merciful gaile: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

[OOC] Better Left Unknown

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Hi, could I reserve a position for an immune character?

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vanguardngrnews: 2011 Sports Review: Nigeria?s year of pain http://t.co/A9q0K0Cs #Nigeria

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Italy borrowing costs stay near record at sale (Reuters)

MILAN (Reuters) ? Italy's borrowing costs fell from recent record highs at a bond auction on Thursday but cautious investors still demanded a near 7 percent yield to buy 10-year debt, a level seen unsustainable over time for the euro zone's third-largest economy.

Traders said the European Central Bank stepped in after the auction to buy Italian bonds on the open market as investors worry about the country's ability to sell enough long-term debt ahead of large redemptions early next year.

The ECB's injection of nearly half a trillion euros of cheap funding for banks and a new Italian budget package this month have eased pressure on short-term debt, but longer-dated bonds still pose a challenge.

Italy raised 7 billion euros ($9 billion) of debt in thin holiday markets, just above the mid-point of its target range.

It sold the top planned amount of its 10-year benchmark bond but the yield was 6.98 percent, not far from a euro lifetime record of 7.56 percent a month ago.

The yield on the three-year BTP bond fell more markedly to 5.62 percent from a euro era record of 7.89 percent at an end-November auction. At the time, in a sign of acute market worries about Italy's ability to repay, the three-year yield was higher than the one on the longer maturity.

"Today's decline in the auction yield by 'just' about 60 basis points versus end-November in such a high-yield territory underscores that the genuine pressure on Italy is still tremendous, despite bold ECB actions that have given (short-term

debt) a big boost," said David Schnautz, a rate strategist at Commerzbank in London.

The fall in the three-year yield came after Italian six-month borrowing costs halved at an auction on Wednesday.

These were the first Italian debt sales since the ECB flooded euro zone banks with three-year funds and the Rome government overcame internal opposition to a radical pension reform as part of Italy's third budget package since the summer.

This week's auctions will settle in January and help towards

the Treasury's challenging gross funding target of around 450 billion euros has for next year.

In a push to keep investors buying Italian debt, a new technocrat government in Rome is planning to tackle Italy's chronic low-growth problems.

But markets look with concern at some 91 billion euros of Italian bonds coming due between January and April.

"Given the scale of its funding requirements, there are still big concerns about Italy's ability to get through 2012," said Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy. "Next quarter is going to be all about Italy."

While Italy can count on strong domestic support such as from retail investors at its short-term debt sales, its longer-dated bonds are more reliant on foreign buyers, giving a clearer picture of the market attitude towards the country's debt.

The ECB intervened after the sale as Italian 10-year yields remained locked above 7 percent on the secondary market. ($1 = 0.7724 euros)

(Additional reporting by London and Milan bonds team; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/bs_nm/us_italy_bonds_auction

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Monday 26th December 2011 : Toolroom Knights - The Italian Job @ Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, Elephant & Castle, London

Boxing Day - Monday 26th December
22:00-06:00

Toolroom Knights - The Italian Job

Box:
Mark Knight
Stefano Noferini
Manuel De La Mare
Alex Kenji
Pete Griffiths

103: Mistajam Presents Speakerbox
Mistajam
Adam F
DJ Die
George Andrews
Mark Storie

Loft: Backwards Disco
Jia & Jevs
Archer b2b Osbourne b2b Dunleavy
Matt Dominguez
Charlie White
Jordy B & Micro

Baby Box: Tempo Eterno
Dan Jorge & Chris Dewell
Joe Varni
Kane Brown
Dave Walker
Elearto
DJ De Linares
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From ?15 Advance // ?8 from 4am // Students ?10 all night // MOTD

Tickets available from:
http://www.ministryofsound.com/tickets
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk // 08444 771 000
http://www.residentadvisor.net/mos
http://www.skiddle.com/mos

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

http://www.toolroomrecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/toolroomrecords
http://www.ministryofsound.com/club
http://www.youtube.com/ministryofsoundclub
http://www.facebook.com/ministryofsoundclub
http://www.twitter.com/mosclub

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ministry of Sound
103 Gaunt Street
London
SE1 6DP
0870 060 0010
Nearest Tube: Elephant and Castle

Source: http://www.spraci.com/events/243237.html

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Lawsuit Could Put Monetary Value on Twitter Followers

A multisource video news analysis service that highlights nuances in reporting from media outlets around the world.

(Image Source: Twitter)

BY LAUREN ZIMA

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

What?s your worth on Twitter? A new lawsuit could have an answer.

Meet 38-year-old Noah Kravitz -- who in October 2010 uploaded his final video for his former employer, PhoneDog.com. Kravitz says he left the company on a good note.

NOAH KRAVITZ: ?I?m going on to do some other things, but I will remain a fan of PhoneDog just like I hope all of you are and will remain. ...?You can follow me online. On Twitter -- my new Twitter handle is just my name, NoahKravitz.?

Kravitz removed ?PhoneDog? from his handle -- but kept the 17,000 followers he had built up in his four years at the company. Now, that good note seems long gone. PhoneDog has filed a lawsuit in California -- saying Kravitz?s followers belong to the site, not him. The company wants $2.50 per follower a month for eight months. That makes $340,000.

Kravitz told the New York Times PhoneDog said he could keep the followers if he kept Tweeting about the company, and that he thinks the suit was filed in retaliation to his request for 15 percent of the site?s advertising revenue because of his position as a partner. But the case is bringing up bigger issues -- should people be able to keep their followers when they leave a position -- and -- what are those followers worth??The Times spoke with a lawyer who handles intellectual property disputes. He says:

??It all hinges on why the account was opened ? If it was to communicate with PhoneDog?s customers or build up new customers ? then the account was opened on behalf of PhoneDog, not Mr. Kravitz. An added complexity is that PhoneDog contends Mr. Kravitz was just a contractor in the related partnership/employment case, thus weakening their trade secrets case, unless they can show he was contracted to create the feed.??

And when it comes to that $2.50 a head -- The Atlantic Wire says -- hold the phone, PhoneDog. The writer says followers might have been following Kravitz for his writing, not the PhoneDog info -- and that lots of followers are spambots anyway.

? ? an absurd valuation. ? Anyone who has used Twitter for any length of time knows that there are numerous tricks to inflating follower accounts and that the vast, vast majority of users are highly disengaged.?

PhoneDog won?t release how it arrived at that number, and media outlets agree cases like this one will probably become all too common in years ahead.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newsy-allvideos/~3/EpdcxzLtmpk/lawsuit-could-put-monetary-value-on-twitter-followers

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onlinecourse: President Obama's 2011 Executive Order on Student Loans: What it Means For You - http://t.co/0WSZtxFg

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President Obama's 2011 Executive Order on Student Loans: What it Means For You - dedu.org/rCq1wM Il y a environ 2 heures via Distance Education

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Video: Top IPO: GNC Stock Bulking Up

GNC is up 75% from their IPO price, so what is the company doing right? CNBC's Darren Rovell reports.

Sony sells stake in LCD venture to Samsung

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

PFT: Cardinals' Peterson escapes serious injury

Eighteen games remain in the 2011 NFL season: Bears-Packers tonight, Falcons-Saints tomorrow and 16 games on New Year?s Day. Here?s a rundown of how each team still in contention can have its playoff position affected by the results of those 18 games:

Patriots: Clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs by beating Buffalo or by having both the Ravens and Steelers lose.

Ravens: Clinch the AFC North and a first-round bye with a win or a Steelers loss. Clinch home-field advantage with a win and a Patriots loss.

Steelers: Clinch the AFC North with a win and a Ravens loss. Clinch home-field advantage with a win, a Ravens loss and a Patriots loss.

Texans: Locked into the AFC No. 3 seed. Week 17 is meaningless to Houston, and the Texans may rest many of their key players.

Broncos: Clinch the AFC West and the No. 4 seed by beating the Chiefs, or a Raiders loss.

Raiders: Clinch the AFC West and the No. 4 seed by beating the Chargers and a Broncos loss. If the Broncos win, the Raiders can still get a wild card if they win and the Bengals lose, plus either the Titans lose or the Jets win.

Bengals: Clinch a playoff spot and the No. 6 seed if they win, or if the Jets lose and either the Raiders or Broncos lose.

Jets: Get the No. 6 seed if they win and the Bengals and Titans and either the Raiders or Broncos lose.

Titans: Get the No. 6 seed if they win and the Bengals lose, plus either the Jets win and the Broncos or Raiders lose, or the Jets lose and the Broncos and Raiders both win.

Packers: Clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs if they beat either the Bears tonight or the Lions next week, or if the 49ers lose next week.

49ers: Clinch a first-round bye with a win next week or the Saints losing either on Monday night or next week. The 49ers can still get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if they win and the Packers lose to both the Bears and the Lions.

Saints: Clinch the NFC South if they win either of their two remaining games, and they could even clinch the NFC South if they lose both of their remaining games, if the Falcons lose in Week 17. The Saints can?t get home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, but they can get a first-round bye if they win both their remaining games and the 49ers lose next week.

Cowboys/Giants: Next Sunday night?s game is essentially a playoff game: The Cowboys-Giants winner wins the NFC East and is the No. 4 seed, while the loser?s season is over. If the game ends in a tie, the Giants win the division.

Falcons: The Falcons can clinch a playoff spot tonight by the Packers beating the Bears. They need just one more win or one more Chicago loss to get to the playoffs. They could still win the NFC South, but only if they beat the Saints Monday night and win next week, plus the Saints lose next week.

Lions: Detroit is an NFC wild card. Whether they?re the No. 5 or No. 6 seed depends on the results of their own game with the Packers and the Falcons? remaining games.

Bears: Chicago can still make the playoffs, but only if they win both their remaining games and the Falcons lose both their remaining games.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/25/patrick-peterson-escapes-serious-injury/related/

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richphoto: Alternative Energy is out! http://t.co/Iznoewri ? Top stories today via @sudarkoff @nathanchantrell @zorislavova @sidngouveair @braedlauguy

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Colts, Rams stand alone in running for top NFL pick

Indianapolis and St. Louis are the last teams standing for the NFL draft's top pick next April.

Minnesota eliminated itself Saturday by winning its third game, 33-26 at Washington. Because its schedule was stronger than either the Colts or the Rams played, the Vikings can't select first even if all three teams finish 3-13.

The Colts remain the front-runner and if they lose at Jacksonville (4-11) next Sunday, they have the chance to choose Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, considered the top prospect in the draft. The Rams would get the No. 1 spot if Indy wins and they lose at home to San Francisco.

St. Louis selected quarterback Sam Bradford atop the draft in 2010, so if the Rams earn the top pick, they should get lots of offers for Luck, or they might choose a dangerous receiver ? something the Rams have lacked since Bradford arrived.

The Colts have won two straight games, beating Tennessee and Houston, to place in doubt their hold on the top draft pick. With Peyton Manning out for the season with a neck injury, the Colts lost their first 13 games of the season, and most figure Luck will be their selection if they go first.

Beating the Jaguars, who fell 23-17 at Tennessee on Saturday, isn't a stretch. Yes, the Jaguars won 17-3 at Indy in mid-November, but Curtis Painter was the quarterback then, not Dan Orlovsky. The Colts won in Orlovsky's past two starts.

Plus, Jacksonville has dropped five of its past six since beating Indy.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5661463872

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Taliban suicide bomber kills 6 Pakistani soldiers (AP)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan ? A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a paramilitary camp in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing six soldiers in the second attack in as many days meant to avenge the slaying of a senior commander in a U.S. drone strike.

The attacks came as Pakistan was gripped by tension between the army and the civilian government over a secret memo sent to Washington earlier this year asking for help in reining in the military. Pakistan's prime minister sought to dial down the conflict Saturday, days after he set off alarm with a warning of a potential coup.

The bombing against the Frontier Corps camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu town caused part of a building to collapse and wounded at least 19 soldiers, said local police officer Tahir Khan.

A Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press. He said it was meant to avenge the death of commander Taj Gul in a U.S. drone strike in October in the South Waziristan tribal area, a key sanctuary for the militants.

Gul was the Pakistani Taliban's operational commander in South Waziristan and was responsible for many attacks against security forces.

On Friday, around three dozen Pakistani Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles attacked a paramilitary camp in Tank district near South Waziristan before dawn, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others.

Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman, said Friday that attack was also meant to avenge Gul's death. The militants targeted the soldiers because of Pakistan's alliance with the United States, he said.

Ehsan pledged they would kill the kidnapped troops, saying "we are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders."

The Pakistani Taliban has waged a fierce insurgency in Pakistan over the past four years, killing tens of thousands of security personnel and civilians. Their aim is to topple the civilian government, partly because of its alliance with the U.S., and impose Islamic law throughout the country.

Pakistan has launched a series of military offensives against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest along the Afghan border, including in South Waziristan.

Analysts say the operations, combined with hundreds of U.S. drone attacks, have contributed to a significant decline in violence in Pakistan this year. But militants still carry out attacks almost daily that have killed more than 2,300 people through November, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

The current political crisis in Pakistan threatens to distract the military from its fight against the militants.

The scandal centers around a memo that was allegedly sent to a senior U.S. military official in May by Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Husain Haqqani, asking for help in averting a supposed army coup in the wake of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani has denied the allegations but resigned in the wake of the scandal. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has also denied claims that he was connected to the memo.

Tension spiked this past week when Pakistan's Supreme Court opened a hearing into the scandal and demanded the president submit a response, which he has so far failed to do. The government has claimed there is no need for a judicial investigation since parliament is looking into the matter.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani set pulses racing Thursday when he claimed there was a conspiracy under way to oust the government. He did not specifically point to the military, but he did say the army must be answerable to parliament and cannot act as a "state within a state."

Army chief Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani dismissed the prime minister's allegations Friday, saying the military had no intention of staging a coup and would respect the constitution.

Gilani welcomed Kayani's comments Saturday, saying "the clarification from the army chief yesterday is extremely well-taken in the democratic circles."

"It will certainly improve the situation," Gilani told reporters in Islamabad.

Analysts have speculated that the army may try to force Zardari out of office over the memo scandal, rather than actually stage a coup.

Kayani said Friday that talk of a military takeover was a distraction from "real issues," a comment perceived by some to apply to the president's alleged role in the scandal.

___

Mahsud reported from Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad contributed to this report from Islamabad.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

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Guest Post ? Personal finance, goals, and the relationship factor ...

Posted on December 23, 2011 in guest post ?

NOTE: Today?s guest post is from?Robb Engen who writes about Canadian personal finance at?Boomer & Echo, as well as at Moneyville.ca.

We all know that teenagers are out of touch with reality, expecting to earn $90,000 per year by age 30. In my experience, many single 20-somethings are just as clueless when it comes to creating a realistic financial plan.

I read an article recently about a 22-year-old man named Sean who just graduated from college and started working for an investment bank. His goal was to be financial free by age 33, and here?s how he planned to do it:

Sean had a great starting salary of $75,000 per year, with the potential to earn an additional $50,000 in bonuses. To maximize his income, Sean?s brilliant plan included working 85-hour weeks for the next 11 years. He shared an apartment near his office downtown so he could walk to work.? Sean planned to save money on food by bringing his lunch and dinner to work so he could eat at his desk.

The end result of Sean?s financial plan was to save over 60 per cent of his income and have an investment portfolio worth $1.5 million by the time he reached age 33. I?m all for setting lofty goals, but this plan doesn?t stand a chance. It?s just a dream.

I can remember when I was in my early 20?s and single, dreaming of financial freedom. I worked long hours, socked away money inside my RRSP, and lived on Pizza Pops and Kraft Dinner. I was going to retire young and wealthy, and then live it up over-seas. But then something happened that usually foils the financial dreams of all single men; I met a girl.

The one thing that is rarely accounted for in the financial dreams of young singles is the relationship factor. Suddenly you have to consider someone else?s needs other than your own. I don?t know about you, but my significant other wouldn?t really appreciate me working 85-hour weeks while sharing a cramped two-bedroom apartment with my old college roommate.

My financial priorities have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. When I was single I put any extra dollar into my RRSP without even thinking about my short term financial needs. Now that I?m married and have a family, I find myself more concerned with paying off our mortgage, building an emergency fund, and saving for a nice family vacation. I?ll stop myself before I end up buying a used mini-van.

I?m not suggesting that young single folks can?t make their financial dreams come true. Just remember to have a back-up plan that includes a significant other in your life.

?-
**NOTE: I absolutely agree with Robb. Everything you thought you knew and wanted in life can be turned upside down once you meet someone special. I think even the biggest relationship skeptic can change if the right person comes along. But maybe that?s just me wanting to believe that it?s true. :)

Robb Engen lives in Lethbridge, AB and writes about Canadian personal finance at?Boomer & Echo. Together with his mom, (she?s the Boomer, he?s the Echo) they offer their own unique perspectives on saving, investing and personal finance. You can follow him on Twitter?@BoomerandEcho.

Author comments are in a darker gray color for you to easily identify the posts in the comments

Source: http://www.givemebackmyfivebucks.com/2011/12/23/guest-post-personal-finance-goals-and-the-relationship-factor/

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A future gaming world of 100% digital games? | N4G

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Pravkebab: I love collecting games and not just playing them and I think that one day we will see a world of pure digital content. ... 8m ago - While most websites are getting together their top [enter random number here] gaming lists of 201. ...

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Secret US memo now key evidence in baby thefts (AP)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina ? A long-classified memo describing a secret meeting between diplomats in a clubby Washington restaurant has become key evidence in the trial of two former Argentine dictators charged with stealing babies from political prisoners.

The 1982 memo was fully declassified by the U.S. State Department this week at the request of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The human rights group has spent decades gathering evidence against the 1976-1983 military junta.

"Its content is key to proving that, far from treating them as isolated incidents, there existed a defined policy at the highest levels of the armed forces to make sure that the babies were appropriated," the group said in a statement.

At the time, the junta officially denied any knowledge of systematic baby thefts, let alone responsibility for the disappearances of political prisoners. In public, the U.S. government also was circumspect, even as the junta's death squads kidnapped and killed its opponents, eventually eliminating more than 13,000 "subversives."

But the memo by former senior State Department official Elliot Abrams suggests close communication between the governments.

He wrote it after meeting with Argentina's ambassador to the U.S. at the Jockey Club in Washington's Ritz-Carlton hotel. At the time, Abrams oversaw human rights at the State Department, and the junta was eager for certification that its rights record was improving.

"I raised with the Ambassador the question of children," Abrams wrote.

"Children born to prisoners or children taken from their families during the dirty war. While the disappeared were dead, these children were alive and this was in a sense the gravest humanitarian problem. The Ambassador agreed completely and had already made this point to his foreign minister and president," Abrams wrote.

The Abrams memo suggests the junta spurned his appeals to come clean on its rights record by "telling everything it could about the fate of individuals," or by inviting the Catholic Church to reunite the children with their birth families.

"The military is absolutely united and determined to avoid widespread and vengeful punishment for its acts," Abrams noted.

But Abrams also reported that he told the ambassador certification would not be a problem, based on the junta's public record.

Asked about the memo by The Associated Press on Thursday, Abrams said through a spokeswoman that "he will not comment on the substance of this memo or any other questions due to the fact that he may have to testify in the coming future."

The document was found among nearly 5,000 records on Argentina declassified by President Bill Clinton after a Freedom of Information campaign by the nonprofit National Security Archive.

"This is a prime example of the power of declassification to advance the cause of human rights in Argentina," the archive's senior analyst, Peter Kornbluh, said Thursday. "As a humanitarian act of archival diplomacy," he said, President Barack Obama "should release all U.S. military and intelligence records that shed light on these particularly heinous acts of repression."

Until this week, several paragraphs had been censored. The complete file shows they merely describe speculation about Argentine politics, and are irrelevant to the case. But there was no way to know that until the memo was fully declassified.

"The newly released parts don't deal with the grandchildren issue at all. They never should have been redacted in the first place," Kornbluh said. "But having the whole document dispels any suspicions that the U.S. is hiding information relevant to the missing grandchildren cases. So it is important to release it."

The Grandmothers group thanked U.S. Ambassador Vilma Martinez in Buenos Aires for her help.

"We hope that this will be the start of the declassification of all the documents that the United States has, in particular those of agencies like the CIA and FBI, to contribute to clearing up the crimes of humanity that occurred in our country."

Abrams wants it known that he also is "in favor of having relevant U.S. documents declassified" as well, said Rachel Steyer, his research associate at the Council for Foreign Relations in Washington.

___

Follow Michael Warren on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mwarrenap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_argentina_stolen_babies

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Video: Christie won?t say no to running for VP

Comedian Louis C.K. made $1M, gave half away

Louis C.K. cut out TV networks by selling his latest comedy special online -- then used network airtime to promote it. The strategy helped him earn a cool million dollars in a matter of days, half of which he's giving away to his staff and charities.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45780121#45780121

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China's Baidu removed from U.S. "notorious markets" list (Digital Trends)

Baidu (sign)

Since 2006, the Office of the Unites States Trade Representative has identified so-called ?notorious markets??online and physical marketplaces that specialize in the sale and distribution of counterfeit or pirated goods. Earlier this year, the USPR started issuing out-of-cycle reports on notorious markets, and the most recent update (PDF) lists the usual spate of Torrent sites, deep linkers, and online lockers, along with infamous physical markets like New Dehli?s Nehru Place, Kiev?s Petrivka Market, and China?s PC Malls. However, one long-time entry in the list has been removed: China?s leading search engine Baidu, which this year inked a major licensing agreement with music publishers.

However, China?s widely-used online consumer- and business-oriented online shopping service Taobao remains on the list. China also accounts for four of the 15 physical markets on the list.

?Several commenters reported that pirated and counterfeit goods continue to be widely available on China-based Taobao,? the USTR said in its report. ?While stakeholders report that Taobao continues to make significant efforts to address the problem, they recognize that much remains to be done.?

The report also called out Modchip.ca and Consolesource?both well-known purveyors of game console mods?along with pay-to-download services that appear to be clones of Russia?s former Allofmp3. Torrent indexers weren?t exempt from the list, either: whlie the report notes Torrent indexers can be used for lawful purposes, sites like The Pirate Bay, IsoHunt, BtJunkie, Kat.ph, and torrentz.eu are well-known for carrying unlicensed and illegal material?the report also singles out Torrent-trackers like Demonoid and zumunda, both of which are the subject of criminal prosecutions. Other online services getting the squinty-eyed stare from the USTR include online storage services like Megaupload and Putlocker, and the online forum Warez-bb.

Although the USTR?s report doesn?t claim to be exhaustive?or even reflect legal proceedings against alleged pirates?it does try to call attention to marketplaces where ?copyright piracy on a commercial scale and trademark counterfeiting continue to thrive.?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Friday, December 23, 2011

More top Chinese leaders mourn Kim Jong Il (AP)

BEIJING ? Premier Wen Jiabao and other top Chinese leaders paid their respects Wednesday to North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il, a further sign that China is working to reassure Pyongyang of the strength of ties and retain its influence amid an uncertain leadership transition.

Wen and four other members of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee made a morning visit to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing to offer their condolences, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

President Hu Jintao and the other three members of the supreme ruling body visited Tuesday.

China has moved rapidly to reaffirm unique, deep-seated ties and assure the North of its continuing support as Pyongyang's most important ally and biggest source of food and fuel aid.

China has called Kim a "close friend" and hailed his son and successor Kim Jong Un as the North's new leader.

In the Chinese border city of Dandong, there was no sign that North Korea was shutting down, with trucks and tourist busses crossing the Yalu River bridge and tourists aboard pleasure boats cruising along the North Korean bank.

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin left the door open for an invitation to the younger Kim, noting that China maintains high-level exchanges with North Korea.

"We would welcome North Korea's leaders to visit China at their convenience," Liu told reporters at Tuesday's daily briefing. The words Liu used could refer to one leader or more than one leader.

China has been expected to push for an early visit by the younger Kim to cement ties with the new leadership, in contrast to the six-year gap between his father's rise to power and his first trip to Beijing when relations drifted. The younger Kim is believed to have already visited China at least once as part of his father's retinue.

China's response to Kim's death highlights the government's growing emphasis on North Korean ties despite its annoyance at the North's refusal to reform its listless economy and its recurring provocative acts against South Korea that whip up tensions in the region.

Beijing sees North Korea as a strategic bulwark against a democratic South Korea allied with the U.S. In recent years it has become North Korea's indispensable diplomatic protector and economic partner, accounting for the bulk of its trade, much of its investment and all of its oil. In recent years, Kim was a frequent visitor to China, coming twice this year alone, most recently in August when he stopped off while returning home from Russia.

Chinese experts say they don't anticipate any change in relations but that Beijing will likely beef up security to guard against disorder that could potentially send millions of impoverished, starving refugees across their long border.

Above all, China wants to preserve the North Korean regime and ensure stability on the Korean peninsula, while hoping also for economic reforms that will make the North less reliant on Chinese help.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il_china

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Dan Walters: Cost of reaching for the sun will soar (Sacramento Bee)

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

'Lite version' of Ubuntu takes Nook Tablet for a spin, ROM can't come soon enough (video)

We've heard the promises of bringing Ubuntu past its comfort zone and into the mobile space, but who wants to wait until 2014 when a home remedy can deliver precisely that right now. XDA-Developer member loglud has been grooming a way to bring the geeky OS to your Barnes & Noble tablet, because -- you know -- we're all longing for slates with desktop-scale operating systems on them. At the moment, you can get a quick glimpse of Ubuntu running on the Nook, but porting can only be done via a VNC Server, which opens up plenty of potential avenues for lag to mar the experience. Notably, the delays should all but vanish once a ROM becomes available. Now, if we could only get Jane Lynch to sing her way through letting us know the Nook Tablet can also run Ubuntu, we'd be set. Have a peek at the Glee-less demo vid just after the break.

[Thanks, orangejuice]

Continue reading 'Lite version' of Ubuntu takes Nook Tablet for a spin, ROM can't come soon enough (video)

'Lite version' of Ubuntu takes Nook Tablet for a spin, ROM can't come soon enough (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, December 19, 2011

$2,000 diamond ring dropped in Salvation Army kettle

By Brian Hamacher, NBCMiami.com

The holiday spirit is alive and well in Miami after an anonymous donor dropped a diamond ring into a Salvation Army kettle Friday.

Miami-Dade Salvation Army Capt. Linda Payton said her office received a call around 1 p.m. from a woman who wanted to remain anonymous.

"She said that she had just left something in the kettle in front of Kmart and that it was something special," Payton said.

Read the original story at NBCMiami.com

Payton said she personally went to the Kmart in Pinecrest to retrieve the kettle and bring it back to the office.

"Inside the kettle was, wrapped in a rubber band, a $50 bill and inside the $50 bill was a note, and inside the note was a ring," Payton said.

"They need more than I. Do good! A Friend," the simple note read.

The ring, which features two diamonds and a sapphire, was immediately appraised at $2,000, Payton said.

It was the second time in two years that something "special" had been dropped in a Salvation Army kettle in the area.

Last year a gold nugget, which was later auctioned for $4,000, was found with a similar note.

"It's just wonderful for the community, we're just the conduit, they're the ones who will receive it," Payton said.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/17/9527003-2000-diamond-ring-dropped-in-salvation-army-kettle

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Romney prepared for attacks on business record (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney is defending his years making millions in private business and says he'll handle attacks from Democrats who are trying to paint him as wealthy and out-of-touch.

In his first Sunday show interview in more than a year, Romney told Fox News Sunday that if he wins the nomination, he's prepared to handle characterizations by Democrats that he believes that "greed is good."

Romney says a photo shown of him and Bain Capital partners with dollar bills scattered everywhere was taken after they'd raised $37 million for the company's first venture capital fund. He says the fund was ultimately used to help build businesses and create jobs.

Romney says he's ready to handle attacks from Obama, saying "the president's going to go after me. I'll go after him."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney_business

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Moody's cut means Belgium must hit deficit goal (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? The downgrade of Belgium's credit rating by agency Moody's underlines the need to cut the budget deficit next year to 2.8 percent of GDP as agreed by the ruling coalition, Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere said on Saturday.

While the deficit target and measures to reach it have been agreed by Belgium's six-party ruling coalition, economists expect more austerity steps may be necessary given a weakening economic outlook for the country and the euro zone as a whole.

Vanackere told Reuters in an interview that if periodic checks during 2012 showed Belgium was off course to achieve the target, new measures would be implemented.

"The 2.8 percent will be achieved. If growth estimates are downgraded in March, that will of course imply new measures to guarantee the result of 2.8 percent," he said.

"2012 will be a year in which we will have several budget controls. We will be very active on that level and we will achieve the 2.8 percent," he said.

Moody's cut Belgium's rating by two notches late on Friday to Aa3 from Aa1, citing deteriorating financing conditions in the euro zone, risks to economic growth and the costs of bailouts of banks such as Dexia (DEXI.BR).

"No finance minister is glad when there is a downgrade of a country, but at the same time it is not a big surprise," Vanackere said.

"Everyone knows that in the whole of the euro zone there are downgrades and Belgium in particular, with a large banking and financial sector, is of course vulnerable through the immense operations to save the banking sector."

Crisis-hit Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (DEXI.BR) secured earlier this month temporary financing guarantees from Belgium, France and Luxembourg to keep it running while the countries cement a bailout they put together in October.

The three states gave 90 billion euros ($121 billion) of guarantees to cover Dexia's borrowings.

However, these guarantee have yet to take effect, sparking talk the states were wrangling about how the burden should be shared. Reports of fresh talks last month hit both Belgian government bonds and the euro.

"It is clear that when a state gives a guarantee there is a risk," Vanackere said about Dexia.

"Our job is to minimize the risk and make sure that the restructuring of the financial sector and Dexia in particular, goes at a swift pace to minimize the problems for Belgium," he said. "I am quite convinced that we will be able to come to good solutions, but I'm not going to comment too much on that."

Vanackere said that apart from austerity, Belgium had to take steps to boost economic growth and that it could do that through better use of its labor market, noting Belgians worked on average 3-4 years less over their entire careers than the European Union norm.

"We have tremendous untapped potential in the Belgian labor market. When we get more people to work we will also be able to steam up growth," he said.

"As we speak, rules and new measures are being taken to prolong the length of careers and to postpone the age of retirement."

(Reporting By Phil Blenkinsop, writing by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/bs_nm/us_belgium_rating_minister

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

In 2011, is proper anymore to ask which card you're more excited to see?

Is it only hardcore UFC haters who'll say DREAM's 2011 card is better than UFC 144?

Above are the competing posters. Below is DREAM's attempt at getting people fired up for its card headlined by the Fedor Emelianenko fight against Satoshi Ishii.

Personally, I'm stoked to see the fight. What does Fedor have left and is Ishii ready to compete against the top level of MMA just six fights into his MMA career?

Tip via Bloody Elbow

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-posters-from-Japan-Fedor-fight-card-compete?urn=mma-wp10820

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PFT: Flacco complains about Tebow coverage

Getty Images

We handle the big injury stories Friday in the rumor mill.

The rest goes right here, in America?s most enticing weekly segment about the injury report.

1. Here are the players were updated during the day on the rumor mill: Kevin Smith, Andre Johnson, Colt McCoy, Justin Tuck, and?Kyle Orton.

2. The Eagles are ready to go, except for defensive end Darryl Tapp who is doubtful with a broken rib.

3. The Jets get running back Joe McKnight and defensive lineman Mike Devito back in the lineup for their game against Philly.

4. The Packers are short a number of key players once again: Linebacker Desmond?Bishop (calf), Chad Clifton (hamstring), wideout Greg Jennings (knee), and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (concussion) are all out. Running back Brandon Saine (concussion), James Starks (ankle), and guard Josh Sitton (knee) are questionable. Starks says he?ll play.

5. The Dolphins list quarterback?Matt Moore (head/neck), tackle Jake Long (back), and tight end Anthony Fasano (ribs) as questionable. They all practiced on a limited basis and look likely to face the Bills. ?Linebacker Koa Misi (shoulder) is out.

6. Mark Ingram is out again for the Saints because of his toe injury.

7. The Bills will be without Peter King?s favorite tight end Scott Chandler, who is out with an ankle injury.

8. The Bucs will be without receiver?Arrelious Benn on Saturday night against the Cowboys.?Defensive end Michael Bennett (toe), defensive tackle Brian Price (ankle) and wideout Sammie Stroughter (knee) are all questionable. Bennett is the longest shot of the questionables.

9. Dallas has a number of questionable starters: cornerback?Michael Jenkins (shoulder), center Phil Costa (concussion), and linebacker DeMarcus Ware (neck). Costa has been cleared, but still may sit.?Ware is a safe bet to play.

10. Three Broncos secondary members are questionable: David Bruton (achilles), Brian Dawkins (neck), and cornerback Andre? Goodman (concussion). Only Bruton missed practice all week.

11. ?The Patriots listed safety Patrick Chung and tackle Sebastian Vollmer as doubtful. That way they can downgrade them to out on Saturday and then I can get a cheap post out of it while trying to cram my ?family time? in for the week.

12. Devin Hester (ankle) is questionable for the Bears. Jay Cutler (thumb), Matt Forte (knee), and Sam Hurd (5-10 kilos) are all out.

13. The Panthers list tackle Jordan Gross (ankle) as questionable for Sunday?s game. They really missed him last week, but he returned for a limited practice Friday.

14. Kyle Orton is officially probable (thumb) for the Chiefs. He?ll start on Sunday against the Packers.

15. The Bengals will likely be without running back Brian Leonard, who is doubtful with a knee injury. The Bengals get Carlos Dunlap back. Tackle Andre Smith (ankle) is questionable after not practicing Friday.

16. The Raiders will be without wideout?Jacoby Ford (foot) and running back Darren McFadden (foot) yet again. Cornerback Chris Johnson is away from the team following the death of his sister. He?s out.

The team could get Denarius Moore (foot) back. He?s questionable. Also questionable:?safety Michael Huff (hamstring) and running back Taiwan Jones (hamstring). They didn?t practice all week. Oakland is very banged up.

17. Half of the Ravens team is questionable: Linebacker Ray?Lewis (toe), cornerback Lardarius Webb (toe), kicker Billy Cundiff (calf), ?guard Ben Grubbs (toe), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (back), defensive tackle Cory Redding (ankle) and cornerback Chris Carr (back). Lewis is expected to return to the lineup Sunday night.

18. Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (head) is officially questionable. He was limited in practice during the week, but the Cardinals? beat writers think John Skelton will get the start.

19. The Titans list quarterback?Matt Hasselbeck (calf) as questionable. He?s expected to start. Look for wideout Nate Washington (ankle) to play despite being questionable. He?s been playing in pain for weeks.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/16/flacco-complains-about-tebow-coverage/related/

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Congress weighing length of jobless benefits (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Is there any downside to extending federal jobless benefits, as Congress is about to do? The benefits are a crucial lifeline to the longtime unemployed. But they also can be a disincentive to looking for work and prolong joblessness, economists say, as lawmakers weigh shortening them.

If Congress does nothing, the current law that provides federal benefits to augment state assistance that last for only 26 weeks will expire at the end of this month. As a result, more than a million out-of-work Americans could lose their benefits in January, and a total of five million could lose them by year's end.

The Republican-led House has passed a bill that extends the coverage but gradually reduces the ceiling on federal and state benefits combined from 99 weeks to 59 weeks by mid-2012.

At the heart of the controversy is something economists and politicians have long debated. Conservatives argue that prolonging government assistance to the unemployed can discourage active job searching so long as it lasts, keeping jobless rates higher than they would be if aid were ended.

Supporters of a full new extension, including Obama and most congressional Democrats, argue that these are unusually dire times and that jobs are harder to find than after run-of-the-mill recessions. Therefore, additional aid is warranted and can contribute directly to economic growth, they say.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, backs the full extension because "it is needed and necessary given the stress in the labor market."

"But this is not a slam-dunk positive," Zandi said. "There is something to the argument that the length of unemployment benefits creates disincentives to work." He said some studies found that benefit extensions have added as much as half a percentage point to the unemployment rate. That would suggest the most recent unemployment rate, for November, would be 8.1 percent rather than 8.6 percent. "Still, on net, the positives outweigh the negatives," Zandi said.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former head of the Congressional Budget Office who was 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain's top economic adviser, said there are both benefits and costs to extending the benefits.

"It gives them some cash and allows them time to perhaps find a better match, a better job for them in the future." But Holtz-Eakin also said "there is unambiguous evidence that longer unemployment insurance extends spells of unemployment" and is especially hard on older workers whose skills diminish the longer they're out of work.

"You've got to figure where to draw the line. There's no magic number," said Holtz-Eakin, now president of the conservative American Action Forum. The House bill "is an attempt to do this," he said.

In the current extensions, the first one voted by Congress in early 2008, some 17.6 million Americans have collected federal benefits. How much varies from state to state, but the nationwide average is about $300 a week.

Republicans say they are willing to extend the benefits, but also want to cut back the coverage by 20 weeks.

They argue that even under the full extension sought by Obama, federal benefits tied to state-by-state levels of unemployment will likely expire in 20 states under the current formula as jobless rates decline. Even under Obama's plan, the cap would become 79 weeks instead of 99 weeks.

The House formula reducing the cap "reflects the more normal level typically available following recessions," said House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.

But economists say there is no guarantee that unemployment rates won't rise once discouraged workers start looking for jobs again and are officially counted by the government as rejoining the ranks of unemployed.

The unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent last month after hovering at or above 9 percent for more than two years. But part of the decline came because many jobless workers became discouraged and stopped looking for work and left the work force.

The government's official count of unemployed workers is 14 million. But add to those what the government calls discouraged workers because they have quit looking for a job or are working only part-time because they can't find full-time jobs, and the unemployed and underemployed together total 25 million.

Democrats said the GOP legislation would hit states with the highest unemployment rates the hardest. They tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to guarantee 99 weeks of maximum benefits without regard to jobless rates in individual states.

The Republicans' version passed the House on Tuesday on a largely partisan vote as part of a larger measure that also extends the Social Security payroll tax cut and includes an unrelated provision to force a presidential decision on a controversial Canada-U.S. oil pipeline. It's now before the Senate, where Democratic leaders have pronounced it dead.

Despite the standoff, renewing the federal jobless benefits seems likely before year's end since both sides favor some form of extension.

Here's how the existing program works.

States shoulder the initial costs of jobless benefits, for up to 26 weeks. Then a federal program takes over, under a law first passed in 2008, offering up to 53 weeks in four categories based in part on state-by-state unemployment rates, and a final 20 weeks of extended benefits in states with the highest or rising unemployment.

Thus, out of work Americans are eligible for up to a total of 99 weeks of combined state and federal benefits.

Labor Department and congressional studies show that there are 4.3 job seekers for every single job opening. Four out of 10 jobless have been without work for more than six months, and nearly one-third have been unemployed for at least one year.

According to a Democratic analysis, the Republican bill would reduce benefits by 40 weeks in 21 states plus the District of Columbia: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

All other states would lose between 14 and 34 weeks of federal benefits, the analysis said.

Labor economist Heidi Shierholz at the liberal Economic Policy Institute said that the maximum 99 weeks of benefits is still needed because "things are not really expected to get better next year."

She acknowledged there was some disincentive effect from prolonging unemployment benefits, but said it was slight. Continuing benefits to longer-term unemployed people makes economic sense, she said. "They are cash-strapped. So they have very little choice but to spend that money immediately. It just goes right into the economy."

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomraum

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_bi_ge/us_jobless_benefits

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