Wenger: Henry will sign for Arsenal for 2 months

By STEVE DOUGLAS

updated 7:43 a.m. ET Dec. 30, 2011

LONDON - Three weeks after being immortalized in a bronze statue outside Arsenal's stadium, Thierry Henry was close to sealing an emotional return to the Premier League club that made him a global superstar.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Friday that the former France captain will sign for the team in a two-month loan deal once an insurance agreement is reached with the New York Red Bulls, Henry's club in Major League Soccer.

Wenger is turning to Henry, who scored a club-record 226 goals in eight years at Arsenal between 1999-2007, to fill the gap left by the impending departures of Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh to the African Cup of Nations next month.

"To cover for two months is ideal," Wenger said. "He has the experience and the quality. He knows the club and can help the players on and off the pitch."

Henry, who has been training with Arsenal during the MLS offseason, established himself as a star in his first stint at the London club before moving to Spanish giant Barcelona.

His legacy could be enhanced further if he can inspire Wenger's side in a crucial period of matches through to his return to the United States in March, before which he could play a big role in seven league games and the first leg of Arsenal's Champions League last-16 match against AC Milan.

"I know it can only be positive," said Wenger, who converted Henry from a skinny winger to a muscly striker after signing him from Italian team Juventus in 1999.

"He has exceptional talent ? he is a very intelligent man and has a desire to help the club. But it is difficult to measure how positive an influence he is."

Henry's debut is likely to come against second-tier side Leeds in the third round of the FA Cup on Jan. 9, although there is an outside chance he could play a part in the league match at Fulham on Monday.

What is for sure, Arsenal fans will not witness the Henry of old, when he terrorized English defenses with his pace, touch and power to help Arsenal to two Premier League titles and three FA Cups.

Nudged out to the periphery in the last of his three seasons at Barcelona, where he was often shunted out of position to the left wing, Henry has spent the past year in the more relaxed environs of the MLS.

Instead, Wenger is relying on Henry's intelligence to see him through.

"You and I are conscious that he is 34 years old but he has not lost his class or his brain," Wenger said. "That will be just enough for us."

Henry will likely be the understudy to Robin van Persie, who has belatedly taken over the Frenchman's mantle as Arsenal's talismanic attacker and scored 16 league goals this season. In 2011, Van Persie has scored 34 times in the league and needs two goals against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday to equal the Premier League record in a calendar year, set by Alan Shearer in 1995.

Arsenal's other option up front is South Korea captain Park Ju-young, who has struggled for first-team chances since his move from Monaco in the offseason. Russia captain Andrey Arshavin, barely used by Wenger this season, and England winger Theo Walcott also can act as makeshift strikers but are more accustomed to playing out wide.

Renowned for his expertise at bringing youth prospects through to the first team, it won't be the first time Wenger has turned to a former star to help Arsenal on a short-term basis.

In March, Jens Lehmann ? like Henry, one of Arsenal's "Invincibles" who helped the team go through the 2003-04 league season unbeaten ? was signed to help solve a goalkeeping shortage.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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KG to get limited stake in Roma

Boston Celtics All-Star forward Kevin Garnett is about to become a small shareholder in the American-owned Roma football club.

Off-field woes

Football in 2011 was dominated by events off the field rather than on it.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45823928/ns/sports-soccer/

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NCAA: FSU rallies past Notre Dame in Champs Sports Bowl

Destination:

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Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F260/~3/UoR5heAY_lA/story.html

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Two New iPad Models Expected Next Year - Business Insider

Apple may have plans to introduce two new iPad models early next year, according to DigiTimes.

That's in addition to keeping the current iPad 2 around at a price that will be competitive with Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire.

So if this report is to believed, you can expect three iPad models to be available next year at the high, mid, and entry-level ranges.

That's tough to swallow. Here's why:

First, DigiTimes says the new iPads will be introduced at an event called iWorld on January 26, 2012. That's an event for and by Apple fans, not an official Apple event.

Also, there's no reason why Apple's suppliers would know of Apple's plans for such an event, if any.

Finally, the report makes no mention as to what will differentiate the two new iPad models. You can speculate that it may include some combination of a Retina Display, faster processor, and more storage, but that seems unlikely.

Today's new DigiTimes report does backtrack on an earlier one stating that Apple plans to introduce a 7-inch iPad. Many analysts called that rumor bogus because of Steve Jobs' well-known aversion to smaller tablets. The two new models mentioned will both have the same 9.7-inch screen size as the current iPad 2.

It's also worth noting that DigiTimes' sources say the new iPad will be powered by a quad-core A6 processor. That will put it ahead of most other tablets out there when it comes to processing power.

Our bet is that Apple keeps the iPad 2 around next year at a cheaper price and sells the new one at the current price structure.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/two-new-ipad-models-expected-next-year-2011-12

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Egyptian Military Raids Foreign-Funded NGO Offices

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/30/144471272/egyptian-military-raids-foreign-funded-ngo-offices?ft=1&f=1004

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Ethiopia jails two Swedish journalists for aiding rebels (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? An Ethiopian court sentenced two Swedish journalists Tuesday to 11 years in prison for helping and promoting the outlawed Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group and entering the country illegally.

The accusations and last week's guilty verdicts have provoked anger in Sweden and suggestions in the media the case has taken on a political dimension.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July after they entered the Ogaden province from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region with ONLF fighters.

"The court has sentenced both defendants to 11 years. We have heard both cases ... and we believe this is an appropriate sentence," Judge Shemsu Sirgaga told the court.

Shemsu said the convictions warranted a sentence of up to 14 and a half years, but noted the freelance journalists' good behavior. The prosecution had asked for 18 and a half years.

"It wasn't an entirely unexpected sentence. It is regrettable in light of their journalistic assignment," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said. "The Swedish government's view is known, among other things through the prime minister's statement last week."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said last week Sweden was seriously concerned about the judgment and the journalists should be freed as soon as possible.

The two Swedes had also been charged with terrorism but were acquitted in November on that count, as the court did not believe they were involved in carrying out any attacks. They did admit to crossing the border without a permit.

Schibbye and Persson looked at the judge without expression as the sentence was read out and then translated by their lawyer. No family members were present.

One of the journalists' lawyers said his clients were weighing the option of an appeal, but that for now there was no talk of pleading for clemency.

"We are only talking about the possibility of appealing for the time being, which follows judicial procedure," defense lawyer Sileshi Ketsela told Reuters.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Schibbye and Petersson's Swedish lawyer told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT that the pair were innocent reporters doing their job in a "closed area" and denounced the sentence as "completely unacceptable."

"This is judgment that represents a threat against foreign correspondents, against journalists who are trying to do their job," Thomas Olsson told the public channel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

About a dozen protesters gathered outside Ethiopia's consulate in Stockholm, waving Swedish and Ethiopian flags and chanting "Free Martin Schibbye! Free Johan Persson! Free all political and journalist prisoners!"

"The government does not respect the rule of law that is made in parliament. This is our reality," said 30-year-old Nebiyu Desta Yiman, who is seeking political asylum in Sweden. "These two, and thousands of others, should be released."

Persson's father told Swedish news agency TT the government had promised to contact the Ethiopian government.

"We also expect the government to contact the European Union and the United States, since these (countries) have given their support to Johan and Martin," Kjell Persson said.

Sweden's prime minister has said Sweden was making high-level contact with the Ethiopian government in the matter.

This year, Ethiopia has detained more than 150 people, including reporters, in a crackdown the opposition says is designed to stifle moves toward more democracy. The government vehemently denies such accusations.

Diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Sweden have become increasingly strained in the last couple of years, analysts say.

Ethiopia's opposition leader Birtukan Mideska, who was convicted of treason after violence broke out following a presidential poll in 2005 and then pardoned, was jailed again n in 2008 after flying to Stockholm and publicly disputing Addis Ababa's version of the pardon.

Birtukan was released in 2010, four months after presidential elections, and is now in the United States.

"The authorities in Addis Ababa seemed to have been rankled with the perceived backing of Ethiopia's opposition by Stockholm," A Western diplomat, who declined to be named, said.

Sweden has also been critical of Ethiopia's human rights track record. Addis Ababa said in 2010 it planned to shut its mission in Stockholm as there was no significant development cooperation or trade ties between the two countries.

A spokesman for Ethiopia's justice ministry said claims the trial had been politicized were unfounded.

"How can there be a political motive when prosecutors provided evidence throughout the trial and the defendants themselves admitted to entering the country illegally with rebels?" spokesman Desalegn Deressa told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Mia Shanley and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by David Clarke)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/wl_nm/us_ethiopia_sweden_journalists

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UTPA site of nation???s 7th college veterans memorial

EDINBURG ? Water quietly trickled down a rock fountain on a Thursday morning in early December at the University of Texas-Pan American?s wildscape garden east of the chapel.
The soft noise granted all the fanfare accompanying the university?s small ceremony to install a new veterans memorial plaque at the newly-named Veterans Memorial Garden.
?This is only the seventh such memorial in the nation?at an institution of higher education,? said Noel Ysasi, manager of UTPA?s Veterans Services Center.
?This is all one-and-a-half years? worth of effort,? he said. ?We fought tooth and nail to make sure we had something here. But the university president and everyone agreed this was needed to commemorate those who have served our country.?
Physical plant workers dusted an unadorned stone base before securing the large metal plaque, which featured two saluting armed forces members and the seals of each branch of service.
?This garden is to recognize the students, faculty, staff and alumni who, through their bravery and sacrifice, have so proudly dedicated themselves to their country,? the plaque reads. ?We also acknowledge the families that have supported their loved ones through their time of service and ongoing commitment.?
Ysasi said the plaque and garden cap UTPA?s new ?military friendly? designation, awarded last month, which highlights special services granted to the university?s more than 700 veterans. Those services include a specific academic advisor, veteran-geared counselors and priority registration.

Source: http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/memorial-97227-nation-site.html

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Synchronoss Appoints Robert Garcia to President and Chief Operating Officer

December 28, 2011 8:03 AM EST

Company Announces Other Key Management Appointments

BRIDGEWATER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNCR), the world?s leading provider of transaction management, cloud enablement and mobility management for connected devices, today announced that its Chief Operating Officer, Robert Garcia, has been promoted to President. Mr. Garcia will continue to report to the Synchronoss Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Waldis.

As President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Garcia will assume responsibility for the day to day business and the company?s global operating plans. Mr. Garcia has been with Synchronoss since its founding in 2000 and brings over 20+ years' leadership experience in both technology and telecommunication companies.

In addition to Mr. Garcia?s promotion, David Berry will be re-joining Synchronoss in the position of Chief Innovation Officer, reporting directly to Mr. Waldis. Mr. Waldis and Mr. Berry will work together with other members of management to lead a major initiative within the Company to focus on further developing the Synchronoss brand and product portfolio assisting in global growth and innovation. Mr. Berry previously served as Chief Technology Officer for Synchronoss from 2000 to 2006.

?Bob has been a tremendous asset to the company since the very beginning and I have full confidence in his abilities to continue to lead this organization to new levels of success,? said Stephen Waldis, Founder, Chairman, and CEO. ?With Bob assuming additional responsibility of our day to day operations, it now allows me to spend more time focused on innovation and exploring new business opportunities.?

Waldis added ?By Dave Berry re-joining our team, we plan to work closely together with the rest of the management team to ensure all Synchronoss products are aligned to take advantage of the explosive growth opportunity in the mobility, cloud computing, and connected devices industries over the coming years.?

In addition, Karen Rosenberger, the Company?s Vice President of Finance and Controller, has been promoted to the role of Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer. Ms Rosenberger will continue to report directly to Lawrence R. Irving, the Company?s Chief Financial Officer. In addition to retaining her responsibilities Ms. Rosenberger will oversee the domestic and international accounting operations as well as the tax and financial reporting functions for the Company.

Andrew Wilmott, Vice President and General Manager, Service Delivery has been promoted to the role of Senior Vice President of Service Delivery and General Manager. Mr. Wilmott will continue to report directly to Bob Garcia the Company?s President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Wilmott will be responsible for the Delivery, Account Management and P&L functions for the company?s largest Key Account.

About Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.

Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ: SNCR) is the world?s leading provider of transaction management, cloud enablement and connectivity services for connected devices. The company?s technology platforms ensure a simple and seamless on-demand channel for service providers and their customers.

For more information visit us at:

Web: www.synchronoss.com

Blog: http://blog.synchronoss.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/synchronoss

The Synchronoss logo, Synchronoss, ConvergenceNow, InterconnectNow, ConvergenceNow Plus+ and SmartMobility are trademarks of Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.Media:Stacie Hiras, 908-547-1260Stacie.hiras@synchronoss.comInvestor:Tim Dolan, 617-956-6727investor@synchronoss.com

Source: Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.

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Source: http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Synchronoss+Appoints+Robert+Garcia+to+President+and+Chief+Operating+Officer/7044022.html

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Syria university students recount revolution stories

Despite the Syrian regime?s relentless attempts to quash the protests calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, university students have been one group that has managed to stand up to the brutality of security forces and keep fighting despite the daily killing of unarmed civilians.

?Students are playing a major role in the Syrian revolution, for they are among the echelons of society that suffer the most from the repression of the regime,? Suleiman, a third year student in the University of Damascus the English Department, told AlArabiya.net.

Suleiman, who witnessed the invasion of the university hostel grounds by security forces and regime thugs, explained that a large number of youths and university graduates are marginalized and discriminated against when it comes to finding a job if they are not loyal to the regime.

?

?That is why students found in the revolution an opportunity to get rid of corruption and repression.?

However, he added, when students in Damascus started protesting at night in the hostels, they did not expect the reaction of the regime to be as brutal as it was.

?The regime recruited some students to tell on their colleagues who take part in the protests, and based on this information they stormed the hostels,? he said.

Suleiman recounted that at the time of the attack there was a power outage in all the hostel grounds, followed by random shooting.

?They stormed the rooms and arrested hundreds of students after stealing many of the students? belongings and smashing their computers and cell phones. They also beat students brutally.?

Since that time, Suleiman said, students have been living in constant fear, but they have not given up.

For Khaled, a science student at the University of Damascus, the revolution is not restricted to specific groups, yet university students are a very important part of the protests.

?It is difficult to have a revolution without the contribution of students, and that is why it was important that students take to the streets and demand a democratic change as well as condemn the killing of civilians at the hands of security forces and thugs,? he said.

Khaled, who was arrested and released only after signing a statement swearing that he will no longer take part in protests, expressed his frustration at seeing the sanctity of the university campus violated.

?Gangs of the regime know nothing about the value of education and the importance of respecting educational institutions. They used live ammunition on campus and a science student got killed.?

Khaled explained that those attacks aimed at putting pressure on the university administration to prevent students from protesting.

?The administration did cave in when it issued a series of laws that ban protests and when it dismissed dozens of students who took part in protests while referring many other to the disciplinary committee.?

Khaled added that several students, particularly members of the loyalist Students Union, were recruited to spy on their colleagues.

?The university campus turned into a military barracks and students were harassed by regime loyalists. Any gathering was treated as an attempt at inciting anti-regime demonstrations. It has becomes dangerous to be on campus now.?

Hoda, a second year economics students, said that when she and her colleagues decided to start a sit-in to demand the release of detained students, security forces reacted very violently.

?The sit-in was very civilized. We were not more than 100 people. A few minutes had passed before we saw more than 200 armed people in civilian clothes,? she told Al Arabiya.net.

?They surrounded us and started arresting many students and confiscated their mobile phones. When one of the professors tried to interfere they beat him and threatened to arrest him if he didn?t go away.?

Sami, who lives in the Aleppo University hostel, said that many students are now afraid of taking part in protests because of thugs and security forces on campu, in addition to spies among the students.

?The number of students in the pro-regime Student Union is sometimes more than the total number of university students,? he told AlArabiya.net.

Sami explained that the problem with university campuses in Aleppo and other Syrian cities is that they are located in downtown areas and are surrounded by high fences.

?This makes it very hard for us to run away or hide from security forces. Protesting, therefore, automatically means getting arrested, beaten up, and even killed. In the hostel, they already killed four students.?

Sami added that many of those students who are now worried to take part in protests on campus are now demonstrating in the streets.

Feras, a law student at the University of Homs, said that the regime assumes that by crushing campus protests and killing students it will be able to end the revolution and stay in power.

?If they managed to make students stay away from campuses, they could not prevent them from taking their protests to the streets or to social networking websites. The Facebook page called ?The university students? uprising? is a good example of off-campus resistance.?

Some students also began writing songs about the revolution. A group of students that calls itself Days of Freedom wrote a song called ?At the Faculty.?

In this song, they sing about students who no longer go to lectures because they are busy spying on their colleagues. They also sing about the way their protests were crushed at the university.

?We were only five or six, then thousands attacked us. We were squashed,? they sang.

The song ends in a determined tone and stresses that resistance will continue: ?We are telling the whole world that we are not afraid and that we will get rid of this era of slavery.?

Syria university students recount revolution stories.

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Source: http://educationviews.org/2011/12/29/syria-university-students-recount-revolution-stories/

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Chinese woman jailed for pimping

Chinese woman jailed for pimping
China National News
Monday 26th December, 2011??
(IANS)

A court in China has sentenced a 24-year-old woman, who worked as a nightclub's deputy manager in one of Beijing's busiest commercial areas, to four years in prison for soliciting prostitutes for customers.

Sun Lixia used to charge between 3,000 to 5,000 yuan (about $470 to $790). She did this work between a period of Nov 2009 and April 2010, Xinhua quoted a local court as saying in a statement.

The three prostitutes Sun recruited were all escort girls at the nightclub. She pocketed 30 to 50 percent of their illegal income, it said.

Though Sun confessed to have earned 6,500 yuan in total from the deals, she pleaded not guilty, saying she was 'matchmaking', not 'pandering', the document added.

The court in Chaoyang district Monday handed down the sentence for Sun.

Source: http://story.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/4a8b544d0e80ba53/id/202148840/cs/1/

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Vital Signs: Blood Pressure Changes in Middle Age Can Affect Heart Risk

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A change in your blood pressure during early middle age can significantly affect your lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=d5502da107aab070609fec153ff2475f

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Can foreign tourists help US economy? (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.

The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle's Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.

"It is a little bit of a headache," said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whether her tourist visa application would be approved.

More than a decade after the federal government strengthened travel requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdle.

The tourism industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to overhaul the State Department's tourist visa application process.

"After 9/11, we were all shaken and there was a real concern for security, and I still think that concern exists," said Jim Evans, a former hotel chain CEO heading a national effort to promote foreign travel to the U.S.

At the same time, he said, the U.S. needs "to be more cognizant of the importance of every single traveler."

Tourism leaders said the decline in foreign visitors over the past decade is costing American businesses and workers $859 billion in untapped revenue and at least half a million potential jobs at a time when the slowly recovering economy needs both.

While the State Department has beefed up tourist services in recent years, reducing wait times significantly for would-be visitors will likely be a challenge as officials try to balance terrorist threats and illegal immigration with tight budgets that limit hiring.

"Security is job one for us," said Edward Ramotowski, managing director of the department's visa services. "The reason we have a visa system is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States."

Anti-immigration proponents argue travel to the U.S. is already too accessible and that allowing more visitors would put the nation at greater risk.

"Everybody would like to find a way to admit as many people as possible to visit here providing that they visit and then go home," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration group based in Washington, D.C.

"A lot of consular officers underestimate how much people want to come and live here," she said.

Nearly 7.6 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2001, compared with fewer than 6.5 million in 2010. The number of visa applicants also dropped sharply after 2001. Those combined forces pushed the U.S. share of global travelers down to 12 percent last year, from 17 percent before 2001.

The proposed immigration overhaul has largely been driven by the U.S. Travel Association, the tourism industry's lobbying giant, and has been endorsed by business titans such as the National Retail Federation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing the proposed changes through six bills in the House and Senate.

Geoff Freeman, the travel association's chief operating officer, said the State Department should be required to keep visa interview wait times at a maximum of 10 days.

"Every day a person is waiting for that interview is a day a person cannot be here supporting the American economy," he said.

For most foreigners, taking a last-minute business or leisure trip to New York, Los Angeles, Miami or other U.S. travel hubs would be nearly impossible. The average wait time for a visa interview in Rio de Janeiro, for example, was 87 days, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs, concluded that wait times are likely much longer than reported because some department employees artificially reduce the wait times by not scheduling interviews during high-demand periods.

The vast majority of visitors enter through the country's visa waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 nations with good relationships with the U.S. to temporarily visit without a visa. Travel proponents want to add nations whose residents are unlikely to illegally move to the U.S., including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Taiwan.

Tourists from the rest of the world, including India, China, Mexico and other nations with affluent travelers looking to use their passports, must obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The process can be expensive and time-consuming.

People living far from a visa processing center must arrange travel to the interview location, not knowing whether they will be approved. Roughly 78 percent of all tourist visas were approved so far in 2011.

Tourism proponents want the department to embrace videoconferencing as a way to interview more people quickly. The department has no plans to implement videoconferencing interviews because of safety and technological concerns, Ramotowski said.

In-person interviews weren't the norm before 9/11, when consular officials had the authority to approve travelers based on an application alone. Since then, however, screenings have become more strenuous, with fingerprint checks and facial recognition screening of photographs.

The State Department has made moves to boost its tourist services in recent years, transferring employees from underworked offices to bustling embassies and consular posts. Many visa processing centers are also operating under extended hours.

Other proposed changes include granting more multi-entry visas and charging premium fees to tourists who want a visa right away, similar to the premium passport fee charged to Americans with last-minute passport requests. The tourism industry also wants more visa processing officers and to allow travelers to submit applications in their native language.

"We can't afford to treat them in a way that gives them an impression that maybe they aren't welcome," said Rolf Lundberg, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top lobbyist.

To help make the U.S. appear more welcoming, Congress approved last year a $200 million annual marketing campaign.

In Las Vegas, where travelers to the Strip have traditionally kept Nevada's economy afloat, tourism and government leaders are desperate to keep businesses open and create jobs in a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.

"The industries affected by tourism are all behind it," said Republican Rep. Joe Heck of southern Nevada, who has sponsored a bill in the House that would require shorter visa interview delays, among other measures. "We need the jobs."

Ocampo, who spent her vacation shopping at upscale boutiques and visiting family in California, said she would be more eager to come back if she knew her business was wanted.

"Everyone wants to visit the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_us/us_tourist_visas

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Coroner: Heavy D died of pulmonary embolism

Rapper Heavy D died of natural causes likely attributed to remaining seated on a long flight across the Atlantic Ocean, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Tuesday.

The self-proclaimed "overweight lover" of hip hop, who became one of rap's top hit makers with a combination of humor and positivity, collapsed outside his Beverly Hills home on Nov. 8. The 44 year-old rapper, whose real name was Dwight Arrington Myers, died later at a hospital.

Coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey said Tuesday that weight and a transcontinental jet flight were contributing factors.

The cause of death was pulmonary embolism and deep leg vein thrombosis. He also had arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

How to prevent blood clots on long flights

"Mr. Myers had recently returned from England to Los Angeles and we believe thrombosis was a result of his ride across the Atlantic," Harvey said Tuesday.

"Mr. Myers weight and preexisting heart condition may have exacerbated the issue," Harvey said.

Harvey recommends that travelers move around a plane and often stretch their legs to avoid the condition.

"Moving about the cabin and being aware of thrombosis," Harvey said. "It's a subject that's been out there for several years now. It's a real condition that can affect people who spend a lot of time sitting in a position."

Heavy D became one of the genre's most integral stars in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His hit "The Overweight Lover's in the House" played up his hefty frame.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45798022/ns/today-entertainment/

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University of Houston Economics Grad Starts Career by Building a Website Letting Users Search Recipes by Ingredients—Now Selling to Pay Back Student Debt

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) December 24, 2011

Have you ever wanted to place ingredients into a search that tells you what you can make? University of Houston student Richard Norwood did. So instead of waiting around to see if someone else would build it, he created it himself, organizing the first recipe website that allows users to submit their own ingredients, upload ingredients and recipes, add personal profiles to store recipes and search for recipes based on the ingredients the users have in their kitchen. What started as a personal project for class may turn into enough cash to pay off his school loans.

?The website started as hobby and a dare that soon became an obsession that lasted the better part of two years,? said UH Economics graduate Richard Norwood. ?It taught me all about PPC and Internet Marketing, as I spent thousands of man hours optimizing for Google organic search and making tons of mistakes.?

After two years of hard work, Richard said he is ready to let someone else drive the website to greener pastures. The website jumpstarted a career in internet marketing for the UH grad who says that he is just lucky to have found a way to utilize his Economics degree in a down economy.

My Kitchen Vault has: an enormous data base of pictures, over 3000 recipes, articles describing ingredients and a drag & drop recipe selection tool that really gets new users engaged. Norwood also added a full content management system to allow easy admin edits to almost everything on the website, including the ability to add recipe content, blogs, forum posts and new recipes.

The website started off slow as most websites do, but is now ranked on the first page of Google for Recipes by Ingredients, Search Recipes by Ingredients, ingredients in my kitchen, reverse recipe finder and much more.

Norwood is ready for a food lover to take My Kitchen Vault to the next level by adding content, building relationships in the food industry and growing what he created. ?I just don?t have time anymore to push three websites, and I know the least about food,? the Internet Marketing Specialist said with a laugh. ?If someone gives me a good enough offer, I?ll probably take it.?

###

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5661818068&f=378

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FBI joins search for missing Indiana girl

FORT WAYNE, Ind.?? The FBI on Monday joined the search for a missing 9-year-old Indiana girl and agents are scouring a mobile home park that's also a haven for registered sex offenders.

Agents descended on the mobile home park where Aliahna Lemmon lived in Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne authorities plan to meet Monday afternoon to plan their next move after two straight days without a search for the girl, a sheriff's department spokesman said.

Aliahna went missing from a family friend's home on Friday.

About a half-dozen people in black windbreakers were at the mobile home park Monday. Several identified themselves as FBI agents.

Search dogs were seen at a nearby storage facility.

Aliahna and her sisters were staying at a family friend's nearby home because their mother had been sick with the flu and Aliahna's stepfather works at night and sleeps during the day, The Journal Gazette reported Monday.

Mike Plumadore, 39, told the newspaper Sunday that he left the three girls in his mobile home about 6 a.m. Friday and went to a gas station about a mile away to buy a cigar. Authorities have said the store's surveillance video shows him there about that time.

"I had deadbolted the door," he said. "When I got back, all the girls was here."

He said he smoked his cigar and went back to sleep, then woke up about 10 a.m. when Aliahna's mother called. After that call, he realized the door to the home was unlocked and that Aliahna was gone. He said Aliahna's sisters, both 6 years old, told him that Aliahna had left with her mom.

Plumadore said it wasn't until he talked with Aliahna's mom about 8:30 p.m. that they realized she was missing and police were notified.

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Aliahna's mother, Tarah Souders, 28, said miscommunication between the two of them caused the delay in determining that Aliahna had vanished.

"She's never wandered off," Souders said. "She's never done anything like this before."

But Aliahna does have a history of sleepwalking, even unlocking doors and going outside while sleeping, said her grandmother, Amber Story.

"I just hope that she's not suffering or in pain," Story said.

Registered sex offenders in the area
Souders said her daughter also has vision and hearing problems and suffers from attention deficit disorder and emotional problems.

In addition, Aliahna has post-traumatic stress disorder, The Journal Gazette reported.

The family believes Aliahna may have left Plumadore's home on her own. Fifteen registered sex offenders live at the Northway mobile home park, where Plumadore's home is, according to the Allen County's Sheriff's Department website.

Plumadore has three felony convictions for battery, auto theft, and forgery.

?I?m not an angel by any means,? he told The Gazette, but added, ?I don?t hurt children. I don?t hurt animals.?

Family members also said they have never seen him hurt anyone.

There are no suspects or persons of interest in the case, including Plumadore and the registered sex offenders in the mobile home park, authorities said, according to The Gazette. Plumadore and other family members have been interviewed.

The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45790781/ns/us_news-life/

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madelk: RT @loadedsanta: I'm in Canada where tonight's known as Boxing Day Eve Eve.

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I'm in Canada where tonight's known as Boxing Day Eve Eve. Il y a environ 8 heures via Mobile Web Retweeted by 27 people

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Ahn to suit up for Canada's U19 rugby squad

Yale Secondary grad Paul Ahn has been named to the roster of Canada's under-19 men's rugby squad for a tour to England in February.

The tour will feature matches against three academy sides: Welbeck Form Military College (Feb. 26), Leicester Tigers Academy (Feb. 29) and Northampton Saints Academy (March 3).

Ahn has excelled at the regional and national level, winning the B.C. title with the Fraser Valley selects side, and winning a Canadian championship with the provincial squad last summer.

Ahn is also gifted academically ??he was one of Yale's top students last year, with an average of over 95 per cent, and he's since moved on to UBC, where he's studying sciences.

Fellow Abbotsford native Jorden Best has also been named to the U19 team.

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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } google_ad_client = 'pub-9774721429222771'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_ad_channel ='3389691084'; google_max_num_ads = '4'; google_feedback = 'on'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_adtest = 'on'; google_image_size = '300x250'; google_skip = '3'; // -->

Source: http://www.abbynews.com/sports/136113558.html

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J&J's Doxil Cancer Drug Faces 12-Month Holdup

BY PETER LOFTUS

Johnson & Johnson doesn't expect to receive new supplies of its cancer drug Doxil from a troubled contract manufacturer's plant until late 2012, at the earliest.

J&J will pursue other options to bring Doxil back to patients, including shifting production to another supplier, spokeswoman Lisa Vaga said Friday.

Problems at J&J's sole supplier for Doxil, Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., caused a shortage of the drug beginning about six months ago. J&J and Ben Venue have managed to squeeze out periodic batches to patients since then, but about 1,000 remain on a waiting list to receive Doxil, which treats ovarian and ...

BY PETER LOFTUS

Johnson & Johnson doesn't expect to receive new supplies of its cancer drug Doxil from a troubled contract manufacturer's plant until late 2012, at the earliest.

J&J will pursue other options to bring Doxil back to patients, including shifting production to another supplier, spokeswoman Lisa Vaga said Friday.

Problems at J&J's sole supplier for Doxil, Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., caused a shortage of the drug beginning about six months ago. J&J and Ben Venue have managed to squeeze out periodic batches to patients since then, but about 1,000 remain on a waiting list to receive Doxil, which treats ovarian and ...

Source: http://feeds.wsjonline.com/~r/wsj/xml/rss/3_7089/~3/zHRkv0RhhkU/SB10001424052970204464404577116751931098134.html

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PGA_com: Bettye 'Mighty Mite' Danoff, one of LPGA's 13 founding members, dies at 88. She was a Dallas-area legend http://t.co/OlDe397u #pga #golf

Bettye 'Mighty Mite' Danoff, one of LPGA's 13 founding members, dies at 88. She was a Dallas-area legend Il y a environ 8 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/PGA_com/statuses/150100279931580416

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UMG v. Veoh: victory has never been so pyrrhic

The US appeal court has ruled that "YouTube on steroids" site Veoh can't be sued for copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Judge Raymond Fisher said that rights holders (like UMG) were in a better place to identify infringing content than the video sharing site, putting the burden of finding and reporting dodgy vids on the record company's shoulders. The old-slugger's victory means that Viacom has less of a leg to stand on in its upcoming appeal against YouTube, since Judges can use the case as precedent to make their decisions. Sadly, victory will ring hollow for Veoh since the onslaught of litigation caused it to file for chapter seven bankruptcy before getting flogged on the cheap to Qlipso last year.

UMG v. Veoh: victory has never been so pyrrhic originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Reuters, Judgment (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/NxV6Wj0JUWg/

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Thousands demonstrate in Maldives over Islamic law (AP)

MALE, Maldives ? Thousands in the Maldives protested Friday, calling on the government to halt what they called "anti-Islamic" activities, including a plan to allow direct flights to Israel. More moderate supporters of the president rallied as well as debate swells over the future of the state's religion.

The Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 Muslims prohibits practicing any other faith.

The protesters want authorities to stop the sale of alcohol in the islands, shut down brothels operating in the guise of massage parlors and demolish monuments gifted by other countries marking a South Asian summit last month because they see them as idols.

More than 3,000 people heeded a protest call by the opposition Adhaalat, or Justice, Party and several other groups that accuse President Mohammed Nasheed's government of compromising principles of Islam and call for strict Islamic law.

"Islamic Shariah is equal to peace," read some placards carried by protesters.

Though the country is known more for its exquisite island resorts and does not allow stoning or executions, it is under scrutiny for its absence of religious freedom and for punishments such as public flogging.

Debates on religious issues have emerged since a group vandalized a monument gifted by Pakistan marking a South Asian summit last month with the image of Buddha. Buddhism was part of the present Islamic republic's history. An angry protest last month followed a call by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for the Maldives to end the punishment by flogging of women who are found to have had sex outside marriage.

Other residents also rallied Friday in support of the president, who said he stands for a brand of moderate Islam traditionally practiced in the country and that it is vital to preserve the country's economic lifeline, tourism.

"To build our economy we need foreign investments and we need to create an environment in which foreigners can invest," Nasheed said.

"We can't achieve development by going backwards to the stone age or being ignorant," he added.

"Should we ban music? Should we mutilate girls' genitals? Should we allow 9 year-olds to be married? Should we forbid art and drawing? Should we be allowed to take concubines? Is this nation building?" he asked.

One blogger who has called for religious tolerance has been detained for more than a week by authorities who accuse him of blasphemy and of promoting anti-Islamic concepts such as gay rights.

Khilath Rasheed, whose website was blocked last month, has said he was being victimized because he belonged to the Sufi sect of Islam and not the majority Sunni branch recognized by the authorities.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International has called for his immediate release.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_re_as/as_maldives_muslim_protest

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President, First Lady Wish Troops Happy Holidays

President, First Lady Wish Troops Happy Holidays

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 2011 ? During his weekly address on Christmas Eve, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sent holiday greetings to troops everywhere and their families.

After nearly nine years, the president said, the war in Iraq is over and troops are coming home to reunite with their families this holiday season.

?Let?s take a moment to give thanks for their service, for their families? service and for our veterans? service,? he said.

?And let?s say a prayer for all our troops standing post all over the world,? he added, ?especially our brave men and women in Afghanistan who are serving, even as we speak, in harm?s way to protect the freedoms and security we hold dear.?

?This holiday season at the White House,? Michelle Obama said, ?we wanted to show our thanks with a special holiday tribute to some of the strongest, bravest and most resilient members of our American family ?- the men and women who wear our country?s uniform and the families who support them.?

To show how much Americans appreciate the sacrifice and service of veterans, troops and military families, Americans can ?visit JoiningForces.gov to find out how you can get involved in your community,? she added.

?Giving of ourselves [and] service to others -? that?s what this season is all about,? the president said, ?[and] for my family and millions of Americans, that?s what Christmas is all about.?

The belief in loving and supporting each other is not just at the center of the Christian faith, he added, ?it?s shared by Americans of all faiths and backgrounds. It?s why so many of us, every year, volunteer our time to help those most in need, especially our hungry and our homeless.

?So whatever you believe, wherever you?re from, let?s remember the spirit of service that connects us all this season ?- as Americans,? Obama said.

?Each of us can do our part to serve our communities and our country,? the president added, ?not just today, but every day.?

Source: http://www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66596

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John Chamberlain, made art from scrap, dies in NYC (AP)

NEW YORK ? An artist known for turning automotive scrap metal into sculpture has died in New York City. John Chamberlain was 84.

The Gagosian Gallery represented Chamberlain and says he died Wednesday in Manhattan.

Chamberlain's career spanned decades. He started working with junked car metal in the late 1950s, gaining admirers and critics. He also worked with materials as wide-ranging as paper bags, aluminum foil and foam rubber.

Chamberlain's work has been exhibited all over the world. His first retrospective was at the city's Guggenheim Museum in 1971.

The Guggenheim announced earlier this month another retrospective of his work will be on exhibit from February to May of next year. The exhibit will include 95 of Chamberlain's works from throughout his career.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_en_ot/us_obit_chamberlain

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Newt Gingrich Remains At Top Of Gop Presidential Field, But Gop Voters Not Satisfied

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is spending one more week atop the?Republican field in the contest for that party?s presidential nomination. In this?week?s Economist/YouGov Poll, 29% of registered voters who say they will likely?vote in a Republican caucus or primary in 2012 favor Gingrich, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney trails in second place with 18%.??

?

?Once again, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is third. Gingrich runs eight points better?among Republican voters who identify with the Tea Party than with those who do?not. He also runs especially well with less well-off and less-educated GOP voters.?College graduates favor Romney.?

But with less than three weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, there is evidence that?many GOP voters still aren?t happy with the field. This week, only 42% of them?say they are satisfied with the candidates running; 28% want other choices. Two?weeks ago, before businessman Herman Cain suspended his campaign, 51% said?they were satisfied with their options.??

?

And President Barack Obama still leads each of the three top Republicans in a head?to head November matchup. Romney fares the best, trailing by just three points,?within the poll?s margin of error. Gingrich trails Obama by nine points, and Paul?trails the President by seven.??

Photo source: Press Association????

Economist/YouGov poll?archives can found here?.?????

Source: http://today.yougov.com/news/2011/12/21/newt-gingrich-remains-top-gop-presidential-field-g/

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President Obama Uses Public Pressure To Push Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says a small faction of House Republicans are the only ones standing in the way of a deal to extend expiring payroll tax cuts.

Speaking at the White House, Obama says lawmakers must remember that the standoff over the cuts is not about politics: He says: "This is about the American people."

The president was flanked at the White House by several people who commented on Twitter about how they would be impacted if the tax cuts were not extended. Obama said it's time lawmakers started listening to the public's concerns.

Obama urged House Republicans to reconsider their opposition to a two-month extension of the cuts, a measure already approved overwhelmingly by the Senate. He says he believes lawmakers will reach a deal eventually, but they should do it sooner rather than later.

---

Payroll Tax Cut Impact by CNN Money

The impact on your wallet: Thanks to the payroll tax cut, employees only had to pay 4.2% of their first $106,800 in wages into Social Security this year, instead of the normal 6.2%.
If the cut expires, workers in 2012 will pay the extra 2 percentage points of their income up to the wage cap, which next year will be $110,100.

• If your salary is $35,000, you'll pay $700 more
• If your salary is $50,000, then you'll pay $1,000 more
• If your salary is $75,000, then you'll pay $1,500 more
• If your salary is $90,000, then you'll pay $1,800 more
• If your salary is $106,800, then you'll pay $2,136
• If you salary is more than $110,100, then you'll pay $2,341 more

---

President's Remarks

Released by the White House

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Please have a seat. Good afternoon to all of you. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays.

We've been doing everything we can over the last few weeks to make sure that 160 million working Americans aren't hit with a holiday tax increase on January 1st. We've also been doing everything we can to make sure that millions of people who are out there looking for work in a very tough environment don't start losing their unemployment insurance on January 1st.

Now, on Saturday, we reached a bipartisan compromise that would do just that -- make sure that people aren't seeing a tax cut the first of the year; make sure that they still have unemployment insurance the first of the year. Nearly every Democrat in the Senate voted for that compromise. Nearly every Republican in the Senate voted for that compromise. Democrats and even some Republicans in the House voted for that compromise. I am ready to sign that compromise into law the second it lands on my desk.

So far, the only reason it hasn't landed on my desk -- the only reason -- is because a faction of House Republicans have refused to support this compromise.

Now, if you're a family making about $50,000 a year, this is a tax cut that amounts to about $1,000 a year. That's about 40 bucks out of every paycheck. It may be that there's some folks in the House who refuse to vote for this compromise because they don't think that 40 bucks is a lot of money. But anyone who knows what it's like to stretch a budget knows that at the end of the week, or the end of the month, $40 can make all the difference in the world.

And that's why we thought we'd bring your voices into this debate. So many of these debates in Washington end up being portrayed as which party is winning, which party is losing. But what we have to remind ourselves of is this is about people. This is about the American people and whether they win. It's not about a contest between politicians.

So on Tuesday, we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week. And I have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming. We haven't seen anything like this before. Over 30,000 people have written in so far -- as many as 2,000 every hour. We're still hearing from folks -- and I want to encourage everybody who's been paying attention to this to keep sending your stories to WhiteHouse.gov and share them on Twitter and share them on Facebook.

The responses we've gotten so far have come from Americans of all ages and Americans of all backgrounds, from every corner of the country. Some of the folks who responded are on stage with me here today, and they should remind every single member of Congress what's at stake in this debate. Let me just give you a few samples.

Joseph from New Jersey talked about how he would have to sacrifice the occasional pizza night with his daughters. He said -- and I'm quoting -- "My 16-year-old twins will be out of the house soon. I'll miss this."

Richard from Rhode Island wrote to tell us that having an extra $40 in his check buys enough heating oil to keep his family warm for three nights. In his words -- I'm quoting -- "If someone doesn't think that 12 gallons of heating oil is important, I invite them to spend three nights in an unheated home. Or you can believe me when I say that it makes a difference."

Pete from Wisconsin told us about driving more than 200 miles each week to keep his father-in-law company in a nursing home -- $40 out of his paycheck would mean he'd only be able to make three trips instead of four.

We heard from a teacher named Claire from here in D.C. who goes to the thrift store every week and uses her own money to buy pencils and books for her fourth grade class. Once in a while she splurges on science or art supplies. Losing $40, she says, would mean she couldn't do that anymore.

For others, $40 means dinner out with a child who's home for Christmas, a new pair of shoes, a tank of gas, a charitable donation. These are the things at stake for millions of Americans. They matter to people. A lot.

And keep in mind that those are just the individual stories. That doesn't account for the overall impact that a failure to extend the payroll tax cut and a failure to extend unemployment insurance would have on the economy as a whole. We've seen the economy do better over the last couple of months, but there's still a lot of sources of uncertainty out there -- what's going on in Europe, what's going on around the world. And so this is insurance to make sure that our recovery continues.

So it's time for the House to listen to the voices who are up here, the voices all across the country, and reconsider. What's happening right now is exactly why people just get so frustrated with Washington. This is it; this is exactly why people get so frustrated with Washington. This isn't a typical Democratic-versus-Republican issue. This is an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree. How can we not get that done? I mean, has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things we can't do it? (Applause.) It doesn't make any sense.

So, enough is enough. The people standing with me today can't afford any more games. They can't afford to lose $1,000 because of some ridiculous Washington standoff. The House needs to pass a short-term version of this compromise, and then we should negotiate an agreement as quickly as possible to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for the rest of 2012. It's the right thing to do for the economy, and it's, most importantly, the right thing to do for American families all across the country.

This is not just my view. Just a few hours ago, this is exactly what the Republican Leader of the Senate said we should do. Democrats agree with the Republican Leader of the Senate. We should go ahead and get this done. This should not be hard. We all agree it should happen. I believe it's going to happen sooner or later. Why not make it sooner, rather than later? Let's give the American people -- the people who sent us here -- the kind of leadership they deserve.

Thank you, everybody.

Source: http://capitolhill.wusa9.com/news/news/86414-president-obama-uses-public-pressure-push-tax-cuts

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Apple?s late boss Steve Jobs to receive Grammy

Apple?s late boss Steve Jobs to receive Grammy

by Associated Press

khou.com

Posted on December 22, 2011 at 11:15 PM

LOS ANGELES? -- Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is receiving a posthumous Grammy for his technological innovations in the arts.

Jobs is among a dozen people, music groups or companies receiving honorary awards Feb. 11, the day before the Grammys. He died of cancer in October.

The Grammys are honoring Jobs with one of the group?s Trustees Awards, citing the late Apple boss? advancements that ?transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books.?

Grammy organizers called him a ?creative visionary? for Apple Inc. innovations that include the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Others receiving honorary awards the day before the Grammys include Diana Ross, the Allman Brothers, Glen Campbell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, George Jones, the Memphis Horns and recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder.

Online: http://www.grammy.com

Source: http://www.khou.com/entertainment/Apples-late-boss-Steve-Jobs-to-receive-Grammy-136124218.html

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LGBlogUK: @gino_76ph The latest Android on the 2X is Gingerbread flavour. ICS will be coming some time next year. :)

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@gino_76ph The latest Android on the 2X is Gingerbread flavour. ICS will be coming some time next year. :) Il y a environ 2 heures via web en r?ponse ? gino_76ph

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Young Jeezy Recruits 'Rapper' Jill Scott For 'Trapped'

Working with Jeezy 'made sense in a nonsensical way,' soul singer tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Jocelyn Vena

Young Jeezy
Photo: Prince Williams/ FilmMagic

When recruiting guests for his long-awaited TM:103 - Hustlerz Ambition, Young Jeezy called upon rap's heaviest hitters. Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, T.I., Andre 3000 and Fabolous all show up for the Snowman's latest LP, which was released in stores on Tuesday. One collaboration, however, stands out among the rest, so if "Trapped" featuring Jill Scott makes you hit the rewind button, don't worry, it was by design.

"I've been doing quote-unquote unusual pairings lately," Scott told MTV News on the red carpet at the "VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul" show on Sunday night. "I've worked with Paul Wall, I've worked with Eve and now with Jeezy."

Scott and Paul Wall's "So Gone" from her The Light of the Sun LP is slow and sultry, while her collaboration with Eve, "Shame," is an upbeat yet soulful affair. Jeezy's J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced "Trapped" takes a drastically different direction.

At the song's open, Scott begins to rap over a building sound bed of lush strings. "Yo they still be grindin' or runnin'/ Tryin' to get into somethin' or nothin'," Scott begins her verse.

Together the Snowman and the soul singer warn against the pitfalls of street business. By the time the drums drop and the full instrumentation takes shape, it becomes crystal clear that Jeezy is once again playing the role of thug motivator. Cautionary but real, Young uses a real-life narrative to illustrate his point. "Gotcha spendin' all your money on lawyer fees/ Judge throwin' numbers at ya like he speakin' Japanese/ All because a n---a out chea playin' bakery/ I'm out chea tryin' get this bread somebody pray for me," he spits in the song's second verse.

It's not unfamiliar territory for Jeezy, who has been mixing street tales with a hustler's sympathy since his debut Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101. It's just this time out he approached it with a new twist.

"It just made sense in a nonsensical kind of way, like why not? This is music, have fun, stretch it out as much as possible," Scott said. "Jeezy is an MC that I respect. I like his content, that voice is really hard, so yeah, why not?"

What do you think of Young Jeezy's TM:103 - Hustlerz Ambition? Tell us in the comments.

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• 'RapFix Live' With Young Jeezy And Big K.R.I.T.

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• Young Jeezy
• Jill Scott

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676335/young-jeezy-jil-scott-tm-103-hustlerz-ambition.jhtml

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