Democrats defend Obama administration over bungled gun sting (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday sought to blunt political attacks on the Obama administration over a botched gun sting operation, saying that the idea of allowing weapons to go across the border to Mexico came from field agents and prosecutors.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued a report just two days before Republicans on the same panel plan to grill Attorney General Eric Holder about the most recent operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious," in which as many as 2,000 guns may have been trafficked to Mexican drug cartels.

President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats said in the 89-page report that the operations and strategies dated back to the Bush administration and were the brainchild of field agents and prosecutors, not officials at the upper levels of government.

"Unfortunately this strategy failed to include sufficient operational controls to stop these dangerous weapons from getting into the hands of violent criminals, creating a danger to public safety on both sides of the border," Representative Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the committee, said in a letter accompanying the 89-page report.

The panel chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, sent a letter to Holder on Tuesday accusing him of engaging in a cover-up and complaining that the Justice Department will not turn over more documents including those about its response to the scandal.

"If the department continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information, this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress," Issa said.

A Justice Department official said the agency was cooperating with the committee and would continue to do so. The agency has turned over several thousand pages to the committee and allowed some senior officials to be interviewed.

Two guns from the Fast and Furious operation were found at the scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed during a shootout with illegal immigrants. It was not clear, however, if those weapons fired the fatal shots.

That operation ran from late 2009 to early 2011 out of the Phoenix offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney. The goal was to try to track guns being smuggled from the initial purchaser to senior drug cartel members.

However, in most cases ATF agents did not follow the guns beyond the initial buyer. Republicans have questioned who in the administration knew about and approved the operation and its tactics and when. They have issued subpoenas for documents and for witnesses to testify.

Mexican authorities have complained about the flood of weapons coming into their country from the United States and contributing to the deadly war with the drug cartels.

OFFICIALS SAY THEY DID NOT KNOW

The Obama administration has admitted that the operation and its tactics were unacceptable, but senior Justice Department and ATF officials have denied that they knew of the specific tactics until early 2011 - after it was over.

Republicans have expressed doubts about those assertions and some have demanded Holder's resignation as well as that of his senior aide, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who runs the Justice Department's criminal division.

"Contrary to repeated claims by some, the committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was a politically-motivated operation conceived and directed by high-level Obama Administration political appointees at the Department of Justice," Cummings said.

The report said that during "Fast and Furious", agents first sought to bring charges for smaller cases involving the gun buyers, known as straw purchasers, but that senior prosecutors wanted to wait to see if they could bring bigger cases.

It also revealed that authorities in the United States and Mexico had recovered 567 weapons from the botched operation as of January 2011, almost two-thirds of which were found in the United States.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/pl_nm/us_usa_mexico_guns

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Why MBA in Finance is Recommended | Foundations of Finance

Completing a degree program in accounting prepares students to step into various careers that involve accounting and finance. Accounting programs are available to students at the associate?s, bachelor?s, master?s, and doctorate?s degree level. Student?s career goals will determine which degree program to complete. Other possible accounting and finance career preparation programs can include:

• Accounting Technology
• Corporate Financing
• Finance and Banking

?

Corporate finance also awards undergraduate degrees unless students advance their training inside a finance degree program.

To gain the best career options in accounting and finance students should complete graduate degree training. Students study risk management, assurance, financial management, taxation, and much more. Master?s degree programs train students to understand business and taxation. Possible career options for students that have a graduate degree include risk assessors, corporate executives, financial managers, and auditors.

Students that complete a bachelor?s degree program will explore financial reporting, international market, and personal investments.

Accredited accounting and finance degree programs give students several career opportunities.

Accounting and Finance Career Preparation Programs

Accounting or financial managers are the people responsible for overseeing and maintaining the financial strategy and history of a company. The accounting manager is focused more on financial reporting, while the financial manager is focused on strategy and money management. The CFO supervises all accounting and financial operations, as well as administering the company?s general financial policies and strategies. The financial officer may formulate and implement strategies to raise capital, oversee cash management, or manage the company?s capital investment activity.

from your own site.

Source: http://www.icasm2009.org/why-mba-in-finance-is-recommended

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What You Need to Know About Investing That May Help You Succeed

If you are going to get into the arena of investing, you may have to consider several factors and carefully think about them. One of them is the amount of cash that you are prepared to invest. If you put your dollars in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, or options, you have to come up with a certain amount so that you can buy a unit or open an account.

With regards to financial investments, two kinds of products are usually traded on the market ? short-term investments and long-term investments.

The primary difference between both is that short-term investments are supposed to give considerable returns within a short period of time, whereas long-term investments are supposed to last for many years or so and characterized by a slow but progressive increase in return.

If your aim as an investor is to raise your wealth or keep the purchasing power of your capital over the years, then it?s crucial that your investments must improve in value that at least keeps up with inflation rate. Having a good mix of property investments or equity shares might just be an effective long-term strategy in comparison with having only fixed-term investments.

Your investment portfolio must be well spread across various varieties of investment instruments so as to effectively minimize your risk. It is a classic the actual application of the old phrase ?Don?t put all your eggs in one basket.? The many investment products available these days are becoming a lot more complicated with huge and institutional investors trying to surpass each other.

If you are an individual investor, you simply need to invest on something you?re comfortable with and not to products you don?t fully grasp. You need to be definite with your investing criteria because it is important in evaluating your alternatives. When you are unsure, the perfect approach is to find good advice.

Interesting facts about investments are accessible that could help you with your investment decisions.

Source: http://internetarticledirectory.info/2012/01/what-you-need-to-know-about-investing-that-may-help-you-succeed/

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There's More to That Red Plastic Cup Than You Thought

Raise your cup. | Creative Commons. Photo by John W. Iwanski. Click on image for license and link.

Who here has not enjoyed a cold, refreshing drink from a red plastic cup? Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages alike find themselves comfortably enclosed within the confines of the bright red vessel that has become a ubiquitous American staple at barbecues, picnics, parties, in dugouts and at minor league games, in food cars and at lunch trucks, and even as a last resort at dive bars?and, of course, college students? dorms and apartments, where it also functions as a key component in Flip Cup and Beer Pong.

Your drinking vessel may indeed functionality of the red cup?so flip away, or ahem, drink out of it without fear it will slip out of your hands.

Social drinking is a ritualized act. There are certain social codes of consumption that help define the experience by setting expectations and establishing appropriate or acceptable behaviors. Anthropologist William Donner documented social rules surrounding toddy drinking in Sikaiana, a small Polynesian atoll in the Solomon Islands. (Toddy seems a generic name for drinks made from fermented palm. In this case, toddy is made by fermenting the sap of coconut shoots.) Donner found that drinking reorganized the community, allowing boundaries to be renegotiated. Part of this stems from the ways in which drink is shared. In Sikaiana, toddy distribution follows a rather specific format which helps establish the community as a place of equality:

?Participants form a circle. They distributor pours a portion and passes it to one person in the group. This person drinks the cup until its is empty, usually in one drink. Then he returns the cup to the distributor and another serving of the exact same size is poured for the next person. This continues until everyone in the group has had a turn and then the distributor starts another round. If a person arrives late, the distributor may offer him a larger portion so that the latecomer can catch up with the people who are already drinking. In larger groups, several cups are passed out simultaneously, but always in a circular fashion so that everyone is given an equal amount to drink? (1994: 250).

Among the Xhosa, beer is also consumed in accordance with a social code. At a beer-drink (a public drinking event), the beer is kept in either cast-iron pots or plastic or wooden containers, and served in tin beakers (billy cans) of various sizes:

?When beer is allocated, the host section?s mast of ceremonies points out the size of the beaker because the receivers have certain expectations in this regard based on the current state of their beer-exchange relationship with the givers. So a can of beer given to a neighboring group may be announced with carefully chosen words, such as ?This is your beaker, it is a full iqhwina [seven liters], as it should be when there is a full cask for men? ? (McAllister 2003: 197).

The drinking vessel is central to this experience. It?s an equalizing factor and a measure of consistency for attendees. It also serves as the entry-point for the temporary social community that has gathered. Drinking from the cup confirms attendance at the event and authorizes participation in subsequent event activities?conversation, singing, dancing, joking and laughing, even confrontations are mediated by drink and cup possession.

Our red plastic cups work similarly. Cup in hand, we mingle. Liberated by the social permission granted by the red plastic cup, we catch up with old friends and make new ones. It becomes a factor that connects attendees at the event?we all have a red plastic cup, so we all belong. And we assert that these cups are ours by writing our name on them, which further making them a handy tool for socialization. This sort of possession also minimizes the burden on our hosts to have a bounty of cups available for guests. (In college and in grad school, we wrote our names on cups because we paid for them at parties and it was in our interest to keep track of our cups.) The practice also functions to manage our alcohol consumption. We get a cup at an event and we?re free to fill it with any of the available options. It holds roughly the same amount for everyone?or least it gives the illusion of equality with regard to the ratios in mixed drinks. Among the Sikaiana, the distributor/host determines how much is poured into the cup for each round and how long to wait between rounds:

?Serving large portions and not waiting between rounds will cause the participants to become drunk rapidly. On the other hand, after such a happy state of inebriation has been reached, the distributor may decide to slow the pace of drinking in order to control the level of intoxication and preserve the supply of toddy (Donner 1994: 250).

While we may not necessarily be served in the same way with our red plastic cups (that might be a downer of a party to attend), our named cups provide a way to monitor access to drinks. If you lose your cup, you might be out of luck. It can also be a signal that the cup-less should perhaps be cut-off, especially when it?s clear that the de-cupped has passed beyond happy, joyful drinking to disruptive behavior.

The red plastic cup may have a bit of a party-animal reputation. It?s hardly likely you?ll be drinking fine wine or quality spirits from a red plastic cup. Or that you?ll find a red plastic cup at a banquet or gala. The red plastic cup is a champion of the everyday and and the unpretentious. It suggests a relaxed, convival atmosphere and invites everyone to join the party. It won?t reveal the contents contained so whether it?s alcohol, tea, fruit juice, or water, everyone belongs and everyone can participate.

So whatever your preference, raise your red plastic cup.

?
References:
Bunimovitz, S., & Greenberg, R. (2004). Revealed in Their Cups: Syrian Drinking Customs in Intermediate Bronze Age Canaan Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (334) DOI: 10.2307/4150104

Donner, W. (1994). Alcohol, Community, and Modernity: The Social Organization of Toddy Drinking in a Polynesian Society Ethnology, 33 (3) DOI: 10.2307/3774009

Magennis, H. (1985). The Cup as Symbol and Metaphor in Old English Literature Speculum, 60 (3) DOI: 10.2307/2848173

McAllister, P. (2003). Culture, Practice, and the Semantics of Xhosa Beer-Drinking Ethnology, 42 (3) DOI: 10.2307/3773800

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Some G20 countries soften stance on Europe: sources (Reuters)

MILAN/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Some of the world's biggest economies want to move quickly on a cash injection for the International Monetary Fund to help rescue the euro zone, but hardliners may still scupper an early deal to boost the fund's war chest, G20 sources said on Friday.

Officials from the Group of 20 leading economies are engaged in what one called a 'chicken and egg' game as they work toward a possible deal on boosting the IMF's firepower at a meeting of the bloc's finance ministers and central bank governors in Mexico City in one month's time.

Emerging market powers Brazil and China are among the countries keen to pursue the two-track plan pushed by the current G20 president Mexico to work on additional IMF funding simultaneously with extra steps from Europe, one G20 official told Reuters, rather than insisting on European action upfront.

"There was a much more cooperative sentiment between G20 countries than in recent meetings," said the official, referring last week's discussions between G20 deputies in Mexico City.

"Some emerging countries are more open to consider contributions to increase IMF resources in parallel with euro zone efforts, so they are open to make commitments to increase IMF resources in the next few weeks," the source added.

Mexican central bank governor Agustin Carstens said a consensus was building on boosting IMF resources to help European countries and others that need aid.

But the February 25-26 meeting deadline may prove ambitious, given the United States' insistence that Europe boost its own crisis shield further before any pledges to the IMF - which estimates it needs $600 billion more to limit the fallout.

"Our view is that the only way Europe is going to be successful in holding this together is for them to bring a stronger firewall," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"If Europe is able and willing to do that, we believe the IMF is ready to play a constructive role."

Canada is also taking a tough public stance, although a G20 official from another country said Ottawa was becoming more conciliatory, along with Japan.

"Canada and Japan are more flexible than in the past," the second official said. "It could be a bit more difficult with the USA, although they too have softened their position, but it's still early in the game."

STANDOFF FEARS

Europe, for its part, supports the two-track approach, but officials are concerned that Germany's reluctance so far to back increased funding for the euro zone's own rescue fund may fuel a standoff at the G20.

Germany has insisted that the safety net should not exceed 500 billion euros, but officials close to the G20 talks estimate that a further 230 billion to 250 billion euros is needed.

"It is important that we should not let this be locked between the Americans and the Germans, or the IMF and the Germans, so that nobody would get any pretext or excuse to not do their part," one senior euro zone official said.

A G20 official from a large emerging market economy said Europe accepted the need to put in more resources but "won't say it for fear of" Germany.

"They will get to that point because they know not one cent of this IMF money will be made available unless they come up with their side ... the majority view is that we move in parallel we have things ready, but we don't have to deploy it until the Europeans have gotten their act together."

European Union leaders will discuss increasing the bloc's permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), on March 1-2, just days after the February meeting in Mexico, with the timing creating extra difficulty for policymakers.

"If the parallel approach wins inside the G20, a deal on increasing IMF resources could be clinched by the G20 meeting in February," the initial G20 source said. "Otherwise, the G20 will work on reaching a deal by next April in Washington, after an increase of ESM firepower is signed in March among euro zone countries."

G20 finance ministers are due to meet in Washington on April 19-20 ahead of a leaders summit in Mexico's Los Cabos on June 18-19.

Countries keen on the parallel approach are Brazil, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, China, Indonesia and South Korea, the source said.

A senior Brazilian government official confirmed Brazil was keen to push the two aims simultaneously, but said a commitment to a bigger ESM would definitely smooth the way.

"If the Europeans increase (funding to) the ESM then they increase the chances of additional resources to the IMF in support," he said.

The extra funding may come in the form of bilateral loans between individual countries and the IMF or an increase in countries' quotas, which could also give emerging economies more say in how the fund is managed.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Alonso Soto in Brasilia, Paul Carrel in Davos and Jan Strupczewski in Brussels; Writing by Krista Hughes; Editing by Andrea Evans, Gary Crosse)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/bs_nm/us_imf_g20

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Finance chiefs reassure CEOs over European crisis (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Leading finance chiefs sought to reassure anxious global business leaders on Friday that Europe is on track to solve its crippling debt crisis before it drags the world's economies down. Europe's top banker said investors, burned after trusting the region's governments too much, now trust them too little.

The finance chiefs said the picture in Europe has changed over the past two months as the European Central Bank has loaned billions of euros to fragile banks, indebted countries have pushed through convincing reforms and EU leaders have come near to building a closer fiscal union that would make their common currency stronger.

Several also signaled Friday that Greece is close to clinching a crucial debt-reduction deal with private bondholders ? a key element in Europe's efforts to stem a two-year debt crisis that is causing ripples around the globe. The crisis is a central topic at the World Economic Forum, a gathering of government and business leaders at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"They're making progress on reforms, they're changing the institutions of Europe to put better discipline on fiscal policy," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. "You have three new governments doing some very tough things. You have an ECB doing what central banks have to do. You see them move to try to strengthen the financial sector."

Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, said a combination of actions ? including super-cheap, long-term loans to shaky banks on the continent and a couple of interest rate cuts ? have helped Europe avoid deeper financial trouble.

"We have avoided a major credit crunch, a major lending crisis," he said.

Draghi said borrowing rates would remain high "for quite a while" because bond markets are overestimating the risk involved in holding European government debt after years of underestimating it. But he called market pressure "the most potent engine for reform in different governments."

Geithner said the fate of the U.S. economy ? and by extension of the rest of the world ? hinges on Europe's debt crisis, along with potential tensions with Iran. He said the main piece of unfinished business for Europe is building a bigger fund to help troubled economies survive.

But while French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said that fund needs to be increased to calm markets, his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, indicated that his government is not prepared to do so. Germany, as Europe's biggest economy, would face the biggest bill.

"We must not give the wrong incentives," Schaeuble said. "You can make any figure. It will not work if the real problems will not be solved."

Both, together with Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos Jurado and European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, agreed that the idea of issuing "eurobonds" backed jointly by all eurozone governments is a nonstarter for now. They didn't rule out the possibility that such bonds could be introduced once confidence in Europe's public finances is restored, with Guindos calling that a "final target."

Schaeuble said eurobonds would provide bad incentives by allowing debt-ridden countries to "spend money you don't have on the bill of others."

Many economists have said eurobonds are needed to solve the crisis as they could reduce the borrowing costs of heavily indebted countries by pooling them with bonds of stronger economies like Germany's.

Professor Nouriel Roubini, the renowned economist who predicted the financial crash of 2008, is one who thinks that eurobonds have to form part of a eurozone strategy to fend off the possibility of a breakup.

The eurozone "could be a slow-motion train wreck," Roubini said.

Europe has been grappling with the crisis ever since Greece conceded at the end of 2009 that its public finances were in far worse shape than previously thought. Greece remains at the epicenter of the crisis over two years later. Its borrowing costs remain too high for it to borrow in the markets so a second European-led bailout is in the offing.

The finance chiefs signaled Friday that a deal is at hand that could help ease some of the near-term tensions.

Greece has been negotiating with the a group representing banks and other lenders in the hopes that they will forgive half of Greece's debt in exchange for Greek assurances that it will pay back the other half without defaulting on its loans. The deal would also let Greece repay over a longer period at a lower interest rate ? negotiators have been trying to agree on what that rate will be.

Schaeuble said he is "quite optimistic" about a deal, while Rehn said he hopes a deal can be reached "if not today, maybe by the weekend."

Agreement between Greece and its creditors is needed before Europe and the International Monetary Fund agree to a second multibillion-euro bailout package.

At the heart of the problem is that the 17 countries that use the euro use a single currency but have different fiscal policies. That changes the nature of their debt, said Adair Turner, chairman of Britain's banking regulator the Financial Services Authority.

"That debt is more equivalent to the State of California debt than the U.S. federal debt," he said.

That's why all but one of the 27 EU countries ? the United Kingdom has refused to participate ? are discussing a closer fiscal union. On Monday, leaders meet in Brussels to work out the details of that new compact.

Schaeuble and Baroin noted that even the agreement in principle to forge closer ties has calmed markets since a December summit, as borrowing rates have dropped and stock markets have risen.

"It's amazing," Draghi said. "If you compare today with even five months ago, the euro area is another world."

The crisis threatens more than Europe: the U.N.'s refugee chief warned Friday that it is fueling conflicts around the world. Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press that rising food prices and growing unemployment are hitting those already at the bottom hardest, sparking conflict in places like South Sudan and exacerbating hotspots including Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.

_____

Frank Jordans and Edith Lederer in Davos and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this story.

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

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Nintendo officially announces Nintendo Network, promises personal accounts for Wii U

Nintendo's third quarter financial briefing just spilled the beans on the recently spied Nintendo Network, causing Nintendo fans everywhere to collectively sigh, "It's about time." Company head honcho Satoru Iwata says the network will offer "competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content," and in the case of the Wii U, will introduce personal user accounts. Iwata stopped just short of confirming that the Nintendo Network will end the company's policy of tying downloaded titles to Nintendo hardware, rather than individual users, but mentioned that it packed an infrastructure that supports not only add-on content, but fully downloadable retail games as well.

"This concept was built into the design of the Nintendo 3DS, and we already have the necessary infrastructure," Iwata said, "We will prepare the same infrastructure for the Wii U. However, we have not decided the concrete timing of when we will start it." Iwata pointed to Mario Kart 7's community building features and DLC offerings in the upcoming Theatrythm Final Fantasy as an early look at how the Nintendo Network is trying differentiate itself from the outfit's existing Nintendo Wi-Fi connection services. Hit the source link to read Iwata's briefing for yourself.

Nintendo officially announces Nintendo Network, promises personal accounts for Wii U originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gingrich reiterates Palestinians 'invented' people (AP)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich is defending himself after a questioner at the GOP presidential debate criticized him for calling Palestinians an invented people.

A questioner of Palestinian descent asked Gingrich how he could say Palestinians are "invented."

Gingrich answered by reiterating his stance, saying that Palestinians were, in fact, invented in the 1970s. He says before that they were simply identified as Arabs.

Gingrich is also making it clear he is a strong supporter of Israel. He says that President Barack Obama has not stood up in support of Israel amid ongoing tension with Palestinians. Gingrich says he would be a steadfast supporter of Israel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_palestinians

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Energy Secretary Tours Sandia Labs

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Symantec profit, forecast in line with estimates (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Symantec Corp, the top maker of computer security software, reported a higher quarterly profit and issued an outlook in line with Wall Street estimates.

The company reported profit, excluding items, of 42 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter, ended Dec 30, beating the average analyst forecast of 41 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Mountain View, California-based software maker also forecast fourth-quarter per-share profit, excluding items, of 41 or 42 cents, below the average analyst forecast of 43 cents.

Symantec shares were quoted at $17.04 in extended trade, down from their Nasdaq close of $17.07.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wr_nm/us_symantec

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New Xbox said to be six times as powerful as the Xbox 360 (Yahoo! News)

Will Microsoft's next machine blow its current console out of the water?

The current?video game console generation is entering its twilight years, and with that inevitability comes the unceasing rumors of what each company's next hardware will be capable of. Nintendo has already shown its hand by?unveiling the Wii U, and now some tasty tidbits are beginning to surface regarding the next Xbox from?Microsoft. Popularly nicknamed the Xbox 720, some new, well-sourced rumors suggest that it will be six times as powerful as the current console.

The?Xbox 360 is no slouch, and it can still play host to the?hottest new releases, but the hardware is approaching its 6th birthday and some serious advancements have been made in the world of graphics processing in the last half decade. The new Xbox will reportedly run on a derivative of AMD's 6670 graphics chip, which supports 1080p HD, 3D, and linking to multiple external displays.

Compared to the Wii U, the Xbox 720 should be roughly 20% more powerful, though the stats of the two systems appear to be close enough that players may not notice a difference. Like Microsoft, Sony has yet to officially reveal anything about its followup to the?PlayStation 3, but based on their console release history, a new machine is undoubtedly in the works. Where the PlayStation 4 will stack up in comparison to the new systems by Nintendo and Microsoft is anyone's guess.

(Source)

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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Pelosi hints, then denies she has Gingrich secrets (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Does House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi know some dark secrets about GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich?

Twice, she offered tantalizing hints that she does. And then said she doesn't.

Gingrich said Wednesday that the House Democratic leader should come out with it or shut up.

The latest back-and-forth in the contest of two former House speakers came in a CNN interview Tuesday night, when host John King suggested to Pelosi that she "could come back here next January or next February with a President Gingrich?"

"Let me just say this. That will never happen," Pelosi said.

When King asked, "Why are you so sure?" Pelosi responded: "There's something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him, that's the prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."

On Wednesday, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said, "The `something' leader Pelosi knows is that Newt Gingrich will not be president of the United States. She made that clear last night."

Hammill's statement, however, acknowledged that this wasn't the first time that Pelosi hinted that she knows something about Gingrich that she hasn't revealed.

In December, Pelosi reminded an interviewer that she served on the ethics panel that investigated Gingrich's use of tax-exempt organizations. That case ended with a reprimand by the House and a $300,000 penalty against the then-speaker for misleading the committee and prolonging its investigation.

Pelosi said at the time, "One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich. I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff."

Hammill repeated the explanation provided after those comments.

"Leader Pelosi previously made a reference to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware," the spokesman said.

Gingrich said Wednesday that Pelosi should come out with her information or stop talking.

"Look, I think if she knows something she ought to say it. If she doesn't know something she ought to quit saying it. But this is baloney. I don't think any Republican is going to be threatened by Nancy Pelosi. Frankly, I'd rather have her threaten me than endorse me. So I feel pretty good about it. If she has something, bring it out," he said.

Mitt Romney, Gingrich's chief rival for the GOP presidential nomination, has asked that all records from Gingrich's ethics investigation be released. In January 1997, when the case ended, the committee did make public its final report as well as exhibits ? which amounted to a comprehensive account of the committee's findings.

The chairman of the ethics committee during the Gingrich investigation, former Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson, said the committee traditionally does not publicly release investigative documents.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_el_pr/us_pelosi_gingrich

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Camera+ 2.4VS (for iPhone)

Camera+ has been a favorite, highly-rated iPhone photo app in the iTunes app store for a few years. The $1.99 app matches the competing Camera Genius in a lot of ways, with many features in common, though this latest version of Camera+ has a slicker interface and more photo enhancements. For its part, Camera Genius ($1.99, 3.5 stars) offers a bit more in shutter options and sharing targets. Camera+ features fall into two main categories, shooting and photo enhancing. How does it compare with the best iPhone camera apps around?

Shooting
If you use Camera+ to replace the iPhone's default Camera app, you'll get several extra shooting options. First, a timer, common to pretty much all standalone digital cameras, lets you set up a shot and walk into the photo yourself. But you don't get all of Camera Genius's ingenious ways to trigger the shutter?using a noise, on focusing, and with a full screen shutter button. These are less of a concern now that you can shoot with the iPhone's Volume button or using its front camera.

The app also, like Camera Genius, offers a "Stabilizer," which, rather than adding actual stabilization as is done optically or digitally on digital camera, simply waits till you're holding the camera steady to snap a picture. This worked equally as well as Camera Genius's equivalent. A burst mode does a better job than Camera Genius's equivalent feature. By lowering the image resolution, I could shoot more rapid photos, though of course, the resulting images couldn't be blown up as much.

Another shooting possibility that Camera+, like Camera Genius, adds to the iPhone is the ability to specify separate focus and exposure points. It takes an interesting, if less intuitive approach than Genius: You touch the screen once on the spot you want the focus, and while holding that finger down touch another spot for exposure. After this you can drag either point around anywhere on screen. This only works with the better camera on the back of the phone; with the front camera I could only set the aperture point. But this was better than Camera Genius's, which showed separate focus and exposure points for the front camera, but in fact they didn't work separately.

A final shooting tool was the ability to set the flash always on?something not available in Camera Genius, but also something that will wear down your iPhone's battery quickly.

Enhancing
After taking your shots, photos appear in a smart-looking "Lightbox"?a photo gallery that looks like a contact sheet of film photos. From here, you can touch an image to get the Edit, Share, Save, and Info buttons. The first offers Scenes, Adjust, Crop, Effects, and Borders, each with their own subchoices. "Scenes" is like the feature offered on many point-and-shoot cameras, including Clarity, Auto, Flash, BackLit, Darken, Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent, Sunset, Night, Portrait, Beach, Scenery, Concert, Food, and Text?a healthy selection! One drawback?unlike Snapseed ($4.99, 4 stars) and Camera Genius, you can only edit photos taken in the Camera+ app itself, not existing images in the Camera roll.

But you don't get sliders to adjust the lighting the way you do in Snapseed ($4.99, 4 stars) and Camera Genius; Camera+'s Adjust tab only let you rotate and flip the image. The Cropping tool is excellent, with large easy-to-grab handles and plenty of preset aspect ratios. One problem, though, was that I couldn?t rotate a preset from portrait to landscape orientation, as I could in Camera Genius.

The FX tab is one place Camera+ shines: you get four sets of nine effects: Color, Retro, Special, and Analog. Be warned, though, that the last set is an extra-cost item, only available for preview in the base app. The Special effects include HDR, polarize, color dodge, grunge, and cross process. It's just about everything you find in Instagram (Free, 3.0 stars) and Hipstamatic ($1.99, 3.0 stars). And each effect offers an Intensity slider for further adjustment.

Sharing
Once you've got your photo all dolled up the way you want it, your choices are Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter (as well as SMS and email, which you can do in the default Photo app). Camera Genius goes a bit beyond this, with Tumblr and Picasa sharing thrown in. Of course, both are a far cry from Instagram, which encourages deep delving into its own photo-centric social network based around small, usually stylized square images.

A Lot of Plusses
Camera+ 2.4VS is a beautifully designed app that enhances your iPhone camera and photo enjoyment. I actually find its slick interface design one of the best, but Camera Genius offers more shutter and sharing options, more editing control, and lets you work with existing images. Camera+ has a better burst mode and lots of fun effects. But for the ultimate in photo correction and enhancement, look to our Editor's Choice, Snapseed for iPhone.

More iPhone App Reviews:

??? Adobe Photoshop Express 2.0 (for iPhone)
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/benNEabU30g/0,2817,2399064,00.asp

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Kristin Cavallari, Jay Cutler Confirm Pregnancy

Former 'Hills' star and her football player fiancé expecting first child together following a rocky relationship in 2011.
By Jocelyn Vena

Kristin Cavallari
Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic

And then there were three. Former "Hills" star Kristin Cavallari and her football-playing fiancé, Jay Cutler, have confirmed that they are soon going to be parents.

"We are thrilled to announce we are expecting our first child together," the couple said in statement to People.com. "It's an amazing time in our life and we can't wait to meet the new addition to our growing family."

The road to parenthood has been a rocky one for the duo. After initially getting engaged in April 2011, the soon-to-be parents called it off in July, reportedly while they were knee-deep in planning their wedding.

However, after several months apart, the couple confirmed that they were once again engaged in November. The football player asked the former reality starlet to marry him with a 5.2-carat engagement ring.

"She is really happy. She is in the early stages, but she can't wait to be a mom," a source told USmagazine.com. "They have just bought a house in Tennessee and can't wait to start their family."

In an interview with the magazine, Cavallari opened up a bit about her on-again, off-again relationship with Cutler. "The past year has been interesting," she said in December, shortly after they got back together. "There have been a lot of ups and downs, but overall it's been great. We're just enjoying being engaged," she added. "We were definitely planning the first time, but I can't plan the same wedding. I need to do something entirely different."

Before settling down with Cutler, Cavallari had a reputation for being quite man-eater. On her stints on both "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills," the small screen's biggest vixen hooked up with Justin Bobby Brescia, Brody Jenner and Stephen Colletti.

Related Videos

• Saying Goodbye To 'The Hills'

Related Photos

• Star Gazing: Kristin Cavallari

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677700/kristin-cavallari-pregnant-jay-cutler.jhtml

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Maybe Child Labor Cures Cancer, Too? | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

?

by Donna Jablonski, Jan 21, 2012

Here?s the latest Republican justification for child labor: It prevents obesity.

Hat tip to Laura Clawson at DailyKos,?who spotted this one: Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, worried that the Department of
Labor wants to limit child labor on family farms, said:

It?s interesting that this child labor bill goes against Michelle Obama?s anti-obesity initiative. How can kids be active if they are limited by this law?

Gee, I don?t know. Maybe they could?play?

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)

Source: http://blog.aflcio.org/2012/01/21/maybe-child-labor-cures-cancer-too/

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Romney's $20 Million IRA: A Lousy Investment? (Time.com)

Mitt Romney may have made the classic IRA mistake: holding low-tax investments inside a tax-favored account. His IRA strategy isn't clear, of course. Romney continues to guard his personal finances. But details are trickling out, and even if it turns out that Romney's traditional IRA is built right for him, the securities he holds in it serve as a valuable reminder that not all investments belong in a tax-favored account.

Romney's IRA is valued at between $20.7 million and $101.6 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. That's an extremely wide range that the Journal found in Romney's latest financial disclosure report, filed in August. His IRA produced income between $1.5 million and $8.5 million last year.(MORE: Cash Back: Banks Battle for Your Rollover IRA.)

So he's not like most of us, financially speaking. But he is exactly like us in that he has limits on how much he can contribute to an IRA, or to a 401(k) plan that can be rolled into an IRA. Given those limits it's remarkable that he has been able to amass such wealth in a tax-deferred account.

For most of his years at Bain Capital, the annual IRA pre-tax contribution was capped at $2,000 and the annual 401(k) pre-tax contribution, including employer match, was capped at $30,000. Other limits are in force today: $5,000 for an IRA ($6,000 if you over 50); $16,500 for a 401(k) ($22,000 if you are over 50).

Assuming Romney was maxing out pre-tax contributions, as should anyone who can afford to do so, he still would have needed extraordinary returns within his tax-deferred accounts to build such a big balance. He must have been investing in stocks and other high-growth potential vehicles, which produce a capital gain.

Here's the rub: The max capital gains tax is just 15%. That's what Romney would pay in federal tax upon selling his stocks from a taxable account. Yet when Romney begins taking distributions from his IRA, as he must in his 71st year, the money will be subject to federal income tax at rates of up to 35%. That tax-rate disparity is why it often makes sense to hold stocks in a taxable account and things like real estate investment trusts, rental properties, bonds and other income-generating investments in an IRA or 401(k). This is especially true for the wealthy, like Romney, whose net worth is about $250 million. Rich people have ample resources to max out tax-deferred vehicles with bonds and hold their stocks in a taxable account -- all while maintaining a desired asset allocation of, say, 60% stocks and 40% bonds.(MORE: More Fees, Fewer Branches as Banks Cope With Lower Profits.)

This doesn't necessarily work with limited resources. If you only save in a 401(k) and must stretch to get the full company match, you're probably better off with a mix of stocks and bonds in that account. Stocks also make sense in a tax-deferred account with at least 20 years before distributions begin, according a study by T. Rowe Price. And holding stocks in your IRA won't hurt if your income tax rate will shrink when you begin to take distributions.

But, in general, it makes sense to add low-tax investments like stocks (even dividends get taxed at a max 15%) to a taxable account and income-generating investments to a tax-deferred account -- especially with fewer than 10 years to retirement. A presidential candidate probably knows that. But thanks, Mitt, for the reminder.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120120/us_time/httpmoneylandtimecom20120120romneysirabigandpossiblymisdirectedixzz1k0kuv4ptxidrssfullnationyahoo

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Daily Crunch: Sense Effects

Here are some recent posts on TechCrunch Gadgets: ZOOM?s B3 Bass Effects Pedal Launches At NAMM iPads And Digital Textbooks Do Not Belong In Classrooms Yet Apple Announces iBooks 2, A New Textbook Experience For The iPad Sea Change: Apple Guts Textbook Publishing Wireless Sensor Posts Temperature, Humidity, And Radiation Levels To Twitter (Video)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uTvTpL1mYz4/

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JB Smoove, comic and torturer (Reuters)

New York (TheWrap.com) ? JB Smoove, whose standup special "That's How I Dooz It" debuts this weekend on Comedy Central, says comedians are like torturers.

"We always have bad intentions for our audience," says the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star. "We want you to laugh, but we also want you to piss in your pants, we want you to shit on yourself, we want you to have a good-bad experience. You paid 10 dollars for that drink but we want you to spit it out. We want you to spill it on the table. We want you to leave with soiled pants and hurt cheeks. We want to hurt you with laughter.

"It's like I'm a torturer in medieval times," he adds. "I want to torture you until I get out of you what I want to get out of you."

Even Larry David isn't safe in his scenes with Smoove. The 47-year-old, born Jerry Brooks, has played Larry's houseguest and consigliere, Leon Black, for the last three seasons of "Curb."

"If you ever notice, sometimes Larry smirks a little bit?" he says. "That's because I'm trying to kill him. I'm trying to verbally kill you."

Improvisation is the key to Smoove's comedy, not just on "Curb," but also in standup sets he tries to personalize for every audience. "Curb" famously gives actors only an outline of each episode, so they have to fill in the dialogue themselves. But even an outline can be too much preparation for Smoove, who thrives on not knowing what he'll do next.

That means coming up with lines like "That's how I dooz it, Larry" -- which inspired the title of his special -- off the top of his head.

Smoove, who also appears in the movie "We Bought a Zoo" and the upcoming NBC sitcom "Bent," talked to TheWrap about improvising with David, audiences, and just two guys standing on a corner.

TheWrap: Larry David was asked last week what makes him laugh, and he said, "JB Smoove... He got the part just by looking at me." Is that true? And who makes you laugh?

Smoove: "That's very true. Because when I walked into the room to audition ... I gave him exactly who I thought Leon was. I gave him the look I thought a guy like that would give him. A guy that's jumping in feet first to a different world. I'm a brother who's staying with an older Jewish guy. I just gave him this funny look and we both started smiling a little bit. I think we felt something. ... Larry told me after our first day it felt like we'd been working together for years. Sometimes you get that. You get lucky sometimes.

"What makes me laugh? Larry makes me laugh. I was a big fan of the show before I was on it. ... I used to laugh my ass off at Larry David's TV show."

The Wrap: Do you find that the things that make you laugh in your everyday life are the same things that make your audiences laugh?

Smoove: "I do. I think what I do in my acting world and what I do in my standup world is bring up a brand that I want to bring across. Once you figure out your brand and what you do, it's kind of easy at that. You end up getting your audience.

"Which is what happened with Larry ... I just gave Larry a look. Which is funny to me. I'm big on facial expressions and I'm big on mannerisms, which I find to be hilarious. I'll drive down the street and I'll practice improv. I will sit there at a red light and see two guys talking to each other, and I will just start playing both characters. I can't hear them, but I can see their mouths moving, so I'll just put words in their mouths. I'll see two white guys and I'll give them both brother voices, like, "Hey man, what's goin' on with you, playboy?" It's just a way to keep you on your toes."

TheWrap: How do you come up with the great Leon lines, like "I bring the ruckus to the ladies" and "That's how I dooz it"?

Smoove: "Everything you hear me say on the show, unless Larry needs some specifics as far the direction of the episode, everything you hear as far as Leonisms are straight off my head. Those are me just channeling Leon.

"When I get to the set and I put my Leon outfit on, I become Leon. Everything you hear from "get in that ass," "I dooz it," "I bring the ruckus" -- those are all things that I feel are things Leon would say. When I'm in Leon mode I'm in full Leon mode.

"All these are powerful statements that motivate. A guy like Leon has very little. But he has a lot of pride. He can inspire you. ... When he tells you something, you get it, but you don't get it. You get him in a way because you understand where he's coming from. He's trying to help you in the only way he knows how to help you. A Leonism that fits the situation.

"I don't like to telegraph anything with Leon. I like to come into the set kind of fresh. I don't want my outline emailed to me the night before. Because I'll start thinking about it too much. It's a high I get from just jumping into something without knowing what I'm going to do yet. I get the best, most spontaneous reaction I can give you Larry because I'm trying to make myself laugh also. I don't like to come onstage so prepared that I'm unprepared."

TheWrap: Where does your drive come from? You started in comedy clubs - is there a sense of, 'You're not going to beat me'? Or is it just that that's who you are?

Smoove: "That's just who I am. But I also feel like, you're not going to beat me at anything. It's not that you can't beat me -- it's just that what I do is so unique that I do what I do well. I tell people all the time: Do you. Do you (know yourself) so well that no one else can do you like you do you.

"I've had jokes stolen a thousand times. But if you can do it better than me, you can have it. I've had jokes stolen from me in the club when I'm next on stage. And my brain will start to turn and the gears will start turning and I'll go onstage and create a whole new bit.

"You will never see the exact same show. Because I work off what I hear from the audience, I work off the energy from the audience, instead of working off my memory and my jokes.

"It's kind of like a race car driver. They never run the same race twice. You have to change lanes. You have to cut somebody off once in a while. You don't want to. But you have to cut somebody's ass off. 'Cause you either drive through their ass or go around them. And sometimes you have to drive through people.

"That's How I Dooz It" premieres Saturday at 10/9c on Comedy Central.

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/people_nm/us_jbsmoove

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House, Senate leaders pull plug on Internet piracy bills (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Silence is still golden for the Oscars (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? If Oscar buzz is any indicator, Hollywood is on the brink of making Academy Awards history. For the first time, silent films may bookend the best-picture category.

The first ever film ? and only non-talkie ? to win the motion picture academy's top prize was director William A. Wellman's high-flying 1927 drama "Wings," starring Clara Bow and Buddy Rogers.

Now, the 2011 silent film "The Artist" is gathering some serious award-season momentum as a best picture favorite at the 84th annual Oscar ceremony on Feb. 26. The silent-period Valentine from French director Michel Hazanavicius has won numerous honors, including best comedy or musical at Sunday's Golden Globes.

Meanwhile, in a touch of silent symmetry, an extensively restored version of "Wings" thrilled celebrities and regular folks alike this week at special screenings sponsored by the motion picture academy. And next week, the restored "Wings" will be released on DVD.

"I know my father would be clapping," said William Wellman Jr. at a Tuesday night VIP screening at the academy's Beverly Hills headquarters. The son of the "Wings" director is author of "The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture."

The "Wings" screening also served as a kickoff for an academy exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of Paramount Pictures, which originally produced the World War I saga.

In reality, it's pure coincidence that the "Wings" restoration and DVD release come at the same time as "The Artist's" mounting recognition on the awards circuit.

Nevertheless, "there's such a nice tribute to the history of cinema in ("The Artist"), that I'm thrilled about it," noted Andrea Kalas, a Paramount archivist who oversaw the "Wings" restoration. "And the fact that `Wings' gets mentioned in its context doesn't upset me in the least."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_en_mo/us_silent_symmetry

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End to California prison receiver "in sight": judge (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? California's ability to provide health care to its prison inmates has improved so much since a receiver was appointed to oversee it that the state should prepare to resume some oversight, a District Court judge said on Tuesday.

"While some critical work remains outstanding - most notably on construction issues - it is clear that many of the goals of the Receivership have been accomplished," Judge Thelton Henderson said in a court document.

"Given the Receivership's progress to date, the end of the Receivership appears to be in sight, and the Court seeks to get the parties' and the Receiver's views on when the Receivership should be terminated and how this case should progress after the Receivership has ended," Henderson added.

Henderson, who nearly six years ago appointed a receiver to take charge of California prisons' inadequate health-care system, ordered state officials and prison receiver J. Clark Kelso to plan for how much responsibility to return to the state.

A spokeswoman for Kelso said the receiver's office already is "80 percent" toward completing its work of improving medical care in California's overcrowded prison system.

Under a program initiated last year by Governor Jerry Brown, California is addressing its prison overcrowding problem, and cutting its expense, by sending thousands of felons who are not sex offenders and deemed to be nonviolent to serve time in county and local jails.

The case in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is Plata et al v. Brown et al., No. C01-1351 TEH.

(Reporting By Jim Christie; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/us_nm/us_usa_california_prison_receiver

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Roam Mobility offers affordable roaming for Canadians while visiting the US

For Canadians traveling into the US sometimes the most expensive part of the trip isn't the airfare or the hotel but instead the roaming fees associated with their data plans. Gone are the days of ridiculous roaming fees on your current carrier, or trying to find a pre-paid data plan to use for the short time you are in the US, and here is Roam Mobility. The idea behind Roam Mobility is quite simple -- they want to provide a painless solution for roaming Canadians that gives them access to a fast, reliable network while in the US. 

Roam Mobility offers a basic handset, a data stick or a SIM / Micro-SIM card that can be purchased, and they pair them with affordable plans as well. You can choose between data only plans, text & talk, or text, talk and data and with these plans you are given the option to pre-pay for the time you will be here, or pay by day. All you need is an unlocked GSM phone and you are ready to rock. For full details, comparison to Canadian carriers roaming charges, and how to get one for yourself be sure to hit the link below.

Source: Roam Mobility

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/AnxgSFjOuV0/story01.htm

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An Intercultural Education for Mexico: Career and Contributions of Sylvia Schmelkes

This article introduces Sylvia Schmelkes's contributions in the field of intercultural education. An outstanding Mexican educational researcher, Schmelkes was General Coordinator of the Intercultural and Bilingual General Coordination (GCIBE) at the Mexican Ministry of Public Education from its inception in 2001 until 2007. This article provides a perspective on interculturality and a brief overview of the Mexican context as it has been marked by political transition preceded by the Zapatista insurrection in Chiapas. The article then describes Schmelkes's approach and her most significant contributions to the work of the GCIBE. We argue that Schmelkes's main contribution was her commitment to building bridges between the research findings, the Indigenous demands contained in the San Andr?s agreements, and the Mexican state. The depth of the challenges faced by Indigenous education in Mexico, and the extent of racism in the country were some of the challenges faced by her direction.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5761819504

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Blake Shelton delays tour to mourn father

Sad news for Blake Shelton.

The 35-year-old country superstar and "The Voice" mentor is grieving the Wednesday passing of his father, Dick.

PHOTOS: Looking back at the celebs we've lost

"Mr. Shelton, who was in declining health this past year, was surrounded by loved ones in Oklahoma upon his passing this evening," a rep for Shelton told Us Weekly in a statement late Wednesday.

PHOTOS: Celeb families

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As the singer mourns with his family, he has announced plans to reschedule four dates through next week on his Well Lit & Amplified tour. His stops in Bismark, N.D., Rapid City, S.D., Bozeman, Mont. and Billings, Mont. will be delayed until late March.

PHOTOS: Blake's romance with wife Miranda Lambert

"I appreciate your understanding during this difficult time and thank you for all your prayers. Your support means the world to me. I love you guys," Shelton told Us in a statement.

For more information on Shelton's makeup dates, visit his website, BlakeShelton.com.

Copyright 2012 Us Weekly

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46040519/ns/today-entertainment/

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Children's Drowning Injuries, Deaths Decline: Study (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- More than 1,000 children die from drowning in the United States each year and another 5,000 are injured, but these casualties have declined dramatically since the early 1990s, a new study shows.

The number of children who died annually from drowning after being admitted to a hospital declined 42 percent between 1993 and 2008. Total trips to the hospital after drowning-related incidents declined by 51 percent among children during that time, researchers found.

"There have been efforts at education from a variety of groups," said study author Stephen Bowman, an assistant professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "One would think that those messages are getting across."

"We need to keep up our diligence to continue to reduce drowning-related deaths and injuries," he added.

The study, published online and in the February issue of Pediatrics, used the National Inpatient Sample, a vast database compiled by a consortium of about 1,000 hospitals.

Drowning injuries are the second leading cause of accidental trauma in children in the United States. Only car accidents injure more children, Bowman said. Nonfatal drowning often results in brain damage and long-term disability, according to the study.

Breaking down different levels of risk, the study found that children less than 4 years old are most likely to die in drowning incidents, usually in bathtubs or after falling into water. Older children are more likely to drown while swimming, according to research cited in the study, with the risk rising in warmer regions of the South and West that have longer swimming seasons.

Boys, meanwhile, are four to six times more likely than girls to suffer a drowning injury, possibly because they drink alcohol while swimming or overestimate their swimming skills, according to study background information, and between 30 and 50 percent of teen and adult drownings are caused, at least partly, by drinking.

The study found a 40 percent drop in hospital visits following bathtub-related drownings among children under 4 years old and a 50 percent decline in swimming-related hospital trips for children ages 10 to 14. In warmer parts of the country, drowning injuries declined by almost 50 percent during the study period.

"We wanted to create some benchmarks," so that various states and regions could measure their progress against national trends, Bowman said.

While the number of drowning deaths and injuries has dropped, the cost of medical treatment has remained about the same because expenses per case have grown, Bowman said.

"The relative cost per drowning case has risen dramatically and offsets the reduction in hospitalizations," Bowman said.

In 2000, costs associated with such injuries exceeded $5.3 billion, including $2.6 billion for children up to 14 years old, the study said.

The reason for the decline in drowning cases among the youngest children may be "targeted injury-prevention efforts" aimed at parents and caregivers of young children, the study said.

For children of all ages, other factors in reduced drowning rates include education, public health initiatives and safety legislation, according to the head of an organization devoted to preventing accidental childhood injury and death.

Kate Carr, chief executive officer of Safe Kids Worldwide, cited federal legislation passed in 2007 requiring pool and hot tub drains to have covers and calling for other safety measure to be taken by states. The law followed the drowning death of a child whose mother was unable to free her from the suction of a hot-tub drain.

"You can see that it is working. It is not the only thing, but it is one thing that has worked," Carr said.

The study is important, she said, because it helps safety organizations target their efforts at regions where more drownings occur. It "allows us to celebrate the progress that has been made," but more efforts are needed because "one death is one too many," she said.

More information

To learn more about drowning prevention, visit Safe Kids USA.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120117/hl_hsn/childrensdrowninginjuriesdeathsdeclinestudy

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