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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45818906/
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
41 states, including Kansas, have lost jobs since 2006
Just nine states and the District of Columbia managed to add jobs during the past half-decade.
The other 41 states currently have smaller employment bases than they did at the end of 2006, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics? by On Numbers, a blog affiliated with the Wichita Business Journal.
Kansas was among the states posting job losses over the past five years. The state has lost 30,300 nonfarm jobs between November 2006 and November 2011 ? a change of 2.23 percent.
Yet 28 states experienced greater losses over the same time period.
California is the big loser in the employment rankings, with 947,000 of its jobs having slipped away since November 2006.
Nevada has been saddled with the biggest decline in percentage terms, losing 12.7 percent of its employment base during the past five years.
Texas and North Dakota registered the biggest five-year gains in employment.
Texas is the leader in raw numbers, adding 451,100 nonfarm jobs between November 2006 and November 2011. (The latter is the most recent month for which official figures are available.) No other state picked up more than 57,000 jobs during that span.
North Dakota?s increase of 12.7 percent is easily the biggest employment gain in percentage terms. Texas ranks second at 4.4 percent.
Just nine states and the District of Columbia managed to add jobs during the past half-decade.
The other 41 states currently have smaller employment bases than they did at the end of 2006, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics? by On Numbers, a blog affiliated with the Wichita Business Journal.
Kansas was among the states posting job losses over the past five years. The state has lost 30,300 nonfarm jobs between November 2006 and November 2011 ? a change of 2.23 percent.
Yet 28 states experienced greater losses over the same time period.
California is the big loser in the employment rankings, with 947,000 of its jobs having slipped away since November 2006.
Nevada has been saddled with the biggest decline in percentage terms, losing 12.7 percent of its employment base during the past five years.
Texas and North Dakota registered the biggest five-year gains in employment.
Texas is the leader in raw numbers, adding 451,100 nonfarm jobs between November 2006 and November 2011. (The latter is the most recent month for which official figures are available.) No other state picked up more than 57,000 jobs during that span.
North Dakota?s increase of 12.7 percent is easily the biggest employment gain in percentage terms. Texas ranks second at 4.4 percent.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_18/~3/bhn6hqa5NBU/41-states-including-kansas-have-lost.html
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Russian court may ban Hare Krishna text (AP)
MOSCOW ? A Russian court is to decide Wednesday whether a religious text central to the global Hare Krishna movement is "extremist' and should be banned, in a case that has angered Hindus around the world and highlights the continuing challenges for minority religions in Russia.
Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk have argued that the Russian translation of "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" promotes "social discord" and hatred toward nonbelievers. The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's holiest scriptures, and commentary by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness that is often called the Hare Krishna movement.
The prosecutors are asking the court to include the book on the Federal List of Extremist Materials, which bans more than 1,000 texts including Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and books distributed by the Jehovah's Witness and Scientology movements.
Yuri Pleshkov, a spokesman for the group in Russia, said the book in question has existed in Russia for 25 years and has never inspired violence or extremist activity.
"On the contrary, this book teaches humane attitude towards all living beings," Pleshkov said.
The trial follows this year's ban on the construction of a Hare Krishna village in Tomsk and is based on an assessment by professors at Tomsk University, who concluded that "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" includes strong language against nonbelievers and promotes religious hatred and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, nationality and language.
The trial began in June and was scheduled to conclude on Dec. 19, just after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to Russia. That day protesters gathered outside the Russian consulate in Kolkata, and the speaker of India's lower house of parliament adjourned the body for several hours after members began shouting in anger over the proposed ban.
Officials in Tomsk agreed to hear further testimony from experts and the Russian ombudsman for human rights and postponed the court decision until Wednesday.
Indian officials last week appealed to high-level Russian authorities to intervene.
The Bhagavad Gita "is not merely a religious text, but one of the defining treatises of Indian thought," said Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra in a statement. "The Bhagavad Gita has circulated freely across the world for centuries and there is not a single instance of it having encouraged extremism."
The Foreign Ministry insisted that the Tomsk court is not taking issue with core Hindu scripture itself, but rather with the author's commentary and poor translation in "Bhagavad Gita As It Is."
"I would like to emphasize that this is not about 'Bhagavad Gita,' a religious philosophical poem, which forms part of the great Indian epic Mahabharata and is one of the most famous pieces of the ancient Hindu literature," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in Moscow on Thursday, adding that the book was first published in Russian in 1788.
Still, followers of the Hare Krishna movement in Russia see the proposed ban as a result of continued intolerance of minority religions by the Russian Orthodox Church. Pleshkov estimates there are at least 150,000 Hare Krishna devotees in Russia.
"The current problem is, above all, the misuse of the law on combating extremism," Pleshkov said. "It is used to search for enemies where they can not even be defined."
In 2005 a Russian Orthodox archbishop asked the mayor of Moscow to ban the construction of a proposed Hare Krishna temple, calling the Hindu deity Krishna "an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God," according to Interfax. The temple was later allowed in a Moscow suburb.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Shannon Kellogg: The Involved Groom
There is a new breed afoot.
He has opinions, strong opinions, and he is not afraid to voice them. He is adamant about the catering, he knows the ideal ceremony location, and he is certain the two of you can accommodate his growing list of invitees. He is inflexible, he is determined. He is getting married, darn it, and his needs will be heard.
Contrary to the stereotype of the groom schlepping through his assigned wedding tasks (tux, groomsmen, music and honeymoon), this generation of grooms are increasingly involved in their wedding planning. And while brides may love having their eager groom to discuss the floral choices with, more conflict may also arise in this pre-marital flurry of decisions and indecision. A groom's involvement may escalate from having strong opinions to a case of having too many chefs in the kitchen (as if in-laws and friends weren't already contenders).
The involved groom has numerous preferences which may fly contrary to the bride's ideal, and the key is to address these encounters with care. Here's how to negotiate your groom's enthusiastic involvement, while maintaining the sanity that you have worked so hard to maintain.
1. Emphasize your strengths and delegate!
Gone are the days of "his" and "hers" wedding tasks. Is your groom undoubtedly the foodie of the two? Have him head up the search for the caterer and sample the cakes. Is he the creative, artistic type? Let him explore invitation options and table centerpieces. Are you a musician and have strong opinions about what constitutes acceptable tunes? Book the band and set the playlist yourself. By harnessing each of your strengths onto duties where you naturally flourish, the planning process will become more fun and the outcome fantastically unique.
2. When gridlock occurs, ask questions first.
Power struggle. Read these two words and note that they are likely at play when you both have drawn your line firmly in the sand. Couples often get caught up in fighting for their victory, simply because it's habit and it feels better to win than lose. Instead, try to see things from his perspective before defending your own. Ask what led him to feel so strongly about this? What outcomes does he hope to accomplish? How would it feel if he missed out on this? The answers might surprise you. Shifting the focus from winning to understanding the issues is an effective way to break the standoff. Often a compromise will emerge. And more importantly, the relationship will remain intact.
3. Maintain emotional congruence.
Conflict will arise when one or both of you has a rigid pre-conceived notion of how your nuptials "should" be, and it's often influenced by outside factors. Rather than focusing on the "shoulds" or societal expectations that so often are attached to a wedding, make an effort for both you and your partner to pay attention to your inner voice. It is easy to become swept up in wanting to please relatives, vying for acceptance, or trying to fit the mold of what others may expect from you based on outside factors, like career, income bracket, family, lifestyle, and personality. Head this off by talking with your partner about your idea of what others expect. Are the expectations unrealistic? Are pressures from outside sources real, or are they inflated in your own mind? Discuss together what you think others expect, and what each of you feel are your "shoulds." Next, shift the focus to looking within to find out what matters to you. If there were no consequences, no preconceived notions, what would you envision? Take time to reflect on your own thoughts and listen to your instincts as your guide.
4. Let your partner influence you.
Are you feeling like emotional road-kill after a talk with your bridesmaid? Is your head spinning about the nuances of dinner seating arrangements? Now is the time to cuddle up to your involved, opinionated groom and allow him to help with your concerns. Often, he'll provide you with a perspective you hadn't considered. By talking about your worries, you will get emotional support from your guy, while showing your deep respect for his perspective. And your highly involved groom? He'll be glad that you value his opinion, and in return will be more likely to listen to your advice when he needs guidance.
An involved groom makes for an involved husband, and that is a predictor in marital satisfaction. So while it may have come as a shock to find your groom passionate about the wedding planning process, it's helpful to see it for what it is. He cares about your wedding, he cares about you, and yes, it's his big day, too.
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Follow Shannon Kellogg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrShannonK
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannon-kellogg/the-involved-groom_b_1160753.html
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Oil Dispute Illustrates Risks of Work in Iraq Fields
The turmoil in Iraq after the U.S, troop withdrawal is extending to its vital petroleum industry.
The U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil and its partners are embroiled in a $50 million payment dispute with the Iraqi government over an oil field in southeastern Iraq that the companies are improving and modernizing. The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is also unhappy with Exxon over a separate development deal that the company struck with the leaders of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi government's failure to pay Exxon, the only American oil company operating in southern Iraq, for nearly two years of work underscores the perils for Western companies seeking to do business there. The government has not explained why it has withheld the payments.
A perception that the Iraqi government will not honor its oil contracts could also send ripples beyond Iraq to international markets worried about disruptions in petroleum supplies. Iraq is expected to increase oil production faster than any other country in the next 25 years, reaching a capacity of five million barrels of oil a day by 2035, more than traditional leaders like Saudi Arabia, according to the International Energy Agency.
''The international oil companies are putting in the capital and expertise,'' said Alex Munton, a Middle East analyst for Wood Mackenzie, a research and consulting firm based in Edinburgh. ''They need to recover their costs and get a profit margin on top. For it to work, they have to be paid what they are due.
''It would certainly serve Iraq's interests well to have that contract working smoothly,'' he added.
Exxon's 2009 deal with the Iraqi government to improve production in the West Qurna 1 field was never expected to be lucrative under the best of circumstances. The government had agreed to pay Exxon and its partners $1.90 for each additional barrel of oil they pumped after refurbishing the already producing field. The fees would barely be enough to cover the companies' costs. Other deals between Iraq and foreign oil companies had similar terms.
International oil contracts are more typically structured to compensate companies with a percentage from sales or a share of production that takes into account the fluctuating price of oil, so that they can be more profitable for the companies when prices rise.
Western oil companies, shut out of Iraq's oil fields for decades under the government of Saddam Hussein, were willing to do the low-profit, technical service deals to get a foot in the door with the new government that was put in place after the American-led invasion in 2003. Only a few dozen of Iraq's 80 or so discovered fields are in production, and the government has suggested that it would give more lucrative agreements later to companies that helped the country early on.
For most of the nearly nine-year war, American government advisers aided Iraqi ministries in negotiating and fulfilling contracts. That activity tapered off as Iraq assumed more sovereignty. President Barack Obama, during a meeting this month with Mr. Maliki in Washington, said Iraq was now a country ''sovereign, self-reliant and democratic.''
Exxon and its minority partners in the project - which include the English-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell - increased output in the West Qurna 1 field by more than 10 percent by last March. That was the trigger point for the Iraqi government to begin paying the companies for their work.
But the payments have not been made, according to Hans Nijkamp, Shell's country manager for Iraq.
''There are a lot of admin-type issues that we're working through with the government,'' Mr. Nijkamp said during an interview.
He said Shell did not believe that the delays were deliberate and that the issues would eventually be resolved.
An Exxon Mobil spokesman declined to comment, saying the company had a policy of not discussing commercial matters.
The Iraqi government awarded 11 oil and natural gas contracts for fields at auctions beginning in 2008. Two other consortiums that won deals and have since raised output more than 10 percent - those led by BP of Britain and Eni of Italy - have been compensated.
BP said that, together with partners, it had been paid in kind in oil. Eni is also taking crude as payment.
Western oil service companies, including the U.S. giants Halliburton and Baker Hughes, have also made substantial profits working in Iraqi oil fields.
Mr. Nijkamp said that Shell was working to smooth over the flaws in its Iraqi technical service contracts before another field it was developing, Majnoon, entered commercial production by the end of next year.
''We're working with South Oil Co. and the Oil Ministry to get the invoicing process up to scratch until then,'' he said.
Faisal Abdullah, a spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq in charge of energy, Hussain al-Shahristani, confirmed during an interview in Baghdad in November that the government owed a payment to the Exxon-led consortium, but he did not characterize it as late.
''Exxon has increased output and a small amount of money has not been paid,'' Mr. Abdullah said. He said the government had not paid Exxon about $50 million, a figure that roughly conforms with estimates by Western oil analysts.
Mr. Abdullah described the delay in paying the largest oil company of America as bureaucratic and unrelated to the dispute over exploration contracts in Kurdistan that Exxon signed in November.
But that deal has caused great consternation. The central government considers deals in Kurdistan illegal. Without an oil law to split petroleum wealth, these agreements are worsening an already poisonous ethnic divide between Kurds and Arabs, officials in Baghdad said.
Mr. Abdullah said that Exxon executives had expressed concerns to officials in Baghdad about the profitability of the West Qurna 1 contract before striking the deal in Kurdistan, suggesting that the company, based in Texas, was dissatisfied with the deal.
Iraqi officials say they cautioned Exxon not to sign the deal in Kurdistan, even as they were apparently withholding payment for the work in the south.
Ali al-Fayadh, the deputy chairman of the oil committee in the Iraqi Parliament, said during an interview in his Baghdad office that the government was considering banning Exxon from working in southern Iraq because the company had signed the deal in Kurdistan.
A decision has not yet been made, Mr. Fayadh said. The government could prohibit Exxon from participating in future auctions or end its contract for West Qurna 1, he said.
If that happened, it would mean the only major U.S. oil company operating in Iraq would be expelled on the heels of the U.S. military's departure.
Oil companies are expected to invest $150 billion in Iraq in the next decade. The payment delay to the Exxon coalition highlights the quandary they face. Though eager to gain access to reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels, among the largest in the world, companies are required to invest large sums with only tiny early returns and major risks.
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Copyright 2011 International Herald Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
Source: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=113647&rss=true
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
sterow: RT @mikestuchbery: Tornado warning for Melbourne. You heard me. Tornado warning. Yes. TORNADO WARNING. - http://t.co/PemSxt9p
Tornado warning for Melbourne. You heard me. Tornado warning. Yes. TORNADO WARNING. - Source: http://twitter.com/sterow/statuses/150828104636567552
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Israel halts defense system sale to Turkey
Relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated further. The Ministry of Defense has ordered Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) to cancel a contract with the Turkish Air Force for the supply of airborne intelligence gathering systems. The contract was signed jointly with Elbit unit El-Op and IAI unit Elta in late 2009.
Elbit Systems refused to comment today. Defense sources familiar with the matter said that the Ministry of Defense had given the grounds of the instruction to the two companies as "diplomatic considerations". The companies were told that the export licenses necessary for continued performance of the contract will not be renewed.
In the past few days, the companies approached Ministry of Defense director-general Udi Shani and demanded compensation for the damage they will be caused by the decision not to renew the export licenses. Sources informed "Globes" today that Shani is in talks with the representatives of IAI and Elbit Systems, attempting to reach an arrangement that will satisfy those involved. Such an arrangement has not yet been accieved, and both companies fear substantial damage to their financial results.
Elbit's share of the agreement with the Turks is $87 million and IAI's $54 million. The systems were to have been supplied to the Turkish Air Force over four years. Defense sources said that the systems in question were among the most advanced of their kind.
Before the crisis in Israeli-Turkish relations erupted, there was close military cooperation between the two countries and substantial arms sales. Among other deals, IAI sold the Turks UAVS, Elbit Systems sold electronic systems, and IMI had a large project to upgrade Turkish tanks.
A defense source commented, "Relations between the two countries are important and Israel has done a great deal to improve them. All the same, Israel has responsibility for every defense product that obtains an export license, and the decisions on this matter relate one specific system, and not to Israeli-Turkish relations in general."
The Ministry of Defense said today in response, "In general, the Ministry of Defense is not wont to detail the considerations and the information that form the basis of defense exports policy decisions. The Ministry of Defense assesses the situation constantly with all the relevant parties, and decisions are arrived at in a professional manner, and in accordance with diplomatic and political considerations."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 22, 2011
? Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011
Source: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000709390
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Monday, December 26, 2011
Local radio a vital community tool, says Church in response to BBC plans
The importance of local radio to the community, both in times of crisis or seasonal emergencies, and on a daily basis, must not be ignored warns the Church of England in a submission to the consultation on the BBC Delivering Quality First Review, which closed last week.
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Local radio plays a vital role in the community, along with the Church and particularly in rural and more remote areas, but appears to be undervalued in the proposed cuts which could have serious repercussions, says the submission.
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The response, drawn up by the Rt Revd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich and lead bishop on media issues, is based on input from the Church of England?s 44 dioceses. Almost half contributed with particularly strong feelings about the cuts.
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It says there is a widespread feeling that the elements of the current BBC output which have been protected from the proposed cuts are those most focussed on metropolitan areas and the South East of England. This feeling increases in the more remote and rural areas, e.g. Herefordshire and Cumbria where local radio, particularly, is considered vital to community life.
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The submission also expressed concern for the welfare of staff ? up to 33 per cent staffing cuts are predicted in some areas.
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One example of concern highlighted in the submission is the detailed letter from the West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council (which is signed by the Bishops of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds, and Wakefield) to the Director General of the BBC about BBC Radio Leeds and the future of local radio more generally. This, says the submission, ?gave many examples of the community-building character of local radio. It has a considerable impact helping diverse communities cohere through the general animation and support it provides for the voluntary and charitable sectors.?
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The response also makes the point that ?there are at least 40 per cent fewer journalists on local newspapers than there were a decade ago, and the overall democratic deficit is growing and worrying. So the cuts to local radio should be seen in this wider context. They do little either to deliver quality or enhance the public purposes of the BBC.?
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The submission concludes: ?We ask the BBC Trust to recognise local radio as one of the ?Crown Jewels? of the BBC. We do not argue that there should be no cuts in budget at all but we believe that the total protection from cuts given to BBC1, Radio 4 and the Proms is disproportionate in relation to what is proposed for BBC local radio.?
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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5663384795
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
'Person of interest' in custody in Washington Park killing
WASHINGTON PARK -- A "person of interest" remains in custody in connection with the shooting death of a 35-year-old Washington Park man early Saturday.
Meanwhile, Illinois State Police continue to seek a suspect in the homicide of Edward Austin, whose body was discovered at his residence at 2124 N. 49th St.
Washington Park Police Chief Dave Clark said police received a call early Saturday about a burglary in the 2100 block of North 49th Street. Officers arrived at a home at 2125 N. 49th St. and found a great deal of blood on the premises, but no body.
A neighbor informed the officers of a broken window at the victim's residence across the street at 2124 N. 49th St., where they found Austin's body.
A suspect was seen fleeing from the crime scene, but a detailed description was not available, according to police.
Illinois State Police have taken over the investigation.
Anyone with information about Austin's death is urged to call Illinois State Police Special Agent Jamie Brunnworth at 346-3759 or the CrimeStoppers tip line at 866-371-8477. This is an anonymous tip line that pays up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Source: http://www.bnd.com/2011/12/25/1992206/washington-park-man-found-slain.html
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Over 50 — and back to school: Boomers drive increase in community college enrollment
BY MATTHEW DANEMAN December 23, 2011 6:22PM
David Reiser, center, is working on an associate's degree in automotive technology in hopes of starting a third career. Reiser spent 15 years as an Army medic and another 15 in building construction. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Brett T. Roseman
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Updated: December 23, 2011 8:41PM
Like many who?ve found themselves out of work, when Bolingbrook?s David Reiser lost his job last year as a construction estimator, he headed back to school.
But the 56-year-old grandfather isn?t exactly a typical junior college student.
The age issue ?is a little unsettling,? says Reiser.
?I definitely do get the looks walking through the halls,? says Reiser, who started Joliet Junior College?s automotive technology associate?s degree program earlier this year.
?It?s strange being older than your teachers,? adds Reiser.
But he?s not alone. An increasing number of people ages 50 and up are headed to community college ? 388,000 were enrolled nationwide in fall 2009, according to the most recent data available from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). That was up 6 percent from 2007 and more than 12 percent from 2005.
Nationwide, people over the age of 50 typically make up between 5 and 6 percent of community college enrollment, according to AACC figures.
At the same time, a growing number of community colleges nationwide are taking special steps to attract and accommodate those students. The Washington, D.C.-based AACC created the Plus 50 Initiative in 2008 with 13 schools aiming to provide enrichment programs of interest to older students.
?The timing of the program coincided with the economy tanking,? says Mary Sue Vickers, director of the Plus 50 Initiative. ?401(k)s dropped dramatically. Home values dropped. The colleges saw more and more of the people coming were coming for work force training or retraining.?
So the AACC refocused the program in 2009 on work-related issues and expanded it this year with an additional 11 schools, hoping those schools can be models for the nation?s 2,200 two-year postsecondary institutions.
At Joliet Junior College, Plus 50 materials declare that ?age is a state of mind? and that ?when minds expand, options do, too.? The school offers a ?refresh and review? class for adults returning to the classroom, covering such topics as math and reading.
?What we?re trying to offer them is accelerated programs that will not take them long periods of time to complete,? such as training to be tax return preparers, said Jerone Gamble, completion coordinator at the College of Central Florida, which was one of the original Plus 50 schools. ?We know there?s a need out there. And it?s conducive in that age category. Another attractive category is our security officer training program.?
These students have some specialized needs and issues such as the difficulty of finding decades-old high school transcripts, Vicker says. They are also ?very focused on getting through quickly,? she says. ?They?re interested in getting help from advisers or completion coaches to make sure they?re making the best choices of the classes they?re taking.?
Adding older students is also desirable for Illinois? community colleges.
While the number of degrees and certificates awarded in 2010 in Illinois increased 7.2 percent from fiscal year 2009, many of the colleges are seeing a softening in enrollment. llinois? community college board reported that the spring 2011 statewide head count was 381,582 ? a drop of 2 percent from 389,432 in spring 2010.
The age groups with the largest percentages of graduates were 21 to 24 (30.9 percent), 25 to 30 (17.8 percent), and 40 to 55 years of age (16.1 percent), the Illinois Community College Board reported.
Gannett News Service with AP
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
State veterinarian clears Santa?s reindeer to enter California
- 5:35 pm - Fri, Dec 23, 2011
SACRAMENTO ? California State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Whiteford has granted a 24-hour permit clearing all brand inspection and health requirements for nine reindeer slated to visit California on the evening of Dec. 24 and in the early morning hours of Dec. 25.
The permit application was filed in person by a rotund, jolly man with a red suit and a white beard. The signature on the paperwork reads ?K. Kringle,? according to a Thursday press statement from the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Brand inspections and health requirements help veterinarians prevent the spread of animal disease.
The law also mandates that all animals entering California be individually identified. The nine reindeer named on the permit are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (or Donner), Blitzen and Rudolph.
The permit was granted under two conditions: the nine reindeer may not co-mingle with other reindeer in the state of California, and the visiting reindeer may not be used for breeding purposes while in the state.
?It is our pleasure to issue the permit to Mr. Kringle and do our part to ensure another successful trip,? said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. ?We wish him safe travels, clear skies and plenty of milk and cookies as he and his reindeer make deliveries to the good children of California.?
(Source: lakeconews.com)
Source: http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/post/14698447805
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Conan takes on the Amazon Kindle Fire
Catch the Conan show last night? Team Coco took on the Amazon Kindle Fire, which appears to be popular enough to merrit lambasting on the late-night show. It's quick, it's pointed, and, yeah, it's got a bit of truth to it. Check it out.
Source: Team Coco; thanks, Susannah!
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/8lq5QTM7vZM/story01.htm
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Screenshots of Windows 8 build 8172 emerge, looks a lot like Windows 8
Screenshots of Windows 8 build 8172 emerge, looks a lot like Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hitwise: Pinterest Grows Nearly 40-Fold Past Six Months
Pinterest's growth over the past six months has been nothing short of astounding. We've noted this before, but some new data today from Hitwise confirms the trend. Last week, Pinterest attracted 11 million visits, up almost 40-fold from just six months ago. Pinterest is now one of the top 10 social networking sites Hitwise tracks. These stats are estimates of visits, not visitors, so you'd have to divide by how many visits per visitor Pinterest gets in a week to get the number of people going to the site. Pinterest is daily habit for many people, which is why it's pageviews are going through the roof. Hitwise doesn't break out estimates for visitors, but comScore has Pinterest at 4.9 monthly uniques in November, up from 3.3 million in October.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/N8AQbuBfmIc/
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
PSA: Verizon users reporting data outages across the US
If you're having trouble getting a data connection on your Verizon-branded handset this morning, you're not alone. We've been receiving a bevy of tips from disgruntled Verizon customers, due to an apparently widespread outage across the carrier's mobile data network. Based on what we're seeing on Verizon's @vzwsupport Twitter feed and forums (linked below), it looks as if both 3G and 4G networks have been affected. We tested some handsets in the San Francisco area, and can confirm that data connections there are indeed down at the moment. We've reached out to Verizon for comment, and will let you know as soon as we hear more.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
PSA: Verizon users reporting data outages across the US originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Kim Jong Il: dynastic leader with nuclear ambition (AP)
PYONGYANG, North Korea ? Even as the world changed around him, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il remained firmly in control, ruling absolutely at home and keeping the rest of the world on edge through a nuclear weapons program.
Inheriting power from his father, he led his nation through a devastating famine while frustrating the U.S. and other global powers with an on-again, off-again approach to talks on giving up nuclear arms in return for food and other assistance. Kim was one of the last remnants of a Cold War-era that ended years earlier in most other countries.
His death after 17 years as leader was announced Monday by state television two days after he died. North Korea's news agency reported that he had died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday after having a heart attack on a train, adding that he had been treated for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long time. He was 69.
He is widely expected to be succeeded by his third son in a nation that celebrates the ruling family with an intense cult of personality. On Monday, the North Korean news agency dubbed the younger Kim a "great successor" as the country rallied around him as the next leader.
Kim's longtime pursuit of nuclear weapons and his military's repeated threats to South Korea and the U.S. have stoked fears that war might again break out or that North Korea might provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorist movements.
South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a national security council meeting after the news of Kim's death. The Korean peninsula remains technically in a state of war more than 50 years after the Cold War-era armed conflict ended in a cease-fire.
Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.
Kim Jong Il took power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. He had been groomed for 20 years to lead the communist nation founded by his guerrilla fighter-turned-politician father and built according to the principle of "juche," or self-reliance.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts. In recent months, he had accompanied his father on trips around the country, another sign that he was being groomed to take over.
Few firm facts are available when it comes to North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, and not much is clear about the man known as the "Dear Leader."
North Korean legend has it that Kim was born on Mount Paektu, one of Korea's most cherished sites, in 1942, a birth heralded in the heavens by a pair of rainbows and a brilliant new star. Soviet records, however, indicate he was born in Siberia, in 1941.
Kim Il Sung, who for years fought for independence from Korea's colonial ruler, Japan, from a base in Russia, emerged as a communist leader after returning to Korea in 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II.
With the peninsula divided between the Soviet-administered north and the U.S.-administered south, Kim rose to power as North Korea's first leader in 1948 while Syngman Rhee became South Korea's first president.
The North invaded the South in 1950, sparking a war that would last three years, kill millions of civilians and leave the peninsula divided by a Demilitarized Zone that today remains one of the world's most heavily fortified.
In the North, Kim Il Sung meshed Stalinist ideology with a cult of personality that encompassed him and his son. Their portraits hang in every building in North Korea and on the lapels of every dutiful North Korean.
Kim Jong Il, a graduate of Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University, was 33 when his father anointed him his eventual successor.
Even before he took over as leader, there were signs the younger Kim would maintain ? and perhaps exceed ? his father's hard-line stance.
South Korea has accused Kim of masterminding a 1983 bombing that killed 17 South Korean officials visiting Burma, now known as Myanmar. In 1987, the bombing of a Korean Air Flight killed all 115 people on board; a North Korean agent who confessed to planting the device said Kim ordered the downing of the plane himself.
Kim took over after his father died in 1994, eventually taking the posts of chairman of the National Defense Commission, commander of the Korean People's Army and head of the ruling Worker's Party while his father remained as North Korea's "eternal president."
He faithfully carried out his father's policy of "military first," devoting much of the country's scarce resources to its troops ? even as his people suffered from a prolonged famine ? and built the world's fifth-largest military.
Kim also sought to build up the country's nuclear arms arsenal, which culminated in North Korea's first nuclear test explosion, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009, prompting U.N. sanctions.
Alarmed, regional leaders negotiated a disarmament-for-aid pact that the North signed in 2007 and began implementing later that year.
However, the process continues to be stalled, even as diplomats work to restart negotiations.
North Korea, long hampered by sanctions and unable to feed its own people, is desperate for aid. Flooding in the 1990s that destroyed the largely mountainous country's arable land left millions hungry.
Following the famine, the number of North Koreans fleeing the country through China rose dramatically, with many telling tales of hunger, political persecution and rights abuses that officials in Pyongyang emphatically denied.
Kim often blamed the U.S. for his country's troubles and his regime routinely derides Washington-allied South Korea as a "puppet" of the Western superpower.
U.S. President George W. Bush, taking office in 2002, denounced North Korea as a member of an "axis of evil" that also included Iran and Iraq. He later described Kim as a "tyrant" who starved his people so he could build nuclear weapons.
"Look, Kim Jong Il is a dangerous person. He's a man who starves his people. He's got huge concentration camps. And ... there is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon," Bush said in 2005.
Kim was an enigmatic leader. But defectors from North Korea describe him as an eloquent and tireless orator, primarily to the military units that form the base of his support.
The world's best glimpse of the man was in 2000, when the liberal South Korean government's conciliatory "sunshine" policy toward the North culminated in the first-ever summit between the two Koreas and followed with unprecedented inter-Korean cooperation.
A second summit was held in 2007 with South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun.
But the thaw in relations drew to a halt in early 2008 when conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul pledging to come down hard on communist North Korea.
Disputing accounts that Kim was "peculiar," former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright characterized Kim as intelligent and well-informed, saying the two had wide-ranging discussions during her visits to Pyongyang when Bill Clinton was U.S. president.
"I found him very much on top of his brief," she said.
Kim was said to have cultivated wide interests, including professional basketball, cars and foreign films. He reportedly produced several North Korean films as well, mostly historical epics with an ideological tinge.
A South Korean film director claimed Kim even kidnapped him and his movie star wife in the late 1970s, spiriting them back to North Korea to make movies for him for a decade before they managed to escape from their North Korean agents during a trip to Austria.
Kim rarely traveled abroad and then only by train because of an alleged fear of flying, once heading all the way by luxury rail car to Moscow, indulging in his taste for fine food along the way.
One account of Kim's lavish lifestyle came from Konstantin Pulikovsky, a former Russian presidential envoy who wrote the book "The Orient Express" about Kim's train trip through Russia in July and August 2001.
Pulikovsky, who accompanied the North Korean leader, said Kim's 16-car private train was stocked with crates of French wine. Live lobsters were delivered in advance to stations.
A Japanese cook later claimed he was Kim's personal sushi chef for a decade, writing that Kim had a wine cellar stocked with 10,000 bottles, and that, in addition to sushi, Kim ate shark's fin soup ? a rare delicacy ? weekly.
"His banquets often started at midnight and lasted until morning. The longest lasted for four days," the chef, who goes by the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, was quoted as saying.
Kim is believed to have curbed his indulgent ways in recent years and looked slimmer in more recent video footage aired by North Korea's state-run broadcaster.
Kim's marital status wasn't clear but he is believed to have married once and had at least three other companions. He had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third.
His eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, 38, is believed to have fallen out of favor with his father after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001 saying he wanted to visit Disney's Tokyo resort.
His two other sons by another woman, Kim Jong Chol and Kim Jong Un, are in their 20s. Their mother reportedly died several years ago.
___
Lee reported from Seoul, South Korea.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sony's PlayStation Vita hits stores in Japan (AP)
TOKYO ? Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine hit stores in Japan on Saturday as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up early in the morning to be among the first to buy it.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is predicting brisk sales, even though the launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business. Sony projects a loss of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year through March 2012, which would be its fourth straight annual loss.
In Tokyo's Ikebukuro shopping district, some 300 game enthusiasts lined up outside a major electronics chain that opened a few hours earlier than usual for the event. Many of the purchasers had made advance orders on the Internet so they could start playing immediately.
The device is a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld seen as a successor to the PlayStation Portable. Gamers can connect over cellphone networks and Wi-Fi hotspots, and use GPS location-tracking technology.
Television footage showed some shoppers unwrapping their new purchases and starting to try them out at the store.
"I'm so happy to see so many people lining up for PS Vita so early in the morning," Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kono wrote in his official blog after touring several Tokyo stores. "I can tell they had anxiously waited for today's launch."
For the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant, the Vita is the biggest product launch since the PlayStation 3 console five years ago. It's also accompanied by two dozen software products ? the largest number of launch titles in PlayStation history.
The Vita has front and back cameras, a touchscreen in front, a touch pad on the back and two knob-like joysticks. It will enable gamers to play against each other using PlayStation 3 consoles over the Internet-based PlayStation Network, a system that was hit with a massive hacking attack earlier this year.
Vita's launch will heat up competition with rival Nintendo Co.'s 3DS. Nintendo Co.'s 3DS had a disappointing start despite the company's efforts to market its 3-D technology, with critics complaining about a lack of interesting games. Nintendo ended up slashing prices on the 3DS within six months.
The companies are challenged by the rise of smartphones and tablets, through which casual gamers play inexpensive and simple games like the mega-hit "Angry Birds."
The PS Vita goes on sale in North America and Europe on Feb. 22.
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MPAA anti-piracy legislation point-man blames Google (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? The fierce debate over anti-piracy legislation currently rocking Capitol Hill is pitting Hollywood against Silicon Valley, and has left some wondering if the latest effort to crack down on illegal downloads will be shot down over free speech concerns.
In the wake of scathing series of attacks that have portrayed the new legislation in Orwellian terms, Michael O'Leary, who has played point man for the Motion Picture Assn. of America in the battle over the latest piracy bill, said that the act has been misrepresented as "draconian" by its opponents.
He lays the blame squarely at the feet of Google and other tech giants.
"What's frustrating about Google is that they have never come forward with any kind of constructive alternative," O'Leary, whose title at the MPAA reads senior executive vice president for global policy and external affairs, said. "It's been more delay and distraction, and it's clear they want to preserve the status quo and obstruct this process."
Entitled the Stop Online Piracy Act, the legislation is headed for a House Judicial Committee vote this week. The bill, in tandem with its Senate sister, the Protect IP Act, grants the Justice Department the authority to block offshore "rogue" websites that engage in the illicit sale of pirated products.
"This is important for one fundamental and simple reason -- it's about protecting the film and TV production industry and the thousands of jobs it creates across the country from the very real threat posed by foreign websites that park themselves overseas and steal our content," O'Leary said.
In an open letter to Congress, the co-founders of such tech titans as Twitter, Yahoo, PayPal and Google say that act is too far reaching and gives the government the power to censor digital content "...using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran."
Though the entertainment industry has been clashing publicly with internet companies in committee hearing rooms and on newspaper opinion pages, O'Leary stress that the show business community is not anti-technology.
"It's absolutely false," O'Leary said. "Look at the people who work on projects like 'Avatar' or 'Benjamin Button.' Our industry is innovative every single day. It's a misperception that this is a battle between content and technology. The truth is that these two communities should be working together to make each other stronger."
That may be the case, but the fact remains that the tech companies are pushing for an alternate bill put forward last week by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that charges the International Trade Commission, and not the Justice Department, with policing online copyright violations.
The MPAA maintains, however, that the act does not go far enough.
Although Issa, for one, has warned that the legislation pushed by the MPAA will not pass Congress as it's currently written, O'Leary expressed optimism that the bill will become law.
"All this controversy is just an attempt to draw attention away from the bill and to turn it into a complex and lengthy bureaucratic process that will take 12 to 18 months, while thieves keep on stealing our products," O'Leary said.
One charge, which O'Leary vehemently denies, is that the anti-piracy legislation imperils freedom of speech.
"This is an industry that owes its livelihood to the First Amendment," O'Leary said. "This bill allows for due process and includes a neutral magistrate, so it is nothing akin to censorship. To paint us as advocating a Chinese-like system is just offensive."
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Kyle Manscuk makes impact with hometown Rochester Lancers (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Suit: NBA fired me for relaying women's complaints
NEW YORK (AP) ? The NBA forced a security director out of his job because he stuck up for colleagues who complained of sexual harassment and discrimination, the ousted league official said in a lawsuit Thursday.
After a decade with the league, Warren Glover was fired in July "in retaliation for his continued advocacy on behalf of female employees," according to his lawsuit against the NBA and three current and former security executives.
The league hasn't seen the lawsuit, but based on media reports about it, "Mr. Glover's allegations are without merit, and we will vigorously defend against them," spokesman Mike Bass said. The lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan state court, seeks unspecified damages.
A former New York Police Department lieutenant commander, Glover started working for the league in 2001, his lawsuit said. His job eventually included running security for the NBA Jam Session, a fan-friendly event tied to the All-Star Game.
Glover earned praise during his first few years with the league, but he was passed over for a promotion and started getting bad evaluations after he reported three women's allegations to bosses, according to his complaint.
Two women said another security employee had made offensive remarks, displayed pornographic material on his computer screen and otherwise harassed them, Glover says.
To him, "this was a serious matter," he said in an interview Thursday. But when he relayed the complaints to higher-ups, they expressed concerns about harming the other employee's career, his lawsuit says.
The third woman, Annette Smith, ultimately filed a federal gender-discrimination lawsuit saying Bernard Tolbert, then a league senior vice president for security, made demeaning comments about women and forced her to photocopy a sexually inappropriate picture. Smith, an administrative worker, said she was denied promotions and ultimately fired after she complained.
Tolbert and the league denied her allegations. Her lawsuit was settled in September 2009, court records show.
Glover testified in a deposition that Tolbert and other league officials were aware of Smith's complaints, his lawsuit says.
Glover's lawsuit also names Tolbert and current league security officials Gregory Robinson and James Cawley as defendants.
Tolbert, who now lives in Buffalo, said he was unaware of the lawsuit and didn't realize that Glover was no longer with the NBA, as Glover was still working there when he retired.
"I have no idea what he's talking about," Tolbert said by phone.
Glover, 50, said he repeatedly contested his bad evaluations, to no avail. He said the league cited poor performance in dismissing him in July, but he believes his firing was payback for raising gender-discrimination issues.
"There was a culture of misogyny at this department," said one of his lawyers, Randolph M. McLaughlin.
Sexual harassment on the administrative end of pro basketball became a flashpoint in 2007, when a jury awarded former New York Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders $11.6 million in her lawsuit against then-coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden. Thomas, a former Detroit Pistons star, was removed as Knicks coach after a dismal season that year. He now coaches at Florida International University.
___
Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Dude! Matthew McConaughey shaves his head
Matthew McConaughey has lost one of his sexiest attributes: his full head of curly blonde hair!
PHOTOS: Stars who are going bald
The 42-year-old actor stepped out in Beverly Hills Tuesday wearing a baseball cap concealing his newly shaved head. McConaughey, who was dressed head-to-toe in J.K. Livin apparel, was all smiles before beginning his workout at L'Ermitage Hotel.PHOTOS: Matthew McConaughey's hottest shirtless shots
No word yet on why McConaughey ditched his signature hairstyle, as the actor was photographed with a full head of hair while shooting "Thunder Run" in L.A. Saturday.
PHOTOS: Bad male manes
McConaughey isn't the only star to shave his head in 2011: Jake Gyllenhaal and Matt Damon both lopped off their locks for film roles earlier this year.
Copyright 2011 Us Weekly
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45672817/ns/today-entertainment/
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Modern Warfare 3 Reaches $1 Billion in Sales in Just 16 Days
Modern Warfare 3, the latest spinoff of the popular Call of Duty video game series, has officially beaten the quickest-to-a-billion-dollars record previously set by Avatar.
James Cameron's epic effort took 17 days to hit that mark; Modern Warfare 3 took 16.
It’s an incredible benchmark for the series, and it’s evidence that video games have become one of the most economically vibrant corners of the media marketplace.
According to Variety, aggregate video game sales in November were up 15 percent thanks to high-profile sequels: Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scroll V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
However, overall revenue was flat, due in part to discounted hardware costs.
Will that change in 2012 with new consoles being rolled out? Stay tuned.
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