Michigan Presidential Primary 2012: Last Day To Register To Vote

Monday is the last day to register to vote for the upcoming Michigan presidential primary, which will allow Michigan voters to select delegates for the Republican national convention.

The GOP race is still wide open after Newt Gingrich pulled a surprising comeback against Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21. Romney, however, is leading in Florida, where voters head to the primary polls on Tuesday.

Oakland County Republican Party Chairman Jim Thienel told Fox 2 he believes Michigan will play a critical role in selecting the GOP's presidential candiate this year.

"Romney, of course, has a hometown advantage here," Thienel said. "Newt Gingrich is working hard. My concern for Newt and Santorum is that they won't have the money to compete, and I think that's going to be a problem."

Thienel predicted Romney would win the Feb. 28 Michigan primary.

Romney won Michigan in 2008, but a recent EPIC-MRA poll shows his lead here has slipped by 3 percent since Gingrich's win in South Carolina, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The survey of Michigan Republicans found Romney leading with 31 percent compared to Gingrich's 26 percent, trailed by Ron Paul at 14 percent and Rick Santorum at 10 percent. Some 19 percent of those surveyed were undecided.

Last year, Michigan lawmakers moved the date of the primary to Tuesday, Feb 28, which could have an impact on this year's race.

The new date breaks a national GOP rule forbidding the state to hold a presidential primaries before March. Michigan risks losing half its national convention delegates as a penalty.

The current rules also make the primary a technically "closed" process, meaning voters must belong to a specific party in order to participate. But voters merely have to declare a party affiliation when they arrive at the polls, a loophole that has angered some Republicans who worry Democrats and Independents might sneak into the process.

"Any registered voter -- Republican, Democrat, communist -- is eligible," Washtenaw County Republican Bill Bigler said during a debate on the rule change. "We should have a process by which Republicans choose the Republican nominee for president."

Absentee voters must request a specific party ballot for the election. In order to register, a filer needs to be 18-years-old, a citizen of the United States and a resident of a Michigan city or township.

Michigan Democrats will choose their delegates at a May 5 caucus primary.

According to to the Michigan Secretary of State, 1,434,734 people, about 19 percent of registered voters, turned out for the 2008 presidential primaries for both Republican and Democratic candidates.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/michigan-presidential-primary-2012-register_n_1241601.html

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8 Killer iOS Apps That Shined at Macworld 2012

At this year's Macworld | iWorld event, iOS apps took center stage -- which wasn't hard for a trade show of ever-diminishing relevance. We checked out the action, and here are our picks for the apps you need to know about most.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/2AEKLACNeQA/

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Katy Perry Debuts Light-Blue Locks In Vegas

Pop star shows off new 'do at a Las Vegas charity event.
By Rebecca Thomas

Katy Perry at 1 Oak in Las Vegas on Saturday
Photo: David Becker/WireImage

Katy Perry is feeling a little less blue these days. The pop star began rocking an electric-blue bob not long after news broke that husband Russell Brand had filed for divorce late last year. But Perry, who stepped out in Las Vegas this weekend, appears to have dipped her locks in the dye once again.

On Friday night, KP hit a charity event dressed in a beaded frock, her razor-cut 'do colored in a rich turquoise. The party at the Vegas outpost of nightspot 1OAK was hosted by GiveLove.org, an organization devoted to improving public health in Haiti.

But although newly separated Perry reportedly put on a good face, one source told amNewYork the "Waking Up in Vegas" singer seemed "subdued." The pop star "pretty much sat in the same spot the whole night" as her friends danced, according to the source.

While Katy has always been adventurous about her hair hues, post-split, she seems, anecdotally at least, to be hitting the bottle — of dye — with increasing frequency.

Brand and Perry announced the end of their marriage on December 30, after 14 months together. The exes have been a keeping a rather low profile ever since. The comic is set to perform on March 4 at New York's Radio City Music Hall as part of an Amnesty International benefit, while Perry may turn up next at the Grammy awards on February 12, where she's up for two statues. She was spotted earlier this month shooting an Adidas ad, not long after wrapping two concert dates in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Share your thoughts on Katy's latest look on our Facebook page.

Related Photos

• Katy Perry Returns To The Spotlight At 1Oak In Las Vegas

Related Artists

• Katy Perry

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678100/katy-perry-las-vegas.jhtml

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St. Louis hosting 1st big parade on Iraq War's end

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Large crowds are gathering in downtown St. Louis to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday during the nation's first big welcome home parade since the last troops left the country in December.

Veterans dressed in camouflage lined up alongside military vehicles at the start of the parade, while organizers handed out small American flags to people along the route, many holding signs reading "Welcome Home" and "Thanks to our service men and women."

"It's not necessarily overdue, it's just the right thing," Maj. Rich Radford, a 23-year veteran of the Army who brought his family to the event, said moments before the parade began.

Since the war ended, there has been little fanfare for returning veterans aside from gatherings at airports and military bases ? no ticker-tape parades or large public celebrations ? so two friends from St. Louis decided to change that.

"It struck me that there was this debate going on as to whether there should or shouldn't be a parade," Tom Appelbaum, one of the organizers, said ahead of the event. "Instead of waiting around for somebody somewhere to say, 'Yes, let's have a parade,' we said, 'Let's just do it.'"

They sought donations, launched a Facebook page, met with the mayor and mapped a route. They eventually raised about $35,000, with more than half coming from Anheuser-Busch and the Mayflower moving company, which both have St. Louis ties.

With 91,000 troops still fighting in Afghanistan, many Iraq veterans could be redeployed ? suggesting to some that it's premature to celebrate their homecoming. In New York, for example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said there would be no city parade for Iraq War veterans in the foreseeable future because of objections voiced by military officials.

But others wanted to hold a large, public event to say thanks. While the parade marks the end of the Iraq War, all military personnel involved in post-Sept. 11 conflicts are being welcomed to take part, organizers said.

Radford, 40, said he served two tours in Iraq totaling about 25 months. When he came back from his second tour, his then-6-year-old daughter Aimee reached up and grabbed his hand, saying simply: "I missed you, daddy."

Radford's sister caught the moment with her camera, and that image now grazes T-shirts and posters for the parade, which is expected to attract thousands of people.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-Iraq%20War-Parade/id-d20a0eb066ef4de8ab405a5f89593bfd

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HBT: Mets' payroll drop biggest in MLB history?

This is fun. From Adam Rubin of ESPN New York:

After general manager Sandy Alderson revealed the organization lost $70 million last year, the Mets appear poised to have the biggest one-year payroll drop in MLB history ? roughly $52 million. That would surpass the former record: $48.4 million by the?Texas Rangers?from 2003 to 2004, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

On the one hand: depressing! ?Big market + new ballpark + their own sports network should = big payrolls.?On the other hand: they?ve had big payrolls for years, and they haven?t broken 80 wins since 2008.

The team is gonna be fairly bad this year no matter what. It may be kind of embarrassing for the league and for some fans that a New York team is slashing payroll so dramatically. But it?s probably better to be cheap and terrible than expensive and terrible, no?

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/27/the-mets-may-experience-the-largest-payroll-decline-in-baseball-history/related/

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Romney's forceful body language scores in debate (AP)

NEW YORK ? The hands came out of the pockets. The gaze was intense. Mitt Romney leaned confidently into the lectern.

Even with the sound turned off, Romney would have stolen Newt Gingrich's debate thunder with a surprisingly commanding and aggressive performance in the latest Florida faceoff, body language experts said Friday.

To some, in fact, it was as if the two Republican presidential candidates had swapped roles, with Gingrich, the aggressor (and ultimate victor) in South Carolina, suddenly seeming the uncomfortable, squirmy candidate in Florida.

It was a marked change for Romney, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert in political communication at the University of Pennsylvania. "All his nonverbal cues suggested directness," she said. "The halting delivery was gone. He didn't hesitate before responding. The indecisiveness disappeared."

The former Massachusetts governor also showed flashes of temperament, unafraid to display real anger at Gingrich's calling him, in an ad, an "anti-immigrant" candidate.

"Mr. Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant!" he retorted. "The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that."

The anger came off as both real and controlled, said body language coach Patti Wood, which was important because it projected the sense that Romney wouldn't be carried away by his emotions as president.

"It was a controlled strength," said the Atlanta-based Wood, who coaches politicians and executives. "His shoulders were up, chest back. Very effective." And equally important, Wood said, is the way Romney ended the exchange ? with a slight, satisfied smile that stopped short of a smirk: "He could have ruined it at that moment with a smirk, which he's been known to do, but he didn't."

Where did the new Romney technique come from? Both Jamieson and Wood say it was clear the candidate had been well coached. Indeed, Romney has been working with a new coach ? Brett O'Donnell, formerly with Michele Bachmann's campaign.

"You don't make that kind of change without practice," says Jamieson.

Another expert, Lillian Glass, said it was more than just technique ? that perhaps Romney was getting a better sense of himself as a candidate.

"You can coach someone, but the body doesn't lie," said the Los Angeles-based Glass, who coaches both politicians and actors in body language. "What's going on psychologically shows. What I'm seeing is more conviction, that he seems more sure of what he is saying."

One thing was clear to Glass: "If you turned off the sound last night, that was your leader, just based on the physical alone."

Not that many viewers do turn the sound off, but nonverbal cues are more important than people may think, said Gerald Shuster, a professor of political communication at the University of Pittsburgh. "The nonverbal message often carries a lot more weight than the verbal," said Shuster, who also studies presidential rhetoric.

In earlier debates, Shuster said, Romney had seemed less engaged, with his hands often in his pockets, as if staying above the fray. He also appeared exasperated when attacked by Gingrich.

"The tilt of his head, the tone of his voice," Shuster said. "It was almost like a parent disciplining a child, as in, `I can't believe you just said that!'"

With his fiery style, Gingrich, said Shuster, took advantage of Romney's role as perceived front-runner. "The challenger has it easier ? he forces the perceived favorite to go off his stride and go off message," he said. "Gingrich was very good at that. He forced Romney to stop talking about Obama and defend himself" ? especially on questions over his personal income taxes and his considerable wealth.

Romney did, though, take a page from Gingrich's playbook: More effective use of the debate audience.

"Last night Romney got at least as much audience support as Gingrich did," said Jamieson.

In general, Gingrich seemed more frustrated, said Glass, the body language expert in Los Angeles. "His voice would go up in pitch," she said. "It was a pinched voice, and pinched facial expressions. He pursed his lips, furrowed his brow, shifted around a lot."

As for the two other candidates, former Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas congressman Ron Paul each had their good moments, Glass said: Paul scored with his folksy humor (he even plugged his wife's cookbook) and Santorum "was very well-spoken, but lacked gravitas."

Of course, everyone has ups and downs, and things could change again. But, Jamieson said, Romney took a big step toward blunting Gingrich's contention that he'd be the more successful debater in the general election.

"If Republicans are looking for someone who can debate Barack Obama, the better debater on the stage last night was Mitt Romney," Jamieson said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_debates_body_language

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Sundance doc examines costs of US war on drugs (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Eugene Jarecki's documentary at the Sundance Film Festival looks at the cost of America's war on drugs ? its social and human as well as financial cost.

With "The House I Live In," the filmmaker takes a close-up look at the results of U.S. drug policy.

Jarecki said he was moved to explore the issue because, while his parents escaped persecution in Nazi Germany, he sees another kind of Holocaust taking place in poor communities hit by harsh drug laws and mandatory minimum sentences.

The film includes interviews with inmates, dealers, narcotics officers, judges, professors and historians.

Jarecki argued that American drug laws have targeted minorities since the 1800s, and the lack of opportunities that continue to exist in poor and minority neighborhoods create an environment in which drug use and sales seem like a viable choice.

"To go down to a drug corner in the inner city is the rational act of somebody going to work in the only company that exists in a company town," said journalist and creator of HBO's "The Wire" David Simon, who is featured in the film.

Jarecki said that in communities plagued by unemployment, violence, absentee parents and overcrowded schools, people often turn to drugs to self-medicate, then find themselves addicted.

"Now you've got that dangerous cocktail of a user who's also a seller, and so many of the people I talked to are that," he said. "What they are not is violent. What they are not is a threat to you and me. And we are putting them away for sentences that are worse than the sentences we give to people who are violent." He said the United States is "the world's largest jailer."

He attributes the problem in part to fear-mongering by politicians wanting to appear tough on crime, so they target drug users and sellers with hefty prison sentences. But that cycle of incarceration creates more poverty, more absentee parents, more unemployment and more pain from which to escape.

Jarecki's other documentaries include "Freakonomics" and "Why We Fight," which won the Grand Jury prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Awards for this year's festival will be presented Saturday. Sundance continues through Sunday.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

___

Online:

www.thehouseilivein.org/

www.sundance.org/festival

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_en_mo/us_film_sundance_war_on_drugs

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Minnesota laying groundwork for gray wolf hunt (Reuters)

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) ? Minnesota officials on Thursday outlined plans to permit a hunting season for the gray wolf this year following its removal from federal endangered species protections, prompting opponents of the plan to consider a court challenge.

Minnesota is home to the largest population of gray wolves in the lower 48 states, about 2,900, and could become the first upper Midwest state to set a hunting season for the animals as they are stripped of federal protections.

Federal officials have withdrawn safeguards under the Endangered Species Act effective Friday, allowing states to decide whether or not to allow the gray wolf to be hunted.

There are about 4,000 gray wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and adjacent states losing protections. Hunting seasons have not yet been proposed in Wisconsin or Michigan.

Federal court challenges brought by the Humane Society and other groups overturned de-listing bids by the fish and wildlife service in 2007 and 2009.

The Humane Society opposed the latest de-listing, opposes the hunting season and is considering another court challenge, Howard Goldman, the Minnesota state director of the Humane Society, said Thursday in a telephone interview.

"We are looking at the legal side and the biology," Goldman said. "We don't believe the wolf has recovered nationally. It only occupies 5 percent of its historic range."

Wolves were hunted to the edge of extinction nationwide, but populations have recovered to the point of conflict between ranchers, farmers and hunters who see them as a threat to livestock and big-game animals such as deer.

A separate population of about 1,200 wolves in Montana and Idaho were removed from the endangered species list last year under an unprecedented act of Congress.

There were fewer than 750 gray wolves in Minnesota in the 1950s. The population had grown to about 2,900 by the late 1990s, a level that has not changed significantly since, according to state natural resources department estimates.

Minnesota state officials plan to allow 400 gray wolves to be killed in a hunting season in late November and believe the population could sustain a higher quota. They discussed the plans with state lawmakers in committee hearings on Thursday.

(Reporting By David Bailey)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/us_nm/us_minnesota_wolves_hunting

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Adam Lambert's 'Better Than I Know Myself' About 'Duality'

First Trespassing single is 'about the relationship you have with yourself, between your dark and light side.'
By John Mitchell, with reporting by Kelly Marino

Adam Lambert
Photo: MTV News

Adam Lambert has come a long way since "American Idol" and is taking a reflective look back with his new single, "Better Than I Know Myself." The pop star, who turns 30 on Sunday, tells MTV News that the first release from his forthcoming sophomore album, Trespassing, is "about the relationship you have with yourself, between your dark and light side. It's about duality; it's about that balance and finding it and struggling to maintain it and what it means."

It's been a tumultuous few weeks for the singer, who was arrested in Finland in late December after a verbal argument with his boyfriend, Sauli Koskinen, outside of a Helsinki bar turned physical. Lambert later admitted to Ellen DeGeneres during an appearance on her show last week that alcohol was the main catalyst for the altercation, telling the host, "When you add alcohol to a situation, things can get out of control. ... What happened was, we had too much to drink. We screwed up. There was no injuries, no violence. It was more just childish, foolish messiness."

With the March 20 release of Trespassing nearing, Lambert's focus has returned to his music and his new single.

"It's so universal," Lambert tells MTV News. "It's ... in the middle of a bunch of different genres, and I think that no matter who you are, if you've been in a relationship, you know what that is."

Lambert collaborated on the track with Dr. Luke (Britney Spears, Katy Perry) and songwriter Claude Kelly, who co-wrote his debut single, "For Your Entertainment." He admitted "Better" has a lot in common with his Pink-written top 10 smash "Whataya Want from Me," saying, "There is something similar to 'Whataya Want from Me,' and I think that's the reason I'm really glad it's the first single."

He also revealed that the upcoming video for the track is "like a cousin" to the "Whataya Want" clip.

Lambert said the song deals with the insecurities that come with being in a relationship. "[It's about] that moment where you're like, 'I need you, I love you,' where you have to reassure your partner," adding, "No matter what kind of relationship, everybody can relate to that moment."

Related Artists

• Adam Lambert

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677936/adam-lambert-better-than-i-know-myself.jhtml

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Denise Richards Offers Lunch Date For Cancer Charity - Starpulse ...

Actress Denise Richards is giving one lucky fan the chance to take her on a date to raise awareness of kidney cancer.

The former Bond girl is offering to personally fly her guest to Hollywood, where they'll enjoy lunch together, as part of a campaign to promote the Kidney Cancer Association (KCA).

Richards insists the organization is a cause close to her heart after losing her mom Joni to the disease in 2007.

In a post on her blog, she writes, "There is not a day that goes by since my mother's passing from kidney cancer that I don't think of her. I try my best to honor her memory by telling my children stories about what a wonderful woman and mother she was to me. Another part of honoring her memory is supporting the fight against the disease...
?
"Now here's your chance to help. I created a contest in conjunction with the KCA to promote awareness about the disease and help start a conversation about prevention and warning signs. The winner will get the chance to fly out to Hollywood where we'll chat and have lunch together."

Contestants must film a 60-second clip explaining how cancer has affected their lives and submit videos to LunchWithDenise.com.

Photo Credits: PR Photos , Darla Khazei, PacificCoastNews.

Source: http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2012/01/25/denise_richards_offers_lunch_date_for_

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Wall Street dips on Greece (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks dipped on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis hit a snag and some lackluster earnings put the S&P 500 index's five-day string of gains in jeopardy.

Greece moved closer to the possibility of a chaotic default after euro zone officials rejected a bond swap offer from the country's private bondholders, who pleaded with European officials to reach a deal.

A disorderly default by Greece could revive the possibility of contagion among euro zone nations, putting weaker members of the bloc at higher risk of default.

"They don't seem that far apart," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco, referring to the two groups.

"At this point, people think they are going to come to some resolution. They have to get the pin back in the hand grenade somehow."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 50.06 points, or 0.39 percent, to 12,658.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) lost 3.77 points, or 0.29 percent, to 1,312.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dipped 1.19 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,782.98.

Along with developments in Greece, investors grappled with corporate earnings that have failed to reach levels of performance seen in recent quarters. This week is one of the busiest in the quarterly earnings season, with 117 S&P 500 companies due to report.

According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, 20 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with 58 percent topping Wall Street expectations, less than usual at this point in the earnings season.

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) and Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) were the biggest drags on the Dow after posting quarterly results.

Travelers reported a smaller-than-estimated profit as it released less money from its reserves than a year earlier, but it also announced its biggest rate increases in eight years. The stock fell 3.6 percent to $58.10, but analysts had expected the drop and called it a buying opportunity.

Verizon's profit missed estimates by a penny as its wireless business was hit by the high costs of sales of advanced phones, such as the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone.

McDonald's reported stronger-than-expected December sales, but its shares fell on investor concerns its profit may have beat expectations only because of income unrelated to operations.

McDonald's fell 2.2 percent to $98.77, and Verizon shed 1.8 percent to $37.70.

Traders said they were impressed by the market's ability to shrug off bad news. The five-day advance has helped put the benchmark S&P index up more than 4 percent for the year.

Results from other large U.S. corporations, including DuPont (DD.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), failed to ignite much enthusiasm.

"These earnings numbers weren't that great this morning, but the way the market acts right now, you could see it close up on the day," said Massocca.

DuPont shares edged up 0.1 percent to $49.42 after its quarterly revenue rose 14 percent but missed estimates.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) advanced 0.2 percent at $65.10 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings, even as the diversified healthcare company forecast 2012 earnings below estimates.

The Federal Open Market Committee began a two-day meeting

on Tuesday, at the end of which policymakers will start a new practice of announcing their interest rate projections. The Fed hopes the projections, to be released

on Wednesday, will give markets and the public greater clarity about its decision-making.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Administration nominees awaiting next move by GOP (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Senate Republicans are returning to Washington in an angry mood over President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during a year-end break.

More than 70 nominees to judgeships and senior federal agency positions are awaiting the next move from Republicans, who can use Senate rules to block votes on some or all of Obama's picks.

While Republicans return Monday to discuss their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board ? with three temporary members ? is now at full strength with a Democratic majority.

Obama left more than 70 other nominees in limbo, well aware that Republicans could use Senate rules to block them.

The White House justified the appointments on grounds that Republicans were holding up the nominations to paralyze the two agencies. The consumer protection agency was established under the 2010 Wall Street reform law, which requires the bureau to have a director in order to begin policing financial products such as mortgages, checking accounts, credit cards and payday loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the five-member NLRB must have a three-member quorum to issue regulations or decide major cases in union-employer disputes.

Several agencies contacted by The Associated Press, including banking regulators, said they were conducting their normal business despite vacancies at the top. In some cases, nominees are serving in acting capacities.

At full strength, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has five board members. The regulation of failed banks "is unaffected," said spokesman Andrew Gray. "The three-member board has been able to make decisions without a problem." Cordray's appointment gives it a fourth member.

The Comptroller of the Currency, run by an acting chief, has kept up its regular examinations of banks. The Federal Trade Commission, operating with four board members instead of five, has had no difficulties. "This agency is not a partisan combat agency," said spokesman Peter Kaplan. "Almost all the votes are unanimous and consensus-driven."

Republicans have pledged retaliation for Obama's recess appointments, but haven't indicated what it might be.

"The Senate will need to take action to check and balance President Obama's blatant attempt to circumvent the Senate and the Constitution, a claim of presidential power that the Bush administration refused to make," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party's top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley wouldn't go further, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hasn't tipped his hand after charging that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people." Before the Senate left for its break in December, McConnell blocked Senate approval of more than 60 pending nominees because Obama wouldn't commit to making no recess appointments.

Republicans have to consider whether their actions, especially any decision to block all nominees, might play into Obama's hands.

Obama has adopted an election-year theme of "we can't wait" for Republicans to act on nominations and major proposals like his latest jobs plan. Republicans have to consider how their argument that the president is violating Constitutional checks and balances plays against Obama's stump speeches characterizing them as obstructionists.

Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the minority party has retaliated in the past for recess appointments by holding up specific nominees. "I'm not aware of any situations where no nominations were accepted," he said. The normal practice is for the two party leaders to negotiate which nominations get votes.

During the break, Republicans forced the Senate to convene for usually less than a minute once every few days to argue that there was no recess and that Obama therefore couldn't bypass the Senate's authority to confirm top officials. The administration said this was a sham, and has released a Justice Department opinion backing up the legality of the appointments.

Obama considers the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have been vehemently opposed to the bureau's setup. They argued the agency needed a bipartisan board instead of a director and should have to justify its budget to Congress instead of drawing its funding from the independent Federal Reserve.

Cordray is expected to get several sharp questions from Republicans when he testifies Tuesday before a House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

The NLRB has been a target of Republicans and business groups. Last year, the agency accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against union workers who had struck its plants in Washington state by opening a new production line at its non-union plant in South Carolina. Boeing denied the charge and the case has since been settled, but Republican anger over it and a string of union-friendly decisions from the board last year hasn't abated.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_go_co/us_nominations_spat

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Galaxy Nexus case review: Case-Mate Barely There case

Case-Mate's "Barely There" series of cases has a reputation for offering a good level of protection against knocks and bumps, without turning your phone into a bulky, unpocketable brick. The latest Barely There case for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus continues this tradition, with a sturdy yet sleek design that covers the most vulnerable areas of the device.

 

The case has a soft touch finish all over, which means it feels great in the hand, and its sleek lines fit in well with the rounded design of the Galaxy Nexus. As you'd expect from a premium case, you also get cut-outs for all your major ports and buttons, including the rear speakers and noise-cancelling microphones. While it doesn't provide all-over protection, the Barely There case for the Galaxy Nexus strikes a good balance between protection and aesthetics. One particularly useful feature is the raised lip around the left and right edges, which raises the device up slightly when it's laid flat, protecting the screen from scratches.

The Case-Mate Barely There case fits both the Verizon LTE Galaxy Nexus and  international GSM version, so whichever model you have, you'll be good to go.

We've got more photos after the break.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/1AzoRNaohUI/story01.htm

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Dutch court rejects Apple appeal, says Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is legal

A court in the Hague has just cleared the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for sale in the Netherlands, rejecting Apple's requests for a nationwide ban. As NU.nl reports, a different Dutch court had already issued a similar ruling in October, which Cupertino promptly appealed, claiming that Sammy's slate was too similar to its own iPad 2. Today, though, the Court of the Hague shot down Apple's arguments, determining that there are enough differences between the two products to legally justify their coexistence. Granted, this is only one of many patent battles that the two companies are currently waging, but for today, at least, it looks like Samsung has come out on top.

Dutch court rejects Apple appeal, says Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is legal originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0k4_Jhk8jI8/

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What puts Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at odds?

LOS ANGELES?? They're arguably Hollywood's highest-profile couple, so it's only natural that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would privately discuss the art and business of filmmaking. According to Pitt, they don't always agree.

Speaking with Reuters at Saturday's Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, Pitt said that he and Jolie, who are each busy on both sides of the camera as well as raising six children together, will talk shop at the end of a long day.

Story: Jon Voight: Hollywood should fear Jolie-Pitt kids

"Usually we argue shop every now and then," Pitt said, noting that they tend to differ in their approach. "She's much more decisive, she's much more quick. I've got to see everything. I've got to shop the entire eBay to know exactly what I want and what I need."

When he's stumped, Pitt said, "I'll always go to her and talk it out."

Story: Five biggest jaw-droppers of the Globes

Jolie, who received the guild's Stanley Kramer Award for her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," said Pitt's role as a producer calls for different skills. He produced and starred in "Moneyball," one of the 10 films nominated for the Producers Guild's top prize.

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"I had to direct, I think it's different. I think he'd execute properly if he was the director," Jolie said. "But I do like to think of myself as decisive, so I'll take that."

Slideshow: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (on this page)

Regarding her first work in the director's chair, a love story set amid the harrowing destruction of the Bosnian War, Jolie said her intention "wasn't to make a political statement against anybody. It was simply to say, 'We must talk about what happened, we must try to learn from what happened, we must try to see humanity on all sides,' and if we can, then we can start to move forward."

On the other hand, Jolie admitted that she was "fascinated" by a political matter somewhat closer to home: the Republican presidential race.

Story: Jolie: Brad found me sobbing in the shower

"There's that part of us that's wanting to learn about what's going on, and wanting to see who could possibly be the next president, and taking that very seriously, which it is. And then there's that other part of it that is this strange television ... these characters that we're watching. So you try to kind of separate that," Jolie said, adding that "it goes into the bizarre sometimes."

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46098304/ns/today-entertainment/

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British skier sets record for solo Antarctic trek

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2011 file photo provided by the Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition, Felicity Aston takes a picture of herself at Union Glacier days before she traveled to her starting point on the Ross Ice Shelf for a solo trek across Antarctica. Aston, 34, crossed Antarctica in 59 days, pulling two sledges for more than 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from the Leverett Glacier to the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf. On Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2012, she tweeted that she has completed her journey. (AP Photo/Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition/Kaspersky Lab, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2011 file photo provided by the Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition, Felicity Aston takes a picture of herself at Union Glacier days before she traveled to her starting point on the Ross Ice Shelf for a solo trek across Antarctica. Aston, 34, crossed Antarctica in 59 days, pulling two sledges for more than 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from the Leverett Glacier to the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf. On Monday morning, Jan. 23, 2012, she tweeted that she has completed her journey. (AP Photo/Kaspersky ONE Trans-antarctic Expedition/Kaspersky Lab, File)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? British adventurer Felicity Aston completed her crossing of Antarctica on Monday, becoming the first woman to ski across the icy continent alone.

She did it in 59 days, pulling two sledges for 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometers) from her starting point on the Leverett Glacier on Nov. 25.

"!!!Congratulations to the 1st female to traverse Antarctica SOLO.V proud," her Twitter message said.

She announced her achievement from Hercules Inlet on Antarctica's Ronne Ice Shelf, where she waited alone in her tent for bad weather to clear so that a small plane could pick her up and take her to a base camp. Other expeditions also have gathered there, preparing for the summer's last flight off the continent.

Aston also set another record: the first human to ski solo, across Antarctica, using only her own muscle power. A male-female team already combined to ski across Antarctica without kites or machines to pull them across, but Aston is the first to do this alone.

A veteran of expeditions in sub-zero environments, Aston, 34, worked as a meteorologist in Antarctica and has led teams on ski trips in the Antarctic, the Arctic and Greenland.

Her journey took her from the Ross Ice Shelf, up the Leverett Glacier and across the Transantarctic Mountains to the continent's vast central plateau, where she fought headwinds most of the way to the South Pole. Then she turned toward Hercules Inlet and a base camp where the Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions company provides logistical support to each summer's Antarctic expeditions.

She arranged in advance for two supply drops so that she could travel with a lighter load, one at the pole and one partway toward her final destination. Otherwise, her feat was unassisted.

Aston tweeted that she's been promised red wine and a hot shower after she gets picked up. "No plane tonight but I have my last Beef and Ale Stew to enjoy for my final evening alone ? yum!" she wrote.

And while she pondered her achievement in her last hours of solitude Monday, she shared more of her thoughts in a phone call she broadcast live online.

"It's all a little bit overwhelming. After days and days to get here, I seem to have arrived all in a rush. I don't really feel prepared for it. It feels amazing to be finished and yet overwhelmingly sad that it's over at the same time," she said. "I can't quite believe that i'm here and that i've crossed Antarctica, just over 1700 kilometers, just under 1,000 nautical miles, 14.5 degrees and 59 days and here I am."

"I'm just going to sit here and enjoy these last precious moments on my own, and running through my mind all those days behind me, the plane leaving me on my own ... the awful day when I thought I was going to get blown away, all those days of bad weather, slogging through those mountains, up those hills with my sledges, arriving at the pole, leaving the pole again, more bad weather and just empty horizons..."

"I remember all the bad times, sitting in my tent, thinking 'what on Earth am I doing?', but despite all that, this has been the most amazing privilege, to have the opportunity to do this, and just a huge thank you to all those people who made it possible."

___

Online:

Aston's expedition site: www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com

Aston on Twitter: www.twitter.com/felicity(underscore)aston

Aston on ipadio: http://www.ipadio.com/broadcasts/TransantarcticExpedition/2012/1/22/Transantarctic-Expedition--63rd-phonecast

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-23-AA-Antarctica-Solo-Crossing/id-7534e8806dea4912bc76d961544c8624

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Protesters storm Libyan government HQ in Benghazi (Reuters)

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) ? Protesters stormed the Benghazi headquarters of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) Saturday while its chairman was still in the building.

People in Benghazi, birthplace of the revolt which forced out former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, have been protesting for weeks to demand the sacking of Gaddafi-era officials and more transparency about how the NTC is spending Libyan assets.

The attack is a serious blow to the self-appointed but internationally recognized NTC, and underscores growing discontent over the way it is running the country.

Many of those who fought in the nine-month civil war that ended with the capture and killing of Gaddafi in October are unhappy with cash compensations promised by the government, saying it does not cover their basic needs.

On a Saturday, hundreds of young men, many wounded from the war, rallied outside the NTC's headquarters.

When Abdul Jalil, NTC chairman, came out in an attempt to address the crowd, some protesters hurled empty plastic bottles at him, prompting security forces to fire tear gas.

"Go away, Go away," the protesters chanted as Abdul Jalil spoke. He then went back into the building but he is believed to have been pulled to safety from a back door when the crowd charged into the building.

SPOILS OF WAR

Protesters threw stones and metal bars at the building, breaking its windows, before storming the headquarters. One protester left the building carrying a set of loudspeakers and screaming: "Spoils of war!"

Angry protesters also damaged a Toyota Land Cruiser used by Abdul Jalil.

"A large number of wounded people were unhappy because the National (Transitional) Council has not met their demands," said 30-year-old Tareq al-Gheryani as he watched people attacking the NTC's headquarters.

"People are not happy with the council because it has also given government posts to people who are known to have links with Gaddafi."

Interim government officials say it is impossible for them sack hundreds of officials merely because they served under Gaddafi, but stress that those proved to have been involved in human rights abuses or financial fraud will be fired.

The NTC is grappling with problems, including the disbanding of dozens of powerful militias that effectively control the country. The ministries of interior and defense want to integrate them into a military and police force, but militia chiefs have shown little interest in surrendering their arms.

Thursday, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice president of the NTC, was roughed up by university students in Benghazi. He was surrounded by a crowd and jostled before he was pulled away to safety.

(Reporting by Mohamad Al-Tommy; Writing by Mahmoud Habboush and Christian Lowe; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/wl_nm/us_libya_ntc_benghazi

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Adafruit Flora lets you wear your open-source love on your sleeve

Let's face it, not every occasion calls for pulsating cufflinks, so Adafruit is offering up a little more diversity in its wearable line with Flora, an open-source electronics platform that you can wear on your person. The 1.75-inch board is not quite available for sale, but it's currently being put through some real-world testing. The platform features built-in USB support and will offer up modules for Bluetooth, GPS, OLED and a bunch more. No word on an exact date, though Adafruit has a page you can visit to sign up for shipping notifications, which has the timeframe at around 15 to 20 business days -- check that out in the source links below. As for cost, the company has promised "great pricing" for hackerspaces, resellers and educators. Video of the Flora in action after the break.

Continue reading Adafruit Flora lets you wear your open-source love on your sleeve

Adafruit Flora lets you wear your open-source love on your sleeve originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/20/adafruit-flora-lets-you-wear-your-open-source-love-on-your-sleev/

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Katy Perry Unfollows Russell Brand on Twitter

Katy Perry is cutting ties with Russell Brand in EVERY WAY.

The 27-year-old pop singer has unfollowed her soon-to-be ex-husband on Twitter. As of Friday afternoon (a slow news Friday afternoon) Perry no longer follows Brad.

She is still one of the 78 people Brand subscribes to however.

It's not surprising, given that Perry is only communicating with Brand, 36, via phone or email. "She's limiting those interactions," a source says of the couple.

"He's being so atrocious, she feels like she never really knew him."

Perry has been keeping Brand off her mind by focusing on her career: she performed in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday, and she recently shot an Adidas ad.

"She doesn't want to look battered and have people for sorry for her," a source says. "She's very strong and confident and looking forward to the next chapter."

She's the most cheat-worthy star on the planet according to married guys, if she ever needs a little confidence boost. Or some amoral companionship.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/katy-perry-unfollows-russell-brand-on-twitter/

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Buying Sports Gambling Systems

Buying Sports Gambling Systems

How much would you be willing to pay for a sports gambling system that had a record of 42-1? $100? $200? $500?

Hopefully you answered "nothing," because that's essentially what these systems are worth.

Anytime a sports gambler sees an unrealistic winning percentage claim they should be skeptical, especially when purchasing sports betting systems. If a person owns a betting system that picks winners at a 97.7 percent winning ratio, they sure don't need your money. They could simply make their wagers from whatever island they own and not have to worry about anything other than how to spend their money. Why deal with trivial things, such as advertising, the time of putting up a website, or dealing with customers?

The Premise Behind Sports Gambling Systems

The one common factor in all these sports gambling systems is that they employ some sort of "double-up" factor and treat each sequence as a win or loss. For example, say the Milwaukee Bucks fall into the system requirements. You make a wager on the Bucks and they lose. You bet Milwaukee again the next game, but double-up your wager, so that if they win, you've made enough to cover the previous loss, plus show a profit. If Milwaukee loses the second time you bet them, simply bet on them a third time, while wagering enough to cover your previous two losses, plus show a profit. If Milwaukee loses the third time you bet on them? Simply bet them again while doubling up your wager for a fourth time. You could lose seven straight bets on the Bucks, but if you win the eighth, the system sellers will consider that 1-0 for the system, even though you were actually 1-7 on your bets.

One problem bettors will encounter when using a Martingale, or double-up type of betting method, is that eventually they wager more than the sportsbook limit on a particular game or total. Try asking any sportsbook if they will accept a $5,500 wager on the total in a game played between Eastern Washington University and Montana, and get ready for the laughter to begin.

The Current System Flavor of the Day

If you've seen systems advertised for sale lately, one of the more popular ones is a combination baseball/basketball package that claims an outrageous winning percentage.

The baseball portion of the system is nearly identical to the Baseball Long-Term Revenge System I posted several months ago in the article Baseball Revenge Systems.There are several key differences, however, in that the system sellers ask you to always buy the +1.5 runs if the team you are wagering on is the underdog and to bet them on the money line as the favorite. As I mentioned in the original article, some bettors add stipulations, such as buying the 1.5 runs or doubling up after a loss in order to show a profit, which is what the system sellers require.

I will post the basketball portion of the system in the Sports Gambling Forum under the Handicapping section, if anyone is really interested in seeing what that is.

The 360-0 System Absolutely Free!

(Yes, I'm being factious, although I can just imagine seeing this "system" for sale in the near future.)

If you are going to be doubling-up on your wagers, why settle for a meager 42-1 or 57-0 when you can go 360-0?

My 360-0 system is easy to use and works for the NBA, NHL, and Major League Baseball. (The NFL is excluded because there are just 16 games.)

There are 30 teams in each of the three leagues the 360-0 system uses and each team will have four desired outcomes - a win, a loss, an over, and under. Once the team gives the desired outcome, you simply cross the outcome off the team's list and move on.

What you are looking for is a team to have two consecutive outcomes (wins or losses, overs or unders) and then bet the other way, while doubling-up your wager on losses and continue betting until you have a profit. For example, say the Dodgers lose two games in a row. You start betting them after the two losses and continue to increase your wagers until you show a profit. Then simply cross the Dodgers "win" outcome off your list and move on.

If the Dodgers play two consecutive games under the total, simply start betting them to go over the total in the third game and continue to play the Dodgers over until you show a profit and then cross the Dodgers "over" off your outcome list.

It's so simple anyone can do it!

Summary

Now that you've seen how easy it is to create a "winning" system, hopefully you'll know the best thing to do when seeing a 42-1 system offered for sale is to run the other way. Or better yet, offer to sell them your 360-0 system for the same price.

Source: http://sportsgambling.about.com/od/experiencedbettorsonly/a/buyingsystems.htm

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Lawmakers Stand Up To SOPA And PIPA On Twitter

As over 7,000 websites go dark Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy and Protect IP acts, a controversial pair of bills that could effectively shutter many popular Internet sites, some lawmakers took to Twitter to express their reservations about the legislation.

The proposed laws took a blow earlier Wednesday when Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), one of the bill's original co-sponsors, removed his support and urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to stop Protect IP from coming to a floor vote next week.

See what other lawmakers are saying about the controversial legislation:

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/scott-brown-jim-demint-sp_n_1213190.html

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The Other Problem with SOPA and PIPA: They Won&#146;t Work

There don?t seem to be a lot of friends for SOPA on the Internet today. The Stop Online Piracy Act, which is pending in the House of Representatives, along with its sister legislation in the Senate, the Protect IP Act, have caused a massive 24-hour protest by sites such as Google and Wikipedia. The former has blacked out its logo, and the latter has disabled its English-language site for 24 hours. The White House has officially expressed concerns about parts of the legislation, and several members of Congress who previously supported SOPA are now backing ever so slowly away.

What?s got everyone so riled up? Well, it was obvious from the start that the bill?s language was over-broad and granted troubling enforcement powers to authorities. Under the original language of SOPA, copyright holders who found that a rogue foreign site was hosting and distributing their content could get a court order to force U.S.-based service providers to block access to that site. One provision that legislators now seem to be dropping was called DNS blocking, which would force the Internet?s main Domain Name System servers to block requests for these rogue sites.

With all of the attention, many of the details of these bills are still in flux, but critics claim that the legislation is so vague and sweeping that it is bound to end up censoring legitimate content. Proponents of the bill claim that this is just scaremongering, and that care would be taken to ensure the law was applied judiciously and only against those sites that are distributing illegal content.

There is little disagreement about the scope of the problem of piracy. Offshore sites that are beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement make it easy to grab pirated movies, music and software. The music and movie industries lose billions in potential revenue because of online theft, and it would seem logical to attack the problem where law enforcement has jurisdiction?U.S.-based service providers and search engines. Many critics?including our own contributor, MythBuster Adam Savage?have proclaimed that SOPA and PIPA provide too powerful a club to people who might be tempted to swing it for all the wrong reasons, but I?d argue that there is a bigger reason to distrust these types of legislation: They won?t work.

The analogy of SOPA and PIPA as clubs is apt, but the problem is that a club is the wrong type of tool to deal with a problem like piracy. The music and movie industries, which have the most stake in SOPA, believe they have a pest problem?they think of the sites that distribute and profit from their copyrighted content are pests that need to be eradicated. And if you have a pest problem, it makes sense to debate the size of the club you need to clobber your pests with. But the entertainment industry doesn?t have a pest problem. They have a leak, and a club is a terrible tool for dealing with a leak.

The failure of the entertainment industry?and, consequently, the legislators who are trying to help them out?to understand their problem is because of an even more fundamental misunderstanding about the products they are selling. They believe they are selling music and movies, discrete pieces of entertainment. But since the advent of the compact disc and DVD, the entertainment industry has been selling data?and data is inherently fluid and leaky. If you cannot control the way you sell and distribute your data, you are going to suffer from leaks, and no legislative clubs are going to plug those leaks.

Consider the tactic of DNS blocking. If a copyright holder were able to compel the domain name servers that service United States Internet users to blacklist a site in, say, Tajikistan, that doesn?t mean the site has disappeared. It still has a numerical IP address that will take anyone to the site?all the DNS servers do is match the name of the site to that IP address. So you can imagine how easy it would be to circumvent such a policy. Instead of typing "thepiratebay.org" users would instead just type "194.71.107.15"

While the entertainment and Internet industries argue about the appropriateness of legislative remedies to the piracy problem, any approach that treats piracy like pest control is likely to spawn more creative pests.

A better approach would require a fundamental reexamination of the products the entertainment industry is selling and the way that industry is selling them. If data is inherently fluid, sell it like a fluid?charge me a monthly fee and give me control of the tap. (This is already starting to happen with subscription services such as Netflix, Spotify, and Rdio.) Or treat it like bottled water or soda?create an airtight, trustworthy, sealed container, keep the quality high and the price low, make sure it?s available wherever I?m thirsty, and make it easier to buy it than to steal it.

For sure, there must be legal protection of copyright, but it's pointless to constantly ramp up the legislative tools for enforcement to chase the moving target of piracy. At some point, the entertainment industry has to innovate new ways of selling its content and new ways of protecting its content. And, frankly, they are also going to have to accept some element of loss as part of the cost of doing business.

Until that happens, no club will ever big enough or nimble enough to stop piracy.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/the-other-problem-with-sopa-and-pipa-they-wont-work-6641145?src=rss

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Schools close, flights canceled as storm nears NW (AP)

SEATTLE ? Schools preemptively closed, crews salted down streets and more than two dozen flights into two Pacific Northwest cities were canceled as the region prepared for a potentially major snowstorm on Wednesday.

Forecasts called for about 3 to 5 inches of snow in the Seattle metropolitan area, with heavier amounts expected in communities along the Interstate 5 corridor south of the city. The city's schools canceled classes, as did their counterparts in other western Washington cities such as Tacoma, Olympia and Bellingham.

Alaska Airlines announced late Tuesday that it canceled 38 flights into and out of Seattle and Portland, Ore. The airline was waiving rebooking fees for passengers traveling Tuesday through Thursday in those cities.

Conditions on the roads were expected to be dangerous as the storm was forecast to begin dumping snow on the area just before the morning rush hour.

"Wednesday is going to be a good day to stay at home," said Brad Colman, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle. "The road is going to be treacherous."

Several inches of snow have the potential to paralyze the city of Seattle, which owns relatively few snowplows. Its drivers are mostly inexperienced with driving in snow or ice.

Several downtown hotels reported all their rooms were booked. Elsewhere, shoppers stocked up on groceries.

In Everett, north of Seattle, police reported a thief broke into an Everett School District parking lot early Tuesday and drove off in an old pickup equipped with a snow plow. The faded yellow truck had the snow plow in front and a full hopper of sand in the back, Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

Snow has been falling steadily in parts of western Washington and Oregon since the weekend, but Weather Service meteorologists said the biggest amounts could be on the way.

Bec Thomas, who lives on Camano Island north of Seattle, stocked up on bottled water and food. As her children built snowmen, made snow angels and sledded in nearly a foot of fresh snow on Tuesday, she made food that could be reheated on her wood stove.

The last snowstorm knocked out her power for a week.

"We take it very seriously," said Thomas, a fine arts photographer. "We'll probably be snowed in until Thursday."

Forecasters said 3 to 6 inches of new snow could fall in the Olympia area and 1 to 2 inches north of Seattle. The Cascade Mountains could see 1 to 3 feet of new snow through late Wednesday, and officials warned of high avalanche danger there.

In eastern Washington, forecasters predicted that about 6 inches of snow could fall on Spokane by late Wednesday with several more inches falling Thursday. The Pullman area could see as much as 12 inches of new snow by Wednesday night.

State troopers advised motorists to be prepared.

"The No. 1 thing is to drive for the road conditions," Trooper Keith Leary said. "People need to slow down, take their time. If they're not prepared, don't get out on the roadways."

John Lee, a Mill Creek graphic designer decided to work from home Tuesday rather than face a snowy commute into Seattle, said it was "a bit exciting" because it was the first snow of the season.

But he added: "I hope it doesn't escalate to something bigger."

___

AP Writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia and Donna Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_us/us_washington_snow

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