feeble allspice: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The pupils are the windows to the mind

Monday, January 30, 2012

The eyes are the window into the soul?or at least the mind, according to a new paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Measuring the diameter of the pupil, the part of the eye that changes size to let in more light, can show what a person is paying attention to. Pupillometry, as it's called, has been used in social psychology, clinical psychology, humans, animals, children, infants?and it should be used even more, the authors say.

The pupil is best known for changing size in reaction to light. In a dark room, your pupils open wide to let in more light; as soon as you step outside into the sunlight, the pupils shrink to pinpricks. This keeps the retina at the back of the eye from being overwhelmed by bright light. Something similar happens in response to psychological stimuli, says Bruno Laeng of the University of Oslo, who cowrote the paper with Sylvain Sirois of Universit? du Qu?bec Trois-Rivi?res and Gustaf Gredeb?ck of Uppsala University in Sweden. When someone sees something they want to pay closer attention to, the pupil enlarges. It's not clear why this happens, Laeng says. "One idea is that, by essentially enlarging the field of the visual input, it's beneficial to visual exploration," he says.

However it works, psychological scientists can use the fact that people's pupils widen when they see something they're interested in.

Laeng has used pupil size to study people who had damage to the hippocampus, which usually causes very severe amnesia. Normally, if you show one of these patients a series of pictures, then take a short break, then show them another series of pictures, they don't know which ones they've seen before and which ones are new. But Laeng measured patients' pupils while they did this test and found that the patients did actually respond differently to the pictures they had seen before. "In a way, this is good news, because it shows that some of the brains of these patients, unknown to themselves, is actually capable of making the distinction," he says.

Pupil measurement might also be useful for studying babies. Tiny infants can't tell you what they're paying attention to. "Developmental psychologists have used all kinds of methods to get this information without using language," Laeng says. Seeing what babies are interested in can give clues to what they're able to recognize?different shapes or sounds, for example. A researcher might show a child two images side by side and see which one they look at for longer. Measuring the size of a baby's pupils could do the same without needing a comparison.

The technology already exists for measuring pupils?many modern psychology studies use eye-tracking technology, for example, to see what a subject is looking at, and Laeng and his coauthors hope to convince other psychological scientists to use this method.

###

Association for Psychological Science: http://www.psychologicalscience.org

Thanks to Association for Psychological Science for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117161/The_pupils_are_the_windows_to_the_mind

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Monday, January 30, 2012

UN: World lacks enough food, fuel

LONDON?? The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday.

As the world's population looks set to grow to nearly 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion now, and the number of middle-class consumers increases by 3 billion over the next 20 years, the demand for resources will rise exponentially.

Even by 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water, according to U.N. estimates, at a time when a changing environment is creating new limits to supply.

And if the world fails to tackle these problems, it risks condemning up to 3 billion people into poverty, the report said.

Efforts towards sustainable development are neither fast enough nor deep enough, as well as suffering from a lack of political will, the United Nations' high-level panel on global sustainability said.

"The current global development model is unsustainable. To achieve sustainability, a transformation of the global economy is required," the report said.

"Tinkering on the margins will not do the job. The current global economic crisis ... offers an opportunity for significant reforms."

Although the number of people living in absolute poverty has been reduced to 27 percent of world population from 46 percent in 1990 and the global economy has grown 75 percent since 1992, improved lifestyles and changing consumer habits have put natural resources under increasing strain.

There are 20 million more undernourished people now than in 2000; 5.2 million hectares of forest are lost per year - an area the size of Costa Rica; 85 percent of all fish stocks are over-exploited or depleted; and carbon dioxide emissions have risen 38 percent between 1990 and 2009, which heightens the risk of sea level rise and more extreme weather.

The panel, which made 56 recommendations for sustainable development to be included in economic policy as quickly as possible, said a "new political economy" was needed.

"Let's use the upcoming Rio+20 summit to kick off this global transition towards a sustainable growth model for the 21st century that the world so badly needs," EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in response to the report, referring to a U.N. sustainable development summit this June in Brazil.

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Action
Among the panel's recommendations, it urged governments to agree on a set of sustainable development goals which would complement the eight Millennium Development Goals to 2015 and create a framework for action after 2015.

They should work with international organizations to create an "evergreen revolution," which would at least double productivity while reducing resource use and avoiding further biodiversity losses, the report said.

Water and marine ecosystems should be managed more efficiently and there should be universal access to affordable sustainable energy by 2030.

To make the economy more sustainable, carbon and natural resource pricing should be established through taxation, regulation or emissions trading schemes by 2020 and fossil fuel subsidies should also be phased out by that time.

National fiscal and credit systems should be reformed to provide long-term incentives for sustainable practices as well as disincentives for unsustainable ones.

Sovereign wealth and public pension funds, as well as development banks and export credit agencies should apply sustainable development criteria to their investment decisions, and governments or stock market watchdogs should revise regulations to encourage their use.

Governments and scientists should also strengthen the relationship between policy and science by regularly examining the science behind environmental thresholds or "tipping points" and the United Nations should consider naming a chief scientific adviser or board to advise the organization, the report said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46196441/ns/world_news-europe/

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Up to 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship

An Italian Coast Guard dinghy sails around the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia. Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

View of the bow of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers ?11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany. But some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured. Costa announced the offer after negotiations with consumer groups who say they are representing 3,206 passengers from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the massive Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a reef on Jan. 13. In addition to the lump-sum indemnity, Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse uninjured passengers the full costs of their cruise, their return travel expenses and any medical expenses they sustained after the grounding. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian Financial police scuba divers sale around the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers ?11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany. But some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured. Costa announced the offer after negotiations with consumer groups who say they are representing 3,206 passengers from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the massive Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a reef on Jan. 13. In addition to the lump-sum indemnity, Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse uninjured passengers the full costs of their cruise, their return travel expenses and any medical expenses they sustained after the grounding. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian firefighters approach the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers ?11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany. But some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured. Costa announced the offer after negotiations with consumer groups who say they are representing 3,206 passengers from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the massive Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a reef on Jan. 13. In addition to the lump-sum indemnity, Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse uninjured passengers the full costs of their cruise, their return travel expenses and any medical expenses they sustained after the grounding. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ? The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours, coupled with waves of more than one meter (three feet).

A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified.

Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board.

"Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster."

University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship's movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out the ship's sliding along the seabed.

Gabrielli noted that the body of a man recovered from the ship remains unidentified, despite efforts to obtain DNA samples from all of the missing, meaning that officials cannot preclude that the deceased is someone unknown to authorities. Costa has said that it runs strict procedures that would preclude the presence of any unregistered passengers.

Experts have said it would take 28 days to remove fuel from 15 tanks accounting for more than 80 percent of all fuel on board the ship. The next job would be to target the engine room, which contains nearly 350 cubic meters of diesel, fuel and other lubricants, Gabrielli said.

Only once the fuel is removed can work begin on removing the ship, either floating it in one piece or cutting it up and towing it away as a wreck. Costa has begun the process for taking bids for the recovery operation, a process that will take two months.

Gabrielli said the actual removal will take from seven to 10 months ? meaning that the wreck will be visible from the coast of the island of Giglio for the entire summer tourism season.

Residents of Giglio have been circulating a petition to demand that officials provide more information on how the full-scale operations can coexist with the important tourism season. At the moment, access to the port for private boats has been banned and all boats must stay at least one mile (1.6 kilometers) from the wrecked ship, affecting access to Giglio's only harbor for fishermen, scuba divers and private boat owners.

"We are really sorry, we would have preferred to save them all. But now other needs and other problems arise," said Franca Melils, a local business owner who is promoting a petition for the tourist season. "It's about us, who work and make a living exclusively from tourism. We don't have factories, we don't have anything else."

___

Colleen Barry reported from Milan.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-EU-Italy-Ship-Aground/id-8a30f0ac007447fc9aff5bb6c0afaf0d

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Private investors near deal on Greek debt

Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leaves Maximos Mansion after a meeting with Greek Prime minister Lucas Papademos, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, left, and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leave Maximos Mansion after a meeting Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

Charles Dallara managing director of the Institute of International Finance arrives at Maximos Mansion for a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? A disorderly and potentially devastating Greek debt default is looking much less likely.

Greece and investors who own its bonds have reached a tentative deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion bailout.

Negotiators for the investors announced the agreement Saturday and said it could become final next week. If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses.

Still, it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.

Under the agreement, investors holding euro206 billion in Greek bonds would exchange them for new bonds worth 60 percent less.

The new bonds' face value is half of the existing bonds. They would have a longer maturity and pay an average interest rate of slightly less than 4 percent. The existing bonds pay an average interest rate of 5 percent, according to the think tank Re-Define.

The deal would reduce Greece's annual interest expense on the bonds from about euro10 billion to about euro4 billion. And when the bonds mature, instead of paying bondholders euro206 billion, Greece will have to pay only euro103 billion.

Without the deal, which would reduce Greece's debt load by at least euro120 billion, the bonds held by banks, insurance companies and hedge funds would likely become worthless. Many of these investors also hold debt from other countries that use the euro, which could also lose value in the event of a full-fledged Greek default. This is the scenario analysts fear most and why they hope investors will voluntarily accept a partial loss on their Greek bonds.

The agreement taking shape is a key step before Greece can get a second, euro130 billion bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund. Besides restructuring its debt with private investors, Greece must also take other steps before getting aid. It must cut its deficit and boost the competitiveness of its economy through layoffs of government employees and the sale of several state companies, among other moves.

Greece faces a euro14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20, which it cannot afford without additional help.

The country got its first bailout in May 2010 when the EU and the IMF signed off on a euro110 billion aid package, most of which has already been disbursed.

Private investors hold roughly two-thirds of Greece's debt, which has reached an unsustainable level ? nearly 160 percent of the country's annual economic output. By restructuring the debt held by private investors, Greece and its EU partners are hoping to bring that ratio closer to 120 percent by the end of this decade. Without a deal, analysts forecast that ratio ballooning to 200 percent by the end of this year as the Greek economy falters.

Meanwhile, Greece's public creditors ? the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank ? are baffled by the government's repeated failure to meet deficit targets. They want more government wage cuts. That is meeting resistance by Greek politicians afraid of losing an election tentatively scheduled for the spring. But those same politicians also worry that the nation will be denied a second bailout if doesn't reduce its deficit.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Saturday night asked those who oppose structural changes to reconsider their stance.

"The coming days will be decisive for the next decade ... We must answer to tough dilemmas and we must do so with foresight and a sense of responsibility and not hide behind each other," he told reporters after meeting with the public creditors.

In return for the first bailout, Greece's public creditors have unprecedented powers over Greek spending. However, Greece's problems will not be fixed simply by cutting government spending. In order to bring its debts to a more manageable level, the country must also find ways boost economic output, which would enable it to collect more taxes.

If no debt-exchange deal is reached with private creditors and Greece is forced to default, it would very likely spook Europe's ? and possibly the world's ? financial markets. It could even lead Greece to withdraw from the euro.

Sarah Ketterer, co-manager of Causeway International Value Fund, a $1.4 billion mutual fund that invests in European stocks, said the region's markets have rebounded this month largely on expectations that negotiators would reach a deal along the lines of the one being finalized now.

Any last-minute breakdown in the talks could trigger a sharp decline in European markets, she said. But a rally is unlikely if negotiations succeed.

"The equity markets have ... largely already discounted this, and you can see that in the confidence that has returned in European equities since the end of December, and especially for financial stocks," Ketterer said.

She said there "really was no other option" than reaching a deal for bondholders to take a haircut of 50 percent or more.

Ketterer said a Greek deal could help restore bond market confidence. That would help Italy manage its own debt crisis ? one that Ketterer views as more critical than Greece's because of Italy's greater size.

The investors who own Greek bonds are being represented by Charles Dallara, managing director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas.

___

AP personal finance writer Mark Jewell in Boston, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-EU-Greece-Financial-Crisis/id-c6661e60cc3744ada9743a669f440412

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Meet a Super PAC Donor (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Need for courtroom artists fade as cameras move in

This Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, photo, shows courtroom sketch artist Carol Renaud in her Chicago home studio. Artists have drawing legal proceedings since the Salem witch trials to the recent corruption trial of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but their ranks are thinning as states lift courtroom camera ban. Just 14 states still have prohibitions in place, amd three of those states, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois, recently moved to end theirs. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

This 2009 sketch of Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson by courtroom artist Carol Renaud is seen at her Chicago home on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Artists have drawing legal proceedings since the Salem witch trials to the recent corruption trial of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but their ranks are thinning as states lift courtroom camera ban. Just 14 states still have prohibitions in place, and three of those states, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois, recently moved to end theirs. (AP Photo/Carol Renaud)

This Dec. 7, 2011 file courtroom sketch by artist Tom Gianni shows former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, left, speaking before U.S. District Judge James Zagel at his sentencing hearing at federal court in Chicago. Sketch artists have been drawing legal proceedings since the Salem witch trials to the recent corruption trial of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but their ranks are thinning as states lift courtroom camera ban. Just 14 states still have prohibitions in place, and three of those states, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois, recently moved to end theirs. (AP Photo/Tom Gianni, File)

FILE - In this May 14, 2008 file photo, courtroom sketch artist Andy Austin poses at Chicago's Federal Plaza with one of her works from the corruption trial of Conrad Black. Austin has worked as a court artist for 40 years. Artists have been drawing legal proceedings since the Salem witch trials to the recent corruption trial of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but their ranks are thinning as states lift courtroom camera bans. Just 14 states still have the prohibitions in place, though three of those states, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois, recently moved to end theirs.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

This May 20, 2008 file courtroom sketch by artist Lou Chukman shows R&B singer R. Kelly, right, watching in court as prosecutors played the sex tape at the center of his child pornography trial in open court in Chicago. Artists have drawing legal proceedings since the Salem witch trials to the recent corruption trial of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but their ranks are thinning as states lift courtroom camera bans. Just 14 states still have prohibitions in place, and three of those states, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois, recently moved to end theirs. (AP Photo/Lou Chukman, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? One marker in hand and one in his mouth, Lou Chukman glances up and down from a sketchpad to a reputed Chicago mobster across the courtroom ? drawing feverishly to capture the drama of the judge's verdict before the moment passes.

Sketch artists have been the public's eyes at high-profile trials for decades ? a remnant of an age when drawings in broadsheet papers, school books or travel chronicles were how people glimpsed the world beyond their own.

Today, their ranks are thinning swiftly as states move to lift longstanding bans on cameras in courtrooms. As of a year ago, 14 states still had them ? but at least three, including Illinois this month, have taken steps since then to end the prohibitions.

"When people say to me, 'Wow, you are a courtroom artist' ? I always say, 'One day, you can tell your grandchildren you met a Stegosaurus," Chukman, 56, explained outside court. "We're an anachronism now, like blacksmiths."

Cutbacks in news budgets and shifts in aesthetic sensibilities toward digitized graphics have all contributed to the form's decline, said Maryland-based sketch artist Art Lien.

While the erosion of the job may not be much noticed by people reading and watching the news, Lien says something significant is being lost. Video or photos can't do what sketch artists can, he said, such as compressing hours of court action onto a single drawing that crystallizes the events.

The best courtroom drawings hang in museums or sell to collectors for thousands of dollars.

"I think people should lament the passing of this art form," Lien said.

But while courtroom drawing has a long history ? artists did illustrations of the Salem witch trials in 1692 ? the artistry can sometimes be sketchy. A bald lawyer ends up with a full head of hair. A defendant has two left hands. A portly judge is drawn rail-thin.

Subjects often complain as they see the drawings during court recesses, said Chicago artist Carol Renaud.

"They'll say, 'Hey! My nose is too big.' And sometimes they're right," she conceded. "We do the drawings so fast."

Courtroom drawing doesn't attract most aspiring artists because it doesn't afford the luxury of laboring over a work for days until it's just right, said Andy Austin, who has drawn Chicago's biggest trials over 40 years, including that of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

"You have to put your work on the air or in a newspaper whether you like it or not," she said.

The job also involves long stretches of tedium punctuated by bursts of action as a witness sobs or defendant faint. It can also get downright creepy.

At Gacy's trial, a client asked Austin for an image of him smiling. So, she sought to catch the eye of the man accused of killing 33 people. When she finally did, she beamed. He beamed back.

"The two of us smiled at each other like the two happiest people in the world until the sketch was finished," Austin recalled in her memoirs, titled "Rule 53," after the directive that bars cameras in U.S. courts.

There's no school specifically for courtroom artists. Many slipped or were nudged into it by circumstance.

Renaud drew fashion illustrations for Marshall Field's commercials into the '90s but lost that job when the department store starting relying on photographers. That led her to courtroom drawing.

Artists sometime get to court early and sketch the empty room. But coming in with a drawing fully finished in advance is seen as unethical.

Some artists use charcoal, water colors or pungent markers, which can leave those sitting nearby queasy. Most start with a quick pencil sketch, then fill it in. Austin draws right off the bat with her color pencils.

"If I overthink it, I get lost," she said. "I have a visceral reaction. I just hope what I feel is conveyed to my pen."

These days, Chukman and Renaud fear for their livelihoods. They make the bulk of their annual income off their court work. Working for a TV station or a newspaper can bring in about $300 a day. A trial lasting a month can mean a $6,000 paycheck. Chukman does other work on the side, including drawing caricatures as gifts.

Austin is semiretired and so she says she worries less. She also notes that federal courts ? where some of the most notorious trials take place, like the two corruption trials of impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich ? seem more adamant about not allowing cameras.

Still, though Rule 53 remains in place, federal courts are experimenting with cameras in very limited cases.

"If federal courts do follow, that will be the end of us," Austin said.

Renaud holds out hope that, even if the worst happens, there will still be demand from lawyers for courtroom drawings they can hang in their offices. Lien plans to bolster his income by launching a website selling work from historic trials he covered, including of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Chukman, a courtroom artist for around 30 years, jokes that if asked for his opinion, he'd have told state-court authorities to keep the ban in place a few more years until he retires.

"I recognize my profession exists simply because of gaps in the law ? and I've been grateful for them," he said wistfully. "This line of work has been good to me."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-Camera%20in%20Courts-Sketch%20Artist/id-25f27af7ccf040ff81e5339a7bbe83eb

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Correction: Earns-Starbucks story (AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. ? The Associated Press, relying on information supplied by a company executive, erroneously reported Jan. 26 that Starbucks Corp. in its fiscal first quarter had its biggest quarterly revenue gain since 2007. It was the company's biggest quarterly revenue gain since the fourth-quarter of 2010.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_starbucks

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Dana White calls out internet hackers, they respond by releasing his personal info

CHICAGO -- The war is on between the UFC and internet hackers.

On Sunday, UFC.com was re-routed several times to the website UGnazi. The site's organizers, who White called terrorists several times during the UFC on Fox 2 press conference, said the hacking of UFC.com is a result of the company's support of SOPA and PIPA. The wide-ranging bills are aimed at stopping online piracy.

White lashed out at the hackers.

"Keep hacking our site, do it again. Do it tonight," said White. "These guys look like terrorists now and a bill that was about to die, is about to come back."

The hacker taking credit for the UFC hit, @joshthgod went a different route after the challenge posting White's personal info, including a social security number, a list of residential addresses, a vehicle identification number and a personal phone number.

That followed a tweet that said White is now the target.

"@danawhite We don't want your site anymore. We are going after YOU! Follow me for tonights exciting events! #ufc #sopa #acta #pipa,"

White said the hackers are only hurting their own cause by alerting politicians that there's a serious issue. He's willing to risk his own safety to stop the online pilfering.

"Is SOPA the perfect bill? No, it's not. The only thing that we're focused on is piracy. Piracy is stealing. If you walk into a store and you steal a gold watch, it's the same as stealing a pay-per-view. I don't care what your twisted, demented idea of stealing is," White said. "These kids who grew up on the Internet never had to pay for anything, so they don't think that you should have to."

White closed by saying he's not afraid of the Internet, it's where cowards live.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-calls-internet-hackers-respond-releasing-personal-142312772.html

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Lee Brenner: Adorable CSI: Miami Parody

Because everyone starts somewhere...

CSI Miami Caruso Horatio Early Years

Before he was a pun-heavy, quick-triggered forensic analyst and homicide detective in the Miami-Dade Police Department, the sunglasses-clutching, one-liner-spewing Horatio Caine got his start solving whatever mysteries he could find in his own backyard. This is the story of "Horatio: The Early Years."

The latest two episodes of the series are now live -- check all four of them out here:

Episode I: Ring Around the Rosie

Episode II: The Cooties Shot

Episode III: Happy Meal

Episode IV: Stepping In It

If you like it, please share it with friends, family and online acquaintances on Facebook, Twitter and wherever you see fit!

Subscribe to HyperVocal's YouTube channel to be the first to know.

Follow @YoungHoratio and @hypervocal on Twitter for updates and more.

And if you need to see the real thing, here's a "Best of Horatio Caine":

Written by: Slade Sohmer, Dan De Lorenzo & Ben Stumpf Directed by: Ben Stumpf Produced by: Dan De Lorenzo Exec. Producer: Slade Sohmer & HyperVocal
Starring: Blake Sohmer as Young Horatio and Hailey Shapiro as his partner.
Also starring: Spencer Penn, Lea Sorkin, Chloe Morris, and Olivia Ryan.

Please don't forget to pass it around if you want more episodes of the series...

Follow Lee Brenner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hypervocal

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-brenner/csi-miami-parody_b_1231615.html

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Tim Cook: The tablet will be bigger than the PC one day

This probably shouldn't shock too many people but, Tim Cook believes the future isn't with the PC, but with the tablet. After shipping 15.4 million iPads in Q1 Cupertino is clearly comfortable with the idea that tablets are taking off and, as we begin to demand our devices become more mobile, it only makes sense that these finger-friendly slates will one day outsell less portable options like laptops and desktops. When might that day come? Well, Mr. Cook refused to speculate, but he was confident that the tablet market will be bigger, at least in terms of units sold, than traditional computers. Cook is already seeing a shift, with the iPad cannibalizing some Mac sales, but he does believe "there's more cannibalization of Windows PCs by the iPad," a trend he clearly loves. We hope, for their own sake, Dell and HP are ready for the coming revolution.

Tim Cook: The tablet will be bigger than the PC one day originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/tim-cook-the-tablet-will-be-bigger-than-the-pc-one-day/

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Rebel leader demands new Papua New Guinea gov't

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) ? Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday and replaced Papua New Guinea's top defense official with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor.

The self-proclaimed new leader of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and former prime minister Sir Michael Somare, is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month.

"Both Sir Michael Somare and O'Neill have seven days to implement the Supreme Court's orders to resolve the current political impasse or I will be forced to take actions to uphold the integrity of the Constitution," Sasa told reporters in Port Moresby, the capital.

The new crisis comes during a turbulent period for the South Pacific's most populous island nation, where both O'Neill and Somare claim to be the rightful prime minister.

Between 12 and 20 soldiers overpowered guards at the Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby before dawn, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing an unnamed senior source in the Papua New Guinea defense force. The rebel soldiers then moved to the military headquarters at Murray Barracks and placed the head of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, under house arrest. There were no reports of bloodshed.

Sasa, who last served as Papua New Guinea's defense attache to Indonesia before retiring from the military, told reporters he had been legitimately appointed defense chief by Somare.

Somare could not be immediately contacted for comment on Thursday.

O'Neill had told Australia ? Papua New Guinea's former colonial master and main provider of foreign aid ? that "authorities were taking steps to manage the situation," Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

O'Neill was expected to hold a press conference later Thursday.

There has been a power struggle in Papua New Guinea since August, when Parliament appointed O'Neill prime minister in Somare's absence.

Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed as prime minister while getting medical treatment outside the country.

But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare.

Australia, which has the largest diplomatic mission of any country in Port Moresby, called for Agwi to be reinstated.

"We urge that the situation be resolved as soon as possible, and that the PNGDF chain of command is restored," the foreign affairs department said in a statement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-25-AS-Papua-New-Guinea-Mutiny/id-6adbc67f72e640ddbfc56560d08e35e0

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" wins Sundance Producer's Award (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) ? "Beasts of the Southern Wild," the narrative film that has stirred up the most attention at Sundance to date, was awarded the inaugural Sundance Institute Indian Paintbrush Producer's Award at a luncheon on Sunday.

Producer Josh Penn and Dan Janvey accepted the award for "Beasts," a raucous drama set in an isolated southern Louisiana community. Since its premiere on Friday, the film has been one of the most talked-about narrative features at the festival, with a number of exhibitors circling the film but admitting that it could be a tough sell in the marketplace.

The Indian Paintbrush Producer's Award is a collaboration between the Indian Paintbrush production company and the Sundance Institute, and is open to any filmmakers who have participated in one of the Institute's labs.

This is the first year the award has been given out. It carries with it a $10,000 grant.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/media_nm/us_sundance_award

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Fernando Espuelas: In Republican Debates, Ideology Trumps Intelligent Immigration Policy

Living in Los Angeles I drive by multi-car pile-ups on the freeway at least once a week. An occurrence so common that it no longer shocks or surprises. Yet it is impossible to take your eyes off the wreckage.

Similarly, you'd think that when the Republican presidential candidates debate each other I would simply look away, turn the volume down on the TV, and wait until the obligatory segment on immigration "policy" is over. Really, how many ideological wrecks posing as "solutions" to America's immigration crisis can one listen to?

And yet, the second South Carolina GOP debate sure felt like rush hour on the 405 Freeway, America's biggest bumper-car ride. Rick Santorum, recently endorsed by a group of prominent Evangelical Christians, was joined by establishment favorite Mitt Romney in bashing Newt Gingrich's proposals on immigration.

The former Speaker's rather modest immigration proposal - to allow people who have been in the U.S. at least 25 years to apply to a "World War II-style Draft Board" made up of local citizens who will then decide whether to deport or allow these people to stay with their families - was forcefully rejected during the debate by Gingrich's competitors.

In a deliberate attempt to satisfy the anti-immigrant wing of the GOP, Santorum and Romney expressed positions on immigration so radical, so destructive to the American economy, our historical heritage and to our collective sense of decency, that the car wreck metaphor truly took hold.

Both Santorum, the son of Italian immigrants, and Mexican-American Romney bid for the title of Most Divisive onstage. While both men speak constantly about their Christian faith and the centrality of family to their core beliefs, their approach to immigration is much closer to ethnic cleansing than an actual immigration policy that strengthens America.

In short, the former Senator from Pennsylvania and the ex-Governor of Massachusetts are advocating mass deportations - 11 million people sent back "home." To be clear, Gingrich's supposedly more "humane" approach would result, as the Speaker said during the debate, in "most of them go[ing] home." The "them" in this instance are undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. fewer than 25 years.

Putting aside for the moment the horrendous human and moral costs of deporting 11 million people (a number of people comparable to the whole population of Belgium), tearing families and communities apart in the process, this is simply bad economic policy.

Daniel Griswold, a senior scholar at the Cato Institute, has documented the self-defeating nature of the GOP's harsh enforcement approach to immigration. Recently writing in the National Review, Griswold stated that "Study after study confirms that immigrants help to boost the productivity and incomes of native-born Americans. A 2009 Cato Institute study by Peter Dixon and Maureen Rimmer calculated that legalizing low-skilled immigration would boost the collective income of U.S. households by $180 billion per year."

Moreover, beyond the hit to economic growth that mass deportations would cause, there is the actual cost of a deportation policy. In 2010, the Center for American Progress undertook a comprehensive study of the financial impact of the deportation approach advocated by Santorum and Romney.

According to the study's authors, "the total five-year immigration enforcement cost under a mass deportation strategy would be approximately $285 billion." These are direct costs to tax payers - it does not include the loss in economic activity represented by immigrant labor and consumption, taxes paid by immigrants and the decreased productivity across the U.S. economy as workers basically disappear.

For the GOP hopefuls now battling it out in South Carolina, it is clear that taking a hard-line on undocumented people is good politics. But beyond the hypocrisy of parading your Christian bona fides while advocating the breaking up of millions of families, these supposed saviors of the American economy seem to be completely disconnected from the real-world impact of their policy positions.

At a time when America is trying to bring its budget into balance, keep our military the preeminent fighting force in the world, and rebuild our transportation and education infrastructure to effectively compete in the 21st century, the Romney-Santorum mass deportation approach to immigration policy is, to paraphrase New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a form of "national suicide."

As last week's "pile-up" showed, it's time to reveal the candidates' proposed solutions for the wrecks they truly are.

Follow Fernando Espuelas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/espuelasvox

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fernando-espuelas/in-republican-debates-ide_b_1220288.html

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Polywell Ignition X7900i-3960

The year's most scorching gaming machines on the market tend to arrive hot on the heels of Intel releasing a new flagship processor, and that's certainly true of 2011. In the wake of the debut of the Intel Core i7-3960X, manufacturers are falling over themselves to put out the fastest, most decked-out desktops that anyone living on a trust fund will be dying to have. One such system is the Polywell Ignition X7900i-3960, a $4,599 (street) behemoth bearing the smoking new processing and enough other new hardware to send the most trembling enthusiast into flights of ecstasy. And, oh yeah, it's fast, too. But if you're spending over $4,500 on a desktop, you undoubtedly want the speediest, best-designed, and most feature-packed one you can get. For its numerous virtues and outstanding performance scores, however, the Ignition X7900i-3960 is not quite that.

Design
At least the Ignition X7900i-3960 is an eye-catcher. Its full-size tower case is cast in gleaming, glossy white with sharp accents that give each part of it a uniquely striking appearance. A band of silvery metal wraps around the top and the bottom, though it's interrupted on the latter with a black plastic ventilation grille. You'll find a similar grille at the bottom of the front panel: It's covering the intake fans and is in turn covered by a series of shiny black fins. This look, in turn, is replicated on the top panel; on the two side panels, you'll find the black grille as well, albeit without the fins. The rear panel is solid black metal, though cut with many hexagonal holes for ventilation.

Both the side panels eschew thumbscrews in favor of a key-and-knob locking mechanism. The knob is found on either side of the rear panel: Turn it one way to free the panel, which you can then just pull away; turn it back the other way to secure it shut; or use the keys (on our model, attached via a twist tie to one of the ventilation holes) to prevent anyone from getting into the computer. It's a somewhat bulky and inelegant system, but it works.

Features
Dashing as the Ignition X7900i-3960 may be in the attractiveness department, it's what's inside that counts even more?and there's a lot. In addition to the Core i7-3960X processor cooled by a sedate-looking, Polywell-branded fan?and?heat sink combo, plugged into the Intel Desktop Board DX79SI is a whopping 32GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 memory. Because Intel's new X79 Express chipset supports quad-channel memory, this is divided among eight DIMMs, and there are no free slots for putting in more. (Not that you'll need to upgrade anytime soon, anyway!) Video capabilities come courtesy of two video cards using the Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 GPU design, the fastest the company makes. This gives you an enormous amount of graphics potential, but requires a lot of power?thankfully, this is provided by a 1,250-watt power supply. All these internal components are cooled by four fans: one 150mm for intake, located at the bottom of the internal drive well, and three for exhaust (two in the top panel, one in the rear panel).

There's plenty more to be found on the front panel, too. Let's start with the two optical drives: one LG "Super Multi Blue" model that combines Blu-ray playing and DVD recording functionality, and one traditional DVD?RW drive. In another of the 5.25-inch bays you'll find a multiformat card reader. This leaves two bays free, and from them you can directly access the internal storage, all without having to unplug any SATA data or power cables. This gives you 240GB spread across two 120GB solid-state drives (SSDs) and an additional 3TB hard drive.

Only when you get to the collection of front-panel ports do you start to see what you're missing: One eSATA, three USB 2.0, and headphone and microphone jacks flank the power button on the top edge?that's right, no USB 3.0 ports. You'll only find two of those on the rear panel, joining six USB 2.0 ports, two Gigabit LAN jacks, a FireWire port, and S/PDIF digital and 8.1-channel analog audio ports for connecting speakers. Another nice feature is the "back to BIOS" button, which lets you safely roll back any changes you make to your system's configuration (such as overclocking).

A Logitech Cordless Desktop X100 keyboard and an associated OptiMouse complete the hardware side of the spectrum. Two warranties, one for three years for parts and one for five years for labor, should keep you decently protected.

Performance
Any performance tweaking you may want from the X7900i-3960 you will have to do yourself: Polywell has provided no out-of-the-box overclocking for it. The good news is that because the rest of the system?s components are so advanced, you still get amazing frame rates. But overall performance isn?t going to compare with what you?ll see on an overclocked system such as the Falcon Northwest Mach V that uses this same CPU and many similar components?with one big difference that further accelerates its gaming prowess.

That would be its setup of three Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 video cards, which let it deliver results that surpass those of the Polywell. We saw this in every gaming test, whether PCMark 7 (6,154 versus 5,990), 3DMark 11 (6,505 versus 6,148 at the Extreme preset), Crysis at 1,920 by 1,080 with Very High details (75 frames per second, or fps, versus 73fps), or Lost Planet 2 at 1,920 by 1,080 with High details (168fps versus 122fps). And the Falcon Northwest?s overclocking helped it excel at non-gaming tasks, too (on the off chance you?ll ever want to do them), again trumping the Polywell in every match-up.

So if you?re looking for the best Core i7-3960X gaming machine you can find, right now the Editors? Choice Mach V takes the prize?in addition to superior performance, it also gives you more storage space (with the help of two 256GB SSDs), a more forward-thinking case design, and a more adventurous motherboard loaded with features (including a lot more USB 3.0 ports) that Intel?s doesn?t attempt. But it?s important to note that the Mach V also comes with a faint-worthy $6,899 price tag. The Polywell Ignition X7900i-3960 offers an incredibly compelling alternative for $2,300 less, with most of the same pluses and only some minor minuses. The only way it will disappoint is your hunger for speed can only be sated by the most tip of the top desktop out there.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

More desktop reviews:
??? Polywell Ignition X7900i-3960
??? iBuypower Chimera 4-V1
??? Velocity Micro Vector Holiday Edition (2011)
??? Falcon Northwest Mach V (Core i7-3960X)
??? Cybernet ZPC-D5
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/fn3RE_Lr4PE/0,2817,2398335,00.asp

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Monday, January 23, 2012

The David Dewhurst vs. Ted Cruz Senate Race -- the State of Play (ContributorNetwork)

An analysis in the Fort Worth Star Telegram suggests the U.S. Senate race in Texas between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and for Solicitor General Ted Cruz is like the race for the president in miniature.

The idea is Dewhurst equals Mitt Romney and Cruz equals the not Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. But the differences might have less to do with politics that with political status. Dewhurst is part of the hated establishment. Cruz is the tea party style insurgent.

What does Dewhurst believe?

According to the Dewhurst for Senate campaign website, the candidate's agenda is solidly conservative. He is in favor of repealing health care reform, also known as Obamacare, in favor of a free market based health care reform. He advocates curbing the Environmental Protection Agency. He supports developing American domestic oil resources. And he is in favor of cutting spending and taxes, according to his issues page

What does Cruz Advocate?

Cruz frames the case for his candidacy in his record of supporting issues that conservative believe in. He is in favor of smaller government, against abortion, for domestic energy production, for gun owners' rights, against same sex marriage, against illegal immigration, and against frivolous lawsuits.

What is the bottom line?

While each candidate emphasizes different issues, they seem to be equally conservative, at least in how they are running for the Senate.

What about Dewhurst's record?

Dewhurst, as a statewide office holder, does not carry Romney's burden of having once been pro-abortion or of having supported a health care reform measure with a disturbing resemblance to Obamacare, or so his lieutenant governor's website suggests. According to My San Antonio, some conservatives blame Dewhurst for the failure of a bill that would have made TSA "enhance pat downs" at airports a felony in the state of Texas. Such a bill, had it been passed into law, would have set up a constitutional wrangle between the federal government's right to handle airport security and Texas' right to keep innocent people from being physically molested while traveling.

What is the Senate race all about then?

Basically it comes down to a fight between experience vs. independence. Dewhurst will point to his ability to get things done in a legislative body, not an unimportant thing for a potential senator. Cruz will emphasize is independence and his unwillingness to compromise conservative principles. Which quality Texas voters hold to be more important will determine who gets the Republican nomination and hence likely wins the election. Thus far Dewhurst has the upper hand with 36 percent support in the polls, with Cruz following at 18 percent. But 31 percent of Texas Republicans are undecided, so anything could happen.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120122/pl_ac/10868909_the_david_dewhurst_vs_ted_cruz_senate_race__the_state_of_play

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Libyan Islamists rally to demand sharia-based law (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Hundreds of Libyan Islamists rallied on Friday to demand that Muslim sharia law inspire legislation in what organizers called a response to the emergence of secular political parties after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship last year.

Assembled by Islamist political and religious groups, mostly young and bearded men holding up copies of the Koran demonstrated in squares in the capital Tripoli, the eastern city of Benghazi and in Sabha in the southern desert.

In Tripoli's Algeria Square, Islamists burned copies of the "Green Book," Gaddafi's eccentric handbook on politics, economics and everyday life, to underline that the Koran should be the country's main source of legislation.

By contrast, a group of secularists who have staged a sit-in in the square for more than a month chanted: "We want a civil state."

The Islamist demonstrators encompassed members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood and harder-line Salafis, who both back strict versions of Islam, and relative moderates who prefer a civil state simply inspired by sharia.

The protests offered a glimpse into Libya's political future in which Islamist and secularist parties are expected to vie for seats in a national assembly scheduled to be elected in June to draft a constitution for the North African country.

Experts believe the Muslim Brotherhood is the most organized political force and could emerge as the leading political player in Libya after Gaddafi, who harshly suppressed Islamists during his 42 years in autocratic power.

Western powers are coming to accept that the advent of democracy in the Arab world means bringing Islamists to power. They have become the biggest election winners in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco over the past few months.

The chairman of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdul Jalil, promised in October to uphold Islamic law. "We as a Muslim nation have taken Islamic sharia as the source of legislation, therefore any law that contradicts the principles of Islam is legally nullified," he said.

The deputy central bank governor said last month a law regulating Islamic banking would be issued in the first quarter of 2012, but stressed that both conventional and Islamic banks would be allowed to operate in Libya.

Islamists in Algeria Square held up placards demanding a financial system respecting Islam's ban on interest and calling for a constitution derived from sharia's legal and moral codes.

"We want to run our life according to Islamic principles, be it the economy, politics or our relations with other countries," said Abdul Basit Ghuwaila, a preacher at a Tripoli mosque. "Most people think Islam is just about harsh penalties."

Ghuwaila, 49, said sharia should not govern all Libyan law, but insisted that legislation should not contradict it.

Nour al-Zintani, a participant in the month-long sit-in for a secular state, said the majority of Libyans wanted Islam to be a part of their life but not a strict interpretation of it.

"We all want sharia," she said, standing next to her teenage daughter, both of them wearing a Muslim headscarf, "but not the one they're talking about, the one that rejects women. We want a moderate Islam that gives women their rights."

(Additional reporting by Mohammad Al Tommy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wl_nm/us_libya_sharia_rallies

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

PFT: Rex Ryan says he might tone it down

Indianapolis' Brown runs from Tennesee's Finnegan during an NFL football game in Indianapolis

Reuters

A few East-West Shrine Game participants that could fit with the Bills.

An analysis of the Dolphins? choice to hire Joe Philbin as their head coach.

Patriots CB Devin McCourty is looking forward to facing off with Ravens RB Ray Rice, his teammate at Rutgers.

The Jets signed G Trevor Canfield to a futures contract.

The Ravens defense knows that they need to make Tom Brady uncomfortable on Sunday.

Some reaction to the Bengals? decision to hold training camp at Paul Brown Stadium.

The healthy return of G Eric Steinbach will give the Browns needed depth on the offensive line.

The Steelers may buck their tradition of promoting from within when it comes to hiring a new offensive coordinator.

Texans C Chris Myers and DE Antonio Smith are fired up for their first trip to the Pro Bowl.

Peter King of SI.com believes Peyton Manning?s status will have nothing to do with the Colts? search for a new coach.

The Jaguars signed four more assistant coaches for Mike Mularkey?s staff.

Titans CB Cortland Finnegan doesn?t think shuffling the front office will change much about the organization.

The Broncos will spend some time evaluating QB Adam Weber this offseason.

The New Yorker checks in on the phone tapping allegations hurled at the Chiefs last week.

Paul Gutierrez of CSNBayArea.com thinks the Dolphins making a coaching hire puts the pressure on the Raiders.

Ron Meeks is the leading candidate for the job as Chargers? defensive backs coach.

Cowboys LB Keith Brooking hopes that WR Dez Bryant doesn?t waste his talent.

Giants defensive backs credit group meetings for their improved play.

More questions about where the Eagles defense is going this offseason.

A trial date has been set for the man accused of shooting and killing Redskins S Sean Taylor.

A look at what Phil Emery might bring to the table as Bears general manager.

Does RB Kevin Smith have a future with the Lions?

Packers S Nick Collins will learn more about his future after a meeting with doctors in March.

USC T Ryan Kalil and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon are both candidates for the Vikings in the first round.

The Falcons signed RB Dimitri Nance to a futures contract.

It isn?t guaranteed that the Panthers will opt for a defensive player in the first round of the draft.

Looking back at Gregg Williams? run as defensive coordinator of the Saints.

Five players the Buccaneers should be watching at the Senior Bowl.

The Cardinals lost painful games to the Ravens and Giants, but managed a split with the 49ers.

Said Rams executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff of the team?s plans to play games in London the next three years, ?And our fans are going to have conspiracy theories and be skeptics of our intentions. But hopefully throughout this process, our actions about wanting to be here will speak for us.?

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh didn?t get a chance to hold a practice in rainy conditions.

The Seahawks did well in sudden change situations this season.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/21/rex-says-he-may-tone-it-down/related/

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Jury scheduled to return in war crime trial (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? Court proceedings were scheduled to reconvene Friday in the trial of a major Iraq war crimes case, after a military judge excused jurors for nearly two days and asked lawyers to explore their options.

The judge's actions fueled speculation that a plea deal was in the works that could end the trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., who led a squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

But defense attorney Neal Puckett told The Associated Press late Thursday that he expected a full day of testimony Friday, with a squad mate and a forensic scientist with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service expected to take the stand.

Wuterich led the squad that killed 24 Iraqis during raids on homes in the town of Haditha in 2005 after a roadside bomb killed one Marine. He faces nine counts of involuntary manslaughter, among other charges.

Puckett said prosecutors also will show outtakes from an interview that Wuterich gave in 2007 to CBS's "60 Minutes." The trial was delayed for years by pre-trial wrangling between the defense and prosecution, including over whether the military could use the unaired outtakes. Prosecutors eventually won the right to view the footage.

The all-Marine jury at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was excused after a lunch break Wednesday.

The judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, told lawyers after jurors left the room to explore their options. He called for the court to be back in session at 1 p.m. Thursday. But 30 minutes before then, military officials told reporters the jury had been informed not to come back until Friday morning.

Wuterich is one of eight Marines initially charged. None has been convicted.

Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was operating within military combat rules.

Prosecutors have argued Wuterich lost control of himself after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb.

The incident still fuels anger in Iraq today and was a main reason behind the country's demands that U.S. troops not be given immunity from its legal system. Those demands were the deal breaker in keeping forces there after the war ended in December.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Live-Blogging The Google Q4 2011 Earnings Call

We're live and listening....

A bunch of the execs are on. You can also follow along here....

Chief executive Larry Page (paraphrased): Good afternoon everyone. Google had a very strong quarter with revenue up 25% year over year...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/E87D_RU4yDg/

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