RT @davewiner You want proof that Republicans are getting desperate. Here you go. http://t.co/GCZQAHSa
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
WWE.com evaluates John Laurinaitis' job performance
WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis might have one less title preceding his name Monday ? that?s when Chief Operating Officer Triple H rolls into town for Raw SuperShow to deliver a formal evaluation of the man who took his job. Laurinaitis has been on the clock since Oct. 10, 2011, when he supplanted Triple H as GM following a controversial ?no confidence? vote in The King of Kings by WWE?s Board of Directors. Since then, the self-proclaimed ?Mr. Excitement? has incurred the wrath of both John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk for allowing Zack Ryder to compete through grievous injuries (though that may not have been entirely?Laurinaitis' fault) and voicing his intentions to cheat Punk out of the WWE Championship at the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble.
Add to this the fact that the WWE Universe is well aware of Triple H?s own beef with Laurinaitis, and there?s a good chance The Game will go the CM Punk route and tear "Big Johnny" a new one on national television, opening the door for Punk to kick Laurinaitis? head in at the Royal Rumble event.
Then again, this is a job evaluation, not a railroading. In his capacity as COO, Triple H has to examine all angles, good and bad. Mr. Laurinaitis has had some measurable success in his term as Interim Raw GM. Maybe The King of Kings will show mercy on his subject, who has already begun a pre-emptive campaign for a second chance.?What our COO will decide is anyone?s guess, but in the meantime, consider that we?re fans too at WWE.com. We?re part of the WWE Universe as much as anyone, not to mention WWE employees. Our jobs are affected by Mr. Laurinaitis? performance, and in that spirit, we?d like to present our own personal evaluation of Mr. Laurinaitis? performance, and what we think Triple H might have to say on certain matters.
Excitement Factor
Laurinaitis has called himself ?Mr. Excitement? on several occasions and, to be fair, the man has been fairly consistent in keeping the WWE Universe invested in Raw. His stipulation for the Miz/R-Truth match this past week on Raw SuperShow (where the loser would enter the 2012 Royal Rumble Match at No. 1), putting Chris Jericho in the Six-Man Tag Match two weeks ago, and making Zack Ryder go through his friend John Cena for a U.S. Title opportunity in December made for compelling television and interesting challenges for his roster. Granted, the ?puppet-master? feel of it all will probably irk Triple H more than anything else, but the chaos has been organized and entertaining. Final Grade: B+
Superstar Safety
Not only did Laurinaitis send Zack Ryder out there, despite injuries and a doctors? report, to get dropped like a bad habit by Jack Swagger and Kane (twice), but his oversight led to The Long Island Iced-Z suffering a herniated disc at the hands of The Devil?s Favorite Demon. Our guess is that The Game will consider this issue to be as cut-and-dry as we do, especially since Laurinaitis left him to Kevin Nash?s mercy on more than one occasion as well. Plus, who doesn?t love Zack Ryder? Final Grade: C-
Tag Team Innovation
Sorry Mr. L., but this area is SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long?s house. And frankly, we?re sure Triple H would agree. Final Grade: F
Kevin Nash Attacks
We?ll give it to the Interim Raw GM: this is the one area where he has achieved complete success. After weeks of terrorizing the WWE Universe (and poor Santino Marella), Big Sexy got clobbered with a sledgehammer by Triple H at WWE TLC and hasn?t been seen since. We?d imagine Triple H would appreciate this, since he seemed to be Nash?s target all along. Final Grade: A+
Personal Comportment
Did you see Laurinaitis before being knocked out by CM Punk?s ?GTS? The man maintains calm at all times. Triple H could start waving a sledgehammer in his face (in fact, it could come to that Monday) and we doubt Mr. Excitement would so much as blink. We commend him for this. A true leader keeps his cool in the face of chaos. This, if nothing else, has been a constant in Laurinaitis? term. Minus that instance with Mick Foley and the microphone, of course. Final Grade: A-
Impartiality
Authority figures? track record in this regard is a bit spotty, but give Triple H credit: when he refereed a match as Raw GM, especially an important one like Cena-Punk at SummerSlam, he tried to call it down the middle. Laurinaitis, on the other hand, openly told Mick Foley he was going to screw CM Punk out of the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler at the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble. Laurinaitis ultimately called the bout right down the middle, but it seems like he did that more for fear of his job than a desire to be fair and square. Seems like a bit of a red flag to us. Final Grade: B-
Well, that?s our opinion. We won?t draw conclusions; anything can and probably will happen in WWE. And this Monday, we?ll find out whether the Laurinaitis Era will continue, or if we?ll bid a fond farewell to ?Big Johnny? Laurinaitis, EVP of Talent Relations, ?Mr. Excitement,? and Former Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw.
Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2012-01-23/john-laurinaitis-job-review
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Newt Gingrich, bizarre space visionary
Newt Gingrich described himself as a visionary when he unveiled plans to create a mammoth new space programme, including a permanent colony on the moon within the next nine years. Within eight years, he pledges a new Mars rocket programme ? specifically, a "continually operating propulsion system capable of getting to Mars within a remarkably short time". He also reiterated his plan to declare at least part of the moon as US territory, with colonists capable of petitioning for statehood status.
There is little doubt that Gingrich believes in big ideas. Unfortunately, however, there is a difference between big ideas and good ideas. After all, being a visionary doesn't mean abandoning practicality altogether but rather harnessing it creatively to make new things happen.
Put aside that Gingrich was speaking in Florida, the state most invested in space exploration and, by happenstance, the next up on the Republican primary schedule. Let's consider cost first. The Apollo missions to the moon cost in excess of $100?billion in current dollars. In 2005, NASA administrator Michael Griffin estimated the cost of a programme to land four astronauts on the moon
by 2018 (as was then planned), at $104 billion.
Who will pay?
Now, four astronauts is not a permanent colony on the moon. To have a permanent colony, you would have to manufacture housing, most likely underground, or at least under significant shielding, since there is no atmosphere and no magnetic field to shield against the harmful effects of cosmic rays for an extended period. Not to mention the need to build facilities for waste recycling, plus food storage and preparation. That is, unless we continually provide food and other provisions for pilgrims from Earth, creating a non-self-sustaining colony. But Gingrich has already made it quite clear, in his attacks on President Obama, that he would not like to be remembered for championing any such sort of government-sponsored food programme.
So, to truly embark on such an endeavour within a decade, we would have to spend somewhere between a few hundred billion and a trillion dollars. Whether we could develop the necessary technology for such a task within a decade is an open question, although for a sufficiently large investment, it might not be impossible. However, Gingrich is vying for leadership of a party whose major rallying cry is an end to big government programmes and make-work projects to stimulate the economy.
Gingrich might argue that we need not rely on government for the investment. However, without a clear business plan, it is hard to imagine private money investing $1?trillion in a programme with no clear commercial goal.
Yet he did not explain precisely what he wanted to do with such a colony, or what it might achieve, besides potentially populating a new 51st state. Certainly the goal would not be a scientific one, since there is little scientific gain to be made that would justify the cost, and one could populate the whole solar system with unmanned spacecraft that could explore all the planets and their moons for this cost, as well as send up satellites that could map the heavens on unprecedented scales.
Business inopportunity
So is manufacturing his goal? But what would we manufacture on the moon that we could not do on Earth for a fraction of the cost? It is true that there may be significant amounts of terrestrially rare isotopes like helium-3 in the lunar soil, and some have argued that this would be useful for fusion power here on Earth. But since we don't yet know how to produce fusion power on Earth, it seems a little premature to rush out on a trillion-dollar adventure to gather up potential fuel.
Perhaps we could put mirrors on the moon to beam sunlight to Earth for power. But given that currently 10,000 times the total energy used by humanity on a daily basis falls on the Earth from the sun, it is not clear that we need to go to the moon to harness more of it.
Gingrich also said during this same address that he envisions a vibrant commercial near-Earth space programme for the purposes of science, tourism and manufacturing. Once again, he didn't bother to explore precisely what sort of programme one might envisage here. It took more than $100 billion to manufacture a white elephant in near-Earth orbit called the International Space Station, a large, smelly metal can that to date has produced no science, no manufacturing and tourism that only billionaires could afford. Perhaps Gingrich imagines a vibrant Earth-surveying programme that might help monitor climate change? No, probably not.
Reality suspended
Not content to merely colonise the moon in a decade, Gingrich has also promised to develop a viable Mars programme to begin human space exploration of that planet within the next decade. It is hard to imagine why he didn't also promise an intergalactic starship in this timeframe as well, as long as he was being visionary.
Finally, Gingrich may not be aware that the current US flags on the moon don't mean the US owns it, any more than those on US research stations in Antarctica mean the US owns that continent.
But I suppose if one is willing to suspend reality to imagine creating an imaginary new expensive, and expansive, space programme from nothing in a mere decade, without raising the taxes to do it, anything is possible. It certainly seems easier to imagine populating the moon in this way than actually solving the very real problems we face on Earth today.
This article originally appeared in Slate. Lawrence Krauss is foundation professor and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University in Tempe. His newest book is A Universe from Nothing: Why there is something rather than nothing
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Libya leaves African Cup happy after historic win
Associated Press Sports
updated 8:23 a.m. ET Jan. 30, 2012
BATA, Equatorial Guinea (AP) -In the end, Ihaab Boussefi's late volley wasn't enough to send Libya through to the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals.
Boussefi's second goal in Sunday night's game in Bata, however, clinched a 2-1 win over Senegal for Libya's first victory at the tournament on foreign soil to send the players home happy at the end of an inspiring adventure.
Libya was never expected to even reach the tournament with civil war and chaos reigning at home during its qualifying campaign. Some players even left the squad to fight for the rebels on the front line.
Somehow Libya made it, and at Estadio de Bata against Senegal the players celebrated an historic victory which was a just reward for the team's perseverance.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsArsenal advances in FA Cup
Roundup: Arsenal kept its bid to end a seven-year trophy drought on track Sunday, scoring three times in eight second-half minutes to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and reach the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46187713/ns/sports-soccer/
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Finance Committee: CBI to wait to introduce Currency reform bill ...
Parliamentary Finance: Central lingered in the provision of a bill to delete the zeros
Baghdad, January 29 (Rn) ? The parliamentary Finance Committee, Sunday, to loiter in the Central Bank to introduce a bill to delete the zeros from the currency to the Committee for the purpose of his study, saying [if ]the law was passed that would give Iraq an opportunity to address inflation.
A member of the Committee Najiba Najib told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that ?the central bank lingered in the provision of a bill to delete the zeros of the local currency to the Finance Committee to study and add some stuff it and then submitted to the House of Representatives for the purpose of voting upon approval.?
He added that the ?delete the zeros of the most prominent treatment of the local currency to solve the problem of inflation with the expansion of the investment plan of the budget and reduce spending.?
And inflation is the excessive rise in the general level of prices and higher cash income as well as high costs and create excessive cash balances.
It is expected to increase inflation in the budget in 2012 due to continued attention to the operational aspects at the expense of the investment part of the budget.
She noted that the deletion of zeros from the currency requires a ?big job?, because this task requires the provision of economic security for the commercial market in Iraq.
The Iraqi government says that the process of deletion of zeros from the local currency will increase the phenomenon of money laundering and is working to convince the central bank need to stop work on the project.
And harmony of the Securities of the government?s position to delete the zeros and says that adversely affect the financial trading in the stock market.
The Central Bank of Iraq four branches in Basra and Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Mosul, where the established bank independent Iraqi under the law of the Central Bank of Iraq issued on the sixth of March / March 2004, which is responsible for maintaining price stability and the implementation of monetary policy, including exchange rate policies and the management of foreign reserves and the issuance of and currency management, in addition to the organization of the banking sector.
The main Manmam Central Bank in managing monetary policy in the country and raise the level of the values ??of the Iraqi dinar and tackle inflation in the country.
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49er Aldon Smith faces DUI charge in Florida
updated 7:32 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2012
MIAMI - San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was charged Saturday with driving under the influence in Miami Beach.
Miami-Dade County jail records show Smith was booked Saturday morning and held on $1,000 bond. Jail records did not show whether Smith was represented by an attorney.
A Miami-Dade County Corrections spokeswoman said Smith was arrested by Miami Beach police. A police spokesman said he had no information immediately available about the arrest.
Smith was drafted as the seventh overall draft pick in 2011. During his first season, he had 14 sacks, a franchise record for a rookie linebacker. He also ranked first in the NFL in sacks among rookies.
The 49ers said in a statement Saturday that they were aware of the arrest.
"We take these issues very seriously, but will reserve further comment at this time, as this is an ongoing legal matter," the team said. "The 49ers will continue to gather the facts and monitor the developments closely."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46177253/ns/sports/
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Freedom 7 Mercury Capsule, Flown by 1st American in Space, Heads to Boston, D.C. (SPACE.com)
The capsule that launched the first American into space more than 50 years ago will soon be moved from Maryland to Massachusetts, before ultimately landing in Washington, D.C. in 2016.
Freedom 7, the Mercury spacecraft that NASA astronaut Alan Shepard rode on a 15-minute suborbital flight on May 5, 1961, is leaving the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., where it has been on display since December 1998. Shepard, who died earlier that same year, graduated from the academy in 1945.
The Naval Academy announced the spacecraft's pending departure on Jan. 18, promoting the "last chance" for the public to see the capsule on display at its Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center. Freedom 7 is expected to leave Annapolis in late February, according to an academy spokesperson.
On loan from the Smithsonian Institution, the capsule is departing the Naval Academy to be displayed at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at Columbia Point in Boston, Mass.
"A plan for loaning [Freedom 7] to the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston is being developed," the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum said in a statement. [Photos: The Flight of Freedom 7]
Less than a month after the flight of Freedom 7, Kennedy challenged the nation to "commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Shepard later became the fifth man to walk on the moon.
Freedom 7's arrival at the library will mark the second time a Mercury spacecraft has visited Massachusetts. In 2002, Liberty Bell 7, which followed Freedom 7 into space, was displayed at the Museum of Science in Boston.
Long-range plan
Like Liberty Bell 7, the JFK Library's exhibit of Freedom 7 will be temporary.
"The National Air and Space Museum is working on a long range plan for exhibiting the Mercury Freedom 7 capsule," the museum explained in a statement. "The plan includes placement of the artifact in a major new gallery which is expected to open in the museum's Washington building in 2016."
The National Air and Space Museum plans for Freedom 7 to be a part of a "new Apollo gallery for a new generation." Replacing the "Apollo to the Moon" exhibition room, which opened with the museum in 1976, the new gallery "will tell the story of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, going from nothing to six landings on the Moon in only 14 years ? only eight years and two months from Kennedy's challenge to successfully landing."
The new gallery will highlight artifacts from the museum's collection, including Freedom 7, while adding "new content for a whole generation of people who grew up after Apollo was over."
Mercury museums
The Air and Space Museum currently displays Friendship 7, the Mercury capsule that launched John Glenn on the United States' first orbital mission in February 1962, in its "Milestones of Flight" gallery. The museum's annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, has "Freedom 7 II," the Mercury capsule that Shepard had hoped to fly for his second flight before the mission was canceled.
Three other flown Mercury spacecraft are on loan from the Smithsonian to museums around the country, including the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Florida, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in Illinois, and at Space Center Houston in Texas.
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center displays the Liberty Bell 7. In 1999, the museum recovered the sunken spacecraft from the ocean floor.
NASA gave Freedom 7 to the Smithsonian five months after it flew to be the first manned spacecraft added to the National Collection. Prior it going to the Naval Academy in 1998, the capsule was on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2011?collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
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Japan making progress on U.S. trade concerns: USTR (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The United States said on Friday that Japan has improved market access for a broad range of U.S. goods and services, as Washington continues to consider Tokyo's application to join a proposed free trade pact in the Asia Pacific.
"I welcome the progress we have made," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement. "Addressing issues of concern and working closely together to advance new areas of cooperation will further deepen our relationship with Japan - a strong ally and our fourth largest export market."
Japan over the past year has agreed to address U.S. concerns in areas that include intellectual property protection, automobiles, information and communication technology services and products, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, and distribution services, Kirk said.
Specifically, USTR said Japan has:
- Eased the way for imported cars that incorporate new, advanced technologies and features not covered by existing regulation.
- Introduced new legal protections that boost the ability of intellectual property right holders to defend their products and services from unauthorized use.
- Shortened the decision-making process for approval of advanced pharmaceuticals and medical devices by several months.
- Improved the business environment for imported cosmetics.
- Committed to introducing a new auction system for commercial spectrum within the next three years that will increase opportunities for telecommunications companies.
- Revised rules to increase the speed, transparency, and predictability of anti-monopoly merger reviews, bringing Japan's process into closer alignment with global best practices.
In November, Japan formally asked to join negotiations with the United States and eight other countries on the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, a proposed regional free trade agreement.
The current TPP partners -- which also include Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, Peru and Brunei -- are expected to decide early this year on Japan's request and two other applications from Canada and Mexico.
(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Spartacus, Episode 1: The Things That Made Us Go "Ew!" (omg!)
Run! Spartacus and his rebels are on the loose! In the Season 2 premiere of Spartacus: Vengeance, we see that no Roman is safe ? not even those spending their hard-earned coin at a brothel!
It's war between Spartacus' unwashed gang and the Romans, mainly Gaius Claudius Glaber and new pup Seppius, whom we foresee will be equally annoying and entertaining. Also, what's with the Folgers-ad-worthy banter and chemistry between him and his sister Seppia? Meanwhile, after the rebels go on a bordello killing spree, Crixus learns that his love Naevia is being sold from dominus to dominus as a sex slave. We also see Oenomaus running around incognito in a hooded robe, Lucretia has survived her abdomen wound but isn't quite sane, and Glaber is forcing his wife Ilythia to hang out in Capua while he seeks to defeat Spartacus.
Spartacus: What to expect in Season 2 (beyond the blood and bodies)
Let's check out this week's "Ew!" moments:
The Blood - Body count*: innumerable. In the opening battle, it was Agron brutally bashing one of the Roman's heads into a stone repeatedly that had us covering our eyes (and ears!). Later, Oenomaus makes short work with some men who attack him in an alley ? breaking one assailant's arm so that the bone sticks through the skin and then splitting another guy's abdomen from bottom to top, much as one would do with a human-sized haggis. There's plenty of naked bodies getting sliced and chopped up in the brothel massacre, but two rather disturbing highlights include one large Roman voyeur getting his throat impaled from behind and then Crixus using a ruthless interrogation tactic: wiggling his finger around in the slaver Trebius' fresh sword wound. Ouch!
The Bodies - Total scenes: 2.5. There's minor nudity scattered throughout the episode, and Ilythia gets hot and bothered flashing back to her masked tryst with Spartacus, while in reality, Spartacus is having unmasked relations with Mira. But really, this episode is all about the unique tour of the whorehouse, in which we see ladies and gents alike being manhandled and abused. Although there's plenty of sex, it's not really sexy considering these slaves can't fight back and Spartacus' men are splashing blood and entrails everywhere.
Liam McIntyre takes over as Spartacus' rebel with a cause
Best Line of the Week: From one of Spartacus' men: "You had me at whores."
*It should be noted that we may have to dispense with the body count this season now that it's open season on Romans and freed slaves alike. "I tried to [keep track] this season," series star Liam McIntyre told TVGuide.com in early January, "but because they're not in an arena where it's nice and tidy one-on-one, it's just ridiculously massive."
What did you think of the premiere? How do you like McIntyre as the new Spartacus? Which scenes disturbed you the most?
Also, check out our video interview:
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Mozilla to overhaul Firefox's default home and tab pages
Despite Mozilla kicking its release schedule into overdrive, not all parts of Firefox have gotten the tender love and care they truly deserve. Take for example, the browser's default homepage, which hasn't evolved much since its humble beginnings nearly a decade ago. That'll change soon in a two pronged effort, with Mozilla first adding a function bar to version 12 (seen after the break), followed by a later and more extensive revamp (up-top) which incorporates apps, top sites and chat functionality. Also planned is a Chrome and Safari-esque Top Sites "New Tab" view and savvy URL autocompletion in the address bar. A more in-depth preview awaits at the source, or we suppose, you could live dangerously and hop aboard Mozilla's nightly release train. You decide.
Continue reading Mozilla to overhaul Firefox's default home and tab pages
Mozilla to overhaul Firefox's default home and tab pages originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AG: Record number of voting rights inquiries
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday the Justice Department opened a record number of more than 100 new investigations into possible voting rights discrimination across the country last year.
During an appearance at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Holder praised the federal government's aggressive enforcement efforts while vowing to defend a landmark voting rights law that is increasingly under attack in this presidential election year.
On Thursday, Holder said that nowhere is the Justice Department's commitment to equal opportunity clearer than in efforts to expand access to voting nationwide.
It was the attorney general's third speech in little more than a month focusing on voting rights, coming amid a flurry of activity by states, largely those controlled by Republicans, to redraw political boundaries and impose requirements that could reduce voting by minorities who enthusiastically supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
"The reality is that ? in jurisdictions across the country ? both overt and subtle forms of discrimination remain all too common ? and have not yet been relegated to the pages of history," Holder told the audience.
Pointing to some of the Justice Department's efforts, Holder cited as success stories the cases of two Ohio counties ? Cuyahoga and Lorain ? which agreed to ensure that bilingual ballots are available on county voting machines and that bilingual poll workers are on hand to help. In another positive outcome, said Holder, a northeast Ohio school board let a federal court determine how to structure elections to give blacks a greater chance of being elected.
In December in Austin, Texas, Holder urged the country to "call on our political parties to resist the temptation to suppress certain votes in the hope of attaining electoral success."
Earlier this month in Columbia, S.C., Holder told thousands of people commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that in his travels "I've heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from citizens, who ? often for the first time in their lives ? now have reason to believe that we are failing to live up to one of our nation's most noble ideals."
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires all or parts of 16 states to obtain advance approval from either the Justice Department's civil rights division or a federal court in Washington before carrying out changes in elections. The states are mostly in the South and all the jurisdictions have a history of discriminating against blacks, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives or Hispanics.
Despite congressional reauthorization in 2006 of Section 5 for 25 years, its future has come under constitutional challenges in federal courts by Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Shelby County, Ala., and some voters in Kinston, N.C.
As of last week, there were 833 Section 5 submissions for proposed electoral changes awaiting approval at the Justice Department from state, county and local units of government.
In one Section 5 action, the civil rights division in December rejected a new South Carolina law that requires voters to present a photo ID when they go to the polls. It was the first time in nearly two decades the Justice Department had reached such a conclusion about a voter ID law.
A pending Section 5 review involves Texas, where the Justice Department has raised questions over a new photo ID requirement. The state reacted by taking its case for the new law to a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., where lawyers from the Justice Department and the state will square off. The Justice Department's civil rights division also is immersed in a court battle with Texas over allegedly discriminatory boundaries drawn by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
The challenges to Section 5's constitutionality followed a 2009 Supreme Court opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts which seemed to raise doubts about whether the provision was still needed.
Section 5 "imposes current burdens and must be justified by current needs," Roberts wrote. "Today, the registration gap between white and black voters is in single digits" in the states covered by the act's preclearance provision and "in some of those states, blacks now register and vote at higher rates than whites."
The stakes would be enormous if the Supreme Court got involved.
In 2006, Congress held hearings and created a 15,000-page record to justify renewing Section 5. Congress found that the Justice Department protected the interests of some 663,503 minority voters from 2000 to May 2006 by refusing to approve changes in political boundaries drawn by states, counties and local units of government. The Justice Department filed over 700 objections to proposed voting changes from 1982 to 2006 in states and counties covered by Section 5. From 1982 to 2003, states and local entities withdrew more than 200 proposed voting changes when the Justice Department started asking questions about them.
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Obama urges Congress to act in election year
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Friday, January 27, 2012
JPMorgan CEO says foreclosure deal threatened (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said President Barack Obama's decision to expand investigations into home lending and sales of mortgage securities could stop settlement talks with the states over foreclosure practices.
"It has a pretty good chance of derailing it," Dimon said in a televised interview with CNBC from Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.
Obama, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, said he has asked his attorney general to create a special unit of prosecutors to expand investigations into home lending and packaging of mortgage-backed securities. It is not clear how the new unit will be different from earlier investigations.
JPMorgan is the largest U.S. bank and one of the larger servicers of mortgage loans. JPMorgan, Bank of America (BAC.N), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Citigroup and Ally Financial Inc have been in talks with state attorneys general for months about settling allegations of foreclosure abuses.
The banks and states have been discussing a plan that would have the banks pay $25 billion to homeowners through reductions in principal on mortgage loans.
"I think it would be better for America if that settlement took place," Dimon said. "If this thing derails that, so be it."
(Reporting by David Henry; editing by John Wallace)
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Venezuela's Attorney General Carlos Escarra dies (AP)
CARACAS, Venezuela ? Venezuela's justice minister says that the attorney general has died of a heart attack.
Tareck El Aissami says the death of Carlos Escarra occurred on Wednesday.
Lawmakers allied with President Hugo Chavez chose Escarra as attorney general in August 2011.
While Escarra was a Chavez loyalist, his brother, Herman, is closely sided with Venezuela's opposition.
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AT&T Galaxy Note rumored to launch Feb. 18, along with two unannounced devices
Looks like AT&T is wasting no time bringing its version of the Samsung Galaxy Note to market. If the latest rumors from BGR are to be believed, the carrier plans to launch Samsung's 5.3-inch phone/tablet hybrid on Feb. 18 for $299.99 on-contract.
The blog also reports that two new, unannounced devices will be making their debut the very same day -- the Samsung Rugby Smart and the AT&T Fusion. The Rugby Smart is reportedly a $99 entry-level HSPA+ phone, while the AT&T Fusion, for which no specs are offered, will apparently sell for $124.99.
All unconfirmed at this stage, of course, but we don't think anyone would be surprised to see the AT&T Galaxy Note arriving in mid-to-late February with a hefty price tag. As for the other two devices, we'll just have to wait and see what materializes over the next month.
For more on the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note, take a look over our hands-on coverage from CES, and our full review of the international version.
Source: BGR
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/jvq3N20NRGM/story01.htm
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Obama courts Latino vote on economic tour (AP)
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. ? President Barack Obama is courting Hispanics in politically important states, setting himself up as a champion of the crucial Latino voting bloc and as a foil to Republican candidates fighting for a share of support from the same groups.
With Latino voters voting overwhelmingly Democratic, Obama is not in danger of losing the support of a majority of Hispanics. But he does need their intensity, and a Gallup tracking poll shows that while a majority of Hispanics approve of Obama, that approval is not as high as it is among black voters.
Pitching his economic agenda during a three-day, five-state trip this week, Obama has not ignored the fact that three of the states ? Nevada, Arizona and Colorado ? all have Hispanic populations of 20 percent or more. A majority of them are Democratic, but they also could be a factor in upcoming nominating contests in those states. Nevada and Colorado hold caucuses within two weeks and Arizona has a primary Feb. 28.
In Arizona Wednesday, where he was drawing attention to his efforts to increase manufacturing, Obama playfully interacted with a supporter who shouted out: "Barack es mi hermano! (Barack is my brother!)"
"Mi hermano ? mucho gusto (My brother, a real pleasure)," Obama shouted back.
And it was no accident that he scheduled an interview with Univision, the Spanish language network that reaches a broad swath of the U.S. Latino population, while he was in Arizona and with local Telemundo affiliates Thursday in Las Vegas and in Denver. All that while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the rest of the Republican presidential field were battling in Florida, another state with a key Latino voting bloc.
"It's an important community in this country and he will continue to have those interactions," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of Obama's efforts to reach out to Spanish language media.
No issue reverberates more in the appeal to Latinos than immigration.
For Obama, it reared up suddenly for him Wednesday when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who signed one of the toughest laws to curtail illegal immigration, greeted him at the airport tarmac in Mesa, Ariz., with a handwritten invitation for the president to join her in a visit to the Mexican border.
Obama replied coolly, noting that he did not appreciate the way she had depicted him in a book she published last year, "Scorpions for Breakfast." In the book, Brewer writes that Obama was condescending and lectured her during a meeting at the White House to discuss immigration. "He was a little disturbed about my book," Brewer told two reporters shortly after the encounter.
Obama continued to promote his economic plan Thursday in Nevada and Colorado, focusing on energy policy and his attempts to expand oil and gas exploration while also emphasizing clean energy.
"Doubling down on a clean energy industry will create lots of jobs in the process," the president said at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, where the Air Force has installed solar panels and tested jets that run on biofuels.
As such, he was indirectly pitching to Hispanics as well. A new Pew Research Center poll found that 54 percent of Latinos believe that the economic downturn has been harder on them than on other groups in the U.S.
"There is no question that Latinos were hard hit, especially by the bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting steep decline in construction work," Carney said Thursday. "Latinos are overrepresented in the construction industry. It's one of the reasons why, certainly, Latinos would greatly benefit from infrastructure investments that put construction workers back to work."
In 2008, Obama beat Republican John McCain by a 2-1 margin among Hispanics.
To win again, he will need that level of enthusiasm to make up for weaknesses elsewhere in his voter support. In a bright spot for Obama, the Pew poll found that even though Hispanics believe their economic condition is poor, two-thirds of those polled said they expect their financial situation to improve over the next year, whereas 58 percent of the overall population expect the same.
In his interview with Univision, Obama made a point of noting that both Romney and Gingrich have said they would veto legislation, known as the DREAM Act, that would give a pathway to citizenship to children who came to the United States illegally but who attend college or enlist in the military.
"They believe that we should not provide a pathway to citizenship for young people who were brought here when they were very young children and are basically American kids but right now are still in a shadow," Obama said. "They've said that they would veto the DREAM Act. Both of them."
At a debate Monday on NBC, however, both Gingrich and Romney said they would support modified legislation that only applied to young people who joined the military. "I would not support the part that simply says everybody who goes to college is automatically waived for having broken the law," Gingrich said.
Obama, in the interview, explicitly connected the Republican presidential field to congressional Republicans, who suffer from bottom-dwelling approval ratings right now. Asked why he had been unable to deliver on his promise for overhauling the immigration system, Obama replied:
"Well, it's very simple. We couldn't get any Republican votes. Zero. None," he said. "So this is the kind of barrier that we're meeting in Congress. We're just going to keep on pushing and pushing until hopefully we finally get a break."
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Kellie Pickler grows up, gets personal on album (AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Kellie Pickler wants you to know she's a traditional gal ? and she's making it very clear with her new album, "100 Proof."
The platinum blonde "American Idol" alum is pulling back from the pop-country tunes that once defined her, like "Red High Heels" and "Best Days Of Your Life," and replacing them with ones that reflect her traditional country roots. The album was released this week.
"I guess it's been like three-and-a-half years since my last record came out. ... So a lot has happened in my life. I'm married. I've grown up a lot, because when I started this I was 19 and green when I did my first record, `Small Town Girl,'" said Pickler. "So much has happened in my life. Most of it is on the record."
Pickler, 25, took cues from her musical heroes, the big wigs of women in country music. The opening track even name checks one of those legends in "Where's Tammy Wynette."
"I love Tammy Wynette. She's a big reason why I fell in love with country music. You wouldn't know that if you listened to (my) past things," Pickler said. "I love that sound, and I wanted to sprinkle a little bit of the people that influenced me to be here in the first place but make it my record."
Pickler wrote more on this album than in the past, penning six of the 11 songs. Two are very personal and reflect her separate, complicated relationships with her mother and father.
"Mother's Day" explains her mixed feelings about the day ? how she avoids it but wishes for a reason to celebrate. Her mom abandoned her when she was little, and they have no contact today. Pickler wrote the tune with husband Kyle Jacobs and reveals emotional growth that took years.
"I went through all of the stages of hurt and crying and mad and angry and just red, seeing red. I went through all of those emotions, which anyone would ... I had to get it out, and then I realized, this ain't working. This ain't making anything better," she said. "When you get to that place where you can forgive and just let go, it's so freeing."
On "The Letter," Pickler thanks her dad "for never giving up on us" and addresses his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. Pickler was raised by her father but lived with her grandparents when he was in prison.
"My dad was very much a part of my life growing up. However, when he was incarcerated we wrote letters back and forth, and I have every single one of them," she said.
"I see so much growth in both of us in a good way. There's a lot that's happened since the first letter was ever written," she said, fighting back tears. "Where we were then versus today, I mean it's night and day. It's my little treasure chest."
As for the rest of the album, Pickler doesn't lose her sassy personality.
"There's songs that are fun, upbeat. We've got `Unlock That Honky Tonk' that's rockin'. There's a lot of banjo. There's a lot of steel. There's a lot of fiddle. There's a lot of my favorite musical instruments," she said.
"Tough" was the first song released from "100 Proof." A friend wrote it for Pickler based on a conversation they had about her life.
"You think physically tough, but this song is about being emotionally tough. It's about being a tough woman. It's about letting the things and the obstacles and the speed bumps you hit in life; it doesn't bring you down. It makes you strong. It doesn't make you weak," said Pickler. "Like it or love it, this is the way I am."
__
Online:
http://www.kelliepickler.com
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Mourinho defiant despite rising pressure
Associated Press Sports
updated 2:32 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012
MADRID (AP) -Appearing angry and irritable, Jose Mourinho claimed all was well at Real Madrid on Tuesday despite reported divisions within his squad following the loss last week to Barcelona causing speculation to mount about his future.
Mourinho has come under criticism from his usually staunch allies - Madrid fans and the local media - for his tactics against Barcelona in the 2-1 home loss in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals last Wednesday.
During a tense news conference on Tuesday, the Portuguese coach was quick to dismiss all questions regarding his future and the mood among the players inside the changing room, answering "I don't know" on each occasion.
Mourinho was similarly dismissive when asked if this is his most difficult period since joining Madrid in 2010 after having guided Inter Milan to the Champions League title.
"It's a very nice moment," countered Mourinho, whose team leads the league by five points from Barcelona.
Mourinho was hired by president Florentino Perez to not only win trophies but ensure Madrid beats Barcelona. Last season's victory in the Copa del Rey final, however, is his lone win in nine games against the club where he once worked as an assistant coach.
"When I first arrived, this club's (cup) tradition was elimination at the hands of smaller teams, and last year we won the Copa," Mourinho said in one of his few lengthy answers. "When we got to Real Madrid we weren't even a top seed (in the Champions League), and now we've managed a record number of victories in the first half of the season and we're leading the championship.
"We're not doing too bad."
Spanish newspaper El Pais reported details Tuesday of discussions between Mourinho and his players after the 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals in which he reportedly said the series was over ahead of the return leg.
That follows sports daily Marca revealing a critical exchange between Mourinho and defender Sergio Ramos after last week's loss to Barcelona.
"I've never lacked respect for a coach at any point of my career," Ramos wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday. "With that, I deny these things said of me, that I never said. The coach and I are fighting for the same interests."
Although stating that Pepe was available for Wednesday's second leg if he escapes a ban for stomping on Lionel Messi, Mourinho was less forthcoming about whether he is ready to abandon his defensive game plan.
"I don't have to reveal how we are going to play the game at the Camp Nou," Mourinho said, adding: "Tomorrow's game will not have an impact on my time at Real Madrid."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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ReutersThat's a reason?
AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/
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Dark-Dwelling Fish Converge on Blindness
60-Second Science |
Evolution
DNA analysis revealed that 11 populations of blind cave fish did not all descend from a single blind ancestor, but had five separate evolutionary origins. Sophie Bushwick reports
January 24, 2012?|
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When Mexican tetra fish moved into dark caves long ago, they evolved to deal with the dark by becoming albino?and going blind. And new research shows that the changes various cave fish populations went through occurred repeatedly?a massive, textbook example of convergent evolution. The study is in the journal BioMed Central Evolutionary Biology. [Martina Bradic et al., "Gene flow and population structure in the Mexican blind cavefish complex (Astyanax mexicanus)"]
To determine how the dark-dwelling fish evolved their sightlessness, researchers tested the DNA of 11 Mexican cave fish populations. They compared the genes with those of tetra populations that lived out in the light. Originally, researchers had believed that all of the cave populations were descended from a single group of tetra fish that went underground and then went blind. But the cave fish genes told a different story: the 11 populations had five separate evolutionary origins, with different groups independently experiencing and selecting an eyeless mutation.
Although the surface- and cave-dwelling fish frequently mix, interbreeding has not eradicated cave fish blindness. Which means that evolution is actively selecting blindness. Perhaps because investing bodily resources in sight is a waste of energy in the dark.
?Sophie Bushwick
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]?
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f4966961cfcbb868b9f5dfb5ac0de3ee
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Vikings' Wilf 'optimistic' about Metrodome site
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, speaks to the media after meeting with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in St. Paul. Zygi Wilf says the team wants a new stadium in the Twin Cities, even if it means building on the current site of the Metrodome. Wilf spoke Wednesday after a three-hour meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers about the team's push for state funding of a new stadium. The New Jersey businessman was more open than ever to rebuilding on Metrodome land in downtown Minneapolis, despite his past preference for two other sites. Dayton has called the other two site options unworkable for different reasons. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, speaks to the media after meeting with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in St. Paul. Zygi Wilf says the team wants a new stadium in the Twin Cities, even if it means building on the current site of the Metrodome. Wilf spoke Wednesday after a three-hour meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers about the team's push for state funding of a new stadium. The New Jersey businessman was more open than ever to rebuilding on Metrodome land in downtown Minneapolis, despite his past preference for two other sites. Dayton has called the other two site options unworkable for different reasons. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton speaks to the media after meeting with Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in St. Paul. Zygi Wilf says the team wants a new stadium in the Twin Cities, even if it means building on the current site of the Metrodome. Wilf spoke Wednesday after a three-hour meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers about the team's push for state funding of a new stadium. The New Jersey businessman was more open than ever to rebuilding on Metrodome land in downtown Minneapolis, despite his past preference for two other sites. Dayton has called the other two site options unworkable for different reasons. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton addresses the status of a proposed new Minnesota Vikings NFL football stadium as the 2012 legislative session convened, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, in St. Paul, Minn., where lawmakers are expected to take up the issue. Dayton reiterated that the only viable place for a new stadium would be on the site of the current Metrodome in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton listens to a question about the status of a proposed new Minnesota Vikings NFL football stadium as the 2012 legislative session convened, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, in St. Paul, Minn., where lawmakers are expected to take up the issue. Dayton reiterated that the only viable place for a new stadium would be on the site of the current Metrodome in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, third from left, meets with from left, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf,, Mark Wilf, and Mayor R.T. Rybak at the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in St. Paul. Zygi Wilf says the team wants a new stadium in the Twin Cities, even if it means building on the current site of the Metrodome. Wilf spoke Wednesday after a three-hour meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton and state lawmakers about the team's push for state funding of a new stadium. The New Jersey businessman was more open than ever to rebuilding on Metrodome land in downtown Minneapolis, despite his past preference for two other sites. Dayton has called the other two site options unworkable for different reasons. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ? Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Wednesday that the team wants a new stadium in the Twin Cities, even if it means building on the current site of the Metrodome.
It was the New Jersey businessman's strongest signal that he would ultimately accept the site that for months had been his least favorite among a handful of options.
"I'm optimistic that it could be," Wilf said when asked if the Metrodome's downtown Minneapolis location could be the site of a sparkling new stadium that he wants to be partially funded by state money.
Wilf and team officials met privately with Gov. Mark Dayton, several state lawmakers, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and others to discuss tearing down the Metrodome and rebuilding there.
The meeting came after several days in which the team's bid for public funding appeared on the brink of falling apart, at least for the year, as Dayton proclaimed two other site options unworkable and Wilf was said to be frustrated that a proposal to build in suburban Arden Hills had been discarded.
The group emerged after more than three hours to say the Metrodome site would be the focus of stadium negotiations going forward.
Concerns about the site remain, meeting participants said: the Vikings face a costly and logistically difficult relocation to the University of Minnesota's football stadium for three seasons, and team officials are concerned the crowded Metrodome location offers too little space for new parking, game-day tailgating, and adjacent development projects.
Another Minneapolis option, on the other side of downtown, appeared to be completely dead. While the Vikings had been warming to the site, opposition on the Minneapolis City Council and its proximity to a historic Catholic Church ? whose rector threatened to sue to prevent it ? apparently doomed its prospects.
No one was ready to write off the Arden Hills option entirely. Wilf said while the team still has hopes for Arden Hills, "we will leave it up to the legislative working group to decide where they would want us to work hardest at."
The Vikings have sought a replacement to the Metrodome for nearly a decade, contending it no longer generates sufficient revenue for the team to keep up with other NFL clubs, most of which are playing in new or renovated facilities. The Vikings used to share the building with the Twins and the University of Minnesota, but both opened new stadiums within the last two years.
Building a new stadium on the same spot as the Metrodome is an old idea, with a number of plans and blueprints sketched out in recent years.
But the team backed the Arden Hills proposal last spring after state lawmakers told them to find a willing host. As Minneapolis leaders waffled on rebuilding downtown, Ramsey County commissioners swooped in to offer a large suburban swath of land in the St. Paul suburb that once held an Army ammunition plant.
The team envisioned not only a stadium but space for a training camp and museum, plenty of room for tailgating and other game-day activities, and the possibility of related retail and hotel development that prompted some critics to dub the project "Zygi-World."
The Ramsey County plan hit a major roadblock by requiring a local sales tax increase to raise about a third of a $1.1 billion price tag. The Vikings are on tap to pay about another third of that total, and state lawmakers say they're likely to raise the final third by expanding gambling and using the tax proceeds from that. But the Ramsey County sales tax increase has little support, which would make the plan untenable.
"We've put some confinements around them," said Sen. Julie Rosen, the chief state Senate author of the stadium bill. "If they can come back to us with another proposal to keep this alive, by the end of the week, then we'll take another look at it. At this point, it's not doable as far as I'm concerned."
The current Metrodome site plan is cheaper, about $920 million, and Rybak has offered to divert an existing city sales tax to help pay a share. That will require the support of the Minneapolis City Council, whose members have met the mayor's stadium push with skepticism.
Rybak said having the team on board with the Metrodome location would make a big difference. "I think every Vikings fan knows it's easier to get down the field if the team is moving in the same direction," he said after the meeting.
One of the costs of making the Metrodome site work could be coming up with an additional $100 million to refurbish the Target Center basketball arena, the upkeep of which is currently the responsibility of Minneapolis taxpayers ? a fact that doesn't sit well with Minneapolis councilmembers.
Rybak said the Target Center money would be necessary to getting a Metrodome deal through the council, though Rep. Morrie Lanning, the stadium bill's chief House author, said that cost votes in the Legislature.
"Any idea out there that we have is going to gain us some votes or lose us some votes," Lanning said. "That's why this is so difficult to put this together. Because you have to gauge ? is it going to help us get this job done, or is it going to keep us from getting this job done?"
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