Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/181028943?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
College mascot's cell phone stolen during Belk Bowl, report states
CHARLOTTE, NC - Police say someone stole the cellphone of the NC State Wolfpack's mascot during the Belk Bowl Tuesday night.
Andrew White, 22, of Raleigh, said that someone removed his Blackberry Curve from the cheerleaders' locker room at Bank of America Stadium during the game, according to the incident report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
No other items were reported stolen.
White, originally from Wilson, is a business administration major at NC State, according to the school's athletics website.
Before college, White was a Chick-fil-A cow mascot.?
He wanted to follow in his Dad's footsteps in attending State, according to the site.
The phone is valued at $100.
Copyright 2011 WBTV. All rights reserved.
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North Korea vows no engagement with South's president
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea announced Friday that there would be no change in its policy under its new leader, Kim Jong Un, striking a characteristically hostile posture with a threat to punish President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea for "unforgivable sins."
The statement from the National Defense Commission, North Korea's highest decision-making body, marked the country's first official pronouncement to the outside world since the regime upheld Kim as its supreme leader Thursday. His elevation came a day after the state funeral of his father, the long-time dictator Kim Jong Il.
"We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," said the statement. "We will never deal with the traitor group of Lee Myung-bak."
The commission said it was "entrusted by the party, state and military" to issue the "principled stance." The statement was carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the regime's official mouthpiece to the outside world.
It directed its wrath at Lee, whose government refused to express official condolences to North Korea and allowed only two private delegations to visit Pyongyang during "the great funeral of the nation." It also criticized South Korea's move to place its military on heightened vigilance and conservative South Korean activists' launching of balloons that carried leaflets into the North.
By returning swiftly to its more typical bellicose form after two weeks of mourning, North Korea appeared to demonstrate a confidence that the transition of power in Pyongyang was going smoothly. But the strident rhetoric was also a sign that the regime, as it often has, was using perceived tensions with the outside world to rally its military and people behind the new leader during a sensitive transition.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_19649333?source=rss
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Friday, December 30, 2011
On Location: Inclusion Films Opens Doors In Hollywood - Latimes.com
latimesblogs.latimes.com:
Founded by Joey Travolta, older brother of actor John Travolta, Inclusion Films trains adults with developmental disabilities in the nuts and bolts of filmmaking -- from writing the script to building sets and using film and editing equipment -- with the goal of finding them jobs in the entertainment industry or some other field.
Students with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome are trained by working cinematographers, set designers, actors and other professionals who are active in the industry.
Read the whole story: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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State cuts to Medicaid affect patients, providers (AP)
ATLANTA ? Just as Medicaid prepares for a vast expansion under the federal health care overhaul, the 47-year-old entitlement program for the poor is under increasing pressure as deficit-burdened states chip away at benefits and cut payments to doctors.
Nearly every state has proposed or implemented a plan in its current budget to rein in costs, and many are considering additional cuts in the year ahead.
For the tens of millions of poor and disabled who rely on the program ? approaching nearly one in five Americans ? the cuts translate into longer waits for doctors, restrictions on prescription drugs, a halt to vision and dental care, staff cuts at nursing homes and dwindling access to home health care.
Ruth Wohlforth, 70, is among those feeling the effects.
Her $700 monthly income qualifies her for both Medicare and Medicaid, but she says her benefits have been reduced, she's being forced her to make co-pays for the first time on prescription drugs, and she now has to drive about 30 minutes from her home near the southern tip of New Jersey to see a doctor. Some of her friends have been assigned to doctors in Philadelphia.
She said she feels lawmakers are not aware of the real-world consequences of their spending cuts.
"I've seen so many people in tears, and they don't know what to do," Wohlforth said. "People that are older than I am, and are in worse shape, they get befuddled by the whole thing. They don't know where to go for help; they just feel they're not being listened to."
States are reshaping the Medicaid landscape even as the need has grown along with joblessness during the recession.
The $427 billion-a-year program, a combination of state and federal funding, also had been targeted for additional cuts at the federal level this year as members of Congress sparred over how to reduce the nation's debt. But funding seems safe for now after a special committee failed last month to reach an agreement on how to cut overall spending.
Already, many changes at the state level have been dramatic and are testing the legal bounds of what Medicaid must provide:
? Arizona, for a time, eliminated life-saving transplants for Medicaid patients, and hospital officials in the state blame at least one death on the halt in coverage. Gov. Jan Brewer restored transplants but is prohibiting thousands of low-income, childless adults from entering the program and has added fees on those who smoke and the obese.
? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is pushing a plan under which only the poorest would qualify. A parent of two making more than $103 per week would no longer be eligible for coverage.
? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether California has the right to continue cutting payments to physicians and other Medicaid providers to help close the state's ongoing budget deficit.
Cuts to provider fees, as in California, have been the most frequently used tactic by states to save Medicaid costs. A recent survey by the National Association of State Budget Officers found that 33 states wanted to reduce provider rates and another 16 sought to freeze them.
California was granted permission by federal officials to make broad cuts to reimbursement rates to its Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, in October. The cuts include a 10 percent reduction to payments for outpatient services for doctors, clinics, optometrists, dental services, medical equipment and pharmacy. They are intended to save the state an estimated $623 million.
A coalition of trade associations representing doctors, pharmacists and chain drug stores has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the cuts. Doctors who care for Medi-Cal patients say they already have been subjected to multiple pay cuts, and some say they no longer will be able to serve the state's neediest patients.
About 70 percent of Dr. Douglas Tolley's practice in Yuba County is covered by Medi-Cal. The 64-year-old obstetrician, who practices in a largely agricultural region about 40 minutes north of the state capital, said he is the old-school sort of doctor who "was brought up in a time when doctors took care of all comers."
Yet he has seen his income steadily drop over the last 18 years ? down one-third from what it was when he started.
"Everybody understands that doctors are basically small business people, and we have to meet our cost plus make a living." Tolley said. "Just meeting our cost doesn't mean staying in business."
Even more state cuts could be on the horizon. In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage recently proposed removing 65,000 residents from the program, citing a state Medicaid shortfall estimated to reach $221 million through mid-2013. The Republican governor says he will not consider tax increases to make up the difference.
State officials, who are required to balance their budgets, argue they have no choice but to cut into Medicaid after four straight years of budget deficits. With state and federal funds combined, Medicaid makes up 22 percent of total state spending, the largest single portion of most state budgets, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
Critics say the moves are shortsighted.
Joan Alker, co-executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said slashing Medicaid will not stop the sick from seeking care, sending them to emergency rooms and ultimately inflating private medical insurance premiums.
"At the end of the day, for the children, the individuals with disabilities, the seniors in nursing homes, their health care needs are not going to go away just because someone cuts the Medicaid program," Alker said.
Jerry Kemmer, a former Democratic state assemblyman in New York, said Medicaid has long been an issue lawmakers did not want to touch. Now, they simply have no choice.
"It's ballooned to the extent that it's just become a budget-buster," he said.
Six million people have joined the Medicaid rolls since the recession began in late 2007. Enrollment nationally topped 50 million for the first time in June 2010, a number that is projected to keep rising, especially as the nation's unemployment rate remains high.
Billions of dollars from the federal stimulus program helped avoid deep Medicaid cuts through the worst of the recession, but the last of that money dried up this year.
In Florida, Medicaid reimbursement rates were reduced this year by 12 percent for most hospitals, although rural and children's hospitals were cut just 3 percent, and rates for nursing homes were cut 6.5 percent.
But the start of the next legislative session in January already has some people worried about additional cuts.
Debra St. Fleur, 25, of Miami, is covered by Medicaid, along with her 1-year-old son. Many of her neighbors in the city's Little Haiti section are on Medicaid, too, and she worries what would happen if services continue to be eroded.
"It's really scary," she said. "If they can't get their medicine, what's going to happen? They're going to die."
The Obama administration is concerned enough about the widespread Medicaid provider cuts that it has introduced a rule that would make it harder for states to slash the rates. The move is designed to ensure that those eligible for Medicaid are not denied access due to a shortage of health care resources.
Medicaid reimbursement rates already trail those physicians receive for treating Medicare patients and those with private insurance. A study by the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change found that on, average, Medicaid would reimburse a doctor $39 for 45 minutes for a new patient hospital visit, compared to $63 for Medicare.
Physician groups say that has left more and more doctors declining to see Medicaid clients. Some providers are trying to find other ways to make up for the cuts.
In Columbia, S.C., Julie Ann Avin, executive director of the private, nonprofit Mental Illness Recovery Center Inc., has decided not to fill staff vacancies and also cut back on some rehab services because of Medicaid's new authorization process. The center serves about 650 people annually, close to 60 percent of whom are on Medicaid.
"We accept folks regardless," Avin said. "Everything that we do is not based just on a reimbursement."
Molly Collins Offner, director of policy development for the American Hospital Association, said emergency rooms must accept Medicaid clients, as well as those without insurance.
"More and more, you are seeing ER's becoming primary care docs," she said.
She said deep cuts rippling through the Medicaid system will only exacerbate that.
___
Associated Press writers Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J., Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles and Matt Sedensky in Miami contributed to this report.
___
Follow Shannon McCaffrey at http://www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Video: Android 4.0 Hacked Onto The Kindle Fire
You wanted an Android tablet for Christmas... and you got one! Alas, it's a Kindle Fire. Whoops! While the Fire is technically well within the realm of "Android tablet" (and a mighty fine tablet, for the price), it's not quite the tried-and-true vanilla Android experience you were looking for. Wait! Don't go requesting that return label just yet: if a gang of goodhearted hackers have their way, Amazon's wonderfully wallet-friendly tablet will be running the latest builds of straight-up Android (as in Ice Cream Sandwich) before too long. In fact, they've (sort of) already got it working.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NBmqAD7CWeI/
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Iraq agrees to move Iran exiles; rockets hit camp (AP)
BAGHDAD ? The United Nations and the Iraqi government agreed to relocate several thousand Iranian exiles living in a camp in northeastern Iraq, potentially averting a showdown with its residents. The dissidents, who have not said whether they would agree to move, reported a rocket attack on the camp.
The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, one-time allies of Saddam Hussein in a common fight against Iran, said Katyusha rockets struck near housing units inside the camp on Sunday night, but did not report any casualties.
A representative of the camp's residents said Monday they were still waiting to see the agreement before commenting on whether they would decide to relocate or not.
"We hope that it would officially include the minimum assurances so that it would be acceptable to Ashraf residents," said Shahin Gobadi. "Ashraf residents have repeatedly emphasized that they would in no way accept forcible relocation."
Since Saddam's overthrow, Iraq's new leaders have improved relations with Iran and have sought to shut down the camp, home to 3,400 residents and located in barren terrain northeast of Baghdad about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Iranian border. The U.N. reported that at least 34 people were killed in a raid by Iraqi government forces in April.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq announced an agreement Sunday night that establishes a process to move the residents of Camp Ashraf to a temporary location. It did not give a timeline for the move or specify the new location.
A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the residents would be moved to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport.
At Camp Liberty, the U.N.'s refugee agency will interview the residents to determine their eligibility to get refugee status, before they can eventually be resettled in third countries, Clinton said.
"We are encouraged by the Iraqi government's willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities," she said in the statement. "To be successful, this resettlement must also have the full support of the camp's residents, and we urge them to work with the U.N. to implement this relocation."
The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran first moved to Camp Ashraf during the regime of Saddam, who saw the group as a convenient ally against Tehran. The group is committed to the overthrow of the Iranian regime.
The group carried out a series of bombings and assassinations against Iran's clerical regime in the 1980s and fought alongside Saddam's forces in the Iran-Iraq war. But the group says it renounced violence in 2001. U.S. soldiers disarmed them during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been determined to close down the camp by the end of December. His government considers the camp as an affront to Iraq's sovereignty.
Last week, an Iraqi government spokesman said the government was working out a solution to the situation at Camp Ashraf with the U.N. and would allow the camp to stay open into January as residents are being relocated. At the time, representatives of the residents suggested they would be willing to move, as long as their security was provided for.
Under the agreement outlined by the U.N., the international organization will monitor the relocation process and then a team from the U.N.'s refugee agency will be deployed at the new location to process the refugee claims.
Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will also visit regularly, the State Department said.
The Iraqi government will be responsible for the exiles' safety during that time, and will have a liaison officer from the Ministry of Human Rights involved in the relocation, the U.N. said.
"I would like to highlight that the government is exclusively responsible for the safety and security of the residents both during their transfer and in the new location until they leave the country," said Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq.
The Iraqi government's vow to close Camp Ashraf had raised concerns that forcibly removing its residents would result in violence.
The People's Mujahedeen has been branded a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, a designation now under review by the State Department. It has been removed from similar blacklists in Europe.
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E&Y audit panel says no violations in Olympus handover (Reuters)
TOKYO (Reuters) ? A panel reviewing the auditing of Olympus Corp after its $1.7 billion accounting scandal said it had so far not found any problems with the work of Ernst & Young's Japanese arm and questioned the accuracy of a separate investigation critical of auditors.
But the panel, set up by Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC earlier this month, acknowledged that its powers of investigation were limited. The hurdles include an inability to question prior auditor, KMPG AZSA LLC, which does not want to participate in the probe.
"We face certain limitations," Nobuo Gohara, a lawyer and leading member of the panel, told a briefing to give an update on an investigation it is aiming to complete by February. "We are not at the stage where everything is clear."
Ernst & Young formed the panel to respond to criticism of auditors in a separate investigation by an Olympus-appointed panel this month that outlined how a handful of Olympus executives orchestrated the decades-long accounting scam.
The Olympus-appointed panel highlighted two issues in the auditing process. It questioned whether the handoff from KPMG to Ernst & Young in 2009 was thorough and whether it was appropriate for Olympus to book as goodwill preferred shares used to pay a massive M&A advisory fee now known to be central to the scandal.
The Ernst & Young-appointed panel said the handover was handled in accordance with accounting regulations that stipulate what questions must be asked and answered about why the switch is taking place. But it has not determined if Ernst & Young did enough to follow up on red flags.
"We have found no problems with the handover in terms of the guidelines," said Toshifumi Takada, an auditing professor at Tohoku University and panel member. "But we need to make further checks to see if more should have been done."
Gohara raised questions about the thoroughness and accuracy of the Olympus-appointed panel's report. Among other things he said Ernst & Young was questioned only twice for two-hour sessions each and he could not verify that a meeting between the two auditors detailed in the report took place.
"I have doubts about the accuracy of certain parts of the report," said Gohara, who grabbed headlines earlier this year when he led an investigation into a scandal at Kyushu Electric and publicly challenged the utility for revising his report.
Ernst & Young and KPMG both face possible sanctions by the country's accounting industry body and financial regulator, which have launched probes into the matter.
In a statement, KPMG AZSA said it handled the handover with Ernst & Young in accordance with regulations and that it was cooperating with an investigation by the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants announced by the industry body last month.
A severe penalty would deal a heavy blow to the industry, which is still reeling from a series of scandals that led to a two-month suspension of ChuoAoyama Pricewaterhouse Coopers in 2006 and the disbanding of its successor firm in 2007.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Michael Watson, Matt Driskill and Vinu Pilakkott)
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Fred Barnes: The GOP's Answer to Union Money
By FRED BARNES
When Steven Law was deputy secretary of labor in the George W. Bush administration, he routinely scrutinized the disclosure forms of labor unions. Unions had recently been required to report new details about how they spent their members' dues money. Mr. Law discovered that organized labor was contributing millions to a variety of liberal groups?environmentalists, gay-rights advocates and left-wing blogs, among others.
For Mr. Law, it was a revelation and a lesson. He concluded that the labor movement had enlarged and strengthened the coalition that helped produce Democratic landslides in 2006 and 2008.
Now, as president and CEO of the independent pro-Republican group American Crossroads (AC), Mr. Law is preparing to fund seven or eight conservative organizations and create a broad front of support for Republican candidates in 2012. As a trial run, AC gave $3.7 million to the National Federation of Independent Business, $4 million to Americans for Tax Reform, and $1.5 million to the Republican State Leadership Committee in last year's midterm election campaign. Republicans won a massive victory, and Mr. Law decided it was money well spent.
"Funding the right," as AC calls it, isn't the only political tactic Republicans are swiping from Democrats for use next year. Another is focusing on early voting in the weeks before Election Day, a tactic that helped Democrats capture both houses of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008. AC tested an early-voting operation in a special House election in Nevada in September. Republican Mark Amodei won a majority of early voters and was elected handily.
The organization has also embraced two other tactics that have been applied more effectively by Democrats in recent elections than by Republicans. One is "stretching the battlefield," as a Republican consultant describes it, to make the Republican presidential candidate competitive in normally Democratic states?Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, for example. The other would expand the issue environment by raising subjects, such as the Solyndra solar-subsidy scandal, that voters may have heard of but failed to understand.
American Crossroads is an "independent expenditure" group or "super PAC" which operates as a tax-exempt organization under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. It is committed to boosting Republican candidates, mostly with TV ads, but it is legally barred from coordinating directly with their campaigns. It has an all-star team of unpaid advisers including former George W. Bush aides Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
Its goal in 2012?and the goal of Republicans in general?is parity with Democrats in campaign spending. That would be no small feat, as Democrats have gained a significant edge in recent elections, and overall Democrats and pro-Democratic groups remain in the lead. Yet parity appears achievable.
Mr. Obama raised $751 million in the 2007-2008 cycle. For 2011-2012, the president and the Democratic National Committee have a goal of $1 billion. More likely his campaign will have to settle for roughly $700 million to $750 million. This is due in part to a decline in wealthy donors.
Meanwhile, a pro-Obama group, Priorities USA, is off to a slow start in reaching its goal of $100 million. Run by Bill Burton, formerly a White House spokesman for Mr. Obama, it was designed as a Democratic version of American Crossroads. But it lacks the fund-raising prowess supplied by AC's big guns like Messrs. Rove and Barbour.
In contrast, AC, which spent $71 million in the 2010 campaign, is well on its way to collecting $300 million in cash and pledges. And because it has overhead of roughly 1%, nearly all the money will be spent on campaigns.
One of its biggest tasks in 2012 will be to protect the eventual Republican presidential candidate from being demonized by the Obama campaign. The fear is that the GOP nominee, having exhausted his own funds during the primary season, would be helpless against a wave of attack ads by the Obama campaign in the months before the GOP convention in August. Absent a full-blown counterattack, the candidate could fall behind by an insurmountable margin.
American Crossroads is prepared to fill the gap and spend millions of dollars on a TV blitz defending the Republican candidate and criticizing Mr. Obama to ensure that "the candidate remains viable," as a Republican operative told me. Then, in the final weeks of the campaign, AC aims to help nullify the usual Democratic advantage. That's when Democrats spend the most. Creating a balance in late spending is included in AC's playbook.
AC won't be alone in all this. The group is part of the Weaver Terrace Group, named for the location of Mr. Rove's residence (although he's since moved) where two dozen groups gathered last year to share their plans for the midterm election. Now they convene monthly in Mr. Law's office in downtown Washington.
AC will concentrate on the presidential race and a few tight House and Senate contests. The American Action Network, which was active in the 2010 campaign, is targeting House races. The new Young Guns political action committee plans to support Republican House candidates. Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch brothers, stirs grass-roots activism.
A participant in the Weaver Terrace sessions describes them as "a meeting of equals." AC is not in charge, but its leaders have the highest profile. First as a Washington operative, then as head of the Republican Governors Association, Mr. Barbour was renowned for his fund-raising ability.
Federal election law prohibits the Republican National Committee (or, for that matter, the GOP nominee's campaign) from having any involvement with independent expenditure groups such as American Crossroads or the American Action Network. The RNC, rather, has the traditional role of providing the indispensable "ground game." It funds state Republican parties, conducts voter-registration drives, works closely with the presidential nominee's campaign, and organizes the 72-hour plan to get voters to polls on Election Day.
American Crossroads and its allies are the critical new players in the Republican campaign. Their coalition didn't exist during the 2008 presidential race. In 2012, they'll have a huge impact and not only on individual races. Labor unions, by bonding with liberal groups, have moved the country to the left. Pro-Republican groups like AC hope to move America to the right.
Mr. Barnes is executive editor of the Weekly Standard and a commentator on Fox News Channel.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577118421897506502.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Knicks edge Celtics 106-104 on Anthony foul shots (AP)
NEW YORK ? Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks know it will never be easy against the Celtics.
Not beating them in one game, and certainly not beating them for a division title.
But pulling out the kind of nail biter that's long gone Boston's way in this rivalry only reinforced the Knicks' belief that they can do it ? and even the Celtics see a difference.
Anthony scored 37 points, including a pair of free throws with the game tied and 16 seconds left, and New York survived a seesaw season opener Sunday to edge the Celtics 106-104.
"Most importantly for us, as a new team, we showed something," Anthony said. "We came together as a team. Even when we got down, there wasn't no frowns. Nobody was down. Mentally everybody was still up about it, and we willed our way to this win."
Amare Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas had 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling Christmas victory in the delayed opener to the 2011-12 season. Tyson Chandler blocked six shots in his Knicks debut.
Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce. But Kevin Garnett missed a jumper just before the buzzer, the kind of shot Boston always seems to make against the Knicks.
"They seem to have a little swag and confidence behind them," Garnett said. "It's good for the city. It's good for the Knicks. I'm going to see how consistent they are with that, but for the most part Carmelo played really well."
Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds in his Celtics debut, and Ray Allen added 20 points.
Garnett finished with 15 points. He and Allen had a sleepy Christmas start, with Rondo keeping the Celtics in the game until they got going in the second half.
"I thought we were as soft as you could be in the first quarter and then I thought we joined in to the 2011-12 season, and from that point on I was pretty happy with the way we played," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought we competed well."
But it wasn't enough against the Knicks, who withstood a costly knee injury to first-round pick Iman Shumpert to beat the team that swept them out of the first round of last season's playoffs. Shumpert will miss two to four weeks with a sprained right knee ligament.
Pierce has a bruised right heel but hopes he can return Tuesday when the Celtics visit the Miami Heat.
Even without him, the Celtics fought back to tie it at 69 on Rondo's layup midway through the third quarter. They surged ahead by eight going into the final period after Bass scored the final six points, then extended it to 89-79 on Bass' jumper to open the fourth.
Anthony, who scored 20 in the second half, tied the game at 100 on a 3-pointer with 3:25 to play. It stayed tight until he was fouled on a drive with 16.3 seconds left, making both for a 106-104 lead. Rondo grabbed the rebound of Marquis Daniels' potential go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Celtics a final chance, but Garnett was off on his jumper, then appeared to shove the Knicks' Bill Walker away.
Coming off their first winning season in a decade, the Knicks added a defensive presence by signing Chandler away from the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and have loftier expectations than they've seen in years. The original NBA schedule had them opening against Miami, but instead they got a chance to see if they've closed the gap against Boston.
"I think we wanted to come out and set the tone early," Stoudemire said. "It's a long year but this game was very important for us to get off to a great start."
Though the Celtics won all eight meetings last season, the Knicks have been listed some places as the favorites in the Atlantic Division, which the Celtics have ruled since their Big Three came together in 2007.
"Everybody knows how optimism kicks in before the season starts, but then once reality sets in after the first month of the season, we'll see," Pierce said before the game. "But it's definitely a possibility. I mean, they have the talent, but we have the talent, too."
But the Knicks will be without newcomer Baron Davis for a few weeks because of a herniated disc in his back, and now Shumpert is out, leaving little depth in the backcourt.
The Knicks led 49-32 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half before the Celtics cut it to 62-52 at halftime.
The first game since renovations began at Madison Square Garden included the usual cast of celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Chris Rock and John McEnroe, and some new confusion, as at least one Celtics player had to ask how to get to the court from the new visitors' locker room.
Notes: Rivers said Pierce may come off the bench when he does return, since he's had only one practice so far. ... The Knicks were without Mike Bibby, who dressed but didn't play because of a sore back. Reserve Jared Jeffries was lost during the game to a sore right calf and will miss a week or two. ... Stoudemire provided pregame breakfast to MSG staff in appreciation of the support in his first season with the team.
___
Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney
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Golf Fitness For Better Clubhead Speed And Powerful Swings
?How To Increase Power And Strength To Golf Swings
All golfers whether professionals or amateurs know that they have to develop powerful swings to be good at the game. The ability of having good driving distances is an integral part of any golf game and should be the aim of all golfers. Improving the driving distance off the tee or with any golf club requires increased clubhead speed. Clubhead speed is derived from the power in your golf swings and thus increasing the power in your golf swing will improve your clubhead speed. So how can we...
?Improve Golf Swing With Golf Fitness Training
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?How To Have Powerful Golf Swing
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?Do You Need a Golf Fitness Instructor
It is sheer common sense that you have to have a certain level of physical fitness in order to participate in any sporting activities. Then playing a good game of enjoyable golf is certainly no exception. There is still this outdated thinking that you can play a good game of golf without being fit which is at best, uninformed history. You are at a great disadvantage if you are unfit and your opponent is and you can bet most likely that you will not be the one winning the beautiful game. You...
?How To Prevent Lower Back Golf Injuries
One of the most common injuries golfers can sustain is the lower back injury. This is because playing a game of golf puts massive of strains on the lower back. The strains are caused by the execution body mechanics of the golf swing. The execution of the golf swing alone puts the lower back under immense shearing forces on each and every golf swing. Thus the muscles of the lower back must be strong enough to withstand the forces applied to the lower back. Your muscles are under stress from all...
?How To Avoid Golf Injuries
You are such a good golf player and you are destined to win your local hole in one to grab that fantastic prize on offer from golf competitions! So you go to the golf course everyday to practise your driving, putting and swinging skills everyday. That the unexpected happened! When you were executing your most elegant and powerful swing ever, you heard a loud pop followed by an excruciating pain in your lower back which forced you to abandon the game you were enjoying so much. Welcome to the...
?What Are the Benefits of Playing Golf
Fed up of going to the gym every other day to keep fit and healthy? Well, have a game of golf then. Do you know that playing golf regularly not only improves your physical health, but mental well being too? Golf is an excellent game to lose weight and tone up your muscles and you can do this leisurely instead of spending hours after hours of gruelling cardio exercises and going on one brutal diet after another. If you care about your health and fitness but dislike working out in a gym, then...
?Want More Clients For Your Personal Trainer Business
How many fitness personal trainers do you know who have a bulging tummy, flabby butt, a little arm muscles with scanty knowledge and skills required of a professional fitness personal trainer and yet they are very successful personal trainers? Some of these fitness trainers probably do not even have a qualified personal trainer certification not to say a string of qualifications. I am sure that you have met a few of them if you are in the personal training industry. Why do people trust these...
?How Playing Golf Can Help You Lose Weight
You can burn alot of calories and lose weight by playing golf, announced Dr Neil Wolkodoff PhD, a sports scientist and director of the Rose Center for Health and Sports Sciences in Denver, Colorado who conducted the study. So what is new, you may ask, since all golfers already knew that getting out there on the golf courses, swinging the clubs and walking through undulating terrain throughout the game is more than just a leisurely stroll in the neighborhood. Of course we already knew that...
?Liposuction Or Mesotherapy For Spot Reduction Weight Loss
Go ask any fitness personal trainer that you want to reduce fat on your tummy or your butt, these fitness instructors will unanimously tell you that there is no such thing as spot reduction. Well, they are correct in a way because by dieting and exercising, fat will come off from all over your body and not on selected body parts. However, let it be known that there are spot reduction methods and procedures.It is only because these spot reduction procedures are out of the realm of fitness...
Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.com/sports.php/339312
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Monday, December 26, 2011
Police: Gunman in murder-suicide dressed as Santa (AP)
GRAPEVINE, Texas ? Six members of a Texas family apparently opened Christmas presents just before a relative dressed as Santa Claus showed up, opened fire and killed them before killing himself, police said Monday.
Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling said the shooter showed up in the Santa outfit shortly before gunfire erupted and was a member of the family. The identity of the shooter and the victims will be released after autopsies are conducted Monday, he said.
Police went to the apartment midday Sunday after receiving a 911 call in which no one was on the other line. They found four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, dead. A motive for the shootings remains unclear.
Investigators worked overnight, meticulously searching the apartment, along with three vehicles parked outside.
"It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling said Sunday, adding that the apartment was decorated for the holiday, including a tree.
Two handguns were found near the bodies, and it appears all died of gunshot wounds, he said.
Grapevine Police Lt. Todd Dearing said investigators believe that the victims were related, though some were visiting and didn't live in the apartment. He said police are looking for other relatives to inform of the deaths.
"Seven people in one setting in Grapevine, that's never happened before. Ever," Dearing said.
Police and firefighters first rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex after receiving the open-ended 911 call at about 11:30 a.m., Eberling said.
"There was an open line. No one was saying anything," he explained.
So police went into the apartment, located in the middle-class neighborhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville. The apartment was at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School.
Many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbors reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.
Jose Fernandez, a 35-year-old heavy equipment mechanic who moved to the complex with his family about six months ago, said he always felt safe in the area, but is now afraid to let his 10-year-old son play freely outside.
"This is really outrageous especially on Christmas," said Fernandez, who was visiting family for the holiday and returned to find several police cars parked outside his home.
"This has shocked everybody. It has scared everybody. I guess something like this can happen anywhere, but seven people dead. It's just very scary," he added.
Eberling agreed the area is fairly quiet, saying the shootings involved the first homicides in Grapevine since 2010.
Christy Posch, a flight attendant who moved to the complex about six months ago so her son could attend the high school, said she lives a few buildings away and did not hear any gunshots.
"It's all families. That's why I moved here. No burglaries, no nothing," Posch said.
___
Associated Press writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston contributed to this report.
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knowledgeequalsblackpower: Mathematics in Ancient Africa Rarely...
Mathematics in Ancient Africa
Rarely do historians discuss mathematics in Africa, and when they do, they only discuss it in Egypt and Northern Africa.
However, the oldest mathematical objects in the world have been found in sub-Saharan?Africa.?
The picture is of Ishango bones. They were found near Lake Edward on the borders of Uganda and Zaire and are estimated to be 25,000 years old.
At one end of the Ishango Bone is a piece of quartz for writing, and the bone has a series of notches carved in groups (shown above). It was first thought these notches were some kind of tally marks as found to record counts all over the world. However, the Ishango bone appears to be much more than a simple tally. The markings on rows (a) and (b) each add to 60. Row (b) contains the prime numbers between 10 and 20. Row (a) is quite consistent with a numeration system based on 10, since the notches are grouped as 20 + 1, 20 - 1, 10 + 1, and 10 - 1. Finally, row (c) seems to illustrate for the method of duplication (multiplication by 2) used more recently in?Egyptian multiplication. Recent studies with microscopes illustrate more markings and it is now understood the bone is also a lunar phase counter. Who but a woman keeping track of her cycles would need a lunar calendar? Were women our first mathematicians?
Considering that I?ve heard an argument that women were the first?agriculturists/farmers because men were out hunting, I think, because of the same reason, it is reasonable to assume that women created this tool.
(via university at buffalo)
Source: http://viviano.tumblr.com/post/14692624765
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
skooloflife: How To Build A Tribe On Twitter http://t.co/xyslfJAx
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Rocky Jay Vipond, 63, Uvalde, Texas
Rocky was born on November 30, 1948 and passed away on Tuesday, December 20, 2011.
Rocky was a resident of Uvalde, Texas at the time of his passing.
He is survived by his wife Susan.
Family visitation will be from 5:00-7:00 PM on Thursday, December 22, 2011 at Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary. Graveside services will be held on Friday, December 23, 2011 at 9:45 AM at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, TX.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to University Health System Foundation, 903 W. Martin, MS-1-2, San Antonio, TX 78207 or Pennys From Heaven Foundation, 13423 Blanco Rd., Suite 218, San Antonio, TX 78216.
Source: http://kens5.tributes.com/show/Rocky-Jay-Vipond-92976976
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Oil spill claims audit a go
Oil spill claims audit a go
Federal officials named an international consulting company Wednesday to conduct an independent audit of the fund created to compensate people and businesses for money lost because of last year's BP
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Source: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20111222/NEWS/112220337/1001/RSS01
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Maximum PC | Gamers, Start Your Engines! 6 Top Gaming Engines ...
A brief look under the hood of the top engines driving today's PC games
If this year's crop of rocky video game launches has taught us anything, it's that coding video games is hard. Sit through the 30 minute scroll that passes itself off as a credits screen these days and you'll see just how many moving parts go into making today's games. With gigabytes of art assets to create, pages of story to write, hours of dialogue and sound to record, a tangled web of complex behaviors to script, and, oh yeah, actual levels and gameplay to design, one thing is clear: making games isn't all fun and games.
Yet despite the ever-increasing complexity, the creation process is more streamlined than ever. Why? Licensable game engines, tools, and middleware. From specular maps to dynamic shadows, high dynamic range rendering to cloth simulation, from pathfinding to AI reaction behavior, game engines take care of all the nitty-gritty graphical and scripting groundwork and provide a solid (hopefully) codebase for our beloved games. And just like you wouldn't throw a HEMI into a Smart Car, or a power-saving hybrid into a monster truck, knowing which engines excel at which tasks is crucial. So here's a quick look at a cool dozen?a V12, if you will?of the biggest engines and middleware tools in use today.
Source
The Skinny: Developed by Valve Corporation, 2004; Written in C++; Proprietary but fully licensable with downloadable SDK and mod tools
You Know it From: Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, Portal 1 & 2, Garry's Mod, Xenoclash, et. al.
The Lowdown: We?ll start at the Source, the Source Engine, that is. An oldie but a goodie, the Source Engine debuted in 2004 with Half-Life 2, but its roots go back even farther. In fact, like many 3D engines, its origin goes all the way back to the Quake 1 engine, also known as Id Tech 1. From Id Tech 1 sprung a plethora of engines, including Valve's heavily modified GoldSrc (or GoldSource) engine, which powered the original Half-Life. The engine has since been extensively updated, revamped, and rewritten, but Source is still technically built on its GoldSrc roots, and, ostensibly, on 1996 Quake-era technology.
Though the Gold has been dropped from the name, the Source Engine has still been gold for Valve (That's Gold, Valve! Gold!!): Since its initial release it has become the sole development engine for Valve, and has been featured in all Valve releases. Now clearly showing its age, constant SDK and library updates have kept Source surprisingly relevant, and even their latest games, such as Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, and the upcoming DOTA 2 continue to run on Source.
Strengths: Source's main strength is its extreme scalability. With a full array of lighting, shading, and animation tools, and fairly good multi-processor support, it delivers high-fidelity graphics and surprisingly detailed particle and radiosity effects even on low-end PCs?even the XBox 360. Source's relatively small footprint and its integration with Steam and Valve servers make it a natural for online multiplayer development as well.
Its skeletal and facial musculature systems make it easy to create lifelike characters with expressive emotions and believable lip-synching. The animation and reverse kinematic tools still provide impressively realistic behavior and character/environment interaction with less clipping than many other newer engines. These qualities make the Source engine ideal for cinematic applications like machinima.
Garry's Mod, a popular Source-based sandbox modding tool shows off the um?realism?of Source's facial animation capabilities.
While not an open source engine, multiple SDK builds, modding tools, level, animation, and camera editors are freely available for distribution and (non-profit) development. And the Valve Developers' Community represents a massive online knowledge base and resource for developers and modders.
Weaknesses: As we mentioned, Source is old itself and based on even older source code. As such, most of its shortcomings derive from its paleolithic status. There's no native support for DirectX11 features, and it only supports up to Shader Model 3.0. As with many legacy engines, Source's corridor-based shooter roots lead it to struggle with large open areas and long draw distances. The end result is somewhat flatter, starker looking games. Games with strong art direction based on clean, crisp and simple graphics (like Portal 2 and Team Fortress 2) work well in the engine, but games with more realistic characters, more organic environments, and more interactible characters and terrain are impossible with the engine's polygon, texture mesh, and lighting limitations.
Another weakness of the engine is on the development side, where its outdated toolsets are purportedly extremely difficult to work with. Also, due to the age of the engine, multiple non-compatible builds of the SDK and the tools are available, which can complicate things.
Coming Soon: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2
Id Tech 5
The Skinny: Developed by id Software; announced 2007, released 2011; Zenimax proprietary engine, not licensable
You Know it From: RAGE
The Lowdown: Though Source may be part of the Quake/Id Tech extended family, Id Tech 5 is the direct descendant in id Software's line of 3D engines. Ironically enough however, despite sharing a name and much of the same development team, Id Tech 5 has far less in common with its mid-90s ancestor than Source. The brainchild of graphics pipeline mad scientist John Carmack, Id Tech 5 uses a number of novel ideas such as the MegaTexture and Virtual Texturing.
It?s hard to judge an engine based solely on one game, but RAGE was a strong showing for the rookie engine. Despite Id Tech 5 being in its infancy as far as released products are concerned, the ever-forward thinking Carmack and team already have their sights set on Id Tech 6, which is purported to use innovative texel and voxel techniques, including implementation of Sparse Voxel Octree.
Strengths: The primary talking point in Id Tech 5 is its use of the MegaTexture, first developed as an add-on technology for the previous Id Tech 4 engine. The idea is simple, instead of having smaller individual textures, the MegaTexture is one giant texture space used for terrain. Using one large texture space and pulling only the appropriate texture data for a given area allows Id Tech 5 to use VRAM far more efficiently, and doesn't waste cache and processing in repeating textures. The technology also supports ridiculously high-res texture maps of 128,000x128,000 pixels whereas the "HD" textures in most other engines top out at 4096x4096.
Unapologetically developed with console performance in mind, RAGE and Id Tech 5 perform amazingly even on dated console hardware. The engine focuses on smoothness of gameplay and high framerate, and its default performance options prioritize maintaining as close to 60fps at all times as is possible. Long draw distances and strong performance even in large open areas and during intense onscreen action make RAGE look wonderful in motion, and it's probably the best-looking console game on the market at the moment.
Weaknesses: The MegaTexture giveth and the MegaTexture taketh away. Despite being the engine's most touted strength, the one glaring weakness with Id Tech 5 is texture pop-in. MAJOR texture pop-in. Though patches and driver updates since launch have removed many of RAGE's most damning performance issues, PCs with slower hard drives and less VRAM still display some truly unacceptable texture load-in issues when changing direction quickly in the game's open areas.
The engine's focus on smooth framerate is yet another double-edged sword. In order to maintain high framerates, visual sharpness and clarity can take occasional hits, not all that noticeable on consoles, but extremely noticeable on the PC. Also, despite the gaudy texture sizes supported by the engine, RAGE was plagued by inconsistent texture quality, detail, and resolution.
Id Tech 5 looks great in motion, but a keen eye will notice blurry low-res textures along the outer edge of the screen.
Id Tech 5's other main weakness is its proprietary status. While John Carmack has expressed a desire for Id Tech 5 to become not just licensable, but open source (all other previous id software engines now are), parent company Zenimax has stated that Id Tech 5 will remain a proprietary engine. We may hope for a Fallout 4 using Id Tech 5 (Zenimax is also the parent company of Fallout developer Bethesda), but id and Zenimax have remained mostly silent about the future availability of the engine.
Coming Soon: Doom 4
Source: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/gamers_start_your_engines_6_top_gaming_engines_face
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Isentress Approval Expanded to Include Children and Teens (HealthDay)
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Approval for the HIV drug Isentress (raltegravir) has been expanded to include children and adolescents ages 2-18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
The drug is an integrase strand transfer inhibitor that helps slow the spread of the AIDS-causing virus throughout the body, the agency said in a news release. It was first approved for adults in October 2007.
The twice-daily pill is available in a chewable form for people aged 2 to 11, and in non-chewable form. Clinical testing of the drug among 96 children and teens with HIV-1 infection showed 53 percent of patients had undetectable blood HIV levels after 24 weeks, the FDA said.
The most common reported side effects of Isentress included trouble sleeping and headache.
The drug does not cure HIV infection, and patients must take Isentress continually to ensure ongoing reduction in HIV-related illness, the FDA stressed.
The drug is produced by Merck & Co., based in Whitehouse Station, N.J.
More information
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about HIV/AIDS.
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Kim Kardashian thinks her family reality shows could go on ?for years?
The 31-year-old socialite thinks her teenage siblings Kylie and Kendall Jenner will play more prominent roles in programmes such as ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ and other spin-offs but believes there will always be a place for her and her other siblings. She told the Hollywood Reporter: “These shows could really go on for years. [...]
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Thousands protest China town's planned coal plant (AP)
BEIJING ? Thousands of people besieged a government office in a southern Chinese town Tuesday and blocked a highway to demand a halt to a planned coal-fired power plant because of concerns about pollution, protesters said.
Riot police used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters at the highway in the town of Haimen in Guangdong province, and the demonstrators hurled rocks, water bottles and bricks in return, said one of the protesters, a 27-year-old man surnamed Chen.
It is the second major protest in two weeks in a corner of coastal southern China that has been seeing periodic unrest over the last few years, primarily over land disputes. In much of Guangdong province, conflicts have been intense because the area is among China's most economically developed, pushing up land prices.
In Wukan, a village to the southwest of Haimen, protesters drove local authorities from the area nearly two weeks ago over a land dispute. Wukan protesters reached by phone Tuesday said plans for a large march on a nearby government office on Wednesday would go ahead.
In Haimen, some protesters clashed with police, leaving dozens hurt including women and police. Some in the crowd speculated that one man who was lying on the ground bleeding from his head had died, but that could not be confirmed, Chen said.
"We don't have any weapons, only mineral water bottles and we threw them at the police but the police were using batons to beat people up," Chen said in a phone interview. He estimated that around 20,000 people participated in the demonstration.
The protesters had first gathered in the morning at the office of the Haimen government and demanded a meeting with the township party secretary, Chen said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Haimen government office said the protesters had left and then hung up.
The protesters think that an existing coal-fired power plant has contributed to what they say is a spike in cancer cases and heavy pollution in the seas, a serious problem for a town where fishing is a source of livelihood.
"People are worried about the pollution that will be released by the (new) power plant," said Wang Xiebo, a fisherman reached by phone.
Another protester, a man surnamed Yang, provided a similar account of the protest and subsequent clash.
"Two or three of us fainted on the ground when they fired tear gas at us," Yang said. "The government offended us again and again by trying to build a power plant. This is going to affect our future generations. They still need to live," Yang said.
Photos circulating on China's popular Twitter-like microblog Weibo showed a crowd of protesters amassed at a large government building and then at a highway, as well as riot police with plastic shields and helmets lined up in tight rows. Some photos showed protesters and police injured and bleeding.
After three decades of laxly regulated industrialization, China is seeing a surge in protests over such environmental worries.
In September, hundreds of villagers in an eastern Chinese city near Shanghai demonstrated against pollution they blamed on a solar panel factory. In August, 12,000 residents in the northeastern port city of Dalian protested against a chemical plant after waves from a tropical storm broke a dike guarding the plant and raised fears that flood waters could release toxic chemicals.
___
Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gillianwong
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Man United to face Ajax in Europa League
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
updated 7:53 a.m. ET Dec. 16, 2011
NYON, Switzerland - Former European champions Manchester United and Ajax will meet in the last 32 of the Europa League.
The two were drawn to face each other Friday.
Defending champion FC Porto will take on Manchester City, while 2010 Europa League champion Atletico Madrid will face Lazio.
In other matches, it's: Stoke vs. Valencia; Udinese vs. PAOK; and Locomotiv Moscow vs. Athletic Bilbao.
The first legs will be played Feb. 16, with the return matches scheduled for Feb. 23.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsAFP - Getty ImagesMan City stays in front
Manchester City's expensively assembled squad showed Sunday that it may have the character as well as the talent necessary to win the Premier League, beating Arsenal 1-0 to stay on top.
Chelsea slips
Euro roundup: Chelsea missed a chance to put pressure on the two Manchester clubs at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, yielding a goal with two minutes left in a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Wigan.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45695539/ns/sports-soccer/
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Remembering Christopher Hitchens (The Week)
New York ? The vaunted intellectual and contrarian charmer has died at the age of 62 after battling esophageal cancer
On Thursday, prolific polemicist Christopher Hitchens died from complications of esophageal cancer. He was 62. A Vanity Fair contributing editor, Slate columnist, and regular essayist for The Atlantic, Hitchens was the author of numerous books, including the 2007 bestseller God Is Not Great. He was known for his sharp wit, avowed atheism, love of the drink, and contrarian stance on subjects ranging from Mother Theresa (against) to the Iraq war (for). Today, colleagues, friends, fellow writers, and world leaders are remembering the late great. Here, a sampling:
His editors
"He was a man of insatiable appetites ? for cigarettes, for scotch, for company, for great writing, and, above all, for conversation," says Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter. "That he had an output to equal what he took in was the miracle in the man. You'd be hard-pressed to find a writer who could match the volume of exquisitely crafted columns, essays, articles, and books he produced over the past four decades."
SEE ALSO: The Korean apartments that look like exploding Twin Towers
?
"Editing Christopher Hitchens... was the easiest job in journalism," says June Thomas at Slate. "He had a prodigious memory... Shortly after the news of Sen. Larry Craig's arrest in an airport men's room broke, Hitchens filed the piece that for me best exemplifies the breadth of his interests and the completeness of his recall ? it contained quotes from an obscure academic work, recollections of hilariously profane bathroom graffiti, remembered conversations with British politicians, and lines of satirical verse published decades earlier."
"Like his hero, Orwell, Christopher prized bravery above all other qualities ? and in particular the bravery required for unflinching honesty," says Benjamin Schwarz at The Atlantic. "This most intellectual of men valued intelligence, but valued courage far more ? or rather, he believed that true intellect was inseparable from courage."
SEE ALSO: Should the U.S. use foreign aid to promote gay rights?
?
His friends and contemporaries
"Lunch ? dinner, drinks, any occasion ? with Christopher always was [bracing]," says Christopher Buckley in The New Yorker. "One of our lunches, at Caf? Milano, the Rick's Caf? of Washington, began at 1 P.M., and ended at 11:30 P.M. At about nine o?clock (though my memory is somewhat hazy), he said, 'Should we order more food?' I somehow crawled home, where I remained under medical supervision for several weeks, packed in ice with a morphine drip. Christopher probably went home that night and wrote a biography of Orwell. His stamina was as epic as his erudition and wit."
"Goodbye, my beloved friend," says novelist Salman Rushdie via Twitter. "A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops."
SEE ALSO: The 'most expensive car crash in history': By the numbers
?
He was the "finest orator of our time" and a "valiant fighter against all tyrants including God," says writer Richard Dawkins, a vocal atheist like Hitchens.
The press
"I knew Hitchens only by reading him. To read him was to be deeply impressed ? envious, if you were a writer yourself ? and at some point to have been deeply pissed off by him," says James Poniewozik at TIME. "Hitchens knew when to care greatly about the larger world, and when, therefore, not to give a rat's ass what the larger world thought of him. It's one thing for a writer to be principled, and it's one thing for a writer to be a jerk; it?s a rare thing to be a principled jerk, and that's what Hitchens was."
SEE ALSO: Queen Elizabeth's royal pay cut: By the numbers
?
"Religion, he wrote is 'violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive towards children,'" says Roy Greenslade at The Guardian. "Thinking back to the 1970s, I can hear him saying that, with many adjectives and expletives thrown in for good measure. And that's how I wish to remember him."
"The world has lost one of its most outstanding and prolific journalists and a wonderful polemicist, orator and bon vivant," says George Eaton at New Statesman. "In his later years, Hitchens was fond of quoting his late mother's assertion that 'the one unforgivable sin is to be boring'. Today, as I realise I will never hear that resonant baritone again, that Hitchens' mighty pen is still, I feel certain in saying that the world has become a more boring place."
Politicians
"Christopher Hitchens was a complete one-off, an amazing mixture of writer, journalist, polemicist, and unique character," said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "He was fearless in the pursuit of truth and any cause in which he believed. And there was no belief he held that he did not advocate with passion, commitment and brilliance."
"Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious," says Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who interned for Hitchens years ago and was charged with fact-checking his articles. "He had a photographic memory and an encyclopedic mind," he recalls. "It was the easiest job I've ever done."
View this article on TheWeek.com
Get Briefing: The Iraq money pit
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Barry Bonds gets 30-day home sentence _ at worst
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Eight years of being investigated over steroid allegations ended for baseball's home run king Barry Bonds on Friday with a 30-day sentence to be served at home. No more ? and maybe less.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston immediately delayed imposing the sentence while Bonds appeals his obstruction of justice conviction. The former star was found guilty in April not of using steroids, but of misleading grand jurors.
Even without prison time, the case has left its mark on the seven-time National League MVP. His 762 career home runs, and 73 homers in 2001, may forever be seen as tainted records, and his ticket to baseball's Hall of Fame is in doubt.
Bonds declined to speak in court. Well-wishers hugged the 47-year-old in the hallway courtroom after the hearing was over, and a smattering of fans cheered him as he left the courthouse. It was a marked departure from his initial court appearance four years ago, when guards had to clear a path for Bonds to get through dozens of onlookers to his SUV.
"Whatever he did or didn't do, we all lie," said Esther Picazo, a fan outside the courthouse. "We all make mistakes. But I don't think he should've gotten any kind of punishment at all."
Bonds was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and 30 days of home confinement. It will take time to determine whether he serves any of it; his appellate specialist, Dennis Riordan, estimated it would take nearly a year and a half for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella called the sentence a "slap on the wrist" and the fine "almost laughable" for a superstar athlete who made more than $192 million for playing baseball.
Parrella had sought 15 months in prison and argued that home confinement wasn't punishment enough "for a man with a 15,000-square-foot house with all the advantages." Bonds lives in a six-bedroom, 10-bath house with a gym and swimming pool.
"The defendant basically lived a double life for decades before this," Parrella said. He ripped Bonds not only over performance-enhancing drugs but over his personal life: "He had mistresses throughout his marriages."
Parrella said Bonds made lots of money due in part to his use of performance enhancers and that he has been "unrepentant" and "unapologetic" about it.
Illston said none of that had any bearing on Bonds' sentencing.
She said she agreed with a probation department report that called Bonds' conviction an "aberration" in his life. She said she received dozens of letters in support of Bonds, some discussing how he has given money and time "for decades" to charitable causes.
Bonds is the last ? and highest-profile ? defendant in the government's investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, a steroids distribution ring. The ex-slugger has long denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.
Illston said she was compelled to give Bonds a sentence similar to the two she meted out to other figures convicted after trial of lying to the grand jury and federal investigators about their connection to steroids.
The case against Bonds after he testified before the grand jury Dec. 3, 2003. Prosecutors revised his original 2007 indictment several times and spent a year unsuccessfully appealing a key evidentiary ruling before jurors deadlocked in April on three of the four remaining charges related to his grand jury testimony.
On the final charge, the trial jury convicted Bonds of purposely answering questions about steroids with rambling non sequiturs in an attempt to mislead the grand jury.
"I think he probably got off a little easy," said Jessica Wolfram, one of the jurors who convicted Bonds of obstruction. "He was just so clearly guilty, so I actually am happy he got sentenced to something."
Wolfram said she researched the case after the trial and viewed evidence not presented then. After that, she felt even more comfortable that Bonds was guilty.
Besides Bonds, 10 people were convicted of various charges in BALCO cases. Six of them, including track star Marion Jones, were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court. Others, including Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges.
The government's top BALCO investigator, Jeff Novitzky, declined to comment outside the courtroom after attending the hearing.
Bonds was one of two former baseball superstars to stand trial in doping-related cases this year. The trial of pitcher Roger Clemens was halted after just two days in July because prosecutors used inadmissible evidence. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has set a new trial for April 17.
Both men will face a different judgment day in 2013, when they'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame.
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Associated Press writers Jason Dearen in San Francisco and Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.
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