Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Is It 'Mission Accomplished' in Libya? Not So Fast (Time.com)

In his State of the Union Address last week President Barack Obama seemed to link the fate of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad with that of Libya's Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi. "A year ago, Ghaddafi was one of the world's longest-serving dictators -- a murderer with American blood on his hands," said the President. "Today, he is gone. And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed, and that human dignity cannot be denied." As the international community struggles to respond to Syria's increasingly bloody power struggle, some see Libya as an example worth following. It was, they emphasize, a foreign military intervention limited to air power and small Special Forces deployments that helped e a patchwork of local militias to dispatch the Gaddafi regime at minimal cost in foreign blood and treasure. But Libya's power struggle is far from done and dusted.

The increasing fragility of the post-Gaddafi order has been evident, in recent weeks, through a series of high-profile clashes between rival militia forces. There have been reports of widespread torture and abuse at the hands of militiamen barely answerable to the new political authorities of Libyans suspected by of having served Gaddafi, and growing protests against the interim government known as the National Transitional Council. (PHOTOS: Libya's New Regime: The Fight for Gaddafi's Hometown)

Gaddafi's ouster has left a power vacuum that no single, coherent force has been able to fill, leaving the country's security situation increasingly fragile as rival militia vie for political leverage and a share of the national political and economic pie. as many as 200,000 young men remain under arms, mostly in the hundreds of local military structures around the country. Last week's mutiny in the town of Bani Walid may have drawn prematurely alarmist headlines implying a comeback by Gaddafi forces, but it could also become a self fulfilling prophecy. It appears that rebel militias were chased out of town by local tribal forces that rebels accuse of having been loyal to Gaddafi and of sheltering wanted fugitives from the old regime. It also seems that rebel fighters from other towns, spoiling for a fight, have now descended on Bani Walid, determined to recapture it.

Libya has a government, of course. The National Transitional Council (NTC) is recognized by the international community as the interim authority until a representative government is chosen in an election scheduled to be held in June. But the NTC has struggled to establish the same level of domestic legitimacy as it enjoys abroad, with challengers questioning its composition and authority. Anger about regional imbalances and the dominance of Gaddafi-era officials has erupted into violence, including the Jan. 21 attack by armed protestors on the NTC's Benghazi headquarters.

In the absence of any structures of representative government, the weapons wielded and turf controlled by the rag-tag patchwork of militias have become a form of political currency. No surprise, then, that the militias are reluctant to disarm and subordinate themselves to a relatively weak national army with Gaddafi-era roots. The NTC's lack of strength on the ground forces them to negotiate terms of coexistence with the various militias. (VIDEO: Libya to Citizens: Give Up Your Guns)

The torture allegations highlight the challenge of national reconciliation in a society where many thousands supported and fought for the Gaddafi regime, often on the basis of tribal and regional loyalties. In instances where whole communities feel abused and put-upon by rebel militias, there may be a growing willingness to fight back and support any insurgency that might emerge. The incident in Bani Walid does not necessarily foretell the beginning of a counter-revolution, but is nonetheless a warning to the interim authorities. The leaders of the most powerful factions may muddle through, recognizing that they have more to lose than gain by a descent into protracted conflict. But right now, absent a monopoly of military force within its territorial boundaries, the Libyan state remains, at best, a work in progress.

Stability in a post-Gaddafi Libya looks to become a growing international concern. The country exports 1.3 million barrels of oil a day to southern European countries already squeezed to replace, by July, some 400,000 barrels a day currently imported from Iran. And the fact that ousting the regime in Libya appears to have created new problems that may demand attention and commitment by foreign powers may give pause to those contemplating intervention in Syria. 'Intervention lite' isn't so easy.

PHOTOS: Libya Celebrates Liberation

MORE: In Libya, a Fundamentalist War Against Moderate Islam Takes Shape

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120130/wl_time/httpglobalspinblogstimecom20120130missionaccomplishedinlibyanotsofastxidrssfullworldyahoo

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Rose Byrne SAG Awards 2012 Jumpsuit: Do Or Don't? (PHOTOS, POLL)

Lace jumpsuits, as we have seen, are a tricky thing. They can be a gorgeous, bold, feminine fashion statement... or they can be an unflattering train wreck. (Camo jumpsuits, on the other hand? Never OK.)

So we were taken aback when Rose Byrne braved the SAG Awards red carpet in a white lace version. From Elie Saab's Fall 2009 couture collection, the onesie featured little cap sleeves, a plunging neckline and wide-legged pants.

Covered from top to bottom with sequins and crystal embellishments, the Elie Saab suit was a bold choice but fulfilled every red carpet requirement: it was eye-catching, glamorous, flattering, glittery and sexy.

Rose, who we adored in "Bridesmaids" and have been missing ever since, paired the jumpsuit with a sleek bob, which hairdresser Harry Josh described as "'70s inspired Michelle Pfeiffer from Scarface meets Anna Wintour's bob." We'll take it.

From head-to-toe, Rose looked chic. But is a grown-up in one-piece garment ever OK -- and for the red carpet, no less?

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Rose Byrne's red carpet jumpsuit:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/rose-byrne-sag-awards-2012-jumpsuit_n_1240741.html

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Monday, January 30, 2012

North claims 23-13 Senior Bowl victory

Asa Jackson, Nigel Bradham

By JOHN ZENOR

updated 8:34 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2012

MOBILE, Ala. - Isaiah Pead took a stutter step forward, then raced to the left sideline and traveled 60 yards up the field before finally getting tripped up by a leg tackle.

The former Cincinnati running back followed that nifty punt return with a 38-yarder a couple of minutes later, late in the first half, to play a starring role Saturday in the North's 23-13 victory over the South in the Senior Bowl.

The first one set up a field goal and helped Pead outshine bigger names to earn Most Valuable Player honors.

"(Coach) told me what the punt return call was, left, right or in the middle, and told me to make sure I set my blocks up or the play would be dead," said Pead, who set a Senior Bowl record with 98 yards on punt returns. "I tried to do that the best that I could. The rest was just ability."

Michigan State's Kirk Cousins and Wisconsin's Russell Wilson threw touchdown passes for the North. Purdue kicker Carson Wiggs put it away with his third short field goal, a 28-yarder with 4:11 left in the showcase for senior NFL prospects.

Boise State's Kellen Moore led that clinching 13-play drive that consumed 8:36 with the help of a running clock.

It snuffed out a spark provided by South quarterback Nick Foles of Arizona, who started his career with Cousins at Michigan State.

Foles had gotten the South into the end zone by firing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Arizona teammate Juron Criner with 12:55 left in the game.

It was an up-and-down day for a crew of quarterbacks with sparkling college credentials, but threw a combined five interceptions.

It was mostly up for Pead, who only had 74 yards on eight punt returns as a senior. The 5-foot-10, 193-pounder did rush for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns and gained a team-high 31 yards on eight carries in the Senior Bowl.

"I think he may have opened some eyes," said Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, who led the North. "Some people may have wondered if he can do certain things. I think he may have answered some questions today.

Cousins completed 5 of 11 passes for 115 yards but threw an interception. Moore, who won an college-record 50 games as a starting quarterback, was 6-of-12 passing for 50 yards, and had a 23-yarder to set up the final field goal that put the North up two scores.

Wilson completed 4 of 7 passes for 45 yards with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones in the second quarter. He also threw an interception.

"I think I did a really good job, besides the interception," Wilson said. "You never want to throw an interception obviously. I think I waited a little bit too long on that one. Other than that, I came back. I had amnesia and just forgot about it and got the ball in the end zone there."

Arkansas receiver Joe Adams, the South's Most Outstanding Player, had eight catches for 133 yards after losing a fumble on the opening drive. He had a 36-yarder and a 29-yarder in the third quarter.

Criner gained 77 yards on six catches.

Linebacker Bobby Wagner of Utah State had seven tackles and an interception and was the North's Most Outstanding Player.

"We were just getting after it, having fun out here," said North defensive lineman Mike Martin of Michigan. "The scheme was real simple so it was just guys playing with effort and intensity."

Wiggs made kicks of 27, 32 and 28 yards while missing a 37-yarder in the final minutes.

Foles almost got the South back in it earlier, but his fourth-down pass from the 13 was incomplete with 3:59 left in the third quarter.

He had the best stat line of the six quarterbacks. Foles was 11-of-15 passing for 136 yards and the TD, and was the only South quarterback who wasn't picked off.

San Diego State's Ryan Lindley was 10 of 21 for 103 yards and also was intercepted once. Oklahoma State's 28-year-old Brandon Weeden started for the South but was picked off twice on nine attempts, completing five passes for 56 yards.

Cousins put the North ahead 20-6 early in the second half with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Arizona State's Gerell Robinson. The 6-foot-3, 223-pound Robinson caught it coming across the middle and raced down the right sideline.

It was the second time on the drive Cousins had thrown for a nice gain on third down, hitting T.J. Graham (North Carolina State) for 22 yards earlier.

The North's Kendall Reyes of Connecticut had two sacks.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46177089/ns/sports-college_football/

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Steve Rosenbaum: CURATING FACEBOOK: Finding Meaning in the Noise

If you're like me, Facebook is both a blessing and a curse.

As more and more people that I'm connected with join Facebook, the more I find Facebook both valuable and noisy.

The truth is some of my actual friends are folks who I'm glad to be connected with, but I might be happier if I could tone down, or tune out, some aspects of their Facebook Broadcast.

With this in mind, I've developed a solution for how to Curate my Facebook newsfeed. I know the word 'curate' may not be familiar to you in this context, but in the new world of too much data - organizing and filtering information is critically important.

What I'm going to suggest is a series of steps that I think may help you make Facebook more useful and interesting.

Step One: Determine who your friends are.

I've made a decision that I don't 'friend' anyone I haven't met at least once in person. They don't have to be best friends, or even close friends. But I do want a human relationship to exist before a digital one.

With that in mind, I do like having a broad range of friends from many parts of my life. School, Social, Business, and my Volunteer work. I reach out broadly, knowing that I can curate my Newsfeed with tools that Facebook makes to help dial up and down different voices and topics.

Step Two: I give all friends the benefit of the doubt.

When I first 'Friend' someone, I subscribe to all their posts, and all the sub-topics of their posts. Rather than make guesses about what they may share that is interesting, I open my ears and listen to what they have to share. Politics, Movies, News, Personal life info - I'll check it all out.

Step Three: Narrowing the stream.

Pretty quickly I know who's simply over-sharing. The first step in curation is to narrow the flow from "all updates" to "most updates". This slows the volume of posts from a friend. Sometimes that's enough to keep my newsfeed with a healthy mix of voices and posts.

Step Four: Event Types.

Sometimes, narrowing the feed isn't enough. Sometimes I find my business friends share more personal info that I need to know. In this case, unsubscribing to "life events" can do the trick. And, I almost always unsubscribe to games. I'm just not into the various versions of Farmville.

2012-01-29-logo.jpg

Step Five: Facebook Groups.

With Facebook Groups, you can create lists such as "Work", "Family", or "Drinking Buddies", and add whichever friends you want. You can then send e-mails to the group ("Hanging out at HiLife Sat night") or post to a shared wall space. Groups replaces the 'lists' feature, which wasn't widely used. Facebook is now set up so new friends are driven to be categorized by Groups, better I think than Google+'s 'circles' feature.

The only thing about groups to be aware of is by default, all members of a Facebook group get e-mail notifications about everything--including all messages and wall posts. Pretty quickly this feels like spam.

But you can limit notifications as well - click on Account on the Facebook home page, then the Account Settings drop-down. Click the Notifications and scroll to Groups. From there you can curate Group-related activity results in e-mail alerts. You can even curate notifications for an individual group.

Facebook is big, and getting bigger. So don't feel despondent about the fact that you're having trouble managing the stream of data that Facebook is sending at you. It's not you - it's them. How big? Facebook reports having 800 million active users. Just to give you some perspective, Europe, with Russia included, has a population of 727 million. Yeah, it's big.

So, imagine being on a conference call with 800 million of your 'friends' - that's just not going to work.

The answer is curation. Using the tools that Facebook has deployed to filter, manage, and organize who you're listening to, and how often their messages are getting through.

One big benefit of curating your Facebook feed is that as you dial down the noise, you'll find some of your more interesting friends who don't Update as aggressively start to make their way into your newsfeed. That's a wonderful surprise.

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Follow Steve Rosenbaum on Twitter: www.twitter.com/magnify

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-rosenbaum/curating-facebook-finding_b_1240076.html

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Trade Whatever You've Got for Whatever You Want with the Swap-O-Matic [Video]

Vending machines would be a lot more user friendly if they didn't always demand money. Maybe I don't have $1.25 for that can of soda. Maybe I've got a seventy-five cents and four cigarettes. That seems like like a fair trade, right? Well, with the Swap-O-Matic, I can now find out. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/YOqxGDCH6ZQ/trade-whatever-youve-got-for-whatever-you-want-with-the-swap+o+matic

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Detroit Symphony offering series of free webcasts (AP)

DETROIT ? The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has launched a webcast player that will allow music lovers to enjoy an upcoming performance of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 and other concerts online for free in the comfort of their homes.

People in about 40 countries are expected to view Saturday's high-definition "Live from Orchestra Hall" webcast, and the orchestra expects its webcast series to surpass 30,000 views with this weekend's episode.

The orchestra said the webcast player will make online viewers feel as if they are sitting in Detroit's Orchestra Hall.

The Symphony said it is the only U.S. orchestra to offer a free series of webcasts, which are made possible through contributions from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Motor Co. Fund.

The new viewing environment mimics the interior of Orchestra Hall, giving audiences across the world the same view as local music lovers.

The webcast player also features dimming controls so that viewers at home can control their own version of the house lights.

Audience members now will be able to view a full schedule of upcoming webcasts and add them their online calendars. Viewers also can tweet directly from the webcast player page and follow the feed in the same browser window, allowing audience members to interact with fellow concertgoers while watching the concert at the same time.

The piece being played at any moment will be highlighted on a live repertoire tracker, and live program notes will post below the viewing window with trivia about the piece and the artists.

The "Live From Orchestra Hall" series is one of three new digital initiatives the DSO is introducing this season. Also new to the orchestra's digital repertoire are DSO To Go, a free mobile app, and the Symphony's first downloadable, digital album produced in-house.

___

Online:

Detroit Symphony Orchestra: http://www.dso.org/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_hi_te/us_detroit_symphony_webcast_player

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

BP must cover some Transocean oil spill damages (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A federal judge on Thursday said BP Plc must indemnify Transocean Ltd for some compensatory damage claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who oversees multistate litigation over the spill, agreed with Transocean that the Swiss driller was not responsible for compensatory damage claims raised by third parties for oil spilled below the ocean surface.

He also ruled, however, that London-based BP need not indemnify Transocean for punitive damages, or civil penalties imposed by the U.S. government under the federal Clean Water Act.

Thursday's decision reduces the potential liability Transocean faces over the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion that caused 11 deaths and the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Transocean owned the rig, while BP owned a majority of the Macondo well whose blowout led to the spill.

Shares of Transocean rose 8.9 percent in after-hours trading, and BP shares fell 0.6 percent.

"Indemnification from compensatory damages is key for Transocean," whose litigation exposure is now "materially diminished," UBS Securities LLC analyst Angie Sedita wrote in a research note. She has a "buy" rating on Transocean.

Sedita said BP has estimated its Clean Water Act liability at $3.5 billion, but that other estimates are as high as $6 billion. She also said Transocean has $950 million of insurance coverage for personal injury and third-party claims.

Barbier oversees several hundred cases related to the spill, including a $40 billion lawsuit that BP filed against Transocean last April.

Both companies welcomed parts of the judge's decision.

"This confirms that BP is responsible for all economic damages caused by the oil that leaked from its Macondo well, and discredits BP's ongoing attempts to evade both its contractual and financial obligations," Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said in an email.

BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an emailed statement that the decision "holds Transocean financially responsible for any punitive damages, fines and penalties flowing from its own conduct. As we have said from the beginning, Transocean cannot avoid its responsibility for this accident."

Transocean had argued that its drilling contract obligated BP to defend it from claims over subsurface pollution, even if Transocean was found grossly negligent or "strictly liable."

BP countered that its responsibility to indemnify Transocean did not extend that far.

Barbier did not decide whether Transocean will be liable for punitive damages or the civil penalties, or rule on BP's claim that Transocean breached its drilling contract.

The New Orleans-based judge has set a February 27 start date for a trial to apportion blame.

Transocean shares rose $4.19 to $51.45 in after-hours trading in New York, after closing regular trading down 10 cents at $47.26.

BP's American depositary receipts fell 27 cents to $44.50 after hours, after dropping 13 cents to $44.77 during the day.

The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.

(Reporting By Jonathan Stempel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/ts_nm/us_bp_transocean

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Doctor convicted in Jackson death seeks release (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? The doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death asked a judge Friday to release him from jail pending his appeal.

Dr. Conrad Murray, who is serving a four-year jail sentence, said in a declaration that he should be released either on his own recognizance or on bail with electronic monitoring.

He said he is not a danger to society, will not flee the area, and wants to work to help support his seven children.

His lawyer, J. Michael Flanagan, said in the motion that Murray knows he cannot work as a doctor but would find other employment. He suggested the sentence and Murray's mode of confinement is extremely severe for a man with no prior criminal record.

He said Murray is being held in solitary confinement and is chained to a table when he meets with his lawyers. He also said Murray is extremely sorrowful about Jackson's death.

Jackson died in June 2009 from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol, administered by Murray. Flanagan conceded that Murray made some medical misjudgments but said he never intended harm to Jackson.

Murray's appeal has not yet been filed, but the motion offered a preview of some issues that will be raised, including the claim that Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor should have allowed testimony about Jackson's financial condition.

Flanagan said the exclusion of that evidence "seriously compromised the defendant's ability to demonstrate the desperate situation which was guiding the decisions and choices of both Mr. Jackson and Dr. Murray."

Murray appeared to be blaming Jackson for decisions that led to his death.

"Mr. Jackson was an uncooperative patient who made decisions and demands based upon his particular needs," said Flanagan. "One of which was his extremely precarious financial situation complicated by drug addiction. "

Flanagan also cited the judge's refusal to sequester the jury and the presence of cameras in the courtroom as appellate issues.

With Murray's appeal expected to take more than a year to move through the courts, the attorney said it would be unfair to keep him jailed in the interim.

Under sentencing guidelines, Murray is expected to serve no more than half of his sentence. The attorney said if he served his complete sentence he would not receive the benefits of a favorable appeal decision if his case was overturned.

A hearing on the motion was set for Feb. 24.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_ot/us_michael_jackson_doctor

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Mitch Daniels State of the Union rebuttal makes GOP wonder: 'What if?' (The Christian Science Monitor)

Mitch Daniels, Republican presidential nominee?

Once upon a time, that was a key Republican Party strategy to win back the White House from President Obama. The two-term Indiana governor decided early last year to not seek the party's nomination, but the wishful thinking has only deepened after Mr. Daniels' concise and reasoned GOP rebuttal Tuesday night to Mr. Obama's State of the Union address.

?I could hear sighs all over the country from Republicans [about] what might have been,? conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer told Fox News late Tuesday. ?That was one of the best speeches I?ve heard ? and I think it was one of the best presentations of the conservative idea against the larger government of Obama.?

How much do you know about the State of the Union speeches? A quiz.

Such accolades have not yet been heaped upon the two front-runners in the Republican presidential race: former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. 

The first three GOP contests have not produced a definitive winner, and the Republican leadership, in picking Daniels to deliver the party's rebuttal on Tuesday, may be circling back to someone they perceive as able to ?bridge the gap? between the far right faction of their party and the more doctrinaire establishment, says Bruce Buchanan, who teaches presidential politics and public policy at the University of Texas in Austin.

Daniels ?strikes people clearly as a grownup ? [and] the fact [that the Republican Party] invited Daniels and he accepted most likely indicates some hopes of attracting him,? Mr. Buchanan says.

Mr. Romney, who has a record as a moderate governor and whose Mormon faith is worrisome to evangelical Christian conservatives, and Mr. Gingrich, who resigned as speaker and whose marital infidelities are no secret, are perceived in some quarters as flawed. Compared with them, Daniels is largely free of controversy, and he has a record of working with both parties and of taking pragmatic positions on fiscal and social issues. He is also ?more comfortable in his own skin? and ?pretty unflappable,? which makes him less prone to gaffes than Romney or Gingrich, says Buchanan.

Daniels also spent time in Washington, as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget in the George W. Bush administration.

The national Republican Party courted Daniels for the 2012 race, but he bowed out last spring. His wife, Cheri Daniels, is reported to have vetoed the idea, citing privacy concerns. Mrs. Daniels and her husband divorced in 1993 and remarried four years later. In the interim, she married and divorced another man in California and was subsequently criticized for not sharing the responsibility of raising the four daughters with Daniels, a charge the governor publically said was false.

Today, those personal issues barely seem a liability, especially compared with Gingrich's marital record, says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The national party is returning to Daniels, he says, because it leaders suspect neither Romney nor Gingrich is capable of defeating Obama.

?They?re in a mess. They don?t want Gingrich and they don?t like Romney. They pushed Daniels to begin with. I don?t know if anything?s changed,? says Mr. Sabato.

At this point in the primary season, Daniels would need to be drafted as a nominee, a process that would involve the front-runner, either Romney or Gingrich, stepping down. That is an unlikely scenario. 

Another potential roadblock is that Daniels, like Romney, will face accusations that he backtracks on issues, such as past statements he made about his disinterest in pursuing a so-called "right to work" law in Indiana. He now supports the legislation, designed to give workers the right to opt out of paying union dues ? a move widely expected to undermine union organizing powers. It cleared the Indiana House late Wednesday.

Although Daniels is often described as a moderate for saying fiscal policy trumps social policy, his positions are ?right in the mainstream of the conservative party,? says Marjorie Hershey, a political scientist at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Ms. Hershey doubts Daniels will change his mind about running for president. His wife?s concerns about family privacy are as just as salient now as they were last year, she says.

?A cabinet post might be an option for him or perhaps an ambassadorship.? However, I suspect he might be more at home on a corporate board and be done with all of this,? Hershey says.

Any discussion of Daniels? future in this year?s presidential race is ?hypothetical,? although it is certain ?he?ll play a role in the conversation,? says Pete Seat, communications director for the Indiana Republican Party.

?The only reason that people are looking to him for guidance and for a vision is because of the results that we had in this state. We?ve taken those policies that the candidates are talking about and actually putting them into use,? Mr. Seat says.

One reason Daniels holds appeal for Republicans is an intangible one: He seems more authentic to voters than does the competition, says Seat. Daniels writes his own speeches, including Tuesday night?s rebuttal, and is known to be so close with the people in Indiana that he strikes up e-mail conversations with constituents and, when traveling, accepts invitations for overnight stays in their homes.

?He stays in the homes of Hoosiers when he travels around on the road. He?s sleeping in kids? rooms with stuffed animals on the bed and Superman wallpaper," says Seat. "That?s how he keeps in contact with [his constituents]. He listens to people.? 

For State of the Union: Top five presidential orators of modern times 

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20120125/ts_csm/456584

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Irishman makes "billion-euro home" of shredded notes (Reuters)

DUBLIN (Reuters) ? An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of 1.4 billion euros ($1.82 billion), a monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust.

Frank Buckley built the apartment in the lobby of a Dublin office building that has lain vacant since its completion four years ago at the peak of an ill-fated construction boom, using bricks of shredded euro notes he borrowed from Ireland's national mint.

"It's a reflection of the whole madness that gripped us," Buckley said of what he calls his "billion-euro home."

"People were pouring billions into buildings now worth nothing," he said. "I wanted to create something from nothing."

A wave of cheap credit flowed into Ireland in the early 2000s after Ireland joined the currency zone fuelling a huge property bubble that transformed the country.

The bubble's collapse since 2007 plunged Ireland into the deepest recession in the industrialized world, forcing the former "Celtic Tiger" to accept a humiliating bailout from the EU and the IMF.

Buckley was given a 100 percent mortgage at the peak of the boom to buy a 365,000 euro home on the far reaches of Dublin's commuter belt, despite the fact he had no steady income.

He has separated from his wife who lives in the home, which has since lost at least one-third of its value.

Living in his "billion euro home" since the start of December, Buckley is working on adding a kitchen to the living room and hall.

The walls and floor are covered in euro shreddings and the house is so warm Buckley sleeps without a blanket.

Pictures made from notes and coins decorate the walls, including one of a house, made from Irish 5 pence pieces.

"There are houses in Ireland worth less than that," Buckley quips.

Buckley said he wants Europe's politicians to solve the eurozone debt crisis without destroying its currency. But if the currency ultimately fails, he will happily use the euro zone's defunct notes as fodder for future projects.

"Whatever you say about the euro, it's a great insulator."

($1 = 0.7704 euros)

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by Carmel Crimmins and Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/arts/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/en_nm/us_ireland_art_euro

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Gingrich firm releases Freddie Mac contract (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? In an attempt to deflect attention over his involvement with Freddie Mac, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's former consulting firm on Monday released a contract he had with the troubled mortgage firm.

The 16-page document covered a consulting agreement only for work done in 2006 and shed little light on Gingrich's duties. The document calls for a $25,000-a-month in fees for the year.

In total, Gingrich was paid between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees for eight years of work with the lender, according to previous disclosures.

The deal sparked criticism of Gingrich as a Washington insider but he has insisted his arrangement included no lobbying and that he was paid for his historical acumen.

His rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, particularly Mitt Romney, have seized on his relationship with Freddie Mac, charging him with reaping monetary benefits for his influence in Washington.

When the form was released, Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom tweeted: "Newt's K Street firm finally released the Freddie contract, but only for 2006. Where are missing years? He started there in 99."

Attacks against Gingrich's ties with Freddie intensified following his stunning victory over Romney in Saturday's South Carolina primary.

The contract agreement states that part of his duty was to "perform services" in a "highly professional manner consistent with the quality provided by other top firms providing comparable services in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area."

Romney on Monday challenged Gingrich to describe in detail the work he performed and return the money he made. His campaign released a television ad attacking Gingrich's Freddie Mac ties and linking them to Florida, which has been particularly hard-hit by the housing market crash.

"While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in," the ad says.

Republicans blame government-sponsored mortgage finance companies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for the 2007 housing-market crash that plunged the country into the deepest recession since the 1930s. Outside economists say lax oversight of the financial industry is primarily to blame.

The Center for Health Transformation, a consulting firm founded by Gingrich in 2003 and sold to his partners in 2011, has previously said that it could not release the Freddie Mac contract due to client confidentiality concerns.

The company says it does not perform lobbying services for clients, which come from the healthcare, education and technology industries.

(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles and Steve Holland; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Bill Trott)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_freddie

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Mitt Romney's Tax Filings Mean Nothing to the 2012 Presidential Campaign (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | As reported by Reuters, Mitt Romney has bowed to pressure by Newt Gingrich and released his 2010-2011 tax filings. The filings reveal that the former Massachusetts governor had income of $45 million and paid taxes on that totaling $6.7 million.

Gingrich made the claims that Mitt was hiding his income and attempted to paint him as someone out of touch with main street America. Yet the governor's forced release of his tax information showed none of this. His largest source of income is held in blind trust which he has no control over, and he is about as in touch with the everyday American as any other politician. Can Gingrich name a presidential candidate in history that went from working at McDonald's to the White House? All candidates are millionaires whose typical employment is either as a lawyer, CEO, or a career politician.

Since Gingrich brought the issues of tax filings into the campaign, let us take a look at his 2010 filing as shown on his website and see how it compares to Romney's return. Gingrich made $3,162,424 in income for the year yet only had $127,290 withheld for Federal Taxes and a total tax liability of $996,251 for the year putting his taxes at about 32 percent. This is offset some by a carry-forward of a tax credit from last year of $485,860. Where did this tax credit come from? To ask the same thing that Gingrich is asking Mitt, is Gingrich trying to hide something from last year that gave him a tax refund of at least $485,860? The filing goes on to say that Gingrich gave only a little over $81,000 to charity. That's only a meager 4 percent as compared an estimated 15 percent that Romney gave in donations. I say these things with a touch of sarcasm to illustrate the point that this tit-for-tat is pointless.

Overall, this really should not be an issue for the Republicans. As the well known writer, Napoleon Hill said, "Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness."

We are the party of achievement. We celebrate success. We praise those that provide for their family and their descendants. Yet here Gingrich is, waving the Democrats' banner for them. He is trying to make people hate Romney for no other reason than he has money. We as the voter need to demand that Gingrich and the rest of the GOP candidates focus the campaign on one thing and one thing only, beating Obama and the Democrats. Nitpicking each other over how much money that person has or if that person has a Swiss bank account or not is only making it easier for the Democrats.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120124/pl_ac/10877591_mitt_romneys_tax_filings_mean_nothing_to_the_2012_presidential_campaign

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Federal judge will determine Golden Globes' future

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, celebrities arrive at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A trial is scheduled to begin in a Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday to determine whether the Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or its longtime producers have rights to negotiate broadcast deals. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, celebrities arrive at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A trial is scheduled to begin in a Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday to determine whether the Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or its longtime producers have rights to negotiate broadcast deals. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

(AP) ? A little more than a week after handing out Golden Globes to show business elite, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and their longtime collaborators will begin a trial to determine which group controls broadcast rights to the popular awards ceremony.

The decision will alter the future of the glitzy gala and whether it will remain on NBC or, for the first time in 17 years, appear on another network.

If the association prevails, it may mean an end to its relationship with dick clark productions, the company that brought the Globes back to network television after a scandal threatened its future. The partnership also helped transform the show into one of the biggest events in Hollywood's crowded awards season.

It would also give the association of roughly 85 foreign journalists a chance to reposition the show on its own terms for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The trial's scheduled opening on Tuesday in a Los Angeles federal court comes just nine days after nearly 17 million viewers tuned in to the show, which featured barbs from host Ricky Gervais and a potential bump in Oscar momentum for films such as "The Artist" and actor George Clooney.

U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz has already been presented thousands of pages of documents and evidence to decide the case, and he will hear live testimony from a number of current HFPA members, executives and possibly from Dick Clark himself. The extensive documents filed in the case include minutes of board meetings dating back to the early 1980s.

CBS CEO Les Moonves, who has said he wanted to bid on the Globes, is also expected to testify next week. Matz ruled Monday that he must testify in person and not by videoconference as he had hoped. An attorney for Moonves said the executive had wanted to testify electronically because he is in the midst of meetings and preparing decisions on shows and a board of directors meeting. Matz said he didn't want to give Moonves special treatment.

Matz urged attorneys to streamline their questioning during a hearing Monday, saying they had framed the issues well in their filings.

Audiences of the past two Globes awards shows didn't notice it, but the HFPA and its producers, also known as dcp, have waged a bitter legal war since November 2010 over who has the right to negotiate broadcast deals for the Globes. The association contends dcp improperly negotiated a deal keeping the Globes on NBC until 2018, a move that also guarantees the company the right to work on the show until then.

The association claims it was blindsided by the deal and had received assurances throughout 2010 from dcp that it wasn't negotiating a new broadcast deal. However, the company claims it had the right to pursue the NBC extension.

The disputed NBC deal is worth more than $150 million, court records show. The deal reflects what big business the Globes have become, not only for Hollywood studios hoping to get boosts for their films, TV shows and stars, but also for fourth-place NBC and the show's organizers.

The network will pay $17 million for this year's show, a figure that will gradually increase to $26 million if the disputed broadcast contract is upheld. By comparison, NBC paid $3.7 million to the HFPA to air the Globes from 1996-1998, the first years after dcp secured a network broadcast deal.

The association began working with dcp in 1983, a year after it lost a broadcast deal with CBS when its members were accused of receiving favors in exchange for giving actress Pia Zadora a newcomer award. The show aired on late-night syndication for several years before shifting to cable and eventually landing on NBC.

Matz's decision will also alter the fortunes of dcp, which is no longer owned by entertainment legend Dick Clark, but produces other shows such as the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and "So You Think You Can Dance." The company splits revenues for the Globes with the HFPA.

The central issue of the case is an amended agreement between dcp and HFPA that brought the show to NBC. The production company contends the agreement plainly states that it has the rights to produce the Globes as long as the show airs on NBC, although the HFPA disputes that interpretation.

The association points to discussions about the initial NBC broadcast deal in 1993, in which dcp executives asked for an extension to work on the show for up to 10 years, as evidence that a perpetual deal with the production company was never contemplated. Allowing dcp to negotiate rights to the show and work on it indefinitely as long as it aired on NBC would give producers an incentive to only deal with that network as opposed to seeking the best deal, and result in a loss of the association's control over the Globes, HFPA lawyers have argued.

The production company claims the HFPA has known for years about the arrangement and cites instances in which the association's leaders have called it a "major irritant" but acknowledged that a "perpetuity clause" was in place. The clause was also put in place because of the association's credibility problems, dcp attorneys argue.

"The quid pro quo is that HFPA is contractually bound not to pull the rug out from under dcp in the middle of the most successful television run in the Golden Globes' history," the production company's attorneys wrote in a brief in advance of the trial.

Matz said it was clear that a trial is necessary to sort out the parties' rights, but he urged them to focus on events in 1993 and later years. "There is an ambiguity and that's why we're going to trial," Matz said Monday.

Regardless of the winner, the overall feel of the Globes is unlikely to change. Transcripts of minutes from membership meetings throughout the year show HFPA members are committed to the Globes' banquet-style format, which features open-consumption of alcohol and a more-relaxed setting than most other awards shows.

While the Globes aren't necessarily a reliable predictor of who will win weeks later on Oscar night, the show has a knack for creating buzz.

What's worn on the red carpet and said on the winner's stage often dominates the next day's headlines, and each summer the group doles out grants to non-profit and educational institutions. Last year they donated $1.5 million in a star-studded luncheon and have doled out $13 million in grants in the past 17 years.

___

Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-23-Golden%20Globes-Lawsuit/id-9ed4edf9905e42f1866fc0efd6f23f58

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Sony Xperia Ion pricing revealed?

Yup, it's another crumb of information making its way from the decidedly leaky ship that is Sony Mobile Communications -- as with all these, let's keep our tinfoil helmets set to skeptical. This time it looks like we've got rumored pricing for the Xperia Ion handset we played with at CES. A pre-order page has appeared at Negri Electronics that offers the handset for $569.50 unlocked. That sum of money will get you the AT&T-LTE phone with 16GB storage, a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 4.6-inch 720 x 1280 display and, erm, Gingerbread (we know ICS is coming to this device, but perhaps not in time for launch). Still, if you're prepared to take the leap, head on down to the source link to mark your place at the front of the post-Ericsson queue.

Sony Xperia Ion pricing revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/sony-xperia-ion-pricing-rumor/

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Monday, January 23, 2012

APNewsBreak: Afghan asylum bids hit 10-year high (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? More Afghans fled the country and sought asylum abroad in 2011 than in any other year since the start of the decade-long war, suggesting that many are looking for their own exit strategy as international troops prepare to withdraw.

From January to November, more than 30,000 Afghans applied for political asylum worldwide, a 25 percent increase over the same period the previous year and more than triple the level of just four years ago, according to U.N. statistics obtained by The Associated Press ahead of their scheduled publication later this year.

Many Afghans are turning to a thriving and increasingly sophisticated human smuggling industry to get themselves ? or in most cases, their sons ? out of the country. They pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to cross into Iran or Pakistan to more $25,000 for fake papers and flights to places like London or Stockholm.

Thousands of refugees also return each year, but their numbers have been dwindling as the asylum applications rise. Both trends highlight worries among Afghans about what may happen after 2014, when American and other NATO troops turn security over to the Afghan army and police.

The true numbers of people leaving is likely even higher ? since those who are successfully smuggled abroad often melt into an underground economy. Still, the jump in a rough indicator like asylum seekers suggests the total numbers are also on the rise.

Smuggling people out of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan is a $1 billion-per-year criminal enterprise, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimates. Those who pay to leave often face a risky journey and detention abroad because many developed countries now see many Afghans who flee as illegal economic migrants, not political refugees.

Still, the business finds an eager clientele in Afghans such as Ahmad, an unemployed 20-year-old in Kabul. He has agreed to pay a smuggler $400 to take him over the Iranian border, where he hopes to find work and save up to move on to Europe in a few years. He has no money, but his smuggler is giving him credit ? he'll have a month to pay up once he's in Iran.

"I don't think anything will improve in three or five years, so it's better to leave now," said Ahmad, who expects to leave for Iran within a few weeks. He asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of being arrested.

Ahmad's family fled to Iran during the Taliban's late 1990s rule and returned full of hope after the regime fell. But now, he sees no future in his homeland.

"If foreign troops leave, the situation will only get worse, not better," he said.

That's a view shared by many. Tajma Kurt, who manages an International Organization for Migration program helping Afghans who have returned home, says she's noticed a marked change in ordinary Afghans' outlook since roughly 2007, when the Taliban insurgency began to gain strength and violent attacks increased.

"Before, they were looking for a job, discussing buying a house or whatever," Kurt said. "Now, they are all thinking of leaving because the situation has deteriorated dramatically and they don't see that it's going to get much better."

Devastated by decades of war, Afghanistan is already the world's biggest source of refugees, with more than 3 million of its total population of 30 million still outside the country, most in Iran and Pakistan, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees and the Afghan government.

After the 2001 U.S.-led military intervention that toppled the Taliban, some 5.7 million Afghan refugees returned. The vast majority of those came back in the first five years. The numbers have since dwindled, with about 60,000 refugees returning last year, about half the number as the previous year.

As the pace of returns slowed, the number of Afghans seeking asylum abroad rebounded. In 2011, 30,407 sought asylum through November, the latest available figures.

Driving both trends is not only economic ambition but deep uncertainties about the country's future, says Abdul Samad Hami, deputy minister of Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation.

"Who knows what happens when foreign troops leave Afghanistan? Is it going to get better or worse? Who knows what happens with the foreign aid to Afghanistan ? going down or increasing?" he said.

Some Afghans fear that once most foreign troops leave, the Taliban will take over more territory and civil war could erupt along ethnic lines, as it did in the 1990s. Others worry the Afghan economy will collapse if foreign aid dries up.

The real number of Afghans leaving is unknown, but undoubtedly higher than the asylum figures. The country's foreign ministry recently said 50,000 Afghans illegally entered Greece in the past two years alone, many of them now stranded without passports or money to move farther into Europe. Most of those arranged their journey with smugglers.

For their money, many endure a perilous journey.

Esmat Adine nearly drowned after the overcrowded boat he was on sank off Indonesia late last year, killing at least 200 fellow asylum-seekers headed for Australia. He says he left his wife and infant son at home in Afghanistan and paid $5,000 to travel to Australia after the Taliban threatened to kill him for working with American aid workers. He flew from Kabul to Dubai, then boarded a plane to Jakarta, Indonesia. From there, he was taken to eastern Java and was packed onto the doomed boat.

When the vessel capsized, Adine managed to survive by swimming to a nearby island.

"I swam and swam until I reached the shore," Adine, 24, told The Associated Press in an Indonesian detention center, where he is awaiting a ruling on his legal status. "I thought of how my wife and children are counting on me, of how I must earn a good life in Australia, free from intimidation."

He says he still hopes to be able to enter Australia and send for his family.

Australia has vowed to crack down on asylum-seekers but has been forced to relax a policy of mandatory detention because its detention camps are dangerously overcrowded.

Hami, the Afghan refugee official, says the country has come a long way and if the transition goes smoothly, fewer people will want to leave. But he conceded that depends on whether the government can provide security and jobs.

"If the situation gets worse, people will go out. If the situation gets better, people will return."

___

Associated Press reporters Massieh Neshat in Kabul and Ali Kotarumalos in Indonesia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan_more_fleeing

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Laura Prudom: Once Upon A Time Recap: Time Is Not On Snow White's Side In '7:15 A.M.'

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 1, Episode 10 of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," entitled "7:15 a.m."

We've all heard the Shakespearean adage that "the course of true love never did run smooth," but who could've predicted such a twisted road for Snow White and Prince Charming?

It seems as though amnesia is a running theme in Snow and James' relationship, and tonight's heartbreaking installment of "Once Upon a Time" threw yet another unexpected obstacle in their path. Just when it seemed as though the lovelorn couple might have a chance to be together despite James' arranged marriage to Abigail, Snow was forced to sacrifice her feelings for James' safety, capitulating to King George's threats and telling the replacement prince that she had never cared for him at all to keep the king from killing him. Woe!

She was a good actress, but apparently not convincing enough to change James' feelings, since it didn't take him long to call off his wedding to Midas' daughter and set off in pursuit of his happily ever after. Alas, he wasn't quite quick enough to reach Snow before she gave into her pain and tried to ease her broken heart with Rumplestiltskin's potion, erasing all memory of James so that she could live in blissful ignorance without him. Double woe!

But we know from the pilot episode that true love's kiss helped bring Snow back to life with her memories of James intact. So I'm guessing that either the effects of Rumple's potion can be undone by a smacker from her soulmate, or that she and James manage to find each other again before The Evil Queen poisons her with the apple she had Hansel and Gretel steal last week.

Either way, every moment we spend with Snow and James -- or Mary Margaret and David -- raises the show to a whole new level; the longing between them is so palpable, and played so perfectly by Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas, that my heart aches for them every time they're on screen. What this pair can convey with a single, lingering look could put other actors to shame.

I applaud the writers' continuing efforts to present an opposing image of Fairytale Land in Storybrooke. Just as Snow, who was in a "coma," needed to be awoken with James' kiss in their past lives, David was the one who was saved by Mary's kiss in our world. And now, as Snow and James move further apart in the fairytale world that was, Mary Margaret and David grow closer. It's a smart narrative choice -- given how invested we are as an audience in both versions of the couple -- it allows viewers to find some satisfaction with one iteration of the duo, preventing us from getting frustrated by the distance between the other version.

While I do wish the writers had come up with a less contrived plot device than having Mary Margaret feel compelled to risk death to help a dove return to its flock, just to get her alone with David during the storm, the MacGuffin was forgivable since the outcome was so satisfying. Even if Mary Margaret and David are now technically having an affair, I'm hoping the next couple of episodes will resolve things between David and Kathryn so that he finally stops trying to have his cake and eat it too.

As for another mirror theme between Fairytale Land and Storybrooke, I find it fascinating -- and bold -- that the writers have chosen to make David so indecisive and, as a result, also somewhat selfish. We're still rooting for him and Mary Margaret, but as she has been pointing out for weeks, he has continually built her hopes up only to dash them and return to Kathryn out of some misplaced sense of "duty." He's been insisting that he's doing the honorable thing in trying to make his marriage work, but living a lie hasn't been fair to either of the women he professes to care about. Plus, if he and Mary Margaret continue to carry on their relationship in secret, there's nothing noble about that course of action. Conversely, in Fairytale Land, James was wholeheartedly prepared to leave Abigail and forsake his duties to his kingdom as soon as he knows that his feelings for Snow are reciprocated. It just emphasizes the differences between the idealized, black-and-white morality of fairytales when compared to the shades of grey we encounter in the real world. While we'd expect Prince Charming to sacrifice everything for true love in a heartbeat, in our world (as the characters in Storybrooke keep reminding us) there's no such thing as happily ever after: Every action has very real consequences that even a magic kiss can't resolve.

It's no surprise, then, that the show's creators, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, conceived the story for this week's episode, though the teleplay was written by Daniel T. Thomsen. I'd be interested to learn whether the showrunners suggested those parallels or if the writer added them in, though I suspect it's the former. Thanks to my proclivity towards Snow and James' story, I think that "7:15 a.m." was my favorite episode of "Once" to date. The tragic romance of it all was more than enough to crack my cynical critic's heart.

The episode also introduced us to the infamous seven dwarfs (none of whom are actually that short) -- and poor, ill-fated Stealthy, who apparently missed out on a chance at literary immortality by failing to be all that stealthy. As Ginnifer Goodwin told me in our recent interview, "Once" had a typically unique twist on the start of that iconic friendship, with a fearless Snow finding herself cellmates with Grumpy -- and it turned out to be far more satisfying than the twee Disney iteration and its passive princess.

Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, Emma and Regina came to an uneasy truce in order to investigate the frustratingly enigmatic stranger who arrived in town last episode. While I was waiting for Emma to pull a Brad Pitt in "Se7en" when she was trying to find out what was in the guy's box, I'll admit, I'm no closer to figuring out who he really is. Goodwin told me, "I had a million theories about who the stranger was, and they were all wrong! What the creators' intention is with that character is so much better than anything I could have come up with." So I'm guessing that any Big Bad Wolf predictions we've been floating are way off base. The CW's "Supernatural" also introduced a mysterious writer, and he turned out to be the psychic author of the main characters' life stories -- and also possibly God (if you don't know, it's better not to ask). But "Once" doesn't seem like the type of show to go so overtly meta so soon, so I don't think the stranger will turn out to somehow be some omniscient narrator who created Fairytale Land and all the stories in Henry's book ... or perhaps that kind of unexpected twist is exactly what Kitsis and Horowitz are aiming for.

Overall, "7:15 a.m." expertly combined all the elements that make "Once Upon a Time" one of the most addictive and heartfelt new shows of the season, blending emotion, mystery and narrative thrust while giving us a deeper understanding of our favorite characters. I hope the next batch of episodes can keep up the momentum established this week.

"Once Upon a Time" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

?

Follow Laura Prudom on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lauinLA

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-prudom/once-upon-a-time-recap-7-15-am_b_1222723.html

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Gingrich seeks help among Florida evangelicals (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes may rest among the pews of Florida's ministries and megachurches.

The former House speaker is looking to Florida's religious conservatives to counter rival Mitt Romney's organizational and financial might in a state where so-called "values voters" could constitute more than a third of the Republican electorate in the Jan. 31 primary.

"There's no question Gov. Romney will always have more money," Gingrich says when asked about his Florida campaign. But he's quick to add that his team has between 5,000 and 6,000 volunteers. Aides say many of them are evangelicals.

Thrice-married, Gingrich may not be the obvious pick for church-goers here. But the network of religious activists he's assembling has far greater concerns about Romney's inconsistent history on abortion and gay rights than they seemingly do about Gingrich's two divorces and acknowledged marital infidelity.

And that gives Gingrich an opening as he challenges Romney in the aftermath of Saturday's primary in South Carolina, where the polls suggest Gingrich may end up winning.

Seeking to capitalize on Gingrich's burst of momentum, one of his top evangelical backers in Florida planned to lead a conference call in the coming days with 1,000 pastors. Others are spreading Gingrich's message in the state's many churches and Baptist publications. And Gingrich has already lined up appearances with the religious community for next week.

"The evangelicals are not going to wrap their arms around Romney in this primary or the general election," says John Grant, a Baptist leader and one of Gingrich's Florida evangelical chairmen. "Gingrich is pulling these people together quite nicely."

The power of Florida's evangelicals depends on their ability to unite. And while they're nearly united against Romney, they're not wholly united behind Gingrich. Some prominent religious conservatives are rallying around Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator long known for passionate social conservatism, but generally considered a longshot in the race to challenge President Barack Obama in the fall.

Santorum is showing no signs of bowing out, especially after the final tally suggested he edged Romney in the Iowa caucuses even though there is no officially declared winner.

The continued division leaves the political power of Florida's evangelicals fractured, just as anti-Romney conservatives have been in other early voting states all year.

"We have to figure out how we're going to come together," said John Stemberger, a Santorum supporter who led the 2008 push to amend Florida's constitution to ban gay marriage.

Stemberger hoped a recent meeting of national evangelical leaders in Texas would do just that. The group held a nonbinding vote that showed overwhelming support for Santorum. But in Florida, there are serious questions about the viability of Santorum, who hired a Florida staff just last week.

Gingrich's organization pales when compared to Romney's, which has been years in the making. But Gingrich's team is working to capitalize on doubts about Santorum, as well as on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's recent exit.

Gingrich's Florida operation is led by Jose Mallea, who managed Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's 2010 race.

Even before Perry's exit, Gingrich's team had been quietly courting key staff and supporters from both the Perry and Santorum camps to boost an organization that was stood up in December.

Underscoring the challenge Gingrich faces, he has yet to run any television ads in Florida, where Romney and his allies have had the airwaves to themselves since mid-December. Mallea said Gingrich will advertise in Spanish and English soon.

Gingrich also faces renewed attention on flaws in his personal life that could turn off evangelicals here.

In an ABC News interview broadcast Thursday, Gingrich's second wife said he sought an "open marriage" arrangement so he could have a mistress and a wife. Asked about his ex-wife's assertions during a debate that night, Gingrich said it was false and lashed out at the media.

"I wish he didn't have that background, but I honestly believe he's had a real renaissance experience," said Grant, the Gingrich supporter.

In recent years, Gingrich has publicly acknowledged mistakes, converted to Catholicism and says prayer is an important part of his life.

Gingrich's team estimates evangelicals will represent between 25 percent and 40 percent of the Florida GOP primary electorate.

Exit polling from the 2008 GOP primary shows that approximately 39 percent of voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. They were almost evenly split that year, with 30 percent for Sen. John McCain, 29 percent for Romney, 29 percent for Mike Huckabee and 7 percent for Rudy Giuliani.

Romney would be happy with a repeat performance. His team has organized weekly conference calls with a group of social conservative leaders it hopes will produce at least some of the evangelical vote.

But Romney is not going out of his way to appease this group. He recently declined to respond to the Florida Family Policy Council voter guide, which Stemberger organized. The guide highlights Romney's non-answers on key social issues prominently and was emailed to 100,000 Florida evangelicals this week. It also is expected to be faxed and emailed to about 8,000 churches.

While Stemberger and Grant don't agree on a Romney alternative, they share deep concerns about him.

"I hear that if it's Obama and Romney, evangelicals have no place to go. But there's a third choice: It's called home," Grant said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich_florida

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

For many, job loss would mean missing bills

Mark Lennihan / AP

People wait to talk with potential employers at a job fair in New York last December.

By Allison Linn

The sudden loss of a job has become, if not commonplace over the last years, at least not very surprising.

And yet, many Americans remain unprepared for not having an income. A new survey from Country Financial finds that one-third of Americans would immediately fall behind on their bills if they lost a job and were left with no income.

That?s virtually the same result that Country Financial got the last time they asked the same question, in July of 2009.

The good news: About one-quarter of Americans are well-prepared for a job loss. The January survey found that 24 percent of respondents could weather five months without an income. That?s also virtually the same percentage as in July of 2009.

Country Financial conducts the survey of 3,000 people bi-monthly.

Although the economy is consistently adding more jobs than it is shedding, some workers continue to be let go. For example, Kraft Foods said this week that it would cut 1,600 jobs as it prepares to split its business in two.

If you do lose a job, the market remains tough. The median time it takes to find a new job is 21 weeks, or about five months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are currently about 13 million unemployed Americans who are looking for work, and the unemployment rate is at 8.5 percent.

Related:

Role reversal: Employers say they can't find workers

Few part-timers but more working multiple jobs

How long could you pay your bills if you lost your job?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10183131-for-many-job-loss-would-mean-immediately-missing-bills

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Judge: Somali accused of piracy to go to trial (AP)

NORFOLK, Va. ? A federal judge has refused to dismiss charges against a Somali man who prosecutors consider the highest-ranking pirate the U.S. has ever captured.

U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar said Thursday that Mohammad Saaili Shibin will stand trial. Shibin faces piracy and a host of other charges in the hijacking of a German merchant vessel and a U.S. yacht. All four Americans on board were shot and killed.

Shibin attorney James Broccoletti argued that the charges should be dismissed because it's too dangerous for his client to travel to Somalia and provide an adequate defense. Doumar denied that request.

Doumar is reserving judgment on other motions to dismiss the charges until he hears evidence at the trial.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_us/us_prosecuting_pirates

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Friday, January 20, 2012

New research finds sport is effective in reducing reoffending rates

New research finds sport is effective in reducing reoffending rates [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Glenn Harris
G.Harris@soton.ac.uk
44-023-805-93212
University of Southampton

A new research project into the role of sport in rehabilitating young prisoners has found that sport can be effective in reducing the reconviction rate of offenders.

The research project was led by Dr Rosie Meek, a lecturer in psychology in the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Southampton, as part of her evaluation of the Portland Prison Sports Academy, an initiative developed by Bristol-based organisation, the 2nd Chance Project.

For the past two years, Dr Meek has been working with 81 young male adult offenders at Portland young offender institution in Dorset, who took part in football and rugby academies. The research has involved monitoring inmates' improvements during and after participation in the scheme, and tracking their progress after release. The academies were run intensively over 15 weeks, drawing on creative partnerships between prison staff, community delivery partners and the expertise of the 2nd Chance Project staff, who provided specialist support for offenders in the transition from custody to community.

Of the 50 participants who have been released over the past 18 months, nine have reoffended or been recalled to prison, representing an 18 per cent reconviction rate (compared to a prison average of 48 per cent after one year). Statistically significant improvements were also observed in established measures of conflict resolution, aggression, impulsivity, and attitudes towards offending following participation.

The aim of the project - to harness the power of sport in reducing reoffending - is especially pertinent in the context of current concerns about national reoffending figures. Indeed, it was the resettlement focus of the project that first inspired Dr Meek to get involved. She says: "I have devoted much of my research to exploring the psychological and social processes involved in the transition from prison to the community. Young offenders have one of the highest rates of reconviction after release, with around three quarters reoffending within a year.

"The current 'revolving door' effect ruins lives, damages communities and costs the UK economy billions. A clear finding from the research is that this innovative project is especially effective in using sport as a vehicle for change, engaging prisoners and motivating them to take responsibility for desisting from crime."

The research has found that, as well as improving behaviour and engagement among those serving longer sentences, the project provides crucial 'through the gate' support in the form of Justin Coleman, Transitions Director of the 2nd Chance Project. Justin's knowledgeable and supportive approach has had a long-lasting positive impact on those he works with, responding to the need for flexible and specialist resettlement provision which will address the complex needs of young people in prison.

###

The research findings will be launched on Friday 20 January at Twickenham stadium. The event will bring together almost 100 delegates made up of academics, prison staff, sporting representatives, and voluntary and community sector organisations.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


New research finds sport is effective in reducing reoffending rates [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Glenn Harris
G.Harris@soton.ac.uk
44-023-805-93212
University of Southampton

A new research project into the role of sport in rehabilitating young prisoners has found that sport can be effective in reducing the reconviction rate of offenders.

The research project was led by Dr Rosie Meek, a lecturer in psychology in the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Southampton, as part of her evaluation of the Portland Prison Sports Academy, an initiative developed by Bristol-based organisation, the 2nd Chance Project.

For the past two years, Dr Meek has been working with 81 young male adult offenders at Portland young offender institution in Dorset, who took part in football and rugby academies. The research has involved monitoring inmates' improvements during and after participation in the scheme, and tracking their progress after release. The academies were run intensively over 15 weeks, drawing on creative partnerships between prison staff, community delivery partners and the expertise of the 2nd Chance Project staff, who provided specialist support for offenders in the transition from custody to community.

Of the 50 participants who have been released over the past 18 months, nine have reoffended or been recalled to prison, representing an 18 per cent reconviction rate (compared to a prison average of 48 per cent after one year). Statistically significant improvements were also observed in established measures of conflict resolution, aggression, impulsivity, and attitudes towards offending following participation.

The aim of the project - to harness the power of sport in reducing reoffending - is especially pertinent in the context of current concerns about national reoffending figures. Indeed, it was the resettlement focus of the project that first inspired Dr Meek to get involved. She says: "I have devoted much of my research to exploring the psychological and social processes involved in the transition from prison to the community. Young offenders have one of the highest rates of reconviction after release, with around three quarters reoffending within a year.

"The current 'revolving door' effect ruins lives, damages communities and costs the UK economy billions. A clear finding from the research is that this innovative project is especially effective in using sport as a vehicle for change, engaging prisoners and motivating them to take responsibility for desisting from crime."

The research has found that, as well as improving behaviour and engagement among those serving longer sentences, the project provides crucial 'through the gate' support in the form of Justin Coleman, Transitions Director of the 2nd Chance Project. Justin's knowledgeable and supportive approach has had a long-lasting positive impact on those he works with, responding to the need for flexible and specialist resettlement provision which will address the complex needs of young people in prison.

###

The research findings will be launched on Friday 20 January at Twickenham stadium. The event will bring together almost 100 delegates made up of academics, prison staff, sporting representatives, and voluntary and community sector organisations.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uos-nrf011812.php

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