Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Deal of the Day ? 15.6? Dell Vostro 3555 AMD A8 Quad-core Laptop with 750GB HDD, Backlit Keyboard, Mouse, and Laptop Bag

Today’s LogicBUY Deal is the 15.6″ Dell Vostro 3555 AMD A8 Quad-core laptop bundle for $569.? Features:? 4GB RAM, 750GB hard drive, backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, USB 3.0 ports, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS.? Bundled with a 16? business laptop carrying case and a Logitech M305 wireless mouse. $873.98 – $304.98 = $569 with [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/30/deal-of-the-day-15-6-dell-vostro-3555-amd-a8-quad-core-laptop-with-750gb-hdd-backlit-keyboard-mouse-and-laptop-bag/

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Monday, January 30, 2012

FDA approves Roche skin cancer drug (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? U.S. health regulators on Monday approved Roche's pill to treat an advanced form of the most common form of skin cancer, known as basal cell carcinoma.

The drug, Erivedge, which was co-developed by Curis Inc, was given a green light by the Food and Drug Administration more than a month ahead of the expected March 8 decision date. It was approved for use by adults whose cancer cannot be treated with surgery or radiation or whose disease has spread to other parts of the body or returned following surgery.

Erivedge, known chemically as vismodegib, is the first drug to gain FDA approval for advanced basal cell carcinoma. Curis, which earned a $10 million milestone payment as a result of the approval, is entitled to royalty payments on sales of the drug.

"Today's approval provides a new treatment for people with advanced basal cell carcinoma who, until now, had no approved medicines to help shrink disfiguring or potentially life-threatening lesions," Hal Barron, Roche chief medical officer, said in a statement.

The drug, which is taken once a day, is expected to cost about $7,500 a month, with an estimated 10-month course of treatment totaling about $75,000, Curis said in a regulatory filing.

Roche is awaiting an approval decision on the drug in Europe.

Basal cell carcinoma is generally a slow-growing and painless form of skin cancer that starts in the top layer of the skin and develops on areas that are regularly exposed to sunlight or other ultraviolet radiation.

Erivedge works by inhibiting a signaling pathway that is active in most basal cell cancers and only in a few normal tissues, such as hair follicles.

The drug was approved with a warning alerting patients and health-care professionals of the potential risk of death or severe birth effects to a fetus. Pregnancy status must be verified prior to the start of Erivedge treatment, the FDA said.

Curis shares were down 16 cents, or 3 percent, at $5.02 on Nasdaq. Roche shares closed off 1.2 percent in Switzerland.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; editing by Mark Porter and Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/hl_nm/us_roche_approval

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Karen Dalton-Beninato: Brad Pitt and the Business of Making it Right (PHOTOS)

"Blogger Karen Dalton-Beninato sent me this beautiful picture of the project Brad Pitt is working on..."

Five years ago, Arianna Huffington posted my husband's photo of pink tents in a planned green community in New Orleans. That was two years post Hurricane Katrina levee failures, and it often felt like New Orleans was stuck in neutral.

It was 2007 and the 9th Ward still looked like an overgrown prairie strewn with concrete slabs, all that was left of most houses near the Industrial Canal. Residents were coming back to FEMA trailers, if they could get one, and gutted out homes. In the years since then, Make It Right NOLA has assembled a living study in sustainable architecture for returning residents.

"After Hurricane Katrina, many people said the Lower 9th Ward could not be rebuilt, but the spirit of the Lower Ninth and its residents is vibrant and resilient," Brad Pitt recently said through his Foundation. "Today, the neighborhood is growing and alive with new homes, playgrounds, gardens and block parties. With the help of generous partners like Hyatt, Make It Right will fulfill our goal of building 150 sustainable homes for those in this community who lost everything in the storm." Pitt is hosting a March 10th MIR benefit at the newly reopened Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, and the Hyatt is underwriting the cost of the event so proceeds go to rebuilding. Pitt also took to Google + to announce the event.

Why the focus on New Orleans, and Pitt and Jolie's move to the French Quarter? Robert Kinney described it as well as anyone in his 1941 guidebook, The Bachelor in New Orleans: "New Orleans is the lotus land, to which all travelers return - once visited, it haunts you, calling your blood always."

"I'm from New Orleans, I love New Orleans and I love that Make It Right continues to help the people there rebuild their beautiful city," event co-chair Ellen DeGeneres said of the project. "Brad Pitt is amazing - not only for what he started, but also because, who else can make a hard hat look like a jaunty fall fashion accessory?"

DeGeneres will be joining my friend Mac Rebennack a/k/a Dr. John, and other NOLA natives Wendell Pierce and Mayor Mitch Landrieu at the benefit. And they will be joined by Seal, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Randy Jackson, Josh Brolin, Chris Paul, Djimon Hounsou, Spike Lee, Blake Lively, Sean Penn, and Kevin Spacey, with dinner prepared by chefs John Besh, Giada DeLaurentiis and Emeril Lagasse. Aziz Ansari of Parks and Recreation is hosting the after-party. With all the celebrities expected, it would probably be shorter to list who's not coming.

The event will sprint the project to its final goal of 150 platinum LEED certified homes in its 16-block neighborhood, and eventually help Make it Right move into helping Pitt's home territory of Joplin, Missouri with what they've learned from rebuilding green in New Orleans.

Steve Ragan is MIR's Development Director, and he walked us through the neighborhood's homes. We started out at the one that was built to float, designed by Tom Mayne of Morphosis Architects. Modular construction was assembled at UCLA, shipped to New Orleans and reassembled as the first home in the United States permitted for a floating foundation. All the connections to utilities are flexible tubing and piping, and if the home did begin to float they would be safely cut leaving its two masts to support it, Ragan explained. "It's probably our most cutting edge design. If we opened our program up to young hipsters, it would have sold quickly." The home eventually sold to an older man who needed a smaller space than the multi-generational homes occupied by many of his neighborhood.

"The most important thing is the immediate good for people who live here," Ragan says. "Second most important is advancing construction of energy efficient homes. Third, if you can imagine, is having the final neighborhood of 150 homes designed by 21 of the greatest architects in the world. In 20 years the people who will be touring the homes hopefully won't be thinking of them as advanced technology any more, but because they're architecturally significant."

Landscaping is largely made up of indigenous plants that help soak up water. Make it Right has patented a permeable concrete with 100 percent drainage throughout the development, and Ragan pours his coffee onto the surface to show us how quickly it disappears. That drainage also helped along with gray water collected beneath the homes. One of MIR's contractor was at a funeral and thought of using concrete crypts under the residents' homes to collect gray water. It's the right size, half the cost of building a container and feels appropriate in a city where dancing at funerals is not out of the norm.

Homes are built at least 4 feet off the ground, but MIR encourages residents to go higher. Residents have skin in the game, typically paying $75,000 with the rest of the $150,000 subsidized with a forgivable mortgage. With solar panels, Energy Star appliances and every possible new green technology on hand, only two homes in the development regularly use more energy than they produce, and those are multi-generational.

"If we had not focused on one area, we would have been able to build faster but people would have been pioneers sitting on their own," Ragan said. He's seen the crawfish boils, family reunions and arrivals of other developers as the area came to life. The 9th Ward was at 80 percent home ownership before Katrina, families who had lived there before the Industrial Canal was built and passed their homes down through generations. Some former residents are now back home, with green rooftop decks offering a view across the river.

"Homeowners choose their home as long as it's something that through our assistance they can afford. They're treated with the same respect, able to make the same decisions about design as a private developer would," Ragan said. "You can see some differences between first of the homes and later. We've managed as we've gone along with every iteration of homes to increase energy efficiency and lower costs. It's great when you can get an academic architect to take pause and say, 'how did you do that?"

It's something to see, and the visitors are coming in ever-increasing numbers. "I counted tour buses one day, and we were at 48," Ragan said. That number will only grow, with the Hollywood of the South bringing even more tourists to New Orleans. The Pugh Scarpa home we walked through had far more natural light than you would expect from the exterior view. Window direction adds to passive heating and cooling technologies, much like early Creole homes in the French Quarter. In the morning, the home is flooded with light. But by afternoon, the side with fewer windows, all hurricane resistant, cools the home down. Wireless lighting systems save on wiring costs, and directed vents at the top of the wall where hot air rises help cool the house faster. The architects are clearly familiar with Louisiana summers. Floors are reclaimed pine, and all the paint in the home is VOC-free. "We haven't had hard data, but anecdotally children who suffer from asthma have fewer problems once they move in." Architects meet with stakeholders early on, and the project has focused on residents who had lived in the Lower 9th Ward. One of the main design alterations requested has been larger porch and terrace areas for neighborhood socializing.

"I just love to come out here on a Saturday," Ragan said. "You've got construction crews working, you've got homeowners socializing, this neighborhood has come back to life. Architects talk about how architecture engages people. Tourists come outside, and a homeowner will come out and start explaining the home to them. Then another will come out and say, let me tell you about mine."
Plantings and mulch are available to community members. And the Make it Right playground, made of recycled materials, has wi-fi installed so children can compete with children in a playground on the other side of the world with the same system installed. Bayou Bienvenue backs up to the development, but its original cypress trees were killed off years ago as canals brought saltwater intrusion from the Gulf to the city. An older man walks up and reminisces about the years when the bayou was fresh water and the cypress trees grew. He talks about trapping and walking through the bayou, pointing to the stumps that now exist.

We meet Robert Green, a Make it Right resident and its unofficial ambassador. "I've been fortunate enough to be here when most people come by," he said. Green asked for the Waiting for Godot sign from the 9th Ward production starring Pierce, so the front of his house greets visitors with words by Samuel Beckett. Green often takes people into his home to show them construction, which he's proud of. His was the second lot in the program, and he bought the adjacent lot through the city's Lot Next Door program. He's considered putting in a gazebo.

Green was sent back from the Superdome when they couldn't offer adequate help to his mother who had Parkinson's Disease. So the family returned home, and the next day the water started rising. Green saved two of his granddaughters, but he lost his mother and granddaughter in the floodwaters that came through the broken levee on August 29, 2005. A marker for each rests in front of his home, under his Waiting for Godot sign.

A country road. A tree. Evening.


Details on A Night to Make It Right are available at: nighttomakeitright.com

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Follow Karen Dalton-Beninato on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kbeninato

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-daltonbeninato/brad-pitt-and-the-busines_b_1239228.html

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Chinese workers held by Sudan rebels

By Associated Press

Militants apparently captured 29 Chinese workers after attacking a remote worksite in a volatile region of Sudan, and Sudanese forces were increasing security for Chinese projects and personnel there, China said Sunday.

China has close political and economic relations with Sudan, especially in the energy sector.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the militants attacked Saturday and Sudanese forces launched a rescue mission Sunday in coordination with the Chinese embassy in Khartoum.

The Ministry's head of consular affairs met with the Sudanese ambassador in Beijing and "urged him to actively conduct rescue missions under the prerequisite of ensuring the safety of the Chinese personnel," the statement said.

In Khartoum, a Chinese embassy spokesman said the northern branch of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement announced that 29 Chinese workers had been captured in the attack. The spokesman, who asked not be identified, gave no other details and it wasn't clear if the militants had demanded conditions for their return.

Other details weren't given. The official Xinhua News Agency cited the state governor as saying the Sudan People's Liberation Movement attacked a road-building site in South Kordofan and seized the workers.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement are a guerrilla force that has fought against Sudan's regime. Its members hail from a minority ethnic group now in control of much of South Sudan, which became the world's newest country only six months ago in a breakaway from Sudan.

Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan groups in South Kordofan. The government of South Sudan has called such accusations a smoke screen intended to justify a future invasion of the South.

China has sent large numbers of workers to potentially unstable regions such as Sudan and last year was forced to send ships and planes to help with the emergency evacuation of 30,000 of its citizens from the fighting in Libya.

China has consistently used its clout in diplomatic forums such as the United Nations to defend Sudan and its longtime leader Omar al-Bashir. In recent years, it has also sought to build good relations with leaders from the south, where most of Sudan's oil is located.

Chinese companies have also invested heavily in Sudanese oil production, along with companies India and elsewhere.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/29/10262850-chinese-workers-held-by-sudan-rebels

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To the Moon, Newt!

Now, four astronauts is not a permanent colony on the moon. To have a permanent colony, you would have to manufacture housing, most likely underground, or at least under significant shielding, since there is no atmosphere and no magnetic field to shield against the harmful effects of cosmic rays for an extended period. Not to mention the need to build facilities for waste recycling, plus food storage and preparation. That is, unless we continually provide food and other provisions for pilgrims from Earth, creating a non-self-sustaining colony. But Gingrich has already made it quite clear, in his attacks on President Obama, that he would not like to be remembered for championing any such sort of government-sponsored food program.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=53043349d14a24a95bdab247e19eed92

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

UFC on Fox 2 weigh-in: Weidman ditches the Sloppy Joes to drop 32 pounds in 11 days

CHICAGO -- Dana White had to be smiling inside to see Chris Weidman make weight for his UFC on Fox 2 fight. Weidman, called just 11 days ago as a late replacement, had to drop from 217 pounds to make tomorrow's battle against Demian Maia an official middleweight fight.

It just two weeks ago that the promotion had to endure the embarrassment of watching Anthony Johnson missed weight badly at UFC 142.

Weidman was actually called with the offer while sitting at his dinner table. His wife was making some delicious Sloppy Joes. When Weidman committed to the fight, he had to go right to work.

"I just headed to the gym and ate a spoonful of peanut butter, and that was it," a glum Weidman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The former Hofstra wrestler is trying to make a big step up the middleweight ladder with a victory over Maia. We'll find out tomorrow if the severe weight cut will affect him on fight night.

Phil Davis went with the wrestling theme. Rashad Evans, a former Michigan State wrestler, tried to rip on Davis and his college wrestling career. It was a strange approach considering Davis was a four-time All-American and national champ in 2008. Davis, who's done a brilliant job of poking fun at Evans, pulled out his old Nittany Lions' garb for the fight today.

This from wrestling guru Maggie Hendricks:

So that singlet is Penn State's championship singlet, one that only gets broken out if a guy wrestles in the finals. Since Davis wrestled in the NCAA finals twice, he has at least one. Most schools have them, but PSU's is very recognizable because they don't have a ton of singlet options, like other schools. As a fellow Big 10er, Evans would know that. Wearing that one, and not Penn State's more traditional dark blue singlet, was a sly way of Davis saying, "Yes, I am the better wrestler."

A weigh-in wouldn't be complete with a dust up or some heat arising. Michael Bisping took care of that by angrily reacting to the booing crowd at the Chicago Theater. The Brit flipped off the fans.

UFC on Fox 2 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD (FOX)

  • Phil Davis (205) vs. Rashad Evans (205)
  • Michael Bisping (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
  • Demian Maia (186) vs. Chris Weidman (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)

  • Evan Dunham (155) vs. Nik Lentz (155)
  • John-Olav Einemo (253) vs. Mike Russow (251)
  • George Roop (145) vs. Cub Swanson (145)
  • Charles Oliveira (144) vs. Eric Wisely (145)
  • Michael Johnson (156) vs. Shane Roller (156)
  • Joey Beltran (228) vs. Lavar Johnson (252)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

  • Chris Camozzi (185) vs. Dustin Jacoby (185)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-weigh-weidman-ditches-sloppy-joes-005539088.html

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Senate OKs Giffords anti-smuggling bill (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A day after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' emotional departure from Congress, the Senate on Thursday passed and sent to the president the final legislative act sponsored by the Arizona Democrat who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt a year ago.

The legislation, passed by voice vote, increases penalties for those flying ultralight planes to smuggle drugs into Giffords' home state and other states along the border.

The bill "will not only help to secure our southwest border, but it also affords us the opportunity to honor an incredible colleague," said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M, a sponsor of a Senate counterpart measure.

The House passed the legislation on a 408-0 vote Wednesday, minutes after Giffords formally submitted her resignation surrounded by hundreds of House members gathered to pay tribute to their wounded colleague.

A year ago, the 41-year-old Democrat was shot in the head and severely injured by a would-be assassin who opened fire at a meet-and-greet event outside a Tucson supermarket, killing six and wounding 13. Giffords, who is undergoing speech and physical therapy, said she wanted to devote all her time to her recovery.

The House passed a similar version of Giffords' bill in 2010, but it was not taken up by the Senate. She reintroduced it on Jan. 6, 2011, just two days before she was shot.

Drug smugglers using ultralight planes have been subject to weaker criminal penalties than those flying larger aircraft because the single-seat planes that can fly low enough to evade radar detection have not been classified as aircraft under existing federal law.

The legislation would close the legal loophole that gives ultralight plane smugglers lesser penalties than those using other airplanes or cars and add a provision to aviation smuggling law to allow prosecutors to charge people other than the pilot who are involved in aviation smuggling.

It directs the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security to work together to identify equipment and technology that could be used by customs officials to detect ultralights.

Udall said that hundreds of ultralight aircraft carrying drugs cross the border every year, each capable of carrying hundreds of pounds of narcotics.

"Congresswoman Giffords is committed to taking this crucial step that would help secure the border against drug smugglers," Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, said in a statement. "That's why she decided this would be the last bill she introduces before she steps down."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_co/us_giffords_bill

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Chris Weigant: The Alternative Millionaires' Minimum Tax

President Obama last night unveiled a new twist on an old idea in his State of the Union address to Congress -- limit the loopholes and tax giveaways that very wealthy people use to reduce their taxes far below the rate honest workers pay. Obama called for a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on income over one million dollars. To some, this sounds like a radical idea, but it really isn't. It is merely a refinement of a part of the tax code that has been with us for decades: the Alternative Minimum Tax.

The A.M.T. was enacted for precisely the same reason Obama is calling for a 30 percent tax rate on every dollar made over and above the first million per year -- fairness. The ultra-wealthy have always been able to afford spending money to use tax shelters and tax attorneys to move their dough around so they avoid paying what they should be paying -- the same rates everyone else pays. So the A.M.T. was introduced to fix the problem. If you make a substantial amount of money, you must figure your income taxes two ways: the traditional way, and using the A.M.T. worksheet. Whichever's higher, in essence, is what you must pay (if you fall under the rules for using the A.M.T.).

Now you may be thinking, "I've heard of the A.M.T. before... something about Congress 'fixing' it... " This is where we get into some massive budgetary fiction, or (if you prefer) blatant hypocrisy by our lawmakers (of both parties, it bears mentioning). The problem stems from the fact that the A.M.T. has not been truly modernized in quite a while. The income limits it set when it was enacted covered people who made a lot of money back then -- but when you fast-forward three or four decades, the same dollar amount now regularly hits people in the middle class (and really hits people in the upper middle class), rather than its intended target: the truly wealthy.

This is where the hypocrisy comes in. Why don't the folks in Congress just up the limits? It's common sense, right? If there's a problem with the dollar limits to the A.M.T., then adjust the limits and it works as intended again. Simple!

Well, that's what does indeed happen. Every single year, like clockwork, Congress passes an "A.M.T. fix," usually late in December when they think nobody's paying attention. They do not do this by honestly fixing the law, but instead by only carving out an exemption for a single year. There's a reason for this, which is where the budgetary fiction comes in. When Congress puts together a federal budget, they project it out for ten years into the future. These projections are nothing more than smoke and mirrors to begin with, because nobody -- that's nobody, no matter how many economic degrees they have -- can accurately predict the future, whether economically or otherwise. Putting that fiction aside, though, the A.M.T. is a fiction on top of this basic budgetary fiction. Because the A.M.T. -- if not "fixed" -- is scheduled to take in billions and billions of dollars in tax revenue. To put it another way, by using the outdated A.M.T. formula in the ten-year projections, it makes the budget picture look rosier than it actually is. If the A.M.T. were permanently fixed -- instead of year-to-year, the way it is done now -- then the deficit projections would be a lot larger. The fact that this is closer to actual reality matters little, because most people aren't aware of the fiction and the hypocrisy Congress regularly operates under.

So we continue "fixing" the A.M.T., and Congress pretends that they're not going to fix it for the next nine years, and the budget numbers are easier to work with -- even though Congress does indeed fix the A.M.T. each and every single year, and the tax revenues in the budget projections never actually appear. Once again, to be clear: both political parties are in on this scam. They both use the fictional numbers, while they know full well it is nothing more than a pipe dream that this money will ever materialize in the U.S. Treasury.

Which brings us back to Obama's suggestion in the State of yhe Union. While to some it might sound like a brand-new program, it really isn't. It would just be beefing up and modernizing the A.M.T. so that it works as it was originally intended -- to make sure the ultra-wealthy are paying the same rates as everyone else. But there's a golden opportunity here as well, because Obama's plan would bring in more money -- actual, real money and not fictional, budgetary-dream money. Because more money would be coming in, it would be the prime time to institute a permanent "fix" on the A.M.T. -- because the new income could balance out the "loss" of the fictional income in the ten-year budget projections.

It is silly and (at its core) dishonest to "fix" the A.M.T. every single year as if it is some sort of emergency situation. It should be fixed once and for all. If Obama's new "Alternative Millionaires' Minimum Tax" were combined with such a permanent fix, it could also be a lot easier to sell politically, since it would be "lowering taxes" on millions of households (in the ten-year projections), while only forcing a relative few households to "pay their fair share, just like everybody else." I realize this is no more than political rhetoric, and I also realize the chances of Obama actually passing this scheme are extremely low this year.

Whether it passes or not, it's an idea that most Americans are going to agree with -- even more so if the threat of paying the A.M.T. is removed entirely for (say) all households making less than $250,000 (Obama's usual dividing line for the middle class). End the A.M.T. on the middle class, and beef it up considerably on the millionaires and billionaires. Tying the two together is the logical way to go, and it also has the benefit of removing the yearly hypocrisy over the fictional budget numbers for nine out of ten of the projected years. It's time to end this scam -- perpetrated by both parties -- once and for all. Obama should go ahead with his A.M.M.T., and at the same time reform the A.M.T. so that Congress won't have to perform this fudging of reality every single year.

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Chris Weigant blogs at:
ChrisWeigant.com

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Become a fan of Chris on The Huffington Post

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/the-alternative-millionai_b_1232427.html

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Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video)

Here at Macworld 2012, Western Digital demoed a preview of their essentially finished, yet not final, MyBook Thunderbolt Duo. Scheduled to ship in Q1 for an "aggressive price," the unit plays host to two 3.5-inch drives, which'll come stuffed from the factory in either 4TB (2x 2TB) or 6TB (2x 3TB) configurations. On the outside, you're looking at the MyBook aesthetic you either love or loathe, but around back you'll find all connectivity has been gutted, save for power and two Thunderbolt ports. The latter means that up to six can be daisy-chained off one interconnect, which when setup in RAID 0 equates to rather speedy transfers, like 700MB/sec reads and 500MB/sec writes in the four-unit demonstration configuration we toyed with. And it's future proof too, as there's a door up-top which enables plebes to swap drives should the need arise. We'll keep an ear out for pricing, but until that day arrives, peep them in the gallery below, or in video form after the break.

Continue reading Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video)

Western Digital MyBook Thunderbolt Duo eyes-on at Macworld 2012 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/western-digital-mybook-thunderbolt-duo-hands-on-macworld-2012/

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614


We've seen several laptops lately that peg the intersection of the desktop replacement and budget categories at around $700. The Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614 is a bit steeper at $779.99 list, but don't dismiss it: For one thing, we've seen online resellers offering it for around $750. For another, the 15.6-inch Aspire is loaded with everything from Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) to a discrete Nvidia graphics adapter that actually passed our gaming tests at medium resolution and detail settings.

As you might guess from its model number, the Acer 5830TG-6614 is a refreshed version of the Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6402 ($799.99 direct, 3.5 stars) we tested in August. Besides a $20 price cut and the addition of WiDi 2.0?which beams the notebook's display to an HDTV equipped with an extra-cost ($100 or so) Belkin, D-Link, or Netgear adapter?the changes include slightly faster graphics and processing hardware.

Design
Unchanged from August is the Aspire's handsome cobalt blue aluminum lid with chrome Acer logo and matching blue plastic palm rest; the black chiclet-style keys are framed in a silver aluminum keyboard surround. There's a numeric keypad, with small but dedicated Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys, to the right of the primary keys; the touchpad is centered under the latter (actually, under the space bar), so some users perceive it as being too far to the left. I had no complaints myself?I quite enjoyed typing on the laptop, and the touchpad, though a little small compared to some of the jumbo ones you see today, worked smoothly, with comfortable left and right buttons instead of invisible clickpad corners.

Measuring 1.2 by 14.9 by 9.8 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.4 pounds, the 5830TG-6614 has an appealingly angular design. The 15.6-inch widescreen has the same 1,366-by-768 resolution that's ubiquitous in the class?if you want more space, you'll have to either pay for the likes of the Dell XPS 15z ($1,534 direct, 4 stars) or opt for a 17.3-inch system such as the HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx ($699.99 list, 4 stars). Sufficient for viewing videos in 720p, the display offers a glossy finish and fairly narrow viewing angles. The laptop's audio is a good partner for those videos, with above-average sound from the Dolby Home Theater speakers mounted above the keyboard.

Features
WiMAX or other mobile broadband is absent, but otherwise the TimelineX has a full complement of wireless features: Besides WiDi, there's 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There's also Clear.fi, a proprietary streaming technology that lets Acer products (such as the Aspire and an Iconia tablet) share multimedia content over a home Wi-Fi network.

On the Aspire's right side are three USB 2.0 ports and a dual-layer DVD?RW drive, with an SD/MMC/xD/MS Pro memory card slot on the front edge. Ethernet, microphone, and headphone jacks are on the left side, as are VGA and HDMI ports and one USB 3.0 port. The last can be used to charge a cell phone or other device; a handy utility lets you specify whether to allow USB charging only when the laptop is plugged in or discontinue it when the latter's battery sinks to a certain percentage.

The Acer's 640GB, 5,400rpm hard drive is smaller than the 750GB drives found in competitors like the Lenovo IdeaPad Z570-10249ZU ($699.99 list, 3.5 stars), but still offers plenty of room for your documents and multimedia files. It's also packed with more than its share of bloatware, from a slew of house-brand utilities to usual suspects like Microsoft Office Starter 2010 and a 60-day trial of McAfee Internet Security to New York Times and Nook e-readers and Netflix and eBay links. Acer backs the Aspire with a two-year mail- or carry-in parts-and-labor warranty and one-year international travelers' warranty offering access to service centers abroad for owners who carry a copy of the original sales receipt.

Performance
Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614 The 5830TG-6614 is built around Intel's 2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, the same dual-core, four-thread processor found in our Editors' Choice Asus U56E-BBL6 and numerous competitors, with 6GB of DDR3 memory. It's not surprising, then, that many of its benchmark scores are virtual ties with those laptops'. Its PCMark 7 score of 2,388, for instance, is well within the margin of error of the 2,376 of the Lenovo Z570-10249ZU, and its Photoshop CS5 time of 4 minutes 8 seconds is just six seconds behind that of the Asus U56E-BBL6 and HP dv7-6b55dx.

Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614

The Aspire strides to the front, however, in graphics tests, thanks to its 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M discrete graphics adapter. Running at 1,024-by-768 resolution with medium quality and detail settings, the Acer posted a playable 39.1 frames per second (fps) in Lost Planet 2 and a better-than-playable 58.1fps in Crysis, as well as nearing the impressive 10,000-point mark (9,551) in 3DMark06.

Nvidia's Optimus technology automatically switches from the GeForce adapter to the Core i5 chip's more placid integrated graphics when running visually undemanding applications, which boosts battery life. Indeed, though I'm by nature biased against batteries sealed inside laptop cases so they can't be swapped out, it's hard to criticize the Acer's too much, because it lasted a hardy 9 hours 1 minute in our MobileMark 2007 test?trailing its 5830TG-6402 predecessor (9:57) and the HP Pavilion (9:33), but besting the Asus (7:42) and Lenovo (5:30).

Overall, the Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614 comes within a whisker of unseating the Asus U56E-BBL6 as our budget laptop Editors' Choice, the latter clinging to its title by dint of its lower price and removable battery. But if you're looking for an affordable desktop replacement that won't fold when you fire up a few games, the Acer is a strong candidate.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? Acer Aspire TimelineX 5830TG-6614
??? Toshiba Portege Z830-S8302
??? HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr (Verizon)
??? Dell Latitude E6420 XFR
??? Lenovo IdeaPad U400
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/oSWv6AhgHpw/0,2817,2399062,00.asp

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Optimal basketball shooting rate proposed based on mathematical model

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? NBA players may be too conservative with their shots, according to a comparison with a theoretical model describing shot selection reported Jan. 25 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

The author, Brian Skinner of the University of Minnesota, aimed to create a model that could take into account multiple factors to determine when it was worth taking a shot. "Strategic decisions in basketball have long been made based on the intuition of the coach or players, but as advanced quantitative analyses are increasingly applied to the game it is becoming clear that many of the conventional, intuitive ideas for basketball strategy are misguided or suboptimal," says Skinner.

The results show that, when significant time is remaining in a possession, only higher quality shots should be taken, and this cutoff for shot quality decreases as the time remaining decreases. However, even though the optimal model suggests that only high quality shots should be taken early in a possession, the study finds that NBA players may go to an extreme and be overly reluctant to shoot the ball early in a possession, therefore missing out on scoring opportunities.

The model takes into account factors including the perceived probability that a given shot will go in and the number and quality of shot opportunities the offense will have in the future in a given possession. It does, however, have some limitations, such as the assumption that shot opportunities arise randomly in time, which call for care in the interpretation of the results.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Brian Skinner. The Problem of Shot Selection in Basketball. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (1): e30776 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030776

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/i_NqoHyAYTM/120125172312.htm

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Heidi Klum, Seal Divorce: Separation Officially Announced

NEW YORK ? Seal and Heidi Klum have announced that their storybook marriage is coming to the end of the runway.

In a statement Sunday night, the power couple announced their separation after rumors swirled over the weekend that a divorce was imminent.

"While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul searching we have decided to separate," the joint statement read. "We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart. This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition. We thank our family, friends, and fans for their kind words of support. And for our children's sake, we appreciate you respecting our privacy."

The couple married in 2005 and has four children together, including the supermodel's daughter from a previous relationship.

They were one of Hollywood's most high-profile couples, and seemed to have the relationship everyone should envy. They two starred together in the music video "Secret," they renewed their wedding vows each anniversary, boasted of their love in the media, and threw Halloween bashes together where they dressed in outrageous outfits, most recently last year in New York City, where the two engaged in their typical public display of affection for the cameras.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2007, the "Kiss from A Rose" singer described his wife, who has a tattoo of his name on her arm, as his best friend.

"It is really important that we have that understanding because apart from anything else it is really healthy," he said of the "Project Runway" host. "People often talk about the most important thing in a relationship. They say it is really important that you are turned on by your partner and you love each other, which is all really true.I often think that the most important thing or certainly up there with love is respect."

TMZ first reported on Saturday that the two planned to divorce this week.

His announcement comes as he releases his new album, "Soul 2," on Tuesday, which has songs like "Love T.K.O," "Let's Stay Together" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

___

AP Entertainment Writer Alicia Quarles contributed to this report.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/seal-heidi-klum-announce-_n_1222724.html

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Cyborg M.M.O. 7 gaming mouse pictures and hands-on - Pocket-lint

A couple of years ago, Mad Catz unleashed the Cyborg RAT 7 gaming mouse which was customisable to the hilt. It could be adapted to perfectly fit your hand, and featured a?5600 dpi laser for better response during play.

Then there was the upgrade, the Cyborg RAT 9, which added removable weights, and offered 15 programmable mapping options. But both of these devices pale when compared to the inbound Cyborg M.M.O. 7 gaming mouse, a beast of a rodent, designed specifically for massively multi-player online games players.

For starters, it offers the ability to control no less than 78 different user-defined commands. There are 13 programmable buttons, a three-position MMO mode switch, and an two-position MMO shift button (13 x 3 = 39. 39 x 2 = 78). Of course, only those with memories like elephants would remembered all the different commands, but the option's there if needed.

There are?interchangeable pinkie grips and palm rests (three of each), so it can be remodelled to perfectly fit your hand, while its?6400 dpi "Twin-Eye" Laser Sensor?comes with four separate modes, so you can reduce its sensitivity as you see fit (down to 25 dpi, from the press of a button).

Like with the RAT 9, the weight of the M.M.O. 7 can be adjusted to your specification, with five removable 6g weights on offer, and an?ActionLock feature allows you to lock the left or right mouse button so that you can perform "fatigue-free" functions - such as constant camera movement and character control.

The M.M.O. 7 can, naturally, work with any game, but is specifically designed for MMOs, including Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Lords of the Rings Online, and the included software helps you map buttons to suit. However, Mad Catz has created a proprietary plug-in for World of Warcraft that allows the user to drag and drop spells, inventory items and macros directly to the buttons of the mouse.

Expected around February time, the Mad Catz Cyborg M.M.O. 7 gaming mouse works with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and?Mac OS X version 10.6.6 or later. Its UK price is unknown at present, but it'll be $130 (?83.65) in the States.

Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/44095/cyborg-mmo-7-gaming-mouse-pictures-hands-on

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Abortion foes on annual march in nation's capital

People with the group, "Bound 4 Life," pray for an end to abortions outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary of the court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, that legalized abortion. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

People with the group, "Bound 4 Life," pray for an end to abortions outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary of the court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, that legalized abortion. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Young people from the group "Bound 4 Life," who asked not to be named, pray for an end to abortions outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary of the court's 1973 landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, that legalized abortion. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A woman from Finland, who asked not to be identified, prays for an end to abortions with the group "Bound 4 Life" outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary of the court's 1973 landmark Roe vs. Wade decision, that legalized abortion. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Two women kneel in prayer at the top of the U.S. Supreme Court steps in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. On Jan. 22, 1973, 39 years earlier, the court handed down its controversial Roe vs. Wade decision, which extended a woman's right to privacy to include the right to have an abortion. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

(AP) ? Thousands of abortion opponents marched to the Supreme Court on Monday to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and supportive lawmakers urged them to further their cause by working to defeat President Barack Obama in the fall.

The "March for Life" has been held every year since 1974, a year after the landmark Supreme Court ruling. It's consistently one of the largest protests of the year in Washington, although soggy, chilly conditions likely kept this year's numbers down a bit.

House Speaker John Boehner addressed the group, reminding those gathered on the muddy National Mall that he's one of 12 children

"I'm sure it wasn't easy for our mother to have 12 of us, but I'm glad we're all here," the Republican lawmaker said. "I've never considered being pro-life a label or a political position. It's just who I am."

Several dozen members of Congress addressed the rally and were cheered by participants, many of whom carried signs reading "I Vote Pro-Life First," ''Defund Planned Parenthood" and "Face It ... Abortion Kills a Person."

Signs endorsing Republican presidential contenders were less ubiquitous, although some in the crowd favored Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, both favorites of conservative Christians.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., urged anti-abortion voters to unite behind the eventual GOP nominee.

"We don't have the luxury of disunity or nominee disappointment or apathy," Smith said. "For the sake of the innocent, failure to unite is not an option."

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has said he wants to see Roe v. Wade overturned. But Janet Hoven, 55, of Chester, N.J., said he still needed to do more to court anti-abortion activists.

"He's going to have to come out very strong for life. I certainly will pray that he will," said Hoven, a Romney supporter.

Carolee Zentkovich, 68, of Columbia Station, Ohio, said she supports Santorum but would gladly vote for Romney in the hopes of getting Obama out of office.

Americans remain strongly divided on abortion.

A Gallup poll last year showed that 49 percent of respondents identified themselves as "pro-choice," while 45 percent called themselves "pro-life." The same survey found that 50 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal under some circumstances, 27 percent said it should be legal in all cases and 22 percent said it should always be illegal.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement that politicians supporting the March for Life were ignoring more pressing issues.

"Anti-choice politicians and their allies promised to focus on creating jobs, yet they are attacking a woman's right to choose at near-record levels," Keenan said. "This extreme agenda is out of touch with our country's values and priorities."

Some marchers said opposition to abortion transcends partisan politics.

"Eight years ago, when George W. Bush was president, we were still out here," said Michael Tober, 36, of Muskegon, Mich. "It's not a Republican thing; it's not a Democrat thing. It's a human thing."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-23-Abortion%20Anniversary/id-18aee72d1b04490f862aafcef7ca6b69

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Philbin says he's ready to take over Dolphins

AAA??Jan. 21, 2012?5:47 PM ET
Philbin says he's ready to take over Dolphins
STEVEN WINESTEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer?THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES?

Joe Philbin, former offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, speaks after being introduced as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins during an NFL football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Joe Philbin, former offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, speaks after being introduced as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins during an NFL football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Joe Philbin, former offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, center, shakes hands with Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, left, as majority owner Stephen Ross joins, after Philbin was introduced as the new head coach for the Dolphins during an NFL football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Diane Philbin, second from left, wipes her eye as her husband Joe Philbin, former offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, speaks after being introduced as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins during an NFL news conference, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Davie, Fla. Also shown, from left, are the Philbin children Kevin, Colleen, Tim, John, and Matthew. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Joe Philbin, former offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, second from left, stands with his daughter Colleen after being introduced as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins during an NFL football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Davie, Fla. Also shown are Philbin's sons Matthew, right, John, second from right, and Tim. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

(AP) ? Joe Philbin did a little math and determined he has been in the coaching profession for 10,061 days. He figures that gives him sufficient experience to lead the Miami Dolphins.

The former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator was introduced as Miami's coach at a news conference Saturday. He says he has learned a lot in 28 years as an assistant and is optimistic he can succeed as a first-time head coach.

Philbin said his goal is to return the Dolphins to the top of the NFL, and he noted they haven't been there since 1973, the year of their most recent Super Bowl championship season.

Philbin had been with Green Bay since 2003, working as offensive coordinator since 2007 for one of the NFL's most prolific offenses.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-21-Dolphins-Philbin/id-f4a128891b654990a7e34a6675cb127c

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

If feds can bust Megaupload, why bother with anti-piracy bills?

A growing battle over copyright on the internet came to a head this week as digital protests scuttled two anti-piracy bills, police arrested Megaupload's millionaire filesharing pirate, and hackers brought down the Department of Justice website.

It was almost as if the thrums of digital artillery could be felt across millions of keyboards.

Skip to next paragraph

As some of the internet's biggest power players, including Google and Wikipedia, protested two fast-tracked anti-piracy bills going through Congress, the US Justice Department launched an attack on one of the web's biggest alleged scofflaws, Megaupload, and, in a counterattack, the hacker group Anonymous temporarily blacked out DOJ's website.

Techno-pundits and mainstream observers quickly connected the dots between anti-piracy protests and the Megaupload arrests, notching the dustup as potentially the biggest salvo yet in the multi-billion dollar internet copyright wars pitting, in essence, Hollywood and its Washington lobbyists against internet free speech and its hacker protectors.

RECOMMENDED:?How five websites are protesting SOPA

?This week has been?the?week of copyright warfare, but the decision to nuke the king copyright violator so spectacularly only goes to show how little the feds need bigger bombs,? writes Sam Biddle on the tech-scene site Gizmodo.

The Justice Department has not commented on the timing of its arrest of Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz), the high-flying millionaire CEO of Megaupload, who is now in custody and being prepared for extradition to the United States from his home base of Auckland, New Zealand. The arrests came after a two year investigation.

Megaupload was perhaps the most brazen of dozens of file-sharing sites, offering cash for particularly lucrative uploads and partnering with some big-name rappers in its barely-concealed bid to dispense and disperse pirated music and film. The site has 150 million members and makes up 4 percent of all daily traffic on the web.

But the decision by the Justice Department to net such a big, obvious fish at this time raised eyebrows among the internet cognoscenti, who posited that it was meant as a retort to populist digital forces that amassed in protest of the fast-tracking of two anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Citing the protests, Congressional leaders forestalled the bills on Friday, saying they need more work.

Championed by the Motion Picture Association of America and the Chamber of Commerce, the anti-piracy bills would have broadened the Justice Department's justifications for seeking court orders against alleged copyright violators, prevented advertisers from doing business with such sites, banned search engines from listing them, and forced internet service providers to block the sites.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/gh_XxumdhIA/If-feds-can-bust-Megaupload-why-bother-with-anti-piracy-bills

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Canada hopeful US will approve Keystone pipeline

Obama called Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain that the decision on Wednesday was not on the merits of the?pipeline?but rather on the 'arbitrary nature' of a Feb. 21 deadline for a decision.

President Barack Obama's decision to temporarily block a?pipeline?from Alberta to Texas went over badly in Canada, but Canadian officials are hopeful it eventually will be approved. Meanwhile, Canada will push harder for a?pipeline?to the Pacific Coast, where oil could be shipped to China.

Skip to next paragraph

Alberta Premier Alison Redford, the leader of the Canadian province that has the world's third-largest reserves of oil, said Thursday that while Canada is disappointed at Obama's decision, the government believes Obama has made it clear the U.S. would consider a new Keystone XL?pipeline?application with a new routing.

Obama called Prime Minister Stephen Harper to explain that the decision on Wednesday was not on the merits of the?pipeline?but rather on the "arbitrary nature" of a Feb. 21 deadline set by Republican legislators as part of a tax measure he signed, Harper's office said.

"The fact that the president has said that the decision was not based on the merits we take as a signal that there is an opportunity to make a decision that is in the national interest that allows the project to go ahead," Redford told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

TransCanada Corp., the?pipeline?company based in Calgary, Alberta, which proposed the Keystone XL?pipeline, quickly said it would reapply and said it expects the presidential permit to be processed in an expedited manner that would allow the?pipeline?to go online in late 2014.

In Washington, the proposed $7 billion?pipeline?has become a political hot potato.

Republicans ? who earlier put the president in the awkward position of having to make a decision on it before Feb. 21 ? now hope to force Obama to deal with it yet again before next November's presidential election. He wants to put it off beyond that.

Republican Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he will call Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recommended Obama's rejection, to testify at a hearing as early as next Wednesday.

"This is not the end of the fight. Republicans in Congress will continue to push this because it's good for our country and it's good for our economy and it's good for the American people," especially those who are out of work, said Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

Republicans are looking to drive a wedge between Obama and two key Democratic constituencies. Some labor unions support the?pipeline?as a job creator, while environmentalists fear it could lead to an oil spill disaster.

While TransCanada is prepared to reapply, it has no guarantee a new applicaiton will get quick approval.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones said she could not guarantee the review would be sped up, saying TransCanada would have to start anew.

But Redford is hopeful it can be fast-tracked.

"To start from the beginning would be something that would certainly take some time, and of course have a greater economic impact, so I hope there is a spirit to try to at least move this to a place where the discussions are real, and we can move through it and hopefully get the approval," Redford said.

The 1,700-mile (2,740-kilometer)?pipeline?proposed by TransCanada would carry 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta across six U.S. states to the Texas Gulf Coast, which has numerous refineries.

Obama previously expressed opposition to the plan, saying an alternate route was needed to avoid environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska. But in an unrelated tax deal he cut with congressional Republicans, Obama had been boxed into making a decision by Feb. 21.

The prime minister's office said Harper expressed to Obama his "profound disappointment with the news" but that he hoped the?pipeline?would eventually be approved.

Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said it's clear the process is not yet over and said Canada is hopeful thepipeline?will be accepted on its merits.

Redford said Obama's decision adds urgency to Enbridge's proposed?pipeline?to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia that would allow Canadian oil to be shipped to Asia for the first time.

The project is undergoing a regulatory review in Canada.

"Asian markets are a very viable alternative. I say alternative, I probably shouldn't. It's not an either or situation. There's an opportunity here for us to grow our markets in both directions and we'd like to be able to do that," Redford said.

Canadian officials see the?pipeline?to the Pacific coast as critical as Canada seeks to diversify its energy customer base beyond the United States, which Canada relies on for 97 percent of its energy exports.

Alberta has more than 170 billion barrels of oil reserves. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have more reserves.

Sinopec, a Chinese state-controlled oil company, has a stake in Enbridge's proposed $5.5 billion Northern Gateway?Pipeline. Chinese state-owned companies also have invested more than $16 billion in the oil sands in the last two years.

Tens of billions more are expected to be invested in Canada's oil sands if the Pacific?pipeline?is built.

There is fierce environmental and aboriginal opposition to the Pacific?pipeline, but Harper's government has called it a nation-building project that is crucial to the country's goal of becoming an energy super power.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/U7CDhL6xNFo/Canada-hopeful-US-will-approve-Keystone-pipeline

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House GOP to push for pipeline despite Obama move (AP)

BALTIMORE ? House Republicans say a fresh push for a 1,700-mile Canada-to-Texas pipeline could be part of a new round of negotiations over extending the payroll tax cut and benefits for the long-term unemployed.

House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton tells reporters the House leadership is looking at every option after President Barack Obama decided this week to block the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, at least temporarily. The Michigan Republican and other House GOP lawmakers argue that the decision was politically driven and will deny the nation both jobs and a new energy source.

Upton and the lawmakers spoke at the GOP's annual retreat in Baltimore.

A two-month extension of the Social Security tax cut and benefits expires Feb. 29, and negotiators hope to produce a new plan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_go_co/us_house_republicans_pipeline

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Sudan says oil deal with south depends on security (Reuters)

KHARTOUM (Reuters) ? Sudan will continue to take a share of oil from South Sudan to compensate for what it calls unpaid transit fees and said an oil deal was unlikely without an agreement on border and security issues, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.

South Sudan became Africa's newest nation in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between north and south, but many issues remain unresolved, including oil, debt and violence on both sides of the poorly-defined border.

Tensions escalated last week when Khartoum said it had started confiscating oil from landlocked South Sudan, which exports its crude through Sudan's pipelines to a port on the Red Sea.

Sudan's economy has been badly hit by the loss of two-thirds of oil production to the South, and the country is under pressure to ease the hardships of people already exhausted by years of conflict, inflation and a U.S. trade embargo.

The two sides were meant to conclude an oil agreement that would see them sharing revenues, with the south paying fees to export its oil through the north.

The African Union is sponsoring talks between the two countries this week, but Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti dampened hopes of a quick deal, rejecting the south's criticism of its move as "childish."

"If they are not ready to sit down and conclude an agreement, we will take our right. We will take our entitlements," he told Reuters in an interview.

"Nobody can hamper us from taking our right. This is our entitlement," Karti said.

He said South Sudan's support for rebels in the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile was hindering the talks. Juba denies giving support to the insurgents, who fought as part of the southern army during the civil war.

"If you are hosting rebels, preparing them against me, supporting them by munitions, by salaries, by everything, by training, by giving them all facilities. What shall I wait for? What shall I wait for you to do? I'm waiting for war," he said.

"So if you are preparing to instigate war against me, what kind of any other agreement will be useful?"

He said Sudan had monitored conversations that proved Juba was supporting the rebels - known as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement Army (SPLA-N) - by continuing to pay their old salaries.

"We listen to them. They know that we listen to them. What kind of stupidity? You know I'm listening to what you say every day, and you go on talking about salaries, ammunition, supporting us, and bringing more tanks near the borders, and the rest," he said.

Any oil agreement would likely depend on a broader deal that addressed the fighting and other security issues, such as marking the border, Karti said.

"To me, it could be a holistic approach. A piecemeal way of doing things is not enough, and it proved not to be working. It's better to begin with the top issues - the security issue to me is very important - and then the rest will be easy," he said.

DEBT PILE

Sudan and South Sudan have been discussing a transit fee for southern oil exports since Juba's independence, but their positions have remained wide apart. Khartoum wants $1 billion in rear payments plus $36 a barrel to use the export pipeline, roughly a third of the South's export value.

South Sudan has offered to sell oil to Khartoum at discounted prices and give financial aid, but Karti said some southern officials had taken a "sarcastic" approach.

"Even some of them, sarcastically, they tell us that they are donors and they will give us some tens of millions, and they will be spending those millions on humanitarian issues, and trying to solve problems in the needy areas," he said.

"They talked to us like donors, whereas we are calling for them to sit down at a table to talk seriously," Karti said.

"(Saying we are) taking their oil, stealing their oil - this is childish," he said. "This is our right. If this does not (suit) them, let them block the oil. It is their oil. We will not at all fight for the oil to come through our pipeline."

He said a debt pile of almost $40 billion for which Juba refuses to share responsibility was weighing on the economy but rejected some analysts' forecasts that Sudan's economy is headed for a severe crisis.

"It is not bad. I will not accept this word," he said. "We are trying our best to emerge as a country that has good resources, and as a country that should be supported."

Most Western firms have shunned Sudan since the United States put a trade embargo in place in 1997 for the country's role in hosting prominent militants like Osama bin Laden.

Karti said Gulf Arab states were increasing their investments but Sudan would not ask for any outside help to overcome economic difficulties.

"We are not begging from anybody, we have our resources," he said.

(Additional reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_sudan_south

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LeAnn Rimes Gets Foot Tattoo in Honor of Eddie Cibrian (omg!)

LeAnn Rimes Gets Foot Tattoo in Honor of Eddie Cibrian

LeAnn Rimes is in love and she's got the tattoo to prove it!

On Sunday, the 29-year-old country crooner debuted her newest ink job, which pays tribute to her husband of nearly a year, Eddie Cibrian.

PHOTOS: LeAnn and Eddie's controversial road to romance

"It's dainty. All of my tattoos are very feminine," Rimes wrote on her Twitter page Sunday, along with a photo of the ink on her foot, which features the phrase "the only one that matters."

PHOTOS: Crazy celeb tattoos

Rimes told her Twitter followers Cibrian uttered the phrase to her during a recent vacation they took together.

Rimes' foot isn't the only place she's had inked with an inspirational phrase. In August, the bikini-clad star showed off the words "Still I Rise" -- the title of a Maya Angelou poem -- on her pelvic bone.

PHOTOS: LeAnn's scary slimdown

Though many have declared Rimes too thin, her husband Cibrian says his wife's body is "perfect."

"I think she looks wonderful," the actor has said. "She is very healthy, and to me -- perfect."

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_leann_rimes_gets_foot_tattoo_honor_eddie_cibrian192358674/44208076/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/leann-rimes-gets-foot-tattoo-honor-eddie-cibrian-192358674.html

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Catholics in Poland parade a ?holy finger?

?It?s a finger from his right hand from which he often gave a blessing to St. Faustina.?

Roman Catholics in Poland is ready to take a "holy finger" out for a stroll.

The Most Rev. Edward Ozorowski, Archbishop of Bialystok, Poland, brought a relic of Blessed Michael Sopocko, who was St. Faustina?s confessor and spiritual director.

The principal celebrant at the Solemn Liturgy on Divine Mercy Sunday came bearing a special gift for the Marians of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

?It?s a finger from his right hand from which he often gave a blessing to St. Faustina,? explained Br. Andrew R. Maczynski, MIC, general promoter of the Association of Marian Helpers.

The relic, which came encased in a golden monstrance, is about 5 centimeters long. It will be placed in the National Shrine, which is administered by the Marians.

Bishop Ozorowski, in whose archdiocese Blessed Michael Sopocko was beatified Sept. 28, 2008, presented the gift during Holy Mass on Sunday.

?We express our sincere gratitude to His Excellency for making it possible that a relic of St. Faustina?s spiritual director will find its place here in the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy,? said Br. Chris Alar, MIC, during the presentation.

Source: Roman Catholic blogger

This is another detail worth mentioning. It is recorded by another Catholic news site

?The relic will join another relic in the Shrine ? the ?basal phalanx? of a great toe of St. Faustina, to be exact. A larger piece of her relic remains in a reliquary within the Shrine.

Source: padrimariani.org

My comment:

The skull and bone files on News That Matters will now include some hot stuff from Poland.

?Matthew 23:27
?Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

You have to be completely disconnected to dress up in parade uniform, and start to carry a bone on your shoulders.

?Blessed? Michael Sopocko might have put his finger into a lot during his lifetime. That one of his fingers has been cut of from his skeleton is yet another example of the how the bone collectors of Rome has looted corpses.

It is not so strange that Catholics wants to adore more than just a cut off finger. Inside the Shrine it will be entertained by a piece of a ?holy toe?

Was this toe just axed off, or did the priest take a big bite?

Written by Ivar

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Source: http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/catholics-in-poland-parade-a-holy-finger/

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