Mexico City 'zombies' gather to challenge record (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Thousands of self-proclaimed "undead" have gathered in the historic center of Mexico's capital for a "Zombie Walk" that organizers hope sets a world record.

The announced 9,860 registered participants are dressed in rags and ghoulish makeup to look bloody and decaying.

Organizer Pablo Guisa says the fifth annual Mexico City event is meant to celebrate diversity and human rights. The participants also collected donations for a local food bank.

Cities around the world hold zombie walks, and Guinness World Records currently recognizes Asbury Park, New Jersey, as the record holder, with 4,093 participants on Oct. 30, 2010.

A group in Brisbane, Australia, has applied for the record, claiming it massed 8,000 "zombies" last month.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_zombie_walk

endometriosis 9 9 9 plan 9 9 9 plan last house on the left last house on the left hoppin john dan wheldon

Moroccans hold Arab Spring-inspired election

RABAT, Morocco?? Moroccans voted for a new parliament Friday in Arab Spring-inspired elections that are facing a boycott by democracy campaigners who say the ruling monarchy isn't committed to real change.

A moderate Islamist party and a pro-palace coalition led by the finance minister are competing for the top spot, but a key test for the authorities' legitimacy will be how many voters cast ballots.

The king amended the constitution over the summer giving the prime minister new powers, including the ability to dissolve parliament and make certain appointments, in response to pro-democracy protests. But the ultimate authority remains with the king.

The election result will be closely watched by Morocco's U.S. and other Western allies, as well as European tourists who cherish its beaches and resorts, to see how this North African kingdom navigates its own Arab Spring.

In the affluent Agdal neighborhood of Rabat, a steady stream of professionals lined up early in the morning at a polling station to vote before work.

"I've always voted, but this time it is more important," said Dr. Mohammed Ennabli. "Before it was the king who chose, now it is the people who choose."

Many people, however, scorned a process they say has been going on for decades without any tangible effect on their lives.

"I won't vote, the promises are never kept ? with or without the new constitution, it is the same," said Abdallah Cherachaoui, an unemployed 45 year old in the lower income district of Akkari. "They are laughing at us."

In the working class city of Sale, across the river from the capital Rabat, there was a steady trickle of voters to the school acting as a polling station, but some stayed outside.

"I voted in 2007 because the candidate was a member of my family, but he also disappointed me and as soon as the elections were over, I never saw him again, so I'm not making that mistake again," said Brahim Errami, 25, from his seat in a nearby cafe. "I pity the people going in and out of that school."

Morocco's reputation as a stable kingdom in North Africa has taken a hit with this year's protests over government corruption and heavy handed security forces. And its once-steady economy is creaking from the amount of money the government has pumped into raising salaries and subsidies to keep people calm amid the Arab world turmoil.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Updated 52 minutes ago 11/25/2011 4:58:40 PM +00:00 American filmmaker in Cairo tells of arrest ordeal
   2. Black Friday shoppers get bargains, less brouhaha
   3. Updated 50 minutes ago 11/25/2011 5:00:37 PM +00:00 UK town records song for war dead
   4. Laboratory pups get first taste of freedom in US
   5. Updated 84 minutes ago 11/25/2011 4:26:23 PM +00:00 Occupy movement targets Black Friday
   6. Your stories: What you're thankful for
   7. How the Finns stole Thanksgiving

The election campaign has been strangely subdued, unlike the lively politicking in nearby Tunisia when it held the first elections prompted by the Arab uprisings last month.

Morocco with its many political parties and regular elections under the tight control of an all-powerful monarch was once the bright star in a region of dictatorships.

But all that has changed with the Arab uprisings that toppled dictators in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Now a political system that holds elections but leaves all powers in the hands of a hereditary king does not look so liberal.

Some 31 political parties are fielding 5,392 candidates to compete for 395 seats in parliament, including 60 set aside for women and 30 for "youth," under 40.

A complex proportional system of representation means no party is likely to take more than 20 percent of the seats.

Under the new constitution, the king asks the party with the most seats to form the government, which could well be the Islamist Justice and Development party, known by its French initials PJD. But there's uncertainty over whether it can truly change anything in the face of the palace's power.

The Islamists' biggest rival for the top spot is Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar's Rally of Independents, which leads an alliance of seven other pro-palace parties.

"This is a very important election for the Moroccan people and it confirms the choice made for an open process of democratization that is being consolidated by this election," he told The Associated Press after voting. "This is really a moment of great emotion."

Like elsewhere in the Arab world, Moroccans hit the streets in the first half of 2011 calling for more democracy, and King Mohammed VI responded by amending the constitution and bringing forward elections.

But since then the sense of change has dissipated, and while the king remains a respected figure, few have much confidence in parliament or the politicians in it.

"I voted because we need to elect a new parliament, but I voted blank for the simple reason that there is no one I can trust from the people that are being elected," said Chamseddin Baba, the manager of an IT company who voted in the wealthy suburb of Souissi. "I would like to vote for the best, but the best are not there."

The 2007 elections, the first with widespread international observation, had just 37 percent turnout, and some fear it could be even lower this time around.

Now, however, the number of registered voters has dropped from 15 million to 13.5 million, despite population increases, so turnout will almost certainly be higher.

There will be 3,200 election observers, though they will likely only cover a fraction of the 40,000 polling stations scattered across the country.

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

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45432955/ns/world_news-africa/

uekman music awards music awards giants eagles bcs rankings week 13 bcs rankings week 13 philadelphia marathon

Taiwan leader calls for artistic freedom in China (AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan ? Taiwan's president urged China on Friday to respect the artistic freedom of outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was detained for nearly three months earlier this year and is currently confined to Beijing.

"He's an artist and should have the freedom to express his artistic views," President Ma Ying-jeou said after viewing Ai's exhibition at a Taipei museum. "This is also the core value of Taiwan."

Ma said he deplored that Chinese police detained Ai at the Beijing airport on April 3 as the conceptual artist was about to depart for Taiwan to prepare for the exhibit.

The detention came during a sweeping Chinese crackdown on activists and sparked an international outcry over China's deteriorating human rights situation. Ai was released in June but is prohibited from leaving Beijing.

China's government says Ai was detained on tax evasion charges. However, activists say he is being punished for his often outspoken criticism of the authoritarian government.

The exhibit at Taipei's Fine Arts Museum, titled "Ai Weiwei, Absent," focuses on the political significance of the artist's inability to attend.

The exhibit of 21 works, which opened last month and runs through late January, includes a white marble-made helmet and a surveillance camera, which Ai created to mock China as a police state. Another piece consists of 1,000 bicycles piled in layers, reflecting his perception of the rapid pace of Chinese social change.

The exhibit in Taiwan has a political significance of its own. Unlike the communist mainland, the island of 23 million people is a freewheeling democracy with few restrictions on expression.

"The distance between Taiwan and China will be determined by their views on human rights protection," Ma said. "When our views get closer, the two sides will move closer."

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but China still claims the self-ruled island a part of its own territory. Since Ma took office in 2008, tensions between the two sides have dropped to their lowest point in decades.

Ma has pushed for economic engagement with Beijing, but refuses to have political dialogue.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_as/as_taiwan_ai_weiwei

lacuna lacuna paranormal activity 3 trailer paranormal activity 3 trailer oomph oomph cmj

Data of 13 million South Korean online game subscribers hacked (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? South Korea's communications regulator said on Saturday that personal information of more than 13 million subscribers of a popular online game of Nexon Korea Corp, a leading game developer in the country, had been leaked in a hacking attack.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said in a statement Nexon reported to the commission late Friday afternoon that the company on Thursday discovered the leakage of personal data of its online game Maple Story's 13.2 million subscribers.

The information was leaked weeks before the unlisted company's planned initial public offering of its Japanese affiliate on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 14. Nexon aims to raise more than 95 billion yen ($1.2 billion) through the IPO, which would be the largest on the Tokyo bourse this year.

KCC said it, jointly with police and computer security experts, is investigating the hacking case. The leaked data included user IDs, names, resident registration numbers and passwords, it added.

A Nexon official said the leaked data neither covered no information on financial transactions and bank account numbers. And it did not affect overseas subscribers of the online game.

The company has asked game subscribers to change passwords to prevent additional damage, although the leaked resident registration numbers and passwords were encrypted. The entire subscription membership of Maple Story is about 18 million, the company official said.

Nexon, which has gained a global reputation through Maple Story and online game Kart Rider, is one of the two leading online game developers in South Korea, along with NCsoft Corp.

The incident is the largest such security breach case since late July when information of up to 35 million users of an Internet portal and blogging site operated by SK Comms was attacked by hackers from China, exposing the vulnerabilities of networks in the world's most wired country.

Accusations against China over hacking incidents have mounted this year, with allegations it intruded into the networks of Lockheed Martin and other U.S. military contractors and tried to gain access to the Google email accounts of U.S. officials and Chinese human rights advocates.

South Korea has drawn up a cyber security master plan after a wave of hacking attacks against global agencies, companies and its own financial firms.

In April, government-funded Nonghyup, a large commercial bank, suffered a massive network failure that affected millions of users. Seoul prosecutors at the time said North Korean hackers were responsible for the attack.

In May, hackers breached the personal information of 1.8 million customers of Hyundai Capital, which is owned by Hyundai Motor and GE Capital International.

(Reporting by Sung-won Shim)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/wr_nm/us_korea_hacking_nexon

nyc weather nyc weather philadelphia weather chris carpenter chris carpenter the brothers grimm the brothers grimm

RSS Feed Search Engine - Real-Time Search Powered by FeedRank

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.rssmicro.com/rss.web?q=California

carrie steve wozniak steve wozniak legarrette blount pharrell pharrell kellie pickler

Bing hitches holiday hopes to Rudolph the reindeer

This Nov, 15, 2011 photo, shows Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, left, and Hermey, both figures from the animated show Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, at the Microsoft office in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

This Nov, 15, 2011 photo, shows Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, left, and Hermey, both figures from the animated show Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, at the Microsoft office in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

This Nov. 15, 2011 photo, shows at the Microsoft office in San Francisco, from left, The Abominable Snowman, aka Bumble, with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Hermey, and Yukon Cornelius, all figures from the animated show Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

This Nov. 15, 2011 photo, shows Aaron Lilly, Microsoft Senior MarCom Architect, left, and Sean Carver, Bing Director of Advertising, pose with Yukon Cornelius, from top left, Hermey, The Abominable Snowman, and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, all figures from the animated show Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, at the Microsoft office in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Like Santa Claus on that one foggy Christmas Eve, Microsoft has summoned Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to guide some precious cargo ? a holiday marketing campaign for its Bing search engine.

The advertisements, debuting online and on TV this week, star Rudolph and other characters from the animated story about the most famous reindeer of all. The campaign is part of Microsoft's attempt to trip up Google Inc., an Internet search rival as imposing as the Abominable Snowman was before Yukon Cornelius tamed the monster.

Google has been countering with its own emotional ads throughout the year. Most of Google's ads show snippets of its dominant search engine and other products at work before swirling into the logo of the company's Chrome Web browser.

The dueling ads underscore the lucrative nature of search engines. Although visitors pay nothing to use them, search engines generate billions of dollars a year in revenue from ads posted alongside the search results.

The holiday season is a particularly opportune time for search companies because that's when people do more searches ? to find gifts online, look for party supplies and plan nights out on the town. That means more people to show ads to. Advertisers also tend to be willing to pay more per ad because they know people are in a buying mode.

To capture that audience, Microsoft and Google are both thinking outside the search box to promote their brands.

Although the text ads running alongside search results do a fine job of reeling in some customers, they still lack the broader, more visceral impact of a well-done television commercial, said Peter Daboll, chief executive of Ace Metrix, a firm that rates the effectiveness of ads.

"It's instructive that these companies who are all about the Internet and doing things in real time are actually doing these emotive ads on TV," Daboll said.

Search engines are particularly difficult to sell because the sophisticated technology required to make them work isn't something "you can touch or feel in a store, so you need to bring some emotion to it," said Sean Carver, Bing's advertising director. "The storytelling is important."

Microsoft Corp. licensed the rights to the characters from Rudolph's 47-year-old holiday special after convincing their owners that the Bing commercials would add an endearing chapter to the reindeer's story. The rights to Rudolph and the rest of the cast are owned by the children of Robert L. May, who wrote the story in 1939 while working as a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store (May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, later wrote the famous song).

Microsoft is far more experienced at marketing than Google.

For one thing, it's 23 years older than Google, which was founded in 1998.

More important, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were so contemptuous of traditional marketing campaigns that the company never bothered to advertise its search engine on national TV until the 2010 Super Bowl. Spending millions to be a part of TV's annual advertising extravaganza was so out of character that Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO at the time, heralded the Super Bowl ad with a post on Twitter that concluded "hell has indeed frozen over."

Since that breakthrough, Google has caught the advertising bug. Without breaking down its total ad budget, Google disclosed that it has spent $583 million more on television and other advertising during the first nine months of this year than it did at the same time last year.

The investment has won Google some respect in the advertising industry.

Google took five of the 10 top spots for most effective national TV ads that promote websites, based on Ace Metrix's study of viewer reactions to the commercials. Topping the list is an ad showing how a father used Google services such as Gmail to create an electronic journal of his daughter Sophie's life.

Three Bing ads also ranked in the 10 most effective, but it also had two ads on the least effective list.

"There doesn't seem to be a very coherent creative pattern to the Bing ads," Daboll said. "It's kind of hit and miss."

There's no mistaking the common theme in the four Rudolph ads produced for the Bing promotion. The ads are all done in the same stop-motion puppet animation used in the original 1964 TV special. One features Bumble the Abominable Snowman using Bing to get ideas for a more fearsome roar. Another shows some of the characters turning to Bing for suggestions on a vacation that leads to a getaway on an island of misfit toys.

Microsoft has bought seven slots on national TV to run those four 30-second ads. The company is going for high impact rather than high frequency and is placing those ads during holiday-themed specials, starting with "The Simpsons" on the Fox network on Thanksgiving night and ending on Dec. 21 during "South Park" on the Comedy Channel. Microsoft isn't buying time during the Rudolph special, though, which CBS is broadcasting next Tuesday and Dec. 10.

The ads also will be shown in more than 200 movie theaters before holiday films and will be available online beginning Wednesday.

Microsoft declined to say how much it's spending on the Rudolph campaign.

Aaron Lilly, a Microsoft executive who helps conceive Bing's promotions, came up with the idea to build holiday ads around the Rudolph story two years ago. It didn't happen then because the Aflac insurance company had already bought licensing rights to the characters for that holiday season.

The ads will be a success for Microsoft if they help the company gain more ground and cut its losses in Internet search, an area that remains weak for Microsoft even after years of investing in better technology.

While the Xbox video game console and familiar software such as Windows and Office provide most of Microsoft's earnings, Bing remains a financial drain. The online division anchored by Bing has suffered operating losses totaling $7 billion since June 2008, when Microsoft introduced the latest overhaul of its search engine.

Google's share of the Internet search market has increased since Bing's debut, according to the research firm comScore. Google now processes about two out of three search requests in the U.S. and rakes in an even larger share of the revenue that rolls when people click on ads next to search results.

Bing's market share has climbed from about 9 percent in June 2008 to roughly 15 percent in October, but most of those gains have come at the expense of Yahoo Inc., which hired Microsoft to run most of its search technology two years ago.

For Google, the ads are aimed at not only maintaining its dominance in search but also driving adoption of other Google products, including its Chrome browser. Google says Chrome now has 200 million users worldwide, up from about 120 million at the end of last year. Despite those gains, Chrome still trails Microsoft's Internet Explorer and the Mozilla's Firefox.

But Chrome has been able to narrow the gap separating it from Internet Explorer more than Bing has been able to do in its pursuit of Google in search. Bing is still hoping to emulate Rudolph, a one-time laughingstock who overcame the skeptics to leap of the front of the pack.

___

Online:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/bing-originals-bumble-less/1vqjkdrpj

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-11-23-Advertising%20Search%20Engines/id-e90813995d014a40b3cf1d8e204660ea

thomas kinkade the shining stanford stanford when does daylight savings time end world series mvp rocky horror picture show

VTech Kidizoom Camera

The VTech Kidizoom Camera ($39.99 list) is a 1.3-megapixel point and shoot camera designed for small children. Its orange exterior is ruggedized to take the occasional drop from the tabletop to the floor, and while it looks like a toy, it will take decent if unspectacular pictures. It has plenty of fun sound effects, a few games, and enough on board storage to hold 1,000 pictures. While I think more kids will want to use a hand me down phone as a camera these days, the Kidizoom is a good introduction to using a "real" camera.

The Kidizoom looks like its predecessor from a few years ago, also named Kidizoom. It's got a rugged camera body with two large molded handgrips on the sides, and two viewfinder ports so a child can frame her picture with both eyes instead of using one. Both features make it easier for the child who is using a camera for the first time. The exterior is covered with grippy plastic, and it's well made, flexible plastic that's likely to shrug off the occasional drop to a concrete floor. The shutter button is right where you'd expect it, and the fixed focus lens means there's no focus lag to worry about. The new version of the Kidizoom has dedicated zoom in/out buttons on the right handgrip, which necessitates using the LCD viewfinder instead of the optical ones. The camera has a 4x digital zoom, standard for a camera in this price range.

The camera has a 1.3-Megapixel sensor, which is decent for quick snapshots, though a hand-me-down phonecam may have more pixels in its sensor. The pictures came out fine, with similar quality to phonecam snapshots. The Kidizoom's small LCD display was bright, but it could've been a little larger (there's a lot of blank plastic on the back of the camera). My four-year-old son didn't complain too much though, it's sufficient for the task at hand as well as for playing the three built in games. The LCD is also handy for framing the pre-loaded templates and filters that add a little whimsy to the digital pics.

The camera uses two AA batteries, and you'll want to replace them as soon as you open the packaging. Vtech's description on the side of the box state that the included (carbon zinc) batteries are meant for in-store demos rather than full time use. The camera's non-alkaline batteries soon discharge during normal use. For best results, seek out and install lithium powered AA batteries. The camera can also use rechargeable NiMH AA batteries.

More Toy Reviews:
??? More Black Friday, Holiday Shoppers Finding Deals Online
??? The Hottest Tech Toys for Kids
??? Light Strike Assault Striker D.C.R-012
??? VTech Kidizoom Camera
??? LeapFrog Tag Reading System
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Q95w9AuCqP0/0,2817,2396774,00.asp

gary johnson jim thorpe pa jim thorpe pa terry francona ios 5 release date ios 5 release date ios 5 update

Khmer Rouge trial opens in Cambodia amid claims of interference (video)

Critics say political interference and judicial misconduct are tarnishing the UN-backed Khmer Rouge trial, seen as key to justice more than 30 years after the brutal regime was ousted.

A UN-backed war-crimes tribunal in Cambodia today began historic proceedings in its second case against three surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge accused of orchestrating Cambodia?s killing fields in the late 1970s.

Skip to next paragraph

Hundreds of students, regime survivors, and saffron-robed monks packed a courtroom in the capital to hear prosecutors outline a litany of accusations against the elderly defendants, who face charges including war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

But more than 30 years after the brutal communist movement was ousted from power, the trial ? once seen as a key step on the road to justice and reconciliation ? threatens to be overshadowed by claims of political interference and judicial misconduct.

On trial are Nuon Chea, the regime?s chief ideologue, former foreign minister Ieng Sary, and head of state Khieu Samphan, all octogenarians. Beginning with the forcible evacuation of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, the trio are accused of presiding over an agrarian revolution that turned Cambodia into an open air prison from 1975-79 and led to the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from execution, starvation, and overwork.

?These crimes, ordered and orchestrated by the accused, are among the worst horrors inflicted upon any nation in modern history,? co-prosecutor Chea Leang told the court.

A fourth defendant, however, was notably absent from today?s hearing. Judges ruled last week that Ieng Thirith, the former Khmer Rouge minister of social affairs, was unfit to stand trial, recommending that she be released. Court-appointed medical experts testified last month that the sister-in-law of the regime?s supreme leader, Pol Pot, and the most powerful woman in the Khmer Rouge government would be unable to follow the trial proceedings.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/o3NiyTlp0Z4/Khmer-Rouge-trial-opens-in-Cambodia-amid-claims-of-interference-video

chelsea clinton kat von d tiki barber minnesota vikings packers vs vikings packers vs vikings randall cobb

Friends Say Christina Aguilera "Loves Her Curves"

Looks like Miley and Demi aren't the only ones sick of people criticizing their bodies. Friends of Christina Aguilera say she is tired of hearing about her weight gain and is happy to rock her curves.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/christina-aguilera-amas-loves-her-curves/1-a-404854?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Achristina-aguilera-amas-loves-her-curves-404854

al davis edmund fitzgerald vincent brown vincent brown willow smith tom bradley tom bradley

Robin Gibb -- Report: Diagnosed with Liver Cancer | TMZ.com

Robin Gibb Report: Diagnosed with Liver Cancer

Robin Gibb, legendary singer/songwriter of the Bee Gees, has been diagnosed with liver cancer ... this according to several UK reports.?

Gibb was reportedly diagnosed a few months back and rushed to the hospital earlier this week. He was hospitalized back in October for what was he thought was simply stomach pains.??

Andy Gibb died in 1988.? Maurice passed in 2003.

A rep for Gibb could not be reached for comment.?

Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/11/20/robin-gibb-cancer/

alcohol poisoning mark ingram mark ingram between two ferns howard stern howard stern joe the plumber

Best and Worst-Dressed at the American Music Awards!

See who looked fabulous (Taylor Swift!) and who fell flat (Nicki Minaj!) at the star-studded event

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/best-and-worst-dressed-american-music-awards/1-b-404496?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Abest-and-worst-dressed-american-music-awards-404496

arizona diamondbacks arizona diamondbacks alex rodriguez alicia witt alicia witt nobel peace prize verizon wireless

Stafford-led Lions rally to beat Panthers 49-35 (AP)

DETROIT ? The Comeback Cats have done it again. Matthew Stafford threw five touchdown passes, the final one a 7-yarder to Brandon Pettigrew with 2:32 left, and the Detroit Lions rallied for a 49-35 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Lions (7-3) became the first NFL team since at least 1950 to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points, according to STATS, LLC. The Panthers (2-8) led 24-7 in the second quarter before Stafford got the Lions going

After Detroit went ahead 35-27 with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, Carolina tied it 35-all with 4:59 left on quarterback Cam Newton's 6-yard run and 2-point conversion pass to Steve Smith.

Stafford started the game-winning drive with a 30-yard completion to Calvin Johnson and capped it with his scoring pass to Pettigrew in the end zone.

The Lions sealed the win when Newton threw an interception on the Panthers' first play after the kickoff. The No. 1 pick in the NFL draft this year threw a season-high four interceptions.

Newton was 22 of 38 for 280 yards with a TD pass and also ran for two scores.

Stafford, selected No. 1 overall in the 2009 draft, bounced back from throwing two interceptions in the first quarter and finished 28 of 36 for 335 yards. His five TD passes matched his career best.

Kevin Smith gave a surprising boost on the ground, running for a career-high 140 yards and scoring a career-best three touchdowns two weeks after he was sitting on a couch without a job.

When Detroit looked like it was trying to set up a field goal to take a 10-point lead, Smith took a handoff and scored on a 19-yard run with two minutes left to finish off the Lions' 35-point second half.

The Panthers were determined to make someone other than Johnson ? with 11 TD catches coming in ? beat them. Once Stafford figured that out, he flourished. He connected with five different targets ? none named Johnson ? for scores and settled for short passes instead of long ones.

The Lions turned the ball over on their first three drives, then pulled within three points when Smith ran for 43 yards and turned a screen pass into a 28-yard TD on back-to-back plays in the second quarter.

Detroit quickly lost the momentum when Panthers rookie Kealoha Pilares returned the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a score to put Carolina ahead 17-7 early in the second quarter.

The Lions overcame eight penalties and their early turnover to produce their third big comeback of the year. They trailed Minnesota and Dallas by 20-plus points on the road early in the season and won each time during their 5-0 start.

Detroit had lost two straight at home and three of four overall and appeared to be headed toward another setback until Stafford started clicking and its defense began slowing down the Panthers.

Carolina is winless on the road this season.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_panthers_lions

conjoined twins justin bieber paternity justin bieber paternity denver news kym johnson how old is justin bieber how old is justin bieber

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3

The Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 ($149.99 list) is?a motherboard intended for use with Intel's second-generation Core (aka "Sandy Bridge") processors using the LGA1155 socket.

It is equipped with the Z68 Express chipset, the most advanced and feature-rich of any in Intel's Sandy Bridge line.?Features of Z68 Express?include support for Intel's Smart Response Technology (SRT), which allows automatic caching of frequently used data on a solid-state drive (SSD)?to improve access times. An mSATA port located on the motherboard lets you add a small SSD to the motherboard to make use of this feature, without requiring you to install a larger one elsewhere in your system.

(Note:?The GA-Z68XP-UD3 does not come with an?SSD you can use?to take advantage of SRT.?The Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 is an otherwise identical board that also comes with an mSATA SSD loaded with 20GB of SLC flash memory specifically for this purpose.)

Design and Features
Though Gigabyte has departed from its traditional blue-and-white color scheme in many of its recent motherboard models, the GA-Z68XP-UD3 uses it. It also conforms to the ATX form factor, and measures 9 by 12 inches (HW). In addition to a 24-pin connection to your power supply, it also requires an eight-pin 12V connection.

Expansion slots on the GA-Z68XP-US3 include one PCI Express?(PCIe) x16, one PCIe x18, three PCIe x1, and two PCI. (Unlike?some Sandy Bridge motherboards that utilize other Intel chipsets, the GA-Z68XP-UD3 has no support for integrated video.)?There are four 6Gbps SATA ports and four 3Gbps SATA ports for connecting hard drives or optical drives.

The GA-Z68XP-UD3's?rear-panel ports including one legacy PS/2 port (for keyboard and mouse), HDMI, eight USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, one FireWire, one S/PDIF out, and eight-channel analog audio. Additional onboard headers give you the option of connecting as many as two additional USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and one FireWire port.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/AtntniK04Tw/0,2817,2396619,00.asp

houshmandzadeh houshmandzadeh bieber baby justin beiber dia de los muertos dia de los muertos david arquette

Ozone from rock fracture could serve as earthquake early warning

Friday, November 18, 2011

Researchers the world over are seeking reliable ways to predict earthquakes, focusing on identifying seismic precursors that, if detected early enough, could serve as early warnings.

New research, published this week in the journal Applied Physics Letters, suggests that ozone gas emitted from fracturing rocks could serve as an indicator of impending earthquakes. Ozone is a natural gas, a byproduct of electrical discharges into the air from several sources, such as from lightning, or, according to the new research, from rocks breaking under pressure.

Scientists in the lab of Ra?l A. Baragiola, a professor of engineering physics in the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science set up experiments to measure ozone produced by crushing or drilling into different igneous and metamorphic rocks, including granite, basalt, gneiss, rhyolite and quartz. Different rocks produced different amounts of ozone, with rhyolite producing the strongest ozone emission.

Some time prior to an earthquake, pressures begin to build in underground faults. These pressures fracture rocks, and presumably, would produce detectable ozone.

To distinguish whether the ozone was coming from the rocks or from reactions in the atmosphere, the researchers conducted experiments in pure oxygen, nitrogen, helium and carbon dioxide. They found that ozone was produced by fracturing rocks only in conditions containing oxygen atoms, such as air, carbon dioxide and pure oxygen molecules, indicating that it came from reactions in the gas. This suggests that rock fractures may be detectable by measuring ozone.

Baragiola began the study by wondering if animals, which seem ? at least anecdotally ? to be capable of anticipating earthquakes, may be sensitive to changing levels of ozone, and therefore able to react in advance to an earthquake. It occurred to him that if fracturing rocks create ozone, then ozone detectors might be used as warning devices in the same way that animal behavioral changes might be indicators of seismic activity.

He said the research has several implications.

"If future research shows a positive correlation between ground-level ozone near geological faults and earthquakes, an array of interconnected ozone detectors could monitor anomalous patterns when rock fracture induces the release of ozone from underground and surface cracks," he said.

"Such an array, located away from areas with high levels of ground ozone, could be useful for giving early warning to earthquakes."

He added that detection of an increase of ground ozone might also be useful in anticipating disasters in tunnel excavation, landslides and underground mines.

###

University of Virginia: http://www.virginia.edu

Thanks to University of Virginia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 48 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115335/Ozone_from_rock_fracture_could_serve_as_earthquake_early_warning

bernard madoff dallas cowboys ct news hemlock hemlock mark rothko mark rothko

New York braces as Occupy Wall Street protesters target stock exchange (The Christian Science Monitor)

It's hard to figure how the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who vow to shut down the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, will manage to achieve their aim, given the high-stakes game of cat and mouse that activists and city officials have been playing since a second clearing of the Zuccotti Park protest encampment on Tuesday.

Police have the Wall Street area under heavy security, with blockades and barriers at every turn. On Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the stock exchange would open and people would be able to go to work, ?rest assured.?

Demonstrators are prepared, anticipating that they may be arrested in droves. At Wednesday-evening training sessions, experts in nonviolent protest tactics advised the activists on everything from how to dress for jail ? in layers, as it could be very warm or very cold ? to the strategies for one-on-one confrontations with police and tear gas. Lisa Fithian, who helped organize the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, kicked things off with a series of role-playing games, according to Josh Harkinson, who describes the session on the Mother Jones website. ?People pretending to be NYSE workers, police, and members of the media offered challenges,? he writes, noting that the group practiced ways to block streets and get arrested gracefully.

RECOMMENDED: Top 5 targets of Occupy Wall Street

Ms. Fithian contrasted two ways of interacting with police ? demonstrating why the latter is preferable, he recounted. "Does somebody want to be a cop and come get me?" asked Ms. Fithian, he wrote, noting that a young woman with curly red hair chased her around the room. ?Then she demonstrated another approach: As a big guy in dreadlocks rushed her, she slowly backed up and said, 'Officer, I'm cooperating!' " Then she drove home her point. "What was demonstrated by running away? she asked. 'Guilt. We are doing something wrong.' "

Protesters in New York plan a classic sit-in, locking arms in front of the New York Stock Exchange entrance, with strict instructions not to resist arrests.

Will they stop the morning bell from ringing, or for that matter even significantly disrupt the trading day?

?Probably not,? says Cornell University's Robert Hockett, a finance law professor who has an office  around the corner from Zuccotti Park and who has joined several finance-related working groups that are part of the Occupy Wall Street coalition. Even if protesters manage to slow the flow of traders accessing the exchange floor, he says, it will matter very little. ?There are many ways for traders to conduct business,? he says, including through other exchanges or over the counter.

But, he says, this is somewhat beside the point. Even a casual tourist will encounter layers of security before being allowed to enter the exchange in carefully escorted small groups. Mr. Hockett, who recently went to the trading floor to be interviewed and is there on official business, says he had to go through the same procedures. ???It???s inconceivable [that protesters can enter the exchange building], unless they have some sort of spy,??

However, high-profile  demonstrations ? as Thursday's is certain to be ? have their own logic, Hockett adds. ?This is part of the ongoing, eminently teachable moments that have made up the Occupy Wall Street actions,? he says. By pointing the finger at the national symbol of financial activity in this country. the Occupy movement has started a dialogue about the role of finance in a highly developed country.

?I actually saw a placard being carried by one demonstrator that read, ?Credit Union Power,' ? he says. The protest "will help continue the very important dialogue about the role of financial institutions in our national economy.?

The morning blockade kicks off a day of global action, celebrating what would have been the two-month anniversary of the Wall Street tent site. Actions are being planned everywhere from Spain to Chile to Australia. In New York City, a flier calls for demonstrators to gather at 3 p.m. EST in 16 different subway stations throughout the five boroughs to "listen to a singular story from one of our hardest-hit and most inspirational neighbors." A 5 p.m. celebration will kick off at nearby Foley Square, followed by a "march to our bridges, where we will demand that we get back to work rebuilding our country's infrastructure."

Fithian put the protest in context during the training, Mr. Harkinson notes in his account. "Everything that we do is part of patterning a new world," she said. "When Perestroika happened, when the Soviet Union turned to Russia, people said, 'What did it look like?' A man went to his wall, took his painting off, turned it upside down, and put it back on the wall. He said, 'That's what it was like.' "

RECOMMENDED: Top 5 targets of Occupy Wall Street 

Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to your inbox. Sign up today.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111117/ts_csm/425914

vladimir putin rampage jackson alec baldwin alec baldwin prius c crocodile dundee crocodile dundee

Pakistani businessman says "coup" memo was dictated (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? A Pakistani-American businessman said on Friday that Pakistan's ambassador to the United States had asked him in May to appeal to the Pentagon to help the civilian government ward off a coup by Pakistan's powerful military.

Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, an American of Pakistani origin based in Zurich, said in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for assistance in getting a message from President Asif Ali Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Ijaz told Reuters on Friday he wrote a memo outlining the civilian government's fears of military intervention and sent it to the Pentagon on the instructions of Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani.

The affair highlights the fundamental tension in Pakistani politics since the nation was founded in 1947 -- competition for power between civilian politicians and military commanders.

That Zardari wants to exert greater civilian control over the powerful military is an open secret in the capital, Islamabad.

But the memo, which the Pakistan ambassador denies writing, would appear to show the civilian government trying to bring the United States in on its side in the struggle with the military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half its history.

The memo requested Mullen's intercession to stave off any coup but added that with the military on the defensive after the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid on his Pakistani hideout, there was an opportunity to bring it to heel.

Ijaz said Haqqani called him on May 9, one week after the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, to help get a message to the Americans.

"The memo's content in its entirety originated from him," Ijaz told Reuters, referring to Haqqani.

"At a certain point he started talking so fast, I opened up my computer and I started typing the basic outline of the verbal message he wanted me to transmit.

"He was originally asking me to deliver a verbal message. And when I went back to my U.S. interlocutors -- all three of them -- said they wouldn't touch this unless it was in writing."

Haqqani has denied any connection with the memo.

"I refuse to accept Mr Ijaz's claims and assertions," he said in a statement on Thursday. "I did not write or deliver the memo he describes, nor did I authorize anyone including Mr Ijaz to do so."

On Wednesday, Haqqani offered his resignation to Zardari, but it has not been accepted. He has, however, been summoned to Islamabad.

"HARD PRESSURE"

Copies of the memo have been published in Pakistan with the controversy stoked by anti-American and anti-government media speculating whether it was authorized by Zardari or if Haqqani was acting on his own. Ijaz says he doesn't know.

Haqqani has said: "Zardari doesn't even know this guy."

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the matter on Friday.

The memo's contents are likely to anger Pakistan's military, which sets foreign and security policies. In recent months, there has been sharp tension between the weak civilian government and the military leadership.

Ijaz wrote in the newspaper column that Zardari feared a military takeover following the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, which brought intense pressure on the army.

He told Reuters that Haqqani approached him in the days immediately after the raid, asking for help against what he feared was an imminent coup.

"Civilians cannot withstand much more of the hard pressure being delivered from the army to succumb to wholesale changes," the memo states according to published reports, which Ijaz confirmed matched the document he sent to Mullen.

"I don't know if Haqqani had a blanket power of attorney with Zardari, whether he ever discussed this with Zardari or whether he was acting on his own," he said.

In the memo, the military and intelligence agencies are accused of being complicit in aiding bin Laden. The military has repeatedly said it had no links to bin Laden.

Mullen has said he received the note, but his staff said he took no action.

"Neither the contents of the memo nor the proof of its existence altered or affected in any way the manner in which Adm. Mullen conducted himself in his relationship with Gen. Kayani and the Pakistani government," said Captain John Kirby, who was his spokesman when he was in office.

"He did not find it at all credible and took no note of it."

(This story is corrected to make clear in the first two paragraphs that businessman is

American of Pakistani origin, not Pakistani.)

(Additional reporting by Qasim Nauman; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Robert Birsel and Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111118/wl_nm/us_pakistan_ambassador

adrian peterson kenny chesney matt kemp derek fisher rumpelstiltskin rumpelstiltskin occupy oakland

Researchers crown new lightweight champion

Dan Little / HRL Laboratories

A new type of nickel-phosphorus lattice is so light it can sit atop a ball of dandelion fluff without disturbing it.

Alan Boyle writes

Researchers have created a new kind of metal that rates as the world's lightest material ? and just might show up in future batteries and shock absorbers.

The nickel-phosphorus "microlattice," which is described in this week's issue of the journal Science, is the stuff that gee-whiz is made of: It actually consists of 99.99 percent air. The other 0.01 percent is made up of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness of 100 nanometers. That's 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.

---

To get technical about it, the density of the material is?0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter. In comparison, the lightest sample of aerogel, the stuff that's been called "solid smoke," has a density of 1.1 mg/cc.

The microlattice is made through a process that's completely different from the "cooking" technique that gives rise to aerogel. The researchers start by setting up a matrix of polymer lattices, and then deposit thin films of nickel-phosphorus. When the polymer is etched away, tiny metal tubes are left behind in the shape of the lattice.

Aerogel is foamy stuff that makes a great insulator but chips off easily. In contrast, the highly ordered structure of the microlattice makes it strong and resilient.

"Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture," William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at California-based HRL Laboratories, explained today in a news release. "We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."

Lorenzo Valdevit, a materials scientist at the University of California at Irvine, said materials actually get stronger when the scale is reduced to the nanometer level. "Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the microlattice, and you have a unique cellular material," he said in a UC-Irvine news release.

The material is strong enough to bounce back after being compressed by 50 percent, yet light enough to sit on top of a fluffy dandelion without disturbing it, as shown in the photo above. The stuff's properties make it ideal for applications that involve soundproofing or shock absorption, and it could also lead to lighter battery electrodes. It's no wonder that the material was developed for the?Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (And yes, the developers have applied for a patent on the microlattice structure and formation process.)

Update for 10:15 p.m. ET: Valdevit provided a little more perspective on the "lightest material" claim in a follow-up phone call. "You might argue that it's a 'structure' rather than a 'material,'" he acknowledged. But the key?factor has to do with?how strong and resilient the microlattice is for its weight. That's what will determine how widely it's used.???

Science's Brandon Bryn narrates a video showing how an ultralight metallic microlattice recovers from compression. (Credit: HRL Laboratories / AAAS)

More material about materials science:

---

In addition to Carter and Valdevit, authors of "Ultralight Metallic Microlattices" include Tobias Schaedler, A.J. Jacobsen, A.E. Sorensen, J. Lian and J.R. Greer.

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or following the Cosmic Log Google+ page. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

?

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/17/8863013-scientists-create-lightweight-champ

arturo gatti arturo gatti stoma stoma money ball bill cunningham vladimir putin

Wisconsin recall: How powerful super PACs could influence the battle

The campaign to recall Wisconsin's governor began Tuesday in earnest. A major supporter of the effort is a super PAC, a political entity that allows unlimited sums of money to flow into politics.?

If hundreds of thousands of protesters camping for weeks on the front lawn of the statehouse in Madison early this year made you think the battle between union organizers and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) had reached an all-time high, think again.

Skip to next paragraph

?That was just the warm-up act, this is the real deal,? says Paul Maslin, a campaign strategist and pollster based in Madison.

?This? is the recall effort designed to remove Governor Walker from office, which officially began Tuesday and which may become a testing ground for the growing political clout of so-called ?super PACs.?

For the recall election to take place next year, more than 500,000 signatures need to be collected. Recall supporters swarmed the state capital at midnight to galvanize the nearly 9,000 volunteers recruited to gather signatures. Democrats hosted over 100 petition drive events throughout the day Tuesday, including one in front of Walker?s home in nearby Wauwatosa.

If enough signatures are gathered, it would be the third recall election in Wisconsin in a single year, the first two being of Republican state senators also targeted by union supporters.

Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, calls the proliferation of such recalls ?extraordinary? but not unexpected, given the surge in popularity of the tea party these last two years and, on the other side, a resurgence in pro-union activism geared toward protecting union power.

That resurgence was evident in the resounding rejection last week by Ohio voters of legislation passed by Gov. John Kasich (R) that weakened union bargaining rights. We Are Ohio, a coalition of labor interest groups both in and outside the state, spent nearly $30 million on the campaign to reject the legislation.

?We seem to be living in the era of selective mobilization at either end of the political spectrum,? Mr. Jacobs says.

Facilitating the mobilization is a 2010 ruling by the US Supreme Court that allows corporations and unions to spend unlimited money in support of, or against, candidates for elected office. These ?super PACs,? or political action committees, are not allowed to funnel money to candidates? campaigns, but can galvanize votes around issues, such as collective bargaining rights. Unions in Wisconsin are urging voters to recall Walker because of legislation he signed into law early this year that limited collective bargaining rights for public employees in the state.

?One of the unanticipated consequences of the US Supreme Court decision is that it shifted power to political activists who are really driving the electoral process,? Jacobs says. ?It?s really precipitated a fundamental and radical shift of money that used to go to the parties but now are going to the super PACs and the allied groups around them.?

The Walker recall is sponsored by United Wisconsin, a super PAC that is a coalition of smaller grass-roots organizations. The group currently has 40,587 Facebook supporters and describes itself as ?nonunion and nonpartisan.?

Maryland Gov. Martin O?Malley, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is also pledging the support of his organization.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/m1zsvR2h3-s/Wisconsin-recall-How-powerful-super-PACs-could-influence-the-battle

berkman new beavis and butthead game 7 anya ayoung chee big east j.r. martinez peru earthquake

Invest In Your Pet

North Americans love to spend on their beloved pets. According to the American Pets Products Association, owners spent $48.35 billion on their pets in 2010, up from $45.5 billion in 2009. It is currently projected that pet owners will spend around $50 billion in 2011. Let's take a look at some of the biggest names associated with the pet industry.

TUTORIAL: Budgeting Basics

Pet Supplies
The largest, publicly traded pet supply retail is PetSmart (Nasdaq:PETM) with around 1,150 stores and an additional 750 animal hospitals. Interestingly enough, PETM has been seeing sales growth and steady margins. The stock has been strong, currently a dollar off of its 52 week high. Fundamentally, PETM is also attractive with a forward P/E ratio of 16.74 and a current price-to-sales ratio of only 0.91. PETM is up 20.5% so far in the year.

Animal Health
Spending on doggie toys has not been slowing, so it comes as no surprise that the money going to maintain pets' health is following the trend. Therefore, investors who are interested in investing in the growth in spending on pets can also choose to look at companies that run the animal hospitals or supply the medicine administered by the veterinarians. (For related reading, see The Economics Of Pet Ownership.)

MWI Veterinary Supply (Nasdaq:MWIV) is a distributor of animal health products to veterinarians and animal hospitals. The company was able to flourish during the recession, and revenues increased by 20% in 2010 over 2009 numbers. MWIV is up 9.3% year to date.

While MWIV supplies its products to doctors, PetMed Express (Nasdaq:PETS) markets its prescription and non-prescription pet medications directly to the consumer via 1-800-PET-MEDS. PETS has been on a downward trend throughout this year. Underperforming ratings and other analyst downgrades did nothing to help this situation. PETS is down 45.8% on the year.

Hospitals and Testing
VCA Antech (Nasdaq:WOOF) operates in three divisions: animal hospitals, laboratories and medical technology. The company is trading at an attractive 12.76 forward P/E ratio, however growth could be questioned if the economy does not pick up faster. After all, an elective surgery for the family pet could be put on hold until the family's finances improve, whereas food and toys will be a constant expenditure. WOOF is down 17.2% on the year.

Neogen (Nasdaq:NEOG) is an interesting play because it is involved in food and animal safety products. The animal safety division focuses on drugs, vaccines, medical equipment and diagnostic tests that can be sold directly or through large farm supply retail chains. The most impressive fact about NEOG is its consistent revenue and earnings growth through bull and bear markets. NEOG is?down 8% year to date.

The Bottom Line
Animal-related stocks should hold up better than the overall market in the event of a new bear market and with solid growth may be positioned to join the party if stocks rally.

Use the Investopedia Stock Simulator to trade the stocks mentioned in this stock analysis, risk free!

Source: http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Invest-In-Your-Pet-MWIV-PETS-PETM-WOOF-NEOG1115.aspx

black hawk down black hawk down dennis the menace dylan ratigan dylan ratigan occupy occupy

British official: Anti-doping fight in 'dark age'

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2008 file photo, Colin Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, speaks at a news conference in Sydney, Australia. Moynihan said Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 that the global fight against doping is entering a "dark age" because of a failure to keep deliberate drug cheats out of the games. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2008 file photo, Colin Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, speaks at a news conference in Sydney, Australia. Moynihan said Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 that the global fight against doping is entering a "dark age" because of a failure to keep deliberate drug cheats out of the games. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

LONDON (AP) ? The head of Britain's Olympic committee wants an independent review of the World Anti-Doping Agency, accusing the global body of failing to catch the worst offenders and dragging the fight against drug cheats into a "dark age."

"Never have the sanctions against the hard-line cheats been so weak since the end of the Cold War," British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan said Tuesday in a speech to international sports federation leaders.

Moynihan said only 59 of the world's 204 national Olympic committees are in compliance with WADA's anti-doping code, and that law-enforcement agencies ? not WADA ? were responsible for breaking up the major doping rings and prosecuting cases such as the BALCO scandal.

It was one of the harshest public attacks ever launched by a senior Olympic official against WADA, which was formed 10 years ago to unify anti-doping rules, sanctions and policies.

"It is understandable that many in sport have concluded that (WADA) has underachieved in the 10 years it has been operational," Moynihan said in Lausanne, Switzerland. "Not least because .... the system put in place by WADA has failed to catch the major drug cheats of our time.

"Marion Jones and countless others have flourished during the WADA era ? isn't that enough to prompt an independent audit of the organization tasked with policing sport?"

Moynihan's strong words reflected his determination to defend the BOA's own tough anti-doping rule that bans British doping violators from the Olympics for life. The BOA bylaw has come under pressure since the Court of Arbitration for Sport threw out an IOC rule barring athletes who have received drug bans of more than six months from competing in the next Olympics.

"The time for a fundamental review of WADA, and what it has actually achieved, is long overdue," Moynihan said. "We now have a situation where drug cheats will be able to compete in London 2012. ... Anti-doping policy is entering a dark age."

The former British sports minister, who serves in the House of Lords, questioned WADA's banned substance list, describing it as "less than adequately based on science or logic."

Moynihan criticized WADA's "inflexible penalty system," which relies on two-year bans for a first doping offense, rather than harsher four-year sanctions. The two-year penalties, he said, allow cheats to escape without missing an Olympics.

"Regrettably, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the 10 years since its creation, WADA has been unable to achieve its own, well intentioned, objectives," he said.

WADA said it had no immediate comment on Moynihan's remarks.

The IOC's "Rule 45," adopted in 2008, was deemed invalid by CAS last month on grounds that it amounts to a second punishment and is not part of the WADA code. The ruling cleared American 400-meter runner LaShawn Merritt, who completed a 21-month doping ban in July, to defend his Olympic title in London next year.

"Legal technicalities appear to have overriden moral scruples," Moynihan said, adding the CAS ruling means "convicted drug offenders will now be able to gatecrash the 2012 Olympics."

He said the IOC has offered "unequivocal support" to the BOA and its lifetime Olympic ban.

"Just as lawyers and doctors are struck off for the most serious of offenses, and never allowed to practice again, so the same should apply to the most heinous and reprehensible form of cheating in sport," Moynihan said.

Weighing a possible appeal of the BOA ban is sprinter Dwain Chambers, the former European 100-meter champion who served a two-year ban in the BALCO scandal and remains ineligible for the British Olympic team.

Moynihan said the BOA rule is consistent with EU and British law, distinguishes between inadvertent and deliberate doping, is backed by more than 90 percent of British athletes and offers a clear appeals process.

"The bylaw is fair, valid and enforceable," he said.

Since the rule on lifetime Olympic bans was introduced in 1992, it has been applied 32 times and successfully overturned 29 times on appeal for "mitigating circumstances," Moynihan said.

While some critics argue that drug cheats deserve a second chance, Moynihan said it is the clean athletes who suffer.

"We need to ask where in this case is the redemption for the clean athlete denied selection by a competitor who has knowingly cheated, taken the whole enchilada of drugs?" he said. "And what is worse, the cheat, possibly with a lifelong benefit of a course of growth hormones and other drugs, is back again."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-15-OLY-Doping-Moynihan/id-37f7ea9fb331453ba6a10eefca640c6d

boardwalk empire torrey smith torrey smith packers bears boeing 787 johnny appleseed hank baskett

Citizens board OKs ways to shrink | House Keys blog

Citizens Property Insurance's board gave an early green light late Monday to recommendations to help the state-backed insurer downsize its size and financial risk to Floridians.

Many of the proposals would allow it to shrink and effectively raise rates without changing any laws. Some require legislation but it's unlikely lawmakers will approve a property insurance bill during the legislative session that starts in January.

Citizens' employees will draft recommendations, which will be vetted by a panel before the board takes a final vote within the next few weeks.

Gov. Rick Scott recently ordered Citizens to come up with a plan to shrink by Dec. 6 and he wants it implemented by June. All automobile and property insurance policyholders in the state would be charged fees if a major hurricane triggers deficits for Citizens.

The early recommendations include:

Repealing a law that caps Citizens' rate hikes to 10 percent a year. Some board members said this provision may be too controversial for legislators, especially in an election year, but they're willing too consider it for now.

Doing more inspections to effectively increase premiums by more than the the rate cap. The inspections allow Citizen officials to revoke hurricane-proofing discounts they say aren't deserved and increase the rebuilding value of homes, which requires policyholders to buy more coverage.

Requiring letters from private insurers declining coverage before someone can get coverage from Citizens.

Allowing national insurers to create "pups," or subsidiaries, in Florida. A state law in 2007 barred new pups from being formed.

Repealing a law allowing people to get coverage from Citizens if a private insurer offers coverage but charges at least 15 percent more.

Some of the recommendations come from SB 1714, which was proposed earlier this year.

Board Chairman Carlos Lacasa said Citizens is in a "paradoxical position" because it wants to reduce risk for non-policyholders but it's sensitive to the economic downturn: "If you can't afford insurance, you can't stay in a home and you can't buy a home."

Board members on Monday also approved a 19 percent statewide average increase for some condo building policies.

Source: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2011/11/citizens_board_oks_ways_to_shr.html

sandusky barbados raiders chargers latin grammys latin grammys ogopogo walmart black friday

From 'blast boxers' to Golden-i: Five military gadgets that could change war (The Christian Science Monitor)

Skip to navigation ? Skip to content ? By Mark Sappenfield Mark Sappenfield ? Mon?Nov?14, 7:45?pm?ET Follow Yahoo! News on , become a fan on Facebook

More on Gadgets & Personal Technology

More ?

'; Y.all("div.yn-story-content p").item(embed_after_paragraph_number).insert(slideshow_code, 'after'); break; } } } }); });

' + spanPhoto_caption + ' More photos ?

'; Y.one("#yn-title").insert(slideshow_code,'after'); Y.one("div.photo-big").setStyle("display","none"); break; } } }); });

' Y.one("#yn-featured").insert(facebookCode,'before'); } }); });

'; Y.all("div.yn-story-content p").item(snippets[videoId][i][1]).insert(video_code,'after'); break; } } } }); });

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111115/ts_csm/424600

nigel tufnel day black friday deals molokai molokai ashton kutcher twitter sandusky barbados

After week's turmoil Penn State finally plays (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? The Penn State players left the field with their heads bowed, the fans mostly silent.

A lifetime worth of emotions was crammed into the past week. Shock, rage, regret and, now, exhaustion. The child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky cost Joe Paterno his job and, no doubt, scarred Penn State's soul.

A football game on a brilliant autumn afternoon won't erase it.

It was, however, a start.

"We've had better weeks in our lives, obviously," Paterno's son Jay, the quarterbacks coach, said after No. 12 Penn State's 17-14 loss to No. 19 Nebraska on Saturday. "The world's kind of turned upside down, but I think our kids were resilient."

The game was a combination of pep rally, cleansing and tribute, a way to acknowledge the past and take a step into the future. Affection for Penn State and Paterno was abundantly visible from players, fans and, yes, coaches. So was support for abuse victims, the kind of empathy many felt was missing in the days after news of the scandal broke.

Beaver Stadium was awash in blue ? the color associated with child-abuse prevention ? and public-service announcements flashed on the scoreboard throughout the game. A fund-raising campaign for abuse-prevention charities at the stadium gates raised more than $22,000.

In one of the most poignant moments in a week filled with lurid allegations, Nebraska and Penn State players gathered at midfield and knelt for a moment while Cornhuskers running backs coach Ron Brown offered a prayer.

"It felt like we all banded together. And it wasn't just about football," said Melissa Basinger, a 2005 Penn State grad who made the trip from Charlotte, N.C. "It was about coming together as a school, and showing the country, world or whatever that this does not define who we are."

Sandusky, once considered Paterno's heir apparent, is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span, with several of the alleged assaults occurring on Penn State property. Two university officials are charged with perjury, and Paterno and president Graham Spanier were fired for not doing enough after Sandusky was accused of molesting a young boy in the showers of the campus football complex in 2002.

The scandal would be damaging enough to anyone who prides himself on integrity. That it involved Paterno, major college football's winningest coach and the man who'd come to symbolize all that was good at Penn State, made it that much worse.

Though he was not at Beaver Stadium for the game ? Jay Paterno joked that maybe he was out mowing the lawn ? it took a while to get used to not seeing JoePa on the sideline, pacing back and forth, hands jammed in the pockets of his trademark blue windbreaker, watching the game unfold through those Coke-bottle glasses.

Students seemed almost afraid to acknowledge his absence, unsure how to react to having someone else in charge of the team for the first time in 46 seasons. But when Paterno appeared on the scoreboard as part of a video montage for Nittany Lion seniors ? it was Senior Day ? they let loose with gusto.

"Joe Pa-ter-no!" they chanted, clapping in rhythm.

No one felt the absence of the 84-year-old more keenly than his son, Jay, who choked up during a postgame interview.

"Dad, I wish you were here," he said, walking away from the cameras before the tears began to flow.

When the team arrived at the stadium, the normally low-key son pumped his fist and shouted, "Let's go!" as he followed the starting quarterback off the bus, just as his father always did. The younger Paterno high-fived passers-by on the way into the stadium, and several staffers gave him an encouraging embrace before he entered the locker room.

After the game, he shared a few details of a letter he'd dropped off at his parents' house earlier in the day. In it, he told his larger-than-life father all the things he'd never found the words to say before.

"I said, `You and I, in my life, haven't always seen eye to eye. But generally speaking, it's (because) I had to grow up, to catch up to make eye contact with you,'" Jay Paterno recalled. "There were a lot of lessons that I learned from him."

At Joe Paterno's house nearby, a small clutch of TV cameras and reporters stood outside. Two people walked to the door, rang the bell and left when no one answered. On the lawn was a pair of homemade signs facing the house. One said, "We Love You Joe, Thank You" and the other, "Thanks Joe."

A small American flag was planted nearby.

"There's not going to be closure anytime soon," said Brandon Hewitt, a senior from York, Pa. "I feel horrible what happened to the kids. I feel bad for what happened about Joe. But today was about football, and it was heartwarming to see the university rally around a terrible time."

___

Associated Press reporters Michael Rubinkam and Genaro C. Armas in State College contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111113/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_penn_state_gameday

ows adderall muskingum county muskingum county ron paul social security social security