Petition the Debt Star on ObamaCare, Feinstein

Dec 30 2012

Why shouldn?t our rulers share in the blessings they bestow upon us? Just as Obama et al. should be protected by gun-free zones, the entire nomenklatura deserves to be graced with ObamaCare. If you agree, you can sign the petition:

Mandatory Inclusion of All Politicians and Their Families in the Affordable Health Care Act Provisions

Congress has exempted itself from provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act. If the provisions of this act were designed to benefit the American people and mandatory participation is required of the ordinary public, politicians in Congress should not be exempt.

Speaking of petitions, here?s another good one:

Try Senator Dianne Feinstein in a Federal Court for Treason to the Constitution

The Constitution was written to restrain the government. No amendment is more important for this purpose than the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment was written so the power could be kept with the citizenry in the face of a tyrannical government. It was well understood the Constitution acknowledged certain rights that could not be limited by government.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has made it clear she does not believe in the Constitution or the inalienable rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. She is actively working to destroy the 2nd amendment with her 2013 assault weapons ban. For this reason we the people of the United States petition for her to be tried in Federal Court for treason to the Constitution.

White House petitions won?t sway our rulers, but at least we can put it on the record that what liberals are doing to our country is being done against our will.

On tips from Steve A, IslandLifer, and G. Fox.

Source: http://moonbattery.com/?p=23236

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George H.W. Bush out of intensive care, on the mend

Former President George H.W. Bush has been moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room in Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Bush, who is 88, was admitted for respiratory problems following a bought of bronchitis.

By Deborah Quinn Hensel,?Reuters / December 30, 2012

Former President George H.W. Bush delivers the keynote speech before receiving an honorary Doctor of Public Administration degree at Suffolk University in Boston in 2006. A spokesman says Bush's condition continues to improve and that he was moved Saturday, out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room.

Elise Amendola/AP/File

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Former President?George?H.W.?Bush's condition improved enough for him to be moved on Saturday out of the intensive care unit and into a regular room at the?Houston hospital?where he was admitted last month for respiratory problems, a spokesman said.

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Bush, 88, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, entered?Methodist Hospital?on Nov. 23 for treatment of what doctors said was bronchitis, and he was moved into the ICU last Sunday after suffering a number of medical complications, including a persistent fever.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes lining the air passages through the lungs.

"President?Bush's condition has improved, so he has been moved today from the intensive care unit to a regular patient room at the?Methodist Hospital?to continue his recovery," the family said in a statement from his spokesman,?Jim McGrath.

"The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes," it added.

McGrath said on Friday that?Bush's condition was getting better and that he was even singing at times in his communications with doctors and nurses.

He added in an email reply to Reuters on Saturday, "George?Bush?is the most relentlessly upbeat man you'll ever meet, and his spirits have been good throughout this ordeal." He declined to disclose any information aboutBush's prognosis or how much longer he might remain hospitalized.

Bush, the 41st U.S. president and a Republican, is the father of former President?George?W.?Bush. In a political career spanning four decades, he also served as a congressman, ambassador to the?United Nations, envoy toChina, CIA director, and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.

Bush?has lower-body parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used a wheelchair for more than a year.

Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Cooney

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/dSBx3e1s0U8/George-H.W.-Bush-out-of-intensive-care-on-the-mend

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=D

RolePlayGateway is proudly powered by obscene amounts of caffeine, duct tape, and support from people like you. It operates under a "don't like it, suggest an improvement" platform, and we gladly take suggestions for improvements or changes.

The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

? RolePlayGateway, LLC | with the support of LocalSense

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/qpCl5udlEms/viewtopic.php

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Republicans Set to Cave? (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273781751?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Teenagers without internet access at home are educationally disadvantaged, study suggests

Dec. 30, 2012 ? A major in-depth study examining how teenagers in the UK are using the internet and other mobile devices says the benefits of using such technologies far outweigh any perceived risks.

The findings are based on a large-scale study of more than 1,000 randomly selected households in the UK, coupled with regular face-to-face interviews with more than 200 teenagers and their families between 2008 and 2011.

While the study reflects a high level of parental anxiety about the potential of social networking sites to distract their offspring, and shows that some parents despair at their children's tendency to multitask on mobile devices, the research by Oxford University's Department of Education concludes that there are substantial educational advantages in teenagers being able to access the internet at home.

Teenagers who do not have access to the internet in their home have a strong sense of being 'educationally disadvantaged', warns the study. At the time of the study, the researchers estimated that around 10 per cent of the teenagers were without online connectivity at home, with most of this group living in poorer households. While recent figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest this dropped to five per cent in 2012, the researchers say that still leaves around 300,000 children without internet access in their homes.

The researchers' interviews with teenagers reveal that they felt shut out of their peer group socially and also disadvantaged in their studies as so much of the college or school work set for them to do at home required online research or preparation. One teenager, whose parents had separated, explained that he would ring his father who had internet access and any requested materials were then mailed to him through the post.

Researcher Dr Rebecca Eynon commented: 'While it's difficult to state a precise figure for teenagers without access to the internet at home, the fact remains that in the UK, there is something like 300,000 young people who do not -- and that's a significant number. Behind the statistics, our qualitative research shows that these disconnected young people are clearly missing out both educationally and socially.'

In an interview with a researcher, one 14-year old boy said: 'We get coursework now in Year 9 to see what groups we're going to go in Year 10. And people with internet, they can get higher marks because they can like research on the internet?my friends are probably on it [MSN] all the day every day. And like they talk about it in school, what happened on MSN.'

Another teenager, aged 15, commented: 'It was bell gone and I have a lot of things that I could write and I was angry that I haven't got a computer because I might finish it at home when I've got lots of time to do it. But because when I'm at school I need to do it very fast.'

Strikingly, this study contradicts claims that others have made about the potential risks of such technologies adversely affecting the ability of teenagers to concentrate on serious study. The researchers, Dr Chris Davies and Dr Rebecca Eynon, found no evidence to support this claim. Furthermore, their study concludes that the internet has opened up far more opportunities for young people to do their learning at home.

Dr Davies said: 'Parental anxiety about how teenagers might use the very technologies that they have bought their own children at considerable expense is leading some to discourage their children from becoming confident users. The evidence, based on the survey and hundreds of interviews, shows that parents have tended to focus on the negative side -- especially the distracting effects of social networking sites -- without always seeing the positive use that their children often make of being online.'

Teenagers' experiences of the social networking site Facebook appear to be mixed, says the study. Although some regarded Facebook as an integral part of their social life, others were concerned about the number of arguments that had escalated due to others wading in as a result of comments and photographs being posted.

The age of teenagers using Facebook for the first time was found to go down over the three year period from around 16 years old in 2008 to 12 or 13 years old by 2011. Interviews reveal that even the very youngest teenagers who were not particularly interested felt under some peer pressure to join. But the study also suggests that the popularity of Facebook is waning, with teenagers now exploring other forms of social networking.

Dr Davies commented: 'There is no steady state of teenage technology use -- fashions and trends are constantly shifting, and things change very rapidly when they do change.'

The research was part funded by Becta, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, a non-departmental public body formed under the last Labour government. The study findings are contained in a new book entitled, Teenagers and Technology, due to be published by Routledge in January 2013.

Teenagers and Technology: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415684583/

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/PBLOmOamrcM/121230175639.htm

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iPhone 5S ile ilgili dedikodular yeniden alevlendi

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iPhone 5S iddialar? yeniden alevlendi. Resmi lansman? birka? ay ?nce yap?lan, ?lkemizde de yak?n zamanda sat??a sunulan iPhone 5'in devam? olarak planlanan yeni modelin Haziran ay?nda lanse edilebilece?ini ve taikp eden s?re?te kullan?c?larla bulu?abilece?ini daha ?nceki haberlerimizde sizlerle payla?m??t?k. iPhone i?in eski takvimine yani Haziran'da tan?tma ve Temmuz'da sat??a ??karma stratejisine geri d?nmek istedi?i bildirilen Apple, iPhone 5S ile birlikte tasar?m ve donan?m baz?nda ciddi de?i?iklikere gidebilir.

?

Full HD ??z?n?rl?kl? yeni nesil Android telefonlar?n ve yenilik?i Windows Phone modellerinin rekabet ??tas?n? iyiden iyiye artt?aca?? ak?ll? telefon pazar?nda, iPhone 5S donan?msal anlamda Apple'?n en g??l? silah? olacak gibi g?r?n?yor. ?Yeni modelle ilgili olarak alt? ?izilen en ?nemli detay, artacak bellek kapasitesi. Pek ?ok kayna?a g?re iPhone 5S'nin kapasite se?eneklerinde 128GB'l?k bir versiyon da olacak. Bilindi?i ?zere hem iPhone hem de ?st seviye Android telefonlarda en y?ksek dahili bellek kapasitesi ?u an i?in 64GB. Grafik kalitesiyle ilgi uyand?ran pek ?ok mobil oyunun art?k 1GB ve ?st? dosya boyutuna sahip olmas?, ?te taraftan y?ksek ??z?n?rl?k videolar?n h?zla yayg?nla?mas? kar??s?nda ?reticilerin daha y?ksek kapasitesi ak?ll? telefon modelleri sunmas? s?rpriz olmayacakt?r. ?u anki sekt?re geri bildirimlerine g?re, 128GB ilk defa Apple iPhone 5S ile birlikte pazara girebilir. Tabi ilk olman?n bedeli, daha y?ksek maliyet olarak kar??m?za ??kacak. iPhone 5 fiyatlar?n? dikkate ald???m?zda, 128GB'l?k iPhone 5S i?in s?zle?mesiz yurt d??? fiyat? 1000$ s?n?r?na dayabilir.

?

iPhone 5S i?in bir ba?ka g?ncelleme ise i?lemci taraf?nda olacak. A6 i?lemcisiyle birlikte t?m sekt?re ?a??rtmay? ba?aran Apple, A7 ile birlikte Cortex-A15 DNA's? ta??yan ancak ciddi ?zelle?tirmeler i?eren bir ?ip ortaya koyabilir. ?ift mi yoksa d?rt ?ekirdekli mi olaca?? hen?z bilinmeyen i?lemci ayn? zamanda PowerVR 6 serisi yepyeni bir GPU ile daha y?ksek oyun performans?n?n zeminini haz?rlayacak gibi g?r?n?yor. Kameras? da geli?tirilecek olan iPhone 5'e ?zellikle d???k ???kl? ortamlarda daha y?ksek foto?raf kalitesi i?in iki adet LED Flash ekleyebilece?i konu?ulan Apple, tasar?m konusunda da farkl?l?k yapacak. ?u ana adar beyaz ve siyah renkli iPhone modelleri sunan Apple, ?zellikle Nokia Lumia serisinin farkl? renklerle elde etti?i ba?ar?ya paralel olarak iPhone 5S i?in 6-8 farkl? kasa rengi sunabilir.

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iPhone 5S ile ilgili olarak ger?ekle?me ihtimali g?rece daha d???k olan geli?me ise ekran boyutuyla ilgili. T?m iPhone modelleri aras?nda ilk defa son jenerasyon ile ekran boyutunu g?ncelleyerek 4-in? yapan Apple'?n, iPhone 5S'de 4.8-in? b?y?kl???nde Super HD ekran kullanabilece?i ifade ediliyor. ?ki model arka arkaya ekran boyutunda de?i?ikli?e gidilmesi, ?u ana kadar herhangi bir Apple ?r?n?nde g?rmedi?imiz bir g?ncelleme olur. Ekran boyutu olmasa bile iPhone 5S'de Apple, ekran olarak Sharp ?retimi IGZO panelleri kullanabilir. ??letim sistemi taraf?nda da iPhone 5S ile birikte yeni bir aray?ze ge?ilmesi s?z konusu olabilir. Hat?rlanaca?? ?zere Apple, iOS'in ba??ndaki ?st y?netici Scott Forstall'? kovmu? ve g?revlerini, tasar?mdan sorumlu ba?kan yard?mc?s? Jonathan Ive'e vermi?ti. Aray?zde de?i?iklik konusu ilerleyen iOS s?r?mleri i?in kezin g?z?yle dikkate al?n?rken, bunun iOS 7'de mi yoksa daha sonraki s?r?mlerde mi olaca?? hen?z tam olarak bilinmiyor.

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iPhone 5S'nin piyasaya ??kaca?? d?nemde, Samsung Galaxy S 4 ve HTC M7 gibi y?ksek donan?ml? yeni nesil Android telefonlar?n rafda olmas? bekleniyor. Di?er taraftan Windows Phone ve BlackBerry platformlar?nda da s?rpriz geli?melere tan?k olabilir. ?u anki tabloya g?re yeni y?l son derece hareketli ge?ecek gibi g?r?n?yor. Ak?ll? telefon pazar?nda rekabet k?z???rken, donan?m ve tasar?m baz?nda yenilik?i olmay? ba?aran ve yaz?l?m g?ncellemelerini d?zenli olarak sa?layan firmalar, rakiplerini geride b?rakma noktas?nda ?nemli avantajlara sahip olacaklar.

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Source: http://www.donanimhaber.com/iPhone_5S_ile_ilgili_dedikodular_yeniden_alevlendi-38529.htm

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India gang rape: why women are needed as justice officials

Mass protests in India after a vicious gang rape of a female student help put a spotlight on countries that need to have more women police and judges. Antirape laws are not enough.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / December 28, 2012

Indian police stand guard in front of a barricade as protesters march towards them during a Dec. 27 protest against a recent gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus in New Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to protect women while the young rape victim was flown to Singapore for treatment.

AP Photo

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On paper, women today have far more legal protections than 50 years ago. More than half of the world?s countries have written gender equality into their constitutions. But the brutal rape of a female student in India has thrown a global spotlight on the need to put legal norms for women into practice.

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For two weeks after the gang rape on Dec. 16, thousands of Indians have protested in New Delhi over the indifference of police and judges to the high number of incidents of rape. Legislators are now scrambling to pass antirape reforms. They have far to go.

India?s conviction rate in rape cases is no more than 26 percent. And that?s just for reported rapes. In a key measure of official insensitivity to violence against woman, only 7 percent of police officers are women. And a 1996 survey of judges in India found that 68 percent of them said provocative clothing is an invitation to rape.

One of the best ways to deter rape is to make it easier for women to report it, especially in a patriarchal and traditional society like India. Yet in a survey of 57 countries, only 1 in 10 women who say they experienced a sexual assault actually reported it.

Studies show that the reporting of sex crimes by women increases if female police officers are available to rape victims. The main reason is that it helps lessen the shame and stigma often felt by a female rape victim. And it allows for more comfort and consoling of the innocent.

Up and down the justice system more women are needed to deal with female-related crimes. Worldwide, only 9 percent of police and 27 percent of judges are women.

Many countries have become models of reform in how to deal with rape. Brazil set up women-only police stations in 1985, a practice now common in Latin America. Countries from Fiji to Pakistan provide special legal advice to women to help them through the courts. In parts of Africa, judges specializing in sex-crime cases travel to remote rural areas. In many countries, health workers are given special training in how to treat sexual-abuse victims.

According to a 2011 United Nations report on women, the justice system in most countries still needs to change its practices toward women. East Timor, for example, has only one doctor trained to collect evidence in rape cases.

?Although there is further to go, laws on violence against women are beginning to establish the kind of clear mandates and procedures that are needed to drive implementation and improve women?s access to justice,? stated the UN report.

The certainty of punishment for rape and the care that is given to rape victims will help curb rape. Equality for women means lifting their fears of rape through equality of treatment by law enforcement officials.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/EHJMgAlvM_s/India-gang-rape-why-women-are-needed-as-justice-officials

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Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office West Bank crime report, Dec. 27 ...

This information reflects initial calls for service reported by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for the west bank of Jefferson Parish. Locations are approximate due to automated location methods and address inconsistencies, the Sheriff's Office says. Burglar alarm calls are excluded.

2200 block of Alex Kornman Boulevard - Dec. 27, 3:57 p.m., disturbing the peace.
4300 block of East Ames Boulevard - Dec. 27, 3:22 p.m., disturbing the peace.
Ames Boulevard and Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 11:14 a.m., vehicle wreck.
Argyll Drive and Angus Drive - Dec. 27, 12:12 a.m., disturbing the peace.
2800 block of Bayou Teche Drive - Dec. 27, 5:42 p.m., disturbing the peace.
5900 block of Becker Street - Dec. 27, 12:38 a.m., disturbing the peace.
Behrman Highway and South Monterey Court - Dec. 27, 1:54 a.m., vehicle wreck.
2700 block of Belle Chasse Highway - Dec. 27, 12:39 p.m., suspicious person.
2800 block of Belle Chasse Highway - Dec. 27, 5:08 p.m., theft.
Belle Chasse Highway and Wall Boulevard - Dec. 27, 9:37 a.m., suspicious person.
5400 block of Belle Terre Road - Dec. 27, 5:18 p.m., vehicle burglary.
6500 block of Benedict Drive - Dec. 27, 1:01 p.m., disturbing the peace.
1700 block of Betty Street - Dec. 27, 7:31 p.m., vehicle wreck.
1300 block of Blk Burgess Drive - Dec. 27, 11:06 a.m., suspicious person.
1300 block of Blk Burgess Drive - Dec. 27, 11:17 a.m., suspicious person.
2900 block of Blk Monica Lane - Dec. 27, 8:15 p.m., suspicious person.
2000 block of Blk Watling Drive - Dec. 27, 1:59 p.m., illegal discharge of weapon.
Britannica Drive and Dena Drive - Dec. 27, 4:23 a.m., disturbing the peace.
1600 block of Carol Sue Avenue - Dec. 27, 8:52 p.m., battery.
Carol Sue Avenue and National Avenue - Dec. 27, 8:01 a.m., suspicious person.
700 block of Carrollwood Village Drive - Dec. 27, 1:57 p.m., suspicious person.
Church Street and Glen Della Drive - Dec. 27, 5:59 p.m., suspicious person.
200 block of Circle West Drive - Dec. 27, 10:45 p.m., auto theft.
1100 block of Clydesbank Drive - Dec. 27, 6:30 p.m., drug law violation.
2100 block of Constantine Drive - Dec. 27, 2:14 p.m., residence burglary.
200 block of Cottonwood Drive - Dec. 27, 10:33 a.m., vehicle burglary.
Dandelion Drive and Primrose Lane - Dec. 27, 7:54 p.m., suspicious person.
Deerfield Road and Carol Sue Avenue - Dec. 27, 2:10 p.m., suspicious person.
5100 block of Eighty Arpent Road - Dec. 27, 9:53 p.m., suspicious person.
Faith Place and Farmington Place - Dec. 27, 2:58 p.m., suspicious person.
Friedrichs Road and Nel Place - Dec. 27, 10:23 a.m., suspicious person.
Green Leaf Drive and Crape Myrtle Lane - Dec. 27, 3:35 p.m., suspicious person.
300 block of Holmes Street - Dec. 27, 6:12 a.m., criminal damage.
4000 block of South Indigo Drive - Dec. 27, 1:08 p.m., residence burglary.
200 block of James Street - Dec. 27, 9:29 a.m., criminal damage.
Jeffer Drive and Rosa Street - Dec. 27, 8:54 p.m., suspicious person.
2200 block of Killington Drive - Dec. 27, 5:25 p.m., disturbing the peace.
300 block of Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 2:36 p.m., theft.
3600 block of Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 7:43 a.m., theft.
4800 block of Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 1:52 p.m., theft.
4800 block of Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 8:20 p.m., battery.
6500 block of Lapalco Boulevard - Dec. 27, 6:50 p.m., suspicious person.
Leo Kerner Parkway and Barataria Boulevard - Dec. 27, 1:46 a.m., vehicle wreck.
Mae Drive and Alvin Drive - Dec. 27, 10:59 a.m., suspicious person.
1000 block of Manhattan Boulevard - Dec. 27, 11:50 p.m., disturbing the peace.
1900 block of Manhattan Boulevard - Dec. 27, 4:50 p.m., vehicle wreck.
Manhattan Boulevard and 9th Street - Dec. 27, 5:12 p.m., suspicious person.
700 block of Maple Avenue - Dec. 27, 2:22 p.m., drug law violation.
Megehee Court and Jeffer Drive - Dec. 27, 2:33 a.m., suspicious person.
5100 block of Mt Rushmore Drive - Dec. 27, 6:20 p.m., residence burglary.
Nathan Kornman Drive and South Birchfield Drive - Dec. 27, 7:44 p.m., illegal discharge of weapon.
600 block of Nel Place - Dec. 27, 1:37 p.m., suspicious person.
600 block of Nel Place - Dec. 27, 2:02 p.m., drug law violation.
5900 block of South Oak Drive - Dec. 27, 4:10 p.m., residence burglary.
400 block of Pailet Avenue - Dec. 27, 12:03 p.m., disturbing the peace.
200 block of Priest Street - Dec. 27, 10:29 p.m., disturbing the peace.
5200 block of Randolph Street - Dec. 27, 2:36 p.m., vehicle burglary.
300 block of Ruby Street - Dec. 27, 2:57 p.m., residence burglary.
600 block of Silver Lily Lane - Dec. 27, 8:20 p.m., battery.
3400 block of Squirewood Drive North - Dec. 27, 2:47 p.m., theft.
400 block of Street Ann Street - Dec. 27, 3:17 p.m., theft.
1000 block of Tallow Tree Lane - Dec. 27, 5:52 p.m., robbery.
1100 block of Tallow Tree Lane - Dec. 27, 6:44 p.m., robbery.
Terry Parkway and Carol Sue Avenue - Dec. 27, 7:11 p.m., suspicious person.
Terry Parkway and Carol Sue Avenue - Dec. 27, 11:34 p.m., suspicious person.
Terry Parkway and Daniels Road - Dec. 27, 6:21 p.m., assault.
3500 block of U South 90 Highway - Dec. 27, 2:11 a.m., suspicious person.
U South 90 Highway and U South 90b Highway - Dec. 27, 7:08 p.m., suspicious person.
500 block of Wall Boulevard - Dec. 27, 2:21 p.m., theft.
100 block of Westbank Exp - Dec. 27, 3:36 p.m., theft.
100 block of Westbank Exp - Dec. 27, 6:09 p.m., theft.
100 block of Westbank Exp - Dec. 27, 7:53 p.m., theft.
1600 block of Westbank Exp - Dec. 27, 1:11 p.m., vehicle wreck.
Westwego Avenue and 4th Street - Dec. 27, 11:55 p.m., suspicious person.
4000 block of South Woodbine Street - Dec. 27, 1:25 p.m., residence burglary.
100 block of Yvonne Drive - Dec. 27, 12:48 p.m., theft.

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/12/jefferson_parish_sheriffs_offi_1234.html

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Senate renews warrantless surveillance act

14 hrs.

Ben Weitzenkorn , TechNewsDaily

The U.S. Senate Friday voted?overwhelmingly in favor of keeping a?George W. Bush-era surveillance law that will allow continued warrantless surveillance of Americans for the next five years.

The Senate's 73-23 vote on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is an extension of the warrantless wiretapping law that grants legal immunity to telecommunications providers in order to continue to assist intelligence agencies with monitoring communications.

In addition to phone calls, text messages and emails may also be obtained by investigators for counterterrorism purposes, an easy assertion for law enforcement to make, Gizmodo reports.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet rights advocacy organization, claimed in a statement that the act "allows the government to get secret FISA court orders???orders that do not require probable cause like regular warrants???for any emails or phone calls going to and from overseas. The communications only have to deal with "foreign intelligence information," a broad term that can mean virtually anything. And one secret FISA order can be issued against groups or categories of people???potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans at once."

"Incredibly, the Senate rejected all the proposed amendments that would have brought a modicum of transparency and oversight to the government's activities," the EFF said?Friday?after the vote.

The bill is now headed for President Obama's desk where he is expected to sign it. Although an identical bill elicited contentious debate in 2008, a different political climate made passage much easier now.

"This is the last opportunity for the next five years for the Congress to exercise a modest measure of real oversight over this intelligence surveillance law," Sen. Ron Wyden,?D-Oregon, told the press before the vote. "It is not real oversight when the United States Congress cannot get a yes or no answer to the question of whether an estimate currently exists as to whether law abiding Americans have had their phone calls and emails swept up under the FISA law."

Wyden had introduced an amendment to the bill that would have forced the National Security Agency?to disclose how many Americans had been affected by FISA. Since 2009 the agency has refused to share that information on the basis that it would violate the privacy of those affected.?

Copyright 2012?TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/senate-renews-warrantless-surveillance-act-1C7753034

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Quentin Tarantino Mulling Inglourious Basterds Spinoff

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" is now in theaters (and doing pretty damn well for an R-rated Western), but the outspoken director is still on the publicity circuit, and as ever, he's causing a stir wherever he goes. The film is causing furious debate thanks to its subject matter (Tarantino's old adversary Spike Lee weighing in most recently), and now the director has laid into one of cinephiles' most sacred cows, in the form of legendary Western director John Ford.

In an excellent, extensive interview with Henry Louis Gates Jr. of The Root (via Movieline), Tarantino talks about his dislike of D.W. Griffith's "Birth Of A Nation," saying "it really can only stand next to 'Mein Kampf' when it comes to just its ugly imagery," and explains that Ford's role as an extra in the silent epic inspired a scene in "Django Unchained." "Oddly enough, where I got the idea for the Klan guys [in 'Django Unchained']," he told Gates, "as you may well know, director John Ford was one of the Klansmen in 'The Birth of a Nation,' so I even speculate in [an as-yet-unfinished article he's written]: Well, John Ford put on a Klan uniform for D.W. Griffith. What was that about? What did that take? He can't say he didn't know the material. Everybody knew 'The Clansman' at that time as a piece of material... And yet he put on the Klan uniform. He got on the horse. He rode hard to black subjugation. As I'm writing this -- and he rode hard, and I'm sure the Klan hood was moving all over his head as he was riding and he was riding blind -- I'm thinking, wow. That probably was the case. How come no one's ever thought of that before? Five years later, I'm writing the scene and all of a sudden it comes out."

And then he continues, more specifically about Ford, "One of my American Western heroes is not John Ford, obviously. To say the least, I hate him. Forget about faceless Indians he killed like zombies. It really is people like that that kept alive this idea of Anglo-Saxon humanity compared to everybody else's humanity -- and the idea that that's hogwash is a very new idea in relative terms. And you can see it in the cinema in the '30s and '40s -- it's still there. And even in the '50s."

Tarantino has a point, but it's certainly a surprise to see him publicly attack a filmmaker who's so often named as one of the very greatest in the history of the medium. We certainly wouldn't dispute the points that Tarantino raises here, but we'd also perhaps suggest that Ford's views may have evolved over time; one of his final films, "Cheyenne Autumn," was described by Ford as an 'elegy' to Native Americans, and something of an apologia for the way they'd been treated in his earlier pictures. We wonder what Spike Lee thinks of the whole thing...

Away from Tarantino's views on other filmmakers, he's suggested that there might be more button-pushing material to come, hinting at a closing part of his "Inglourious Basterds"/"Django Unchained" trilogy, named "Killer Crow," focusing on African-American soldiers during World War Two, and made up of material excised from 'Basterds.'

The director tells Gates "There's something about this that would suggest a trilogy. My original idea for 'Inglourious Basterds' way back when was that this [would be] a huge story that included the [smaller] story that you saw in the film, but also followed a bunch of black troops, and they had been f--ked over by the American military and kind of go apes--t. They basically -- the way Lt. Aldo Raines and the Basterds are having an "Apache resistance" -- [the] black troops go on an Apache warpath and kill a bunch of white soldiers and white officers on a military base and are just making a warpath to Switzerland... I was going to do it as a miniseries, and that was going to be one of the big storylines. When I decided to try to turn it into a movie, that was a section I had to take out to help tame my material. I have most of that written. It's ready to go; I just have to write the second half of it... That would be the third of the trilogy. It would be [connected to] 'Inglourious Basterds,' too, because Inglourious Basterds are in it, but it is about the soldiers. It would be called 'Killer Crow' or something like that."

The director's hinted at a potential trilogy before, and separately at this second WW2 movie, but naming the film as "Killer Crow," which would be set in 1944, after the Normandy invasion, is the first serious detail we've heard about it tying into this trilogy, and seems to suggest that there'll be returning roles for Brad Pitt, Eli Roth and the rest of the Basterds. The indication is that it wouldn't be his next film -- that could be a 1930s-set gangster tale -- but it's intriguing to know that Tarantino is planning a project that seems to fall at the exact midway point between his last two pictures.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926565/news/1926565/

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Shakira Gives Birth to a Baby Boy!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/shakira-gives-birth/

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Weekly Jobless Claims Plunge To Five-Year Low

WASHINGTON ? The average number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 in the week ended Dec. 22. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to a nearly five-year low of 356,750.

Still, the Christmas holiday may have distorted the figures. A department spokesman said many state unemployment offices were closed Monday and Tuesday and could not provide exact data. That forced the government to rely on estimates. Normally, the government might estimate application data for one or two states. Last week, it had to use estimates for 19.

The estimates are usually fairly accurate, the spokesman said. Even so, the government will likely revise the figures by more than normal next week.

Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. They have mostly fluctuated this year between 360,000 and 390,000. At the same time, employers have added an average of 151,000 jobs a month in the first 11 months of 2012. That's just enough to slowly reduce the unemployment rate.

Economists were mildly encouraged by the decline in applications. But they emphasized that the figures are volatile around the holidays. They were also distorted until recent weeks by Superstorm Sandy.

Many expect next week's jobs report to show that employers added about 150,000 jobs in December.

The decline in unemployment benefit applications suggests companies are not yet slashing jobs because of concerns over the "fiscal cliff." That's the name for sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect next week unless the Obama administration and Congress can reach a deal before then.

Still, unemployment remains high and companies are reluctant to ramp up hiring. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because many of the unemployed stopped looking for jobs. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for work.

Negotiations between President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders on a package to avoid the fiscal cliff stalemated last week. Obama and congressional lawmakers return to Washington Thursday with just days to go before the deadline.

The total number of people receiving benefits rose 73,000 to 5.48 million in the week ended Dec. 8, the latest data available.

That includes about 2.1 million people who have been out of work for at least six months and are receiving extended benefits paid for by the federal government. The program is ending at the end of the year. That means those recipients will receive their final checks next week, unless an extension is granted.

Obama wants an extension included in the budget deal. Republicans have yet to agree to that.

There are signs the economy is improving. The once-battered housing market is recovering, which should lead to more construction jobs in the coming months. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic growth.

While a short fall over the cliff won't push the economy into recession, most economists expect some tax increases to take effect next year. That could slow growth.

Consumers are starting to worry about higher taxes. A measure of consumer confidence fell to a five-month low this month, a survey released Friday found. And reports show the holiday shopping season was the weakest since 2008, when the country was in a deep recession.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/weekly-jobless-claims_n_2369646.html

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Drake Calls Out Macy's, Walgreens Over YOLO Use

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/drake-calls-out-macys-walgreens-over-yolo-use/

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Former Braves player arrested on battery charge

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) ? Former Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones was free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta early Tuesday on a battery charge, according to jail records.

Around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, police responded to a call for a domestic dispute between Jones and his wife in Duluth.

Gwinnett County Detention Center records say Jones was booked into the jail around 3:45 a.m. and was released on $2,400 bond by 11 a.m.

Once one of the premier players in the big leagues, Jones broke into the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1998-07 as their center fielder. He has 434 career home runs over the span of 17 seasons in the majors.

Jones earlier this month signed a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Pacific League.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-braves-player-arrested-battery-charge-234122933--mlb.html

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10 Things to Know for Thursday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about Thursday:

1. A FORMER PRESIDENT IS AILING

George H.W. Bush is in intensive care at a Houston hospital, where his fever has worsened and doctors have put him on a liquid diet.

2. AND A SOUTH AFRICAN LEADER IS BETTER

Nelson Mandela, 94, was released from the hospital after nearly a month of treatment for a lung infection and gallstones.

3. TWO SIGNS OF A WEAKENING ASSAD REGIME

Syria's chief of military police defects to the opposition and a wounded interior minister returns from Beirut.

4. HOLIDAY STORM MOVES NORTH AS DEATH TOLL RISES

At least six died after the storm brought tornadoes, heavy snow and cancelled hundreds of flights.

5. A $1B-PLUS SETTLEMENT FOR TOYOTA DRIVERS

The agreement over acceleration problems with the Prius is one of the largest in U.S. history.

6. OBAMA RETURNS TO TALK 'FISCAL CLIFF'

But no new negotiations are scheduled to avert the end-of-the-week economy-threatening deadline.

7. WHY SURVIVORS OF NY SHOOTING ARE THANKFUL

The two firefighters say they have received lots of support as they recover from an ambush by an ex-convict in Webster.

8. THE TEACHER IS PACKING

More than 200 Utah educators are expected to pack a convention hall Thursday for six hours of concealed-weapons training.

9. WHO HAWAII'S NEW SENATOR WILL BE

Brian Schatz, Hawaii's lieutenant governor, was chosen by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to succeed the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.

10. 1,400 MILES IN EIGHT HOURS

That's the ground you'll cover if you take the world's longest high-speed train line, connecting Beijing and Guangzhou in China.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-thursday-104756375.html

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Video: One man works 100 jobs in one year

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50296649/

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Netflix suffers Christmas Eve outage, points to Amazon

21 hrs.

Sam Forgione

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An outage at one of Amazon's Web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.?

The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray players.?

Evers said that the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services' cloud computing center in Virginia, and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users late on Monday.?

"We are investigating exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented," Evers said.?

"We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix-capable devices can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night," he added.

An outage at Amazon Web Services, or AWS, knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare in April of last year.?

Amazon Web Services was not immediately available for comment. Evers, the Netflix spokesman, declined to comment on the company's contracts with Amazon.

(c) Copyright ThomsonReuters 2012. Check for restrictions at:?http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/netflix-suffers-christmas-eve-outage-points-amazon-1C7662774

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Egypt approves new constitution drafted by Mursi allies

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution drafted by President Mohamed Mursi's allies, results announced on Tuesday showed, proving that liberals, leftists and Christians have been powerless to halt the march of Islamists in power.

Final elections commission figures showed the constitution adopted with 63.8 percent of the vote in the referendum held over two days this month, giving Mursi's Islamists their third straight electoral victory since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution.

Opposition groups had taken to the streets to block what they see as a move to ram through a charter that mixes politics and religion dangerously and ignores the rights of minorities.

Mursi says the text - Egypt's first constitution since Mubarak's fall - offers enough protection for minorities, and adopting it quickly is necessary to end two years of turmoil and political uncertainty that has wrecked the economy.

"I hope all national powers will now start working together now to build a new Egypt," Murad Ali, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters.

"I see this as the best constitution in Egypt's history."

In a sign that weeks of unrest have taken a further toll on the economy, the government ordered new restrictions on foreign currency apparently designed to prevent capital flight. Leaving or entering with more than $10,000 cash is now banned.

Two years since waves of unrest broke out across the Middle East and North Africa - sweeping away long-entrenched rulers in Tunisia, Libya and Yemen as well as Egypt - well-organized Islamist parties have emerged as the main beneficiaries.

Urban secularists and liberals who were behind the revolts complain that their success has been hijacked.

"We need a better constitution," said Khaled Dawood, an opposition spokesman. "It does not represent all Egyptians."

Mursi's opponents say the new constitution could allow clerics to intervene in lawmaking, while offering scant protections to minorities and women. Mursi dismisses those criticisms, and many Egyptians are fed up with street protest movements that have prevented a return to normality.

Immediately after the announcement, a small group of protesters set tires on fire and blocked traffic near the central Tahrir square, the cradle of Egypt's uprising, but there were no immediate signs of violence or major demonstrations.

Washington, which provides billions of dollars a year in military and other support for Egypt and regards it as a pillar of security in the Middle East, called on Egyptian politicians to bridge divisions and on all sides to reject violence.

"President Mursi, as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognizes the urgent need to bridge divisions," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. He noted that many Egyptians had voiced "significant concerns" over the constitutional process.

WORSENING ECONOMY

The government says its opponents are worsening the economic crisis by prolonging political upheaval. It has pledged to impose unpopular tax increases and spending cuts to win a loan package from the International Monetary Fund.

The ban on travelling with more than $10,000 in cash followed a pledge by the central bank to take unspecified measures to protect Egyptian banks. Some Egyptians have begun withdrawing their savings in fear of more restrictions.

"I am not going to put any more money in the bank and neither will many of the people I know," said Ayman Osama, father of two young children.

He said he had taken out the equivalent of about $16,000 from his account this week and planned to withdraw more, adding that he had also told his wife to buy more gold jewellery.

The "yes" vote paves the way for a parliamentary election in about two months, setting the stage for another battle between surging Islamists and their fractious opponents.

The final result, announced by the election commission, matched - to the last decimal place - an earlier unofficial tally announced by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

But the opposition said it was disappointed - it had appealed for the result to be amended to reflect what it described as major vote violations during the two-round vote.

Officials said there were no violations serious enough to change the result significantly. "We have seriously investigated all the complaints," said judge Samir Abu el-Matti of the Supreme Election Committee. The final turnout was 32.9 percent.

SENSE OF CRISIS

The referendum has sharpened painful divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation and a growing atmosphere of crisis has gripped Egypt's polarized society.

Anxiety about the economy deepened this week when Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating. Prime Minister Hisham Kandil told the nation of 83 million on Tuesday the government was committed to fixing the economy.

"The main goals that the government is working towards now is plugging the budget deficit, and working on increasing growth to boost employment rates, curb inflation, and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports," he said.

The referendum follows Islamist victories in parliamentary and presidential elections, representing a decisive shift in a country at the heart of the Arab world where Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood was suppressed for generations by military rulers.

However, secularist and liberal opposition members hope they can organize better in time for the next parliamentary vote.

Hossam El-Din Ali, a 35-year-old newspaper vendor in central Cairo, said he agreed the new constitution would help bring some political stability but like many others he feared the possible economic austerity measures lying ahead.

"People don't want higher prices. People are upset about this," he said. "There is recession, things are not moving. But I am wishing for the best, God willing."

(Additional reporting by Patrick Werr, Tamim Elyan, Ahmed Tolba and Marwa Awad; Writing by Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptians-fret-over-economy-rancorous-vote-constitution-125308309.html

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Gunman who ambushed firefighters left note saying he wanted to 'kill people'

Officials provide the latest details on the ambush that killed two firefighters while responding to a blaze in Webster, New York.

By Andrew Mach and Jason White, NBC News

Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET:?Police in Webster, N.Y., say the man who ambushed firefighters with a blaze of gunfire, killing two, in upstate New York, left a three-page typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down the neighborhood and ?do what I like doing best, killing people.?

William Spengler, 62, opened fire on the volunteers as they responded to a blaze just before 6 a.m. ET Monday in a small cluster of homes along Lake Ontario in Webster, N.Y., police said.

Two firefighters, Police Lieutenant Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, were shot dead during the incident.

Two firefighters, Police Lieutenant?Michael Chiapperini and?Tomasz Kaczowka, were shot dead during the incident, and Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him Monday. Two other firefighters,?Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were recovering Tuesday at a hospital in Rochester, N.Y.?

An off-duty police officer also was hit by gunfire as he drove past the scene. There was no immediate information on his condition available on Tuesday.?

Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said at a press briefing Tuesday that Spengler armed himself with three weapons and set his house afire to lure first responders into a death trap.

"It does appear that it was a trap that was set," Pickering said,?his voice breaking at times.??People who get up in the middle of the night to fight fires, they don?t expect to get shot and killed."

Spengler's note did not appear to offer a motive for attacking the firefighters, Pickering said.?

Despite being shot, one of the injured firefighters was able to flee from scene under his own power. But the others remained pinned down on the narrow strip of land between Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay until a SWAT team arrived.

As police closed in, Spengler took his own life with a gunshot wound to the head, Pickering said. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1981 after the death of his grandmother, Rose Spengler, 92, and was paroled in 1998. He remained under parole supervision until 2006, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.

Monroe County Sheriff's office

William Spengler, 62, is seen in this undated booking photo.

Spengler's 67-year-old sister Cheryl Spengler is unaccounted for, Pickering said.

Spengler lived in the house with his sister and mother, Arline, who died in October at the age of 91. Arline Spengler's obituary asked that memorial donations be made to the West Webster Fireman's Association.?

A former neighbor told The Associated Press that Spengler "loved his mama to death" and that he "couldn't stand" his sister. The neighbor said he thinks Spengler "went crazy" after his mother died.

Prior to Monday's shooting, Webster police had not had any run-ins with Spengler since he was paroled, they said.

Although Spengler could not legally own firearms as a convicted felon, investigators told NBC 10 News in Rochester that he was equipped with four whiskey bottles of gasoline, a pistol and an AR-15 type rifle with 30-shot magazine capability. One of the four magazines had been used. ?

After the shooting, the fire grew to engulf at seven homes and one motor vehicle.?

?These firemen are part of our family. You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock,? Billy Gross, fire commissioner for West Webster, told the?Democrat and Chronicle.

Dozens of area residents were evacuated, with police searching them as they left, the newspaper reported.

"Miserable thing to happen this time of year," Mark Johns, a state assemblyman who represents the area, told?local NBC station WHEC. Johns said he knew some of the firefighters who were shot.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement after the shooting, offering his "deepest condolences."

?All of our thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends of those who were killed in this senseless act of violence," Cuomo said.??New York's first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe."

NBC's Tom Winter and Rosanna Arlia contributed to this report.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/25/16125861-gunman-who-ambushed-firefighters-left-note-saying-he-wanted-to-kill-people?lite

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Queen delivers 1st Christmas message in 3D

LONDON (AP) ? Queen Elizabeth II has hailed the holidays in a new dimension, delivering her Christmas message for the first time in 3D.

In the annual, prerecorded broadcast, the monarch paid tribute to the armed forces, "whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends" over the holidays, and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of enthusiasm for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The queen said she was struck by the "strength of fellowship and friendship" shown by well-wishers to mark her 60 years on the throne.

"It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago," she said as footage showed crowds lining the Thames River in the rain earlier this year for a boat pageant. "People of all ages took the trouble to take part in various ways and in many nations."

The queen also reflected on Britain's hosting of the Olympic games in 2012, praising the "skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes" and singling out the volunteers who devoted themselves "to keeping others safe, supported and comforted."

Elizabeth's message aired shortly after she attended a traditional church service at St. Mary Magdelene Church on her sprawling Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Wearing a turquoise coat and matching hat, the monarch rode to church in a Bentley, accompanied by granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie. Her husband, Prince Philip, walked from the house to the church with other members of the royal family.

Three familiar faces were missing from the family outing. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury. Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.

After the church service, the royals usually gather to watch the queen's prerecorded television broadcast, a tradition that began with a radio address by King George V in 1932.

The queen has made a prerecorded Christmas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on television since 1957. She writes the speeches herself and the broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation.

Her switch to 3D was not the only technological leap for prominent British figures this Christmas.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York chose to tweet their sermons for the first time, in order to bring Christmas to a new digital audience.

In his speech, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he has been inspired by meeting victims of suffering over the past decade while leading the world's 80 million-strong Anglican Communion.

Delivering his final Christmas Day sermon from Canterbury Cathedral, Williams also acknowledged how a vote against allowing women to become bishops has damaged the credibility of the church.

Still, he said, it was "startling" to see after the vote how many people "turned out to have a sort of investment in the church, a desire to see the church looking credible and a real sense of loss when ? as they saw it ? the church failed to sort its business out."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/queen-delivers-1st-christmas-message-3d-154606709.html

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The Mine Kafon: A Low-Cost, Wind-Powered Minefield Clearing Device Hits Kickstarter

We brought you a video back at the end of November that showed off Massoud Hassani's mine-clearing device, the Mine Kafon, based on a wind-powered child's toy. Now, the Afghan industrial designer has taken the suggestions of a number of our commenters and put the project on Kickstarter. Hassani is looking for ?100,000 to make the Kafons and document the process.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eY0WzuYX7tU/

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Government's negligent attitude would not help in stopping such ...

Published on December 24, 2012 by News Desk ????? No Comments ?Print This Post

Mahendra Rathore
INVC,,
Delhi,,
Today Civil Society Group ?Aawaaz?, students of Punjab University, Dramebaaz Club and Yuva Dharti staged a protest from Rock Garden to Governor House, Haryana to demand justice for a young girl Jyoti who has been murdered by the MLA from Himachal Pradesh Ram Kumar Chaudhary and also to demand justice for a gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi exactly a week ago, and to call for more serious punishment for sexual crimes. The protest was joined by large chunk of people who were raising slogans against the government for delay in punishing the rapists. Protesters then marched towards Haryana?s Governor house with a hope that the governor may pay heed to their voice but to no avail. ?Sunil Bansal & Harjit Singh Bhullar said that such crimes and criminals should be dealt strictly so that people with such criminal mindset should not dare to think about committing such a heinous act. Aawaaz demanded that MLA who was involved in the murder of Jyoti should be hanged or at least be given stricter punishment to set an example in society. There is a public anger among the students for the lathi charge being done on them by police at Delhi. ?Gaurav Goel, Advocate & Varun Giri demanded stern action against the rapists and said government?s negligent attitude would not help in stopping such doings in society. Girls should feel safe wherever they are and it is the duty fo the government to make them feel safe.?The team of Dramebaj club led by Sparsh and his team held a street play (nukad natak) to aware the public that the girls are not safe and immediate action shakl be taken to protect the girls. The public anger is such that some have demanded the immediate execution of the rapists. ?Mandeep the student of Punjab University said the government?s failure to gauge the mood of the people and its unwillingness to engage with demonstrators has sharpened the fury and frustration of a country that is seeking urgent change in laws and safety.

Tags:? delhi, girl raped in bus, Government?s negligent attitude would not help in stopping such doings in society : Gaurav Goel, india, invc

Source: http://www.internationalnewsandviews.com/governments-negligent-attitude-would-not-help-in-stopping-such-doings-in-society-gaurav-goel/

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Subdued mood on the last holiday shopping weekend

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 photo, people walk through the Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach, Calif. A confluence of factors has led to a muted approach to holiday shopping in 2012 - bad news for retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December and were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season. The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 photo, people walk through the Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach, Calif. A confluence of factors has led to a muted approach to holiday shopping in 2012 - bad news for retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December and were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season. The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 photo, people walk through a mall in Orlando, Fla. A confluence of factors has led to a muted approach to holiday shopping in 2012 - bad news for retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December and were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season. The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after Thanksgiving. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Last-minute Christmas shoppers crowd the Willowbrook Mall searching for gifts, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Wayne, N.J. This holiday season, Americans have a lot on their minds on top of the now familiar job worries. (AP Photo/The Record (Bergen County NJ), Chris Pedota) ONLINE OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO ARCHIVING; MANDATORY CREDIT.

Last-minute Christmas shoppers crowd the Willowbrook Mall searching for gifts, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Wayne, N.J. This holiday season, Americans have a lot on their minds on top of the now familiar job worries. (AP Photo/The Record (Bergen County NJ), Chris Pedota) ONLINE OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO ARCHIVING; MANDATORY CREDIT.

ATLANTA (AP) ? Christmas shoppers thronged malls and pounced on discounts but apparently spent less this year, their spirits dampened by concerns about the economy and the aftermath of shootings and storms.

Talk about more than just the usual job worries to cloud the mood: Confidence among U.S. consumers dipped to its lowest point in December since July amid rising economic worries, according to a monthly index released Friday.

Marshal Cohen, chief research analyst at NPD Inc., a market research firm with a network of analysts at shopping centers nationwide, estimates customer traffic over the weekend was in line with the same time a year ago, but that shoppers seem to be spending less.

"There was this absence of joy for the holiday," Cohen said. "There was no Christmas spirit. There have been just too many distractions."

Shoppers are increasingly worried about the "fiscal cliff" deadline ? the possibility that a stalemate between Congress and the White House over the U.S. budget could trigger a series of tax increases and spending cuts starting Jan. 1

The recent Newtown, Conn., school shooting also dampened shoppers' spirits atop the fall's retail woes after Superstorm Sandy's passage up the East Coast.

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, which account for 24 percent of retail sales nationwide, were tripped up by Sandy when the enormous storm clobbered the region in late October, disrupting businesses and households for weeks.

All that spelled glum news for retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December. They were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season.

The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after Thanksgiving.

After a strong Black Friday weekend, the four-day weekend that starts on Thanksgiving, when sales rose 2.7 percent, the lull that usually follows has been even more pronounced. Sales fell 4.3 percent for the week ended Dec. 15, according to the latest figures from ShopperTrak, which counts foot traffic and its own proprietary sales numbers from 40,000 retail outlets across the country. On Wednesday, ShopperTrak cut its forecast for holiday spending down to 2.5 percent growth to $257.7 billion, from prior expectations of a 3.3 percent rise.

Online, sales rose just 8.4 percent to $48 billion from Oct. 28 through Saturday, according to a measure by MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse. That is below the online sales growth of between 15 to 17 percent seen in the prior 18-month period, according to the data service, which tracks all spending across all forms of payment, including cash.

At the malls, overall promotions were up 2 to 3 percent from last year heading into the pre-Christmas weekend, after being down 5 percent earlier in the season, according to BMO Capital Markets sales rack index, which tracks the depth and breadth of discounts.

Attempting to drum up enthusiasm, retailers have expanded hours and stepped up discounts.

At The Garden State Plaza, teen retailer Aeropostale discounted all clothing and accessories by 60 percent. Charles David, Cachet and AnnTaylor had cut prices by 50 percent of all merchandise. At AnnTaylor, racks of discounted clothes had been marked down by an additional 25 percent. One dress, originally priced at $118, was marked down to $49 but with the additional 25 percent, it cost $21.30.

But the deals at the mall failed to impress Wendy McCloskey, 35, of Lebanon, Ind., who started her holiday shopping Sunday at the Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis. A snow storm that blustered through the Midwest this week delayed her shopping plans, and a busy schedule with her children also got in the way.

"I was so surprised. I figured they'd have better deals," she said.

And at The Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., Linda Fitzgerald said she didn't feel like shopping this season, facing a sister's cancer diagnosis atop worries about the economy and the Connecticut shooting.

"It's so hard to put yourself in the mood," said Linda Fitzgerald, a 51-year-old nurse from Yonkers who went out weekend shopping with her 17-month-old granddaughter in tow.

___

Anne D'Innocenzio reported from New York. Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-24-AP-US-Holiday-Shopping/id-cc5e9a592e0a42a7962db882da40e676

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How Will We Get Fit In 2013? - MotleyHealth

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Stability Balls and Core Training are Losing Popularity

Every year the fitness industry changes. New products and ideas lead to new ways for people to get fit. Often the new ways are no better than the old ways, but people do like change. Dr. Walter Thompson from the?Department of Kinesiology and Health at Georgia State University has predicted the main trends in fitness for 2013. His report,?which?was?published?in?ACSM?S Health & Fitness Journal?looks at commercial, corporate, medical and community fitness and health. This is the 7th year that the ACSM have prepared this report, and it also looks at the fitness losers, and finds that Pilates and stability balls are continuing to lose favor for the?third?year in a row. One of the new trends is bodyweight training, something that we at MotleyHealth are great fans of. Maybe the changing economic situation is prompting more people to exercise at home?

Dr. Thomson hopes that the report will help fitness professionals make better investment decisions. The report is very clear that it is looking at trends in fitness, and not reporting on fitness fads, which are often short-term activities promoted by commercial interests.

The fitness survey looked at 37 possible trends for 2013 and the top 25 trends from previous years. People from various sectors (as mentioned above) were given a short?questionnaire?to complete which used the?Likert scale (when you are asking if your strongly disagree, neutral, agree,?etc.).?3,346 responses were used in the study. So, here is a breakdown of the predicted fitness trends for 2012.

1.?Educated, Certified, and Experienced Fitness Professionals

This is expected to continue to be the most popular way for people to get fit. It has been the case for the last 6 years now. This includes personal trainers, fitness instructors, martial arts teachers and sports coaches. This trend has been recognised by the?U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, who have stated that jobs in the fitness industry are set to rise.

2. Strength Training

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Strength training / weight training has been the second most popular method for two years now. It includes people who only use strength training, such as bodybuilders, and people who incorporate strength training into a wider fitness regime, such as those who do CrossFit are a variety of different types of exercise.

Strength training has also been suggested as a good way to ward off Type 2 Diabetes, and also to help manage diabetes, so many people are performing?regular?strength training now for this very reason, as well as for improving fitness after other medical conditions. Strength training remains popular in all areas of fitness, from commercial and corporate to clinical and community.

3. Bodyweight Training

2013 is the first year that bodyweight training has appeared on the list. This is really quite a surprise ? it is long overdue! Possibly the main reason why it was not a trend before is simply because it was never on the survey ? the?ACSM never asked about it. Why? Well, although bodyweight training has been a standard way to exercise for years, since exercise began in fact, it was not until recently that it was promoted in gyms.

Bodyweight training is not limited to pull-ups, push ups and crunches, but can also include new technologies such as the TRX system which uses suspension ropes to add resistance.

4. Children and Obesity

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This means exercise programs that are specifically designed for children who are overweight. Obesity is a huge problem which goes beyond just a reduction in activity levels ? you can learn much more about the causes and possible solutions in our?article?The Global Obesity Crisis.

Both commercial and community based programs to tackle obesity are playing a more important role for school-age children.

5. Exercise and Weight Loss

This is excellent news. It may seem obvious to our regular readers, but the trend of combining exercise with diet to help people to lose weight is still relatively new. For many years weight loss was dominated by businesses selling replacement food supplements and diet plans. For many years Atkins and Zone (diet systems) were more popular than systems such as the 31 Day Fat Loss Cure, a plan that combines healthy eating with regular, intensive exercise (much of which is?bodyweight?exercise, and the rest strength training!).

In 2009, Exercise and weight Loss was ranked 18th, in 2010 it had hopped to 12th, then in 2011 it was 7th and last year it reached 4th place.

?The combination of exercise and diet is essential for weight loss maintenance and can improve compliance to caloric restriction diets and in particular weight loss programs.? -?Dr. Walter Thompson, 2012.

6. Fitness Programs for Older Adults

As we all live longer, but suffer from more chronic disease, there is a growing demand for structured exercise programs for the elderly. Fitness clubs have learned to?capitalise?on the older generation too,?many?of whom are wealthier and have more leisure time than people who are still working, or trying to work.

7. Personal Training

Due to the growing demand for fitness professionals, more people are becoming personal trainers. If you are fit and healthy you can become a personal trainer with just a few months of intensive tuition which will provide you with a certificate that recognised by professional health and fitness bodies. In America there has been talk of plans to bring in some legislation to licence personal trainers, but for the moment it is still an easy industry to get in to.

8. Functional Fitness

Functional fitness is any activity with a specific purpose, such as strength training to improve balance and endurance training to build fitness, sometimes done as a means of recovery after an illness or trauma. Over the last 5 years it is become less important. It is still largely done by older people.

9.?Core Training

Core training is?specific?exercise which strengthens the ?core muscles?, i.e, the muscles of the waist, hips and lower back. Stability balls are often used in core training and it is an area of fitness that has?received?a lot of commercial attention. Core training may be losing its popularity as people realise that a total body approach is best for health, fitness and strength.

10. Group Personal Training

Group personal training is carried out by personal trainers but to small private groups, usually of a few friends or colleagues with the same interests and goals. It means that they can pay around 1/4 of the cost of a personal trainer in a one-to-one class and still get very good tuition. In 2007 group personal training was 19th and it has been rising since. Again, changes in the global economic environment and changing attitudes to fitness training is driving this up the?leader board.

Reference

?Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2013? by?Thompson, Walter R. Ph.D., FACSM.?ACSM?S Health & Fitness Journal:?November/December 2012 ? Volume 16 ? Issue 6 ? p 8?17. doi: 10.1249/01.FIT.0000422568.47859.35

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Source: http://www.motleyhealth.com/fitness/how-will-we-get-fit-in-2013

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