Monday, December 31, 2012

Asian nations giving enthusiastic welcome to 2013

Workers set up a stage as preparations are underway for the country's first ever public New Year's countdown celebration, at Myoma grounds in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

Workers set up a stage as preparations are underway for the country's first ever public New Year's countdown celebration, at Myoma grounds in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

A woman passes by papers, bearing New Year wishes, tied to trees at Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 31, 2102. The cathedral is Korea?s oldest parish church and the symbol of Korean Catholics. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A Catholic prays behind papers, bearing New Year wishes, tied to trees at Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 31, 2102. The cathedral is Korea?s oldest parish church and the symbol of Korean Catholics. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

(AP) ? Fiscal cliff? Recession? Not in Asia, where the first countries to see 2013 dawn will enthusiastically welcome the new year.

Increasingly democratic Myanmar will have a public countdown for the first time. Jakarta plans a huge street party befitting Indonesia's powering economy.

In Sydney, eager revelers camped over Sunday night on the shores of the harbor to get the best vantage points as 1.5 million are expected to see the fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

In Hong Kong, this year's 12.5 million Hong Kong dollar ($1.6 million) fireworks display was being billed by organizers as the biggest ever in the southern Chinese city. Police expect as many as 100,000 people to watch, local news reports said.

The buoyant economies of the Asia-Pacific are prepared to party with renewed optimism despite the so-called fiscal cliff threatening to reverberate globally from the United States and the tattered economy of Europe.

Celebrations were planned around the world later Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands expected to fill Times Square in New York City to watch the drop of a Waterford crystal-studded ball.

One day after dancing in the snow to celebrate the first anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un's ascension to supreme commander, North Koreans were preparing Monday to mark the arrival of the new year, marked as "Juche 102" on North Korean calendars - the number referring to 102 years since the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. "Juche" means self-reliance, the North Korean ideology of independence promoted by Kim, who was born in 1912. His grandson now rules North Korea.

In New Delhi, the festive mood was marred by the death Saturday of a young rape victim.

Several hotels, clubs and residents associations in Indian capital decided to cancel planned festivities and asked people to light candles to express their solidarity with the victim whose plight sparked public rallies for women's safety.

"Let there be no New Year celebrations across the country. It will be a major tribute to the departed soul," said Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders, an umbrella group of traders who run shops and businesses across the country.

In a field in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, workers early Monday were testing a giant digital countdown screen with the backdrop of the revered Shwedagon pagoda.

Arranged by local Forever Media group and Index Creative Village, a Thai major event organizer, the celebration will be the first public New Year countdown in Myanmar, a country ruled for almost five decades by military regimes that discouraged or banned big public gatherings.

"We are planning this public new year event because we want residents of Yangon to enjoy the public countdown like in other countries," said Win Thura Hlaing, managing director of Forever Blossom company, a subsidiary of Forever Media.

With live music performances by singers and celebrities, colorful light shows, food stalls, fireworks and other events at the venue, the countdown is expected to draw 50,000 people, Win Thura Hlaing said.

Jakarta's street party will center on a 7-kilometer (4-mile) main thoroughfare closed to all traffic from nightfall until after midnight. Workers were erecting 16 large stages along the normally car-clogged, 8-lane highway through the heart of the city. Indonesia's booming economy is a rare bright spot amid global gloom and bringing prosperity ? or the hope of it ? to Indonesians.

Spirits in the capital have been further raised by the election of a new, populist governor, who is pledging action in tackling the city's massive infrastructure problems.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said about 1.5 million spectators were expected to line the harbor to watch the 6.6 million Australian dollar ($6.9 million) fireworks display, while another 2 million Australians among a population of 22 million would watch it on television.

"This is really putting Australia on the map in terms of welcoming people to the new year," Moore told reporters at the harbor before the event.

Thousands lined the harbor shore in festive crowds under a blue summer sky by late afternoon, their number undiminished by Australian government warnings that the Washington deadlock on the U.S. debt crisis was partly to blame for a slowing Australian economy.

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue is host for the event.

Florida tourist Melissa Sjostedt was among the thousands gathered near a southern pylon of the bridge. She said seeing the fireworks would fulfill an ambition started a decade ago when she read about them in a National Geographic magazine.

"Ever since that, I've always wanted to see this for real, live, in person," the 30-year-old said.

Despite the somber mood in the Philippines due to devastation from a recent typhoon, a key problem for authorities remained how to prevent revelers from setting off illegal huge firecrackers ? including some labeled "Goodbye Philippines" and "Bin Laden" ? that maim and injure hundreds of Filipinos each year, many of them children.

A government scare tactic, which involved doctors displaying brutal-looking surgical scalpels used for amputations of firecracker blast victims, has not fully worked in the past so health officials came up with a novel idea: Go Gangnam style.

A government health official, Eric Tayag, donned the splashy outfit of South Korean viral star PSY and danced to the tune of his Youtube-hit "Gangnam Style" video while preaching against the use of illegal firecrackers on TV, in schools and in public arenas.

"The campaign has become viral," Tayag said. "We've asked kids and adults to stay away from big firecrackers and just dance the Gangnam and they're doing it."

The number of firecracker injuries has gone down since the campaign was launched early this month.

Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo predicted 2013 would be less turbulent than 2012 because the Chinese new year in February will usher in the year of the snake, bringing an end to the year of the dragon, which was associated with water. Water is one of the five elements in feng shui theory, the Chinese practice of arranging objects and choosing dates to improve luck.

"Water is fear. So that's why we have had so much turbulence especially in the winter months," such as doomsday prophecies, school shootings and concerns about the fiscal cliff, said Lo.

"But the good news is that the coming year of the snake is the first time that fire has come back since 2007. Fire actually is the opposite to water, fire is happiness. So therefore the year of the snake is a much more optimistic year. So you can see signs of economic recovery now," he added.

"The positive thing is that people are very optimistic, therefore it will have a very strong drive on the economic recovery. We expect the stock market will do well, the property market will do well," Lo said.

___

Associated Press writers Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Jean Lee in Pyongyang, Chris Brummitt in Jakarta, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-31-AS-New-Year's-Celebrations/id-e02ece5631f54a0489ba0ded594e0af4

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Florida Gator Sugar Bowl Memories: 2001 Florida 20-Miami 37

As the Gators prepare for the big Sugar Bowl showdown with Louisville on January 2nd, HailFloridaHail looks back at previous Gator Sugar Bowl match-ups. Today we take a look back to the 2001 game versus in-state rival the Miami Hurricanes.

Both teams came into the game featuring high powered offenses. The Gators had cocky freshman quarterback Rex Grossman, running back Earnest Graham, and receivers Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney. The Hurricanes featured quarterback Ken Dorsey, running back Clinton Portis, and receivers Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne. Of course, both teams featured great defenses too led by All American Ken Dorsey for Miami and cornerback Lito Sheppard for the Gators.

For the 9-2 Gators this was just a chance to show they were still one of the elite teams in college football, but for the Hurricanes, who came in 10-1 it was an opportunity to make a case for a split national championship. The BCS had left them out of the title game, despite Miami?s being second in every major poll, which instead had a match-up of undefeated Oklahoma versus one loss Florida State. The hope for Miami was that with a big win against Florida in the Sugar Bowl and a Florida State upset might get the writers in the AP poll to vote them number one ahead of the Noles. The BCS of course would have to go to the winner of that game by default.

The first half showcased the offensive firepower and defensive prowess of both teams as there were big passing plays and big defensive hits. Both quarterbacks were under the gun from strong pass rushes often letting passes go with players in their face or as they were being hit. By halftime the teams had combined for 497 yards and 52 pass attempts but despite all the offense the score was still only 13-10 in favor of the Hurricanes.

The teams, who moved the ball effectively in the first half between the twenty yard lines but had a hard time cracking the goal line, mostly traded field goals. The Gators, however, opened the scoring on their second possession with Grossman driving them to a touchdown pass to Kirk Wells and a 7-0 lead.

The Hurricanes would respond with a short drive which resulted in a field goal and then a longer drive which culminated in a Ken Dorsey touchdown pass to tight end Jeremy Shockey and the Canes led 10-7. After another Miami field goal, the Gators would put one on the board with a Jeff Chandler 51 yard kick for a 13-10 Miami lead late in the second quarter.

The Gators running their two minute offense got themselves into field goal range seemingly looking to tie the score going into halftime. However, Spurrier, who always seemed to show distaste for field goals, chose to go for broke with 13 seconds left in the half taking a shot downfield which was intercepted leaving the Gators in a 13-10 halftime deficit.

The Hurricanes would take control in the second half. After the Gators turned a Ken Dorsey interception into a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half putting the Gators ahead 17-13, Dorsey would lead them on an 80 yard touchdown drive to retake the lead. After another Dorsey touchdown pass and a short touchdown run, the Canes put the game out of reach with the tough Hurricane defense shuting down any Gator comeback attempts to leave with a 37-20 victory over the Gators.

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Topics: 2001 Sugar Bowl, Florida Gators, Gator Football, Ken Dorsey, Miami Hurricanes, Rex Grossman, Steve Spurrier

Source: http://hailfloridahail.com/2012/12/29/florida-gator-sugar-bowl-memories-2001-florida-20-miami-37/

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

LIR: Secrets of Georgia Traffic Law and Legal Update. | Overlasting

LIR: Secrets of Georgia Traffic Law and Legal Update.
Legal  Law
Image by Old Shoe Woman
Members learned about recent legislation related to driving issues which came into effect this past July. In addition, they also learned about some of Georgia?s best kept traffic law secrets. Judge John K. Edwards, Jr., Instructor

LIR: Secrets of Georgia Traffic Law and Legal Update.
Legal  Law
Image by Old Shoe Woman
Members learned about recent legislation related to driving issues which came into effect this past July. In addition, they also learned about some of Georgia?s best kept traffic law secrets. Judge John K. Edwards, Jr., Instructor

LIR: Secrets of Georgia Traffic Law and Legal Update.
Legal  Law
Image by Old Shoe Woman
Members learned about recent legislation related to driving issues which came into effect this past July. In addition, they also learned about some of Georgia?s best kept traffic law secrets. Judge John K. Edwards, Jr., Instructor

LIR: Secrets of Georgia Traffic Law and Legal Update.
Legal  Law
Image by Old Shoe Woman
Members learned about recent legislation related to driving issues which came into effect this past July. In addition, they also learned about some of Georgia?s best kept traffic law secrets. Judge John K. Edwards, Jr., Instructor

Source: http://overlasting.dyndns.org/lir-secrets-of-georgia-traffic-law-and-legal-update/

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Dragonfly has human-like power of concentration

Dragonflies lack humans' big brains, but they still get the job done, according to new research that suggests that these insects have brain cells capable of feats previously seen only in primates.

Specifically, the dragonflies can screen out useless visual information to focus on a target, a process called selective attention. The new study, published Dec. 20 in the journal Current Biology, is the first to find brain cells devoted to selective attention in an invertebrate animal.

Selective attention is crucial for responding to one stimulus among the dozens of distractions that clamor for notice at any given time, said Steven Wiederman of the University of Adelaide in Australia.

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    3. Starvation didn't wipe out saber-toothed cats
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"Imagine a tennis player having to pick out a small ball from the crowd when it's traveling at almost 200 kilometers an hour," Wiederman said in a statement. "You need selective attention in order to hit that ball back into play."

But little is known about how the brain locks onto its targets and ignores all else. To find out, Wiederman, who is from the university's Center for Neuroscience Research, and his colleague David O'Carroll turned to an unlikely animal. The researchers have long studied insect vision, and the dragonfly turns out to be quite adept in that arena. [ Photos: Dew-Covered Dragonflies & Other Sparkling Insects ]

"The dragonfly hunts for other insects, and these might be part of a swarm ? they're all tiny moving objects," Wiederman said. "Once the dragonfly has selected a target, its neuron activity filters out all other potential prey. The dragonfly then swoops in on its prey ? they get it right 97 percent of the time."

Using a glass probe with a tip 1,500 times smaller than a human hair, the researchers measured the neuronal activity that enables such amazing aerial hunting. A similar process is at work in the primate brain, O'Carroll said in a statement, but researchers weren't expecting to see the same thing in an insect that evolved 325 million years ago.

"We believe our work will appeal to neuroscientists and engineers alike," O'Carroll said. "For example, it could be used as a model system for robotic vision. Because the insect brain is simple and accessible, future work may allow us to fully understand the underlying network of neurons and copy it into intelligent robots."

Plenty of other insects have inspired robot designs. Swiss scientists, for example, have built a hovering drone that mimics insects in its ability to survive collisions with hard objects. Sometimes insects are recruited directly. North Carolina State University researchers reported in September that they'd managed to create cyborg Madagascar hissing cockroaches. The scientists wired a microcontroller to the insects' sensory organs, enabling them to steer the cockroaches' movements.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience@livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50307990/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Starvation didn't wipe out saber-toothed cats

Saber-toothed cats apparently did not go extinct for lack of prey, contradicting a popular explanation for why they died off, fossil evidence now suggests.

Even near their extinction, saber-toothed cats likely had enough to eat, researchers noted.

Saber-toothed cats, American lions, woolly mammoths and other giant creatures once roamed across the American landscape. However, at the end of the late Pleistocene about 12,000 years ago, these "megafauna" went extinct, a die-off called the Quaternary extinction.

"The popular theory for the megafaunal extinction is that either the changing climate at the end of the last ice age or human activity, or some combination of the two, killed off most of the large mammals," said researcher Larisa DeSantis, a vertebrate paleontologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

  1. Science news from NBCNews.com

    1. The year's top ancient mysteries (and missteps)

      The past year saw plenty of controversy over ancient mysteries ? and we're not just talking about Maya prophecies. So what happened to "Franken-saurus," the Gospel of Jesus' Wife and the plan to clone a woolly mammoth?

    2. Unselfish brain cells found in monkeys
    3. Starvation didn't wipe out saber-toothed cats
    4. Two new orchid species found

"In the case of the great cats, we expect that it would have been increasingly difficult for them to find prey, especially if had to compete with humans. We know that when food becomes scarce, carnivores like the great cats tend to consume more of the carcasses they kill. If they spent more time chomping on bones, it should cause detectable changes in the wear patterns on their teeth."

Tale of the teeth
To learn more about saber-toothed diets, the researchers analyzed the fossil teeth of 15 saber-toothed cats (Smilodon fatalis) and 15 American lions (Panthera atrox) recovered from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. These specimens ranged from about 11,500 to 35,000 years in age.

To study the fossils, the scientists used dental microwear texture analysis, developed by anthropologist Peter Ungar at the University of Arkansas. This involves using generating three-dimensional images of a tooth's surface. The image is then analyzed for microscopic grooves ? devouring red meat produces small parallel scratches, while biting on bones lead to larger, deeper pits.

The investigation found the pattern of wear on the teeth of the saber-toothed cat most closely resembled those of present-day African lions, which sometimes crush bone when they eat. The wear pattern on American lion teeth, on the other hand, echoed that of the present-day cheetah, which deliberately avoids bones when it feeds. [ Photos: A Lion's Life ]

Analysis of both older fossils and more recent ones did not reveal any evidence that patterns of wear changed over time, and none had extreme microwear like living hyenas, which consume entire carcasses, bones included. This suggests that prey for these carnivores was not scarce ? the animals were not gnawing their victims to the bone.

"Tooth wear patterns suggest that these cats were not desperately consuming entire carcasses, as was expected, and instead seemed to be living the 'good life' during the late Pleistocene, at least up until the very end," DeSantis said.

Big predator extinction
Past research of teeth from American lions, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves and coyotes from La Brea revealed they experienced three times the number of broken teeth of contemporary predators, hinting that these species were having trouble finding prey and were thus urgently devouring or "processing" whole carcasses. This led scientists to suspect that climate change and human competition were making life tough for the big predators.

Instead, DeSantis and her colleagues argue this high rate of damage seen in teeth more likely resulted during capture of prey instead of feeding on carcasses.

"We expected extinct carnivores to show evidence for extreme bone processing, based on the high number of broken teeth determined from prior research. Finding the complete opposite pattern was shocking!" DeSantis said.

The researchers noted that saber-toothed cats were about the size of today's African lion, while the American lion was about 25 percent larger. They fed on giants such as mammoths and four-ton giant ground sloths. The fact these ancient carnivores and their prey were bigger than contemporary predators and their victims could help explain why the extinct cats had more broken teeth than their living brethren, the investigators said. . [ Gallery: Today's Threatened Mammals ]

Specifically, larger teeth break more easily than smaller teeth, so larger carnivores may be likely to break more teeth when attempting to take down larger prey. The researchers noted past studies that found the canines of a predator the size of fox can support more than seven times the fox's weight before breaking, while a carnivore the size of lion can only support about four times its weight and the curved teeth of saber-toothed cats could only support about twice the animal's weight.

"The net result of our study is to raise questions about the reigning hypothesis that 'tough times' during the late Pleistocene contributed to the gradual extinction of large carnivores," DeSantis said. "While we can not determine the exact cause of their demise, it is unlikely that the extinction of these cats was a result of gradually declining prey."

Currently, the scientists are examining other carnivores at the La Brea tar pits, "including the extinct giant short-faced bear and the extant mountain lion that is found both during the Pleistocene at La Brea and in southern California and elsewhere today," DeSantis told LiveScience.

"Essentially, we are trying to clarify the biology and diets of these carnivores during the past to further evaluate why the short-faced bear went extinct and, potentially, why the mountain lion did not."

DeSantis and Ungar, with their colleagues Blaine Schubert and Jessica Scott, detailed their findings online Dec. 26 in the journal PLOS ONE.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter@livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50313487/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Kindness key to happiness and acceptance for children

Dec. 26, 2012 ? Children who make an effort to perform acts of kindness are happier and experience greater acceptance from their peers, suggests new research from the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Riverside.

Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, a professor in UBC's Faculty of Education, and co-author Kristin Layous, of the University of California, Riverside, say that increasing peer acceptance is key to preventing bullying.

In the study, published December 26 by PLOS ONE, researchers examined how to boost happiness in students aged 9 to 11 years. Four hundred students from Vancouver elementary schools were asked to report on their happiness and to identify which of their classmates they would like to work with on school activities. Half of the students were asked by their teachers to perform acts of kindness -- like sharing their lunch or giving their mom a hug when she felt stressed -- and half were asked to keep track of pleasant places they visited -- like the playground or a grandparent's house.

After four weeks, the students again reported on their happiness and identified classmates they would like to work with. While both groups said they were happier, kids that had performed acts of kindness selected higher numbers of classmates to work with on school activities.

"We show that kindness has some real benefits for the personal happiness of children but also for the classroom community," says Schonert-Reichl, also a researcher with the Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC.

According to Schonert-Reichl, bullying tends to increase in Grades 4 and 5. By simply asking students to think about how they can act kindly to those around them, "teachers can create a sense of connectedness in the classroom and reduce the likelihood of bullying."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Kristin Layous, S. Katherine Nelson, Eva Oberle, Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, Sonja Lyubomirsky. Kindness Counts: Prompting Prosocial Behavior in Preadolescents Boosts Peer Acceptance and Well-Being. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e51380 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051380

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/OaFqcX9fQ4c/121226223051.htm

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

'Rescue Me' singer Fontella Bass dies

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 201 file photo taken in New York City Fontella Bass performs during the Pioneer Awards at New York's Apollo Theatre. The St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with ?Rescue Me? in 1965, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The singer's daughter, Neuka Mitchell, says Bass died at a St. Louis hospice Wednesday night of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She was 72. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 201 file photo taken in New York City Fontella Bass performs during the Pioneer Awards at New York's Apollo Theatre. The St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with ?Rescue Me? in 1965, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The singer's daughter, Neuka Mitchell, says Bass died at a St. Louis hospice Wednesday night of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She was 72. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)

In this Sept. 2, 2001 file photo, Fontella Bass performs at the Big Muddy Blues Festival on Laclede's Landing in St. Louis. The St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with ?Rescue Me? in 1965, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She was 72. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jerry Naunheim, Jr.) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

In this Sept. 2, 1995 photo, Fontella Bass dances with Vernon Harris and Curtis Berry on the stage as she sings her 1965 hit "Resuce Me" at the St. Louis Blues Heritage Festival. The St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with ?Rescue Me? in 1965, died Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. She was 72. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Odell Mitchell Jr.) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

(AP) ? Fontella Bass, a St. Louis-born soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with "Rescue Me" in 1965, has died. She was 72.

Bass died Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass had also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years.

"She was an outgoing person," Mitchell said of her mother. "She had a very big personality. Any room she entered she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going out to eat."

Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age 54.

Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church's choir at age 6. She was surrounded by music, often traveling on national tours with her mother and her gospel group.

Her interest turned from gospel to R&B when she was a teenager and she began her professional career at the Showboat Club in north St. Louis at age 17. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a recording contract, first as a duet artist. Her duet with Bobby McClure, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing," reached No. 5 on the R&B charts and No. 33 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1965.

She co-wrote and later that year recorded "Rescue Me," reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Bass's powerful voice bore a striking resemblance to that of Aretha Franklin, who is often misidentified as the singer of that chart-topping hit.

Bass had a few other modest hits but by her own accounts developed a reputation as a troublemaker because she demanded more artistic control, and more money for her songs. She haggled over royalty rights to "Rescue Me" for years before reaching a settlement in the late 1980s, Mitchell said. She sued American Express over the use of "Rescue Me" in a commercial, settling for an undisclosed amount in 1993.

"Rescue Me" has been covered by many top artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar. Franklin eventually sang a form of it too ? as "Deliver Me" in a Pizza Hut TV ad in 1991.

Bass lived briefly in Europe before returning to St. Louis in the early 1970s, where she and husband Lester Bowie raised their family. She recorded occasionally, including a 1995 gospel album, "No Ways Tired," that earned a Grammy nomination.

Bass was inducted into the St. Louis Hall of Fame in 2000.

Funeral arrangements for Bass were incomplete. She is survived by four children. Bowie died in 1999.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-27-Obit-Fontella%20Bass/id-efb9293af5ff4d8c9507dcaa0316ed87

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A Brief History of Chemistry Sets

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A brief history of chemistry sets: Utilitarian tools of the trade made way for skill-building sets and, later, zany approaches to ?kitchen chemistry.?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/science/a-brief-history-of-chemistry-sets.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Lion habitat features big cats that worked at MGM

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, Rulia Fiske of Boston holds a four-week-old lion cub named D.J. at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, Rulia Fiske of Boston holds a four-week-old lion cub named D.J. at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, Beverly Evans plays with lion cubs after a feeding at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. Beverly and her husband Keith own the ranch. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, Rulia Fiske of Boston holds a four-week-old lion cub named D.J. at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, a lion cub plays with a ball at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

In this photo taken Dec. 16, 2012, Armen, left, and his brother Rodney relax on top of their den at the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson, Nev. The habitat used to provide lions to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand but is now open to the public. The MGM's lion habitat closed in January 2012. (AP Photo/The Las Vegas Sun, Steve Marcus) LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL OUT

(AP) ? Dozens of lions that used to entertain tourists at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas now have a new day job.

The Las Vegas Sun reports (http://bit.ly/UsXjFH ) Keith Evans recently opened his Lion Habitat Ranch in nearby Henderson, Nev., about a year after the Las Vegas Strip casino shuttered its own lion attraction to make way for renovations.

Evans has been keeping big cats at his ranch for more than 40 years. He transported them to the MGM Grand each day for 11 years until the closure.

His new attraction includes glass enclosures and safety barriers to accommodate about 40 lions, including seven cubs that were born in November.

The habitat is open weekends. Admission is $20 for adults, while one child under the age of 12 gets in free for each paying adult.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-26-Lion%20Habitat-Nevada/id-612aa9940f17480fb7e92e26af63c757

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Storm delays thousands of fliers; tips to get home

NEW YORK (AP) ? A massive winter storm is disrupting travel plans for fliers trying to get home after Christmas. Snow, thunderstorms, sleet, tornados and high winds have grounded planes in the nation's midsection and are expected to slow operations on the East Coast.

Delays racked up from Dallas to New York. By 9 a.m. Wednesday, more than 400 flights nationwide had been scrapped with more cancelations likely throughout the day.

Passengers are pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature and the airlines. But there are a few things they can do to improve their odds of getting home quickly.

? If you miss your connection, the airlines will automatically rebook you on the next available flight. However, with flights at near capacity, the next open seat could be several days away. Two years ago, some Christmas fliers had to wait nearly a week to get home.

? If you're unhappy with your rebooked flight, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. But also, pick up the phone and call the airline directly, go onto the airline's website and even consider sending a Tweet.

? Consider buying a one-day pass to the airline lounge. It's a nice place to relax away from the crowd and there are usually free drinks and small snacks. But the real secret to the lounges is that the airline staffs them with some of its best ? and friendliest ? ticket agents. The lines inside will be much shorter and these agents are magically able to find empty seats where nobody else can. One-day passes typically cost $50.

___

Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-delays-thousands-fliers-tips-home-150746546--finance.html

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumonia

Dec. 26, 2012 ? Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. The study will be published on December 26, 2012 in mBio?, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The organism cannot yet be isolated and grown for study in the laboratory, so details about Pneumocystis pneumonia, the biology of P. jirovecii, and its pathogenicity are hard to come by. The genome sequence represents a wealth of new information for doctors and researchers tackling this disease.

Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic infection that strikes most often in individuals with diminished immune systems. The corresponding author of the study in mBio?, Philippe Hauser of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, says the disease gained importance in the 1980s.

"Recognized first among malnourished infants, P. jirovecii pneumonia became a public issue with the advent of the HIV epidemic," says Hauser. Today, the disease most commonly affects HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their status as well as solid organ transplant recipients and patients with hemato-oncologic or autoimmune diseases. Since the organism cannot be grown in the lab for study, researchers have long made do with studying P. jirovecii's lab-friendly relatives, species that infect animals and plants, in order to explore the secrets of the human disease.

"It is obviously better to study [P. jirovecii's] genes rather that those of Pneumocystis species from animal models. The genome has both medical and evolutionary interests for the scientific community," says Hauser.

Under normal circumstances, scientists sequencing the genome of a microorganism simply extract DNA from thick cultures of cells they grow in the lab. Since they were unable to grow P. jirovecii cells for their genomic DNA, Hauser and his colleagues took a different approach. They took a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from an individual infected with Pneumocystis pneumonia, then concentrated the P. jirovecii cells using immuno-precipitation and created copies of the DNA in the sample using a technique called random DNA amplification. This mixture of DNA strands, from P. jirovecii, human, and other microbes from the lungs of the infected patient, was then sequenced using high throughput technologies.

According to Hauser and his colleagues, the fact that the sequence data represented DNA from many different species created the biggest challenge they faced. "The major challenge of the study was the in silico sorting of the reads out of a mixture representing the human host and different organisms present in the lung microbiome," he says. This challenge was met through a collaboration with Marco Pagni of the Vital-IT group of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, who provided indispensable expertise and infrastructure.

Once the sorting task was accomplished, the researchers assembled the sequences into a genome and attempted to identify the functions of P. jirovecii's genes. This is the first time scientists have assembled the genome of a fungus from a mixed pool of DNA from a single source, often called a metagenome. Their analyses reveal a surprising fact: P. jirovecii is a parasite that must live within the human body to survive.

P. jirovecii lacks the genes necessary for creating some of the essential ingredients of life, a hallmark of obligate parasites, organisms that must rely on another creature for sustenance. "It implies that they need their host to provide these molecules. Thus, this has been quite an important finding which implied that human beings represent the reservoir of this pathogen," says Hauser. This is useful information, since it means that people are the only significant source of the organism and that both infected people and healthy carriers represent the only control points for limiting the spread of the disease.

The genome also shows that P. jirovecii apparently lacks the ability to make toxins and virulence factors, molecules that enable a microbe to invade and take advantage of its host. This makes sense, since P. jirovecii does not cause disease in healthy people, but only runs out of control when it is not confronted with an immune response.

In the study of infectious disease, access to the genome of a pathogen provides new information that can be pivotal in combating the diseases is causes. The hope is that the genome of P. jirovecii will lead to new advances in therapies for those suffering from Pneumocystis pneumonia. The current drugs of choice for treating Pneumocystis pneumonia are antifolates, but certain isolates of P. jirovecii have already developed resistance to antifolates, an ability that is very likely to spread. Now that the genome of P. jirovecii is assembled and available to researchers all over the world, scientists can tease out clues about the organism that will help identify targets for some badly needed new drugs.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/_LiDeWUJJr4/121226080900.htm

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needn barrister: culbertson aborigine: Speed reading apps for ...

I installed some speed reading apps and tested them. I?ve so far notices a few ?categories? or groups of equals:

  • One kind exists mostly from showing a text word by word in the middle of the screen. Showing each word a very short time and so you can read at a high wpm because you never need to move your eyes.
  • Another kind is merely a speed reading article disguised as app.
  • Another kind is no speed reading app but just a reading app with a fancy name.
  • Yet another kind is training in the form of news/actually.
  • And the last kind is a training app, not for your own stuff but purely for training.

I only tested them quickly and unions talked the non-interesting. But they aren?t quite what I?m looking for. Maybe I should write one myself for training and guided reading.

This entry was posted in Other and tagged Android, Self Improvement, Speed Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.tjenwellens.eu/other/speed-reading-apps-for-android/

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Source: http://culbertson-aborigine.blogspot.com/2012/12/speed-reading-apps-for-android-tjen.html

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Source: http://bylnraond.posterous.com/culbertson-aborigine-speed-reading-apps-for-a

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Source: http://needn-barrister.blogspot.com/2012/12/culbertson-aborigine-speed-reading-apps.html

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Family: Sunday shooting victim in intensive care, condition ...

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. ? A young Clearlake man shot in the face during a Sunday confrontation remains hospitalized and in intensive care due to his injuries, with family saying his condition has worsened.

Steven Farnan, 20, was shot in the face following a physical fight that occurred at around 1 p.m. Sunday in the Clear Lake Riviera, as Lake County News has reported.

He fought with a subject at a residence in the 10000 block of Fairway Drive near Sierra Drive before another male shot him, according to witnesses.

Reports from the scene indicated the suspects fled the area in a blue hatchback.

As of early Tuesday, no arrests in the case had been made, according to jail booking records.

Farnan, now at an out-of-county hospital for treatment, suffered a shattered jaw from the gunshot, with the bullet going down his neck and hitting an artery. Early on, doctors had struggled to stop the bleeding before finally stabilizing him, his family reported.

However, early Tuesday his aunt, Kimberly Cochran of Montana, told Lake County News that Farnan had taken a turn for the worse.

She said he was in intensive care and that doctors could not do surgery to remove the bullet from his neck.

Cochran added that doctors are not sure if Farnan will survive his injury.

Farnan?s family asked anyone who has information about the suspect in his shooting to call the Lake County Sheriff?s Office.

The sheriff?s office can be reached through Central Dispatch at 707-263-2690 on the holiday or at 707-262-4200 during main business hours.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Source: http://www.lakeconews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28737:family-sunday-shooting-suspect-in-intensive-care-condition-deteriorates&catid=1:latest&Itemid=197

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Bengals clinch playoff spot, eliminate Steelers

Cincy intercepts Roethlisberger in final seconds, Brown kicks 43-yard field goal

Image: Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller watches as Leon Hall runs an interception back for a touchdown in the first quarter.Reuters

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller watches as Leon Hall runs an interception back for a touchdown in the first quarter.

By Will Graves

updated 6:51 p.m. ET Dec. 23, 2012

PITTSBURGH - A.J. Green doesn't really care about the Cincinnati Bengals' woeful past. The wide receiver wasn't part of it and hasn't really taken the time to study it.

The Bengals were bad. End of story.

And now they're good. Beginning of story.

Andy Dalton hit Green for a 21-yard pass in the final minutes to set up Josh Brown's 43-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to lift the Bengals to a 13-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Cincinnati (9-6) clinched a second straight playoff berth after beating the Steelers (7-8) for the first time since 2009. Pittsburgh (7-8) was eliminated from postseason contention.

The only other time the Bengals made the playoffs in consecutive seasons came in 1981-82, six years before Green was born.

"This has been our goal coming in at the beginning of the season," Green said. "A lot of people talked about we hadn't been in in back to back seasons in 30 years. I don't worry about that stuff. I've been here two years and we made the playoffs all two years. That's all we can control."

Shredding the label as erratic - and sometimes comical - losers one improbable victory at a time, the Bengals, their precocious duo of Green and Dalton and their quickly improving defense have Cincinnati in uncharted territory.

The Bengals have been around since 1968. This is the first time they'll make the postseason in two straight non-strike years.

"I know they just think that there's some complex; there's no complex, you've just got to come play and win," coach Marvin Lewis said. "This group in there has very little history of anything."

Maybe that's why Bengals aren't doomed to repeat it.

Brown missed a 56-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter, but earned a second chance when Reggie Nelson picked off Ben Roethlisberger and returned it to the Pittsburgh 46 with 14 seconds remaining. Dalton found Green down the right sideline on the next play, setting up Brown's winner.

"I've had some pretty big kicks, but that was a long time ago," said Brown, who is filling in for injured starter Mike Nugent. "When you have a chance for the playoffs there's nothing bigger. It's a big deal.

Dalton completed 24 of 41 for 278 yards and two interceptions for the Bengals, which snapped a five-game losing streak to Pittsburgh. Green caught 10 passes for 116 yards and Cincinnati's defense next let the Steelers get comfortable.

Roethlisberger completed 14 of 28 passes for 220 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Leon Hall returned the first pick 17 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and Nelson stepped in front of an overthrown Roethlisberger pass in the fourth.

The Steelers needed to win their final two games to make the playoffs. Instead, the team that was 6-3 in early November will spend January at home after falling for the fifth time in its last six games.

""We should be (in the playoffs) if it wasn't for me," Roethlisberger said after throwing his second game-deciding interception in eight days.

Roethlisberger tossed a pick - also intended for Wallace - on the second play of overtime in Dallas last Sunday, allowing the Cowboys to win it on a field goal. He openly questioned offensive coordinator Todd Haley's play calling after the loss, but apologized later and insisted he and Haley were "on the same page."

Maybe, but the Steelers hardly played like it. The Bengals sacked Roethlisberger four times and allowed Pittsburgh to complete just 2 of 14 third downs.

"Not our day and thus, not our year," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. "Just not enough significant plays at the moments. Sounds like a broken record but reality as we sit here."

Pittsburgh did a decent job of keeping Dalton and Green in check, posting season highs with three turnovers and six sacks. The Bengals couldn't run the ball at all, managing just 14 yards against the NFL's top defense. Still, it wasn't enough for the Steelers, turning a season that looked so promising before Election Day into a muddled mess.

Instead of making playoff plans, Pittsburgh needs a victory next week against Cleveland to avoid the first losing season in Tomlin's six-year tenure.

Normally it's the Bengals who are playing out the string. Yet the franchise that served as a punchline for so long is now the one throwing the punches. Cincinnati never trailed in a place it rarely wins and allowed the Steelers to make the critical mistakes.

Well, most of them anyway.

Cincinnati drove into Pittsburgh territory midway through the fourth quarter with the score tied at 10 before things bogged down at the Steelers 38. Rather than try to pin reeling Pittsburgh deep, Lewis sent out Brown to attempt a 56-yard field goal into the tricky Heinz Field winds.

The kick was never close, giving the Steelers premium field position with 3:18 left.

"I make decisions to try to win the game today and they kind of backfired on me a little bit," Lewis said.

Pittsburgh, however, had its own kicking issues. The Steelers moved to the Cincinnati 36, then brought out Shaun Suisham for a 53-yard attempt that was short all the way.

The Bengals went nowhere, giving Pittsburgh one last shot in regulation. Rather than run out the clock and play for overtime with the ball at their own 11 and 44 seconds to go, the Steelers tried to make something happen.

And they did. For the Bengals. Facing second down at the Pittsburgh 29, Roethlisberger rolled to his right and tried to hit Wallace down the sideline. The ball sailed over Wallace's head and into Nelson's arms.

Two plays later Cincinnati was celebrating a playoff berth that signaled another step out of its mediocre past.

NOTES: Cincinnati's 14 yards rushing were the second-fewest in franchise history. The Bengals had 4 yards rushing against Baltimore in 2000 ... Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller left game in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury ... Brown is 8 of 9 since taking over for Nugent three weeks ago ... Five of Pittsburgh's eight losses this season have come by three points ... Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall had 50 yards rushing in his return after serving a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Ravens run over Giants, clinch AFC North title

The Baltimore Ravens shrugged off a slew of bad performances in dismantling the Giants on Sunday, notching a 33-14 win that locked up the AFC North crown and pushed New York to the brink of playoff elimination.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50285013/ns/sports-nfl/

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Lawmakers play waiting game with 'fiscal cliff' deadline in sight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With only a week left before a deadline for the United States to go over a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers played a waiting game on Monday in the hope that someone will produce a plan to avoid harsh budget cuts and higher taxes for most Americans from New Year's Day.

Though Republicans and Democrats have spent the better part of a year describing a plunge off the cliff as a looming catastrophe, the nation's capital showed no outward signs of worry, let alone impending calamity.

The White House has set up shop in Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The Capitol was deserted and the Treasury Department - which would have to do a lot of last-minute number-crunching with or without a deal - was closed.

So were all other federal government offices, with Obama having followed a tradition of declaring the Monday before a Tuesday Christmas a holiday for government employees, notwithstanding the approaching fiscal cliff.

Expectations for some 11th-hour rescue focused largely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, in part because he has performed the role of legislative wizard in previous stalemates.

But McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, was shunning the role this year, his spokesman saying that it was now up to the Democrats in the Senate to make the next move.

"We don't yet know what Senator Reid will bring to the floor. He is not negotiating with us and the president is out of town," said McConnell's spokesman, referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "So I just don't know what they're going to do over there," he said.

Two-day-old tweets on leadership websites told the story insofar as it was visible to the public.

House Speaker John Boehner's referred everyone to McConnell. McConnell's tweet passed the responsibility along to Obama, saying it was a "moment that calls for presidential leadership."

Reid's tweet said: "There will be very serious consequences for millions of families if Congress fails to act" on the cliff.

The next session of the Senate is set for Thursday, but the issues presented by across-the-board tax hikes and indiscriminate reductions in government spending, were not on the calendar.

The House has nothing on its schedule for the week, but members have been told they could be called back at 48 hours notice, making a Thursday return a theoretical possibility.

However, aides to the Republican leaders in Congress said there were no talks with Democrats on Monday and none scheduled after negotiations fell off track last week when Boehner failed to persuade House Republicans to accept tax increases on incomes of more than $1 million a year.

"Nothing new, Merry Christmas," an aide to Boehner responded when asked if there was any movement on the fiscal cliff.

But a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House aides were talking with Senate Democratic staffers about the situation.

SCALED-BACK EXPECTATIONS

If there is some last-minute legislation, Republicans and Democrats agreed on Sunday news shows that it will not be any sort of "grand bargain" encompassing taxes and spending cuts, but most likely a short-term deal putting everything off for a few weeks or months, thereby risking a negative market reaction.

A limited agreement would still need bipartisan support, as Obama has said he would veto a bill that does not raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

On Monday, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison urged fellow Republicans to be flexible.

"We're now at a point where we're not going to get what we think is right for our economy and our country because we don't control government. So we've got to work within the system we have," she told MSNBC.

Two bills in Congress could conceivably form the basis for a last-minute stopgap measure.

Last spring, Republicans in the House passed a measure that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for everyone, reflecting the party's deep reluctance to increase taxes.

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bill in August, extending lower tax rates for everyone except the wealthiest Americans - a group defined at that point as households with a net income of $250,000 or above. Obama has since increased that to $400,000 a year, in an effort to win Republican support.

Analysts say Democrats might be able to get the backing of enough Republicans in both the House and Senate, especially if they are willing to raise the number to $500,000.

Under that scenario, lawmakers might also put off spending cuts of $109 billion that would take effect from January and agree to Republican demands for cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the government-run health insurance plans for seniors and the poor.

However, with only a few work days left in Congress after Christmas, there is a good chance that no deal can be worked out and tax rates would then go up, at least briefly, until an agreement is reached in Washington.

"We may go off the cliff on January 1, but we would correct that very quickly thereafter," Democratic Representative John Yarmuth told MSNBC.

The prospects of the United States going over the fiscal cliff dampened enthusiasm on Wall Street for a "Santa rally" in the holiday season, when stocks traditionally rise.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 51.76 points, or 0.39 percent, in Monday's shortened holiday session.

Failure to work out tax rates in the coming days would cause chaos at the Internal Revenue Service, said analyst Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities.

"Next weekend is going to be a total, total debacle," he said. The IRS is unlikely to have enough time to revise its tables for withholding taxes.

"The withholding tables are sort of like an aircraft carrier, you can't turn the thing on a dime." he said.

(Additonal reporting by Alina Selyukh, Patrick Temple-West and David Lawder and Mark Felsenthal in Honolulu; Editing by Alistair Bell, Fred Barbash, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-play-waiting-game-fiscal-cliff-deadline-sight-041126510--business.html

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Monday, December 24, 2012

Former SC Gov. Sanford eyes US House bid

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who left public life two years ago after mysteriously disappearing to visit his then-mistress in Argentina, is poised to re-enter the political arena.

Acknowledging reports that he is seriously weighing a congressional bid for the seat he once held, Sanford wrote in an email late Saturday: "To answer your question, yes the accounts are accurate." Sanford promised "further conversation on all this" at a later date.

The two-term governor was a rising Republican political star before he vanished from South Carolina for five days in 2009. Reporters were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but he later tearfully acknowledged he was visiting Maria Belen Chapur, a woman he called his soul mate at a news conference announcing his affair. The two were engaged earlier this year.

The opening for Sanford comes after Rep. Tim Scott was appointed to fill the remaining two years of Sen. Jim DeMint's seat. DeMint announced earlier this month he was resigning.

News that Sanford, 52, may be interested in the seat comes days after his ex-wife, Jenny, appeared to be dipping her toe into the state's political waters.

She was reportedly on Gov. Nikki Haley's short list of candidates to fill the seat that went to Scott. Jenny Sanford later said she would think about a run for Scott's seat representing the coastal 1st Congressional District, the seat her ex-husband is now considering.

"I'd be crazy not to look at the race a little bit," she said Tuesday, before reports about Mark Sanford surfaced.

State Republicans said Scott plans to submit his letter of resignation from the House on Jan. 2, triggering a process of candidate filing and primaries leading up to a special election in May.

Mark Sanford knows the 1st District well. Elected to the seat in 1994 ? Jenny Sanford managed his first campaign and was a close adviser for most of his career ? he served three terms before voters elected him governor in 2002.

The former governor would bring name recognition and money to the race ? two things especially important due to the short campaign season and wide-open field.

Whether voters are ready to welcome Sanford back to politics is another issue.

"It's absolutely absurd. He just has so much baggage. He was such an embarrassment to the state, we don't need that," said Gloria Day, a retired attorney in Charleston.

He avoided impeachment but was censured by the Legislature. He also had to pay more than $70,000 in ethics fines ? still the largest in state history ? after AP investigations raised questions about his use of state, private and commercial aircraft.

Others said Sanford's fiscal record is what's important, and Sanford is known as a libertarian-leaning ideologue who railed against spending and bucked Republican Party leaders before anyone even coined the tea party movement.

"Mark Sanford is a reliable fiscal conservative so I, like many conservatives, would be delighted to see him in the race," said Joanne Jones, vice chairman of the Charleston Tea Party, though she noted she'll wait to see the entire field before throwing her support behind a candidate.

Scott will be sworn in Jan. 3 to replace DeMint, who announced his resignation earlier this month to lead The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scott, who would have to seek election in 2014, will become the state's first black U.S. senator and the first black Republican U.S. senator from the South since Reconstruction.

Candidates for Scott's seat must file by the end of January. Primaries will be held in March, with the general election in May.

State GOP Chairman Chad Connelly said as of Friday, 14 Republicans had expressed interest.

"Gov. Sanford getting in would certainly alter the dynamics. That list would go down significantly," he said.

Based on name recognition alone, Sanford's chances would be good in a runoff, he said.

Sanford has $1.2 million left in his state campaign coffers.

John Dietz of Daniel Island said the affair wouldn't affect his vote.

"He said he found his soul mate, and at one point in my life that's exactly how I felt. I empathized," said Dietz, a retiree who characterizes himself as a moderate.

Dietz said he was disappointed that Sanford could not work with his fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

"I did not necessarily agree with a lot of things he did politically," he said. "I'm very much neutral at this point."

Retired Presbyterian minister Dick Giffen of Mount Pleasant said he wouldn't support Sanford, but added that it was unrelated to the affair.

"He wasn't able to bring people together and get action done," Giffen said. "He didn't produce anything. ... I really wasn't impressed with him."

Sanford's contentious relationship with legislators seemed to worsen with each year of his tenure.

But longtime Republican activist and donor John Rainey, who convinced Sanford to run for governor after leaving Congress, said Sanford's last six months in office, following his tearful press conference, were his most effective.

Rainey said he hopes Sanford re-enters politics.

"He's finally learned how to do it. Mark now understands the necessity of and art of compromise. It's not my way or the highway," said Rainey, who was chairman of the Board of Economic Advisors during Sanford's tenure.

Sanford's engagement to Chapur may improve his standing with voters.

"Think of all that's happened since 2009. That's old news," said Rainey, rattling off a list of political scandals. "Especially in the South, we're about redemption. I don't think he's got a problem."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-sc-gov-sanford-eyes-us-house-bid-062557152.html

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Screen It Sunday : Mom Knows It All. ? PR Friendly New Jersey ...

Screen It Sunday

I?m frequently sent information on upcoming television, DVD/Blu-ray and movie news. I?ll be compiling and sharing the best and most interesting news with you here each week.

Not Another Celebrity Movie (In Theaters 2013)

Entertainment 7 and First Napoleon Productions will release NOT ANOTHER CELEBRITY MOVIE soon after its debut at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2013. Packed with a star-studded crew of celebrity look-alikes, this parody of Oceans 11 follows the misguided antics of ?Charlie Sheen? as he tries to meet with ?Justin Bieber,? whom he believes is his illegitimate son. When his attempts to reconnect are thwarted, ?Sheen? engages the services of ?Brad Pitt,? ?George Clooney,? ?Robert DeNiro,? ?Tom Cruise? and seven other celebrities to implement a plot to kidnap the pop sensation at an upcoming concert in Las Vegas. The resulting antics are, in a word, Winning!

?LIKE? the movie on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotAnotherCelebrityMovie
Follow the film on Twitter: https://twitter.com/celebritymovie
Check out the official website: http://www.notanothercelebritymovie.com/

Tags: Not Another Celebrity Movie, Screen It Sunday

Category: Announcements

Source: http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2012/screen-it-sunday-69/

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