Saturday, December 31, 2011

Eurozone faces tough hurdles early in 2012

FILE - In this July 19, 2011 file picture a striking taxi driver shouts anti-government slogans outside the Greek Parliament in Athens, during a protest regarding the European financial crisis. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis,File)

FILE - In this July 19, 2011 file picture a striking taxi driver shouts anti-government slogans outside the Greek Parliament in Athens, during a protest regarding the European financial crisis. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis,File)

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 file picture taken with a fisheye lens, flames from a fire set alight in a container by activists with the Frankfurt Occupy movement are seen in front of the European Central Bank and a sculpture of the euro symbol in Frankfurt, Germany. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/Michael Probst,File)

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2011 file picture Italian Premier Mario Monti listens to a Senator's speech in Rome. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file picture a flare burns in front of riot police during a protest regarding the European financial crisis in front of the parliament in Athens. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/Alkis Konstantinidis,File)

FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2011 file picture a broker looks at computer screens at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany. After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out. (AP Photo/dapd, Patrick Sinkel,File)

(AP) ? After a turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession.

With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin.

As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the 2-year-old crisis that has seen Greece, Ireland and Portugal bailed out.

If the auctions go well and borrowing costs ease, the crisis will ease, lending support for the EU strategy of getting governments to embark on often-savage austerity measures to reduce deficits, along with massive support for the banking system from the European Central Bank.

High rates, on the other hand, would feed fears of a government debt default that could cripple banks, sink the economy and, in the extreme case, destroy the 17-member currency union.

Key events early in the New Year:

? Italy and Spain will seek to borrow heavily in the first quarter at affordable interest costs, starting the second week in January.

? The slowing eurozone economy may slip into or already be in recession, lowering tax revenue and increasing government budget deficits.

? Bailed-out Greece must agree with creditors on a debt writedown that will cut the value of their holdings by 50 percent in an effort to start putting the bankrupt country back on its feet.

The task is for the major players ? eurozone governments, the European Union's executive Commission and the European Central Bank ? to convince financial markets that troubled governments can pay their heavy debts and therefore deserve to borrow at affordable interest costs.

Default fears have driven up bond market interest rates and made it more and more expensive for indebted governments to borrow to pay off maturing bonds. That vicious cycle forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailout loans from the other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund.

A key stress point will be whether Italy can continue to raise money in the markets at affordable rates.

In the first quarter, it has to step up its borrowing to pay off euro72 billion ($94 billion) in bond redemptions and interest payments. Spain, which is expected to sell up to euro25 billion ($33 billion) in new debt, starts a heavy period of auctions on Jan. 12, and Italy begins on Jan. 13.

Overall, Italy has more than euro300 billion ($392 billion) in debt maturing in 2012.

"If Italy manages to auction this debt successfully, then the debt crisis will take a step back from the cliff edge," said analyst Jane Foley at Rabobank. "If it doesn't, it could go over the cliff edge. At the end of the day, whatever the nuances and hours of discussion that have gone on about the sovereign debt crisis, it boils down to whether a sovereign can sell its debt in the open market."

If Italy fails to borrow at affordable rates, the options are few and unattractive. The eurozone's euro500 billion ($653 billion) in bailout funds ? already partly committed to earlier bailouts ? would struggle to cover Italy's financing needs, even if additional help can be found from the IMF. A bigger solution ? commonly guaranteed eurobonds ? faces German resistance and would take time to implement.

The European Central Bank could use its power to buy large amounts of Italian and Spanish bonds with newly created money ? but has so far refused, out of concern that a central bank bailout would remove the incentive for governments to control their spending.

Instead, the bank has focused on pushing credit to banks so they can keep lending to support the economy.

Still, its limited bond purchases have provided essential support to Spain and Italy by helping hold down borrowing costs. And its latest massive infusion of euro489 billion ($639 billion) in cheap, long term loans may help troubled governments borrow, as stronger banks may use some of the money to buy higher-yielding government bonds.

Italy pays an average of about 4.2 percent on its existing stock of euro1.9 trillion in debt, but the crisis has pushed bond yields on the country's benchmark ten-year bonds to over 7 percent.

Bond auctions Wednesday and Thursday showed the government of new Prime Minister Mario Monti had made some progress in convincing lenders, as yields on 10-year bonds fell to 6.98 percent. Though that's painfully high, it's down from last month's equivalent 7.56 percent, which was the highest rate Italy has had to pay since the euro was launched in 1999. Yields fell further on shorter term debt.

Monti's big challenge will be to push Italian legislators to make far-ranging reforms to improve the country's growth performance and keep spending under control.

"We absolutely don't consider the market turbulence to be over," he said Thursday.

Italy and Spain's battle will be even harder if the debt troubles pull the whole eurozone into a recession. Economists at Ernst & Young foresee a mild recession in the first part of the year and only 0.1 percent growth for the year as a whole, with unemployment at 10 percent for several years.

That will make it harder for governments to persuade voters to accept more cutbacks in spending, pensions and government wages while raising taxes.

It's not clear how long voters in Greece, which will have its fourth straight year of recession next year, will tolerate continuous austerity. Yet the cutbacks are the price of getting the bailout loans that have kept Greece from default.

Meanwhile Greece is striving to get creditors to agree to write down some debt and avoid larger losses in case of a default that is not agreed ahead of time. A euro14.4 billion ($18.8 billion) chunk of debt comes due in March.

Guntram Wolff, deputy director of the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said that governments may get past the early hurdles ? only to confront a souring mood among voters in the second half of the year over continuing cutbacks and sacrifices. New governments in Spain and Italy, currently enjoying political honeymoons, will be pressed to show progress. Greece, with a transitional government and elections expected in April, has seen repeated protests and strikes.

"There will be a point in the summer when people have seen a lot of action from government and no improvement in their living conditions and they will ask, do we have this euro to live with austerity and high unemployment," he said.

Wolff thinks that the determination of political elites to keep the euro together will win out: "I think it's going to survive."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-29-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis-Road-Ahead/id-4f0fc5d8d95a40488240d4906367c23e

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How to get the most out of your new Xbox 360 (Digital Trends)

Here at Digital Trends we love our gaming consoles. They let us do more than just play games, they have become an entertainment system, unlike anything that has come before them. This year Microsoft reported record sales during the week of Black Friday, so odds are many of you are now the proud owners of an Xbox 360.

With that in mind, we want to make sure that those of you who received a shiny new console under the Christmas tree get the most out of your new systems.

Below we?ve provided a few suggestions for people unfamiliar with Microsoft?s Xbox 360 in order to take full advantage of what Microsoft is offering.

(When you are setting up your console, if you have an HDTV we recommend using the HDMI, which is not included with the Xbox 360. You can use the composite hook-ups that comes included, but it won?t have the same picture quality and you should consider an upgrade.)

Xbox Live

To really get into the Xbox 360 and all that offers you?ll need to sign up for an Xbox Live (XBL) account. A 12-month subscription costs $59.99. If the price seems a bit high, just consider that without XBL all you can really do on an Xbox is play games locally (and not online). That?s fine if that?s all you want to do, but if you want to do more than that you?ll need XBL. Besides, the Xbox Live service is what makes an Xbox 360 transform from just a gaming system into an all-around entertainment device.

XBL gives users access to the Xbox marketplace, streaming, apps, and the friends list which makes the Xbox great for online gaming. Using the friends list, players can jump into games with friends and see what they are playing, plus they can join a party and talk to them no matter what game or app they are in. It?s great for setting up impromptu gaming sessions, as well as keeping in touch with friends scattered around the world.

Make sure you check out the Live Marketplace to download games, extra content, demos, and trailers. We recommend looking for indie hits like Limbo and ?Splosion Man, which are only available to download.

Apps

Once you have XBL set up there are several apps that we highly recommend grabbing for a variety of entertainment purposes.

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Movies, Sports, and TV

If you like watching movies and TV shows at all, you?ll want to grab Netflix and Hulu Plus. You can stream content directly to your Xbox through both apps. Note that you will need paid accounts for both apps if you want them to work, but if you have a subscription to either, it will work on any computer, not just the Xbox 360. HBO Go will also be debuting on XBL in the next few months, which will give you access to all of HBO?s original programming, as well as a huge selection of movies.

In the last month, the Xbox dashboard received an overhaul which introduced live TV streaming to the 360. Currently this new deal only works for Comcast and FiOS cable TV subscribers, but more providers should be added soon. If you?re signed up with either company you can stream live TV from various channels to your Xbox, and the list of channels is growing. The update also introduced YouTube, and the movie rental service Epix among many others.

Sports fans should definitely grab the ESPN app. Not only does it update users with the latest scores, stats, and highlights, but you can also watch live streams of games. There are some holes in the programming, like ESPN?s Monday Night Football, but everything that?s on ESPN3 will be streamed to your Xbox. This is great for futbol fans, college sports, baseball, plus, whatever other sports that ESPN3 shows.

Music

The Xbox offers a variety of music services like the iHeartRadio app, which lets users stream from over a 150 live broadcast stations across the country or create custom stations. There?s also last.fm which is similar to Pandora in that it recommends songs and artists for you based on previous music that you?ve heard. The Zune music marketplace is also available for streaming and purchasing.

Personalize the dashboard

Like the Wii and its Miis, the Xbox 360 comes with avatars that players can customize and be viewed by friends in their friends lists. But unlike the Miis, Xbox avatars allow for a lot more customization.

An avatar store is available through XBL that lets users buy clothes, props, and even pets. There are even some games for the Xbox that allows users to play as their avatars, however, most of these are of the mini-game variety.

You can also change up the look of the dashboard with custom themes. Some of them are dynamic and move, while others just add a background image and change the look of the icons.

Media Center

To get really integrated you can turn the Xbox 360 into a media center. This means that you can stream movies, music, TV shows and other similar files from your home PC (or Mac) to the console.

You?ll need to do some set-up on the computer side of things to get this working but once it?s done you can play almost any movie or music file that you have on your PC on your 360. It?s great for home movies, photos, and any other digital content that you want to see on your TV.

For tips on how to set up the Xbox as a media center check out our set-up guide.

Kinect

To add some motion gaming fun to your system you can always get the Kinect. Some of the games for it are fun like the Just Dance 3, while others like the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved series offer more than just a game. Xbox has also heavily integrated Kinect motion controls into the system itself. You can use the Kinect to scroll through menus, start movies, and even Last.fm has some Kinect controls. There is also a voice activated Bing search that allows you to search for anything on the XBL network.

Parental Controls

We do want to mention that while you can access tons of great content with the various apps and store options you might not want everyone in your family accessing some of that content. The 360 comes with some pretty good content controls that let parents rate what games, shows, movies and content can and cannot be seen or played. You can block Live access and set up a timer that keeps track of how much the console can be played on a daily or weekly basis.

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This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111229/tc_digitaltrends/howtogetthemostoutofyournewxbox360

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Flag Burning at Occupy Charlotte (Powerlineblog)

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Friday, December 30, 2011

lvgolfblogger: Hyundai TOC announces 'Aloha Kick-Off'ceremonies http://t.co/j3tzA2Qb #Golf

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VIDEO | Mayor McCallion offers advice to Rob Ford

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Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/12/29/toronto-video-hazel-mccallion-interview.html?cmp=rss

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TV producer won't fight extradition to Mexico

(AP) ? A reality show producer charged with murdering his wife during a Mexican vacation is dropping his extradition fight and will stand trial in Cancun, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Bruce Beresford-Redman's attorney said the onetime "Survivor" producer has decided not to appeal a Los Angeles federal court ruling upholding his extradition to Mexico.

"He feels he is not going to prevail on appeal and he'd like to get moving on proving his innocence," said attorney Richard Hirsch.

He said the producer could be sent to Mexico within 60 days following review of the extradition request by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Beresford-Redman, 40, is being held in a Los Angeles federal prison.

Monica Beresford-Redman, 42, disappeared from a Cancun resort where the couple was vacationing with their two children last year. Her body was found stuffed in a sewer cistern.

"He is innocent and it is his hope that the court in Mexico will assure that he receives a fair trial in which, he is confident, he will be exonerated," Hirsch said.

The family of Monica Beresford-Redman has said the couple went to Cancun to try to save their marriage. They claim Bruce Beresford-Redman, who is also the co-creator of the series "Pimp My Ride," was having a long-term affair with another woman. His wife, originally from Brazil, owned and operated a restaurant in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez upheld an extradition order earlier this month, saying that there are many pages of competent evidence supporting prosecution claims that the producer killed his wife.

"All of this evidence points to homicide committed by the fugitive," said the judge's ruling.

Prosecutors presented statements from hotel guests who said they heard loud arguing and cries of distress coming from the couple's room on the night Monica Beresford-Redman went missing.

The producer's attorneys have claimed the noises came from Beresford-Redman and his children playing loud games throughout the night. They introduced statements from the couple's 6-year-old daughter to corroborate the claim, but judges who have reviewed the case were not swayed.

Beresford-Redman had been ordered to stay in Mexico after his wife's body was found but he left and returned to his home in Los Angeles. He voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities after a warrant was issued in Mexico for his arrest.

Hirsch said that Beresford-Redman's family has been in contact with a Mexican lawyer who will represent him at trial. Mexican courts do not have juries, and the producer will be tried by the same judge who issued the warrant for his arrest, Hirsch said.

If he is convicted of aggravated homicide in Mexico, he faces 12 years to 30 years in a Mexican prison.

His two small children have been placed in the custody of Beresford-Redman's parents with visitation by their mother's sisters.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-27-Producer's%20Wife%20Killed/id-2cefb8fd7ef4490e8da931f36d9a6429

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Video: Sister ?surprised? TV producer won?t fight extradition

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45795302#45795302

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

NATO says 3 troops killed by bomb in Afghanistan

Home : World : NATO says 3 troops killed by bomb in Afghanistan

NATO says 3 troops killed by bomb in Afghanistan

Date: Tuesday Dec. 27, 2011 10:58 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan ? NATO says three of its service members have been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan.

The alliance says in a statement that the deaths occurred Tuesday. Wednesday's statement does not provide any further details.

The latest deaths bring December's toll of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan to 23.

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Source: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20111227/afghanistan-nato-troops-111227/

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Nebraska loses B10 opener 64-40 to No. 11 Badgers (AP)

LINCOLN, Neb. ? Wisconsin schooled Nebraska in the Cornhuskers' inaugural Big Ten game.

Ryan Evans scored a career-high 22 points and the No. 11 Badgers used big runs in the first and second halves to win 64-40 Tuesday night.

"That's a heck of a lesson to take," Sadler said. "They've got a good basketball team and they do it the right way. They don't get in a hurry. Everybody wants to talk about how fast, slow, whatever you play. The fact of the matter is they're efficient."

Sadler said the Huskers seemed to forget what league they are in and reverted to the way they played in the up-tempo Big 12.

He said his players didn't use enough of the shot clock.

"The number of shots we took with 15 or more seconds on the shot clock, if we're going to continue to do that, we're going to continue to get our brains beat out because it's not happening," Sadler said.

"No disrespect, but this league's not going to let you do that. Some of the teams maybe we played in the past, you knew you were going to get enough possessions. You ain't getting possessions in this league, that's one thing I know. You better have some efficiency."

The Huskers shot 31 percent from the field and got to the free-throw line only nine times, making seven.

"We made some shots early, and so I guess we thought we were going to outscore some people," Sadler said. "You better have more shots under 10 seconds than you do over 10 seconds if you're going to win in this league."

The Huskers (8-4, 0-1) had scored the game's first seven points, but Evans' swirling 3-pointer tied it 10-all ? and the Badgers (12-2, 1-0) were off on a 19-2 run.

Toney McCray's steal and layup just before the buzzer pulled the Huskers within 33-26 at the half, and it was a five-point game after he made a couple of free throws early in the second half.

Then the Badgers broke it open again, holding Nebraska to two field goals over 11 minutes with Jordan Taylor, Evans and Josh Gasser combining for three 3s in a 27-5 run.

"I don't think our defense is the problem," Sadler said. "Offensively is the problem. You're not going to beat anybody scoring 44 points or 40 points. You ain't going to beat anybody. We've got to find a way to score some points. We held them to 64 points. Our issues are scoring baskets. It ain't going to be stopping people."

McCray led the Huskers with 16 points and nine rebounds. But like almost everyone else that plays Wisconsin, points were at a premium.

Wisconsin extended its streak of holding opponents to 65 points or less to 18 games. The nation's top defensive team, Wisconsin has held 12 of 14 opponents to season lows in points.

Nebraska's previous low was 51 against Florida Gulf Coast.

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said other than the first 3 minutes of the first and second halves, it was the Badgers' best defensive performance of the season. Nebraska's 14 second-half points were its fewest in a half since scoring 11 in the first 20 minutes against Creighton in December 2006.

The season-high crowd of 10,812 at the Devaney Sports Center began filing out with 5 minutes left and the Badgers leading by 23 points.

Nebraska needed, and got, more scoring production from McCray because of injuries that kept two of their top four scorers on the bench.

Center Jorge Brian Diaz sat out with sore feet and guard Dylan Talley missed the game with a thigh bruise. The Huskers also were without 6-11, 310-pound Andre Almeida, who has been limited because of nagging knee problems.

Guard Corey Hilliard returned to action for the first time in five weeks after a sports hernia, and guard Caleb Walker played even though he badly bruised his back last week.

In a pregame ceremony celebrating the first Big Ten game, former Nebraska players were introduced to the crowd and then formed a line between the locker room and arena, welcoming the current Huskers to the court with handshakes and high-fives before tipoff.

Nebraska also played Wisconsin in its Big Ten football opener, losing 48-17 in Madison.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_nebraska

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

elnuevoherald: Aprobaci?n a Evo Morales cae un 50 % en dos a?os, seg?n encuesta http://t.co/RuuvjFlY

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GOP's Santorum fighting to contend in leadoff Iowa (AP)

MASON CITY, Iowa ? Rick Santorum isn't going down without a fight. In fact, that fight seems to be lifting him ? at exactly the right time.

The Republican presidential candidate who has logged more miles in Iowa than any of his rivals is starting to see his work begin to pay off with a growing list of supporters and a new poll that shows the little-known former Pennsylvania senator vaulting into contention here five days before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

"We've got momentum," Santorum, a long-overlooked candidate in the GOP race, told people at a diner Wednesday in Independence, a day after sounding a similar tone in Mason City. He told reporters: "I have a shot and I'm feeling better about that shot every day, the top three. This could be a late-breaking race. Now we just have to get over the hurdle of convincing people we can win."

By evening, the candidate was telling CNN "hard work pays off, as it does in most areas of life" after the network, in conjunction with Time, released a survey that moved him from the back of the pack to third place behind Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

Indeed, there is new evidence that Iowa Republicans, many of whom are still undecided and looking for a consensus conservative, are starting to give Santorum a fresh look as the caucuses loom and the prospect of a victory by Romney or Paul ? considered less conservative than their rivals ? becomes more realistic.

Santorum tried to press that point at a Dubuque furniture store, acknowledging anger in the electorate while also saying: "If you want to stick it to the man, don't vote for Ron Paul. That's not sticking it to anybody but the Republican Party."

In recent days, Santorum's crowds have started growing as he rallies conservatives with a pit bull's pugnaciousness, and just a touch of anger. He began airing a new radio ad Wednesday that, while less obvious than a television spot, can be effective in reaching niche conservatives in rural Iowa. And now, the poll that shows him with 16 percent of support in Iowa.

But he still faces hurdles. His cash-strapped campaign has only just started running TV ads, and his organization is small in a state whose contests rely on the ability of campaigns to turn out a slew of supporters.

Even so, Iowans could end up giving him credit for campaigning in the state the old-fashioned way ? in living rooms, coffee shops and town squares ? even as his rivals relied mostly on TV ads, debates and media interviews. Santorum has built his organization painstakingly, having visited all 99 counties, including at times when there was only one GOP activists to greet him.

His rise comes at a critical moment: conservatives have tested others ? helping several candidates rise and quickly fall ? and now are focusing on the caucuses, just five days away.

"Rick Santorum could be a real surprise," said former Dallas County GOP Chairman Rob Taylor.

He has earned the support of a number of key backers of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Republican caucuses. They include former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, conservative Sioux City radio host Sam Clovis and some influential evangelical pastors.

Santorum landed the endorsement Tuesday of evangelical conservative activists Alex and Brett Harris, founders of Huck's Army, a national group that supported Huckabee's 2008 campaign. On Wednesday, Steve Sukup, a conservative business leader and former state legislator, announced he was supporting Santorum.

"He's the only candidate in this race I trust," said Chuck Laudner, a veteran Iowa GOP operative who introduced Santorum to more than 100 party activists on Santorum's fourth trip to Mason City. "And he's a fighter."

As if to prove the point, Santorum launched into a speech filled with pokes at the national media and his rivals. For 90 minutes, he tore into President Barack Obama, Hollywood and moderate Republicans ? and, by implication, rival Romney.

While Santorum's profile in Congress as a social-issues crusader bought him entree with influential evangelical conservatives in Iowa, it's his unhesitating attack on liberals that seems to be fueling his rise in internal polls by rival campaigns.

"Let's look at colleges and universities," Santorum said in the ballroom of the restored Frank Lloyd Wright Park Inn Hotel on Mason City's town square. "They've become indoctrination centers for the left. Should we be subsidizing that?"

Santorum tossed out Harvard University's motto, "Veritas," Latin for truth. "They haven't seen truth at Harvard in 100 years."

Santorum refers to Obama as a "radical." Just as easily, though, he calls his own party's leaders "the good old guys you can count on to sell out in the end."

Even in entertaining questions from voters, he is frank and at times pointed.

"No, you're missing my point," he told Mason City Republican Julia Jones, a retired factory worker, as he tried to explain Social Security.

Jones, who walked into the event weighing Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, liked what she heard ? and decided to support Santorum.

"He doesn't soften the edges, but he doesn't talk down to you either," Jones said. "He's just in-depth."

___

Associated Press writer Mike Glover in Independence, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum_the_fighter

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NY Times to sell regional newspapers for $143 million (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The New York Times Co said it will sell 16 regional newspapers spread across the U.S. Southeast and California to Halifax Media Holdings for $143 million in cash as it looks to cut costs and focus on its most important papers and their websites.

Regional newspapers have struggled recently because of weak local retail and national advertising, partly reflecting the economy's broader travails.

The company said it will record an after-tax gain on the sale -- expected to close in a few weeks -- in the first quarter of 2012. It estimates the net after-tax proceeds from the sale to be about $150 million.

"I think that it's toward the low end of what we expected. I was expecting $150-$200 million," Evercore Partners analyst Douglas Arthur told Reuters.

"What it implies is that margins on regional newspapers were not as high as we thought, but the underlying profitability of the main New York Times is higher."

The analyst, however, said pension obligation will stay with the company and that could be one of the uses of the proceeds.

The group to be hived off has a weekday circulation of about 430,000, with newspapers such as Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Ledger, in Florida; Herald-Journal in South Carolina; and The Press Democrat in California in its stable.

Last week, the Times Co said it will sell its regional newspapers days after Chief Executive Janet Robinson announced her sudden retirement.

The group's revenue -- more than a tenth of Times Co's overall sales -- fell about 7 percent to $190 million in the first nine months of this year.

"These newspapers have been a drag on overall results due to heavier reliance on local advertising which lags national advertising growth," Morningstar's Joscelyn Mackay said.

"Without these papers, the firm will be able to focus on its flagship The New York Times and monetize its digital content."

Halifax Media owns The Daytona-Beach News Journal, among other papers and media businesses across the south.

Times Co shares, which have lost a fifth of their value this year, closed at $7.76 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

(This story version corrects paragraph 3 to clarify that $150 million is the net after-tax proceeds, not gain)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/media_nm/us_thenewyorktimes

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The top gaming technologies of 2011 | VentureBeat

Each year brings a host of new technologies to the table that make the gaming landscape seem significantly different from what came before, and 2011 was no different. Here are some of the most important technological advancements the game industry saw in the past 12 months.

Nintendo 3DS

After Nintendo?s press conference just before E3 2010, it seemed all anybody in the game industry could talk about was the ?wow factor? of Nintendo?s newest portable system and how its stereoscopic 3D effect actually worked as advertised, without 3D glasses. Once the system came out, of course, many encountered frustration with the lowered frame rate and reduced brightness in 3D mode, as well as problems with limited viewing angles and headaches after long-term viewing. A healthy minority of players now use the system with the 3D effects turned off, and the lack of a real third dimension doesn?t hurt the gameplay experience as much as Nintendo said it might.

Still, despite all its problems, the 3DS earns a place on this list for being a proof of concept showing stereoscopic 3D doesn?t need bulky head-mounted hardware to work. If future hardware makers expand on the concept with technologies that provide a more robust 3D from multiple viewing angles, we could see a true revolution in gaming.

Sony PlayStation Vita

Though it hasn?t made it to North America or Europe yet, the Vita snuck into Japanese stores in December sporting a regular everything-and-the-kitchen sink approach to portable gaming systems. The influence of the smartphone gaming revolution is apparent in everything from the optional 3G data connection to the large touch-screen to front and rear facing cameras.

But the Vita?s most interesting bit of technology, from a gaming point of view, might be the rear multi-touch panel designed to allow players to control games without their fingers getting in the way of viewing the action. It?s still up in the air whether this innovative new control scheme will become a crucial addition or a forgotten fad, but it shows Sony?s willingness to try something radically different with its PSP follow up.

Apple?s A5 processor

Making its premiere on the iPad 2 in March, Apple?s newest mobile system-on-a-chip processor managed to provide a 400 to 700 percent increase in graphical performance over the year-old original iPad with no increase in retail price. Game developers were at first slow to take advantage of that extra power, but titles like Infinity Blade 2, Real Racing 2 and Dark Meadow have since shown how the additional power can be used to change the idea of what a mobile game can be.

With the chip?s inclusion on Apple?s new iPhone 4S, we can expect more game developers to start upping the graphical ante in their mobile titles. But the real revolution will come when Apple finally adds the A5 chip to its iPod Touch line, which Apple is actively selling for its gaming capabilities.

HTML5

While HTML5 wasn?t introduced in 2011, this was the year the open standard for building interactive web games and apps really came into its own. Look no further than Adobe, which announced in November it would stop supporting the mobile version of competing interactive standard Flash (which Apple steadfastly refused to support on its devices) in favor of HTML5.

It?s not just Adobe. Zynga released HTML5 versions of three of its biggest games this year in a bid for mobile web browsers, and Disney followed up its major acquisition of Playdom with the purchase of HTML5 game specialists Rocket Pack. Startups from Los Angeles? Gamzee to Korea?s Pangalore managed to attract startup funds for their HTML5 gaming efforts this year as well. While we have yet to see the first major gaming hit to premiere on HTML3, and there are some concerns about the standard?s value as a game development platform, the trend towards the open standard seems like it will only continue into 2012.

OnLive for Tablets

Since its launch last year, OnLive?s streaming game service ? which lets play games that are running on and transmitted from remote servers ? has struggled to find a significant market of users. But the recently launched tablet version of the service may just be the killer app it needs, allowing millions of tablet owners to get truly console-quality games on their relatively underpowered devices.

More than the previous?OnLive services, which relied on a PC, Mac or a proprietary streaming micro-console, the tablet version offers an easy portability that turns the devices into a sort of magic screen that can access a wide library of PC and console games easily wherever there?s a reliable internet connection. Support for external Bluetooth controllers means tablet owners no longer have to suffer through the tactile smoothness of a touchscreen, either: OnLive for tablets open the devices up to the traditional button-based games most players are used to.

Razer Blade Laptop

Razer?s first entry into the dedicated gaming computer market doesn?t include much that?s decidedly new (aside from its built-in LCD panel touchscreen next to the keyboard, perhaps). Still, the combination of internal hardware aimed at high-end gamers and a sleek form factor stakes out an important place in the gaming hardware market. The $2,800 price might limit the laptop?s appeal outside an incredibly hardcore niche, but the Blade stands out for imagining a PC gaming future that isn?t just dominated by free-to-play casual social games.

PlayStation 3D Display

It may look like just another 3D TV, but when combined with the PS3, Sony?s gaming-focused display gains one special feature to set it apart ? a multiplayer mode where each participant gets their own distinct, full screen view. The days of squinting at a stretched-out split-screen view for couch competitions is effectively over with this TV, though the 24? size may cause some squinting of its own for players used to a larger, widescreen living room setup.

The 3D display has already seen heavily reduced prices at some retailers, perhaps showing a lack of market interest in yet another 3D capable monitor. Still, the fact that Sony released a gaming-focused 3D TV in the first place shows the company?s continuing commitment to stereoscopic gaming as a way to set its console apart from those offered by Microsoft and Nintendo.

Nyko Kinect Zoom

One of the coolest bits of video game technology to come to gaming in 2011 doesn?t even require electricity to operate. The Nyko Zoom is nothing more than a set of small lenses that snaps on top of Microsoft?s Kinect depth-sensing camera, effectively shortening and widening the useful range for the device, removing one of the key barriers to using it in a cramped space. Suddenly, even the smallest of studio apartments can serve as a controller-free environment.

How important is this reduced range to the usefulness of the Kinect? Well, when Microsoft announced it would be releasing a new Kinect aimed specifically at PC users, it made sure to include technology that would let the unit work from as close as 40 centimeters away. In other words, Nyko was able to see the market for a closer range Kinect before Microsoft did.

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Tags: 3DS, A5, A5 processor, HTML5, Nyko Kinect Zoom, PlayStation 3D Display

Companies: Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nyko, Sony

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/27/the-top-gaming-technologies-of-2011/

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The 7 biggest political downfalls of 2011 (The Week)

New York ? From Mubarak to Weiner, it was a banner year for fallen despots, dictators, congressmen, and presidential hopefuls

If global politics had an annual awards show, the segment devoted to eulogizing those statesmen we lost in 2011 would be long and impressive. From deposed international despots to sexually reckless U.S. politicians who were forced to leave the political sphere, it was a bad year to get caught on the wrong side of revolutions and popular revulsion. Here, seven of the most dramatic, unexpected falls from power in 2011:

1. Hosni Mubarak
Egypt's president for 30 years, Mubarak was forced out?on Feb. 11, after 18 days of mostly peaceful protests centered in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Mubarak was hardly sent into a comfortable retirement: International banks froze billions of dollars of his and his family's assets, and Mubarak ? reportedly in grave health ? was locked up to face murder and corruption charges. Mubarak's downfall is right up there with "the fall of communism 20 years ago" as a "validation to all those around the world who believe in democracy, the power of peaceful protest, and the right of all people to seek redress of their grievances," said The Baltimore Sun in an editorial.

SEE MORE: The 4 biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2011

?

2. Moammar Gadhafi
The Libyan strongman ruled for 12 years longer than Mubarak, but his end was more gruesome and more final. After months of battle with rebel forces aided by NATO airstrikes, Gadhafi went into hiding in late August when he lost control of Libya's capital, Tripoli. Then, on Oct. 20, Gadhafi was discovered by enemy forces in Sirte, where he was beaten, humiliated, and killed. "Libyans suffered terribly under Gadhafi for decades," said Amy Davidson in The New Yorker. But, in the interest of justice, clearing up the murkiness surrounding the dictator's brutal death "matters, even for him."

3. Silvio Berlusconi
By the time Italy's colorfully controversial prime minister was forced into retirement?on Nov. 12, nearly two decades after taking office, he had achieved a profound unpopularity. Berlusconi presided?over his country's slide toward insolvency, and he was long plagued by allegations of corruption and myriad sex scandals, including charges that he slept with an underage prostitute. The real surprise isn't that "the undisputed clown of international politics has finally been forced out of the circus," said Alex Fusco in Britain's The Independent. It's that he wasn't "led out of office in handcuffs."

4. Dominique Strauss-Kahn
The International Monetary Fund chief and early frontrunner in France's 2012 presidential race was arrested in New York City on May 15, after hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo accused Strauss-Kahn of raping her. New York prosecutors dropped the criminal charges?on Aug. 23 after doubts emerged about Diallo's credibility, but Strauss-Kahn's IMF career and presidential prospects were already in tatters. The collapse of the New York case "doesn't mean that Strauss-Kahn is innocent, of course," said Doug Mataconis at?Outside the Beltway, but I think he has a right to ask "where he goes to get his reputation back."

5. Anthony Weiner
In one of the oddest sex-related scandals of the year, Rep. Weiner (D-N.Y.) resigned from Congress in disgrace on June 16 after he was caught sending sexually suggestive or lewd photos of himself to a group of women he never met in real life. Weiner was busted by a conservative blogger on May 27 when the congressman accidentally posted a photo of his underwear-clad erection to his public Twitter feeed, then clumsily tried to cover his tracks. Finally, Weiner tearfully admitted to being a serial sexter. "Weiner can be described, I think, as Twitter?s first major political casualty," said Greg Sargent at?The Washington Post.

6. John Ensign
Though more old-school than Weiner's mess, the Nevada Republican's sex scandal was perhaps?equally "salacious."?Ensign resigned from the Senate on May 3, barely dodging the Senate Ethics Committee's scathing report, which was released on May 12. The report detailed?Ensign's affair with his campaign treasurer, his attempts to buy her silence and that of her husband ? another longtime aide ? with his parents' cash and a lobbying job, and Ensign's potentially illegal attempts to cover that up. The committee's made-for-TV retelling of the affair is "astounding and a hell of a read," said Taylor Marsh at her blog. "Ensign is actually lucky he resigned," because the Senate would have expelled him after this bombshell.

7. Herman Cain
The one-time Republican frontrunner for the presidential nomination effectively dropped out of the race?on Dec. 3, after badly mishandling several documented accusations of sexual harassment and an alleged extramarital affair. Cain also faced widespread criticism for breezily fumbling routine foreign policy and economic questions. The Cain campaign will "go down as one of the most hapless and bumbling operations in modern presidential politics," said Jonathan Martin at?Politico.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111226/cm_theweek/222126

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Sadrists call for new elections in Iraq (AP)

BAGHDAD ? The political party loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called Monday for the dissolution of Iraq's parliament and new elections in another move that could escalate the country's growing sectarian crisis.

The anti-American Sadrist bloc is a partner in the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Bahaa al-Aaraji, the head of the Sadrists' bloc in parliament, said the elections are needed because of instability in the country and problems that threaten Iraq's sovereignty.

"The political partners cannot find solutions for the problems that threaten to divide Iraq," he said.

Iraq plunged into a new sectarian crisis last week, just days after the last American troops withdrew at the end of a nearly nine-year war.

Al-Maliki is in a political showdown with the country's top Sunni political figure, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, after the government issued an arrest warrant for al-Hashemi on allegations his bodyguards ran hit squads targeting government officials.

The prime minister threatened to form a government without al-Hashemi's Sunni-backed political party, Iraqiya, which is boycotting parliament and mulling whether to pull out of the ruling coalition.

Iraq was dominated by the minority Sunnis under Saddam Hussein until the U.S.-led war that began in 2003 ousted him. Majority Shiites have dominated the government ever since, though Americans pushed hard for the inclusion of Sunnis with a meaningful role in the current governing coalition.

Bitter sectarian rivalries played out in 2006-2007 in violence that took Iraq to the brink of civil war and the latest tensions have raised fears of a resurgence of Shiite-Sunni violence.

The political crisis taps into resentments that are still raw despite years of efforts to overcome them. The Sunnis fear the Shiite majority is squeezing them out of their already limited political role. Shiites suspect Sunnis of links to militants and of plotting to topple the Shiite leadership.

The Sadrists have played an important role in maintaining Shiite domination over government ? their support last year catapulted al-Maliki back to the prime minister's office for a second term.

For the proposal to dissolve parliament to gain traction, it would take the consent of at least 1/3 of parliament, the president and the prime minister or a simple majority of lawmakers. Al-Maliki, who only secured his position after nearly nine months of political wrangling after the last elections, would likely be loathe to go through the process again and risk an unfavorable outcome.

Al-Aaraji said the proposal first needs approval of the larger coalition between the Sadrists and al-Maliki's alliance, the two most powerful Shiite parties.

A Shiite lawmaker loyal to al-Maliki, Kamal al-Saiedi, said the proposal should be studied.

"Forming the current government was not an easy issue, therefore going back in the direction of new elections would be more difficult," he said.

A Sunni lawmaker with Iraqiya, the Sunni-backed bloc of the wanted vice president, said new elections would not bring security and stability. He pointed to the prolonged negotiations that were needed to agree on the government in place now, and said a new election would only bring the same people to office.

"We need to sit around the same negotiating table and that is the only path to salvation from this current crisis," said Kamil al-Dulaimi.

The new political crisis has been accompanied by a new wave of attacks on the Iraqi capital by suspected Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida.

A suicide bomber set off a car bomb Monday at a checkpoint leading to the Interior Ministry, killing seven people and injuring 32, officials said. Police and hospital officials said the bomber struck during morning rush hour, hitting one of many security barriers set up around the ministry's building.

Also Monday, a roadside bomb hit a passing army patrol in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and injuring two, a police officer and a doctor said.

Al-Maliki's adviser for National Reconciliation Amer al-Khuzaie, said leaders of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the top Shiite militant groups, had decided to lay down their weapons and join the political system.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or Band of the People of Righteousness, was a splinter group from the Mahdi Army, also headed by al-Sadr. They, along with the Mahdi Army, were two of three Shiite militant groups active in Iraq that were dedicated to fighting the U.S. military presence.

Al-Khuzaie said the group had signed an agreement in recent days renouncing violence. He said they would change their name and join the political process. He said he had been negotiating for months with the group, who said they would join the political process after the U.S. military left Iraq. All American troops departed on Dec. 18.

Officials from the group were not available to confirm the decision.

U.S. officials have warned that these Shiite militant groups could turn against the Iraqi government after the American military has gone. A key test to whether Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-funded group, is committed to becoming a peaceful part of the political process is whether they actually turn in their weapons, especially the more powerful and sophisticated weapons they're believed to get from Iran.

__

Associated Press writers Mazin Yahya, Sinan Salaheddin and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Anti-Putin protests draw tens of thousands (AP)

MOSCOW ? Tens of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow avenue Saturday to demand free elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule, in the largest show of public outrage since the protests 20 years ago that brought down the Soviet Union. Gone was the political apathy of recent years as many shouted "We are the Power!"

The demonstration, bigger and better organized than a similar one two weeks ago, and smaller rallies across the country encouraged opposition leaders hoping to sustain a broad protest movement ignited by a fraud-tainted parliamentary election on Dec. 4.

The enthusiasm also cheered Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader who closed down the Soviet Union on Dec. 25, 1991.

"I'm happy that I have lived to see the people waking up. This raises big hopes," the 80-year-old Gorbachev said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

He urged Putin to follow his example and give up power peacefully. If Putin stepped down now, he would be remembered for the positive things he did, Gorbachev said. The former Soviet leader, who has grown increasingly critical of Putin, has little influence in Russia today.

But the protesters have no central leader and no candidate capable of posing a serious challenge to Putin, who intends to return to the presidency in a March vote. In a fair election, the veteran Communist Party leader would pose the strongest threat, and he has joined the Kremlin in disparaging the protests.

Even at Saturday's rally, some of the speakers were jeered by the crowd. The various liberal, nationalist and leftist groups that took part appear united only by their desire to see "Russia without Putin," a popular chant.

Putin, who gave no public response to the protest Saturday, initially derided the demonstrators as paid agents of the West. He also said sarcastically that he thought the white ribbons they wore as an emblem were condoms. Putin has since come to take their protests more seriously, and in an effort to stem the anger he has offered a set of reforms to allow more political competition in future elections.

Kremlin-controlled television covered Saturday's rally, but gave no air time to Putin's harshest critics.

Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged from the police figure of 30,000 to 120,000 offered by the organizers. Demonstrators packed much of a broad avenue, which has room for nearly 100,000 people, about 2.5 kilometers (some 1.5 miles) from the Kremlin, as the temperature dipped well below freezing.

A stage at the end of the avenue featured banners reading "Russia will be free" and "This election Is a farce." Heavy police cordons encircled the participants, who stood within metal barriers, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Alexei Navalny, a corruption-fighting lawyer and popular blogger, electrified the crowd when he took the stage. He soon had the protesters chanting "We are the power!"

Navalny spent 15 days in jail for leading a protest on Dec. 5 that unexpectedly drew more than 5,000 people and set off the chain of demonstrations.

Putin's United Russia party lost 25 percent of its seats in the election, but hung onto a majority in parliament through what independent observers said was widespread fraud. United Russia, seen as representing a corrupt bureaucracy, has become known as the party of crooks and thieves, a phrase coined by Navalny.

"We have enough people here to take the Kremlin," Navalny shouted to the crowd. "But we are peaceful people and we won't do that ? yet. But if these crooks and thieves keep cheating us, we will take what is ours."

Protest leaders expressed skepticism about Putin's promised political reforms.

"We don't trust him," opposition leader Boris Nemtsov told the rally, urging protesters to gather again after the long New Year's holidays to make sure the proposed changes are put into law.

He and other speakers called on the demonstrators to go to the polls in March to unseat Putin. "A thief must not sit in the Kremlin," Nemtsov said.

The protest leaders said they would keep up their push for a rerun of the parliamentary vote and punishment for election officials accused of fraud, while stressing the need to prevent fraud in the March presidential election.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was among those who sought to give the protesters a sense of empowerment.

"There are so many of us here, and they (the government) are few," Kasparov said from the stage. "They are huddled up in fear behind police cordons."

The crowd was largely young, but included a sizable number of middle-aged and elderly people, some of whom limped slowly to the site on walkers and canes.

"We want to back those who are fighting for our rights," said 16-year-old Darya Andryukhina, who said she had also attended the previous rally.

"People have come here because they want respect," said Tamara Voronina, 54, who said she was proud that her three sons also had joined the protest.

Putin's comment about protesters wearing condoms only further infuriated them and inspired some creative responses. One protester Saturday held a picture montage of Putin with his head wrapped in a condom like a grandmother's headscarf. Many inflated condoms along with balloons.

The protests reflect a growing weariness with Putin, who was first elected president in 2000 and remained in charge after moving into the prime minister's seat in 2008. Brazen fraud in the parliamentary vote unexpectedly energized the middle class, which for years had been politically apathetic.

"No one has done more to bring so many people here than Putin, who managed to insult the whole country," said Viktor Shenderovich, a columnist and satirical writer.

Two rallies in St. Petersburg on Saturday drew a total of 4,000 people.

"I'm here because I'm tired of the government's lies," said Dmitry Dervenev, 47, a designer. "The prime minister insulted me personally when he said that people came to the rallies because they were paid by the U.S. State Department. I'm here because I'm a citizen of my country."

Putin accused the United States of encouraging and funding the protests to weaken Russia.

Putin's former finance minister surprised the protesters by saying the current parliament should approve the proposed electoral changes and then step down to allow new parliamentary elections to be held. Alexei Kudrin, who remains close to Putin, warned that the wave of protests could lead to violence and called for establishing a dialogue between the opposition and the government.

"Otherwise we will lose the chance for peaceful transformation," Kudrin said.

Kudrin also joined calls for the ouster of Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov.

Putin has promised to liberalize registration rules for opposition parties and restore the direct election of governors he abolished in 2004. Putin's stand-in as president, Dmitry Medvedev, spelled out those and other proposed changes in Thursday's state-of-the nation address.

Gorbachev, however, said the government appears confused.

"They don't know what to do," he said. "They are making attempts to get out of the trap they drove themselves into."

____

Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva and Jim Heintz contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_protests

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Monday, December 26, 2011

LiveLibs tools : self-updating code running on Windows Phone

LiveLibs tools : self-updating code running on Windows Phone

12/24/2011

source:?http://livelibs.com/

What's this LiveLibs thing?

In a nutshell, LiveLibs is a set of tools and technologies that allows you to have self-updating code running on Windows Phones.

?You don't have to wait for the whole Marketplace approval process to take place, or for users to go ahead and do the updates. Your apps will be automatically updated the next time they communicate with the LiveLibs website.

You can create "live" code libraries - Live Libs, in other words - for use by your own apps, or as public libs for anybody to use. That way others could benefit from your libs, too! And, of course, when you update a public lib, everyone else using it can automatically get the updated version.

Unfortunately, there is one major thing you need to be aware of: the self-updating code must be written in Ruby. Specifically, IronRuby. But Ruby is a hot language; you know you want to try it out. ?

...Read more

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gatewaypatriot: A MUST SEE: The 7 most illuminating economic charts of 2011 http://t.co/4u7SeHqd #tcot #economy #jobs #teaparty

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