'Game of Thrones' trailer reveals power struggle

By Us Weekly

Hold onto your hats, "Game of Thrones" fans.

With more than two months to go until the HBO?hit's April return, the network has released a new teaser trailer to whet fans' appetite until the new episodes pick up.

PHOTOS: Winter TV preview

In the one-minute clip titled "You Win or You Die," popular season 1 characters including Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) appear as they try to figure out who should rule Westeros.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's hottest breakout stars

Says Dinklage's Lannister in one scene: "I understand the way this game is played."

Watch the season 2 sneak peek now before "Game of Thrones" premieres April 1 at 9 p.m. (EST) on HBO.

Who are your favorite "Game of Thrones" characters? Discuss the show's return on Facebook.

More in Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10271305-new-game-of-thrones-trailer-reveals-struggle-for-power

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Oil near $99 in Asia on Greece debt concern (AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ? Oil fell to nearly $99 a barrel Monday in Asia amid fresh concerns that the eurozone may refuse to grant Greece a fresh bailout.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 42 cents at $99.14 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 14 cents to finish at $99.56 on Friday.

Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said crude prices were volatile after Germany's finance minister warned that the eurozone might not give Greece a fresh bailout unless it can overhaul its state and economy. Analysts fear this could reignite the region's debt crisis.

European leaders were to meet later Monday in Brussels to discuss austerity measures and a tentative deal reached Saturday between Greece and its private investors to avert a disastrous Greek default on its debt.

Shum said supply concerns also weighed on the market although Iran has postponed plans to immediately cut the flow of crude oil to Europe in retaliation for EU sanctions over its nuclear program.

Iran also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passage, and the head of its national oil company warned Sunday that EU sanctions could push oil prices up to between $120 and $150 a barrel. The market is also awaiting report from an International Atomic Energy Agency team that is currently touring Tehran, Shum said.

"Trade has been flat. The geopolitical tension in Iran and concerns over Greece's debt default are driving oil in different directions. This has helped oil to hold steady," Shum added.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1 cent to $3.07 per gallon but gasoline futures were steady at $2.92 per gallon. Natural gas added 7 cents to $2.82 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_as/oil_prices

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Snoop Dogg endorses Ron Paul, for Shizzle? (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (TheWrap.com) ? Snoop Dogg, throwing his weight behind Ron Paul? Politics really does make strange bedfellows -- or at least smoking buddies.

The rapper and marijuana enthusiast appeared to grant his endorsement to GOP candidate Paul on his Facebook page late Monday, posting a picture of Paul with the headline "Smoke Weed Everyday." Snoop Dogg -- born Calvin Broadus -- included the message "Because I said so" with his post.

Broadus -- whose most recent marijuana-related arrest occurred earlier this month, at the Texas border town of Sierra Blanca -- is presumably drawn to Paul due to the libertarian-leaning candidate's stance on drugs. Paul, an advocate of smaller federal government, was a co-sponsor of the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, and supports the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008.

It's unclear whether Broadus was aware of Paul's reported history of signing his name to racially-charged newsletters in the 1990s. (Though Paul's name appears on several pamphlets containing racial rhetoric, he told CNN in December that he was unaware of the controversial passages at the time of their publication, stating, "I've never read that stuff. I've never read -- I came -- was probably aware of it 10 years after it was written.)

Though Paul's chances of grabbing up the GOP nomination appear to be distant, the Texas congressman does appear to be developing quite the stable of musician endorsements -- late last year, country singer Kelly Clarkson caught criticism after singing Paul's praises.

"I love Ron Paul. I liked him a lot during the last Republican nomination and no one gave him a chance," Clarkson said in a tweet. "If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't."

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/people_nm/us_snoopdogg_ronpaul

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Elizabeth Warren's Big Insurance loving past ? The Greenroom

posted at 3:44 pm on January 30, 2012 by Jazz Shaw
[ Elections ]??? printer-friendly

Elizabeth Warren is the next big thing in Massachusetts politics. Fresh from her stunning failure to be appointed as head of the consumer protection agency she helped to develop, she deftly pivoted to setting the wheels in motion for a run at the Senate seat currently held by Scott Brown. Her methodology was clear: nobody is looking out for the little guy. It?s not fair. Somebody has to protect you from the big, bad, capitalism loving Republicans and their big business masters.

It?s a great message, isn?t it? And it fits in quite well with Team Obama?s 2012 strategy. There?s just one little problem, and it?s found lurking in Warren?s past in the private sector. The title of this piece by Holly Robichaud in the Boston Herald pretty much sums it up. Insurance past should sink Lizzy.

While Marsha Coakley and Lizzy Warren share the same personal flaws of being out of touch with the Massachusetts middle class, the Harvard professor also has a potential deadly political sin in her background. Maybe it is the reason President Obama didn?t nominate her to head up the consumer agency. It is not a secret that his administration believed Lizzy couldn?t survive the Senate confirmation process.

One of the Harvard professor?s many well-com-pensated part-time gigs included consulting for Travelers Insurance. I know that it is hard to believe that on one hand, Democrats would be bashing an industry, and on the other hand they are making money from it. To be a Democrat is to be a hypocrite.

What did Lizzy do to earn $44,000 in compensation from the insurance company? She made it harder for claimants to collect.

Now, I?m no expert here, but that doesn?t really sound very consumer protectiony to me. According to the article, Warren lent her expertise to Travelers to help them develop a strategy to structure a bankruptcy deal where they could avoid making millions of dollars in payments to patients exposed to asbestos. The total lawsuits amounted to something in the range of $500M.

Say? would those be some of the same ?factory owners? and their insurers who never got rich on their own and owed it to society to give something back because of the social contract? If you?re basing your entire candidacy on being the Defender of the Little People, this doesn?t exactly do anything for your credentials, does it?

Source: http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/01/30/elizabeth-warrens-big-insurance-loving-past/

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In Syria, heavy fighting reaches outskirts of capital

The fighting outside Damascus comes a day after the Arab League announced it was suspending its observer mission to Syria.

Syria?s military sent tanks to neighborhoods on the outskirts of Damascus Sunday in an attempt to quell the most intense fighting yet seen so close to the capital, one day after the Arab League announced it would suspend its observation mission.

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The spike in violence throughout the country ? rights groups say more than 100 people have been killed since Thursday ? comes days before the UN Security Council plans to vote on a resolution calling for President Bashar Al Assad to step down. The UN says more than 5,400 people have died so far in Assad?s crackdown on an uprising against his regime.

The Associated Press reports that nine people died over the last day in clashes on the eastern edges of Damascus. Rights activists said that three people died in fighting in the suburb of Kfar Batna, and reported heavy shelling in that area as well as nearby suburbs. The state news agency, meanwhile, reported that an ?armed terrorist group? bombed a bus carrying army personnel, killing six people and injuring six others. The state news agency said the bomb was a remotely detonated.

The government attack on the suburbs began after the Free Syrian Army, largely made up of defectors from Syria?s military, occupied the area, reports the BBC. According to activists, the assault involved more than 2,000 troops and 50 tanks. Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the BBC that ?the Syrian regime is trying to finish the uprising militarily now that the case is being taken to the United Nations."

Head of the Arab League Nabil Al Arabi announced yesterday that the League?s observers would immediately suspend their nearly five-week monitoring mission because of ?a severe deterioration of the situation and the continued use of violence.? The mission was intended to observe whether Syria was complying with an Arab League plan adopted in November to end the violence.?The New York Times reports that Mr. Arabi blamed the Syrian government for the violence, saying it had decided to escalate the crackdown. The Times reports that the observers ventured on Saturday to the outskirts of Rankous, which was nearly empty after five days of government shelling and fighting. But they turned back after a warning from army officers that rebels might use explosives.

The monitoring mission has faced criticism of its effectiveness for weeks. Now that it has ended, pressure is increasing for the Security Council to take action. The Syrian National Council, the main opposition group, sent a delegation to the UN to ?demand international protection for civilians,? reports the Financial Times. Adding to the urgency, the conflict in Syria is becoming increasingly militarized, with army defectors and some opposition activists using arms to fight the government in what increasingly looks like a civil war. A member of the Syrian National Council expressed concern Thursday about the armed groups, saying they must work together with the political opposition, reports the Monitor. ?

The Security Council is due to vote on Jan. 31 on a resolution that would affirm an Arab League transition plan. Russia, an ally of Syria, opposes the resolution. Bloomberg reports that a draft resolution discussed on Jan. 27 changed language that had previously called on Assad to step down and for Syria to hold free elections, replacing it with a call for Assad to hand authority to his deputy and the formation of a national unity government.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nHghal11AfE/In-Syria-heavy-fighting-reaches-outskirts-of-capital

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Range Rover?s Evoque surprisingly superb

AP

The 2012 Range Rover Evoque.

By Dan Carney, msnbc.com contributor

Hey, Land Rover isn?t following the rules!

You know, the rules for concept cars: a car maker rolls out a rakish design concept that sets hearts aflutter, then just as customers are prepared to rush into showrooms, checkbooks in hand, they pull a bait-and-switch by introducing a production model that is disappointingly prosaic by comparison.

Heads hanging, dejected customers trudge home without the cool concept car they had imagined themselves driving.

Well, Land Rover didn?t do this when it forged the Range Rover Evoque Coupe from the LRX concept vehicle that wowed auto show-goers who never anticipated they?d be in position to buy something just like?it?in short order.

Land Rover?s daring has earned the Evoque an avalanche of accolades, such as North American Truck of the Year, Motor Trend SUV of the Year, an Automobile magazine All-Star award, AutoWeek?s ?Best of the Best,? Car Design of the Year, Scottish Truck of the Year, and so on.

Why? It isn?t every day that you can go to a dealer and buy a new car that swivels heads like you were driving with Scarlett Johansson standing?through the sunroof with a wardrobe malfunction.

Sure, there are garish overreaches out there, like the Kia Soul and Nissan Cube. But they draw attention because of their unusual styling.

Of course, Range Rovers are already fashionable, so having a stylishly sporty compact head-turner will only accrue still more prestige to the brand, even though this new model has a lower price tag than the Range Rover Sport or the ?real? Range Rover.

Land Rover?s heritage, of course, is of boxy off-roaders used to document endangered species in Africa for American television viewers, and of the later Range Rover, which is the unofficial vehicle of the horsey set. A line plotted from those two points does not arrive at the smoke-machine-and-strobe-lights fantasy that is the Evoque.

That?s fine. The Evoque isn?t meant for Land Rover devotees. It?s meant to bring in buyers who may want a little more elbow room or capability than they get in their current Mini Cooper or Audi TT. And a four-door variant might attract people currently driving a 3-series sedan or wagon. Maybe even the odd compact SUV owner who wants to upgrade in style but not in size.

The wheels are ?only? 20 inches, but they look even bigger with the Evoque?s size and proportions. The squinty headlights are really high-intensity-discharge xenon lamps like on most premium cars, but bystanders would happily believe they are lasers.

The car I tested had the optional $650 white contrast roof. It?s probably striking on Evoques finished in bold primary colors, but it doesn?t contrast with the Stornoway Grey paint of our car. My wife thought it looked like the dealer had left the protective vinyl shrink wrap on the roof. I?d keep the cap and change the paint color to red.

Avoid scratching that paint by seeing everything around the Evoque with the five-camera surround view on the infotainment screen.

The dramatic styling is backed by?a 240-hp turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine known elsewhere as a Ford Ecoboost.

As a sporty urban runabout, the Evoque excels, with taut, responsive handling unlike that of any previous Land Rover product. The Evoque uses magnetically adjustable shocks like those seen on Ferraris, Corvettes and Cadillacs to adjust between comfort and control on the fly.

Off road, well, it is still a Land Rover product, so break out your bush attire and head to the savanna to?track endangered big cats. Or, with the Evoque?s adaptability, put on your best attire and head to Savannah, Ga.,?to sip sweet tea on the veranda.

Here?s one aggravation though: The door hinges and seals seem unusually stiff, making it difficult to close the doors without slamming them. Maybe it?s the sealing needed for river fording that causes the problem, but if so I didn?t notice the issue with the full-fledged, $100,000 Range Rover I also tested recently.

With the coupe?s two doors at least the driver has control over closing half the car?s doors, leaving only one person to be reminded to slam the door. Even with large doors, the coupe still doesn?t have a wide enough opening to ease the difficult access to the unexpectedly spacious back seat.

The headroom in the rear of the Evoque is amazing, and other measures are also good, though legroom benefits from the low, unsupportive seat bottom that can leave back seaters feeling like they are perched on?kids? desks on back-to-school night.

The coupe packs style at the cost of some practicality, though the four-door version preserves a decent chunk of that style with a much bigger serving of utility. The Evoque seems positioned, with its turbo four-cylinder engine, to tout fuel efficiency as an advantage over competitors, but in a week of mixed driving I saw 18.5 mpg, a half-tick above the EPA city rating of 18 mpg and not in the same area code as the highway rating of 28 mpg.

Such may be the cost of the Evoque?s max-capability all-wheel-drive system, which is unmatched in the segment in off-road, bad-weather capability.

Ultimately, however, while extreme traction is Land Rover?s hallmark, the Evoque will win hearts with its dramatic styling and will probably keep them with its comfortable ride. The Evoque?s ability to wade into the valet line at the Ritz probably trumps its ability to wade into rivers.

There is no doubt that the Evoque is the most exciting entry in the premium compact crossover segment and may be the production model truest to its design concept since the Pontiac Solstice.

Vital statistics: 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Coupe

Base price: $44,995 (including shipping)

Price as tested: $58,370

EPA fuel economy: 18 mpg city, 28 mpg highway.

Pros: Incredible traffic-stopping styling, honest-to-goodness Land Rover off-road capability, surprising cabin space.

Cons: $58,000 sticker price, 18 mpg is not impressive for a four-cylinder compact crossover.

Verdict: Exclusive fun.

Standard equipment: 240-hp. 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4, 6-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel drive with adjustable Terrain Response System, panoramic sunroof.

Major options: 20-inch sparkle finish wheels, surround camera system, navigation with voice control, xenon headlights, 825-watt audio system.

Safety equipment: front and side air bags, air curtain, driver?s knee air bag, electronic stability control, roll stability control, hill descent control, traction control, anti-lock brakes.

Related:

Obama's Chrysler on eBay ? yours for $1 million

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10250526-range-rovers-evoque-surprisingly-superb

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How To Make Money With Real Estate Investing | Magic Money Clip

Investing in property can be a great way to earn some extra cash. The income potential that can come from real estate investing may help someone increase their financial state. When looking at buying and selling property, there are some points to consider, to make the time and effort worth it.

There are several ways to invest in property and real estate. People can buy land that is not built up yet, and hold onto it. Even if the land sits for a few years, it will increase in value. Some people will hold onto a small lot in the city or a large piece of land and wait until it becomes valuable. A valuable piece of land may have builders willing to pay top dollars for it.

Buying condos or houses can be profitable in several ways. A person could buy up new homes and sell them a few months later when their value has gone up. That can be a great way to turn a fast profit. The profit may be just a few thousand dollars but can add up when more than one house is bought.

Another way to make a profit is to buy a home and rent it out. The renter can pay for the mortgage and keep it going until the value has gone up substantially. Once the market is in favor to sell, the investor can make a great deal of money.

Whether someone buys a new or resale home, there is always an optimal time to sell it. Older homes can be flipped by renting them out for a period of time, or by fixing them up. New homes typically increase in value as soon as they are bought.

Flipping a resale home could involve fixing it up. A buyer can look for a house that is in poor condition and purchase it for a cheap price. The cheap price can allow someone to put money into minimal projects to get the house up to par with others in the area. Renovations can be made in a cheap way to maximize the money that can be made.

Buyers do not have to put in the best of flooring, paint or hardware to make a home look presentable. Renovations can also be done by cheaper contractors or by family or friends. Once a listing looks good, the buyer can then ask for market value. There may be some inexpensive ways to make a house look great without having to spend lots of cash. Homes that can be flipped may come from repossessions or could come from a family that simply needs to sell fast.

Real estate investing can help someone make more money. It can be a nice way to increase a yearly income or it can serve as an income. Some people will look for homes to flip in order to make a profit. New houses or condos can be purchased and sold right away to earn some extra dollars. There are several ways to buy open land and real estate in order to increase someone?s earning potential.

Source: http://www.magicmoneyclip.com/2012/01/29/how-to-make-money-with-real-estate-investing/

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Celebrity pot busts put tiny Texas county on map

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) ? Nestled among the few remaining businesses that dot a rundown highway in this dusty West Texas town stands what's become a surprise destination for marijuana-toting celebrities: the Hudspeth County Jail.

Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and actor Armie Hammer have been among the thousands of people busted for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town in recent years, bringing a bit of notoriety to one of Texas' most sparsely populated counties.

"Once I was in Arizona, and when I said where I was from, they said, 'That's where Willie Nelson was busted,'" said Louise Barantley, manager at the Coyote Sunset souvenir shop in Sierra Blanca.

Hudspeth County cameos aren't only for outlaws: Action movie star Steven Seagal, who's already deputized in Louisiana and Arizona for his reality show "Steven Seagal Lawman" on A&E, has signed on to become a county officer.

Locals already have found ways to rub shoulders with their celebrity guests.

Deputies posed for pictures with Snoop Dogg after authorities said they found several joints on his bus earlier this month. When Nelson was busted here in 2010, the county's lead prosecutor suggested the singer settle his marijuana charges by performing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Nelson paid a fine instead, but not before county commissioner Wayne West played one of his own songs for the country music legend.

West acknowledged he's a big fan of Nelson and wanted to capitalize on a golden chance to perform for such a noted "captive audience."

"Willie loved the song, he is a real outgoing individual" he added.

The once-thriving town of Sierra Blanca began to shrink to its current 1,000-person population after the construction of nearby Interstate 10 ? a main artery linking cities from California to Florida ? offered an easy way to bypass the community.

Now the highway is sending thousands of drug bust cases Sierra Blanca's way, courtesy of a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside of town where drug-sniffing dogs inspect more than 17,000 trucks, travelers ? and tour buses ? daily for whiffs of contraband that may have made its wait inland from the border.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, younger brother of the musically inclined commissioner, said his office handled about 2,000 cases last year, most of them having to do with drugs seized at the checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents say people busted with small amounts of pot often say they have medical marijuana licenses from California, Arizona or New Mexico ? three states along I-10 that, unlike Texas, allow for medicinal pot prescriptions ? and claim to believe the licenses were valid nationwide.

Nelson's publicists declined to comment about the specifics of the singer's case. Representatives for Snoop Dogg, who will pay a fine and court costs after being cited for possession of marijuana paraphernalia, did not return several messages seeking comment.

County authorities have not yet decided whether to prosecute or issue a citation for Hammer, who starred in the 2010 film "The Social Network" and more recently played FBI's number two man in "Edgar J." He was arrested in November after authorities said they found marijuana-laced brownies and cookies on his way to his wife's bakery in San Antonio. His attorney Kent Schaffer has called the case a "total non-issue."

Local officials say they're not on a celebrity witch hunt, but some residents are enjoying the publicity from the high-profile arrests. They say the once forgotten town of Sierra Blanca should take pride in not pandering to famous people caught breaking the law.

"We get attention because something is being done right," resident Adolfo Gonzalez said while shopping at a local convenience store. "It'd be worse if we'd let them go because they are celebrities."

That's not expected to change when Segal comes to town. Sheriff West insists the "Under Siege" star hasn't indicated any plans to film his show here ? but the sheriff isn't ruling it out.

"If he wants to, we can do it but that's not what he said this was about," West said.

West's spokesman, Rusty Flemming, said Seagal will patrol the area and train colleagues in martial arts and weapons techniques. The actor is expected to arrive in Hudspeth County within months, once he's done filming a new movie in Canada.

Segal's management agency did not return calls and emails seeking comment about his plans in Texas.

Commissioner West, meanwhile, is keeping his musical skills sharp ? just in case another performer pays a surprise visit to the county jail. The lead guitarist and vocalist of a local band, West said he regrets not having a chance to sing for Snoop Dogg, but wasn't sure if the rapper would have enjoyed the performance anyway.

"Our stuff is laid back," he said. "Mas o menos (more or less) country."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-US-Celebrity-Checkpoint/id-4ad161898bc24cd3b486ae7f821b26dd

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What really happened prior to 'Snowball Earth'?

Friday, January 27, 2012

In a study published in the journal Geology, scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggest that the large changes in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates which occurred prior to the major climatic event more than 500 million years ago, known as 'Snowball Earth,' are unrelated to worldwide glacial events.

"Our study suggests that the geochemical record documented in rocks prior to the Marinoan glaciation or 'Snowball Earth' are unrelated to the glaciation itself," said UM Rosenstiel professor Peter Swart, a co-author of the study. "Instead the changes in the carbon isotopic ratio are related to alteration by freshwater as sea level fell."

In order to better understand the environmental conditions prior to 'Snowball Earth', the research team analyzed geochemical signatures preserved in carbonate rock cores from similar climactic events that happened more recently ? two million years ago ? during the Pliocene-Pleistocene period.

The team analyzed the ratio of the rare isotope of carbon (13C) to the more abundant carbon isotope (12C) from cores drilled in the Bahamas and the Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The geochemical patterns that were observed in these cores were nearly identical to the pattern seen prior to the Marinoan glaciation, which suggests that the alteration of rocks by water, a process known as diagenesis, is the source of the changes seen during that time period.

Prior to this study, scientists theorized that large changes in the cycling of carbon between the organic and inorganic reservoirs occurred in the atmosphere and oceans, setting the stage for the global glacial event known as 'Snowball Earth'.

"It is widely accepted that changes in the carbon isotopic ratio during the Pliocene-Pleistocene time are the result of alteration of rocks by freshwater," said Swart. "We believe this is also what occurred during the Neoproterozoic. Instead of being related to massive and complicated changes in the carbon cycle, the variations seen in the Neoproterozoic can be explained by simple process which we understand very well."

Scientists acknowledge that multiple sea level fluctuations occurred during the Pliocene-Pleistocene glaciations resulting from water being locked up in glaciers. Similar sea-level changes during the Neoproterozoic caused the variations in the global carbon isotopic signal preserved in the older rocks, not a change in the distribution of carbon as had been widely postulated.

###

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu

Thanks to University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117150/What_really_happened_prior_to__Snowball_Earth__

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Iraq officials: Baghdad bomb blast kills 1

People stand outside their destroyed house at the scene of a car bomb attack in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

People stand outside their destroyed house at the scene of a car bomb attack in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Relatives and friends of a man killed in a car bomb attack load his coffin onto a vehicle during his funeral in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in southeastern Baghdad killed one person on Sunday, officials said. The attack came two days after a blast in the same area claimed the lives of 33 people.

The bomb in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah wounded nine others, police said. A police vehicle and a civilian car were damaged by the explosion, they added.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualties.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

On Friday, a suicide car bomber struck a Shiite funeral procession in Zafaraniyah. Many Iraqis suspect al-Qaida militants of engineering a recent series of attacks on Shiites to provoke a counterattack by Shiite militias, and rekindle widespread sectarian conflict now that U.S. troops have left Iraq.

Al-Qaida and other Sunni extremist groups are also thought to be exploiting sectarian tensions in the wake of a political crisis which erupted last month, after authorities in the Shiite-dominated government issued an arrest warrant against the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on terrorism charges.

In protest, the Sunni-backed bloc has been boycotting parliament and Cabinet sessions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Iraq/id-6e61c4f71dc342178c04f190bc541c96

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Fitch downgrades credit ratings for 5 EU nations (AP)

LONDON ? U.S. ratings agency Fitch says it is downgrading the credit ratings for five European nations including leading economic heavyweights Italy and Spain.

The agency on Friday lowered credit ratings for the five nations by one notch and placed a negative outlook on all of them, as well as on Ireland. Those nations downgraded included Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia and Spain.

Italy went down to A- credit rating while Spain was downgraded to A. Ireland's BBB+ rating was affirmed but it also received a negative outlook.

Fitch Ratings blamed the revisions on "the marked deterioration in the economic outlook" in Europe and "the absence of a credible financial firewall against contagion and self-fulfilling liquidity crises."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_credit_ratings

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Chris Brown to Perform at Grammys

Chris Brown will perform at the Grammy Awards next month, E! reports. It will be his first appearance at the annual show since 2009, when ... you know.

The singer, whose career has rebounded nicely despite some memorable flare-ups, is up for three awards this year, so his appearance isn't too surprising.

Plans for his performance are still being worked out, so details are lacking at the moment. Meanwhile, his ex Rihanna will perform with Coldplay.

Chris Brown and Rihanna have been the subject of great speculation lately, most recently after they partied together (but separately) in W. Hollywood.

The two are said to be on good terms now, and even hooking up ... but they kept their distance last week. Brown was there with GF Karrueche Tran.

The Grammy Awards will be hosted by NCIS: LA star LL Cool J and telecast live on CBS from Los Angeles' Staples Center on Sunday, February 12.

Also set to perform are Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Paul McCartney, the Band Perry, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and more.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/chris-brown-to-perform-at-grammys/

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Barge Carrying Atlas Rockets Crashes Into Bridge (SPACE.com)

A barge ferrying two Atlas 5 rockets to their Florida launch site crashed into a Kentucky bridge late Thursday (Jan. 26), but the rockets appear to be undamaged, officials say.

The 312-foot (95-meter) cargo ship Delta Mariner smashed into a bridge over the Tennessee River in southwest Kentucky at 9:15 p.m. EST Thursday (0215 GMT Friday), causing a portion of the span to collapse. Though several cars were crossing the bridge at the time, the accident caused no injuries.

The Delta Mariner was carrying two Atlas 5 rockets from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) factory in Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral, Fla., said Sam Sacco, spokesman for Foss Marine, the company that owns and operates the boat.

"There's no damage to the cargo," Sacco told SPACE.com. "Based on what we know right now, there's no real damage to the vessel itself, either."

ULA officials confirmed that the launch vehicles appear to have survived intact. [The World's Tallest Rockets]

"Initial inspections have shown that the flight hardware being transported was not damaged," officials said in a statement today. "The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation."

Sacco said he wasn't sure when the two rockets are due to lift off from Cape Canaveral. In its statement, ULA referenced an "upcoming" launch, without providing specifics.

According to the ULA's launch schedule, an Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Cape on Feb. 16, carrying a tactical satellite for the United States Navy. Another one is slated to lift off on April 27 with a new military communications satellite on board.

The Delta Mariner, which was commissioned in 2002, transports flight hardware from ULA's Decatur factory to Cape Canaveral and another launch site, California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. It's capable of carrying up to three common booster cores, which are each as long as a 737 jet's fuselage.

The ship can ply both rivers and the open ocean, and it can navigate waterways as shallow as 9 feet (3 m), according to ULA officials. The trip to Cape Canaveral covers about 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers) and takes eight to 10 days.

Sacco said the cause of the accident ? which apparently did not result in any fuel spills or other obvious environmental problems ? remains a mystery for now.

"The company's been doing it for over 10 years. Exactly why this happened, I can't tell you," he said. "The Coast Guard will lead an investigation into the cause, and that will be the definitive explanation as to what happened."

The Atlas 5 rocket is an expendable booster that first launched in 2002. Since then, it has logged about two dozen liftoffs, with 100 percent mission success, according to ULA officials. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover blasted off atop an Atlas 5 this past November.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120127/sc_space/bargecarryingatlasrocketscrashesintobridge

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Song of the week (Balloon Juice)

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Windows Platform Fails To Curb Nokia?s Slide

Smartphone sales at Nokia dropped by almost a third in the fourth quarter as initial sales of the key Windows Phone platform failed to counter a slide in shipments of its older operating system.

However, the sharp decline was not as bad as analysts had predicted, even if the initial relief bounce faded to leave the Finnish company?s shares 2.7 per cent higher at ?4.16.

Nokia posted an operating loss of ?954m, compared with a profit of ?884m last year, which reflected a ?1.1bn writedown in its location and commerce division. There was a 21 per cent drop in sales to ?10bn in the fourth quarter.

Smartphones, most of which still use the old Symbian software, fell by about a third from a year ago to 19.6m handsets.

Stephen Elop, chief executive, said the fourth quarter was a ?significant step in Nokia?s transformation? but declined to give an annual target for 2012.

Nokia is forecast by analysts to have lost as much as 7 percentage points of global market share, to about 24 per cent, as its older smartphones struggled and its market-leading handsets in emerging markets met fierce competition from Chinese low-cost phones.

Even so, the company gave the first indications of a fightback for the high-end smartphone market ? crucial for the group?s long-term future ? after revealing that initial sales of handsets introduced in partnership with Microsoft last year exceeded 1m.

Nokia has so far launched two phones in Europe and Asia, including the flagship Lumia 800, as well as its first handsets in the US this year.

Mr Elop said: ?From this beachhead of more than 1m Lumia devices, you will see us push forward with the sales, marketing and successive product introductions necessary to be successful.?

The booming smartphone market has increasingly become an two-horse race between the Apple iPhone and Android?s many manufacturers, in spite of attempts by Nokia to claw back ground using the Windows Phone platform under a partnership agreed with Microsoft this time last year. This gulf has become particularly apparent this week given stellar earnings from Apple on Tuesday.

Nokia had been left behind in an unforgiving and swiftly moving market, a fact that led Mr Elop to declare the company to be on a ?burning platform? this time last year as he undertook extensive restructuring and pledged its smartphone future to the Microsoft platform. However, the results of this turnround strategy have yet to materialise, leading Mr Elop to declare 2012 as another year of transition.

Even so, the company shipped about 113.5m mobile devices globally in the fourth quarter, down about 8 per cent from last year. Nokia remains a popular brand of low-cost, reliable ?feature phone? handsets in emerging markets.

This week analysts at Kantar confirmed that the Lumia 800 had failed to break into the top 10 smartphones sold in the UK and the Windows platform had not taken more than 2 per cent of any market around the world.

The initial response from operators has been lukewarm in spite of their desire to see greater competition in the market.

The number of customer returns are reported to be several times higher than for the equivalent iPhone, although Nokia said it had addressed battery concerns by issuing a number of updates, and that consumer feedback had been positive.

Analysts also expect Nokia will gain ground during 2012 as the platform becomes more widely accepted, even if the dominance of Apple and Android looks unlikely to be challenged.

More News From Financial Times

Source: http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/windows-platform-fails-to-curb-nokia%E2%80%99s-slide/

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Mpls. council majority slows down Dome plan with call for vote (Star Tribune)

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Asthma rate and costs from traffic pollution higher: Much higher than past traditional risk assessments have indicated

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? A research team led by University of Massachusetts Amherst resource economist Sylvia Brandt, with colleagues in California and Switzerland, have revised the cost burden sharply upward for childhood asthma and for the first time include the number of cases attributable to air pollution, in a study released this week in the early online version of the European Respiratory Journal.

The total cost of asthma due to pollution is much higher than past traditional risk assessments have indicated and there is growing evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is a cause of asthma and a trigger for attacks, so it should be included, say the authors. They conducted the study in Long Beach and Riverside, Calif., communities with high regional air pollution levels and large roads near residential neighborhoods.

Total additional asthma-specific costs there due to traffic-related pollution is about $18 million per year, almost half of which is due to new asthma cases caused by pollution, they report. Brandt worked with researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, Sonoma Technology, Inc. and the University of Southern California.

Using updated techniques that count asthma cases attributable to air pollution for the first time and including a broader range of health care costs such as parents? missed work days, extra doctor visits and travel time along with prescriptions, the researchers found that a single episode of bronchitic symptoms cost an average $972 in Riverside and $915 in Long Beach. Bronchitic symptoms (daily cough, congestion or phlegm, or bronchitis for three months in a row) are a critical outcome for children with asthma.

Further, people who live in cities with high traffic-related air pollution bear a higher burden of these costs than those in less polluted areas, they say.

Brandt and colleagues say the total annual cost for a typical asthma case was $3,819 in Long Beach and $4,063 in Riverside, and ?the largest share of the cost of an asthma case was the indirect cost of asthma-related school absences.? School absences are an important economic consequence, they add, because ?they often lead to parents or caregivers missing work.?

Overall, Brandt points out that the results are relevant and applicable to many settings and ?families with children who have asthma are bearing a high cost. The total annual estimate between $3,800 and $4,000 represents 7 percent of median household income in our study in these two communities. This is troublesome because that is higher than the 5 percent considered to be a bearable or sustainable level of health care costs for a family.?

Riverside and Long Beach account for about 7 percent of the total population of California, the authors say, which suggests that state-wide costs of asthma related to air pollution are ?truly substantial.?

For this work, Brandt and colleagues analyzed several surveys on health care visits by children with asthma and their previous estimates of the number of asthma cases attributable to pollution to estimate the annual costs of childhood asthma. They also estimated the cost of asthma exacerbation due to regional air pollutants. They feel the new method does a better job of accounting for the full impact of traffic-related pollution and will be widely applicable in urban areas.

She points out, ?Traditional risk assessment methods for air pollution have underestimated both the overall burden of asthma and the cost of the disease associated with air pollution. Our findings suggest the cost has been substantially underestimated and steps must be taken to reduce the burden of traffic-related pollution.?

This work was supported by California?s South Coast Air Quality Management District and its settlement funds from BP, as well as by the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hastings Foundation.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. J. Brandt, L. Perez, N. Kunzli, F. Lurmann, R. McConnell. Costs of childhood asthma due to traffic-related pollution in two california communities. European Respiratory Journal, 2012; DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00157811

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/pHWZg9hugIk/120125202759.htm

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Nielsen: Obama's smallest State of Union audience (AP)

NEW YORK ? The interest among television viewers in President Barack Obama's annual State of the Union addresses is dwindling.

The Nielsen measurement company said Wednesday an estimated 37.8 million people watched Obama's speech the night before on one of the 14 networks airing it. Obama's audience for the speech has dropped each year, from a high of 52.4 million in 2009.

Obama narrowly missed President George W. Bush's least-watched State of the Union. Bush's last one was seen by 37.5 million people in 2008.

The largest individual audience for Obama's speech was NBC's, more than 8 million. On cable, MSNBC beat CNN for the first time for second place behind Fox News Channel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_tv/us_tv_state_of_union

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PIC: Somber Heidi Klum Still Wearing Her Wedding Ring (omg!)

Not ready to let go?

On Wednesday, Heidi Klum was photographed for the first time since she and Seal shocked the world Monday with news of their separation after 7 years of marriage.

PHOTOS: Heidi's incredible body evolution

Out and about in Los Angeles, the supermodel and Project Runway hostess, 38, looked somber and kept her head down. Clad in black, Klum wore her gold wedding band. Her estranged husband Seal, 48, has similarly kept on his wedding ring as well.

PHOTOS: Heidi and Seal's sweet romance

For his part, the "Kiss from a Rose" crooner explained to Ellen DeGeneres why the ring will remain on his finger. "I think it's just pretty much a token of how I feel about this woman. We have eight years. Eight wonderful years together," Seal told DeGeneres, 53. "Just because we have decided to separate doesn't necessarily mean you take off your ring and you're no longer connected to that person."

The couple, who wed in 2005, have three biological children: Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2. In 2009, Seal adopted Klum's 7-year-old daughter, Leni, from her previous relationship with Flavio Briatore.

PHOTOS: Heidi's out-of-this-world Halloween costumes

"I think our priority was to remain civil and do this thing with dignity," Seal said. "We still very much love each other."

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_pic_somber_heidi_klum_still_wearing_her_wedding163736518/44315300/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/pic-somber-heidi-klum-still-wearing-her-wedding-163736518.html

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Panetta: US ground forces would be cut by 100,000 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Pentagon leaders outlined a plan Thursday for absorbing $487 billion in defense cuts over the coming decade by shrinking U.S. ground forces, slowing the purchase of a next-generation stealth fighter and retiring older planes and ships.

In a bid to pre-empt election-year Republican criticism, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the plan shifts the Pentagon's focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to future challenges in Asia, the Mideast and in cyberspace. More special operations forces like the Navy SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden will be available around the world, he said.

"We believe this is a balanced and complete package," Panetta told a news conference, with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side.

Some lawmakers were quick to dispute him.

"Taking us back to a pre-9/11 military force structure places our country in grave danger," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will hold hearings on the Pentagon budget plan.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the Panetta plan "ignores the lessons of history." He said it provides for a military that is "too small to respond effectively to events that may unfold over the next few years."

Dempsey, however, said the military is united in its support for the new approach.

"This budget is a first step ? it's a down payment ? as we transition from an emphasis on today's wars to preparing for future challenges," he said, adding, "This budget does not lead to a military in decline."

Panetta announced that the administration will request a 2013 budget of $525 billion, plus another $88 billion for operations in Afghanistan. Combined, those totals are about $33 billion less than the Pentagon is spending this year.

Panetta said, however, that the Pentagon's base budget will grow to $567 billion in 2017. At that point, the cumulative budgets over five years would be $259 billion less than had been planned before the administration struck a deficit-cutting deal with Congress last summer that requires projected defense spending to be reduced by $487 billion by 2022.

Among the details Panetta disclosed:

The Army would shrink by 80,000 soldiers, from 570,000 today to 490,000 by 2017. That is slightly larger than the Army on 9/11.

The Marine Corps would drop from today's 202,000 to 182,000 ? also above the level on 9/11.

The Air Force would retire some older planes including about two dozen C-5A cargo aircraft and 65 of its oldest C-130 cargo planes.

The Navy would keep a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers but retire seven cruisers earlier than planned. It also would delay purchase of some other ships, including a new Virginia-class submarine.

Purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets, to be fielded by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, would be slowed.

Current plans for building a new generation of submarines that carry long-range nuclear missiles would be delayed by two years. The current fleet of nuclear-capable bombers and land-based nuclear missiles would be left unchanged.

Military pay raises will remain on track until 2015, when the pace of increase will be slowed by an undetermined amount.

President Barack Obama will ask Congress to approve a new round of domestic base closures, although the timing of this was left vague and there is little chance that lawmakers would agree to this in a presidential election year.

The defense spending plan is scheduled to be submitted to Congress as part of the administration's full 2013 budget on Feb. 13.

Prominent in the Obama plan is a renewed focus on Asia, where China's rapid military modernization has raised worry in Washington and rattled U.S. allies.

The Pentagon has embraced a proposal by special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven to send more manpower and equipment to worldwide "Theater Special Operations Commands" to strike back wherever threats arise, according to a senior defense official who spoke to The Associated Press and to other current and former U.S. officials briefed on the program. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the proposal are still being worked out, including how fast the changes could be made.

The stepped-up network would put top special operations personnel closer to the problems they face, better able to launch unilateral raids like this week's Somalia mission. McRaven also wants the newly invigorated commands to build new relationships with foreign armies to help them lead their own operations, the senior defense official said.

Panetta also has made clear the administration will resist any effort to shrink the Navy's fleet of aircraft carriers. He said last weekend while on board the fleet's oldest carrier, the USS Enterprise, that keeping 11 of the warships is a "long-term commitment" that Obama believes is important to keeping the peace.

"Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East," he said.

Obama has said he hopes to further reduce the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but Panetta said the basic structure ? a "triad" of land, sea and air nuclear forces ? will be maintained. The Pentagon said it will study the potential to shrink that force later.

The defense budget is being reshaped in the midst of a presidential contest in which Obama seeks to portray himself as a forward-looking commander in chief focusing on new security threats. Republicans want to cast him as weak on defense.

Obama has highlighted his national security successes ? the killing of Osama bin Laden, the death of senior al-Qaida leaders and the demise of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi ? to counter Republican criticism. He also has emphasized the completion of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and the start of a drawdown in Afghanistan as turning points that offer new opportunities to scale back defense spending.

But several congressional Republicans see a political opening in challenging the reductions in projected military spending that the GOP and Obama agreed to last summer as part of a deal to raise the nation's borrowing authority. They've echoed Obama's potential presidential rivals Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who plead for fiscal austerity but contend that sizable cuts would gut the military.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_defense_budget

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Clearwire Q4: revenues up, costs down, LTE expensive

Things are looking up at Clearwire, its Q4 revenue came in just over Wall Street's estimates at $362 million, split between $198 million retail and $164 million wholesale -- with the latter figure up 20 percent over the last quarter. It pointed a finger at increased smartphone usage and slashed operating costs (spending only $82 million) as the reason for the bump. With this being Clearwire, it's still in the business doldrums, relying on handouts from Sprint to keep it going. It's planning to flog off around $300 million of debt to "qualified investors" as a way to ensure sufficient funding for the forthcoming LTE rollout. If you're interested in this sort of thing, you can read the full breakdown after the interval, presumably storming around pretending that you're Gordon Gekko.

Continue reading Clearwire Q4: revenues up, costs down, LTE expensive

Clearwire Q4: revenues up, costs down, LTE expensive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Taxpayers still owed $132.9B from bailout: report

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A government watchdog says U.S. taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion that companies haven't repaid from the financial bailout, and some of that will never be recovered.

The bailout launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 will continue to exist for years, says a report issued Thursday by Christy Romero, the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout. Some bailout programs, such as the effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will last as late as 2017, costing the government an additional $51 billion or so.

The gyrating stock market has slowed the Treasury Department's efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, the report says. They include insurer American International Group Inc., General Motors Co. and Ally Financial Inc.

If Treasury plans to sell its stock in the three companies at or above the price where taxpayers would break even on their investment ? $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM ? it may take a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report says. AIG's shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92. Ally isn't publicly traded.

It will also be challenging for the government to get out of the 458 companies as the market remains volatile and banks struggle keep afloat in the tough economy, it says.

Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers, and $413.4 billion was paid out. So far the government has recovered about $318 billion. The bailout is called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

"TARP is not over," Romero said in a statement. She said her office will maintain its commitment to protect taxpayers for the duration of the program.

Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson said the department "has made substantial progress winding down TARP and has already recovered more than 77 percent of the funds disbursed for the program, through repayments and other income."

"We'll continue to balance the important goals of exiting our investments as soon as practicable and maximizing value for taxpayers," Anderson said.

The government has unwound its investments in four of the companies that received the most aid: Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Chrysler Group LLC and Chrysler Financial, the automaker's old lending arm.

On Wednesday, Treasury announced that it had sold the final batch of securities under its $368 million Small Business Administration loan program under TARP.

In Romero's quarterly report to Congress, she said her office has uncovered and prevented fraud related to TARP. Investigations by her office have resulted in criminal charges against 10 people and three convictions, the report notes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-Bank%20Bailout-Watchdog/id-1f60cd74ba08426a90db581018c0a194

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Go to a Vintage Hollywood Prom with Cameron Silver, Dita Von Teese and Swarovski

It is not really prom, if you cannot re-live it through looking at prom photos and nostalgically listening to the songs that you danced the night away to.? Swarovski?s and Cameron Silver?s Hollywood High Prom ? Class of 1962 is no exception and with celebrity guests like Dita von Teese, Rachel Harris, Natasha Henstridge, Perrey [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/go-to-a-vintage-hollywood-prom-with-cameron-silver-dita-von-teese-and-swarovski/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=go-to-a-vintage-hollywood-prom-with-cameron-silver-dita-von-teese-and-swarovski

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Megaupload Bust Causes Cyberlocker Panic ? But It?s Only Temporary

Oh god! Megaupload has fallen and its brethren are dropping like flies! The age of the cyberlocker is passing. No longer will we be able to host a large file somewhere for free and have someone else download it. Actually, it's not quite so dire, but it's true that a number of major file hosts have either shut down, closed part of their service, or changed the way they operate. It's not the first time that file-sharing tools have received a shock to the system, though, and this little contraction is less the end of an era and more a winnowing of the herd. That's a good thing.

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

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Hungary EU deal hopes dim, PM in Brussels (Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tried to move closer to a deal with the European Commission on Tuesday to rework laws critics say undermine democracy so he can revive stalled international aid talks.

But Orban's deputy tempered expectations of an agreement and

revealed a potential point of conflict between Budapest and the Commission, which has threatened legal action if Hungary does not change laws on the central bank, courts and data protection that critics say undermine democracy.

European Union finance ministers also opened the way on Tuesday for the bloc to freeze cohesion funds to Budapest, saying unorthodox decisions that Orban has used to cut the budget deficit had not brought it below the bloc's ceiling in a sustainable way.

Orban's efforts to centralize power and stack Hungarian state bodies with party loyalists have drawn criticism from Brussels and Washington, which fear they stifle democratic freedoms in the ex-communist country of 10 million.

He has lost much of his support at home, while the economy is heading for recession and investors' loss of confidence has pushed borrowing costs to above 9 percent. Analysts say Orban needs an aid deal to maintain access to the markets.

He will meet Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Tuesday to present a timetable for legal changes.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said the aim of the meeting was not necessarily to clinch a deal that would give a green light for aid talks with the EU and IMF to resume.

"I do not know if either the prime minister or the president of the Commission have the ambition to strike an agreement today. The issues at stake are just not that pressing," he told public radio.

A $13 billion private pension grab produced a rare fiscal surplus last year, buying Hungary some time before it must borrow 5 billion euros to fund repayments to bondholders and to the EU and IMF for an earlier loan.

But the economic outlook is grim. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development cut its forecast for Hungary's economy on Tuesday to a 1.5 percent contraction in 2012, its weakest outlook in emerging Europe.

Confounding market expectations, the central bank left interest rates on hold at 7 percent at a meeting on Tuesday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted a half point hike after the bank made two such increases since November to staunch investor flight from Hungarian assets. The unexpected hold move knocked the forint half a percent lower versus the euro.

ABOUT FACE

Orban in the past pledged to resist outside pressure from parties like the IMF and EU and take Hungary on its own course.

But then rating agencies cut Budapest's debt to "junk" and the Commission began infringement procedures. After investors fled the forint, driving it to a record low against the euro and pushing bond yields above a ruinous 11 percent, Orban promised to reverse some policies.

It was a major political climbdown for the prime minister who swept to power in 2010 with the strongest political mandate in Hungary's post-communist history although analysts and EU leaders are waiting him to fulfill the pledge.

"We trust that what Prime Minister Orban promised us, namely to comply with EU legislation, will be true," Commission spokesman Cezary Lewanowicz said in Brussels ahead of Orban's meeting with Barroso.

Orban's overtures to the EU and IMF have generally boosted market sentiment, lifting the forint a cumulative 5.5 percent higher since it hit an all time low of 324.2 per euro on January 5.

"Given the government has until February 17 to respond to the European Court of Justice's infringement procedures, Orban will continue to stall, even using his meeting today to get a sense of where Barroso's limits lie," think tank Eurasia Group said in a research note.

A top government official said on Monday that Hungary could have a new funding deal in place worth around 17-20 billion euros by March or April. Points of conflict remain, however.

Navracsics said the government disagreed with a Commission demand that Hungary reverse a law lowering the retirement age of judges from 70 to 62, a move Brussels says infringes on judiciary independence.

Another issue is Hungary's budget. EU finance ministers endorsed a view from the Commission that Hungary had not done enough to bring the gap below the EU's 3 percent of gross domestic product ceiling in a sustainable way.

While the Hungarian deficit is set to hit that target, the Commission believes it is only due to one-off measures and the shortfall will grow again in 2013.

"From the moment the ministers approve the Commission's assessment that Hungary has not taken effective action, the Commission is free to decide to suspend up to 100 percent of cohesion funds for Hungary from 2013," an EU official said.

"Hungary will have until the end of the year to act to change the Commission's mind."

(Writing by Gergely Szakacs and Michael Winfrey; Additional reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Anna Willard and Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_hungary

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