Pete Thamel: Florida State vs. Northern Illinois Orange Bowl Breakdown

Orange Bowl Preview: Florida State vs. NIU

Source: SI

Andy Staples and Pete Thamel break down the Orange Bowl matchup between Florida State and NIU.

Bjoern Werner headlines a Florida State defensive line that could disrupt Northern Illinois' normally potent offense.

Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Florida State (11-2) vs. NIU (12-1)
Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

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There's always plenty of action down on South Beach around New Year's. This January, there will also be plenty of MACtion: Northern Illinois became the first MAC team to reach a BCS game, crashing the Orange Bowl to take on heavily favored Florida State. But instead of toasting the visitors, everyone from television executives (under their breath) to TV commentators (out loud) has questioned NIU's inclusion in the game.

Consider The Herbstreit Referendum this game's ultimate storyline after ESPN commentator Kirk Herbstreit lambasted the Huskies on ESPN's bowl selection show. Was he stumping for his angry pal, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops? Or are the Huskies really feeble foils for the Seminoles? If there's one thing Florida State has done consistently this past decade, it's play down to its opponents and deliver unthinkable clunker losses. (This season's loss to NC State being the latest example.) Will quarterback Jordan Lynch and the Huskies deliver enough MACtion to get an equal or opposite reaction from Herbstreit and the other doubters?

Points of interest

1. Ending the drought: It's hard to believe, but Florida State hasn't won a BCS game since the 1999 season, when it beat Virginia Tech in the second BCS championship game. Before apathy and atrophy overtook the program at the end of Bobby Bowden's tenure, FSU was a regular in the top-tier bowl games, appearing in nine straight from 1992-2000. But the Seminoles haven't appeared in a game of this magnitude since 2005, an inexcusable drought for an allegedly elite program. A loss to Northern Illinois would be a giant step back for a program that can't seem to get out of its own way.

BCS simulations: EA Sports predicts narrow FSU win

Senior quarterback EJ Manuel, who has bridged the gap between the Bowden and Jimbo Fisher eras, said the Orange Bowl is an important step for the Seminoles. He isn't falling into the Herbstreit trap. "We're not taking these guys lightly," Manuel said of NIU.

2. Ground Jordan: Lynch, NIU's dual-threat quarterback, put up eye-popping numbers all season. He leads the nation in rushing (1,771) and total offense (4,733) and is tied for second in points responsible for (258). Lynch sounded offended when I asked him if he thought NIU could move the ball against FSU. He believes his ability to run will be important. "My legs are important in almost every game," Lynch said. "It keeps defenses honest in what they do."

Those who haven't seen Lynch shouldn't expect a frantic scrambler. He's a quarterback who doubles as a power back. "He's a tailback, he's a downhill runner," former Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit said of Lynch's bruising style.

3. Simple does it: Three different Huskies went out of their way to point out the simplicity of the FSU defense. But as the old clich? goes, the Jimmys and Joes are often more important than the Xs and Os. FSU has three top-tier draft prospects on its defensive line, including Bjoern Werner, who led the ACC with 13 sacks and 18 tackles for loss this season. Werner projects as a top 10 pick in April's draft.

PAULINE: NFL draft prospects to watch in Orange Bowl

Northern Illinois doesn't expect anything too fancy from the schematically vanilla Seminoles. "They're physically gifted and they know it and will play you straight and say, 'We're better than you,'" said NIU offensive lineman Matt Krempel. On New Year's Day, we'll see if they are right.

Burning question

Can Lynch play with the big boys? Lynch has only been a starter for a year. His body of work, including a 12-game winning streak and a bushel of broken records, can't be questioned. But the quality of the opponent is about to take a drastic up-tick. Lynch will have to make quicker decisions, as FSU's team speed will close running lanes quicker and put pressure on Lynch that he hasn't yet experienced. A strong performance here, though, and Lynch should enter next season as a top-five Heisman candidate.

X-factor

NIU's aerial assault: The FSU game plan seems obvious: stack the box to slow down Lynch and make him beat the Seminoles over the top. Lynch knows this and likes it. "If they try taking me away and stacking the box we have Martel Moore and Tommylee (Lewis) on the outsides, and their speed can match up with Florida State's speed," Lynch said. "Keeping them one-on-one is a great matchup for us." Cubit's Western Michigan team played NIU this year, and the coach said Lynch's arm strength was what surprised him in live action. If Moore and Lewis can find space in man coverage, Lynch will need to get them the ball.

Statistically speaking

18: NIU ranks No. 18 nationally in scoring defense, allowing 19 points per game. That's an impressive number considering how frequently the Huskies score, a rate that gives their opponents numerous opportunities of their own. The Huskies play a four-man front and pride themselves on getting pressure without blitzing. That front will face a stiff challenge attempting to contain the mobile and dangerous Manuel.

Final analysis

Florida State has been so consistently inconsistent, especially under bright lights, that it's hard to be too optimistic about the 'Noles. But the reality is that they're exponentially more talented than the Huskies. Best not to overthink this one and simply watch superior athletes dominate, especially in the trenches.

The pick

Florida State 31, NIU 11

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20121229/orange-bowl-preview/index.html

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Feeling you shouldn?t have dumped her

By Ken Y-N ( December 31, 2012 at 01:44) ? Filed under Polls, Rankings

Not a very festive note to end the year on, but I liked the topic of this goo Ranking, into the moments when one realises one still has feelings for their ex, for both women and their ex-boyfriends and men and their ex-girlfriends.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 7th of November 2012 1,049 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.8% of the sample were female, 10.2% in their teens, 14.6% in their twenties, 27.5% in their thirties, 25.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 11.7% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

I?ve never had the experience of this myself, but I remember one time putting my foot in it with a rather tactless email to a friend about his ex which probably put him in situation number 8 for the men. I?m not going to tell you the details, however, at least not in a space where my mother is listening!

The difference in roles in Japanese society is highlighted by comparing the female #11, a hidden high salary, to the male #12, hidden housework skills. A recent survey (which I should really translate!) highlighted that 51% of Japanese men thought basically that the woman?s place is in the kitchen.

Ranking results

Q1: What moments make you realise you still have feelings for your ex-boyfriend? (Sample size=617, female)

Rank	?	Score
1	When I feel the pain of being unable to find a kindred spirit like my ex	100
2	When I bump into my ex and see he?s become drop-dead gorgeous	96.2
3	When I realise that I hadn?t noticed that my ex was my precious emotional support	83.7
4	When I see my ex and his new girlfriend starting to give off the air of a good match	63.0
5	When I realise my ex has more good points than my current boyfriend	62.0
6	When I see my ex looking really happy with his new girlfriend	50.5
7	When I find out one of my friends has her eye on my ex	49.5
8	When I bump into my ex in the street and I get all excited when I talk	45.7
9	When I find out that my ex is really popular with the in crowd	43.8
10	When I find out that my ex is going up in the world	31.7
11	When I find out that although he hid it from me, my ex has a high salary	28.8
12	When I get turned down by another guy	24.0
13	When I realise that my ex never once got lippy with me	20.7
14	When I find out that although he hid it from me, my ex is from a well set-up family	19.2
15	When my ex took getting dumped in his stride, and still keeps in touch as before	18.3

Q2: What moments make you realise you still have feelings for your ex-girlfriend? (Sample size=432, male)

Rank	?	Score
1	When I bump into my ex and see she?s become drop-dead gorgeous	100
2	When I feel the pain of being unable to find a kindred spirit like my ex	75.0
3	When I realise that I hadn?t noticed that my ex meant the world to me	62.0
4	When I see my ex and her new boyfriend starting to give off the air of a good match	43.5
5	When I realise my ex has more good points than my current girlfriend	42.6
6	When I bump into my ex in the street and I get all excited when I talk	41.7
7	When I get turned down by another girl	31.5
8	When I find out one of my friends has his eye on my ex	30.6
9	When my ex took getting dumped in her stride, and still keeps in touch as before	26.9
10	When I find out that my ex is really popular with the in crowd	24.1
11	When I see my ex looking really happy with her new boyfriend	21.3
12	When I find out that my ex is a star at cooking, other housework	16.7
13	When I get dumped by my current girlfriend	15.7
14	When I find out that my ex is going up in the world	12.0
15	When I find out that although she hid it from me, my ex has a high salary	11.1

Read more on: ex,goo ranking,love

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2012 top business stories: Oregon retail scene sees plenty of activity ...

The biggest, most tragic news of 2012 in local retail will likely continue to shake the community for a good portion of the year to come.

A masked gunman, later identified as 22-year-old Jacob Roberts, opened fire Dec. 11 near the food court at Clackamas Town Center, killing two adults and seriously injuring a teenage girl. Terrified shoppers dropped purses, shopping bags and strollers as they made for the doors. Others ducked into stores and sat for hours with employees as police searched for the gunman, who subsequently killed himself in a back hallway.

The violence chilled shoppers young and old who came to realize how safe they'd once felt in malls, especially during the holidays.

Retailers at Westfield Southcenter in Seattle, where a teenager was killed in a gang-related shooting in 2008, said it can take six months to a year to regain some sense of normalcy.

Indeed, people returned to Clackamas, shopping and writing words of support on memorial stars along the mall's railings. On the day after Christmas, usually one of the busiest days of the year, traffic was strong, though many shoppers and store employees commented it didn't seem as busy as some years.

"A lot of people have come out to support local merchants and national ones. That's the right thing to do," said John Jost, owner of Eugene-based Excalibur Cutlery & Gifts, which was hit financially by the mall's two-day closure following the tragedy. "It does take a while for memories to fade."

In other retail news, there was plenty of activity.

Comings

In February, Target Corp. announced plans to open a City Target in downtown Portland's Galleria Building. The 89,000-square-foot location at Southwest 10th Avenue and Alder Street will feature a pharmacy and the usual fashion and home offerings. A few blocks away, across from Pioneer Place mall, will come a long-awaited mega Apple store. Development plans call for a 165-foot-long, glass-enclosed store.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which for years battled Portlanders and politicians to wend its way into the Rose City, found a way to bring its price-slashing smiley face to town: defunct grocery stores. The Arkansas-based chain opened three mini-me versions in shuttered grocery stores in Lake Oswego, Beaverton and Gresham. Wal-Mart also updated and added groceries to its Southeast Portland location and broke ground on a 90,000-square-foot store with groceries at Hayden Meadows in North Portland.

Goings

Last January, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tilman Fertitta sealed the deal on his purchase of McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. He immediately took the Portland company private and, according to many regular diners, reduced the chain's once-famous selection of local wines.

Lisa Sedlar, who joined New Seasons Market in 2005 and was named chief executive in 2010, announced she would leave the Portland-based grocery chain to launch her own line of healthy convenience stores. The grocer's leadership, which has since named Wendy Collie as CEO, liked Sedlar's idea and took a minority stake in her new venture.

Makeovers

Many of the metro area's malls unveiled updates and expansions this year.

The 13-year-old Woodburn Company Stores completed its final build-out, adding 16 stores as part of a $10 million expansion that added 38,569 square feet. New names included footwear retailers The Puma Store and Crocs, and clothing retailers Maurices and Charlotte Russe. Jantzen Beach also spent the year reworking the once-enclosed mall in North Portland into a 100,000-square-foot, U-shaped design that allows shoppers to access stores from the outside. The $50 million overhaul, which will add about 30 new stores, also included a revamp of the mall's Target, which added groceries.

Westfield Vancouver installed new carpeting, sleek furniture and a couple of new retailers. The update's main attraction is a snazzy Cinetopia 23 theater, which offers massive movie screens, including one 80-footer, as well as food and cocktails delivered to moviegoers' comfy seats.

Metro-area J.C. Penney stores have gotten spiffed up, too, incorporating several flashy stores-within-stores as part of the Texas-based chain's complete overhaul. Along with the new look, the retailer no longer relies on coupons or doorbuster deals to woo customers, relying instead on "every day low prices." Initial marketing confused some shoppers and the jury's still out on whether former Apple executive Ron Johnson's leadership at the venerable chain will be a success.

Fred Meyer, the locally based subsidiary of The Kroger Co., also completed a number of regularly scheduled, though major renovations in the Portland area. The chain's Hollywood West store in Northeast Portland, which will gain a New Seasons as a neighbor just a few blocks away in 2013, unveiled an $18 million update designed by a Eugene firm. Overall, the chain will spend $40 million on renovations at three Oregon stores, including its Tualatin location, next year.

-- Laura Gunderson

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/2012_top_business_stories_oreg.html

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4 dead in Moscow airliner crash

Rescuers work at the site of careered off the runway plane at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Alexander Usoltsev)

Rescuers work at the site of careered off the runway plane at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Alexander Usoltsev)

Rescuers work at the site where a plane careered off the runway at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Rescuers work at the wreckage of a plane which careered off the runway at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Rescuers work at the site where a plane careered off the runway at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Alexander Usoltsev)

Wreckage of a plane which careered off the runway at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. A Tu-204 aircraft belonging to Russian airline Red Wings careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing several people. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

MOSCOW (AP) ? A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.

Officials said there were eight people aboard the Tu-204 belonging to Russian airline Red Wings that was flying back from the Czech Republic without passengers to its home at Vnukovo Airport.

Emergency officials said in a televised news conference that four people were killed and another four severely injured when the plane rolled off the runway into a snowy field and partly onto an adjacent highway, then disintegrated. No collisions with vehicles on the major, multilane highway were reported.

The plane's cockpit area was sheared off from the fuselage and the tail section partly torn away.

The crash occurred amid snow and winds gusting up to 15 meters a second (30 mph), but other details were not immediately known. A spokesman for Russia's top investigative agency, Vladimir Markin, said initial indications were that pilot error was the cause.

The state news agency RIA Novosti cited an unidentified official at the Russian Aviation Agency as saying another Red Wings Tu-204 had gone off the runway at the international airport in Novosibirsk in Siberia on Dec. 20. The agency said that incident, in which no one was injured, was due to the failure of the plane's engines to go into reverse upon landing and that its brake system malfunctioned.

On Friday, the Aviation Agency sent a directive to the Tupolev company's president calling for it to take urgent preventive measures.

The plane that crashed Saturday took off from Pardubice airport in the Czech Republic. Jan Anderlik, the director of the company that operates the airport, told Czech public television that the plane underwent a regular technical check before takeoff and no problems were discovered.

Prior to Saturday's crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995. The plane is a twin-engine midrange jet with a capacity of about 210 passengers.

The Red Wings airline is one of the holdings of Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, who also owns the British newspapers The Independent and the Evening Standard.

Vnukovo, on the southern outskirts of Moscow, is one of the Russian capital's three international airports.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, and Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-29-Russia-Plane%20Crash/id-6ced387b50064cf0913da5851cf4ed6a

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20 Pack Of High Achiever Educational Computer Software Fun and ...

About 20 Pack Of High Achiever Educational Computer Software Fun and Entertaining for Middle and High School Students Grades 6 7 8 9 10 11 and 12th Grade Math Mathematics Algebra Geometry Trigonometry Study Skills US History Government English Spelling Science

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White House meeting a last stab at a fiscal deal

President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returns early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returns early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Md., pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, where he urged House Republicans to end the pro forma session and call the House back into legislative session to negotiate a solution to the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama was preparing to present a limited fiscal proposal to congressional leaders at a White House meeting Friday, a make-or-break moment for negotiations to avoid across-the-board tax increases and deep spending cuts at the first of the year.

Lawmakers and White House officials held out a slim hope for a deal before the new year, but it remained unclear whether congressional passage of legislation palatable to both sides was even possible.

The Friday afternoon meeting among congressional leaders and the president ? their first since Nov. 16 ? was likely to center on which income thresholds would face higher tax rates, extending unemployment insurance, and preventing a cut in Medicare payments to doctors, among other issues.

For Obama, the eleventh-hour scramble represented a test of how he would balance strength derived from his re-election against an avowed commitment to compromise in the face of divided government. Despite early talk of a grand bargain between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner that would reduce deficits by more than $2 trillion, the expectations were now far less ambitious.

Although there were no guarantees of a deal, Republicans and Democrats said privately that any agreement would likely include an extension of middle-class tax cuts with increased rates at upper incomes, an Obama priority that was central to his re-election campaign.

A key question was whether Obama would agree to abandon his insistence during the campaign on raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year and instead accept a $400,000 threshold like the one he offered in negotiations with Boehner. Another was whether Republicans would seek a higher income threshold.

The deal would also likely put off the scheduled spending cuts. Such a year-end bill could also include an extension of expiring unemployment benefits, a reprieve for doctors who face a cut in Medicare payments and possibly a short-term measure to prevent dairy prices from soaring, officials said.

If a deal was not possible, it would become evident at Friday's White House meeting, and Obama and the leaders would leave a resolution for the next Congress to address in January.

Such a delay could unnerve the stock market, which edged lower for a fifth day Friday amid worries that lawmakers would fail to reach a budget deal. Economists say that if the tax increases are allowed to hit most Americans and if the spending cuts aren't scaled back, the recovering but fragile economy could sustain a traumatizing shock.

Obama called for the meeting as top lawmakers on Thursday alternately cast blame on each other while portraying themselves as open to a reasonable last-minute bargain.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid all but conceded that any effort at this late date was a long shot. "I don't know timewise how it can happen now," he said.

The No. 2 Senate GOP leader, Jon Kyl of Arizona, said it is "pretty unlikely" that Senate Republicans would agree to legislation averting the fiscal cliff if it wouldn't pass muster in the House.

"If you know the House isn't going to do something, why go through the charade?" he told reporters. "That becomes political gamesmanship."

Obama and Reid, D-Nev., would have to propose a package that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would agree not to block with procedural steps that require 60 votes to overcome.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said he still thinks a deal could be struck.

The Democrat told NBC's "Today" show Friday that he believes the "odds are better than people think."

Schumer said he based his optimism on indications that McConnell has gotten "actively engaged" in the talks.

Appearing on the same show, Republican Sen. John Thune noted the meeting scheduled later Friday at the White House, saying "it's encouraging that people are talking."

But Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., predicted that "the worst-case scenario" could emerge from Friday's talks.

"We will kick the can down the road," he said on "CBS This Morning."

"We'll do some small deal and we'll create another fiscal cliff to deal with the fiscal cliff," he said. Corker complained that there has been "a total lack of courage, lack of leadership," in Washington.

If a deal were to pass the Senate, Boehner would have to agree to take it to the floor in the Republican-controlled House.

Boehner discussed the fiscal cliff with Republican members in a conference call Thursday and advised them that the House would convene Sunday evening. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of the speaker, said Boehner told the lawmakers that "he didn't really intend to put on the floor something that would pass with all the Democratic votes and few of the Republican votes."

But Cole did not rule out Republican support for some increase in tax rates, noting that Boehner had amassed about 200 Republican votes for a plan last week to raise rates on Americans earning $1 million or more. Boehner ultimately did not put the plan to a House floor vote in the face of opposition from Republican conservatives and a unified Democratic caucus.

"The ultimate question is whether the Republican leaders in the House and Senate are going to push us over the cliff by blocking plans to extend tax cuts for the middle class," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. "Ironically, in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires, they will be responsible for the largest tax increase in history."

Boehner, McConnell, Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are all scheduled to attend Friday's White House meeting with Obama. Vice President Joe Biden will also participate in the meeting, the White House said.

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Charles Babington and David Espo contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-12-28-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-95703bbcc26e4b5b8dfd9213cbe127ad

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The Free Internet Survived 2012, But Will It Be That Lucky Next Year ...

2012 was a dangerous year for the free Internet. Lawmakers and global stakeholders all took a shot at policing and regulating the Internet over the past year to no avail. That doesn?t mean they?ve given up, and 2013 could prove disastrous if certain parties have their way.

To that end, it would be advantageous to look back on all the bills, treaties, etc that threatened the Internet in 2012. As they say, those who don?t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Internet freedom fighters will have to learn from tactics employed this year to recognize threats to a free Internet before they even emerge.

Were you concerned for the free Internet in 2012? Do you think next year will be worse or better??Let us know in the comments.

The first battle over the free Internet came in January as the much debated?SOPA and PIPA?came up for vote in Congress. The bills were designed to combat copyright infringement online, but the powers granted to the government to do so were sweeping and overly broad. SOPA in particular gave government the power to censor Web sites on the DNS level thereby removing them from general access to most users. Potential for abuse was high and many feared that the bill would be used to destroy innovation and protect legacy businesses that have yet to adapt to how the Internet does business.

Worryingly enough, it looked like both bills would actually see smooth sailing through both the Senate and the House. Then the Internet banded together and?launched a blackout campaignthat saw many popular sites like Wikipedia going dark to show people what a world with SOPA could potentially look like. The tactic worked as thousands of concerned citizens?called their representatives?telling them to vote no on SOPA and PIPA. The bills were finally?taken off the table for good?in October.

After the threat of SOPA and PIPA subsided, a new threat emerged. It had free Internet proponents even more concerned as it was as international treaty that sought to rewrite international law in favor of large corporate interests. The treaty was called the?Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA for short, and it contained a number of worrying implications. The most concerning part of the treaty was that it would require ISPs around the world to ?monitor and censor online communications.? It was not only a threat to free speech on the Internet, but a major threat to online privacy as well.

After many parts of the treaty were leaked, citizens in countries across Europe took to the streets to protest. The protests worked as many countries refused to ratify the treaty and it was finally dealt a death blow in July as the European Parliament?voted against it.?The treaty was?officially shelved,?at least in Europe, earlier in December.

All the previous treaties and bills only sought to remove copyright infringing material from the Internet. It?s bad, but it could be worse. Our friends in Washington took on that challenge when lawmakers introduced?CISPA and CSA?? two bills that aimed to tackle cybersecurity, but threatened to violate any privacy that U.S. citizens may have online. CISPA was definitely more worrisome as it?had the support of those who opposed SOPA?just a few months prior. The new bill garnered support because it made it easier for companies to share information with government bodies without having to worry about lawsuits from those whose information was shared without consent.

Like the previous bills thus far, both were killed before getting very far.?CISPA was able to pass the House, but its Senate counterpart, CSA, was killed time and time again. The latest attempt for passage happened in mid-November with the bill?being officially killed?for the last time.

The biggest threat by far, however, happened earlier in December when delegates around the world met to discuss an update to a decades old telecommunications treaty. The ITU, or International Telecommunications Union, was met with skepticism as some felt less than scrupulous members of the global community would use the meeting as an opportunity to?seize control of the Internet. They did not disappoint as China, Saudia Arabia and others?introduced a last minute change?to the treaty that would have given them more power over the Internet. The treaty was?rejected by the U.S.?and much of Europe though, and it was unceremoniously killed.

Do you think these were legitimate threats to the free Internet? Were Internet freedom proponents blowing the potential threat of these bills and treaties out of proportion?Let us know in the comments.

As the above illustrates, 2012 was one hell of a year for Internet censorship and regulations. All of it was defeated, however, and tired Internet freedom fighters can rest easy knowing that the Internet is no longer under attack, right? Wrong. 2013 is shaping up to be an even worse year for proposed Internet regulation as various treaties and bills from 2012 are sticking around into the new year while new treaties and bills will obviously be proposed in due time.

Speaking of relics from 2012, TPP is a prime example of a trade agreement that refuses to die. The?Trans-Pacific Partnership?is much like ACTA, but it seeks to establish better trade relations between the U.S. and Southeast Asia. It?s similarities to ACTA don?t end there, however, as the treaty is negotiated in complete secrecy without any input from the public or Congress. In fact, many members of Congress are lobbying to have the USTR?make negotiations more transparentsince they have the constitutional right of approving treaties.

So, where does TPP stand in 2013? It could go either way to be honest. We keep hearing tales of how the treaty is constantly on its last legs as Southeast Asian countries are?starting to realize it?s not good?for their economy, but the secrecy in which it?s being negotiated makes it hard to tell just how close it is to either death or ratification.

Another worrisome trade agreement to look out for in 2013 is CETA ? the?Canada-European Union Trade Agreement. It doesn?t directly affect the U.S., but the treaty?s passage could spell trouble for the free Internet around the world as the treaty contains much of the same language that made ACTA so horrible. If ratified, the treaty could be seen as proof that ACTA wasn?t so bad and new attempts to ratify similar treaties could take hold around the world.

The last relic left over from 2012 is?Clean IT?? an European Commission project that seeks to censor the Internet in the name of protecting citizens from terrorism. The concern is that the project does little to actually stop terrorism and does everything in its power to use the Internet to monitor citizens in everything that they do. What?s worse is that the project turns people into Internet vigilantes where they can submit content that they feel is terroristic or otherwise ?bad? to have it removed and those who fail to report any ?bad? material would be punished.

As you can see, 2013 is already looking pretty grim and these are just the leftovers from 2012. There?s bound to be more laws, treaties and projects introduced in 2013 that will make SOPA, ACTA and others look like bastions of Internet freedom in comparison.

The free Internet has been a major force of change in the world, and some clearly don?t like that whether they be a legacy business that refuses to adapt or a world power that wants to subjugate its citizens even in the digital world. Either way, the Internet has proven to be resilient to any threats against it thus far and 2013 may prove to be its biggest test yet. It will be fascinating to see how the Internet and those who use it respond.

Cited from?http://www.webpronews.com/

Source: http://www.seochampion.com/seoblog/the-free-internet-survived-2012-but-will-it-be-that-lucky-next-year.php

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GreggBrain reporting for duty! - ADK= Gaming Community

Hello everyone, my name is Gregg... or commonly in-game I'm GreggBrain.

HOW I GOT HERE:

My first day in Planetside 2 I was invited to the TDK outfit by ProtossMaster, which surprised me since the outfit was actually organized rather than a complete mess of pubbers. I signed up on this site but lost track of time and didn't have a chance to come back and read what I needed to (rules, intro, recruitment, etc).

WHO I AM:

I'm 27 years old and live in central California. I work for Frito-Lay as a manager (from the ranks of an hourly packer) and we make Lays, Ruffles, Tostitos, Doritos, Sunchips, and Cheetos at my facility. My gaming career started with consoles but my first computer, a Dell (when they were a good company), got me into PC gaming. Ever since I've built my own rigs by hand and thankfully have fixed more than I've broken.

As a hobby I love to cook and as of this post I just recently got done baking several hundred (if not more) cookies for friends and family this Christmas.

WHAT I DO IN-GAME:

Medics/healers are always my specialty. K/D ratio means nothing if I can heal and/or resurrect my peers in battle. In fact, support in general is what I do best and if I have a competent leader I will follow wherever I need to be at any given point.

Well??I think that's as best a summary about myself as anyone would be interested in. All I can say now is... I'm glad to be here!

Edited by GreggBrain, Yesterday, 10:08 PM.

Source: http://www.adkgamers.com/topic/21952-greggbrain-reporting-for-duty/

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Communications Lead | Millennium Consulting, Inc.

?Our Metro West client is seeking a Communications Lead. Job #7376

?

The role will:

• Design and document communications plan

• Lead in?client communications and pull together requirements from core team for development and design of Town Hall presentations

• Work with all levels of Champions (regional, steering committee members, core team, process teams) holding meetings as required to standardize messages, gather feedback, etc.

• Develop regular communications regarding company and ensure all program members adhere to communications plan

?

?

Millennium Consulting, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.

Please contact our staff with your inquiry about this position.

Source: http://www.millennium-consulting.com/2012/12/19/communications-lead/

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iStopMotion for iPad 2 Is Here and You?re Going to Like the Sound of It

Puchheim, Germany ? Arriving just in time for the holidays, iStopMotion for iPad 2 gives moviemakers of all ages and skill levels new audio tools to make their animations sound even better. New iStopMotion audio capabilities mimic the ingenuity of the platform that hosts it, the iPad, providing a variety of ways to incorporate sound and flex your creative genius.

?In the 10 years since we launched iStopMotion for the Mac, we have crossed boundaries and pushed ourselves and the available technology to the limit,? said Oliver Breidenbach, CEO, Boinx Software. ?From its inception in 2002 to the latest incarnation, iStopMotion has captured people?s imagination and garnered critical acclaim. Being named one of the Best Apps of 2012 by the Mac App Store is proof that creating stop motion movies is more relevant and popular than ever, and that makes us very proud. The launch of iStopMotion for iPad 2 is the next step in our success story, adding the second most important moviemaking feature to the app ? sound. What is a movie without sound, after all? To top it all off, we?re celebrating 10 years with 10 days of insane discounts for iStopMotion for iPad and iStopMotion for Mac.?

No matter where it comes from ? iTunes, Dropbox, the highly popular music website SoundCloud or another iPad app ? iStopMotion for iPad 2 provides the workspace and toolbox to manage audio easily, including a sound waveform in the Timeline. Users can record soundtracks directly in the app before capturing animations, dub them after the fact or import pre-recorded soundtracks. The brand new Navigator displays the complete animation at a glance, letting moviemakers scrub through frames easily. With better control and more sound effects, users can convey the full emotion of their animation whether it is a drama, comedy or thriller.

New Features in iStopMotion for iPad 2

Step Inside the App and Get Lost in the Music:
Animators can now record audio right inside iStopMotion for iPad, either before capturing frames or after while watching the clips play back. Already have the script written? Record it into iStopMotion for iPad 2 then animate frames to the soundtrack. Or work vice versa. The app provides ultimate control over recording, including an option to limit the sound bite to the length of the current clip and an audio reader displaying the audio signal coming into the iPad. By default, the app uses the iPad?s built-in microphone, but animators can use any microphone or other sound input device compatible with the iPad. Preview the sound to ensure it?s just right, then enjoy watching and listening to your original masterpiece.

An Endless Supply of Audio:
With music libraries overflowing with songs, a multitude of programs to create original music and sound effects galore available on the Internet, we?re inundated with sound. Now, iStopMotion for iPad provides even more ways of importing those external audio files into a stop motion animation or time lapse film. In addition to pulling in music from the iPad?s Music Library, animators can import music or a pre-recorded soundtrack from Dropbox or SoundCloud, or copy audio files prepared on a computer to iStopMotion for iPad 2 via iTunes File Sharing. iPad pros can even use a separate app, like djay from Algoriddim, to create audio and open it in iStopMotion.

Help Along the Way is Music To Your Ears:
Getting started, iStopMotion for iPad?s ?Working with Audio? guide will assist all moviemakers with adding in sound, whether they?re recording audio within the app or importing it from one of its many sources. After audio is recorded, an audio waveform appears on top of the animation?s timeline. With a visual representation of their movie?s sound, animators can easily recognize significant events in the soundtrack, making it easy to match sound with the animation. Imported audio files are automatically stored in iStopMotion for iPad?s audio library for future use.

Get the Full Picture With a Brand New Navigator:
iStopMotion for iPad 2 now features a Navigator in addition to the classic Timeline, which displays the full animation from start to finish at a glance. Animators can click and drag the Navigator?s slider to scrub through clips or quick-jump to specific scenes by tapping the desired section. The Navigator can also be hidden to provide a larger workspace for animating.

Special Pricing and Availability:
To celebrate the 10 Year Anniversary of the iStopMotion product family, for a limited time only, iStopMotion for iPad 2 is available from the App Store for just 4.99 USD (regularly 9.99 USD) or as a free upgrade for existing users. Its companion app, iStopMotion Remote Camera, is also available now from the App Store for free. Give the gift of animation by gifting iStopMotion for iPad 2 to friends and family. iStopMotion for the Mac is also on sale for just 19.99 USD. But hurry! Special pricing for both apps ends December 28th! Members of the media are invited to review iStopMotion for iPad 2. For more information, please contact Anya Oskolkova.

Boinx Software
iStopMotion for iPad 2.0
Purchase and Download
Screenshot
App Icon

Boinx Software Ltd. is located in Puchheim, near Munich, Germany. Boinx Software develops award-winning animation, video production and photography software for the Mac(R) platform and iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Boinx iStopMotion, available for Mac and iPad, is the leading solution for stop motion animation and time-lapse capture, used by many thousands of enthusiastic animators at home, in schools, in advertising agencies and professional animation studios. iStopMotion for the Mac was named one of the Best Apps of 2012 on the Mac App Store. Boinx FotoMagico, winner of two Apple Design Awards ? ?Best Mac OS X Leopard Graphics and Media Application Runner-up 2008? and ?Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner-up 2006? ? is a presentation tool for professional photographers. BoinxTV, winner of the ?Apple Design Award 2009,? is revolutionary live production software that turns any Mac into a TV studio. Boinx PhotoPresenter, winner of the Apple Design Award 2005 ?Best Mac OS X Student Product,? is a quick slideshow tool with a variety of pre-built templates. Boinx Mousepose is the indispensable mouse pointer-highlighting tool for users developing presentations, training or demos.

This entry was posted on in the wee hours at in the early morning and is filed under Latest News!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.maconlysource.com/03-latest-news/istopmotion-for-ipad-2-is-here-and-youre-going-to-like-the-sound-of-it/

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Sources: Manny Diaz staying at Texas

December, 19, 2012

Dec 19

8:30

AM ET

Texas defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is staying put, pulling out of consideration to become Florida International's new head coach.

From our news story:

A source close to Diaz said he decided to stay at Texas because he's excited about the program's future. The source went on to say Diaz wants to get the defense back where it was as one of the nation's best.

Good move from Diaz. He has the personnel to get this defense back to where it once was, and his predecessor left to become the head coach at Florida. You know, big Florida. Diaz doesn't have Will Muschamp's experience, but he can get a better job eventually than FIU, even though it's back near his home in South Florida.

• ESPN.com Big 12 blogger
• Joined ESPN.com in 2010
• Wrote for The Oklahoman

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/61676/sources-diaz-staying-at-texas

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Reality shows accused of faking it in 2012

A&E / Getty Images (2)

Hope Solo of "DWTS," Dave Hester of "Storage Wars," and Kim Kardashian of "Kourtney and Kim Take New York."

By Anna Chan, TODAY

Like all television shows, reality programs require some type of editing. Whether it's cutting a scene a certain way to heighten the drama, or putting a contestant who isn't necessarily at risk of elimination into the bottom three to encourage voting, it's all part of producing a reality show meant to intrigue and entertain viewers.

But this year, it seemed more reality show participants stepped forward to accuse their programs of crossing the line into scripted territory.?

'Kourtney and Kim Take New York'
Media coverage became tougher for Kim Kardashian after she filed for divorce just 72 days after marrying NBA star Kris Humphries in 2011, and it spilled into her reality TV venture. After a season two episode of "KKTNY" aired in January this year showing Kim and her mom discussing her troubled marriage during an October 2011 trip to Dubai, his lawyer questioned whether the scene was filmed well after the reality star had already returned to the States. (She filed for divorce Oct. 31, 2011.) The scene in question took place in a car with blacked-out windows.

Photos of Kim and mom Kris Jenner reportedly leaving a Los Angeles sound stage in December in the same outfits they wore on the episode in question seemed to bolster the argument, but the Kardashian matriarch denied the accusations that the scene was taped and added after the trip.?

"We shot the entire episode in Dubai," Jenner said in an interview on HLN.?

'House Hunters'
In June, Bobi Jensen told the blog Hooked on Houses that her experience on the popular HGTV program didn't exactly show the reality of her home-buying experience. She said that producers of the show wouldn't consider her until she had purchased a home, tweaked her family's story because it was "boring," and when she couldn't find houses on the market to film at, the show followed her to friends' homes.

HGTV didn't exactly deny that there was a teensy bit of fudging going on.?"To maximize production time, we seek out families who are pretty far along in the process," Brian Balthazar, HGTV's director of programming and development, told TODAY.com in a statement after the story broke. He also explained that the cameras go back to a potential house after a family has already looked at it because "everything moves much more quickly than we can anticipate," but assured that the reactions to the homes are genuine.

'Dancing With the Stars'
Season 13 contestant Hope Solo left the ballroom bash's fans' jaws on the floor when she made accusations against the competition and one of its popular pros when her memoir, "Solo: A story of Hope," was released in August. In the book, she not only accused partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy of abusing her and the show of covering it up, she also suggested that the program was scripted.?

"The lack of transparency on the show was frustrating. I started out thinking I was in a competition, but the longer I lasted, the more I realized that it wasn't really a competition -- it was an orchestrated reality show with a preconceived plot line," she wrote. "Maks wasn't my coach or teammate -- he and I were just characters on a television show. But I wasn't sticking to the script."

She didn't stop there. The section about her experience on "DWTS" also claimed "that there was some secret memo going around that said who would be ousted each week."

ABC declined to comment on that story, but a show insider told us, "There was no memo stating who was going home -- simple as that. There's never been anything like that. No one knows who's going home before they even perform."

'Breaking Amish'
TLC's popular show offered "an unprecedented look into a rarely seen world, following four Amish people and one Mennonite" as they leave their communities for the first time and move to New York. But soon after the program debuted in early September, it faced accusations of being fake. A Facebook page called "Breaking Amish The Truth" posted photos of two cast members who had allegedly left their communities in 2011, prior to production on the show, and suggested that another cast member had married and divorced before the show taped.

When the accusations surfaced, TLC said in a statement, "There is a lot of information floating around about the group featured on 'Breaking Amish.'?Much of it is not true, but some of it is -- and is addressed in upcoming episodes."

Those episodes turned out to be reunion specials that discussed the accusations: Rebecca does indeed have a baby, Kate has a DUI in Florida, and more revelations.

'The Hills'
MTV's "The Hills" was billed as a reality series, but in September, stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt admitted that it wasn't exactly reality. The couple told Us Weekly that they faked their fights for the cameras. "I was hell-bent on being the bad-guy character on the show. I got caught up in it," Pratt told the magazine.

The pair weren't the only ones who claimed the show was fake. During a recent appearance on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live," Kristin Cavallari backed up Heidi and Spencer, and told host Andy Cohen that the show was "pretty fake. ... Fake relationships, fake fights," she said. The season 13 "DWTS" contestant also said she was acting on "The Hills."

'Storage Wars'
On Dec. 11, former "Storage Wars" star Dave Hester filed a lawsuit against A&E, accusing the network of wrongfully terminating him and rigging the show by planting items in storage units.

"A&E has committed a fraud on the public and its television audience in violation of the Communications Act of 1934, which makes it illegal for broadcasters to rig a contest of intellectual skill with the intent to deceive the viewing public," his lawsuit alleges. Hester also claims that the show's interviews are scripted, that scenes are staged and that cameras have filmed even when there were no real auctions happening.

A network spokesperson said A&E doesn't comment on ongoing lawsuits.?

Which accusation of reality fakery shocked you most this year? Tell us on our Facebook page.

Related content:

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/18/15936042-reality-shows-accused-of-faking-it-in-2012?lite

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Decatur Mayor Hands Over His Keys To Fire Department

DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) ? One of the first things newly elected Decatur mayor Don Kyle did this month was to hand over the keys to the mayors issued vehicle to the fire department.

The mayor says the vehicle was too much vehicle for what he?believes?are the needs for a mayor and the SUV is better suited for the fire department.

The?$21,000 red Ford Flex crossover former Decatur Mayor Don Stanford asked for when he was in office is now being retrofitted for official fire department use.

Mayor Kyle will still receive a fuel kickback for his personal?vehicle?use while on official duty.

Source: http://whnt.com/2012/12/18/decatur-mayor-hands-over-his-keys-to-fire-department/

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Even without Congress, Obama could act to restrict guns (reuters)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/271451437?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Iraqi President Talabani suffers a stroke

FILE - In this Aug 17, 2007 file photo, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani talks to reporters in Baghdad, Iraq. The office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday he has been admitted to the hospital for treatment of an unspecified health problem.. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

FILE - In this Aug 17, 2007 file photo, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani talks to reporters in Baghdad, Iraq. The office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday he has been admitted to the hospital for treatment of an unspecified health problem.. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

FILE - In this Aug 2, 2006 file photo, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani pauses after announcing new security plans in Baghdad, Iraq. The office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday he has been admitted to the hospital for treatment of an unspecified health problem. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

Iraqi Presidential guards walk outside the hospital where Iraqi president Jalal Talabani is receiving treatment at the Medical City in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has been hospitalized in Baghdad after suffering a stroke and is in stable condition, a spokesman for the prime minister said Tuesday. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has suffered a stroke and was in intensive care at a Baghdad hospital Tuesday, injecting new uncertainty into the country's political future a year after the U.S. military left.

Although his official powers are limited, Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure seen as able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still divide the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Talabani has been actively involved in trying to mediate an ongoing crisis between Iraq's central government and the country's ethnic Kurdish minority, from which he hails.

Iraqi state TV and several officials, including the prime minister's spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, confirmed to The Associated Press that Talabani had a stroke. The severity remains unclear.

Talabani's spokesman, Nasser al-Ani, told reporters that the president is in stable condition, though he did not say what he was suffering from. Medical officials who appeared with him were just as circumspect. They did not take questions.

"The president's health is being closely followed up by our medical team. The vital organs are working and we hope that there will be no deterioration," said Dr. Ayad Abbas from the intensive care unit where Talabani is being treated. "We hope that we will see improvement in the coming hours."

The presidential office initially said Tuesday that Talabani was hospitalized the previous evening after showing signs of fatigue. A later statement cited tests showing he is suffering from a condition caused by a hardening of his arteries. It did not identify the condition.

Some local media reports suggested that Talabani had died, but Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that was not the case.

Rifle-toting soldiers assigned to the presidential guard were deployed around Medical City, Baghdad's largest medical complex, where Talabani is being treated. A number of senior government officials and lawmakers were seen rushing to the hospital to check on his condition, though their bodyguards were mostly not being allowed inside.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was among those who stopped by to check on the president, according to his spokesman, Ali al-Moussawi.

Medical teams from Germany and Britain are expected to arrive and will decide whether the president's condition is serious enough for him to be sent abroad for treatment, al-Mutlaq said.

Neighboring Turkey offered to send an ambulance jet to Baghdad that could transport Talabani for treatment in Turkey or another country, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

He suggested that the Iraqis had not yet responded to the offer. "It is up to them to decide," he said, adding that the information he had received was that Talabani was "seriously indisposed."

Word of Talabani's illness trickled out exactly a year after the last U.S. troops rolled out of Iraq. Their departure on Dec. 18, 2011 ended a nearly nine-year war that left more than 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,500 Americans dead.

Talabani is overweight and has undergone a number of medical procedures in recent years.

He had heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in 2008 and has returned to the Minnesota institution for treatment since, including this past March. Over the summer, he underwent knee-replacement surgery in Germany.

The Iraqi presidency is a largely ceremonial post, though it does retain some powers under Iraq's constitution, such as the ability to block executions.

Talabani has frequently used his position to mediate disputes within the government and among Iraq's sects and ethnic groups. He has recently been working to resolve a standoff between the central government and the Kurds, who have their own fighting force.

The two sides last month moved additional troops into disputed areas along the Kurds' self-rule northern region, prompting fears that fighting could break out.

Talabani last week brokered a deal that calls on both sides to eventually withdraw troops from the contested areas, though there is no timetable for how soon the drawdown might take place.

Talabani met with al-Maliki before falling ill Monday. They agreed that al-Maliki would invite a delegation from the Kurdish regional government to Baghdad to continue the talks, according to the prime minister's office.

Iraq at one point had three vice presidents at a time, though one resigned last year and the other, Sunni politician Tariq al-Hashemi, has fled the country after arrest warrants were issued against him.

In the event of the president's death, Shiite Vice President Khudier al-Khuzaie would be expected to assume the president's duties temporarily because he is the only vice president remaining in Iraq, said legal expert Tariq Harb.

Lawmakers would have up to one month to choose a permanent replacement. Iraq's Kurds would likely insist that the presidency remain in their hands, though there is no guarantee of that outcome.

Also on Tuesday, a car bomb exploded in the Shiite shrine city of Karbala, killing four pilgrims from the Muslim sect and wounding 14 others, according to police and hospital officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information.

___

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed reporting.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-18-Iraq/id-fc9f4ac90c5f4987a99d36bb94906d1c

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Tipping Point | My 3 Little Birds- Self-Improvement through ...

Last Friday afternoon I pulled into a crowded toy store parking lot. I?d forgotten their Christmas lists at home so I paused for a moment, trying to mentally recount what was scribbled on notebook paper.

A jewelry making set and paper dolls.

A Star Wars LEGO set.

A Wii game, or was it X Box, and what?s the difference anyway?

The regular chatter of radio news suddenly became more than background noise. A gunman. Elementary school. Eighteen children.

Gone.

I sat in my car for a moment, confused. I?d been in an appointment for 2 hours that morning. And while I?d gotten wind of an event at a Connecticut school earlier that day, it had been reported that there?d only been one fatality, possibly two. The news of these children? who?d later number 20? all killed in their classrooms was too much for my heart to bear.

I?d soon learn that I wasn?t alone in my feelings of grief and loss for children I?d never met. I cried with a friend on the phone. I spoke with another of the tragedy as we waited for our lunch orders. My eyes welled with tears when I locked eyes with a preschool teacher later in the afternoon; we didn?t need to say anything at all.

We may not have known those whose lives were lost so tragically on Friday, but our grief doesn?t recognize that.

Research tells us that there?s a pattern in the way the grieving recount their stories.

It was a beautiful Tuesday in September. The sky was impossibly blue.

He was shoveling snow one minute, like he always does, and then the next minute he was gone.

We were at the table. The kids were laughing. Then the phone rang.

We set the scene in our grief narrative, contrasting the ordinary to the extraordinariness of shock.

I pulled into the toy store parking lot, then the radio told me the news. Eighteen children killed in their school.?

Parents everywhere are telling their grief stories today.

Grief for those who died.

Grief for the parents whose lives will never be the same.

Grief for our own children who?ve had to learn things we wish we could have protected them from.

But more profound, perhaps, is my sense of grieving for this culture.

Sending my kids out into a world where the unspeakable happens is a fact of life, but the violent deaths of 1st graders in their classrooms is another matter entirely. As someone suggested on the radio this morning, we?ve reached a tipping point.

I hope so.

Source: http://my3littlebirdsblog.com/2012/12/tipping-point.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tipping-point

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CES 2013: Keep Up With The News With Our Live Video Feed Schedule

As we mentioned last week, TechCrunch will be at CES this year with camera in hand. Our goal is two-fold: to run around the event with our live stream running for most of each day while, at intervals during the day, we bring out great start-ups and gadgetry on our amazing outdoor stage. In short, it will be like nothing we've done before and it looks like it's going to be amazing.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/M1BnGkknbBo/

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MyFitnessPal Gets More Social With Facebook And Address Book Integration

MyFitnessPal, which allows users to track and share their exercise and nutrition, is rolling out an update that should make it easier to find your friends on the service. Connecting with friends was an important feature on MyFitnessPal before, but until now, you had to know their email address or user name. With this update, you can log in with Facebook and connect with your Facebook friends, or invite your Facebook friends to join the service. You can also look up users from your smartphone address book. If, on the other hand, you're not interested in sharing your weight and other fitness info with your Facebook friends, you have the option of keeping your profile private.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/L0C-U3Qw0W0/

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