'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.
Permalink |
YouTube (loglud) | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oe-pQt8TSco/
xbox update nba schedule nhl realignment nhl realignment kristin chenoweth country music awards new earth
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:
beef wellington beef wellington ronnie brown man up man up wayne newton naomi wolf
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."
in living color enews enews mona simpson mona simpson grady sizemore grady sizemore
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)
forgetting sarah marshall jets tom brady aaron hernandez aaron hernandez portland news portland news
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
greg oden eddie long ncaa bowl schedule ncaa bowl schedule occupy dc trisomy 18 oklahoma state
Getty ImagesWe 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/
uppity uppity stuffing brandon mcinerney brandon mcinerney black friday 2011 deals nfl power rankings week 12
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
sean taylor usc football cybermonday kansas city chiefs coach outlet apostasy chiefs
