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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Syrian troops fire on protesters, activists say
A Syrian woman, left, speaks with an Arab league observer, right, who attends with other observers a mass prayer for the people and army soldiers who were killed during the violence around the country, at the Holy Cross Church, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday Jan. 9, 2012. Thousands of Syrians attended special prayers held in Damascus for the more than 5,000 people killed since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March. The prayers was attended by Christian and Muslim religious leaders.(AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
A Syrian woman, left, speaks with an Arab league observer, right, who attends with other observers a mass prayer for the people and army soldiers who were killed during the violence around the country, at the Holy Cross Church, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday Jan. 9, 2012. Thousands of Syrians attended special prayers held in Damascus for the more than 5,000 people killed since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March. The prayers was attended by Christian and Muslim religious leaders.(AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
An anti-Syrian regime protester chants slogans during a demonstration outside the Arab League as the body meets on the situation in Syria in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. Arab League ministers responsible for monitoring the Syrian crisis say they need more observers and greater independence on the ground. Ministers at a meeting in Cairo said those are conditions for successfully carrying out an observer mission aimed at pressuring Damascus to stop its 10-month-old crackdown on protesters that has killed thousands, according to a statement Sunday. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Activists say Syrian troops have fired on protesters as Arab League observers toured the area.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday's shooting happened in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood of Homs province. Majd Amer, an activist in Khaldiyeh, confirmed the shooting and said several people were wounded.
About 165 Arab League observers are in different parts of Syria to monitor the implementation of a League plan for ending the months of violence.
It was not immediately clear if the observers witnessed Monday's shooting.
On Sunday, the Arab League demanded that the Syrian government immediately stop all violence.
Syria is trying to crush an uprising that erupted in March. The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BEIRUT (AP) ? The Arab League demanded Sunday that the Syrian government immediately stop all violence and allow more monitors in, as activists reported at least 10 more civilians, including two teenagers, were killed by regime forces.
Fierce clashes in the south between government troops and military defectors left 11 soldiers dead, activists said. The Arab League also called on other armed parties to halt all bloodshed, an apparent reference to the defectors.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani said the ministers did not agree to call for U.N. experts to join the observers' mission in Syria, but said U.N. experts will train the monitors in Cairo before they leave. Even had they called for the U.N. experts to go in, Syria's regime may well have blocked them.
The success of the mission, said Al Thani, who heads the committee, "depends on the government of Syria, and that means stopping the killings, withdrawing troops from the cities, and allowing journalists to work and enter Syria."
The ministerial committee called on "the Syrian government and various armed groups to immediately halt all forms of violence and to return to protesting peacefully for the success of the Arab League observers' mission in Syria."
At the meeting, the head of the observers issued his first report on the mission, sharing photos, maps and initial findings.
The five foreign ministers from the 22-member Arab League, who met in Cairo, said the 165 Arab League monitors now on the ground need greater independence from President Bashar Assad's regime.
The monitors are supposed to be ensuring Syrian compliance with a plan to end the government's crackdown on dissent. The Arab League plan calls on Syria to remove heavy weaponry, such as tanks, from all cities, free all political prisoners and allow in human rights organizations and foreign journalists. Syria agreed to the plan on Dec. 19.
Opposition activists say around 450 people have been killed by Assad's regime since observers began work in Syria nearly two weeks ago.
A Syrian activist in Cairo, Thaer Al-Nashef, told The Associated Press that the regime is misleading the observers and that the mission has done nothing to resolve the crisis. He said the issue should be dealt with at the U.N. Security Council.
"The monitors have not moved the situation forward or backward in Syria. At the same time the regime is killing the Syrian revolution," he said. "The Arab League should stop this staged performance, because the Syrian regime is not adhering to the agreement."
Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said observers will continue their monthlong mission in Syria, despite claims by activists that the mission is giving cover to Assad's crackdown on protesters and delaying further action.
He also defended the choice for head of the mission, Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dabi, saying his military experience was useful on the ground. Al-Dabi has drawn criticism because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Although the Arab League said it needs more monitors in Syria, ministers on Sunday did not name an exact number. Initially, the League had requested to send 500 monitors, but so far Syria has allowed in only 165.
The Qatari foreign minister told reporters after the meeting that the League is aware that the mission has not fulfilled its goal of stopping the bloodshed.
"Is what happened, ideal? We want to do more," he said. "We know that the Syrian people have made a decision, but what we want is to lessen the losses, human losses."
According to the U.N., more than 5,000 people have been killed since March when mostly peaceful anti-government protests began and drew a harsh military response from the government. Hundreds more have been killed since the U.N. issued that estimate last month.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 soldiers died in intense fighting in the town of Basr al-Harir in southern Daraa province. More than 20 troops were wounded.
In Homs, seven civilians were killed by troops raiding houses and pro-government snipers on rooftops. A 15-year-old boy was among seven civilians killed, the Observatory said.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network and other activists confirmed the killing of civilians. In the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, two people were killed during raids that followed clashes with defectors, and in the eastern Deir el-Zour province, a 19-year-old was also killed during raids in pursuit of activists, the activists said.
The reports could not be independently confirmed as Syria has barred most foreign journalists from the country and tightly restricts the local media.
While many of the anti-government protests sweeping the country since March remain peaceful, the Syrian uprising as a whole has become more violent in recent months as frustrated demonstrators take up arms to protect themselves from the steady military assault. An increasing number of army defectors also have launched attacks, killing soldiers and security forces.
The regime's crackdown has led to broad worldwide condemnation and sanctions, weakened the economy and left Assad an international pariah just as he was trying to open up his country and modernize the economy.
The government says that the turmoil in Syria is not an uprising but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.
____
Batrawy reported from Cairo.
Associated Pressst nicholas mindy mccready mindy mccready cliff harris cliff harris josh turner bishop eddie long
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Study: Greenhouse gases will delay next ice age
LONDON?? High levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere mean the next ice age is unlikely to begin for at least 1,500 years, an article in the journal Nature Geoscience said on Monday.
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Concentrations of the main gases blamed for global warming reached record levels in 2010 and will linger in the atmosphere for decades even if the world stopped pumping out emissions today, according to the U.N.'s weather agency.
An ice age is a period when there is a long-term reduction in the earth's surface and atmospheric temperature, which leads to the growth of ice sheets and glaciers.
There have been at least five ice ages on earth. During ice ages there are cycles of glaciation with ice sheets both advancing and retreating.
Officially, the earth has been in an interglacial, or warmer period, for the last 10,000 to 15,000 years, and estimates vary on how long such periods last.
"(Analysis) suggests that the end of the current interglacial (period) would occur within the next 1,500 years, if atmospheric CO2 concentrations do not exceed (around) 240 parts per million by volume (ppmv)," the study said.
However, the current carbon dioxide concentration is of 390 ppmv, and at that level an increase in the volume of ice sheets would not be possible, it added.
The study based on variations in the earth's orbit and rock samples was conducted by academics at Cambridge University, University College London, the University of Florida and Norway's University of Bergen.
The causes of ice ages are not fully understood but concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, changes in the earth's orbit around the sun, and the movement of tectonic plates are all thought to contribute.
The world is forecast to grow hotter as greenhouse gases continue to rise, increasing threats such as extreme weather events and sea level rise.
Scientists have warned that global temperature rise should be limited to within 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change but delays in curbing emissions growth are putting the planet at risk.
Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45929589/ns/us_news-environment/
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
MyqWilson: Go to an Oil Kings game for the sole purpose of getting an Eberle bobblehead and don't even get one! Really steamed. #coreysfault
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Go to an Oil Kings game for the sole purpose of getting an Eberle bobblehead and don't even get one! Really steamed. #coreysfault 
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Monday, January 9, 2012
U.S. military rescues Iranians captured by pirates
Thirteen Iranians whose fishing vessel had been seized by pirates more than a month ago were rescued by the U.S. Navy in the North Arabian Sea, the Pentagon announced Friday. The pirates, who surrendered without a fight, were detained aboard the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, the military said, adding that the Iranians were on their way home.
It was the second time in a week that the carrier, which left the Persian Gulf for the North Arabian Sea late last month, found itself at the center of the news during a tense and very public standoff with Iran. On Tuesday, the Iranian military warned that it would take unspecified action if the aircraft carrier returned to the gulf.
The Pentagon said the Iranian crew had been held for 40 to 45 days in harsh conditions by 15 pirates, with limited food and water, as the pirates used the large captured vessel, the Iranian-flagged Al Molai, as a "mother ship" in further raids.
"They were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations," said Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent.
The USS Kidd, a U.S. destroyer that is part of a strike group traveling with the Stennis, intercepted the Al Molai on Thursday after receiving a distress call, the military said. According to the statement, a team from the destroyer boarded the vessel and freed the crew. The military statement did not include
any report of violence.Coming amid an increasingly pitched war of words between Western powers and Iran, the freeing of the Iranians by soldiers from the very same carrier threatened earlier in the week offered the United States an unexpected public relations coup.
The military statement included photographs and a video posted to YouTube that showed roughly a dozen men in colorful T-shirts standing at the bow of the fishing vessel with their hands raised high above their heads.
"The captain of the Al Molai expressed his sincere gratitude that we came to assist them. He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," Schminky said.
It was not immediately clear by what means the rescued men were being returned to Iran.
The rescue of the Iranians appeared to put the Iranian government in an awkward position as it strikes a defiant posture in the face of new economic sanctions attacking its oil exports.
On Thursday, Iranian officials called the intensified efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program tantamount to "an economic war" and vowed to conduct a new round of military drills near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian military, fresh off 10 days of naval exercises near the strait that ended this week, said it would hold a new round of war games soon.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_19691772?source=rss
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Beyonce And Jay-Z Baby Gets Love From Rihanna, Diddy1676909
Gwyneth Paltrow, Young Jeezy and Solange also hit Twitter to congratulate Bey and Jay on their new addition.
By Jocelyn Vena
Beyoncé in New York City on October 9th.
Photo: FilmMagic
Now that Beyoncé and Jay-Z have welcomed their first baby, daughter Blue Ivy, into the world, some of the couple's most famous friends and fans are sending the new parents love and congratulations on Twitter. Bey's sister, Solange, took to Twitter to confirm that she was a new aunt but said not all reports surrounding the birth are factual. "The most beautiful girl in the world," Solange wrote. "Information that goes through the telephone, always gets delivered wrong."
Jay's protégé and collaborator Rihanna also had some love for the new baby. "Welcome to the world princess Carter!" she tweeted, signing off: "Love Aunty Rih." One of B's besties, Gwyneth Paltrow, wrote, "Welcome to the world Blue! We love you already." The hip-hop community also celebrated the birth of Jay-Z's new addition. Fellow hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons tweeted, "congrats to my good friends Beyonce and Jay-Z." A few tweets later, he added, "today is the day the lord has made." "Congrats to jay and B! God Bless :) !" Diddy tweeted. "And many more!" Young Jeezy also shared his love for the twosome. "Congratulations to Jay-Z & Beyonce on baby Ivy Blue being born." (There has been some confusion about the order of the baby's first and middle names, with some outlets reporting it to be Ivy Blue instead of Blue Ivy.) One of MTV's very own, "Jersey Shore" star Snooki, wanted to get in on the Beyoncé/Jay-Z baby party early Sunday. "Beyonce congrats on your baby gurl mama!!!!" she wrote. "So happy for you , you deserve it sexpot." Mama-to-be Kourtney Kardashian added, "Congratulations to Beyonce, the 2nd Princess of Pop (behind Britney) for her new baby girl Ivy Blue!" In the days leading up to the arrival, Beyoncé's pal Lady Gaga gushed about her mama skills. "Of course she is [going to be a good mom]," she said. "That's a tremendous understatement. She's the nicest female I've met in the industry. She's wonderful!"
Share your congratulations for Beyoncé and Jay-Z on our Facebook page! Related Videos Related Artists
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676909/beyonce-jayz-baby-blue-ivy-carter-reactions-twitter.jhtml
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Sunday, January 8, 2012
Solar Energy To Generate 10 Per Cent Of Electricity Production In Saudi Arabia By 2020
Riyadh , Saudi Arabia - January 8, 2012:?
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plans to derive 10 per cent of its electrical supply from the sun by 2020 and eventually emerge as the world?s largest source of solar energy. The Saudi Government hopes that the country will be able to generate 5 gigawatts of solar energy by 2020.
The government hopes that the Kingdom?s nascent solar industry will create up to 15,000 jobs and is encouraging the development of solar farms, plants for processing of raw materials and assembly, and other related facilities. Investors have already pledged more than USD 3 billion to fund solar panel component plants in Al Madinah province?s Yanbu port and in Jubail city in the Eastern province. Furthermore, a USD 380 million polysilicon plant is to be built along the Gulf Coast and will initially be able to produce 3,350 metric tons of solar-grade polysilicon by 2014.
The development of the KSA?s local solar power sector and nationwide efforts to efficiently generate, manage and distribute energy and other vital resources will be on focus at Saudi Energy 2012 ? the 15th International Show for Electricity, Lighting, Power Generation, Water Technology, and HVAC for Saudi Arabia taking place from May 7 to 10, 2012 at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Energy is one of the largest and most specialized energy exhibitions in the region. The 2012 edition will once again provide a one-stop networking and transactions venue covering all aspects of the energy space, from power generation and lighting to water technology, air conditioning and electric power.
?Energy is such a broad, exciting and constantly expanding industry that a single, typical trade show would have a hard time covering. The Saudi Energy expo was created to combine what would have been multiple events into a single mega-show that facilitates inter-connection between various energy segments. It also focuses on solar, nuclear and other alternative forms of energy to more effectively meet demand while preserving oil for the export markets. This event is an excellent gathering of the top industry players, latest technologies and world-class products and services in one of the world?s most promising energy markets,? said Khaled Daou, Project Manager of Saudi Energy at Riyadh Exhibitions Company.
Saudi Energy 2012 will reintroduce four of Saudi Arabia?s top energy-related shows: SAUDI ELENEX 2012: The 15th International Electrical Engineering, Power Generation & Distribution Exhibition, to be held under the patronage of the Ministry of Water and Electricity; SAUDI LUMINEX 2012: The 12th International Lighting Equipment Show; SAUDI AIRCON 2012: The 13th International Exhibition on Air-Conditioning Heating, Ventilation & Refrigeration; and SAUDI WATER TECH: The 9th International Exhibition for Water Technology.
Saudi Energy is certified by the UFI - The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry ? in recognition of its world-class activities prepared and managed under international standards. Next year?s show is expected to sustain the momentum of the highly successful Saudi Energy 2011, which welcomed over 300 exhibitors from 19 countries. Complete show details are available at http://www.saudi-energy.com.
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Source: http://www.middleeastevents.com/site/pres_dtls.asp?pid=14783
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Saturday, January 7, 2012
First look at ASTRO File Manager's cloud backup service
The massively popular ASTRO File Manager received an update about a month back that brought with it the opportunity to register for a free cloud backup account. Registration emails are now being sent out for the private beta of the service, so of course it's only right that we take a quick look at whats on offer.
The e-mail you will be receiving contains within it all the necessary account login information, along with a QR code to the new version of the application that has the backup service integrated within. Once you're over the login stage, the first thing that strikes you is that, well nothing looks any different. Which is good, because there's nothing wrong with ASTRO as it is.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/lZyemVwQ-no/story01.htm
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Thursday, January 5, 2012
Jobless rate up, but crime down: What gives?
By James Eng, msnbc.com
Americans, take solace: While your chances of landing a job these days might not be great, you?re also less likely to be murdered, or robbed or to have your car stolen.
The rate of major crimes in the U.S. continues to drop ? even during the recent recession and its aftermath ? and crime experts aren?t sure why.
"I am surprised by the overall decline in both violent and property crime during and since the recent recession. I?ve studied crime trends in relation to economic conditions for some time, and the 2008-09 recession is the first time since WW II that crime rates have not risen during a substantial downturn in the economy,? says Richard Rosenfeld, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and past president of the American Society of Criminology.
?What?s pushing it down is the mystery meat in the recipe of recent years,? says Franklin Zimring, a criminologist and UC Berkeley law professor who has written several books on crime-related topics.
According to recently released FBI crime statistics, the number of violent crimes -- murder and non-negligent homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault -- reported in the first six months of 2011 declined 6.4 percent compared with the first six months of 2010. The number of property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft) decreased 3.7 percent for the same time frame.
The report is based on information from more than 12,500 law enforcement agencies and shows the continuation of a downward trend in crime that began in 2008.
It?s also part of a broader, longer-term trend: Between 1991 and 2010, the homicide rate fell 51 percent and property crimes dropped 64 percent. Crime rates decreased significantly during the 1990s before flattening out at the start of the new century.
The statistical trend is puzzling and not easily explained.
More offenders were being put behind bars and the U.S. economy boomed in the 1990s, so maybe that had something to do with the decline, Zimring notes. But then, how do you explain the decline in the past three or so years, when incarceration rates have flattened out and the economy has gone to hell?
?By both the left- and right-wing leading indicators we should be in a lot of trouble ? except (we?re) not,? Zimring says. ?Everything we thought we knew are deeply challenged by events by the last three years.?
Rosenfeld thinks smarter policing has contributed in many places (including New York and Los Angeles). But he says it cannot explain the entire decline, since in most places policing is much the same as it was 10 years ago.?
And tougher sentencing isn?t the answer either, since national imprisonment rates are also on the decline, albeit modestly.?
?One overlooked economic factor is inflation, or rather the very low levels of inflation during the past few years,? Rosenfeld?wrote in an email to msnbc.com. ?High rates of inflation are connected with high crime rates, so when inflation drops we should expect corresponding declines in crime, in the first instance property crime.?
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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/03/9925171-jobless-rate-up-but-crime-down-what-gives
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Newt Gingrich is down in Iowa, but with voters so unsettled he's not out
Newt Gingrich has dropped like a rock in Iowa polls, but with GOP voters there so unsettled it's premature to count him out. Forty-one percent of likely caucusgoers still might change their minds, a recent poll finds.
There?s a festive atmosphere at LJ?s Neighborhood Bar and Grill in Waterloo, Iowa, as Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, wade through the crowd to take their spot for brief remarks and questions.
Skip to next paragraphAfter all, it?s the evening of New Year?s Day, and the Jan. 3 caucuses are finally at hand. Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker, expresses surprise at the size of the crowd ? maybe 200 people packed into the cozy sports bar in the hometown of another GOP presidential competitor, Michele Bachmann.
?Our schedule said there would be 50 people here. You have really disrupted the schedule," Gingrich deadpans.
But Gingrich may in fact have been a tad taken aback, given that the pundits have given him up for politically dead. According to the latest polls, he?s now in fourth place, on the downside of a once-surging campaign ? from a commanding lead with 31 percent among likely Iowa caucusgoers three weeks ago to under 14 percent. Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum have passed him by.
Still, Iowans ? and a few out-of-towners visiting family for the holidays ? flock to see Gingrich. There are Democrats in the house, out for an autograph and a look-see at a historical figure; a college student home on break who plans to caucus with the Republicans on Tuesday, but may still vote for President Obama in November; caucusgoers who may vote for Gingrich or may not; and of course lots of die-hard Gingrich fans sporting Newt stickers and waving signs.
Don?t count this guy out. Now that he?s down on his luck, humbled by his crash in the polls after being carpet-bombed by negative ads, some folks here find him endearing. They appreciate the tears he shed last week when asked about his mother, who had mental problems. And over and over, they mention his time in Washington and ability to get things done.
?I like his ideas, his thoughts, his experience, and dedication,? says Donna Miller of Waterloo. ?I saw Bachmann and Romney, too, and chose Newt.?
?He?s the man with the answers,? says her husband, Ivan Miller.
Indeed, in his appearance here, Gingrich expounded on the space program, global warming, guns, taxes, energy, and the United Nations.
"President Clinton and I negotiated endlessly on welfare reform, balanced budget, and the tax cut,? he said, referring to his four years as House speaker in the 1990s. ?You have to think about country more than party or your own position. Nobody else has been as involved in change as I have in those two cycles.?
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Bet on these brands for a comeback in 2012
?In times of uncertainty, we tend look back. We long for seemingly simpler times,? says Chris Anderson, a director of Omnicom Group?s marketing agency The Marketing Arm. ?From music to motorcars to Muppets, we seek out products and brands that we?re familiar with.?
And when the consumer is feeling nostalgic, lapsed legacy brands and forgotten luminaries can architect a return to prominence. We?ve seen it in years passed: A heritage deodorant line revitalized with an ?Old Spice Guy? campaign; a new voice and updated look for Planter?s Mr. Peanut; and the revival of General Motor?s Chevy positioned as an American battle cry that could save Detroit. All it takes is renewed investment, clever marketing and a strong historic foundation.
So which consumer brands and personalities will make a splashy comeback in 2012? Branding and marketing experts make their predictions for the New Year.
Forbes.com slideshow: Comeback brands of 2012
The Muppets
Jim Henson?s Muppets were created in the 1950s and enjoyed a long, successful stretch on TV before drifting to the back of consumer consciousness. However, after the Thanksgiving release of new movie "The Muppets," starring Jason Segal and Amy Adams, they have exploded back onto the scene. The critically acclaimed musical is currently getting press for its Golden Globe ?snub.? Meanwhile, some high-profile critics expect it will get the Oscar nod for its original songs, which would keep the brand at the top of conversation through 2012?s award season. Kermit and Miss Piggy are also reaching out to a new tween demographic with a glittery nail polish line (?12 unFROGettable colors!?) and ad campaign with beauty company OPI.
Madonna
Miriam Quart, president of ad agency Madison Avenue Consortium, calls the one-name legend ?the original Gaga factor? and predicts she will return to prominence in the New Year. Love her or hate her, Madonna remains a household name. According to The Marketing Arm?s Celebrity DBI, an independent index that quantifies consumer perceptions of celebrities, 99 percent of U.S. customers are at least familiar with her. Considering her recent hiatus, that makes the Material Girl ripe for a major comeback. She will release a new single, ?Gimme All Your Luvin,? in January. Then she will take to the nation?s biggest stage on February 5, headlining the Super Bowl?s halftime performance using a theatrical Cirque du Soleil concept. In March, she will release her first album in five years through Universal Music Group?s Interscope Records ? just the first in a reported three-album deal.
Fiat
With the slowing European economy, Quart believes the Italian car company?s recent partnership with U.S. superstar Jennifer Lopez is ?an odd marriage in marketing heaven? that makes it a classic comeback brand. Because she?s featured in its recent TV commercials, Fiat lucked into a press wave after her divorce from Marc Anthony, which will likely intensify when the new season of American Idol premieres in January. Fiat has ?not had a stellar reputation over the years,? agrees Anderson, ?but since its reintroduction in the States this year, the brand has been carefully managed.?
Forbes.com: The most unforgettable ad campaigns of 2011
The Three Stooges
The latest TV reruns of the long-loved slapstick trio are just the first step in an all-out comeback scheduled to hit next year. Moe, Larry and Curly will grace the silver screen in the April release of "The Three Stooges," directed by the Farrelly brothers and featuring Sean Hayes, Jane Lynch, Larry David and even Nicole ?Snooki? Polizzi (yes, you read that right). The trailer released in early December to mixed reviews, but all suggest it won?t be ignored. Plus, it?s likely to trigger new licensing deals, like the semi-recent Arby?s ?Curly fry.? Dating back to the 1920s, this nostalgia brand is on the upswing.
Dustin Hoffman
Sitcom and reality show fatigue, says Quart, may be the perfect setting for Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman to make his comeback in HBO drama "Luck," which debuts in January. ?His recent gig as a high-rolling gambler nicknamed Ace is a different side of the actor most of us grew up knowing as Rainman and The Graduate,? she says. Playing opposite Nick Nolte and taking on a corrupt, vengeful character, Hoffman is poised to shine.
Netflix
Marketing and branding expert Adam Hanft, who has worked with consumer brands like Barnes & Noble and Match.com, says the ?enormous train-wreck of a reputation disaster? that Netflix experienced this year ? after first splitting the company in two and then re-connecting it ? will recede from memory next year. Hanft explains that Netflix is an emotional brand with an innovative chief who has maintained transparency, so he believes consumers will forgive this year?s mega screw-ups. He?s also betting on the company?s original programming play. The anticipated drama "House of Cards," by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey, is set to premiere in 2012.
Forbes.com: The world?s most meaningful brands
Rosie O?Donnell
She was off the circuit for years but with a new daily talk show on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, O?Donnell is inching towards a total revival in 2012. She just got engaged to Michelle Rounds, will turn 50 in March and said recently that she?s ?not going to lay back and take it anymore? when it comes to homophobia in the media. She reignited flame wars with David Letterman and Donald Trump this month, and had harsh words for presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry. With a new platform and confident voice, expect O?Donnell to turn up the volume.
Polaroid
The 74-year-old tech company has been trying to architect its comeback for years, and is finally gaining momentum. This year, Polaroid announced its partnership with pop star Lady Gaga to much fanfare. She?s helped them design a new line of products called Grey Label that includes GL20 Camera Glasses?sunglasses with a built-in camera that also display images on the glasses? LCD screens for others to see. While they missed a supposed market debut this year, company executives say the glasses will likely be out this spring. Polaroid is gaining ground, but will it come all the way back?
Forbes.com: The happiest brands in the world
Forbes.com: The best jobs for women in 2012??
Forbes.com: America?s favorite brands
? 2012 Forbes.com
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45798074/ns/business-forbes_com/
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Monday, January 2, 2012
Cops: Man tried to use $1M bill at NC Walmart
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) ? Do you have change for a million-dollar bill?
Police say a North Carolina man insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was buying $476 worth of items at a Walmart.
Investigators told the Winston-Salem Journal (http://bit.ly/u7ZrEN ) that 53-year-old Michael Fuller tried to buy a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other items. Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.
The largest bill in circulation is $100. The government stopped making bills of up to $10,000 in 1969.
Fuller was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument. He is in jail on a $17,500 bond, and it isn't clear if he has an attorney. He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.
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Jennifer Hudson credits dead brother for comeback (Reuters)
Jennifer Hudson surprised many when, just months after a family tragedy that saw her mother, brother and nephew murdered, she returned to the stage to sing the Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XLIII.
But as the "Dreamgirls" star and former "American Idol" favorite sees it, she didn't have a choice -- her murdered brother wouldn't have it any other way.
Hudson appears on the January 8 edition of NBC's "Dateline" to discuss the tragedy, among other topics, and tells the show's Lester Holt that she heard her brother Jason's voice, which urged her to undertake the comeback performance.
"I felt as though I had to," Hudson tells Holt. "ust the same as I hear my mother's voice in my head, I can hear my brother's voice in my head. And he-- they, like, everybody, it's like, is she ever gonna sing again? Is she gonna-- you know? And what was I gonna say to that-- I could hear him, like, 'Jennifer--' he would always say, 'Knock it off, Jenny,' if I was cryin' about somethin' or if I was upset, discouraged, mad, 'Jenny, knock it off.' That's what I hear in my head. And it's like, 'Okay, well, what they want me to do? I can either just sit here and mope around, or do what I know that would make them proud.' And that's what I did."
During the interview, Hudson also reveals how she would have been on the scene at the time of the murders were it not for her fiance, professional wrestler David Otunga.
"I remember it like yesterday," Hudson recalls. "I was literally pickin' up my bags to walk out the door to go to my mother's house. And he called me, like, 'Can you come out here instead of going, you know?' And I was like, 'Okay, sure.' And that one decision, that one thing, I wouldn't be sittin' here."
Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, along with her brother Jason, were found shot to death in Donerson's Chicago home on October 24, 2008; Donerson was 57, and Jason 29. After a search, Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found in a parked car, after dying of what the medical examiner's office determined to be multiple gunshot wounds. William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, pleaded not guilty to the murders and awaits trial in February.
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Sunday, January 1, 2012
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See you two soon! RT @bubbawatson: Just watched @RickieFowlerPGA & Alex on TV in the Fiesta Bowl parade!! #urwelcome lockerz.com/s/170268961 
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Analysis: Health care's legal, political fate : SCOTUSblog
This is the final post in a ten-part series that the blog has been publishing in recent weeks, explaining more fully the new federal health care law, and the Supreme Court?s review of the constitutionality of key parts of the law.? This article deals with the interplay between the legal activity in the Court, the government?s ongoing efforts to put many parts of the new law into effect, and?the political debate over whether the?law should be repealed and then replaced?in some way.??(All ten articles in this special series on the Affordable Care Act?are collected?here.)
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Analysis
Borrowing?the metaphor that one federal judge used to describe the massive new federal health care law ? that it is ?a finely crafted watch? with ?many moving parts? ? it could be said that America?s preoccupation in 2012 with the perceived health care crisis will have many moving parts, all interacting.?? The Supreme Court might be the slowest mover among?those parts, but certainly one of its most vital.?? It will proceed?toward?three days of hearings in late March and then a ruling in early summer on the constitutionality of major features of the Affordable Care Act.
But, outside the Court, the rest of the government and perhaps the rest of the nation will not be idly awaiting what the Justices do. ???The Obama Administration ? mainly, its Department of Health & Human Services ? will continue to issue,?almost on a daily basis, a dizzying array of new regulations to continue implementing the Act even before its constitutional survival is settled in the Court, and four years before some of its key provisions actually go into full effect.??Significant parts of the law have already gone into effect, including what may be the most popular of all of its hundreds of parts: the requirement that insurance companies continue to provide coverage on parents? health policies for dependent children until they reach age?26.
And, while the Judicial and Executive Branches proceed at their own, different?paces, national politics will be unfolding?nearly?every day ? beginning formally as soon as next Tuesday, in the Iowa presidential caucuses ? with continuing exhibitions?of the intensity of political controversy over the health care crisis in America, and what to do about it.?? The ACA itself, and whether it should be redesigned or cast aside by the Congress that gets elected next November, is a prominent issue in the presidential and congressional campaigns that will be waged over the next ten months.?? The Supreme Court?s coming decision, likely to appear in late June, will no doubt become instantly a political issue all of its own.
One background assumption that no court, government official, or political candidate seems to challenge,?though, is that the nation does have a crisis in the cost and availability of health care, and thorough reform is therefore necessary.?? As one federal judge remarked, ?there would appear to be widespread agreement across the political spectrum that reform is needed.?
The answer that President Obama signed into law on March 23 of last year ? the Affordable Care Act ? runs to some 2,700 pages.?? As the Eleventh Circuit Court described the ACA in the decision that the Supreme Court is reviewing, ?[t]he Act?s provision are spread throughout many statutes and different titles in the United States Code.? The Act?s nine titles contain hundreds of new laws about hundreds of different areas of health insurance and health care.?
In enacting the new package, Congress chose not to create a massive new government program of publicly subsidized, universal medical care (although there are subsidies included in the Act), but instead opted?to focus on fundamental changes in the way the nation?s system of private health insurance functions, along with major changes in public health programs such as Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor and the disabled.? The nation?s major health insurers? trade group, America?s Health Insurance Plans, has told the Court that the new law ?will fundamentally shift the way that health insurance is configured, financed, marketed, and sold? across America.??The Act?casts aside the decades-old practice of the health?insurance industry, in spreading the risk of insurance by excluding or charging high premiums to those most likely to be the heaviest consumers of medical care, in favor of mandating nearly universal coverage at affordable premium rates for all.
Passage of the Act has galvanized all parts of the government and political and business communities into an urgent focus upon basic issues?of?constitutionalism and governance.? That all three branches of government at the federal level, virtually all of the states, and the political class as a whole and major sectors of business?have turned collectively to those issues is no coincidence.?? The ACA was controversial when it was being debated in Congress, and it has been under continuing challenge in the courts and in politics from the very moment of the President?s signature on the bill.
The controversy over the Act appeared to be a major factor?in helping to generate a new grass-roots, anti-government movement that coalesced loosely around the name ?Tea Party.???The health care law, and what it symbolized about national governmental power, probably payed a key role in the election of scores of ?Tea Party? candidates to the House of Representatives in 2010, enabling the Republicans to take control of that chamber from the Democrats whose leadership had championed the health care package, and setting up the 2012?elections as a?national referendum on the division of power between Washington and the states.
Along the way, there?has never been any serious doubt that the Supreme Court would play a very prominent role, even if it turns out that the Justices might not?have the last word on the Act?s ultimate fate.? The Court had virtually no choice on whether to get involved, since some lower courts had?struck down a major congressional enactment, but others split and upheld it, and everyone on all sides of the litigation agreed that the Court should take on at least parts of the constitutional controversy.? The Court was told, even before it accepted review, that there was a cloud of uncertainty hanging over not only the more controversial parts of the Act, but over virtually every part of it, meaning that neither the insurance industry, the health care community, the federal government, the states, nor the nation?s consumers?could know where matters stood on?access to and the cost?of medical services.?? The Court obviously agreed with the need for constitutional guidance, and on November 14 it accepted the controversy for review.
The Court is actually examining?the constitutionality of just two parts of the entire ACA: the mandate that all Americans obtain health insurance by the year 2014 or pay a penalty, and the requirement of a broad expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program that provides medical care for the needy.? But if the Court finds it has authority to decide the first issue (a separate?jurisdictional question before it), the outcome may influence whether any of the remainder of the Act stays in force and, if so, what parts.?? And the outcome of its decision on the Medicaid provisions may have an impact on Congress?s spending powers that spreads far beyond the ACA itself, perhaps altering the fundamental relationship between national and state governments in providing a ?safety net? for those dependent upon public programs.
Because the mandate that individuals buy insurance is considered a necessary assurance of business for the insurance companies in the field, in order for them to afford to provide nearly universal coverage, all of the changes ordered in insurance company practices may have no practical foundation if the mandate were to be struck down, whether or not any other parts of the law survive in the Court.? ?Only a prompt and definitive ruling by this Court on the individual mandate?s constitutionality can restore needed certainty to the health care market,? the health insurers? group argued in its October filing.
There is an object lesson, the group said, that bears upon the?direct tie between the insurance-purchase mandate and the insurance market reforms dictated by Congress: ?Each of the eight states that had enacted market reforms without a mandate experienced severe market disruptions in the form of higher premiums, lower enrollment, and a general failure to achieve the goals articulated by the state legislatures.?
Those who will be providing the insurance, the group added, now face four potential scenarios, depending upon what the Court does: the ACA as it was passed, no ACA at all, no mandate but all the rest of the Act remains, and no mandate plus the loss of some as-yet-unknown other provisions.? ?Each of those scenarios would present a vastly different set of obligations for health care plans,? that brief asserted.? Thus, it added, the Court, if it strikes down the mandate, must go ahead ? during the current Term ? and decide explicitly what that means for the remainder of the?Act.
Within the federal HHS Department, officials have been trying to provide guidance through specific new regulations, as each of the parts of the ACA goes into effect, or needs advance planning before taking effect.? The ACA does take effect in stages, with some parts ? including the continued coverage of youthful dependents up through age 26 and a new ban on lifetime dollar limits for key health benefits?? going into effect in the first six months after the measure became law in March last year.? Some provisions have been going into effect in 2011, including a requirement that consumers get a rebate on their premiums if the company?fails to spend at least 80 percent of its premium revenue on actual patient care, with 20 percent or less on overhead. Another provision now in effect compelled the set-up of mechanisms to judge when health insurance premiums are too high.
The more widespread changes in insurance practices go into effect beginning two years from now, and those include the far wider coverage of health benefits that insurers will be obliged to provide, including the key requirement that no patient can be turned away from an insurance plan based on preexisting medical conditions.? The insurance industry?s conventional practice of offering lower-priced insurance only to younger and healthier individuals, to encourage them to buy insurance and thus help spread the risk, will have to be abandoned in favor of affordable insurance for all who are covered.
HHS also has been crafting regulations that will have a major impact on the nation?s hospitals and other care providers.? For example, HHS and the hospital industry are working together to set up new demonstration projects on delivery of care and payment methods, with the twin aim of improving the quality of care (and, especially, reducing the number of patients who have to be readmitted to a hospital after having been released) and lowering the cost of care.?? Hospitals reportedly have been slow to join in such projects, until they know whether ACA will survive.
Hospitals also will be directly affected by major new changes in the Medicare program for the elderly, under a new system of incentive reimbursements ? higher payments when a hospital?s patients contract fewer illnesses while in the hospital, and lower payments for those with a record of more such ailments.? With the ACA?s validity still up in the air, hospitals have been reluctant to spend money to prepare for the inauguration of those incentive schedules.
HHS officials also have been going around the country, seeking to help states ? many of whom have been slow to respond ? in creating what are called ?health exchanges.?? Those are insurance marketplaces, offering packages of affordable insurance to individuals with lower incomes and to smaller employers, sometimes with subsidies.? The exchanges are designed to serve the insurance needs of some 24 million Americans without insurance now.? The ACA requires that all states have such an exchange in place two years from now.? But, in September, a Washington Post survey found that only about a dozen states by that time had ?made robust strides toward establishing exchanges.??? Under the ACA, if a state does not show by next January 1 whether it is making progress toward creating such an exchange, the federal government may step in and set up one of its own.?? In a few states, plans to create an exchange have been vetoed by the governor or denied passage by?the legislature.
At HHS, officials also are moving, from time to time, to alter prior plans in order to try to overcome objections by states to requirements imposed on them under the Act.? Earlier this month, HHS announced plans to turn over to states the responsibility ? previously assumed by HHS?s Secretary ? to define just what kind of health benefits must be included in insurance coverage at affordable premium rates.?? While officials touted the change as a more flexible way for states to determine the scope of policy coverage, the new approach was clearly designed to ease some of the sensitivity about health directives coming from Washington.
That switch illustrated?clearly that the Obama Administration is aware that the ACA is vulnerable to sharp political challenge at a time when notions of limited government have drawn devoted new adherents across the political community.?? They know that the pejorative label sometimes?put on the ACA ? ?Obamacare? ? has been applied as part of a more generalized political attack on Washington and on the President?s stewardship, and a prominent feature of campaigning, especially by Republican candidates for the presidency and for Congress.
A Republican-led effort in the House of Representatives to repeal the law passed in that chamber in January, but a similar measure failed on a party-line vote in February in the Democratic-controlled Senate.? President Obama had made it clear he would veto any repeal bill that reached his desk.
Still, as the 2012 election campaign looms, ?repeal and replace? the ACA is a standard rallying cry among Republican candidates and voters, and no one doubts that the issue will retain its vitality throughout the electioneering leading up to the actual balloting on November 6.?? The series of televised debates among GOP candidates showed?that the vast number of party faithful are assumed to be?opposed to the ACA, and each candidate has attempted to show that he or she is the most hostile toward the Act.? It has been one of the most difficult issues for leading candidate Mitt Romney, because of his leadership?in favor of?a somewhat similar health initiative in Massachusetts when he was governor there.
All of the Republican presidential primaries (with the possible exception of Utah?s, set for June 26) will be over before the Supreme Court is likely to announce its ruling on the ACA.?? The Court, if it follows its customary pattern on major rulings, is not likely to have its ruling ready until late in June.? The decision, though, will come in time to be a topic of political conversation leading up to the Republicans? presidential convention in August in Tampa, Fla., and the Democratic convention in September in Charlotte, N.C.?? No matter who is nominated by the GOP to run against President Obama?s reelection bid, the Republican is virtually certain to make health care a point of claimed difference between the two.
And, depending upon how the Court rules on the?ACA, its own future ? and the possibility of future openings on the bench ? could well become campaign fodder, too, since that ruling may well give a strong indication of where the current Court?stands on the volatile issue of dividing?power between national and state governments.? That, of course, is also the central question in other major controversies the Court is expected to decide this Term ? including federal vs. state power over immigration, and federal vs. state power over minorities? right to vote.
This concludes the special series on the ACA.
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Recommended Citation: Lyle Denniston, Analysis: Health care?s legal, political fate, SCOTUSblog (Dec. 30, 2011, 12:29 AM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2011/12/analysis-health-cares-legal-political-fate/
Source: http://www.scotusblog.com/2011/12/analysis-health-cares-legal-political-fate/
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