Etta James condition better, taken off respirator (AP)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. ? Etta James' manager says the terminally ill blues singer is breathing on her own after being taken off a respirator.

Lupe De Leon says Friday that the change in her condition is great news and that the singer's blood pressure is normal.

De Leon says James was put on a respirator when she was hospitalized in Southern California on Dec. 21 because she was having trouble breathing.

James has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia and is suffering from dementia. She has been receiving mostly at-home care.

Earlier this month, a judge set aside $350,000 for her medical care.

James is best known for the hit "At Last."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_en_mu/us_people_etta_james

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Tourist Finds Human Leg on Florida Beach

Police have few leads on who killed Ronni Chasen

(NEWSER) - The death of celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen is a real-life Hollywood murder mystery, and police are stumped. Nearly half of the Beverly Hills Police Department is working on the case, the Daily Beast reports, but they have little evidence, no motive, and no witnesses. Chasen was found fatally shot in her car?witnesses reported hearing five shots, the New York Times reports?which had crashed into a light post on a street full of million-dollar mansions. The passenger side window was shattered, but police aren't sure if that was the result of the accident, the gunshots, or some other force, the Los Angeles Times reports. Oddly, there was no other gunshot damage to the car, and no bullet casings were found. More?

Source: http://www.newser.com/story/136332/tourist-finds-human-leg-on-florida-beach.html

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Eurozone faces tough hurdles early in 2012 (AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany ? After a hugely-turbulent 2011, the 17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the new year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the eurozone economy is expected to sink back into recession.

With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the eurozone will find it even more difficult to shore up its shaky banks and keep a lid on the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin.

As early as the second full week of January, bond auctions in which Italy and Spain need to borrow big chunks of cash will start showing whether the eurozone is finally getting a grip on the two-year-old crisis that has seen three countries bailed out.

If the auctions go well and borrowing costs ease, then hopes may rise that the strategy of getting governments to embark on often-savage austerity measures to reduce deficits, along with massive support for the banking system from the European Central Bank, may be working.

If rates are still high and show that investors remain nervous about lending to governments, then fears will rise of a government debt default that could cripple banks, sink the economy and, in the extreme case, destroy the 17-member currency union.

Key events early in the New Year:

? Italy and Spain will seek to borrow heavily in the first quarter at affordable interest costs, starting the second week in January.

? The slowing eurozone economy may slip into or already be in recession, lowering tax revenue and increasing government budget deficits.

? Bailed-out Greece must agree with creditors on a debt writedown that will cut the value of their holdings by 50 percent in an effort to start putting the bankrupt country back on its feet.

The major players ? eurozone governments, the European Union's executive Commission and the European Central Bank ? must work together to convince financial markets that troubled governments can pay their heavy debts and therefore deserve to borrow at affordable interest costs.

Default fears have driven up bond market interest rates and made it more and more expensive for indebted governments to borrow to pay off maturing bonds. That vicious cycle forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailout loans from the other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund.

A key stress point will be whether Italy can continue to raise money in the markets at affordable rates.

In the first quarter, it has to step up its borrowing to pay off euro72 billion ($94 billion) in bond redemptions and interest payments. Spain, which is expected to sell up to euro25 billion ($33 billion) in new debt, starts a heavy period of auctions on Jan. 12, and Italy begins on Jan. 13.

Overall, Italy will have to borrow over euro300 billion ($392 billion) in 2012.

Italy's auctions are "absolutely pivotal," said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International.

"If Italy manages to auction this debt successfully, then the debt crisis will take a step back from the cliff edge," Foley said. "If it doesn't, it could go over the cliff edge. At the end of the day, whatever the nuances and hours of discussion that have gone on about the sovereign debt crisis, it boils down to whether a sovereign can sell its debt in the open market."

If Italy fails to borrow at affordable rates, the options are few and unattractive. The eurozone's euro500 billion ($653 billion) in bailout funds ? already partly committed to earlier bailouts ? would struggle to cover Italy's financing needs, even if additional help can be found from the IMF. A bigger solution ? commonly guaranteed eurobonds ? faces German resistance and would take time to implement.

The European Central Bank could use its power to buy large amounts of Italian and Spanish bonds with newly created money ? but has so far refused, out of concern that a central bank bailout would remove the incentive for governments to control their spending.

Instead, the bank has focused on pushing credit to banks so they can keep lending to support the economy.

Still, its limited bond purchases have provided essential support to Spain and Italy by helping hold down borrowing costs. And its latest massive infusion of euro489 billion ($639 billion) in cheap, long term loans may help troubled governments borrow, as stronger banks may use some of the money to buy higher-yielding government bonds.

Italy pays an average of about 4.2 percent on its existing stock of euro1.9 trillion in debt, but the crisis has pushed bond yields on the country's benchmark ten-year bonds to over 7 percent.

Italy's new government, led by economist Mario Monti, can probably pay rates that high for a while, analysts think. Italy paid much higher interest rates in the 1990s for several years; rates peaked at 14 percent in 1992 but fell gradually to around 4 percent by 1998 as the country shaped up its finances to join the euro at the beginning of 1999.

But the country is now hit by contagion after eurozone authorities allowed Greece to ask creditors to take less than they were owed. Italy also suffers from lagging growth, held back by burdensome red tape and bureaucracy while Spain has an unemployment rate of 22.8 percent ? 48.9 percent for people under 25 ? after the collapse of its real estate bubble.

Italy and Spain's battle will be even harder if the debt troubles pull the whole eurozone into a recession. Economists at Ernst & Young foresee a mild recession in the first part of the year and only 0.1 percent growth for the year as a whole, with unemployment at 10 percent for several years.

That will increase the strain on governments trying to persuade voters to accept more cutbacks in spending, pensions and government wages while raising taxes.

It's also not clear how long voters in Greece, which will have its fourth straight year of recession next year, will tolerate continuous austerity. Yet the cutbacks are the price of getting the bailout loans that have kept Greece from default.

Meanwhile Greece is striving to get creditors to agree to write down some debt and avoid larger losses in case of a default that is not agreed ahead of time. A euro14.4 billion ($18.8 billion) chunk of debt comes due in March.

Guntram Wolff, deputy director of the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said that governments may get past the early hurdles ? only to confront a souring mood among voters in the second half of the year over continuing cutbacks and sacrifices. New governments in Spain and Italy, currently enjoying political honeymoons, will be pressed to show progress. Greece has seen repeated protests and strikes.

"There will be a point in the summer when people have seen a lot of action from government and no improvement in their living conditions and they will ask, do we have this euro to live with austerity and high unemployment," he said.

Wolff thinks that the determination of political elites to keep the euro together will win out: "I think it's going to survive."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis_road_ahead

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sluathletics: SOCCER: Cooper Repeats at All-Central Region Selection http://t.co/f1kp7n7E #NCAA #soccer

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SOCCER: Cooper Repeats at All-Central Region Selection dlvr.it/12Zc30 #NCAA #soccer Il y a environ 5 heures via dlvr.it

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Twitter-Writing Laser Gun Turns Tweets Into Art

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Google, Microsoft Square off for Search Supremacy

While Google and Microsoft waged "trench warfare" in the search business this year, both are hoping to come up with a market game changer for 2012.

Analysts are split over which firm got the better of 2011, but most agree that the search business is critical to the future of both Microsoft and Google .

The growing competition between the tech giants in 2012 is good news for users, analysts said, noting that it will likely result in more innovation and the development of strong new search features .

"Neither of them were able to make game-changing moves in 2011, so the battle settled down into trench warfare," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. "Competition between the two isn't going to get any easier. Both are going to try to get to high ground in this battlefield. That should be interesting."

Advantage: Microsoft

Analysts generally agree that Microsoft's big win this year came via its partnerships market leading social partners -- namely Facebook and Twitter.

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said the agreements gave Bing a slight advantage over Google's 2011.

"I believe Microsoft won the overall rivalry this year in terms of overall growth and strategic moves," Moorhead. He cited Bing's "improved integration of social media, the Bing iOS app, and Bing for Xbox and Kinect. But on the flip side, Microsoft has made little traction on the international side related to search metrics."

Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group, agreed that Microsoft's marketing investment in Bing is paying off so far. "They increasingly appeared as the nicer, more interesting, alternative to Google search," he said.

The work has resulted in some momentum for Bing.

For instance, the Microsoft search engine picked up some market share after a partnership deal with Yahoo that was signed in July, 2009. And the company got some more hope in July, 2011, when Google's search market share dipped below 65 percent for the first time in two years. Over that same two-year period, Bing's share of the search market had almost doubled.

Google Still Rules

But Google's share did rise past 65 percent again this fall and the battle of two strong contenders continued.

"Google seems to be capitalizing on their brand and isn't having a problem holding onto its market share," said Olds. "At the start of 2011, Google had 66 percent of U.S. searches while Bing had about 30 percent. In October, we see pretty much the same thing -- Google with two-thirds of the searches and Bing with 30 percent."

Meanwhile, Google failed to come up with partnership agreements with social network leaders like Facebook or Twitter , which could come back to haunt it, analysts said.

Google has taken advantage of the Google+ social network it launched last summer, integrating it with the search engine, but the product's user base is far below the reported 800 million Facebook members, putting it at a significant social search disadvantage.

Next Battleground: Mobile

Moorhead said that both companies have to focus on the mobile market in 2012, which he calls "a year for mobile integration. Search will attempt to permeate every kind of imaginable smartphone app in one way or another. This includes searches on videos, pictures and even sounds. Some of the largest advances will come in the form of image search, which will augment shopping, maps, and even food reviews."

Olds agreed that both companies must focus on improving integration with social networks with, for example, local shopping and daily deal features.

Olds also noted that the precarious position of Internet pioneer and one-time search leader Yahoo creates some intrigue for the search business next year.

Some analysts have been speculating since the firing of CEO Carol Bartz in September that Microsoft may try again to buy the firm, though for much less than the $40 billion-plus it offered in 2008. Acquiring Yahoo -- or even of parts of it -- could prove a boon to Microsoft in its battle with Google, they added.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin , or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

Read more about internet search in Computerworld's Internet Search Topic Center.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright ? 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: http://feeds.pcworld.com/click.phdo?i=25938d4f544eda44a6a6f4151ad1b4aa

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Iowa's ready for its close-up, and the candidates are coming (Star Tribune)

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Growing poverty looms for next Mexican president (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? When President Felipe Calderon came to power five years ago, he pledged to cut rampant poverty in Mexico. Instead, millions more have joined the ranks of the poor.

A battle over how to tackle poverty, which is blamed for stunting Mexico's economic development and fueling the rise of violent drug gangs, is already raging between candidates competing to succeed Calderon in a July presidential election.

From left to right, they have vowed to find a way of addressing chronically weak tax revenues, a failing education system, and the vast concentration of wealth in few hands.

But with more than a quarter of the economy off the books, the task facing the next president is huge.

Mexico is home to world's richest man, Carlos Slim. At the end of last year, he was worth around $74 billion, according to Forbes magazine. That's equivalent to roughly 6.6 percent of Mexico's annual economic output.

Just a few blocks from the Mexican stock exchange that Slim's companies dominate, Marcial Maya earns about 80 pesos ($5.80) a day selling nuts, gum and cigarettes at traffic lights. At that rate he would have to work for 35 million years, 365 days a year to match the tycoon's fortune - provided he spent no money.

"I have six children, and I want them to study but I am at the point of asking them to leave school," the 37-year-old Maya said. "I just can't afford it any more."

About half of Mexico's population lives below the poverty line and it has failed to match its big Latin American rival, Brazil, in making significant inroads against the problem.

LOST YEARS

A weak global environment has been part of the problem, with Mexico battered during the financial crisis, in large part because it is so dependent on U.S. demand for its exports.

But Calderon's government has drawn criticism for failing to strengthen the domestic economy. Mexico has had an average annual growth of 2.2 percent since 2003 -- about half the rate for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Between 2006 and last year, the number of Mexicans living on 2,100 pesos ($150) a month or less jumped from 45.5 million to almost 58 million, according to Coneval, the government body in charge of measuring poverty.

In 2008, the government's formal definition of poverty changed, stripping out millions from the official tally. But even using the new measure, the number of poor rose by more than 3 million to 52 million between 2008 and 2010.

Mexico's wealthiest 10 percent earn 27 times what the bottom tenth makes on average, according to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

By contrast, in the United States, the top 10 percent are only 14 times better off than the bottom bracket.

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, a poverty expert and director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican studies at the University of California, San Diego, said Calderon's approach to eliminating poverty had not been thought out properly.

"He never had a really cohesive or comprehensive strategy," he said. "We lost, in a way, six years."

After Mexico's 1994-95 economic crash, the government slowly managed to bring back poverty levels back to pre-crisis levels by the time Calderon took office. Then, that momentum ended.

Calderon's failure to stem the tide has eroded support for his conservative National Action Party (PAN) and has prompted presidential hopefuls to call for a broader welfare net and more investment in education - just as Calderon did himself.

OUT OF TOUCH

Known as Oportunidades, Mexico's chief anti-poverty scheme covers 5.8 million families living in mostly rural areas.

The program's funding has more than doubled since 2003, and coverage has expanded by more than 1 million people, providing healthcare and education to many of Mexico's neediest.

But Mexico still devotes far less to social spending than Latin America's biggest economy, Brazil.

In 2009, Mexico spent about 11.2 percent of its gross domestic product on social programs compared to 27 percent in Brazil, according to Cepal, the United Nations economic commission for Latin American and Caribbean.

While Mexico's government was struggling to contain the spread of deprivation, Brazil lifted some 40 million people out of poverty under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The favorite to succeed Calderon, Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), says Mexico is not creating enough good jobs and he has proposed universal healthcare, social security and unemployment benefits for all.

However, Pena Nieto's proposals will be expensive and he may fail to find a majority in Congress.

"It costs a lot of money: four or five, maybe six percent of gross domestic product, and the only way you can finance it is with a major tax overhaul," said Jorge Castaneda, foreign minister under former president Vicente Fox, also of the PAN.

With the notable exception of leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who ran for office on a "poor first" mantra in 2006 and is competing again in 2012, Mexican politicians have frequently appeared out of touch with the needs of the poor.

Pena Nieto slipped up this month when he was unable to say how much corn tortillas -- a staple of the Mexican diet - cost or what Mexico's minimum wage is: about 60 pesos a day. In February, one of his PAN presidential rivals, Ernesto Cordero, took a beating in the media when he said a monthly income of 6,000 pesos ($430) could cover a family home, a car and private education in Mexico.

Whoever wins will seek to reduce the size of the informal economy, a fertile recruiting ground for drug gangs.

Seeking an alternative to low paid work, thousands of Mexicans have drifted into organized crime - often ending up as just another statistic in Calderon's war on the cartels, which has claimed 45,000 lives in the past five years.

Beneath gleaming skyscrapers in Mexico City's business district, Cristian Ortiz, 30, said he made more money washing car windows than he could with many regular jobs. And he had little faith that things would change with a new government.

"Politicians have said they're going to fix poverty for hundreds of years, they always say the same thing," he said.

(Additional reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by Dave Graham and Kieran Murray)

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

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Clashes between sect, police kill 61 in Nigeria (AP)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria ? Fighting between a radical Muslim sect and paramilitary forces in Nigeria has killed at least 61 people over several days of violence in the nation's northeast that has left churches bombed and people hiding in fear, authorities said Saturday.

In hard-hit Yobe state, where at least 50 people died, the government ordered a dusk-till-dawn curfew following attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram. In Maiduguri, the capital of neighboring Borno state, bombs reduced at least three churches to rubble and raised fears of further attacks by a group that claimed Christmas Eve bombings last year that killed dozens.

The fighting began Thursday in the two states, with gunfire and explosions heard into the night and the following day in an arid region that borders Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state, and the town of Potiskum bore the brunt of the violence.

In Damaturu, residents fled their homes near the city's central mosque ahead of a combined attack by soldiers and the federal police's feared Mobile Police, known as "kill-and-go" for their propensity for violence. The paramilitary forces raided the area in armored personnel carriers and tanks, with heavy gunfire marking their arrival.

"We were able to kill 12 of the Boko Haram armed sect and bombers," local police commissioner Lawan Tanko said. The police commissioner said officers also recovered Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition and explosives.

In Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, a mortuary official who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter told The Associated Press at least 11 bodies had been brought in from the violence. Authorities blamed Boko Haram for firebombing at least three churches around the capital, attacks that killed one pastor and his young child.

This is just the latest in a series of bombings over the last year by Boko Haram. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, wants to implement strict Shariah law across a nation of more than 160 million people that is home to both Christians and Muslims.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a Nov. 4 attack on Damaturu, Yobe state's capital, that killed more than 100 people. The group also claimed the Aug. 24 suicide car bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria's capital that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.

While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run assassinations from the back of motorbikes, violence by Boko Haram now has a new sophistication and apparent planning that includes high-profile attacks with greater casualties. The sect is responsible for at least 465 killings in Nigeria this year alone, according to an AP count.

Boko Haram has splintered into three factions, with one wing increasingly willing to kill as it maintains contact with terror groups in North Africa and Somalia, diplomats and security sources say. That, as well as its increasingly violent attacks, have some worried the group will carry out further attacks around Christmas and New Year's.

Last year, a series of Christmas Eve bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos claimed by Boko Haram killed at least 32 people and wounded at least 74 others.

With those attacks in mind, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria's capital of Abuja issued a warning Friday to citizens to be "particularly vigilant" around churches, large crowds and areas where foreigners congregate.

Analysts say the government's response remains strained as President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the country's south, remains worried about alienating the country's predominantly Muslim north with heavy-handed tactics. In 2009, a military and police crackdown following rioting by Boko Haram members in and around Maiduguri left 700 people dead.

Yet since Thursday, authorities have been using paramilitary police and soldiers more freely. Tanko, the Yobe state police commissioner, said joint patrols by the military and police would continue.

"When you are fighting people you don't know, you cannot say that's the end of the exercise," Tanko said. "We are trying to ensure that will be the end, but we are monitoring what is going on. But we know we cannot specifically say that will be the end."

___

Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria and can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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Royals to visit UK's Prince Philip after heart surgery (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Queen Elizabeth's 90-year-old husband Prince Philip had a "good night" after being rushed to hospital for heart surgery and will be visited by members of Britain's royal family on Saturday, Buckingham Palace said.

Britain's longest-serving royal consort, known for his outspoken and sometimes brusque manner, needed an operation to fit a small tube to clear a blocked artery after suffering chest pains as the royal family prepared to celebrate Christmas.

"The Duke of Edinburgh had a good night," a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said. "There is an expectation that some of the royal family will visit this morning."

Philip had been due to spend Christmas with members of the royal family - including grandson Prince William and his wife Catherine, accordingly to British media - at the Sandringham royal estate in eastern England, but he may have to spend the holiday in a hospital bed.

Philip, who married Elizabeth in 1947, was taken to Papworth Hospital, one of Britain's main heart and chest centers, about 60 miles away in Cambridge on Friday.

"The Duke of Edinburgh was found to have a blocked coronary artery which caused his chest pains," the palace said. "This was treated successfully by the minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting."

He would stay in hospital "for a short period" under observation, it added.

The hospital declined to comment although, with members of the royal family visiting him on Saturday, it appeared unlikely he would be discharged until at least Christmas Day.

Philip had attended a lunch for staff a week ago and had been on "very good form," the BBC reported.

"He has had these chest pains before and I don't think it's anything untoward, but given his age they are being safe rather than sorry," former royal press spokesman Dickie Arbiter said.

Despite his age, Philip generally has been in good health and has continued a busy round of charity work and social engagements, recently visiting Australia and Ireland.

A pivotal figure in the House of Windsor, Philip has a reputation as a fiercely loyal consort who prefers outdoor pursuits to introspection.

Britain's tabloid newspapers have delighted over the years in recounting his many public gaffes.

He once told British students in China: "If you stay here much longer, you'll be slitty-eyed."

Born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921, Philip served in Britain's Royal Navy before marrying Elizabeth. They have four children, including the heir to the throne, Charles.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon and Peter Griffiths; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111224/wl_nm/us_britain_royal_philip

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sfsignal: A Gallery of Christmas-Themed Galaxy Covers From the Pulp Days of Science Fiction: http://t.co/OwXzoFPn #FreeFiction

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A Gallery of Christmas-Themed Galaxy Covers From the Pulp Days of Science Fiction: sfsignal.com/12975 #FreeFiction Il y a environ 6 heures via HootSuite Retweeted by 1 person

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Gloss Find: Photo Cube iPhone Photo Printer

Are you finished with your holiday shopping yet?

Well, at this point, GOOD LUCK ? but if you are gifting someone who will not judge you for belated, you have to check out this iPhone photo printer I discovered ? how many of your photos sadly never make it anywhere except the album in your phone?

NOW imagine you can take that iPhone, dock it into your printer, and print those special photos? Amazing, right???

Photo Cube iPhone Photo Printer ($100)

Source: http://mygloss.com/geek/accessories/gloss-find-photo-cube-iphone-photo-printer/

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Is Gremlins 3 in the Works?

Exclusive : Has Warner decided to do Gremlins 3!?

Something tells me those mischievous, scantily-dressed midnight snackers The Kardashians the Gremlins will be back before a Green Screen in the coming months.

If a domain renewal is anything to go by, ?Gremlins 3? could be creeping up on us.

Seems Warner Bros renewed Gremlins3.com last week, a domain they?ve owned since 2009.

Now that doesn?t mean the film is definitely happening, but it does suggest that for the past few years the water tower gang have been seriously considering putting Gizmo back on the front-line. And if I had to guess, I?d say the domain renewal reiterates their interest in doing a new ?Gremlins? film.

When will it happen? Anyone?s guess, but with strong brand name franchises like ?Mission : Impossible?, ?The Muppets? and ?Transformers? eating up large chunks of the multiplex receipts of late, I wouldn?t at all be surprised to discover it?s clandestinely in-development as we speak.

(The same date Warner Bros also renewed their registration for the still-possible ?Green Lantern? sequel at GreenLantern2.com and the inevitable ?Hangover 3? with TheHangover3.com.)

There?s a number of other rumoured Warner Bros sequels/prequels that the studio haven?t reserved domain names for ? i.e ?Blade Runner 2?, ?Lost Boys 4?, ?Police Academy 8?, ?Lethal Weapon 5?, ?The Goonies 2?- so it?d seem the studio isn?t in the business of ?buying up all the domains for possible future product?. Everything url-wise they?ve snapped up has either been announced or is in development by looks.

I dropped a contact at Warner Bros a line (the same contact who) about the ?Gremlins 3? find and whilst they said they?ve ?heard things? they had nothing solid to fill a return email with.

?Gremlins? director Joe Dante told us last year that he didn?t expect Warner Bros to call him with a request to shepherd a second sequel to his 1984 hit ? but he did expect the studio would soon do something with the property.

Here?s what Dante, who had a falling out with the studio a couple of years back, said :

I?m constantly asked ?why the hold up on Gremlins 3? And that?s because those films were such products of the technology at the time. The movie was more limited and created by technology. They were puppets. The storylines, then, were based around what we could do with the Gremlins. Now, of course, anything is possible but it becomes a little more difficult to hone it on what your storyline would be. First of all, I won?t be asked. Second of all, I wouldn?t bring back the original cast because it?s been too long ? the kids now would be familiar with the title, and familiar with Gizmo and Stripe, but as far as the actual [live-action] characters and story, they don?t know them.. it.

Dante?s probably correct about the original cast not being involved ? can?t imagine Warner would bother with Zach Gallighan and Phoebe Cates; they?d go for more noteworthy names ? and it?s a certainty that it?d be CGI now.

Again, no guarantee a third ?Gremlins? will happen, but seems it?s definitely something Warner are looking at. And that?s cool with me. Heck, I?m happy to know that if a new ?Ghostbusters? doesn?t happen, which quite frankly, I?m not convinced will happen, we might see that other 1984 franchise get a reprise.

Anyone keen for another ?Gremlins??

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924198/news/1924198/

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Tournament of THG: Last Chance to Vote in Quarterfinal Matchups!

Welcome back to the Tournament of THG, where fans vote on the most popular star of 2011! The concept is simple: Pick your favorite of the two stars in each poll. Done.

The semifinal round (final four) starts Monday, so this is your last chance to cast a virtual ballot in all four quarterfinal contests. So far, some are closer than others.

Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Robert Pattinson and Miley Cyrus are ahead at the moment, but that could all change with a late surge. Only time - and you - will tell!

Who will advance to the next round? VOTE below (and after the jump)!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/tournament-of-thg-last-chance-to-vote-in-quarterfinal-matchups/

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College Sports: Pac-12 football: Matt Barkley to return for senior season (let’s just hand USC the South title now)

Posted by Jon Wilner on December 22nd, 2011 at 2:20 pm | Categorized as Matt Barkley, Pac-12 football, USC football

The big news out of Trojanland on Thursday is big news for the Pac-12 next fall:

USC quarterback Matt Barkley just announced he?s pulling a Luck.

Barkley will pass on the top tier of the 2012 NFL Draft and return to USC for one more season ? his final season ? as the presumptive Heisman favorite (assuming RG3 turns pro) ? and the potential first pick in the 2012 draft.

Sound familiar?

(More details here.)

I?ll have more on Barkley?s decision ? and how it impacts the Pac-12 and national landscape ? in the next 24 hours.

Remember, the Trojans are eligible for the conference title and a bowl berth in 2012.

And remember, the bulk of USC?s starting lineup is expected to return.

The Trojans will no doubt be a top-10 team in the preseason polls and the heavy, heavy, HEAVY favorite to win the South, which was a mess this season and doesn?t, at first glance, appear to have much more clarity in ?12.

* Follow me @WilnerHotline on Twitter.

* Download the Bay Area News Group?s new iPad app for more college sports and other news, or check out college sports coverage on MercuryNews.com.

?

Source: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2011/12/22/pac-12-football-matt-barkley-to-return-for-senior-season-lets-just-hand-usc-the-south-title-now/

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Holiday Blues May Signal Depression (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The holidays can be a particularly difficult time for people suffering from depression.

Experts from Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System, said they are bracing for an increase in self-destructive behavior. They noted however, there are ways to recognize when a person is depressed and intervene before they end up in the emergency room.

"For those who have no support system, no friends, family, loved ones or even co-workers, the holidays can prove very deadly," Dr. Mark DeSilva, medical director of the emergency department at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, said in a hospital news release. "Everywhere, there are signs of gatherings, gift exchanges, happiness and love. If you are not experiencing what the rest of the world is enjoying, it is very bitter."

Although the holidays can bring out desperate acts in unstable people, he pointed out that there are usually a number of warning signs leading up to this behavior. DeSilva offered the following tips to help identify these red flags:

• Being antisocial. "Most people are busy going to social gatherings, shopping, attending events and connecting with friends," DeSilva said. "Look for those who shun social interaction or who consistently do not attend events that they say they will."
• Being angry."The person expresses sarcasm, unhappiness or criticism of others' joy in the season and is consistently pessimistic," DeSilva said.
• Abusing drugs or alcohol. "Beer or cocktails, readily available throughout the holidays, or illegal drugs, are overindulged to numb the pain the individual is feeling and offer an escape from reality," DeSilva explained.
• Missing work or other events. "Facing others who are happy and bright is often too difficult for those feeling the holiday blues," DeSilva said. "They may be consistently absent or very late to work or no-shows at anticipated social engagements."
• Excessive sleepiness. "Depression often takes the guise of extreme fatigue or tiredness. The body shuts down to form an escape from the everyday world," DeSilva cautioned.

Anyone who recognizes these behaviors in a friend or acquaintance should reach out to that person right away, particularly if they've been hit hard by the economic downturn.

"By recognizing when a person is in trouble, and speaking out, you may not only save them a trip to the [emergency department], but also save a life," DeSilva concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health provides more information on depression.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111222/hl_hsn/holidaybluesmaysignaldepression

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Softbank to quit on Myspace in Japan: report (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Softbank Corp will quit its domestic social networking site business after just five years, liquidating a joint venture with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for the Japanese-language version of Myspace, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The 50-50 joint venture with U.S. media group News Corp will shut down at the end of January and be liquidated, the Nikkei reported. The Japanese-language service will be taken over by U.S. firm Myspace LLC, the newspaper added.

News Corp acquired Myspace for $580 million in 2005, when it was among the world's most popular websites, and the company's success in beating out rival Viacom Inc in a bidding war was viewed as a major victory for Murdoch.

However, since then Facebook eclipsed Myspace in popularity and in June, News Corp sold the website to advertising company Specific Media LLC and singer Justin Timberlake at a fraction of what it had paid.

News Corp continues to own its stake in the Japanese unit, the Nikkei said.

Launched in November 2006, Myspace's Japanese service tied up with record labels and sought to tout itself as a way for artists to reach fans. But it failed to offer attractive content, and had only signed up about 1.08 million users as of August, not even a 10th of Facebook's tally, the paper said.

(Reporting by Ritika Rai in Bangalore; Editing by Viraj Nair)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/wr_nm/us_softbank

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JHamrahi: @espn_nfceast Too bad. London Fletcher has been a monster again this year.

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@espn_nfceast Too bad. London Fletcher has been a monster again this year. Il y a environ 2 heures via TweetDeck en r?ponse ? espn_nfceast

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Source: http://twitter.com/JHamrahi/statuses/149588581294419968

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Images: The last US troops to leave Iraq (AP)

Under the cover of night, America's war in Iraq ended. It was called a "Tactical Road March" and consisted of five separate movements, all aimed at getting America's last soldiers out of Iraq safely. First a team left to clear the route of any roadside bombs. Then the troops left in four different groups. In all, the movement had about 110 vehicles and 500 troops.

The destination was Kuwait. When the roughly five-hour drive was over, it marked the end of America's nearly nine-year war in Iraq.

AP photographer Maya Alleruzzo journeyed with the 3rd Brigade across the border from Iraq into Kuwait, documenting the last vehicles and the last soldiers to leave the country ? and the relief they felt after making it successfully to Kuwait.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_re_us/iraq_photo_package

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Storm, floods in south Philippines kill over 200

Residents are rescued by volunteers following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

Residents are rescued by volunteers following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Erwin Mascarinas)

A resident rummages through debris following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Police rescue trapped residents following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Police carry the body of a victim by a flash flood that hit Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

Trapped residents, perched on rooftops, are rescued to safety following a flash flood in Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines, killing scores of people and missing more. Mayor Lawrence Cruz of nearby Iligan said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea by a swollen river. (AP Photo/Froilan Gallardo)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Pounding rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water rushing through the southern Philippines while people were asleep, killing more than 200 with scores missing, officials said Saturday.

Some of the dead were swept out to sea from the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the Mindanao region, which is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the archipelago nation.

Cagayan de Oro city councilor Alvin Bacal said 107 people had died in the flooding in his city alone, citing military figures.

In Iligan, 79 bodies were recovered in the city after more than 12 hours of continuous rain from Tropical Storm Washi overflowed a river and sent muddy floodwaters cascading from nearby mountains, Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. About 250 people are unaccounted for in Iligan, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang.

A man in Cagayan de Oro said he heard a cry for help around 10 p.m. while the floodwaters were still low.

"Suddenly, there was a very strong rush of water," the man, who was not identified, told a local TV station.

Ayi Hernandez, a former congressman, said he and his family were resting in their home late Friday when they heard a loud "swooshing sound" and water quickly rose ankle deep inside his home. He decided to evacuate to a neighbor's two-story house.

"It was a good thing because in less than an hour the water rose to about 11 feet (3.3 meters)," the height of the ceiling of his house, he said.

Civil defense administrator Benito Ramos said 18 drowned in floodwaters in central Negros Oriental province, whose southern tip was nipped by the eye of the storm later Saturday.

The floodwaters were waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding. Scores of residents escaped the floods by climbing onto the roofs of their homes, Cruz said.

Those missing included prominent radio broadcaster Enie Alsonado, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbors, Cruz said.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said that about 20,000 residents of the city had been affected and that evacuees were packed in temporary shelters.

Television footage showed muddy water rushing in the streets, sweeping away all sorts of debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.

Authorities recovered bodies from the mud after the water subsided. Parts of concrete walls and roofs, toppled vehicles and other debris littered the muddy streets.

Rescuers in boats rushed offshore to save people swept out to sea by the raging floodwaters. In Misamis Oriental province, 60 people were plucked from the ocean off El Salvador city, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Cagayan de Oro, said disaster official Teddy Sabuga-a.

About 120 more were rescued off Opol township, closer to the city, he added.

He said an island in the middle of the Cagayan de Oro river was inundated, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or people missing.

Cruz said the coast guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off his coastal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea.

An 80-year-old woman drowned after being trapped in the first floor of her flooded home in Zamboanga del Norte province. A 30-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy also drowned, said provincial disaster officer Dennis Tenorio.

Washi, the 19th storm to hit the Philippines this year, came ashore in eastern Mindanao and blanketed the region with thick rain clouds 250 miles (400 kilometers) in diameter.

It quickly cut across the region overnight and was over the Sulu Sea by midmorning Saturday. It was then headed for Palawan province southwest of Manila and was expected to cross the narrow province before dawn Sunday, said forecaster Leny Ruiz.

Ruiz said the weather bureau's records show that storms that follow Washi's track come only once in about 12 years.

Lucilo Bayron, vice mayor of Puerto Princesa in Palawan, told ABS-CBN television he has already mobilized emergency crews but local officials have not ordered an evacuation "because it's not raining and the weather is still fine here."

Ramos, a former army general, said by law two army divisions ? about 20,000 men ? in Mindanao and part of the central Philippines are supposed to help with rescue and relief work, backed up by hundreds of local police, reservists, coast guard officers and civilian volunteers. However, he could not give an estimate of how many are actually involved.

Col. Leopoldo Galon, military spokesman for the eastern section of Mindanao, said 420 soldiers have been assigned for disaster duties. There was no immediate comment from the western Mindanao military spokesman.

Ramos said the high casualties in Mindanao could be attributed "partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms" despite four days of warnings by officials of an approaching storm.

He also said heavy rains fell on nearby Bukidnon province's vast pineapple plantations, which sit on a plateau that drains rainfall through a river system that runs through Cagayan de Oro. Mountains near Iligan were denuded, also causing the flash floods and mud flows that swamped the city, he said.

Storms and typhoons that normally pass through the northern and central Philippines are pushed farther south of the country by cold winds during the northern hemisphere's winter season late in the year.

Back-to-back typhoons in September left more than 100 people dead in the northern Philippines.

____

Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-17-AS-Philippines-Storm/id-468285dda1a94976bbc20dd4f4c16465

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[OOC] The Elites: Frontlines

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Pakistani PM seeks to dispel rumors of army rift

In this photo taken Sept. 9, 2008, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari pauses during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan's president, recovering from a likely "mini stroke" in his Dubai home with no word on his return, is locked in a gathering struggle with the powerful army and political opponents over a secret memo sent to Washington seeking its help in averting a supposed military coup earlier this year.

In this photo taken Sept. 9, 2008, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari pauses during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan's president, recovering from a likely "mini stroke" in his Dubai home with no word on his return, is locked in a gathering struggle with the powerful army and political opponents over a secret memo sent to Washington seeking its help in averting a supposed military coup earlier this year.

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan's prime minister dismissed speculation of a rift between the government and the military over a secret memo sent to Washington seeking its help in averting a supposed military coup, saying the country was committed to democracy.

Political tensions have soared ahead of a hearing by Pakistan's Supreme Court into the circumstances surrounding the memo. The absence of President Asif Ali Zardari, recovering from a likely "mini stroke" in his Dubai home with no word on his return, has only added to rumors that the current civilian administration is in possible fatal trouble.

Zardari's critics are hoping the scandal will lead to his ouster, and delighted in portraying his trip to Dubai on Dec. 6 as a flight from the fallout from the memo. The president's aides have denied that, and most independent analysts believe the veteran politician, who has outlasted numerous predictions of his demise since taking office in 2008, will ride it out.

Tensions between the army and the government could complicate American attempts to rebuild ties with Pakistan, a country that many U.S. officials see as key to shepherding peace in Afghanistan. Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan in late November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border, hammering relations already strained by American suspicions that Islamabad is playing both sides in the Afghan war and virulent anti-U.S. sentiments inside Pakistan.

Late Friday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met with army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to discuss the memo.

Gilani said in a statement afterward that he rejected the notion of a "standoff" between the army and the civilian leadership.

"The government of Pakistan and its institutions remain committed to their constitutional roles and obligations to a democratic and prosperous future for Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan has a long history of army coups or behind the scenes meddling by the generals to engineer pliant regimes, often with the support of the judiciary. That has left the country's 180 million people especially receptive to the idea that the collapse of the government is just around the corner.

Pakistan's envoy to the United States, Husain Haqqani, resigned last month amid allegations that he masterminded what has been dubbed a "treasonous" memo. Then U.S. military chief Adm. Mike Mullen has said he received the note, but ignored it.

With questions swirling over whether the president himself was aware of the letter, Zardari's main political rival petitioned the Supreme Court to hold an inquiry into the affair. Moving with rare speed, the court swiftly asked for statements from 10 people, including Haqqani, Gen. Kayani, Lt. Gen. Shuja Pasha and American-Pakistani businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who allegedly arrange for the memo to be delivered and then went on to reveal its existence via the media.

On Wednesday, the deadline for submissions, the Supreme Court ? widely considered to be hostile to the Zardari government ? said it had received statements from everyone except the president. The government said a parliamentary probe into the affair is enough, and it is unclear whether Zardari will cooperate.

In a new twist to the scandal, former U.S. national security adviser Gen. James Jones, who acted as an intermediary between Ijaz and Mullen, said in a sworn affidavit delivered to the court that he had no reason to believe that Haqqani had anything to do with the memo. He also said that he didn't find the memo "credible" and questioned why Ijaz, a businessmen and part-time journalist, would deliver it. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the affidavit Saturday.

Officials have not revealed what is wrong with Zardari, though this week did release a statement by his doctor saying he had lost consciousness for several minutes and was suffering from pain in his arm. It didn't give a diagnosis, however. One associate has privately said Zardari suffered a "mini-stroke" that had left no lasting damage.

The 56-year-old, with a history of heart troubles, left hospital on Wednesday. But aides have not said when he will travel to Pakistan. So long as he remains abroad, rumors will continue.

"Mr. Zardari needs to return to Pakistan to try and calm nerves and quell speculation that refuses to die down," Pakistan's daily Dawn newspaper said in an editorial. "Like it or not, the reality of Pakistan is that threats to the democratic process do lurk in the shadows."

Zardari, who was thrust to the presidency after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by militants in 2007, has never been particularly popular. His party has a majority in parliament, and his lawmakers are expected to give it a majority in the Senate in elections in March.

That prospect has allegedly prompted hardline lawmakers to seek his ouster immediately.

"They are creating a lot of fuss, they want something to happen, either through the Supreme Court or the army or through street agitation," said political analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi. "Still, I think he can manage it, and linger on for a while."

Many are questioning why the president doesn't announce when he will return.

One possible reason is the general incompetence of those close to him. Another is that he is too ill to communicate his wishes to those around him, and with the boss incapacitated, his aides aren't brave enough to say anything.

While Zardari is a skilled operator in the frequently below-the-belt world of Pakistani politics, he has been known to ignore, or be unaware, of how his actions are playing in the street. When the world was rushing to help Pakistan recover from devastating floods in 2010, he flew to his family chateaux in France, triggering disbelief and outrage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-17-AS-Pakistan/id-ac6c49a2472a4945b2d2a952369577eb

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