamentary voting finished, delivering Islamists roughly twothirds of the available seats, Mullah, a member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), said the country's new parliament could not be broadly representative of Egypt given that elections are occurring "in such unstable conditions". "What we are seeing is free and fair elections ... but they certainly don't represent all sectors of society," Mullah said, according to the G uardian. He said that the military would
appoint an advisory civilian council to act as an intermediary between the SCAF, parliament and the cabinet, which itself was appointed by the military. All four groups would have to agree on the composition of the 100-member constitutional assembly, Mullah said.
"There will be an agreement beforehand on the form of this constituent assembly between the cabinet, the advisory committee for the military council, and the parliament," he told reporters. Showdown with the Brotherhood Mullah's remarks prompted immediate reaction from the
Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is estimated to have won nearly half of the available seats in the just-finished first round of parliamentary voting. Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said his organisation would boycott the
civilian council, since it would constrain the powers of parliament. Mohamed el-Beltagy, a highranking Brotherhood member and FJP candidate, said the military was trying to control the EGYPT'S page 54
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Politics-Left/
More Syrian deaths amid oil pipeline blast

Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:17:25 AM
Activists and Syrian state media give varying accounts of an oil pipeline explosion in Homs [AFP] Syrian activists say at least 13 people have been killed by security forces across the country, on the same day a pipeline carrying oil from the east to a refinery in Homs city was set ablaze. Syrian state news, SANA, called Thursday's fire and resulting explosion an act of sabotage by an armed terrorist group. However, activists said government militia members hoping to place the blame on the protest movement started the fire. Witnesses said Syrian media was immediately on the scene of the oil pipeline attack, next to a major military checkpoint in the restive city. President Bashar al-Assad has in the past blamed terrorist groups for creating violent tension among the Syrian people in the last nine months. The narrator of an online video showing raging flames and black clouds of smoke in the Bab Amr neighbourhood of Homs said the pipeline was attacked by a military force backed with armoured vehicles also pictured in the 40 second clip. "Bab Amro, (this is) the armoured vehicle that attacked the oil pipeline, this is the armoured
vehicle in Bab Amro and these are the Shabiha(statebacked militia) around the armoured vehicle and this is another armoured vehicle, and this is the oil pipeline facing the vehicles," the man could be heard saying. Another video claiming to show the aftermath of the explosion, was narrated by a man
accusing forces loyal to Assad of purposely sabotaging the pipeline leading to a refinery. "(This is) Bab Amro, the burning of one of the pipelines by Assad's Shabiha(state-backed militia), using a mortar rocket in Bab Amro neighbourhood on December 8, 2011 and the houses around it are burning," the man narrated.
"The pipeline was attacked by the government forces so they can accuse the residents of doing it, so they can bomb Baba Amro entirely," the man continued. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the citizen videos. The Homs refinery serves part of Syria's domestic requirement for refined oil products. A Britishbased Syrian human rights group
says it is the main pipeline that feeds the Homs refinery. Violence continues Meanwhile, the violence continued elsewhere. Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Amman in neighbouring Jordan, said that three people were killed in Idlib and 10 in MORE page 53
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treaty was needed by March. The Merkel-Sarkozy letter also called for "a renewed contract between the euro area member states". If all 27 EU members cannot agree, Berlin and Paris are believed to be prepared to work towards a new treaty involving the 17-nation eurozone bloc and any other country that wants to join. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend, reporting from Brussels, said the renewed contract poses huge questions about national sovereignty. "Those rules are being revised already," he said. "It is a move towards a more centralised control," he said, "and it creates problems at home. Britain is not the only one with an issue; Ireland and possibly the Netherlands will have a problem too." The head of the eurozone finance ministers said on Thursday that Sarkozy and Merkel hoped to get all 27 European Union countries on board with the proposed treaty changes. "A treaty of all 27 members is to be hoped for, but if there are countries that don't want to accompany us in our search for a better European architecture then
we'll go with a treaty of 17,'' JeanClaude Juncker, the Luxembourg finance minister, said in an interview on French radio. The 10 non-eurozone members of the 27-member EU, including Britain, are concerned the EU may become a two-tier club, as they may become isolated if the eurozone nations - driven by Berlin and Paris - decide to move to a new treaty on their own. Differing views The biggest obstacles to any agreement, according to highranking officials and diplomats, are Germany's refusal to embark on anything short of treaty change agreed under the full glare of lengthy, costly and risky public consultation, but that its government considers legally secure. Also threatening hopes for an EU -wide deal is the UK's refusal to back changes unless it secures important safeguards such as ringfencing London's financial sector from future EU regulation including a proposed tax. European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso urged the EU to "do everything" to save the euro ahead of the Brussels summit. "The entire world is watching. We must do everything," to save the
euro, he said, adding: "It is extremely important that we all together, all the EU, show that the euro is irreversible." In a further indication of the international scale of the crisis, US President Barack Obama held urgent telephone talks late on Wednesday with Merkel. Obama also sent his treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, to Europe for talks with key players that are continuing on Thursday in Marseilles, France, where EU conservative allies are meeting for pre-summit strategy talks. The ECB stepped up its efforts against Europe's debt crisis by cutting interest rates on Thursday for the second time in five weeks, and by extending longer-term loans to ease financial pressure on struggling banks. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Homs. The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC), an opposition group, named some of those that died in Homs: Razouq al-Azou (in Bab Amro), Sabee' Dabdoub (23-years-old, in alBayyada), Salam al-Saleh (in Bab Amro), Nasser Suleiman alAbrash (in al-Khalidieh) and Abdul Majid Khudeir al-Othman (in Asheera). In Idlib, the commission said Mohammad Amin Subhi alNajjar, an army defector from Aleppo, was also killed. In the al-Houleh area of Homs, six people were also reportedly injured in gunfire. In al-Qaboun, outside Damascus, heavy gunfire was reported on Thursday morning. In Deraa, security forces and government loyalists are said to have raided the al-Teebeh village, vandalising property and ransacking the homes of activists. Denial of crackdown The fresh violence came one day after a US interview with Assad made international headlines. In an interview aired on Wednesday by the US broadcaster ABC, Assad said he had not given security forces a command "to kill or be brutal" and he denied ordering a deadly crackdown on the uprising that began last March. "They're not my forces," Assad
responded when asked if Syrian troops had cracked down too hard on protesters. "They are military forces [who] belong to the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country. No government in the world kills its people, unless it is led by a crazy person." Syria's foreign ministry responded to the interview saying the remarks made by Assad were taken out of context. However, in his role as president, Assad is officially the commander of Syria's armed forces, which have reportedly used tanks, heavy weaponry, plain-clothed armed groups, and snipers to besiege dissidents in residential areas across the country. After the interview aired, Jihad Makdissi, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, said that Assad wanted to make the point that the army was not his personal "militia". This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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EGYPT'S
formation of the constituent assembly. "At any rate, the cabinet or the new consultative council can only offer suggestions that parliament has a right to dismiss and is not bound by," he told the Reuters news agency. In his briefing, Mullah implied that the elected parliament would not be representative enough to draft a document that needed to last "for many years to come". "We have a lot of other factions such as workers, farmers, engineers and doctors who are not in parliament," he said, according to the New York Times. His statements were the latest broadside in a crucial political battle between the SCAF and the Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party won roughly 48 per cent of the seats available in the first round of voting for the People's Assembly, the key lower house of parliament. The Nour Party, which represents a fundamentalist Salafi constituency, won about 19 per cent. It was not the first time a member
of the SCAF has said that parliament will have limited powers. Generals have said previously that the SCAF should choose the ministers in a new government even after elections for both the People's Assembly and Shoura Council, parliament's upper house, finish in March. For its part, the Brotherhood confident in its electoral chances has said for months that parliament should choose the new government. Insider at interior ministry Meanwhile on Wednesday, interim Prime Minister Kamal elGanzouri, selected by the SCAF, announced a new cabinet after nearly two weeks of delay. Ganzouri took power after the previous interim government led by Essam Sharaf resigned in the wake of violence between protesters and riot police in Tahrir Square that claimed dozens of lives. Ganzouri selected an insider to lead the important interior ministry, which protesters have demanded be reformed in the wake of ousting President Hosni
Mubarak in February. Interior ministry riot police and security agents are blamed for some of the worst human rights abuses under Mubarak's reign. Mohammed Ibrahim Yusuf, who previously led the Giza security directorate for the ministry, will assume the top position. Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr and 12 other ministers were retained from Sharaf's government. The SCAF announced that it had granted Ganzouri "presidential powers," giving him greater control to run the country, but no oversight of the armed forces or judiciary. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
'Chuck' Set Visit: Yvonne Strahovski and Carrie-Anne Moss Share Nudist Colony Intel (EXCLUSIVE CLIP)
Laura Prudom (AOL TV)
'Lost' alum Eric Lange and asskicking 'Matrix' heroine CarrieAnne Moss, and judging by what Filed under: Features, TV we saw during our visit, it Previews, Celebrity Interviews promises to be one of the show's Today is a bittersweet day for most hilarious episodes yet. loyal'Chuck' fans, as the show We caught up with Moss and wrapped its final night of filming Yvonne Strahovski to get the just a few hours ago. But even scoop on why Chuck, Sarah and though the cameras have stopped G e r t r u d e f i n d t h e m s e l v e s rolling, the Buy More lives on -- infiltrating a cult; Levi's directing at least for nine more episodes, style; and what Strahovski was the first of which airs tomorrow feeling as the show neared its end. night (Fri., Dec. 9, 8PM ET on We also have an exclusive -- and NBC). revealing -- preview of tomorrow AOL TV was on set for the night's episode, so read on for filming of 'Chuck versus the Hack more. Off,' which was also the final Permalink| Email this| Linking episode of the series that Zachary Blogs| Comments Levi directed. It guest-stars 'Community' favorite Danny Pudi,
Submitted at 12/8/2011 4:40:00 AM
TV/ Products/
55
Fuji Extra Long Life Heavy-Duty Batteries 60 Pack

(Woot! - One Day, One Deal)
Mindy Kaling Voicing and Writing New Animated Series, 'Secret Circle' Promotes Hunk and More Casting News
Chris Harnick (AOL TV)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 6:30:00 AM
Filed under: TV News Mindy Kaling, one of the only reasons to watch 'The Office' this season, is at work on a new animated series with 'The Office' and 'King of the Hill' executive producer Greg Daniels. According to Deadline, she'll write, executive produce and voice a character on the series
about a girls high school volleyball team. 'Parks and Recreation' producer Alan Yang is also working on a new animated project with Daniels. Yang's series is about a group of Los Angeles twentysomething guys who share a house in Hancock Park. In other casting news ... Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments
face fall as the reality of corporate toy manufacturing Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:00:17 AM (Uncle Jack, it wont go! I cant He Who Controls The Spice, play with it like this! How do I Controls The Universe turn it on?) hits them full in the How do you get to be the coolest face and Uncle Jack realizes he family member? Not by giving should've just snagged some the very best toy. By POWERING cheap battery-powered junk from it. the last Woot-Off. Theres a toy out there. Its a And thats when you strut in and cross between the first generation s a v e C h r i s t m a s , H a n u k k a h , Power Rangers and the second Kwanzaa, or The Secularly generation Cabbage Patch Kids. Established Guaranteed Day Off Its half Star Wars and half From Work by pulling out those Titanic. Its a Members Only batteries. Imagine the joy on the jacket over a Tickle Me Elmo faces of the children! Plus dont holding a gummy bracelet thats forget that with a sixty pack youll shaped like an animal. And you have plenty more in reserve, so didnt feel like waiting on a six you can save the day again later day line. You know what? Thats that afternoon. And then you can cool. start saving the day right after the Because as Uncle Jack over there holiday, and the day right after comes strutting in like the that, and by the time the kids Christmas King or Hanukkah goes back to school, their memory H i g h P r i e s t o r K w a n z a a will be completely changed. Now Chairperson or General All- Uncle Jack didnt give them the Purpose Atheist Jerkface, youll hottest present of the year. You be over in the corner with a Fuji did. Extra Long Life Heavy-Duty Were telling you, the same Batteries 60 Pack of AA or strategys worked for OPEC for AAA Batteries. Youll let them almost forty years now. So take a victory lap from the kids remember, regardless of your (OMG! Uncle Jack, youre the reason for the season, the Fuji greatest!) and then watch their Extra Long Life Heavy-Duty
Batteries 60 Pack of AA or AAA Batteries is the way to go. Because its not about what you got. Its about what they think you gave them. Thats how you figure out who wins. Warranty: 90 Day Woot Limited Warranty Condition: New Features: Extra Long Life Batteries from a name you can trust Perfect for remotes, radios, clocks, phones, flashlights, toys and more! Choose AA or AAA size Extra Long Life batteries contain no harmful mercury or cadmium 900mAh Expiration Date: 10/2014 Additional Photos: Packaging In the box: Your choices are either AA or AAA (3) 20-Pack Fuji Extra Long Life Heavy-Duty Batteries Discuss this product Price: $5.99 I want one!
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Products/
Sean University: A Room with a(n) (Inter)view

Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:00:00 AM
How will asking someone a series of questions better inform your understanding of how or she would perform as an employee? What are the three most essential questions to ask in a job interview? In how many different ways can an effective interview impact your business? The answers to these questions are yes, yes, and yes, because effective interviews are essential to your business, much like clear and sensible transitions between paragraphs are essential to educational articles on the internet! Unfortunately, interviewing someone effectively can be timeconsuming and complicated. You cant just walk in and ask, Hey, are you going to be really good at this job or what? Because 9 times out of 10, the person is going to be like, Oh, yeah, totally, regardless of whether he or she would be a good fit. And that 10th time, when this doesnt happen, its probably just because the interviewee isnt even listening to you, because hes too busy shouting, LOOK OUT
BEHIND YOU! because in your reckless rush to ask your one stupid question, you didnt even close the door and so a wild wolverine was able to slip into the room. So, obviously, a good interview needs to include more than one question and should ideally involve 100% fewer wolverines. As an interviewer, you need a plan. Of course, youll have to come up with your own questions based on the specific position youre interviewing people for, but thats not going to stop us
here at the Sean Adams University of Business Management Development Leadership from giving you a few pointers: 1. All questions should start with an asking word (like how or what) and be focused on the job thats open. Just making statements and adding question marks to the end of them is not enough. For example, What about this job interested you? would be good; There are pants on these legs? wouldnt really help much at all.
answering, you can get up and start a fire in the trash bin to see if hes a man of his word. 4. In order to make sure all the questions make sense, interview yourself first. If it goes well and you offer yourself the position, take some time to really consider whether or not you can take on a second job. Speaking of jobs, Sean University currently has an opening for Dean-Chancellor of the Provosts Office. There is no salary or benefits and it will not be widely accepted as a real job because you wont actually do anything. But, I will call you Dean-Chancellor [your username] 2. Always have a set number of once in a while (if I remember). If questions to ask and a set order to youd like to be considered, a s k t h e m i n . I f y o u r e please post your answers to the interviewing someone to predict two questions below in the the future, the first question comments by Friday (12/9) at should be, How many questions noon Pacific Time and Ill post will I ask and what are they? my decision shortly after that. 3. Dont just ask conceptual Best of luck! questions; come up with a few Hey, are you going to be really hypothetical situations as well. good at this job or what? Heres one that always works: If There are pants on these legs? you were interviewing for a job and a fire started in the trash bin, would you continue with the interview or put out the fire? Then, while the interviewee is
Products/
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U.S Department of Justice investigating e-book pricing
Senate Blocks Vote On Confirmation Of Richard Cordray As Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director
Mary Beth Quirk (The Consumerist)
consumers with enough information, so that they understand the risks of credit Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:35:17 AM cards, mortgages and other A vote today in the Senate over financial products. whether or not to confirm Richard While the CFPB is director-less, Consumer Reports News The U.S. Justice Department, Cordray as the new director of the it can't operate to its full extent (Consumer Reports) E u r o p e a n r e g u l a t o r s , a n d Consumer Financial Protection protecting consumers and is attorneys general in Connecticut Bureau has been blocked with a u n a b l e t o e x e r c i s e i t s f u l l Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:14:59 AM and, reportedly, Texas are trying filibuster by opponents of the authority to keep tabs on entities U.S Department of Justice to determine if such pricing current structure of the bureau. o t h e r t h a n j u s t f i n a n c i a l investigating e-book pricing p r a c t i c e s h a r m m a r k e t The lawmakers involved in the institutions like banks, including The U.S Department of Justice competition and, ultimately, filibuster are seeking changes to payday lenders, debt collectors, has joined its counterparts in the consumers. the CFPB that could weaken its check-cashers and make sure the European Union in looking into Justice Department investigates e ability to protect consumers. Our government's guidelines regarding the pricing practices of digital probe haven't been disclosed, - b o o k p r i c i n g [ L o s A n g e l e s wise elders at the Consumers consumer affairs are upheld. books for e-readers. A Justice some speculate the inquisition T i m e s ] Union are weighing in on today's "It's no wonder there's so much D e p a r t m e n t s p o k e s p e r s o n will likely follow along the lines EU Is Said to Start Probe Into E- blocked vote. cynicism about Washington these confirmed to the Los Angeles of the European investigation. B o o k M a r k e t , I n c l u d i n g "Richard Cordray's nomination is days," said Banks. "Americans Times that the agency's probe was Regulators there are trying to Apple[San Francisco Chronicle] being held hostage by lawmakers spent billions of dollars to bail out concerned with the possible determine if publishers illegally Justice Department confirms who seem intent on undermining the big banks and now the agency " a n t i c o m p e t i t i v e p r a c t i c e s worked togetherpossibly with e b o o k p r i c i n g this vital new watchdog for that was created to protect involving e-book sales." Apple's assistanceto raise prices investigation[Digital Trends] consumers," said Pamela Banks, consumers from unfair financial The news comes on the heels of on e-books by changing how they Justice Department investigating senior counsel for Consumers practices is under attack by some E u r o p e a n r e g u l a t o r s ' are sold. e-book pricing[CNet] Union, the advocacy arm of lawmakers in Congress." announcement of an investigation When e-book readers, such as Hearing on: "Oversight of the Consumer Reports. "Today's vote Previously: Senate Expected To i n t o f i v e o f t h e l a r g e s t Amazon's Kindle, were in their Antitrust Enforcement Agencies" makes it clear who is standing Vote On Consumer Financial i n t e r n a t i o n a l infancy, pricing for titles were set ( W e b c a s t ) [ U . S . H o u s e o f with consumers and who is P r o t e c t i o n B u r e a u D i r e c t o r publishersHachette Livre, by the retailers. But when Apple's Representatives] Subscribe now! standing with the big banks and T o m o r r o w H a r p e r C o l l i n s , S i m o n & first iPad came out in 2010, Apple S u b s c r i b e t o Wall Street." This entry passed through the S c h u s t e r , P e n g u i n , a n d had deals in place with five major ConsumerReports.org for expert The CFPB is relatively new, and Full-Text RSS service if this is Macmillianand Apple for publishers to use an agency Ratings, buying advice and was created as part of last year's your content and you're reading it possible "illegal agreements or pricing model: The publishing r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f Wall Street reform law passed in on someone else's site, please read practices that would have the companies set the prices and products. Update your feed Congress last year. Its goals are to the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentobject or the effect of restricting retailers (such as Amazon and preferences stop unfair and deceptive financial only/faq.php#publishers. Five competition." Apple) took a fixed cut of the practices, and to make sure Filters recommends: Donate to Although details of the DoJ's retail cost. financial companies are informing Wikileaks.
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Products/
Yahoo awarded $610 million Video: Consumer in e-mail lottery scam case, Reports sheds light may never see a dime on bulb brightness
Consumer Reports News (Consumer Reports)
apply for unauthorized credit cards or loans, or to fraudulently create documents bearing the Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:34:59 AM victims' personal identification Yahoo awarded $610 million in e and then use or sell it in a wide -mail lottery scam case, may variety of credit and identity never see a dime scams. Some of the 'winners' are A federal judge has awarded also deceived into sending the Yahoo $610 million in a case defendants money for processing regarding e-mail spam that told would prove difficult to track and mailing charges. recipients they had won a fake down. For advice on how to best protect Yahoo lottery. Despite the court's Close to 11.7 million fake notices yourself from online fraud, check ruling, though, the digital media of lottery winnings were sent out our Guide to online security, company will probably never through Yahoo's e-mail system which outlines some of the most collect. between December 2006 and May common threats. Also see Best Yahoo, which filed the suit in 2009, according to Yahoo. The ways to stay safe online. 2008, was able to identify the case was brought under the U.S. Yahoo! Awarded $610 Million fraudsters behind the scam e- Can-Spam Act. Against Spammers[Business mails through Internet records. In a statement, Yahoo said: This Wire] Court documents identified the type of lottery scam is a hoax Yahoo wins $610 million from s c a m a r t i s t s a s a N i g e r i a n designed to trick unsuspecting lottery scammers[CNNMoney] c o r p o r a t i o n , a T a i w a n e s e e m a i l u s e r s i n t o r e v e a l i n g Subscribe now! corporation, and a group of valuable personal data such as S u b s c r i b e t o individuals from Thailand and p a s s w o r d s , c r e d i t c a r d ConsumerReports.org for expert Nigeria, according to a report by information, and social security Ratings, buying advice and CNNMoney. None of the numbers. The perpetrators reliability on hundreds of defendants have responded to t y p i c a l l y u s e t h e s t o l e n products. Update your feed Yahoo's complaint, and as is the information to access recipients' preferences case with scams of this nature, bank accounts and credit cards, to
Consumer Reports News (Consumer Reports)

Submitted at 12/8/2011 7:37:59 AM
Video: Consumer Reports sheds light on bulb brightness Edisons incandescent lightbulb hasnt changed much since 1879, a remarkable run thats nearing its end. And considering that some of his inventions, like the phonograph, have evolved into modern devices, it makes you wonder what took lightbulbs so long to change. The incandescent is inexpensive and instantly provides a warm glow, but less than 10 percent of the energy used produces light and the rest escapes as heat. This inefficiency has made way for energy-saving CFL, LED and halogen bulbs. Each has its advantages, but unlike the standard incandescent, there are real differences in performance and savings. Our previous tests of CFL and LED replacements for 60-watt bulbs found many stellar choices. But when it comes to 100-watt incandescents, LED replacements from major manufacturers arent
yet available, and our latest tests of CFLs and halogen bulbs reveal you may sacrifice some brightness to save energy. The takeaway: The halogen bulbs we tested remained brighter than the CFLs and about as bright as a 100-watt incandescent. But when compared with a 100-watt incandescent, a CFL can save you a $100 or more on electricity per bulb over its lifetime, while a halogen bulb will save only $3 to $8. See our lightbulb Ratings to find the best of the batch. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
Products/ Gaming/ Sports/
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Calling All CES- Wendy's Hot 'N Goers! Woot Wants Juicy Not So Juicy: to Cover You! Consumer Reports
Video: Blake Griffin tries pro ping-ponging before the season starts
Kelly Dwyer (Y! Sports Blogs Yahoo! Sports)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:25:05 AM
can abuse. If you've got a CESrelated event and want Woot there Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:00:00 AM delivering snarky, irrelevant It's that time of year again, when coverage then hit up the Woot everyone comes together to focus Writers on Twitter. Let us know on the things that truly matter: what you've got going on and how The Consumer Electronics Show! we can "enhance" it.(I put And this year, let's remember to "enhance" in quotes because k e e p t h e C O N S U M E R i n really I meant "mooch off of it." Consumer Electronics Show. But seriously, we'll interview you Anyway, we here at Woot will be and junk.) heading to Las Vegas for our And if you're heading to CES in a annual exercise in expense geek blogger capacity, stay tuned account fraud, but this year we for a special opportunity to figured we'd try something a little become a Woot Writer For a Day! different: this year we thought Are you excited for CES and our we'd try preparing. annual avalanche of coverage? We're putting out the call. Are Planning on going yourself? Want you going to be at CES? Then to suggest something we should let's get together! We want to hear cover? Don't give a damn about from you if you'll be at the the whole thing and just came convention with a product to here to complain about an order or demonstrate, a party we can crash, something? Let's talk about it in a spokesman you'd like us to the comments! interview, or press credentials we
Marc Perton (The Consumerist)
onion, iceberg lettuce, sweet and sour pickle, ketchup, mayo, and Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:30:00 AM two slices of American Our sensory-specialist siblings c h e e s e w e r e n ' t a l w a y s over at Consumer Reports have "premium," as advertised. In some tasted the Dave's Hot 'N Juicy locations, the lettuce was wilted burger from Wendy's, and have or the tomato wasn't ripe. declared that the burger, while The tasters did find that "the parts thicker than previous Wendy's blended well," but also added that offerings, isn't all that juicy. "with all that stuff aboard, the Consumer Reports' tasters found burger can be messy." the beef at Wendy's outlets in Wendy's new Dave's Hot 'N Juicy suburban New York and New i s t h i c k e r , b u t n o t s o England: juicy[Consumer Reports] Our trained tasters found that the This entry passed through the burger was pan-seared, fairly Full-Text RSS service if this is beefy, tender, and thicker than your content and you're reading it before, and it filled up most of the on someone else's site, please read buttery-tasting, toasted bun. But the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentthe beef wasn't especially juicy, only/faq.php#publishers. Five and it sometimes had a fatty Filters recommends: Donate to flavor. ... Wikileaks. The toppingsa tomato slice, red
Throughout the NBA's lockout, we brought you news of Blake Griffin's internship, his video wizardry, and time spent chasing down that Jenga dragon with Kevin Love. The last installment in Blake's "What I did over the miserable NBA offseason" collection is likely this clip, sent to us by Red Bull, which features Blake having his way on the ping pong table. For a minute, at least. Until pingpong professional Soo Yeon Lee shows up. Watch: Welcome back to the court, Blake. Also, sweet compression shorts.
NintendoWare Weekly: Pushmo

JC Fletcher (Joystiq)
lessening of pessimism. Intelligent Systems' Pushmo is a puzzler about pulling stacked 3D Nintendo brings another original, blocks into and out of the screen downloadable 3DS game to the to make climbing paths. It makes eShop, inspiring ... not quite sense for a puzzle game on 3DS! opportunity to try out RedLynx's cautious optimism, but a cautious On WiiWare, we finally have the
Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:25:00 PM
MotoHeroz without paying $15 for the privilege. Gallery: Pushmo (3DS eShop) Continue reading NintendoWare Weekly: Pushmo NintendoWare Weekly: Pushmo originally appeared on Joystiq on
Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
60
Products/ Sports/ Featured/
How To Clean An HDTV Screen

Phil Villarreal (The Consumerist)
Florida fans tricked into distracting their own free throw shooter
Jeff Eisenberg (Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo! Sports)
half-water solution can help get rid of tougher spots. The post recommends using a Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:15:00 AM spray bottle to dampen your cloth, Dust, smudge marks and other and waiting until the TV is dry mysterious grime can obscure the before plugging it back in. Click picture on that TV you've made the source link for advice on how the centerpiece of your living to clean the TV's frame, as well as room. But the device is so other general care tips. seemingly fragile that it's How to Clean Your intimidating to attempt to clean it. H D T V [ P C W o r l d ] Back in July, PCWorld shared Previously: Don't Clean Your some tips on how to properly HDTV With Windex clean your flat-paneled best This entry passed through the friend. The process is easier than Full-Text RSS service if this is you'd think: your content and you're reading it Step 1: Unplug the TV. on someone else's site, please read Step 2: Wipe it down with a dry the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentcloth. only/faq.php#publishers. Five Step 3: If there are still smudges, Filters recommends: Donate to use a wet cloth. Distilled water is Wikileaks. preferable, and a half-vinegar,
about to release his free throw did Johnson take his seat in hopes the Gators crowd would still scream Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:10:16 AM "sit down" in unison. For a freshman making his first Johnson's ploy to distract Walker c a r e e r s t a r t a t p o i n t g u a r d might have worked had he timed Wednesday night, Arizona's Nick it just slightly better. Because he Johnson showed some surprising sat down as Walker attempted the guile. free throw, the crowd didn't yell Oh sure, Johnson's five-point, in unison until the foul shot was five-turnover night against Florida already in the air, enabling the was hardly memorable, but check Florida guard to sink it and out what the 6-foot-2 guard did increase his team's lead to five. after he fouled out with just over The near-miss was symbolic of one minute left in Arizona's 78-72 Arizona's night as a whole. overtime loss. Despite the absence of freshman With Florida's student section point guard Josiah Turner and a serenading him with college severe size disadvantage in the basketball's ubiquitous "left-right" paint, the Wildcats led Florida by chant as he walked off the court, s e v e n w i t h s e v e n m i n u t e s Johnson paused in front of his remaining in the second half bench for about 20 seconds before running out of gas and without moving. Only once failing to pull off the upset. Florida guard Erving Walker was How Arizona's performance
should be evaluated depends on whether one takes a optimistic or pessimistic stance. On the one hand, the Wildcats are rapidly improving as they adjust to life post-Derrick Williams and there won't be a lot of big men the caliber of Patric Young in the beleaguered Pac-12. On the other hand, it's mid-December and Arizona's best wins have come against New Mexico State and St. John's. It will help if Arizona can get Turner back on the floor so Johnson can move back to his natural shooting guard spot. Johnson's point guard debut wasn't auspicious, but he did a credible job under the circumstances and he almost outsmarted the Florida crowd too.
New Documents Suggest Gun Control Agenda Behind Fast and Furious Scandal
Mark Hemingway (The Weekly Standard)
much of the news in the Fast and Furious scandal, has yet another new scoop. New emails point to a Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:03:00 AM possible motivation for why the Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News, Justice Department was handing who's responsible for breaking o v e r t h o u s a n d s o f g u n s t o
argue for stricter gun control laws: Mexican criminal gangsthey were going to use the program to
Sports/
61
In light of Syracuse case, advocate says NY should extend statute of limitations on sex abuse - Minneapolis Star Tribune
(- Bing News)
the statute of limitations to bring charges of child sex abuse, a Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:49:42 AM victims' advocate said in response SYRACUSE, N.Y. - to a prosecutor's statement that it's Advocates for sexual abuse too late to investigate two men's victims are calling for a special claims that they were molested by prosecutor to look into ex- former Syracuse University Syracuse University assistant assistant basketball coach Bernie basketball coach Bernie Fine. Fine. Rev. Robert Hoatson of the Victims of childhood sexual advocacy group Road to Recovery abuse are "denied basic legal s a y s h e ' s p l e a s e d t h a t t h e rights," said the Rev. Robert O n o n d a g a C o u n t y d i s t r i c t Hoatson of the advocacy group attorney on Wednesday said he Road to Recovery. found credible allegations from "If there ever was a case that two former ball boys that Fine screamed `injustice,' it is this one, molested them. But the prosecutor since it glaringly displays the added that he couldn't bring state further damage that antiquated charges because the statute of laws can inflict on victims," limitations had expired. Hoatson said in a statement. Fine has denied the allegations. Two men, Bobby Davis and During a news conference with Michael Lang, say Fine abused advocates by the university them when they were boys in the Thursday, Hoatson said a special 1980s. The statute of limitations prosecutor should investigate expired five years after the other potential victims. Hoatson alleged abuse occurred. On said men's basketball coach Jim Wednesday, Onondaga County Boeheim, university Chancellor D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y W i l l i a m Nancy Cantor and others should Fitzpatrick said he believed Fine be interviewed as part of a grand abused the men but said he could jury's presentation. not bring state charges because THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS the statute of limitations had UPDATE. Check back soon for expired. further information. AP's earlier "Statutes of limitations promote story is below. silence rather than speaking out, New York state must lengthen and statutes force victims to live
with the effects of their abuse with the knowledge that nothing can be done about them," Hoatson said. A third accuser, Zach Tomaselli, sued Fine on Thursday in Pittsburgh for abuse he says happened in 2002 when the team played a road game there. The U.S. attorney's office is investigating. The federal statute of limitations in place in 2002, when Tomaselli says he was abused by Fine in a hotel room, allowed a victim to bring charges until he was 25; Tomaselli is 23. Fine, who was fired, has denied the claims. And Fitzpatrick has said school and travel records may undercut Tomaselli's account. Fitzpatrick lashed out at Fine and added other names to the list of what he says are victims: Fine's longtime friend, Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim, the university and the city. "Hasn't Bernie Fine caused enough pain in this community?" Fitzpatrick said. Davis went to the Syracuse PostStandard newspaper in 2002 and ESPN in 2003; neither media outlet could corroborate his claims. He went to the police, too, in 2002, and a detective told him
the statute of limitations had expired. Three years later, he went to the university; Syracuse had its lawyers do an internal investigation and says it, too, couldn't verify Davis' accusations. Then, on Nov. 17, with the country still caught up in the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State, where a former assistant football coach is accused of molesting 10 boys, Davis came forward on ESPN. Then Lang came forward. Ten days later, Tomaselli spoke out. That day, Nov. 27, ESPN aired a tape in which a woman it identified as Fine's wife tells Davis she knew "everything" that was going on. The university fired Fine that day. Fitzpatrick said if the claims had been brought within the statute, and if law enforcement knew of the tape, which he called "devastating," it would have resulted in "the arrest of Bernie Fine for child molestation." Fine, who was fired Nov. 27, has denied the charges. "Bobby, I'm sorry it took so long," Fitzpatrick said. "I wish I had met you as a prosecutor in 2002. Even more importantly, I wish I had met you as a prosecutor back in the 1980s. We wouldn't be here
today." The Associated Press generally does not identify people alleging sexual abuse, but the accusers in the Syracuse case have come forward publicly and agreed to be identified. When he went public again last month, Davis was maligned by Boeheim as an opportunist and a liar, accusations the coach later apologized for, saying he was defending a friend out of loyalty without knowing all the information. Victim advocates called for him to quit or be fired. Fitzpatrick said Boeheim, one of the top college coaches in the nation, whose team is currently ranked No. 3, was victimized by Fine, too. Fine's lawyers, Donald Martin and Karl Sleight, said in a statement that it appears records Fitzpatrick has turned over to the defense show "that there is proof that Tomaselli fabricated this allegation." Tomaselli also is charged in Maine with molesting a teenage boy and said this week that he'll plead guilty. The 65-year-old Fine had been Boeheim's top assistant since LIGHT page 63
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Sports/
Packers move Ennis and Texas Tech-ex Graham Harrell to active roster - Dallas Morning News
(- Bing News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 5:39:09 AM
GREEN BAY, Wis. Getting a modest pay raise was nice for Graham Harrell. What he really wanted was a sense that he had a future in Green Bay. The Packers signed Harrell from the practice squad to the active roster on Wednesday, fending off potential interest from the Buffalo Bills. And with Packers No. 2 quarterback Matt Flynn likely to get some free agent offers in the offseason from teams that might give him the chance to show he's a starter, Harrell now appears to have an inside track to becoming Aaron Rodgers' primary backup next season. It shows they want to keep you around, and that's always nice, Harrell said. It's a good thing to be wanted. It was a stressful day trying to decide what's the best situation. It's a good thing to be wanted and I've always enjoyed it and am happy to still be here. The move was a vote of confidence in Harrell. It's a great opportunity for
Graham, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. He's someone that's been in our program now for almost two years. I'm obviously favorable to the quarterback position, and what he adds to that room and to the locker room, he's a very likable young man. We think he has a promising future. And the Packers need a long-term backup plan, with Flynn likely to leave. Flynn, a seventh-round pick out of LSU in 2008, opened eyes around the NFL with a strong performance against New England last season. With Rodgers sitting out because of a concussion he sustained against Detroit a week earlier, Flynn threw for 251 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. The Packers lost that game, but Flynn proved his point. I think that Matt's definitely good enough to play in this league, there's no question, and I'm sure he wants a shot to start somewhere, Harrell said. If he got a shot next year, it would make the decision I made look a lot better. Either way, this is a place that I've loved from Day 1.
The organization treats you right (and) they win. You can't put a price on that. If you have an opportunity to stay, why not stay? Rodgers was happy to see Harrell get a shot. There were some conversations yesterday about his situation, Rodgers said. I think he has a bright future in this league. And with Matt's status up in the air about where he's going to be next year, I think Matt has played well enough to get some opportunities to be a starter in this league. When you've got a guy like Graham Harrell who's learned the position and done some really nice things, I think he has, definitely, the potential to be my backup and then a future starter in the league. Before deciding between Green Bay and Buffalo, Harrell talked it over with Rodgers. He told me I should stay, Harrell said. Maybe that was a selfish reason because he and I get along so well and he's pretty comfortable right now. I trust him and he wouldn't advise me in the wrong direction. I'm excited to be
here. Having him definitely helps, not only because we get along so well but he's such a great player and he can do everything he can to teach you. It's a great place to learn and develop. Harrell spent a tense Tuesday night talking with his agent, Joby Branion, then ultimately had to decide between Green Bay and Buffalo. They were very interested, Harrell said. I don't know what the quarterback situation is there. They didn't say they were giving (me) a position or anything like that. They just said, `We want to have you here,' and Joby said they were very interested and picked you and wanted you to come. Being here, it's been too great of a place to me and I've enjoyed every minute I've been here. This is too good of an organization to leave if you have an opportunity to stay. After a record-setting career at Texas Tech, Harrell spent 2009 on the injured list in the CFL. Harrell had tryouts during the Cleveland Browns' rookie minicamps in 2009 and 2010, but didn't stick. The Packers signed him in May
2010 and he spent most of last season on the practice squad, before the team signed him to its active roster for the final three games of the regular season and the postseason. Harrell wound up back on the Packers' practice squad this year, and once again has been called up to the active roster. This time, he hopes it's for good. I think this is as good a place to be if you're not starting, Harrell said. This is a better place anywhere in the NFL, obviously, because you have Aaron to learn from and a great coaching staff. This organization and the way they treat their people is second to none. If you're going to be somewhere to learn, I think this is the best spot to be. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Sports/ News Photos
63
Statistically speaking: Incredible drive lasts more than a quarter

Cameron Smith (Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo! Sports)
the field on nothing but running plays, eventually reaching the end zone with just 5:23 remaining in Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:27:06 AM the entire game. A high school football playoff "I knew we had a long drive. I game in Louisiana featured one of didn't think it was that long," the more remarkable offensive Carencro coach Brent Indest told drives in recent years, if not all the Times. "Byrd played their tails time. On Friday, Carencro (La.) off. We were bigger than they High ate up 14:52 on a single, 76- were. We knew we could shove yard touchdown drive. them around a little bit. They As reported by the Shreveport played with as much confidence Times and Acadiana Independent a s I ' v e s e e n . T h e y w e r e Weekly, among other sources, u n d e f e a t e d f o r a r e a s o n . " Carencro monopolized the second Almost by necessity, Carencro half of the school's 34-21, Class was immaculate on third and 5A state semifinal victory against f o u r t h d o w n s . T h e B e a r s Byrd (La.) High with a 28-play converted an incredible seven touchdown drive that lasted third downs and three fourth longer than an entire quarter. The downs over the course of the Bears received the the ball at their game, in which Carencro finished own 24 early in the third quarter, with an incredible 33:17 to 14:43 then methodically marched down advantage in time of possession.
Yes, a single Carencro possession lasted longer than Byrd had the ball over the course of the entire game. And, as always seems to be the case, the biggest assist on the team's remarkable drive came
all but seal the end of the team's season. And if there was any question that the epic drive would be the end, Carencro's Jalen Nixon took care of that, pushing forward for his fourth score of the game, part of a punishing 259yard performance. Those stats will likely live on in Carencro memories for some time, though they'll have a hard time overshadowing one of the longest drives anyone could possibly remember. Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit from the overaggressive defense, RivalsHigh or connect with Prep with Byrd flagged for a roughing Rally on Facebook and follow us the kicker call. on Twitter. That flag came on a 4th-and-18 from Byrd's 43-yard-line, keeping Carencro's drive alive. Little did Byrd know that the penalty would
LIGHT
1976. The U.S. attorney's office is investigating and has seized computers, cameras, phones and records during searches of his office, home and locker. Repeated attempts by The Associated Press to contact Davis, Lang and Fine have been unsuccessful. Knocks on the doors of the accusers' houses were unanswered Wednesday after Fitzpatrick's statement.
A woman hanging lights outside the Fines' house said the couple is in Florida. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Virtanen, Chris Carola and George Walsh in Albany and Michael Hill and John Kekis in Syracuse contributed to this report. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is
your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Photos: Albert Pujols agrees to $250 million deal with Los Angeles Angels - Denver Post
(news photos - Google News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:24:10 AM
Photos: Albert Pujols agrees to $250 million deal with Los Angeles Angels Denver Post In this photo taken Friday, June 26, 2009, St. Louis Cardinals
slugger Albert Pujols swings his bat as a fan takes a picture in the background during a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in St. Louis. Hometown favorite Pujols figures to own the... and more
64
Sports/ Gaming/ Daily World/
Report: Pujols leaving Cards for $250 million, 10 years - msnbc.com

The Colorado Springs Gazette ( - Bing News)
out Wednesday after agreeing to a deal with Mark Buehrle. The Cardinals exercised a $16 million Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:15:35 AM option on Pujols' contract after DALLAS ? Three-time NL MVP last season. The slugger rejected a Albert Pujols has agreed to a 10- multiyear extension that included year contract with the Los a s m a l l p e r c e n t a g e o f t h e Angeles Angels worth about $250 franchise over the winter and cut million to $260 million, a person off negotiations on the first day of familiar with the deal told The spring training. Pujols' numbers in Associated Press on Thursday. nearly every major offensive The person spoke on condition of category are on a three-year anonymity because it had not decline, but he remains among the been announced. Pujols led the St. game's elite players. He hit 37 Louis Cardinals to a World Series home runs last season, running his title this fall ? his second with the 30-homer streak to 11 years, and team. He had been pursued by the batted .299 with 99 RBIs. He led Miami Marlins, but they dropped the Cardinals' improbable late-
season surge and became only the third player to hit three home runs in a World Series game. Yahoo Sports first reported the Pujols deal. "For 2012, two wilds cards and no Albert Pujols. I'm happy," said Sandy Alderson, general manager of the Cardinals' NL rival New York Mets. ... Click here to continue to the story This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
'Alan Wake's American Nightmare' rated in Germany

Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq)
1 Peter 2:9 (12-08-11)

(Verse of the Day)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:00:00 AM
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9(NIV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... We are chosen with a purpose. We are brought
out of the darkness of sin and given the wonderful light of salvation so we can help others. You see, we are blessed to be a blessing and given light to shine to others. Most of all, we are called to point others to the one, true, never-interrupted light -Almighty God! My Prayer... Most holy and loving Father, thank you for giving me your light to push darkness out of my heart. Stir in
me a profound and holy awe at being made part of your special people -- a priest, a part of your holy nation, a child belonging to you. Your grace to save me is further demonstrated in your desire to use me for your glorious purposes. Thank you for your salvation. In the name of my Savior, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Another possibility is that American Nightmare is simply Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:25:00 AM Night Springs' title in Germany. A l a n W a k e ' s A m e r i c a n Finally, as something that would Nightmare was recently rated by be a genuine surprise: American Germany's USK ratings board. Nightmare is a different Alan The previously unknown title Wake project we know nothing comes just as Remedy is set to about. The answer should be officially announce a new chapter revealed this weekend during the in the Alan Wake saga. Given the Spike Video Game Awards, and title, we imagine it's about Wake we've asked Remedy for comment being chased by corn syrup in the meantime. monsters and overly large food ' A l a n W a k e ' s A m e r i c a n portions. Nightmare' rated in Germany So, what is American Nightmare? originally appeared on Joystiq on It could be the official, recently Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:25:00 EST. adjusted name of Alan Wake's Please see our terms for use of Night Springs, which is what feeds. we've been calling Wake's XBLA Permalink| Email this| Comments title ever since images leaked earlier this year.
Gaming/ Featured/ Politics/
65
Next steps in the world outline

Editor on my Macbook Air, and ask myself "What would you like to publish in outline form now Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:34:41 AM and how would you like to do it?" Let's try some open development Then I'm going to do it "by hand" here on Scripting News. and take notes. And see how I can Yesterday's post on the new make a super-simple poweroutline nodetype represented a limited user interface on the world topping-off in the functionality of outline. Adam and I will continue the world outline software. No to use the full power version we doubt there are more big features have now, and it will be available to add, over time, but first -- it's to anyone who wants it. I'm time to do a mix. The analogy is thinking of journalism students the job of a film editor. It's now and journalists, bloggers, moms, time to take all the raw footage, researchers, lawyers, thinkers, scenes and dialog, music and doctors, smart folk who want to special effects, and turn it into publish their ideas. The kind of something with a beginning, a people I made software for in the Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) Continue reading Amazon sale middle and an end and a plot that 80s, who were wonderful users on PS3 games: Resistance 3 for carries you through. Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:55:00 AM and appreciative and actually $30, Uncharted 3 for $40 Basically -- I'm going to start didn't mind spending a little Looking to get all your holiday Amazon sale on PS3 games: with a fresh install of the OPML money for something that made shopping done in a time frame Resistance 3 for $30, Uncharted 3 that won't elicit judgment from for $40 originally appeared on your even earlier-shopping peers? Joystiq on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 You can knock it all out today, 11:55:00 EST. Please see our provided you're only buying PS3 terms for use of feeds. themselves. In a speech at games for your loved ones. Permalink| Email this| Comments Jeffrey Goldberg (Politics : The Atlantic) Yeshiva University in April 2007, Amazon's got a bunch of great Romney said will to succeed at deals on titles for that platform. Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:39:08 AM Bain despite his outsider status Timothy Stanley writes on was pure "chutzpah." Theatlantic.com about Mitt Actually MoTs just say MoT. Romney's Mormon-derived Jewy And I'm not sure using the word vibe (Goldblog is an expert on "chutzpah" is proof enough of a that Mormon-Jewy vibe): candidate's Jewiness. Although The former Massachusetts pronouncing it correctly gets you governor has even picked up points, as Michele Bachmann some lingo from members of the learned, the hard way: tribe, as Jews sometimes refer to This article available online at:
(Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog)
Amazon sale on PS3 games: Resistance 3 for $30, Uncharted 3 for $40
them happy. Also thinking about how it will function as a platform for designers. I did a lot of work here, earlier this year, to create the best templating system ever (I hope). At least it's the best templating system for any publishing tool I've done. For prior art I looked at how Tumblr does it, because the designers love it so much, and the results they achieve with it are so stunning. But on the authoring side, the key thing is "power-limited." I know what the full-power tool looks like. I use it every day. Now the challenge is to create from all that power, a simple tool that's easy to get quick results from.
Romney's 'Chutzpah'
http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2011/12/romneyschutzpah/249675/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
66
Featured/ Food/ News Photos
Make your feed title meaningful

(Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:05:03 AM
Hey Hef: Lindsay Lohan's Playbook Photos Aren't 'Classy'; They're Demeaning - BlissTree
Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:46:54 AM
Starting the community river on Scripting News was one of the best things we've ever done. Some of the people who read this site are also great bloggers. I didn't know! Now I do. (Makes sense.) In the process I noticed something that was glaring, but somehow I didn't see. People don't put much effort into titling their feeds. Or they use the wrong perspective. They title it as they see it, calling it "The Blog" or something like that. Yes, to you
it is the blog, to the rest of us, it is just another blog. Better to tell us whose blog it is. News orgs title their topical feeds by the topic and leave out the name of the organization. The Podunk Sun's local news feed, might be titled "Local News" but that doesn't help much unless you know it's from Podunk (just an example, for all I know the Podunk paper does this right). The title on my feed used to be "Scripting News" but now it's Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog. To many people the name Scripting News doesn't mean very much. I think it should, but the
fact is that for a lot of people my name is a lot more meaningful than the name of the blog. I wanted to set a good example. The title of one of my favorite feeds is Untitled. I don't think they did it deliberately, I think it was never set. Anyway, this is something that won't take much time that we can all do to improve communication. Include your name, or the name of the organization it represents in the title. Look at it from the point of view of the reader. That's who you have to communicate to. You already know who you are, but the reader might not.
Hugh Hefner himself called them classy.... Lindsay Lohan Playboy Photos earsucker Leak Could Help Release Date: Hey Hef: Lindsay Lohan's EXCLUSIVE LALATE Playbook Photos Aren't 'Classy'; Lindsay Lohan Leaves Probation They're Demeaning Meeting in All-Black Outfit ( BlissTree PHOTOS) Celebuzz Granted, she won't have to spend Lindsay Lohan will debut her more community service hours at P l a y b o y p h o t o s t o E l l e n the LA County Morgue, but her D e G e n e r e s N a t i o n a l P o s t photos in the upcoming issue of Socialite Life- earsucker Playboy are nothing she should be all 512 news articles proud ofdespite the fact that
Texas Caviar
(Simply Recipes)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:07:33 AM
Tailgate season is coming to a close, but we still have bowl games coming up, as well as the NFL playoffs. So humor me as I sneak this perfect tailgate dip into the lineup. Texas caviar, what a name! Credited with its invention
is the legendary Austin-based Neiman-Marcus chef Helen Corbitt, who popularized it in the 1940s. Texas caviar is a cold black-eyed pea salad, with chiles, onions, and bell peppers that doubles as a dip for tortilla chips. This particular version of the and author of the newly released recipe comes from my friend Lisa Homesick Texan Cookbook. Now Fain, food blogger extraordinaire,
most of the food we make around here gets shared among manyparents, boyfriend, friends, brothers, neighbors. But this one? I did not share. Mine. All. Mine. It's that good. Continue reading "Texas Caviar"
Science/
67
A Global Astronomy Social Network To Let Amateurs Peep Through Robotic Telescopes
Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Array," will encourage amateur astronomers to make new discoveries that will not only improve astronomy education, but answer new questions for Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:20:00 AM Anyone can look through one of r e s e a r c h . t h e w o r l d ' s m o s t p o w e r f u l "The telescopes are not the most t e l e s c o p e s - - f r o m a n y w h e r e expensive resource in astronomy; Anyone who has ever owned a the most expensive resource is telescope understands the feeling people," Sanchez said in an of anticipation that comes with a interview. "This is a social c l o u d l e s s , m o o n l e s s n i g h t . network for the community to Whether it's humid and mosquito- teach and learn astronomy, using y or freezing cold, when the stars a real telescope, for free." show themselves, you do what it Gloria already has 13 partners, takes to prepare for a night who together own 17 research outside. What should I look for telescopes that can be connected tonight? Maybe a nice globular to the Internet. Sanchez hopes to c l u s t e r ; m a y b e J u p i t e r a t have at least six or seven of them opposition, looking graceful online by next year. His goal is to through new color filters. connect as many remotelyNow imagine answering these controlled scopes as he can - from questions from home while u n i v e r s i t y o b s e r v a t o r i e s t o commanding a 14-inch robotic backyard installations. The $3.4 telescope at Tenerife, in the million (2.5 million) project is remote Canary Islands. Where slated to last three years, but would you look? Francisco could be extended. Sanchez, director of a new A 10-inch Meade telescope at worldwide networked telescope S p a i n ' s M o n t e g a n c e d o project based in Spain, would like Observatory serves as the project's to hear your ideas. model. That open-access Starting next year, the telescopes t e l e s c o p e , l o c a t e d a t t h e at Tenerife and 13 other Universidad Politcnica de institutions around the world will Madrid's Facultad de Informtica, all be accessible online, free for can already be remotely operated anyone to log in and control. The through the Internet, using GLORIA project, for "GLObal software called Ciclope Astro. Its Robotic-telescopes Intelligent primary goal is to observe the sun
in the H-aplha band and spot new solar protuberances. Sanchez, who directs the observatory, said Gloria will use the same software. The goal is a new robotic telescope social network - the website is robtel.eu- with a vibrant, autonomous community, voting on its own choices and self -policing its members. This "karma" method may be one of Gloria's most unique aspects. Members will vote on the ideas and productions of other members, establishing and maintaining reputations to get telescope time, Sanchez said. He's still working on the metrics, but member karma will be calculated every day, which will help determine who gets to control which telescope. "If we have 1 million people connected to Gloria, we cannot have a committee of experts making a decision. But this is the traditional way of doing science when you have a big telescope, a lot of money is dedicated to that," he said. "But we've been doing that for 200 years. We can do something more dynamic." It works, for the most part, on websites like Digg, YouTube and eBay, where community members vote and rank members, Sanchez said. Quality producers rise to the top. "Nobody is controlling it; it's
controlled by the community," he said. Along with amateur astronomy, citizen astronomy is a rich and growing field, with legions of volunteers signing up for assignments through the Zooniverse project. Since it started in 2007, hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the world have logged into the Zooniverse and studied solar diagrams, Hubble telescope images, Kepler space telescope light curve data and more - for fun, sure, but also for real science. Sanchez hopes Gloria will inspire the same excitement. Organizers have not determined a goal yet amateurs might be asked to look for exoplanets, sunspots or nearEarth objects. But they'll also be able to look for whatever they want, a prospect that intrigues amateurs like Mike Markiw, a Pittsburgh-based astronomy enthusiast who has worked with Planet Hunters. "Everything I have done in the past has been more on the data analysis side. With Galaxy Zoo and Planet Hunters, they have already gathered the data with professional observatories or automated sky surveys, and the people that contribute to those projects analyze the data," he said. "Gloria is a much different
concept. This gives us a chance to generate the data, which some professional astronomer somewhere might go, You know, that's interesting, and that may apply to this thing over here.' In a lot of ways, it's very new for a citizen science project of this scope." Markiw said he would probably sign up, connecting to international telescopes along with his own 3.5-inch refractor and 8-inch Dobsonian. Sanchez said Gloria will likely start with viral invitations, allowing new users to invite their friends, a method that has worked for other social networks like Spotify and Google. He's confident it will catch on quickly, judging by past success with SkyLive, a worldwide Internet service that broadcasts solar flares and eclipses. The July 11, 2010 solar eclipse from Easter Island aired at the same time as the FIFA World Cup final - between the Netherlands and Sanchez's home country of Spain, no less - and it still had 50,000 viewers, he said. "So this is a very important audience," he said. "If you say you are going to give telescope time for free, many people will participate."
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Should Video Games Adhere to International Humanitarian Law?

Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
industry, VIDEO GAMES Online gamers are not going to be prosecuted under the Geneva Conventions, so don't worry, but the virtual killing of billions does Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:20:25 AM The Red Cross raises the question raise some questions, according to How many people have you the committee. killed in your valiant attempt to "In real life, armed forces are end World War III? Among all subject to the laws of armed the countless hours of game play conflict. Video games simulating worldwide, billions and billions of the experience of armed forces virtual people have met their ends therefore have the potential to during various editions of Call of raise awareness of the rules that Duty: Modern Warfare and other those forces must comply with first-person shooter games. This whenever they engage in armed m i g h t b e a n a f f r o n t t o conflict," the ICRC said on its international humanitarian laws, website today. "As a matter of according to the International fact, certain video games already Committee of the Red Cross. take into account how real-life Related Articles Spanish Military military personnel are trained to Tests Swarm Intelligence on behave in conflict situations." Video Game Battlefield Do Brutal A gathering of national Red Video Games Desensitize Players Cross/Red Crescent societies to Violence? Navy Says Video discussed video games and G a m e s C a n B o o s t " F l u i d international law as part of the Intelligence" of Warfighters Tags 3 1 s t c o n f e r e n c e o f t h e Technology, Rebecca Boyle, Call International Committee of the of Duty, humanitarian tech, laws, Red Cross/Red Crescent in modern warfare, video game Geneva. A bulletin posted on the
organization's website last week, originally reported at Kotaku, said the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was interested in video game depictions of battlefield violence. "While the Movement works vigorously to promote international humanitarian law (IHL) worldwide, there is also an audience of approximately 600 million gamers who may be virtually violating IHL," the bulletin said. Lots of virtual people die in firstperson shooter war games - as of January, 62 billion virtual people had died in COD: Black Ops, according to game maker Activision, and it's surely way more than that now. The phrase "international humanitarian law" extends to accords like the Geneva Conventions, which cover the treatment of war wounded and prisoners of war. There have been no recommendations nor decisions
regarding video games, but the committee acknowledged it is interested in working with game developers to promote a better understanding of international law in their games. "The ICRC welcomes the fact that certain video games on warrelated themes already take the law of armed conflict into account," it said. Some game-makers also make war simulations for real armed forces, so they might be well served by input from the largest international humanitarian organization. And it probably wouldn't hurt to teach online players the rules of a humane conflict. COD: MW3 already contains a no-tolerance policy against friendly fire, for instance, so it would be simple to add one covering your harsh treatment of that hostage Volk, who has intel on Makarov. Maybe you shouldn't tie him up. [ Daily Mail, AP]
Health/ News Photos
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Women's Groups Outraged By Ruling On Morning-After Pill

Julie Rovner (Shots - Health Blog)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 4:00:00 AM
[3 min 57 sec] Download Women's health advocates were quick to cry foul Wednesday when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the opinion of the Food and Drug Administration that the popular "morning after" emergency contraceptive "Plan B One Step" should be allowed to be sold without a prescription and without age restrictions. "As doctors and researchers have repeatedly stated, ample research shows Plan B to be safe for women of all ages and appropriate for over-the-counter access. It is deeply disappointing that this administration would repeat the mistakes of the previous one," said Susan Wood, an associate professor at George Washington University's School of Public Health. Wood was an assistant commissioner for women's health at the FDA but quit in 2005 over its continued delay on over-thecounter approval for Plan B. The result of Sebelius' action is that Plan B will remain available to women ages 17 and older without a prescription, but those 16 and younger will still need to
see a doctor first in order to get the product. That split approval means, in fact, that even older women will still face barriers to obtaining the contraceptive. No matter how old you are, "having to go in, show your ID, talk to someone you've never met before and say 'I need Plan B' can be embarrassing," says Atsuko Koyama, a pediatrician and emergency room doctor at Boston Medical Center and a board member of the group Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. If the age restrictions are removed, Koyama said, "just going to the drug store and buying the Plan B along with your birthday cards and your other sundry items [would] help increase the access and decrease the number of unintended pregnancies." In her letter rejecting the FDA's recommendation, Sebelius noted that if all age restrictions were removed, "the product would be available, without a prescription or other point-of-sale restrictions, even to the youngest girls of reproductive age" and questioned whether the company, Teva Pharmaceuticals, provided enough data to show those girls would
have the ability to use the product correctly. But Wood said that sets a double standard. "They don't do this for pain medication, headache medication, cold medication," she said. "That's not part of how we assess products. Are we going to go and now do this with all products, or are contraceptives once again being singled out for this special treatment and this extra standard when we're talking about a very safe and very effective product that can really help women?" Wood and others said Sebelius' action reminded them of how the Bush administration treated the issue. "For me personally this is an incredibly disappointing moment," said Kirsten Moore, president of the Reproductive Health Care Technologies Project. "Because I was in the East Room of the White House in March 2009 when [President Obama] signed an executive order saying this administration was committed to restoring scientific integrity to the policymaking process. And that commitment just went up in smoke today." But not everyone is unhappy with the decision. "I think that most reasonable
people will agree that a young girl who's sexually active seeing a medical professional is a positive thing," said Jeanne Monahan of the conservative group the Family Research Council. Lifting the age restrictions, she said, "we think is not in the best interest of young women's health." Meanwhile, the Obama administration is facing yet another contraception-related decision: whether to back away from new rules requiring most religious employers to include contraception in their health insurance plans. Catholic leaders have already met personally with Obama to lobby for the change. That, says Moore, coupled with this latest decision, is not a good sign. "When there's political pushback, they back down," she said of the administration. A decision on the contraceptive rules is expected any day. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
ZangZing Redesigns Photo Sharing With Version 2.0 MarketWatch (press release)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 7:04:37 AM
ZangZing Redesigns Photo Sharing With Version 2.0 MarketWatch (press release) SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Dec 08, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ZangZing, a company dedicated to redesigning photo sharing, is announcing ZangZing version 2.0. Version 2.0 makes it simple for users to add photos from anywhere; enhances group photo sharing,... and more
When 'Critical Access Hospitals' Aren't So Critical

(Shots - Health Blog)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 4:03:00 AM
[5 min 33 sec] Download Jenny WHEN page 70
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WHEN
Gold/ for NPR Shirley Holden, 78, has been coming to Hood Memorial Hospital since 1971. She says if the hospital were to close, she'd mostly stay home. "I would not be going ... anywhere else unless I went on a stretcher." Hood Memorial Hospital, in Amite, La., hasn't been full in at least two decades. Some people say that makes it's a perfect target for efforts to reduce federal spending. On an average day, fewer than four of the hospital's 25 beds are occupied. Last year, Hood posted a $700,000 loss on its $7.5 million in total operating expenses. One of the few bright spots on Hood's balance sheet: the extra money it receives from the federal government through a program for critical access hospitals small facilities that receive a higher Medicare reimbursement rate to help keep them afloat. In the ongoing deficit reduction talks, critical access hospitals have been singled out at least twice as a program ripe for cutting: in President Obama's budget proposal and by the Congressional Budget Office. The program was created by Congress in 1997, after a wave of
rural hospitals closures, to make sure Americans in isolated areas would still have access to health care. Hospitals with 25 or fewer beds that are at least 35 miles away from another facility, or 15 miles across secondary roads, qualify. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that in 2003, these hospitals were paid an average of $850,000 more than they would have been without the CAH designation. But there was also a loophole: States could waive the distance requirement and they did. Today more than 1,300 U.S. hospitals nearly one in four acute care facilities are designated as critical access. Congress eliminated the exception in 2006. But the program grandfathered in hospitals like Hood which is located in a small town, but within a 26-mile radius of at least four other hospitals. When I visited in November, Shirley Holden, 78, was an inpatient at Hood being treated for dehydration. She's been coming since the hospital first opened in 1971 and argues that seniors in Amite need a hospital in town because "a lot of us just can't afford to hire someone to take us
to another hospital, and all of our families work." If the hospital closed, she says, "mostly I'd stay at home. I would not be going to North Oaks or anywhere else unless I went on a stretcher." North Oaks Medical Center, 22 miles away, is the threat to Hood's financial stability. It's a booming hospital complex packed with 2,400 employees and a healthy profit margin. And it's getting bigger: A $200 million construction project will add another 79 new beds and 14 new operating suites. Those kinds of resources make it attractive to area patients, says Michele Sutton, executive vice president at North Oaks. "If they're having a heart attack, they're not going to stop at a local smaller hospital without an open heart program or a cath lab," she says. "They're going to come straight here." Gail Wilensky, former administrator of Medicare and Medicaid, says the critical access program remains valuable, but it needs to be trimmed back because of hospitals like Hood. "What started out as a reasonable concept has morphed into a program that is providing funds to a financially stressed group of
hospitals that are not, in any reasonable sense of the term, critically needed to stabilize care for their community," Wilensky says. Even if Hood can keep its critical access funding, CEO Hoppie Jones says the hospital may close its doors. His problems are myriad. "It's not any one thing," Jones says. "It's the uninsured, our inability to collect payments from patients, it's the tightening up of the funding on the federal and state side. It's a lot of variables, and all of them right now are working against us." This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes NPR, member stations, and Kaiser Health News. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Experimental Vaccine For Stomach Flu Might Work

(Shots - Health Blog)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:13:00 AM
Marco Garcia/ AP In early 2007, health officials boarded the Queen Elizabeth 2 (seen here in Honolulu) to investigate a stomach flu outbreak that sickened more than 300 people. Nothing ruins a nice cruise or a gluttonous run down the office party buffet like the norovirus. The obnoxious virus causes the euphemistically-named stomach flu and is one of the most common foodborne illnesses. If you catch it, there's no drug to make you better. You pretty much have to ride out the diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain for a few days. For now the best way to prevent the illness is with good hygiene. Even then, the highly contagious virus is hard to contain. So there's growing interest in a vaccine. EXPERIMENTAL page 71
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EXPERIMENTAL
An experimental vaccine being developed by LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals has been tried in a study involving almost 100 people. And the results, though preliminary, suggest a vaccine could help protect people from norovirus. In the test, half the people got two spritzes of vaccine in the nose three weeks apart. The others got placebo spritzes on the same schedule. Three weeks after the second spritz, the study volunteers faced a pretty tough test. They had to swallow 10 times the amount of norovirus that is usually enough to infect half the people exposed to it. What happened? More than two-
thirds of the people who got placebo came down with stomach flu. Only 37 percent of those who got two doses of the vaccine did. Side effects that could have been related to the study were about the same in both groups. The result come with some caveats. The vaccine didn't lead to as strong an immune response as a natural infection. It's also not clear how long a vaccine's protection would last. And there are lots of different noroviruses, so a vaccine won't really be ready for prime time until it can tackle several of those at the same time. Still, the researchers conclude, the study "shows that it may be possible to use a vaccination strategy to prevent norovirus
disease." The work was funded by LigoCyte and the National Institutes of Health. The results appear in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
In Pictures: Energy Departments Renewable Energy Investments

Lachlan Markay (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:30:03 AM
The Washington Post put together a handy infographic examining the distribution of $36
billion in Energy Department financing for renewable energy companies. Solar power generation companies were the largest beneficiaries of DOEs investments, with twelve companies having received a third
of the financing under the program.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to
Wikileaks.
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Politics-Right/
Islamists Dominate First Round of Egyptian Elections

James Phillips (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
Egyptian Bloc coalition, which placed third with 13 percent. The Nour Party is an extremist Islamist group supported by many Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:45:41 AM Egyptian Islamists are poised to S a l a f i s t s i . e . , M u s l i m emerge as the big winners in fundamentalists who seek to Egypts parliamentary elections, a emulate the behavior of the complex electoral process that earliest Muslim converts. They will be held in phases until want to establish an Islamic state March. governed by Sharia (Islamic law) The first round of voting, to fill t h a t w o u l d i m p o s e r i g i d one-third of the seats in the lower restrictions such as banning house of parliament, was held on alcohol, compelling women to November 2829, with run-off w e a r m o d e s t c l o t h i n g , a n d votes held on December 56. discriminating against nonAlthough the official results have M u s l i m s . A l t h o u g h m a n y not yet been released, early Salafists, like the Amish, cultivate reports based on partial results bushy beards without moustaches, indicate that the first round of t h e y d i f f e r i n t h a t t h e y elections was dominated by the aggressively seek to impose their Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom beliefs on others. and Justice Party, which received Egyptian Salafists have distanced about 37 percent of the vote. themselves from the more The biggest surprise was the pragmatic views of the Muslim number of votes cast for the ultra- Brotherhoods Freedom and radical Islamist Nour (Light) J u s t i c e P a r t y , w h i c h h a s Party, which came in second with modulated its rhetoric to avoid about 24 percent of the vote, scaring Egyptian liberals and eclipsing the secular, liberal Egypts Western allies. Behind
the scenes, however, the Muslim Brotherhood is purging many of its moderates. The disastrous showing of Egyptian liberal and secular political parties, which played an important role in mobilizing protests against the Mubarak regime earlier this year, should come as no surprise. The Mubarak regime did a much more thorough job of dismantling such opposition parties than it did in repressing the Muslim Brotherhood, which it permitted to run in the 2005 elections. This head start helped magnify the advantages of the Muslim Brotherhood in the current elections, in which it was much better organized and better financed and was able to tap into grassroots networks based in mosques. Egypts military leaders also reportedly entered into an unholy alliance with Islamist political parties before the elections to covertly funnel money, food, and security support
to the Freedom and Justice, Nour, and allied Salafist parties. Although Egypts liberal activists received a lot of coverage in Western media for their Facebook Revolution, they represented only a tiny portion of Egypts population. Their hightech networking was effective in organizing protests but not so much in propelling a political campaign in a country in which roughly one-third of the people are illiterate. As a result, the promise of Egypts Arab Spring is likely to be dissipated in an Islamist winter. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Politics-Right/ Social Media/
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Sen. McConnell: Americans My Xbox Live Dont Approve of Anything Hits the iOS App Obama Has Done Store
Rob Bluey (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
tsunami in Japan, the debt crisis in Europe, and of course, Republicans in Congress, and rich people and Wall Street. In other Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:12:29 AM In an exclusive interview with words, anybody but [Obama]. The Heritage Foundation, Senate Hes the president of the United M i n o r i t y L e a d e r M i t c h States. Hes the one whos asking McConnell (R-KY) sharply us to give him another four criticized President Obama for years. engaging in class warfare and When asked about Obamas accused him of shifting the focus populist speech in Kansas this away from his own failed policies week, McConnell said it was in advance of next years election. simply an attempt to deflect My view is hell have a hard attention away from unpopular time convincing Americans he p o l i c i e s l i k e t h e e c o n o m i c deserves four more years of this, stimulus, Obamacare, Dodd-Frank McConnell said. Theres nothing and the nations 8.6 percent hes done that the American unemployment rate. people approve of, so of course, The president is trying to pit one hes trying to change the subject. set of Americans against another, McConnell addressed a range of McConnell said. Hes trying to issues during the interview, from turn this election into anything but the unconstitutional National what the election is really about. Popular Vote scheme to Senate This election is going to be Democrats failure to pass a about his performance, and if the budget for more than 950 days. election were held tomorrow, hed But he reserved his toughest talk be going into another line of for Obama. work. His strategy is quite simple; its As lawmakers prepare for yearto blame anybody but himself for end fights on the payroll tax and t h e p r o b l e m s w e v e h a d , other issues, McConnell said he McConnell said. Among the would attempt to force Obama to culprits that have been listed: the make a decision on the Keystone
XL pipeline. McConnell called the pipeline a shovel-ready project that will create jobs and bring energy resources to the United States. Obama has deferred a decision until after next years election in a move that is widely viewed as a political calculation to appease environmentalists. This is a project ready to go, McConnell said. All it needs the permission of the president of the United States. So legislatively, were going to demand the president make a decision within 60 days. The interview runs about 6 minutes. Hosted by Rob Bluey and produced by Brandon Stewart. For more videos from Heritage, subscribe to our YouTube channel. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Zachary Sniderman (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:14:10 AM
Xbox has just released the My Xbox Live app for iOS. The app follows close on the heels of a massive update for Xbox 360 which turns Microsofts video game console into a gesture and voice-controlled media hub. The free mobile app is a companion to the 360, allowing users to access their Xbox Live profile and achievements, edit their avatar and connect with friends over the social web. No, you cannot play Xbox games through the app. Microsoft and Apple have had a complicated rivalry over the years as the companies butted heads while showing some begrudging mutual respect. The release of My Xbox Live is a nice example of crosspollination. Apple doesnt have a home console so theres little to lose by allowing Microsofts games-based app to go live. My Xbox Live might be a welcome addition to
the app market but Microsoft is still withholding some functionality. The tech giant is developing another app, specific to Windows phones, which will integrate with the 360s new features such as allowing users to browse through media and cloud data as well as use their phones as remote controls for their console. The iOS app, which runs on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and requires iOS 4.3 or later, is a nice olive branch in the games arena, but will it lead to more Xbox apps for Apple products? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. More About: App, games, Gaming, microsoft, Mobile, xbox
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Politics-Right/ Technology/
The Coming GOP Gingrich Freakout

David Frum (FrumForum David Frum)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 6:51:45 AM
Todays question is: will the Gingrich balloon deflate like all the previous Not Mitt balloons? The answer is: yes of coursebut given that these balloons take typically 6-8 weeks to shrivel, the impending Gingrich bust may not arrive soon enough to save Romney. No question though, it will arrive in time to freak out the Republican party. The most important thing to remember about Gingrich is not the three marriages, not the dubious financial practices, not the abrupt reversals on healthcare mandates and climate change. Its not the grandiosity of language, not the habit of casting opponents as un-American, not the lack of self-awareness that allowed him to impeach a president for lying under oath about an extramarital
affair while engaged in an extramarital affair of his own. The most important thing to remember about Newt Gingrich is that his colleagues in the House of Representatives effectively fired him as their leader even before the impeachment crisis, shifting power instead into the more competent hands of Tom DeLay.
It was Tom DeLay who ran the caucus while Newt Gingrich was traveling the country giving speeches about Total Quality Management and the Struggle for Western Civilization. Gingrich was not pushed aside by his caucus for any of the offenses listed above. He was pushed aside because he plunged the caucus
not now abruptly change. The chaos that surrounded him as Speaker, the chaos that engulfed his presidential campaign earlier this year that chaos will replicate itself again. But when? Its less than 5 weeks to the New Hampshire primary. Perhaps Gingrich can behave himself till then, in which case Mitt Romney has a big problem on his hands. But its more than 8 full months to the Republican convention in Tampa. Prediction: if Gingrich has emerged as the nominee by then, the mood of that convention will into chaos, because he lost fights be full unconcealed panic. that he himself had chosen, This entry passed through the because he could not control his Full-Text RSS service if this is mouth, because he wanted to be a your content and you're reading it star more than he wanted to get on someone else's site, please read things done. Theres a reason the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentGingrich is fascinated by only/faq.php#publishers. Five management gurus: he needs the Filters recommends: Donate to help. Wikileaks. That weakness in Gingrich will
Kobo Vox review

Brian Heater (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:00:00 PM
Kobo has long been happy to position itself as the underdog in the e-reader race, a spin that's based on more than a few grains of truth. After all, what else should this small Canadian company call itself after years of going head to head with giants
like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony? In spite of its perceived disadvantages, though, it's remained competitive with products like the eReader Touch Edition, a device that matched the Nook and Kindle feature-forfeature. Now, the company is attempting to pull off a similar feat with the Vox, its first entry in the tablet
space -- and a clear shot across the bow at a couple low-cost
slates from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Can the e-reader David pull off an upset against a couple of Goliaths this go 'round, or have the company's limited resources finally gotten the better of it? Watch the battle unfold before your eyes, after the break. Gallery: Kobo Vox review Continue reading Kobo Vox review
Kobo Vox review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments
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75
A History of Western Typefaces [INFOGRAPHIC]

Lauren Drell (Mashable!)
You see approximately 490,000 words every day and thats just Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:10:51 AM on the web. If the designers The Fontography Series is behind those websites are any supported by join.me, the easiest good, they put a lot of thought way to have an online meeting. into the typefaces they use on join.me lets you instantly share each page. your screen with anyone, for free. Fonts dont just display letters as Use it to collaborate, demo, show words and sentences. They off the possibilities are endless. convey emotion, attitude and tone. Try it today. They call out what information is
most important and help you navigate through a site. Hate Comic Sans? Youre not alone. There are plenty of reasons for despising the font, according to many fontographers and font enthusiasts. Love Helvetica? Youre not alone many designers love its clean and simple aesthetic. The infographic below presents a
history of typefaces, incorporating fun tidbits from tech, pop culture and the web. Do you know what font the Google logo is? What about Facebook? Take a peek below to learn these and more. Infographic design by Nick Sigler Series supported by join.me The Fontography Series is supported by join.me, the easiest way to have an online meeting.
Named one of Time magazines best websites of 2011, join.me lets you share your screen so you can instantly get together, collaborate, demo, show off and more. Plus, its totally free. How will you use it? Check it out today. More About: features, Fontography Series, fonts, HISTORY page 76
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Facebook Timeline: 10 Fresh Designs for Creative Inspiration [PICS]

Amy-Mae Elliott (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:34:25 AM
1. Antonio Fadda Brilliantly imaginative, Fadda turns his profile into a security checkpoint. Click here to view this gallery. Do you have the new Facebook Timeline design yet? If so, youve noticed the new cover photo space at the top of each profile page.
If youd like to do something clever with your cover photo, but are lacking a little inspiration, then were here to help! We have found 10 fresh Facebook Timeline designs to jumpstart your creativity. SEE ALSO: 10 Facebook Timeline Designs That Will Blow You Away [PICS]| Facebook Cover Photo Timeline: 10 Stunning Designs Take a look through the gallery [PICS]| HOW TO: Make the Most f o r s o m e g r e a t T i m e l i n e of the New Facebook Timeline concepts.When you create your
own, share it with the Mashable community in the comments below. More About: Facebook, facebook
timeline, features, gallery For more Dev & Design coverage: Follow Mashable Dev & Design on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Dev & Design channel Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
HISTORY
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Google+ and Goggles apps for Android updated with new features
Sharif Sakr (Engadget)
and people from within the Google+ app, as well as add your +1 to photos and comments, see It's time to stop ignoring that the 'online' and 'typing' status of "updates available" notification your Messenger buddies, and and start enjoying some refreshed upload videos and full-res photos. Google goodies on Android. Meanwhile, Goggles now has a multiple items without you having You'll now be able to search posts 'continuous mode' that can log to fiddle with the shutter button,
Submitted at 12/8/2011 12:41:00 PM
the ability to link straight to any online versions of hard-copy text, and also better crowdsourcing so users can add less well-known objects like toothpaste squeezers and Off the Hook shower heads to Google's ever-expanding database.
Google+ and Goggles apps for Android updated with new features originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Recombu| Android Market| Email this| Comments
Daily World/
77
Medic with bad back 'failed to help dying 14-year-old girl'

Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent (Evening Standard - News)
EU warns they will not let Britain have its own special deal
Joe Murphy, Political Editor (Evening Standard - News)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 2:05:54 AM
Ambulance Service paramedics that one of them said "f*** health and safety, let's get her off", the inquest was told. The access gates Submitted at 12/8/2011 8:47:20 AM Paramedics refused to carry a 14- to the park were locked, which year-old girl who collapsed and meant the ambulance could not died during a cross-country run get in so six people had to carry blaming "health and safety", an Shannon on a trolley down the inquest heard today. longest route to the vehicle Shannon Powell suffered a because it was hilly, North seizure during the Middlesex London coroner's court was told. Cross Country Championships at Shannon's condition deteriorated Trent Park, Enfield. on the way to the ambulance and However, it took almost an hour "one second she was there, the for an ambulance to arrive and next she was gone," the inquest t h e n p a r a m e d i c s w a l k e d heard. "incredibly slowly" to where Shannon, a Year 10 pupil at Shannon had collapsed, the N o r t h w o o d C o l l e g e , w a s hearing was told. representing Ealing, Southall and The paramedics then said they Middlesex Athletics Club in the could not move Shannon for girls' under-15 race and was just "health and safety" reasons three weeks from her 15th because one of them had a bad birthday. back, the inquest heard. She died from a form of heart A First Aider and his team disease called arrhythmogenic managed to calm right ventricular cardiomyopathy, Shannon down, but said that the inquest was told. when paramedics put her on the Race volunteer Catherine trolley she "sat bolt upright and Sheppard was first at the scene screamed". after Shannon collapsed on T h e F i r s t A i d e r s w e r e s o January 8 this year. She said: exasperated by the London "The response of the London
Ambulance Service was it was against health and safety. At that point I felt very irritated and annoyed. It was the female paramedic's health and safety and her back was an issue." Paramedic Cassandra Lynn gave evidence to the inquest into Shannon's death and denied she had put her patient's health beneath her own. She told the coroner: "What I actually said was we need to think of the health and safety involved for everybody - that included her safety. "I was trying to gain control of the situation, which was quite difficult." The life-saver described how the call was graded "green," meaning it was considered less serious, while they were still on their way to the scene, having been dispatched from Chase Farm Hospital at midday. However, she told how there was confusion about where the ambulance should go and once they arrived, just after 12.30pm, they found the gates to the park locked.
She said they had to abandon their vehicle at the gates and dashed into the green space on foot, carrying their equipment with them. Shannon had collapsed, shaking violently, half a mile away from the entrance but it took until around 12.50pm for them to reach the scene, the inquest heard. Ms Lynn said she and her colleague took longer to reach the teenager because they were weighed down by the bags they were carrying and told the coroner she repeated the journey later, empty-handed and it took around eight or nine minutes. The inquest continues. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
European leaders today turned on David Cameron as they rejected his demand for a special deal for Britain. The Prime Minister was left looking isolated on the eve of a crunch summit to save the euro as he was told Europe "will not accept" his plea to protect the Square Mile. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who chairs meetings of eurozone finance ministers, said: "It must not be allowed that Great Britain, for example, is granted special rules for its financial market or weaker social legislation. "I do not want the United Kingdom setting aside entire pages to say the United Kingdom will not do what all the others have to do. I will not accept that." The Euro heavyweight went on the attack ahead of a historic meeting in Brussels to stop the world being plunged into a nightmare economic crisis. Downing Street insisted that Mr Cameron would be tough in battling to protect the City of London from a punishing financial transaction tax. But the Prime Minister appeared to lack WARNS page 78
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Daily World/
Till debt do us part: divorce soars in recession
WARNS
allies as European Commission president Jos Manuel Barroso warned that countries must not focus on national concerns. German leader Angela Merkel has already indicated that she will Jonathan Prynn, Consumer sharp recession that followed it. it all up'." not give in to British demands. Business Editor (Evening They said the divorce rate pattern The statistics for England and Mr Barroso said: "What I expect Standard - News) was following the one seen in the Wales show how the divorce rate from all heads of state and aftermath of the early Nineties has steadily risen over 40 years. Submitted at 12/8/2011 6:51:13 AM government is that they do not The number of couples divorcing recession. Of the couples taking their vows has soared for the first time in The Office for National Statistics, as recently as 1995, a third have come saying what they cannot do but what they will do for Europe. almost a decade as a result of the which compiled the figures now received their decree nisi. All the world is watching us, and economic crisis. revealing divorces last year hit This compares with just 22 per Shock figures today revealed a 113,949, said: "The figures show cent of marriages in 1970 that what the world awaits from us is five per cent leap in marital that divorce rates continued their ended over the same period. It is not more national problems but breakdowns to almost 114,000 downward trend during 2008 and the first annual increase in European solutions." Meanwhile, the Finnish European last year, after they fell for most 2009 but increased in 2010. divorces since 2003, when there affairs minister Alexander Stubb of the Noughties. "This could be consistent with the were 153,065 break-ups - a rise They show that four out of 10 theory recession is associated with from 147,735 the previous year. said the UK would not be a couples will never reach their an increased risk of divorce - but Divorces last year were highest central player at the Brussels silver anniversary - and one in 12 with a delayed impact, perhaps among men and women aged 40 summit, as it was not a member of marriages from 2005 is already reflecting a couple's wait for an to 44, the ONS added. The rate the eurozone. over. Divorce specialists said the economic recovery to lift the rose from 10.5 divorcing people He told the BBC: "I have no financial crisis and economic value of their assets or the time per thousand of the married problems with the UK position. downturn over the past three years lag between separation and population in 2009 to 11.1 per But the UK is not to be very frank a central player because it is not h a d p u t h u g e s t r a i n s o n obtaining a decree absolute." thousand last year. in the euro, and of course, because relationships. Mr Harper said a collapse in This entry passed through the Mark Harper, a partner at London bonuses may have paradoxically Full-Text RSS service if this is of its opt-outs, so the UK position law firm Withers, said: "People contributed to a fall in the number your content and you're reading it I think is understandable." Mr Cameron faces a bloody Tory are sometimes more willing to put of City bankers divorcing. on someone else's site, please read up with marriage problems if He said: "In 2008 and 2009 fewer the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- revolt including possible Cabinet there is enough money. But if a bankers were getting divorced. only/faq.php#publishers. Five resignations if he is seen as failing marriage is rocky and the husband Previously their attitude would Filters recommends: Donate to to stand up for Britain during the landmark reshaping of Europe. isn't earning as much as before, have been 'I'm going to trade Wikileaks. Eurozone leaders at the summit that can be the final straw." down to a younger model and it are threatening to strike a deal of Government statisticians also doesn't matter how much it costs the 17 nations using the single linked the number of divorces to because I'm going to get a currency rather than bow to the 2008 banking crisis and the fabulous bonus next year to make demands from Britain and other EU nations which they deem unacceptable. Eurozone ministers are already meeting in Brussels, ahead of Mr
Cameron's arrival, raising fears that a deal is already being stitched up. In another sign of the severity of the crisis, the European Central Bank cut its interest rates to a historic low of one per cent, down from 1.25 per cent. Mr Cameron today vowed to stand up for Britain. Speaking at a PM Direct event in west London, the Prime Minister said: "Britain needs those European markets open for our businesses, our goods, our services, we've always needed that. "But there's a crisis right now in Europe. The euro, the single currency, isn't working properly. "That's having a terrible effect on those countries, but it's also having a big impact on us, and we need those eurozone countries to come together, to make changes, to sort out their problems, and to get the institutions of the eurozone behind that currency, so they get their economies moving again, and that'll be good for us." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Politics/
79
The return of the 400K myth

Ed Morrissey (Hot Air Top Picks)
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent for the week ending Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:40:54 AM November 26, a decrease of 0.2 posted at 11:40 am on December percentage point from the prior 8, 2011 by Ed Morrissey weeks unrevised rate. There seems to be no more fertile The advance number for area for s t a t i s t i c a l seasonally adjusted insured misinterpretation than with unemployment during the week unemployment numbers. We saw e n d i n g N o v e m b e r 2 6 w a s this last week with the monthly 3,583,000, a decrease of 174,000 jobless report, in which a 0.4% from the preceding weeks revised drop in the topline unemployment level of 3,757,000. The 4-week rate occurred even though the moving average was 3,667,250, a economy only added 120,000 decrease of 20,500 from the jobs, which would only cover the preceding weeks revised average average population growth, while of 3,687,750. almost three times that number We have been bouncing between dropped out of the workforce. 380K and 410K for the last Even the media didnt really buy several weeks, which is an that as an improvement, and improvement over the level we neither did voters, if one uses the saw this summer of 420K or so. Gallup tracking poll as a measure, However, this essentially brings and for good reason. us back to the level seen in Q1 Today, were seeing a resurgence before the impact that rising gas of a long-debunked myth with the prices and the tsunamis in Japan latest report from the Department h a d o n t h e e c o n o m y . N o t of Labor on weekly initial jobless c o i n c i d e n t a l l y , t h e o v e r a l l claims. The DoL reported a mild economy has returned to about the improvement in the level: same level of health, with a In the week ending December 3, stagnation-level 2.0% GDP rate in the advance figure for seasonally Q3. Its an improvement, but adjusted initial claims was only a marginal one, especially in 381,000, a decrease of 23,000 the context of the continued from the previous weeks revised exodus of working-age adults figure of 404,000. The 4-week from the workforce and the lowest moving average was 393,250, a level of civilian participation in decrease of 3,000 from the 30 years. previous weeks revised average However, that still hasnt kept of 396,250. media outlets from heralding the
400K level as an indicator of job growth, which is as I have repeatedly shown a myth. Reuters offers a mild version of it in its report today, linking it to the jobless report from last week as a sign of momentum: New claims for unemployment benefitsdropped to a nine-month low last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining momentum. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000, the Labor Department said, the lowest since late February. That was below economists expectations for a fall to 395,000. The report, coming on the heels of data last week showing a rise in hiring and a sharp drop in the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent in November, pointed to some healing in a sector that has been the Achilles heel of the economys recovery. Nowhere in this report does Reuters mention the decline in the labor force, which puts the context of the drop in unemployment in a completely different context. National Journal goes a little farther, claiming that going below the 400K level brings the job market into a place where it can dent
unemployment: Economists had expected claims to drop from 402,000 to 395,000, according to Reuters. Instead, the previous week was revised up to 404,000 and claims fell by 23,000. The substantial drop puts them safely under the 400,000 level economists say they need to drop below to dent unemployment. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure of claims, was also below that level at 393,250. That is simply not so, at least not directly correlated to the 400K level. If anyone needed a check on that, all we have to do is look at the unemployment rates from Q1 when we spent several weeks at the 380K level and the jobless rate never dropped below 9%. Otherwise, we could take a look at the historical correlation between weekly jobless claims and job-growth levels, which show that we have to go much lower to indicate real job creation: Take a look at the historical series of weekly claims between December 2005 and December 2007, the last time we really had stability in the labor force. The highest number in that period was 355,000 in a week, and that was in December 2007 when the economy slid into recession. In fact, between January 2004 and January 2008, we had only two weeks of 400K-level weekly
claims, both in September 2005, and they were very much the exception. The average for that four-year span is 326,735, and the median number is 324,000 which is why I usually use the 325K number in my analyses. We actually didnt get to the 400K level until July 2008, at which point no one considered the labor market stable. Think Im fudging those baseline expectatations by using the supposedly overheated Bush economic expansion? Well, take a look at the same series for the four years between 1996 and 1999. The average number of initial jobless claims per week in that period was 321,986, and the median was 317,500. There was exactly one week of 400,000 or more claims in a week, and that took place in January 1996. The 380K level has never been associated with positive stability in the job market or significant job growth, something one would think that the media would have figured out by now. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
80
Politics/
Romney Rolls Out First Attack on Gingrich

Molly Ball (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:56:41 AM
Faced with the former Speaker's unexpected surge, Mitt Romney's campaign has begun its assault -and there is more to come As Newt Gingrich has surged past Mitt Romney in GOP primary polls, Romney's team has grappled with how to handle the volatile former House speaker. The famously undisciplined Gingrich has so far declined to blow himself up, and with just weeks until voting begins in Iowa, the Romney camp has decided it can't wait any longer. The time has come to tear Gingrich down. And so, Thursday morning, two heavyweight Romney supporters, former New Hampshire governor John Sununu and former Missouri senator Jim Talent, held a conference call with reporters "to discuss Speaker Newt Gingrich's record," according to the press release announcing the call. Given the amount of potential attack fodder that lurks in Gingrich's long career in public life, reporters were eager to see where the Romney team would choose to go first. The answer: Gingrich's attack earlier this year on Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare. Gingrich memorably called it "right-wing social engineering" in a May appearance on "Meet the Press." The point wasn't so much that Gingrich's position was wrong,
though Sununu and Talent did indignantly defend Ryan from the long-ago slight as though he were a sensitive and beloved offspring. The point they wanted to lodge was that Gingrich is unpredictable, erratic, and apt to fly off the handle, leaving others to clean up the resulting messes. "For Newt Gingrich, in an effort of self-aggrandizement, to come out and throw a clever phrase that had no other purpose than to make him sound a little smarter than Republican leadership," Sununu said, was "the most self-serving, unconservative thing one
can imagine." He added, "Gingrich's undercutting of Paul Ryan proves that he's more concerned about Newt Gingrich than he is about conservative principles." Talent, who served under Gingrich's speakership in Congress, recalled why Gingrich's own party ended up driving him out of Washington. "You would get up every morning and have to check the newspapers -- this was before the Internet -- to see what the speaker said that day that you were going to have to clean up in your own district." Gingrich,
Talent said, is "running as a reliable, trusted conservative leader," when he is none of those things. It's not clear whether this attack will resonate with the GOP voters who are flocking to Gingrich. Part of what they seem to relish about Gingrich is his pugnacious aura, his very unpredictability. It's what makes it so fun to hear him talk or watch him debate. It's also a big part of what separates him from Romney, even though the two share many not-so-conservative positions on issues: Romney is the essence of responsible, reliable
correctness. That Gingrich is not is part of what makes him exciting. At the same time, Gingrich's penchant for bombast is only fun until he trains it on you. His congressional troops found that out, and Romney hopes to put primary voters in their shoes. But if this attack doesn't land for Romney, not to worry -- there's plenty more in the arsenal. Now that Romney's campaign has started to unload, there's no going back. As Romney's ROMNEY page 81
Politics/
81
Rick Perry and the Politics of Resentment

Ta-Nehisi Coates (Politics : The Atlantic)
ROMNEY
ashamed of this? This is a predominantly Christian country, and one of the most religious in Submitted at 12/8/2011 9:20:00 AM the West. People don't "admit" Andrew correctly calls out the their Christianity here. They bigotry of Rick Perry who proclaim it -- as the president has evidently thinks frowning upon done repeatedly. lynching and beatings of gays But what if there's something qualifies as a "special right." else? What if the conservatives Perry is a nasty bigot on this. The are more perceptive and honest United States has long opposed than the moderate liberals? I love the persecution of minorities in Grant and Lincoln, but they were other countries; and the appalling dead wrong in claiming that threats against gay people across emancipation did not promote the planet must surely count "social equality." Meanwhile the among them. We are talking here b i g o t s w h o a s s e r t e d t h a t about jailing people for being gay, emancipation meant that Sambo executing them, burying them would be "marryin yer daughters" under walls and lynching. Maybe were right. I wouldn't be shocked t h e m a n w h o h u n t e d a t if Grant and Lincoln knew this, Niggerhead is untroubled by these but also knew that to admit as events. Few others will be. It's much would be suicidal. worth checking out the video Andrew, himself, has talked Andrew links to. What strikes me a b o u t the rigorous is the sense of being under siege, challenge atheism presents to a c o n s t a n t t h e m e i n Christianity. Are Christians in this conservative politics. It is as if country actually under-siege? itself is against them. And they W i l l B a r a c k O b a m a ' s know it. The line "I'm not grandchildren, for instance, be as ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian as he is? Christian" stands out. Who is Beyond that, there's a question
of privilege. It's simply true that white Christian men don't enjoy the kind of luxuries that their grandfathers did, particularly the luxury of knowing, outright, that there is some class of people that - no matter what -- will always be under you. That must have given people some amount of psychological comfort. Whatever your fights, you knew that you and people like you, always had a place in America. Not so much anymore. I think back to the great John C. Calhoun: With us the two great divisions of society are not rich and poor, but white and black; and all the former, the poor as well as the rich, belong to the upper class, and are respected and treated as equals. What you had, before, was a weird kind of socialism -exclusive rights for a mass aristocracy. Better neighborhoods, better schools, better water fountains, better rest-rooms, better pools, better everything. And now you don't. And look --
communications director, Gail Gitcho, reminded reporters at the end of Thursday's call: "We will continue to do these contrasts between Speaker Gingrich and Mitt Romney, so we will continue There are the Muslims in to do these phone calls." Congress. And there are the If Gingrich didn't know an all-out Latinos in the Unions. And there barrage was coming, he certainly are gays shooting guns in Iraq. does now. And there are women dying in Image credit: Getty Images/Alex Iraq. And there are black ladies Won marrying white men. And there This article available online at: are black men marrying white http://www.theatlantic.com/ ladies. And their children are politics/archive/2011/12/romneyMuslims. And their children are in rolls-out-first-attack-on-gingrich/ the White House. 249686/ And for the first time in This entry passed through the American history, it appears that Full-Text RSS service if this is you will have to fight to not end your content and you're reading it up on the bottom. on someone else's site, please read Damn. Things just ain't the same the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentfor gangsters. only/faq.php#publishers. Five This article available online at: Filters recommends: Donate to http://www.theatlantic.com/ Wikileaks. politics/archive/2011/12/rickperry-and-the-politics-ofresentment/249674/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
82
Politics/
Taking the unions to court in Arizona

Jazz Shaw (Hot Air Top Picks)
Former Obama donor declares regulations are killing jobs

Jazz Shaw (Hot Air Top Picks)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 10:00:57 AM
year to pay employees to perform union work on city time. Its called release time. The Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:20:14 AM Goldwater Institute is taking on posted at 12:20 pm on December the citys contract with the 8, 2011 by Jazz Shaw Phoenix Law Enforcement Regular readers will recall our A s s o c i a t i o n ( P L E A ) . B y previous coverage of the ongoing executing this deal with PLEA, saga of the Goldwater Institute the members of the Phoenix City and the investigative work theyve Council have violated the Arizona done regarding public worker Constitution and their duty of unions abusing taxpayers in loyalty to the taxpayers. Arizona. Whether its paying The contract provides an union officials full time salaries estimated $900,000 in annual on the taxpayer time while doing release time for police union no work for the public or trying to work, including lobbying. Six fire one of their own people who officers are released from city dares to ask where the money work on a full-time basis (each goes, the tales have been pretty receiving 160 hours of overtime at shocking. Unfortunately, the 1.5x their regular salary). PLEA hoped for cleansing effect of also uses 35 representatives. bringing these stories to the These representatives are not attention of the public has not given a set amount of release come about, and now theyre time. Instead, they are authorized taking one of the unions to court. to use an unspecified amount of I n S e p t e m b e r , G o l d w a t e r release time to accompany fellow Institute investigative reporter officers to grievance meetings, M a r k F l a t t e n r e l e a s e d a n use of force hearings, etc. investigative report showing that The case is Cheatham v. Gordon, Phoenix and other Arizona cities representing Phoenix taxpayers spend millions of dollars every William R. Cheatham and Marcus
Huey. Clint Bolick provides a succinct explanation of why the taxpayers are rightly fed up and need to seek a remedy through the courts. Only a few years ago, Phoenix voters agreed to raise their sales tax to hire more police officers and firefighters. Would they have done so knowing that much of the revenue would wind up as a union giveaway? Moreover, PLEA itself confesses that release-time means less money for police officer salaries. Beyond endangering public safety, the release time is an unconstitutional subsidy. The Arizona Constitution prohibits gifts to individuals or private entities by subsidy or otherwise. In 1984, the Court upheld a school districts release-time provision because the cost was minimal and the duties imposed were significant. Here the cost is massive and the benefits are negligible. How this continues to happen while workers both public and private sector continue to
scramble for jobs and face layoffs is a mystery. All the states wind up crying poverty, and everyone has to deal in a realistic fashion with tightening their belts and making sure that the taxpayer gets the most bang for their scare bucks. To see those tax dollars going to provide full time employment (in some cases with massive amounts of overtime charges at time and a half rates) for union workers to conduct union business while providing nothing to the public should rightly bring people out in the streets. Perhaps the courts will understand the fundamental betrayal of the taxpayers going on here and lend a hand. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
posted at 11:00 am on December 8, 2011 by Jazz Shaw As has been frequently noted, if you want to talk job creation you should probably talk to some people who have actually created jobs. And in at least one case, it seems that President Obama did precisely that. Unfortunately, he didnt get the message. Earlier this year, former Obama donor and CEO of Darden Restaurants, Clarence Otis Jr.met with the president to talk about putting Americans back to work. (Its the parent company of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse, so they have created a job or two in their time.) One has to wonder how well he thought that meeting went, given the recent editorial he penned for CNN Businesses adding jobs is a headline every elected official loves to read. Sadly, its one thats getting harder and harder to find because of a policy and regulatory landscape that makes it increasingly difficult for businesses to see why and where creating new jobs makes sense. Thats especially true for me and my colleagues in the restaurant FORMER page 83
Technology/
83
FORMER
industry, who find ourselves facing a plate piled high with more and more federal, state and local regulations. Regulatory mandates flowing from federal health care reform may be the most visible, but the list also includes measures such as new mandatory paid leave provisions that require us to change the way we accommodate employees who need to take time off when they are ill and ever more unrealistic requirements regarding employee meal and rest breaks that, in California for example, force our employees to take breaks in the middle of serving lunch or dinner. Otis entire essay is worth a read, if only for the real world
experience he brings to the discussion. Hes not some wild eyed partisan pulling his hair out and screaming about Democrats, but an employer who has to deal with the real world issues facing companies who have to cope with a dizzying array of new rules, costs and litigation traps which spring from regulations frequently written by people who have never operated anything more complex than a lemonade stand. (If that much.) Hes also not taking a radical position of saying there is no need for any regulation just that regulations need to not only make sense, but be understandable to employers and allow them the confidence to hire more workers.
And to do that, they need to know what their costs and exposures will be six months, a year or a decade down the line. It really doesnt seem like that much to ask. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
French court squashes Samsung's quest for iPhone 4S ban

Terrence O'Brien (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/8/2011 11:38:00 AM
Apparently it's time for the French to deliver Apple's tit for Samsung's tat won in US courts last week. Sammy's request for an injunction against the sale of the iPhone 4S was rejected by a court in France, which called the
reaction out of proportion with its claims of intellectual property theft. And, as if to rub salt in the wound, the judge ordered Samsung to pay 100,000 (about $134,000) to cover Cupertino's legal fees. Of course, 100,000 is mere pocket change for these companies which probably spend more than that every day just to
French court squashes Samsung's quest for iPhone 4S ban originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Reuters| Email this| Comments keep each other tied up in protracted legal battles.

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Curated News Edition

ECB downplays its role as EU seeks crisis deal

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Corzine sorry, puzzled by missing MF Global money

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Where's the Missing $1.2B? Corzine: 'I Don't Know'

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Curated News Edition

Jobless claims at 9-month low, outlook brighter