Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Firefox 10 lands in the Android Market, still doesn't support flash

Android Central

Attention Firefox for Android users: You're going to want to head on over to the Android Market, as version 10 of Mozilla's browser is there waiting for you right now.

There is a couple of new features to report, the implementation of anti-aliasing for WebGL and support for accelerated layers via OpenGL ES. You also get a smattering of bug fixes, and improved Firefox sync setup. What is still noticeably lacking is support for Adobe Flash and other plugins. Nevertheless, Firefox for Android is still a pretty strong browsing option so hit the links after the break to download yourself a copy. Changelogs can be found by hitting the source link.

Source: Mozilla Blog

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/oh_7u48Z-g4/story01.htm

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Ian Abercrombie, Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld", dies at 77 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 29 (TheWrap.com) ? Ian Ambercrombie, the classically trained British stage actor best known to American TV audiences as Elaine Benes' nutty boss Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld," died of a heart attack Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 77.

Abercrombie appeared on several other U.S. TV shows. He played the 800-year-old Professor Crumbs on "Wizards of Waverly Place and a butler on "Desperate Housewives," and made guest appearances on "Twin Peaks," "Dynasty" and "Days of Our Lives."

He appeared in a number of movies, including "Stalag 17," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "The Prisoner of Zenda," with Peter Sellers.

He did voiceover work in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties" and "Rango," and had completed "Green Lantern" for the Cartoon Network just before he died.

As Mr. Pitt in Seinfeld, he was known for his obsession with socks and quirky habits like eating candy bars with a knife and fork.

He is survived by his wife, Gladys.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/people_nm/us_ianambercrombie

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Syria plans local ceasefire with rebels: governor (Reuters)

IRBIN, Syria (Reuters) ? Syrian authorities are holding ceasefire talks with rebels who have seized some areas near Damascus, a local official said on Thursday, in a sign that a 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad has crept close to the capital.

Activists in the restive northeastern suburbs of Douma, Harasta and Irbin, some of which lie within eight km (five miles) of central Damascus, said they heard explosions from overnight clashes between security forces and insurgents.

Gunfire was close enough to be heard from central Damascus during the night.

"Many of them (in the opposition) have been misled. They will eventually come back to the right way," Hussein Makhlouf, governor of Damascus countryside, told Arab League monitors before they headed for Irbin on their first outing in a week.

"We have started a dialogue with them, including some armed groups that are controlling positions there," Makhlouf said.

He told the monitors that the authorities were using "the same approach as in Zabadani, so the same scenario will happen."

This month the military withdrew armored vehicles encircling the rebel-held town of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, after negotiating a truce with its defenders.

Arab observers stopped just outside Irbin, where a dozen soldiers stood guard. Beyond them a crowd of about 100 anti-Assad protesters shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great)."

The troops showed the monitors the body of a soldier and another person they said had been killed in the morning.

The Arab observers soon drove away from the tense scene and their next destination was not immediately clear.

MONITORS RESUME WORK

The monitors, now without 55 Gulf Arab colleagues withdrawn by their governments this week in protest at continued bloodshed, resumed work after a one-week gap during which the Arab League prolonged their mission by another month.

One monitor said he was confused about the extension. "The report has been written and the (League) decisions have been taken, so another month to do what? We are not sure," he said.

Syrian opposition groups have accused the observer mission, which deployed on December 26, of giving Assad diplomatic cover to pursue a crackdown on protesters and rebels in which more than 5,000 people have been killed since March, by a U.N. tally.

The Arab League called on Sunday for Assad to quit as part of a transition plan for which it is seeking U.N. support.

France and Britain have joined efforts at the United Nations to end Assad's rule, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country remained opposed to sanctions on Syria and reiterated its opposition to military intervention.

The Security Council could vote as early as next week on a Western-Arab draft resolution, council diplomats said.

In recent months, an insurgency by army deserters and other rebels has increasingly eclipsed peaceful protests against more than four decades of rule by the Assad family.

Activists said the army deployment and clashes in townships around Damascus were a response to insurgents' growing strength.

"The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has almost complete control of some areas of the Damascus countryside and some control in Douma and Harasta," an activist who gave his name as Hussein told Reuters by telephone from the suburb of Harasta.

Other activists in Douma, Harasta and Irbin said security forces had gathered in their towns after rebels retreated because they could not fight pitched battles with the army.

"Assad's army has armored vehicles and anti-aircraft guns while we only have rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs)," said an FSA fighter who calls himself Abu Thaer.

Activists said five people were wounded by army shelling on Wednesday night, but gave no details of rebel casualties.

RED CRESCENT OFFICIAL KILLED

In violence on Wednesday, the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the northern town of Idlib was shot dead.

The opposition Local Coordinating Committees group said a total of 27 people had been killed, including six FSA fighters.

Fourteen members of the security forces were buried on Wednesday, the state news agency SANA said, describing them as martyrs killed by "armed terrorist groups" across the country. It also said five security men had been killed during an attack on a police station in the town of Apamea in Hama province.

Syrian authorities say insurgents have killed 2,000 soldiers and police since the anti-Assad revolt erupted in March.

Despite the mounting death toll, an ICRC official said the Syria unrest did not meet the group's definition of civil war.

"The threshold has not yet been passed to speak of an armed conflict," Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, head of ICRC operations for the Near and Middle East, told Reuters in Geneva.

The ICRC's legal criteria for civil war include an opposition that clearly controls territory and has a military structure with a clear chain of command.

The revolt in Syria was inspired by other uprisings that have toppled three autocratic Arab leaders over the past year and the bloodshed has battered Assad's standing in the world.

The Arab League has suspended Syria and called for Assad to hand over to his deputy, pending the formation of an unity government, constitutional and security reform, and elections.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Damascus, Erika Solomon in Beirut and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_syria

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

NJ police to probe synagogues near suspect's house (AP)

HACKENSACK, N.J. ? A teenager charged with attempted murder in the firebombings of two New Jersey synagogues pleaded not guilty Wednesday, as authorities announced they would conduct a sweep of synagogues within a 10-mile radius of his home to look for arson materials.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office characterized the search as precautionary and didn't say it was prompted by a specific threat or by new information the suspect had provided.

Authorities have contended 19-year-old Anthony Graziano searched on the Internet for synagogues near his home in Lodi and carried out his attacks using a bicycle as transportation.

Graziano appeared briefly in state Superior Court in an orange prison jumpsuit Wednesday with his hands and feet shackled. He didn't speak during the five-minute proceeding and stood expressionless as public defender Robert Kalisch entered the not-guilty plea.

Graziano is being held on $5 million bail, a sum Kalisch, said he would seek to have lowered. A bail hearing could occur next week.

"We'll be seeking a considerable bail reduction," Kalisch said. "That bail is a lot of money. It's higher than for most murders in this county."

Kalisch said he likely would file for a change of venue, but it wasn't clear where a potential trial could be moved.

"I don't know where the venue would be because of all the publicity this case has gotten," he said outside the courthouse.

Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli said his office would oppose a change in venue. Judges don't often grant such requests; a notable exception was the 2004 manslaughter trial of former basketball star Jayson Williams, which was moved from Hunterdon County to Somerset County because of excessive pretrial publicity.

Graziano is charged with nine counts of attempted murder as well as bias intimidation, arson and aggravated arson. Since the attempted murder involved more than five people ? a rabbi, his wife and children and his parents were living above a synagogue in Rutherford that was attacked on Jan. 11 ? the maximum sentence is upgraded to life in prison with no parole for 30 years, the same as a murder charge.

While authorities characterized Graziano as harboring a hatred of Jews, they don't know what may have spurred him to violence. Molinelli said Wednesday that investigators hadn't found any indication that Graziano belonged to any extremist groups but had evidence that he shared his views with other people, though he didn't specify in what forum. He characterized Graziano as intelligent and aware of what was happening to him.

Authorities traced the materials in some of the bombs to a Wal-Mart store and captured surveillance images of a man buying the materials, later identified by tipsters as Graziano, who apparently had spoken to others about the attacks.

"A lot of people knew that he had done it," Molinelli said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_synagogue_firebombings

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The big get in Florida ? Rubio ? isn't giving (AP)

MIAMI ? He's young, telegenic and charismatic. He's Hispanic, Catholic and the son of Cuban immigrants. He's a tea party favorite, a GOP star and, many say, the future of the Republican Party.

Sen. Marco Rubio's endorsement would be a big get for any of the presidential contenders ahead of the Jan. 31 Florida primary ? if only he were the giving kind.

The freshman senator, who has ties to GOP presidential front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, has pledged to stay neutral as Republicans pick a challenger to President Barack Obama. But Rubio's refusal to pick sides hasn't squelched intense speculation about whether Rubio might make a surprise endorsement ? and whether he'll end up as the vice presidential nominee.

Rubio publicly insists that he's not interested in either, saying recently that many of those running have been helpful to him and that he's not inclined to endorse anyone in the primary. On Monday, while he was racing to the Senate for a vote, he gave two answers to the endorsement question: a subtle "no" followed by a more emphatic "no."

Aides to Romney and Gingrich say neither candidate has asked Rubio for his endorsement out of respect for the senator's decision to stay out of the race. Even so, their backers are privately hoping Rubio changes his mind, given how wide open the race is only a week before Florida's Republicans weigh in on what has been a volatile nomination fight.

Rubio, 40, is one of Florida's most popular leaders, particularly among Republicans. A Quinnipiac University poll released Jan. 10 found that nearly 80 percent of Republicans and nearly half of independents approved of the job he is doing. Only a quarter of Democrats liked his job performance.

A native of Miami, the former state legislator was the youngest person and first Hispanic to become speaker of the Florida House in 2007. He vaulted onto the national stage in 2010 when he latched onto the fledging tea party movement to challenge then-Gov. Charlie Crist, a centrist and the GOP establishment's choice, in the Republican primary for an open Senate seat. Rubio's stock rose quickly, forcing Crist to flee the GOP and run as an independent. In the end, Rubio was the GOP nominee and he went on to win in the general election.

Rubio has connections to both front-runners.

He and Gingrich have known each other for years. The freshman senator brought a photo of the former House speaker to his Washington office. And Gingrich wrote the forward to Rubio's book, "100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future." Rubio wrote it before taking office as Florida House speaker. Gingrich has called the book "a work of genius."

Rubio's personal friend and political ally, fellow Cuban-American U.S. Rep. David Rivera, is backing Gingrich. Rubio's former Senate campaign chief Jose Mallea is running Gingrich's Florida campaign. Rubio and Gingrich both will address the Hispanic Leadership Network's conference in Miami on Friday.

Romney, for his part, endorsed Rubio over Crist in the 2010 GOP Senate primary, calling him "an American hero" and adding: "He represents what is good and so great about this land of ours."

Nearly half a dozen Rubio staffers worked for the former Massachusetts governor's 2008 presidential campaign, including the senator's chief of staff.

Both Romney and Gingrich have called Rubio an obvious choice for a vice-presidential short-list.

"He checks a lot of boxes. He comes from Florida, and he provides balance," said former Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Romney backer. "I can't conceive of anyone who in a list of five or six wouldn't have Rubio there."

Bill McCollum, co-chair of Gingrich's Florida campaign, said Rubio would be among Gingrich's top picks for vice president "if and when the time occurs."

It's not just that he's from Florida, a critical general-election swing state, that has Republicans speculating about his political future.

His potential appeal to Hispanic independents could be a huge draw for the eventual GOP nominee. Rubio is immensely popular among Cuban exiles, one the GOP's most reliable and influential voting blocs in this state. And his popularity with the tea party could help inject the ticket with a dose of excitement, and help ensure these activists turn out in November to support the nominee.

"He comes across as genuine and that's why people like him," said Jennifer Korn, executive director of the center-right Hispanic Leadership Network.

Indeed, Rubio, who teaches political science at Florida International University in his spare time, is a natural on the campaign trail, equally comfortable giving passionate speeches about his parents' sacrifices as he is discussing how to restructure Social Security. He also has a captivating life story that he holds up as an example of the American Dream.

Then there's Rubio's strong record as a conservative.

He gave a wildly lauded speech on behalf of a free market and compassionate conservatism last summer at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. He opposed Obama's nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Puerto Rican-American and the first Hispanic to be named to the court. He recently blocked another Puerto Rican-American's nomination for ambassador to El Salvador. While conservatives generally applaud both moves, they're not likely to play well with central Florida's fast-growing Puerto Rican community, a major swing vote in the state.

Meanwhile, his support among Hispanics is hardly rock solid nationwide. Rubio got into a public spat with Univision over how the No. 1 Spanish-language network handled a story detailing a decades-old drug conviction of Rubio's brother-in-law. He was forced to backpedal last year when it was revealed that his parents did not flee Fidel Castro's communist government as he had claimed. They were economic immigrants who arrived in the U.S. several years before the Cuban Revolution ? though they quickly came to oppose Castro and identify with the exile community.

Rubio also opposes comprehensive immigration reform and supports Arizona's tough new law targeting illegal immigration, putting him in stark contrast with the vast majority of the country's Latino voters.

Even though he's not endorsing in the presidential race, Rubio is having at least some effect on it.

Mindful of angering Rubio, nearly all of the GOP candidates declined to participate in a proposed Univision presidential debate last year. This week, Gingrich, Romney and Santorum agreed to participate in a "Meet the Candidates" forum co-hosted by the network.

Mallea said Gingrich agreed to participate only after getting Rubio's OK.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_el_pr/us_wooing_rubio

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What You Missed While Not Watching the Florida GOP Debate (Time.com)

0 minutes. TV Guide lists a new episode of Fear Factor at 9 p.m. on NBC. It's called "Leaches & Shaved Heads & Tear Gas, Oh My! Part 1." And yet, as the hour strikes, the screen shows another patriotic montage, this time from Tampa, Florida, introducing the 18th Republican debate. The NFL plays a 16-game regular season. There are nine circles of hell. God got it done in six days. But democracy is unrelenting, a bit like Joe Rogan, with less forced regurgitation and fewer critter challenges. Which is to say, Fear Factor has been preempted. A fearful nation takes its place.

2 minutes. Blue gels on the audience again, like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, except there will be no "dum-dum-dum," at least as sound effects. Brian Williams, the handsomest man to have never been a movie star, is not wasting any time. He lists a lot of bad stuff former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been saying about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "Erratic, failed leader," it goes on. "Your response tonight Mr. Speaker?"

3 minutes. Gingrich responds by reciting his resume, with extra emphasis on confusing historical analogies that only he knows. He says Reagan carried "more states than Herbert Hoover carried -- than Roosevelt carried against Herbert Hoover." As is often the case with Gingrich, his words form a shield. By the time he gets to, "they're not sending somebody to Washington to manage the decay," it's impossible to remember what was asked.

4 minutes. A wide shot shows Romney standing there, next to Gingrich, with his right hand hanging at his side, ready to draw. But dapper Williams tries again with Gingrich, which allows the speaker to continue taking credit for everything good that happened during his decades in the House. "When I was speaker, we had four consecutive balanced budgets, the only time in your lifetime, Brian, that we've had four consecutive balanced budgets." This is not true. The four years of surplus ran through 2001. Gingrich resigned from office in 1999. Newt gets two out of four. If this were a history class, he would fail.

5 minutes. Romney gets his chance. "I think it's about leadership," he says, "and the speaker was given an opportunity to be the leader of our party in 1994. And at the end of four years, he had to resign in disgrace." This is the same Mitt Romney who said in the last debate that he wished he had spent more time attacking President Obama, and less time attacking his rivals. Romney calls Gingrich an "influence peddler," says he encouraged cap and trade and called Paul Ryan's budget plan "social engineering."

6 minutes. Gingrich, doing his best imitation of Romney, from when Romney was the frontrunner, acts like he is too big a deal to worry about the criticism. "Well, look, I'm not going to spend the evening trying to chase Governor Romney's misinformation," he says, adding that he would rather be attacking Obama. "I just think this is the worst kind of trivial politics."

8 minutes. Williams still looks like every 1940s radio drama detective sounded. He asks Romney whether he can appeal to conservatives. Romney says he does, and pivots. "Let's go back to what the Speaker mentioned with regards to leadership," Romney says. He notes that Gingrich was the first speaker in history to resign. "I don't think we can possibly retake the White House if the person who's leading our party is the person who was working for the chief lobbyist of Freddie Mac," he adds.

9 minutes. Romney says almost exactly what Gingrich said after Iowa: That the last election taught him he can't sit back. He has to go on offense. "I had incoming from all directions, was overwhelmed with a lot of attacks. And I'm not going to sit back and get attacked day in and day out without returning fire," Romney says. The too men have traded strategies since South Carolina. Or traded bodies. Gingrich is now aloof and focused on the general. Romney is trying to muddy the field.

10 minutes. Gingrich returns fire with a couple of zingers:"He may have been a good financier," he says of Romney. "He's a terrible historian." So is Gingrich. (See minute 4.) Then Gingrich proceeds to respond to a lot of stuff he just said he would not waste his time talking about. He tells a rosy version of his fall from the atop the U.S. House that would not please his fellow historians. "Apparently your consultants aren't very good historians," Gingrich tells Romney. "What you ought to do is stop and look at the facts." The intellectual insult. A classic Gingrich move. Like I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I?

11 minutes. Debonair Williams, he of the slender face and half-Windsor knot, throws it to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has apparently been standing on stage this entire time. How, asks Williams, is Santorum going to actually win? Santorum hits his stump speech, saying he is positive, and that this is not a two person race. [BOLD "MORE:"]What You Missed While Not Watching the Last South Carolina GOP Debate

14 minutes. There is actually a fourth person on stage as well. Texas Rep. Ron Paul gets a question that is basically this: You have no chance of winning, you said you don't envision yourself in the Oval Office, so will you run as a third-party candidate? Paul says he has been winning the under-30 vote, and otherwise doing "pretty darned well." Then he calls the historian on his rosy history about giving up the speaker's gavel. "This idea that he voluntarily reneged and he was going to punish himself because we didn't do well in the election, that's just not the way it was." True that. Then Paul says, once again, that he has "no plans" to go third party.

17 minutes. Gingrich gets a question about Paul. Gingrich praises Paul for his criticism of the Federal Reserve and desire for a "gold commission," which is nothing like a blue-ribbon panel. It would study bringing back gold as currency.

18 minutes. Romney says he will release his tax returns for two years on Wednesday morning. But again he gets tongue tied. Rich people don't like to talk about their own money. It is impolite. So Romney says, "The real question is not so much my taxes, but the taxes of the American people." Suddenly, out of nowhere, Romney, who previously opposed any debt compromise that raised any taxes, is praising the Bowles-Simpson plan, which raises tax revenues by nearly $1 trillion. But Romney doesn't talk about the deficit part. He talks about the cutting marginal rates part, which by itself would make the debt problem worse. He chastises Obama for having "simply brushed aside" the Bowles-Simpson recommendations, in much the same way that Romney did previously.

20 minutes. More discomfort, as Romney is asked again to talk about his money. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more," he says. "I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes." Now that is settled.

21 minutes. Gingrich tries to needle Romney by saying he wants everyone to enjoy Romney's 15 percent tax rate. Romney points out that under the Gingrich tax plan, investment gains would be taxed at zero. "Under that plan, I'd have paid no taxes in the last two years," Romney says. This is true. It is the reason Gingrich's policies are better for wealthy financiers than Romney's policies. Romney would keep his own tax rate on investments at 15%.

22 minutes. More awkward talk about Romney's wealth. "I will not apologize for having been successful. I did not inherit what my wife and I have, nor did she. What we have, what I was able to build, I built the old-fashioned way, by earning it," he says. This is true, if you discount the fact that his father's money helped to put Romney through college (Bringham Young, Stanford) and joint degrees at Harvard (Law, Business).

25 minutes. Now it's time to talk about what lobbying means. Gingrich worked for lobbyists at Freddie Mac, a quasi-government agency that conservatives despise. He also took lots of money from health care companies, while at the same time writing articles and giving talks that furthered those company's agendas in Congress. But technically none of it was "lobbying," which is a legal term of art. Williams asks the right question, by avoiding the L-word. "You never peddled influence, as Governor Romney accused you of tonight?" Gingrich can't answer. "You know, there is a point in the process where it gets unnecessarily personal and nasty," he says, before avoiding the question by saying he never lobbied.

28 minutes. Romney and Gingrich go at it. Romney accuses Gingrich of profiting from an organization that destroyed the housing market in Florida. Gingrich tries to compare his consulting work for lobbyists with Romney's consulting work for corporations. "Wait a second, wait a second," protests Gingrich at one point, after Romney admits that his firm made money too. "We didn't do any work with the government. I didn't have an office on K Street," Romney says. It goes on.

33 minutes. Never-a-bad-hair-day Williams cuts them off and goes to commercial break.

36 minutes. We're back, with charity time for the other two candidates on stage who have not had much time to talk. Paul and Santorum talk about the housing market and say nothing new. Then Romney says he wants to help homeowners too. And Gingrich says he wants to repeal Dodd-Frank, the banking regulation bill, because of its effect on smaller banks. Romney agrees.

43 minutes. Cuban question: "Let's say President Romney gets that phone call, and it is to say that Fidel Castro has died. And there are credible people in the Pentagon who predict upwards of half a million Cubans may take that as a cue to come to the United States. What do you do?" The premise is a stretch, since Fidel has already ceded most government control to his brother, Raul. Romney tries to make a joke about how Fidel is a bad guy. "First of all, you thank heavens that Fidel Castro has returned to his maker and will be sent to another land," he says.

44 minutes. Gingrich retells the joke, but gets the punchline right. "Well, Brian, first of all, I guess the only thing I would suggest is I don't think that Fidel is going to meet his maker. I think he's going to go to the other place," he says. Fidel in hell jokes must poll really well in Miami. Then Gingrich says he would authorize "covert operations" to overthrow the Castro regime.

46 minutes. "I would do pretty much the opposite," says Paul.

47 minutes. Having stirred up the Cuban pot, Williams now accuses the candidates of pandering for votes. Why don't they care as much about Chinese dissidents and embargo China? Santorum says China is not 90 miles off the coast.

49 minutes. Iran time. Romney criticizes Obama, "We ought to have and aircraft carrier in the Gulf." Nevermind that the USS Abraham Lincoln is there right now. Gingrich picks up where Romney left off. "Dictatorships respond to strength, they don't respond to weakness," he says. The same can be said of Republican primary voters.

52 minutes. Romney tears into Obama on Afghanistan, saying the president should not have reduced troops so much, allowed elections to go bad or announced withdrawal date.

53 minutes. Paul pretty much has the opposite view.

54 minutes. Another break. "I'll welcome two colleagues out here to the stage when we continue from Tampa right after this," says Williams. Hope for Joe Rogan and Donald Trump. Or Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

58 minutes. We're back. It's National Journal's Beth Reinhard and the Tampa Bay Times' Adam Smith. After Santorum gets a chance to talk about the evils of Iran, he is asked about offshore drilling. Santorum said the economy in Florida went bad in 2008 "because of a huge spike in oil prices," which is like saying people watch Fear Factor to see Joe Rogan.

62 minutes. Reinhard asks a great question: How can the candidates be against bilingual balloting, even as they advertise in Spanish to Hispanics. Gingrich and Romney don't really have answers. So they dance around the edges. Everyone on stage is against multi-lingual education, except Paul who doesn't mind if states do whatever they want.

66 minutes. Immigration time. Same as before, except Gingrich makes clear that he would support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who serve in the military. Romney agrees. Then Romney says of other undocumented immigrants, "Well, the answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here." Self-deportation is one of those neologisms that gets added to dictionary at the end of the year. Sign of the times.

70 minutes. Questions about sugar subsidies. Gingrich says you can't beat the sugar lobby, because "cane sugar hides behind beet sugar," and there are "just too many beet sugar districts in the United States." Surely someone can work that into a Haiku.

71 minutes. Romney says he is against all subsidies. Then he pivots into a long rant about the awfulness of President Obama. It is telling that it has taken Romney 71 minutes to get into this rant on Obama. South Carolina has transformed him as a candidate.

72 minutes. Paul is asked is he supports federal funding for conservation of the everglades. Paul lets down his strict libertarian guard to pander for Florida votes. "I don't see any reason to go after that," he says.

73 minutes. Another break. Things are speeding up. [BOLD "MORE:"] Debates Gingrich Scorches Media at Fierce GOP Debate in South Carolina

77 minutes. Some talk about Terri Schiavo, a woman in a vegetative state who became a cause celeb for conservatives in 2005. The answers are inconsequential.

81 minutes. Space cadet time. No, really. Romney says Obama has no space plan, and America needs a space plan. Gingrich gets asked about going to Mars. He says he wants a "leaner NASA," but then lists off a terribly expensive list of goals: "Going back to the moon permanently, getting to Mars as rapidly as possible, building a series of space stations and developing commercial space." At least something new is happening. First time in 18 debates that anyone has talked about Mars.

84 minutes. Gingrich is asked why the Bush tax cuts in early 2000s did not create a lot of jobs. His answer is priceless. He channels Obama, seemingly unaware of the irony. "In 2002 and '03 and '04, we'd have been in much worse shape without the Bush tax cuts," he says. That's what Obama says about the stimulus bill. Both are basically right, though neither would give the other credit.

85 minutes. Last break. Almost there. Actually scratch that. You will never get there. When this debate ends, there will be another. The next one is Thursday. No joke.

90 minutes. We're back. Romney is asked what he has done to further the cause of conservatism. He is sort of stumped. Talks about his family, his work in the private sector, neither of which is all that ideological.

92 minutes. Gingrich talks about how he went to Goldwater meetings in 1964, when he would have turned 21.

93 minutes. Santorum is asked about electability. Suddenly he comes alive. It's the best moment of any of his debates. Yet few will ever notice, and it will almost certainly not matter. He makes the case that he is the only true conservative who can take on Obama, and that both Romney and Gingrich are fundamentally flawed because they are too close to the political positions of Obama. "There is no difference between President Obama and these two gentlemen," Santorum says. This is not true, if you were wondering.

95 minutes. Paul talks about the constitution.

97 minutes. Romney talks about RomneyCare and ObamaCare.

98 minutes. Gingrich says, "I never ask anyone to be for me. Because if they are for me, they vote yes and go home and say, I sure hope Newt does it. I ask people to be with me, because I think this will be a very hard, very difficult journey." No doubt.

99 minutes. Romney, who talks all the time about "restoring American greatness," is asked when America was last great. "America still is great," Romney says, thus undercutting the meaning of his signature campaign message. 101 minutes. That's it. See you Thursday.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120124/us_time/httpswamplandtimecom20120124whatyoumissedwhilenotwatchingthenbcgopdebateinfloridaxidrssfullnationyahoo

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MTV Movie Brawl: Robert Pattinson's 'Cosmopolis' Beats 'The Hunger Games'

The MTV Movie Brawl 2012 has come to an end, and after an epic battle that clocked in with over three and a half million votes cast, only one film is still standing: Robert Pattinson's "Cosmopolis."

David Cronenberg's thriller about a limousine drive through Manhattan gone horribly wrong managed to topple incoming franchise "The Hunger Games," [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/23/robert-pattinson-cosmopolis-hunger-games-movie-brawl/

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Republican hopefuls take fight to Florida (Reuters)

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) ? After a bruising clash in South Carolina, Republican presidential frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich will take their battle to a bigger stage when the campaign moves to Florida on Sunday.

Gingrich, a former U.S. House of Representatives speaker, thrashed Romney in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, suggesting the race for their party's nomination and the right to face President Barack Obama in November may last months more.

The largest of the early voting states by far, Florida presents logistical and financial challenges that appear to give an advantage to Romney's well funded campaign machine.

But Gingrich has momentum after coming from behind in South Carolina to win around 40 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 28 percent. Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator, was in third with 17 percent and U.S. congressman Ron Paul in fourth with 13 percent.

"We proved here in South Carolina that people ... with the right ideas beats big money," Gingrich told supporters after his victory in the conservative state.

After strong performances in a series of debates, Gingrich was seen by South Carolina voters as the most likely Republican to beat Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election.

They also rejected millionaire former businessman Romney's pitch that he is the best bet to fix a broken U.S. economy and win the White House.

Romney and Gingrich, who have attacked each other mercilessly in a series of negative television ads since December, face off in a debate in Tampa, Florida, on Monday night.

ROMNEY TAX SOLUTION?

Romney has stumbled over questions about his personal finances in recent debates and acknowledged last week that he only pays a 15 percent tax rate, much lower than that of most working Americans.

The former Massachusetts governor has so far resisted calls from rivals, and even ally New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to release his tax returns.

To try to put the tax return controversy behind him, the Romney campaign has a plan to settle the issue next week, a Republican official said.

That is part of a strategy to be more aggressive against Gingrich, a formidable debater who nevertheless has personal and professional baggage that the Romney team could exploit. Romney accuses Gingrich of being a Washington insider.

"The choice within our party has also come into stark focus. President Obama has no experience running a business and no experience running a state. Our party can't be lead to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never run a state," Romney said on Saturday.

Romney saw his aura of inevitability erode in South Carolina after leading opinion polls by 10 percentage points a week ago.

In Florida, he leads Gingrich by 40.5 percent to 22 percent, according to a poll of polls by RealClearPolitics.com. Santorum, a social conservative who is from Pennsylvania, is third with 15 percent.

Campaigns must spend at least $1 million each week to reach voters in the sprawling southern state, according to local political officials. Romney's allies have already spent $5 million, mostly on ads attacking Gingrich. No other candidate has a significant presence in the state.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign

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The nation's weather (AP)

Wet and snowy weather will persist in the West as snow returns Sunday to the Northern Plains and upper Midwest. A strong low pressure system spinning over the Pacific will push another cold front onshore throughout the day. This system will bring rain showers to the Pacific Northwest and northern California, with heavy snow showers expected in the mountains. The Cascades may see 3 to 7 inches of new snow, and the Sierra Nevadas another 7 to 9 inches of snow.

Strong winds will develop ahead of this front, with gusts from 35 to 45 mph, up to 75 mph at the highest mountain peaks. High wind and winter weather advisories remain in effect in these areas.

Elsewhere, a low pressure system over the central and northern Rockies will advance eastward into the Plains, producing 1 to 3 inches of snow across the Dakotas and upper Midwest. Late Sunday, a cold front will develop south of this system, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms to the Mississippi River Valley. There is a slight chance storms will turn severe in the Tennessee Valley and mid-Mississippi River valley. The back side of this system will spread lingering snow showers over the Rockies.

The East Coast will see a break in wet weather as a low pressure system and associated frontal boundary moves offshore into the Atlantic. High pressure will build over the Northeast and extend down the East Coast, allowing for a dry and mild day before another system quickly approaches from the central U.S.

Temperatures in the lower 48 states ranged Saturday from a morning low of -25 degrees at Land O' Lakes, Wis., to a high of 91 degrees at Bonifay, Fla.

___

Online:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com

National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Greece, creditors edge closer to deal (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) ? Greece and its private bondholders drew closer on Friday to a bond swap deal that would prevent the country from sinking into a chaotic default and ease the euro zone's debilitating debt crisis.

Cash-strapped Greece is fast running out of time as it pushes to wrap up an agreement by Monday paving the way for a fresh injection of aid before 14.5 billion euros ($18.5 billion)of bond repayments fall due in March.

Bankers and government officials close to the talks say an agreement to cut Greece's debt is in sight and that the two sides may be able to present a joint proposal at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday.

"We are very close to wrapping it up," one source close to the negotiations told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

After a breakdown in talks last week over the coupon, or interest payment, that Greece must offer on its new bonds raised fears of a disastrous bankruptcy, the two sides resumed negotiations on Thursday.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) representing bondholders, started a new meeting on Friday morning.

According to one Greek banker, senior euro zone finance officials have scheduled a conference call for Friday afternoon.

HIGH STAKES

The stakes could not be higher. Greece needs to have a deal in the bag before funds are doled out from a 130 billion euro rescue plan that the country's official lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, drew up in October.

The paperwork involved alone is expected to take weeks, meaning failure to secure a deal soon could put Athens at risk of a chaotic default in March, which in turn could jolt the financial system and tip the global economy into recession.

A large chunk of the bond swap must be agreed by noon on Friday and formalized before Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers, Venizelos has said.

"The deal must be completed. There is no more time left," said a Greek government official who requested anonymity.

Adding to the pressure, officials from the "troika" of foreign lenders have begun meetings with the Greek government on Friday to discuss reforms and plans to finalize that bailout package.

Progress has been hard to come by in the latest round of negotiations, with bankers worried about suffering losses far higher than the 50 percent writedown they were expected to take on the nominal value of their bonds.

Actual losses for investors are expected to be much higher depending on the terms, such as the coupon, being negotiated.

A source close to the talks earlier said Athens and its foreign lenders had initially offered a coupon of just over 3.5 percent, but bondholders rejected that as too low. They were seeking a coupon of at least 4 percent, the source said.

VARIABLE COUPON

One of the options being considered is a coupon that rises after staying stable for the first 10 years, another source close to the talks has said.

According to Greek press reports not identifying their sources, the two sides may agree a coupon ranging between 3 and 5 percent, depending on the new bonds' maturities, resulting in a loss for investors of between 65 and 70 percent in terms of net present value.

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For a Breakingviews calculator on how Greek bondholders could get a scalping see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/12/01/BV_GRBZZCT0112_VF.html

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Investors have also bridled at Greece's threat to enforce losses if not enough bondholders sign up to the deal.

The swap is aimed at cutting 100 billion euros off Greece's over 350 billion euro debt load. The second bailout - drawn up on condition Greece pushes through painful cuts and structural reforms - is expected to reduce Greece's debt to a more manageable 120 percent of gross domestic product in 2020 from about 160 percent now.

Greece is stumbling through its worst economic crisis since World War Two, with unemployment at record highs and near-daily protests and strikes against austerity measures that have deepened an already brutal recession.

Nearly one out of two youths is unemployed and anger against waves of tax hikes and pay cuts is running high.

(Additional reporting by Athens bureau and Stephen Brown in Berlin; Writing by Harry Papachristou; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_greece_debt

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Newt's secret press pals (Politico)

It?s a regular feature of the 2012 GOP presidential debates ? that moment when Newt Gingrich takes a deep breath, then proceeds to rip the insipid moderator and the conflict-and scandal-mongering press.

His latest exercise in blistering media criticism proved to be the most successful of all ? he won a standing ovation Thursday evening for dressing down CNN?s John King after the moderator opened the latest debate with a question about bombshell allegations made by Gingrich?s ex-wife.

Continue Reading

South Carolina Primary Live Coverage

Newt slams media at debate

Both Thursday and in numerous debates before, the former House Speaker?s stance suggested a candidate harboring deep bitterness toward the media, a man appalled by the very sight of notebook-carrying scribes.

The reality is very different.

The same candidate who on Thursday decried ?the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media? shows another face to the cadre of reporters who follow his campaign day-to-day. He jokes with them, publicly celebrates their birthdays, teases them about the early hour they are often forced out of bed to cover his events.

It?s not unusual for Gingrich to chat with reporters, off-the-record, in the hotel restaurant at the end of a long day on the campaign trail ? and he engages them to a degree that?s unheard of on the other campaigns.

Mitt Romney, for example, doesn?t make small talk with reporters about sports, the news of the day or the food at his events like Gingrich. No one gets close enough.

The contrast between the two couldn?t have been any clearer than Wednesday, when Romney stopped at a BBQ joint to shake hands and approached a family with a basket full of hush puppies. When a Washington Post reporter innocuously asked Romney if he planned to try one, the staff cut him off, insisting it was an off-the-record stop.

When the press tweeted about the incident, angry emails were dispatched from the former Massachusetts governor?s staff to offending reporters.

While Romney won?t take questions outside the safety of controlled press conferences, Gingrich is perfectly comfortable in unscripted situations, content to make small talk while working the public at events.

In New Hampshire, when he visited the world?s longest candy counter in Littleton, Gingrich was asked by a reporter about his favorite candy. He didn?t think twice: gummy bears.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71741_html/44249253/SIG=11mgdb1ah/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71741.html

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

O.C. business leaders receptive to governor's plan | brown, tax ...

IRVINE ? Gov. Jerry Brown's call for a combination of tax hikes and massive public works projects was warmly received when he pitched it to 50 of Orange County's top business executives Thursday.

On the heels of Wednesday's unveiling of the plan, Brown is touring Southern California to garner support for a temporary tax initiative, high-speed rail construction, a water project, public pension reform and key changes to education.

Gov. Jerry Brown cracks a smile while talking to the press after meeting with the Orange County Business Council Thursday in Irvine. He talked about raising the retirement age, cutting the budget and investing in a bullet train.

MINDY SCHAUER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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While the 300-member Orange County Business Council has not voted to support any of the specific plans, OCBC Executive Director Lucy Dunn said the group has been supportive of those proposals in the past and that Brown's presentation Thursday at an Irvine roundtable with 50 key members was greeted with enthusiasm.

Commercial real estate broker Fran Inman was among those embracing Brown's approach, including sweeping cuts previously signed into law by the governor.

"I just think it's time for that kind of commitment and passion," she said. "I think we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work. ... It's pretty clear we need both cuts and additional revenue."

Brown pitched his proposed tax initiative as costing half as much as the temporary tax hikes imposed under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ? and which expired last year. That point was emphasized by Dunn when she and Brown met with reporters after the hour-long roundtable meeting.

"It's half the tax that Gov. Schwarzenegger raised," she said. "It's less money than we paid in 2010."

Brown's four-year proposal calls for an additional half-cent sales tax and a marginal tax hike of up to 2 percent for the state's highest earners in order to cover a $9 billion budget deficit. Brown last year wanted legislators to put the measure on the ballot, but it was blocked by the Republican minority. So now Brown has launched the measure as a citizen's initiative, with petitions being circulated to qualify the measure for the November ballot - although those same Republicans remain critical.

"If I lay out the truth, I think the public will vote for it," Brown said.

Dunn noted that her group endorsed the effort to have legislators place the measure on the ballot provided it was accompanied by regulatory reforms. She said the group had previously backed a similar water project, the high-speed rail project, and reforms to public pensions and schools.

One potential obstacle facing Brown and his ballot measure are three other proposed initiatives to hike taxes. Brown acknowledged that if more than one competing tax hike was on the ballot, it lowered the chances of any of them passing.

"If they all go down, it doesn't help anybody," he said, adding that he hope to convince proponents of other plans to back his measure instead.

Brown also emphasized the improving business climate in California, saying that job creation here last year was 50 percent higher than the national average. In particular, he touted his new business development office.

"We are prepared with highly skilled people to cut the red tape," he said.

Brown didn't flinch when asked about the state losing jobs to places like Texas.

"Texas specializes in minimum-wage jobs," he said. "We have more higher-wage jobs."

He was also asked about critics who complain that Brown should not be adding massive water and rail projects at time when other services are being slashed.

"For some, chewing gum and jumping rope is daunting," he quipped. "You have to do both. For rail and water, we're talking about the next 100 years. This state - it's a building place. It's important for America that California lead the way."

Contact the writer: 714-796-6753 or mwisckol@ocregister.com


Source: http://www.ocregister.com/news/brown-336427-tax-measure.html

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China's challenge to the iPad raises a red flag (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? China Communist Party members can now carry a tablet PC to verify identification cards, read the blogs of cadres and manage state-owned firms without fretting that using a bourgeois Apple Inc iPad will ruin their street cred.

Enter RedPad Number One, an Android-based tablet computer filled with software applications (apps) catered to a party official's every need for control. Delivered in a decadent leather case for 9,999 yuan ($1,600), it is twice the price of Apple's most expensive iPad 2.

The eye-popping price has China's microblogs alight with chatter over just why this device is so expensive and who is footing the bill.

"Is it the god of toys? Why don't they throw in a free iPad with it," said Looperrr on Weibo, Sina Corp's, microblogging platform.

RedPad Number One spokesman Liu Xianri said in an interview with the Southern Daily on Wednesday that sales of the tablet were completely market driven.

"We are looking to compete against the foreign brands," Liu said in response to a question on whether public funds may be used to buy the RedPad.

RedPad's price was high, Liu said, because of the number of pre-installed apps that cater to bureaucrats and state-owned company managers.

For example, it has apps that allow users to check the validity of a journalist's government accreditation as well as read state-run newspapers and microblogs.

But an online survey on Thursday showed that more than 2,000 netizens believed that the RedPad was meant to be a symbol of privilege, while another 1,500 thought its purpose is to fleece taxpayers.

"After reading all the articles about this, I am impressed," said microblogger Xixizhiniu. "What an honor it is for you, the taxpayer, that you place a 9,999 yuan into the hands of the leaders!"

(http://www.91wenwen.net/vote/result/966)

(Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao in BEIJING; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wr_nm/us_china_redpad

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Friday, January 20, 2012

US Navy rescues Iranian fishermen, again

- / AFP - Getty Images

Sailors from guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey's provide food, water and medical supplies to distressed Iranian mariners on Wednesday.

By Courtney Kube, NBC News

The U.S. Navy is either following around Iranian boats waiting until they issue?distress calls, or they were once again in the right place at the right time for several needy fishermen.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey came to the rescue of a sinking Iranian fishing dhow in the Arabian Sea early Wednesday morning.

An MH-60R Seahawk helicopter spotted the sinking dhow at 7:53 a.m. All but one of the crew members had already climbed on to two other dhows nearby.

The USS Dewey hurried to the boat?-- named the Al Mamsoor -- where a U.S. boarding team gave the Iranian fishermen water, food, and both medical and hygienic supplies. In all, the U.S. gave them about 150 pounds of supplies.

The dhow had been flooding for several days before the fishermen finally abandoned their ship.

Last Thursday, U.S. naval forces in the northern Arabian Sea rescued 13 Iranian fisherman who were held hostages by pirates for more than a month, sending them home with food and fuel and wearing baseball caps bearing the name of the U.S. warship that freed them.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10185421-us-navy-rescues-iranian-fishermen-again

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Study pinpoints and plugs mechanism of AML cancer cell escape ...

Chemotherapy pushes AML cancer cells toward a corner -- the protein WEE1 helps them brake to stay on track. Take away WEE1 and AML cells hit the wall. (Photo courtesy of Flickr user ShinyThings, cc license.)

A study published this week in the journal Leukemia identifies a mechanism that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells use to evade chemotherapy ? and details how to close this escape route.

?Introducing chemotherapy to cells is like putting a curve in front of a speeding car,? says Christopher Porter, MD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. ?Cells that can put on the brakes make it around the corner and cells that can?t speed off the track.?

Porter and colleagues collaborated with James DeGregori, PhD, CU Cancer Center investigator and professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the CU School of Medicine to define a molecular braking process that AML cells use to survive the curves of chemotherapy. They also showed that when this molecular brake is removed, AML cells (but not their healthy neighbors) die on the corners.

The discovery of this escape route and how to plug it provides hope for survival for a greater proportion of the estimated 12,950 people diagnosed with AML every year in the United States.

The group?s findings rely on the relatively new technique of functional genomic screening of AML cells, accomplished by the CU Cancer Center Functional Genomics Shared Resource at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Using techniques they developed, the group turned off a different gene in each of a population of AML cells all at once. Then? they hit all cells with chemotherapy traditionally used for AML. The goal: to see which genes, when turned off, would make the cells especially susceptible to chemo.

Chris Porter, MD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine

In this study, which generated over 30 million data points, cells that lacked a gene to make something called WEE1 died in disproportionate numbers. When you turn off WEE1, cancer cells die.

?WEE1 is the brakes,? Porter says. ?With chemotherapy we introduce DNA damage in cancer cells ? we push them toward the curve hopefully at a greater rate than healthy cells. If WEE1 is there, cancer cells can round the curve. Without it, they flip.?

Hidden in Porter?s words is an element that makes this an especially exciting finding: AML cells may be more dependent than are healthy cells on WEE1. And so when you inhibit WEE1, you strip the brakes from cancer cells but not their healthy neighbors, killing AML cells but leaving healthy cells able to corner on rails.

?I?m optimistic that this will eventually lead to a therapeutic regimen that allows us to target AML cells that have escaped conventional therapies,? Porter says.

Porter calls the team?s initial results combining a drug that inhibits WEE1 with chemotherapy in mouse models of AML, ?extremely promising.?

?In light of these data, we are already early in the clinical trial planning process,? Porter says.

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This work was supported by the Colorado Golfers Against Cancer and the AMC Cancer Fund, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the National Cancer Institute through the University of Colorado Cancer Center (3P30CA046934-22S).

Source: http://www.coloradocancerblogs.org/news/study-pinpoints-and-plugs-mechanism-of-aml-cancer-cell-escape

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

US promotes democracy with suddenly important Togo (AP)

LOME, Togo ? After venturing to reclusive Myanmar, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed democratic reforms Tuesday in another place long dominated by dictators, becoming the first American in her post to ever visit the African nation of Togo.

Greeted by performers on stilts and sword-wielding ceremonial soldiers in red capes, Clinton visited Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe in his presidential palace, a Chinese-built construction of marble floors and sparkling Christmas-like lights strung from the ceiling. Paintings sat against the walls, the unfinished work of a hasty decoration.

The decadence on display, just beyond the destitute streets of Togo's capital, Lome, in some ways evoked the worst of post-colonial Africa and its rulers' all-too-common penchant for ceremonies and ornamentation while their people languish in poverty. Yet after six decades of dictatorship, Togo is showing signs of progress ? much like Myanmar, or Burma, before Clinton's trip last year ? and the Obama administration wanted to take a chance.

"Togo's national elections later this year will be an important milestone," Clinton said. "The United States will be a partner to the government of Togo as it builds on its recent democratic gains, brings dissenting voices to the table for an inclusive dialogue, increases the political participation of women, and carries out a successful constitutional reform process."

The choice of Togo isn't solely about goodwill. The West African country of 6.8 million people, tucked between Benin and Ghana, is as of two weeks ago a U.N. Security Council member. That means it may vote alongside the world's biggest powers on resolutions that could cover anything from a future Palestinian state to sanctions against Syria.

Clinton and Gnassingbe agreed to cooperate on both issues, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private. Gnassingbe backed U.S. support for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks and opposition to a premature Palestinian declaration of statehood, the official said.

Clinton visited Togo on the penultimate stop of a four-country Africa swing aimed at encouraging governments to continue with democratic and economic reforms.

She led a U.S. delegation Monday to the inauguration of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female head of state. She then traveled to Ivory Coast to meet the democratically elected President Alassane Ouattara, who took office last year after his forces finally ousted predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to cede power. She will stop in Cape Verde before returning to Washington early Wednesday.

The trip to Togo was the most unexpected. Whereas Washington has championed the ascents of Sirleaf and Ouattara, respected economists with resumes that include the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the U.S. has largely ignored Togo since it gained independence from France 62 years ago.

Details of Clinton's meeting with Gnassingbe showed an attempt to U.S. interests with a new partner, along with encouragement for democracy work in Togo that still has a long way to go.

Washington is optimistic about Gnassingbe despite his history as the military-pronounced successor of his father, a dictator who crushed opponents for almost four decades. He won a flawed election seven years ago and was re-elected in 2010 in a vote that edged closer toward constituting a free and fair multiparty contest.

Despite Gnassingbe's questionable past, Johnnie Carson, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, described the Togolese leader as one "determined to put in place a strong reform-minded government ? one that is democratic, multiparty and which opens up the country." He called the meeting an opportunity for Clinton to encourage Gnassingbe "along a reformist path, to continue to promote political reconciliation in his country and to speed on economic reforms."

The country also boasts the largest single private American investment in West Africa in over a decade: a new 100-megawatt power plant built in Lome by New York City-based Contour Global at a cost of over $200 million. Seated beside Gnassingbe, Clinton said President Barack Obama "believes as I believe that West Africa has great potential."

The message is akin to one Clinton took with her to Myanmar in November, becoming the first secretary of state to visit the Asian country in five decades. The military-led government, long among the world's most repressive and brutal, has since carried on with reforms and the release of hundreds more political prisoners. A national dialogue involving once-jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has gained momentum.

In Abidjan, Ivory Coast's biggest city, Clinton praised Ouattara's government for seeking accountability for crimes committed during the fighting that took place after the country's disputed 2010 election.

Rights groups say Ouattara hasn't done enough to prosecute members of his armed forces linked to massacres, even if he has launched an investigation and promised justice. But Clinton said the government was taking positive steps to meet the Ivorians' "need to see that the rule of law is working and that there is impartial justice."

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have provided detailed documentation of alleged abuse by troops loyal to Ouattara. Gbagbo is being prosecuted at The Hague, and his senior officials are being pursued. But to date not a single official in Ouattara's military has been implicated despite accusations of setting villages afire, gang-raping women and executing the infirm and elderly.

"I am inspired by how quickly not only the government but the people have moved from the violence of last spring," Clinton said, praising economic recovery efforts after the war closed Abidjan's port, cut off cocoa exports and led bank accounts to be blocked.

Ivory Coast was once one of Africa's most prosperous nations, and Clinton said she recognized a "commitment that is in the air to build a better future."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_re_af/af_clinton_africa

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Joe Johnson leads Hawks to 4th straight win (AP)

ATLANTA ? Joe Johnson bounced back from a sluggish start to score 24 points and came up with a key defensive play down the stretch, leading the Atlanta Hawks to their fourth straight victory since losing All-Star center Al Horford, 92-89 over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

The Hawks, taking over first place in the Southeast Division from Orlando, closed the third period on a 14-0 run, but the Trail Blazers responded with a 13-0 spurt starting the fourth to tie the game. It was tight the rest of the way.

Atlanta was up 84-80 when a wild sequence went the home team's way. Jamal Crawford missed on a drive, but Wesley Matthews picked off an outlet pass to apparently give the Blazers another chance. Not so fast. Johnson hustled up behind Matthews to steal it back, then lobbed to Jeff Teague for a dunk with 1:25 remaining.

Crawford, who led the Blazers with 22 points in his return to Atlanta, hit a last-gasp 3-pointer but the Hawks held on.

Atlanta hasn't folded since Horford went down last week with a torn pectoral muscle, which will keep him out for most, if not the rest, of the regular season. He underwent surgery Tuesday and managed to get off a tweet congratulating his teammates: "What's good! Another solid win. Let's keep getting better. Go Hawks!"

Johnson missed his first five shots and was still scoreless with less than three minutes to go in the first half. Then, suddenly, he ripped off three straight jumpers ? including a pair of 3s ? and knocked down a couple of free throws. The 10-point outburst sparked a 12-4 spurt that pushed the Hawks to a double-digit lead.

Atlanta led 51-42 at the break.

Portland seized the momentum coming out of the locker room, surging into the lead for the first time since late in the opening quarter. Gerald Wallace made a short hook with 4:07 to play in the third, putting the Blazers up 62-61. They didn't score again in the quarter, the Hawks racing to a 75-62 lead.

But the see-saw game suddenly turned Portland's way again. Crawford led the comeback in a role that must've looked familiar to Atlanta fans who cheered him the last years when he played for the Hawks, winning the Sixth Man Award in 2010. He's filling the same role for the Blazers, but it wasn't enough to beat his old team.

At one point, Crawford glanced over to watch Hawks coach Larry Drew calling a play, trying to get a defensive edge. The Blazers guard could've used more help from his teammates. LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points, while Matthews, with 10, was the only other Portland player in double figures.

The Hawks were more balanced. Josh Smith had 17 points, plus 11 rebounds, while Teague chipped in with 13 points and Marvin Williams added 12. All five players off the Atlanta bench also made the scoresheet.

The Hawks have won six straight over the Trail Blazers, whose last win against Atlanta came on Feb. 20, 2009

NOTES: Trevor Bayne, last year's surprise winner of the Daytona 500, attended his first NBA game. Asked his expectations for the season-opening NASCAR race, about a month away, he said, "We have to win it again, right? Expectations are high. We've got to live up to them." ... The Trail Blazers went without Marcus Camby, who missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle). Coach Nate McMillan said before the game that Camby would only play in an emergency. ... Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn sat courtside at Philips Arena. The actors are in Atlanta filming the movie "Neighborhood Watch."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_trail_blazers_hawks

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Apple patents clothes that track how you wear them, tell you when it's time to update your wardrobe

There's a huge problem with working out that has yet to be solved: when, precisely, do our workout clothes become too worn to wear anymore? Apple knows we can't be wasting endless minutes looking for holes and tears in our shirts and pants, so it's just obtained a method patent to let you know when your gear is past its prime. The patent claims sensor-equipped garments that can track how you use them, report that info back to a central database and alert you when the clothing has reached "its expected useful lifetime." (Read: it's time to buy some new, undoubtedly more expensive gym clothes.) This latest bit of IP doesn't just cover clothing either, Cupertino's claiming the same method for running shoes, too. The footwear bit also provides real-time feedback that compares your current running style to an established profile to keep your workouts consistent -- useful feature, that, though we can't imagine such iShoes would make the folks in Niketown too happy. We're not sure how Apple aims to make the needed wearables equipped with embedded electronics, but we can offer you plenty of typically broad patent legalese explaining the system that'll get you buying them at the source below.

Apple patents clothes that track how you wear them, tell you when it's time to update your wardrobe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/U3IQWhi5aKE/

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Legal hit by Niners' Whitner on Saints' Thomas | The Associated ...

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner, right, is called for pass interference while defending New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham during the first quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, in San Francisco.

The helmet-to-helmet hit by San Francisco safety Donte Whitner that sent Saints running back Pierre Thomas to the locker room early in Saturday's NFC playoff game was legal.
Whitner was not penalized because the tackle was not against a defenseless player. Helmet-to-helmet hits are banned against defenseless players in eight categories, and a runner is not one of those categories. Thomas was considered a runner because he'd made a catch, turned and made a "football move" before being hit.
The eight categories were incorporated into one new rule last March, and a new rule extended the protection for a receiver who has completed a catch until he has had time to protect himself or has clearly become a runner. Thomas had become a runner.
"Even though you get a little extra protection while trying to complete the catch, you are not a defenseless player once you have made that football move," Mike Pereira, former director of officials for the NFL and now a Fox TV commentator said Sunday. "The notion is the runner has the opportunity to clearly protect himself."
The eight defenseless player categories are:
(1) A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass;
(2) A receiver attempting to catch a pass; or who has completed a catch and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a runner. If the receiver/runner is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact of an opponent, he is no longer a defenseless player;
(3) A runner already in the grasp of a tackler and whose forward progress has been stopped;
(4) A kickoff or punt returner attempting to field a kick in the air;
(5) A player on the ground at the end of a play;
(6) A kicker/punter during the kick or during the return;
(7) A quarterback at any time after a change of possession, and
(8) A player who receives a "blindside" block when the blocker is moving toward his own end zone and approaches the opponent from behind or from the side.
The competition committee that recommends rules changes could re-examine such hits in the offseason.
"The committee always closely studies and analyzes anything having to do with player safety," NFL spokesman Michael Signora said Sunday.
But making a change that involves runners with the ball would be problematic, Pereira said. He noted that it has been discussed by league executives in the past.
"When you try to protect a runner, the winner is the guy who gets the lowest," Pereira said. "With both players going down at each other, the notion to make the runner defenseless essentially can make it impossible to officiate. Who made the contact first?
"In this day and age, I would not be surprised if they look at it, but it's hard to prove the runner is defenseless or the tackler is defenseless if the runner has lowered his helmet.
"I understand why people say this: 'If you say you are concerned about concussions, why not make all helmet hits illegal? But realistically, there is no way to legislate it out of the game."

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/nfl/2012/01/legal-hit-niners-whitner-saints-thomas

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