Saturday, December 31, 2011

SmackDown results: Barrett takes out Orton in brutal Falls Count Anywhere Match

INDIANAPOLIS ?? Not everyone got what he wanted from Santa. But during the final SmackDown of 2011, some Superstars did indeed have their holiday wishes come true. Wade Barrett finally earned retribution on Randy Orton, taking him out of commission in a brutal Falls Count Anywhere Match. Booker T got a title match with Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. And, Big Show received a title match with World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan.

1354075842001|03:19Wade Barrett battled Randy Orton in a Falls Count Anywhere Match (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Wade Barrett and Randy Orton continued their intense rivalry in a brutal Falls Count Anywhere Match. After waging war inside the ring, the action spilled outside, where The Viper tossed Barrett over the announce table. As Orton continued to pummel Barrett, he was shoved directly into the WWE ref, knocking him out cold. Next, the two continued to fight it out among the WWE Universe.

The vicious battle then carried over into the locker room area of the Conseco Fieldhouse, where there was no WWE official present. The battle even waged on inside an elevator! But when their fight took them to the top of a staircase, it was Orton who ended up at the bottom. At first Barrett started down the stairs to approach Orton, but then backed away and exited through an arena door as The Viper laid motionless on the stair landing. When will WWE?s Apex Predator return to action? (MORE ON ORTON?S CONDITION)

World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show announced (WATCH)
To compete with the WWE Championship Match pitting CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler on Monday?s Raw, SmackDown GM Theodore Long announced a big match of his own for next week's SmackDown: World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show for Bryan's World Title.

Sheamus def. Heath Slater (WATCH | PHOTOS)1354090304001|01:16
In a match made by Teddy Long, Heath Slater had his work cut out for him against Sheamus. Despite a good fight, Slater was no match for The Celtic Warrior?s brutal Brogue Kick.?

Sheamus vowed to win the 2012 Royal Rumble Match (WATCH | PHOTOS)?
Standing in the center of the ring, Sheamus vowed to win the 2012 Royal Rumble Match. But, Hornswoggle came out and declared he would be the winner. Next, Heath Slater came to ringside to state his case that he is the No. 1 redhead on SmackDown, not Sheamus. After exchanging words, The Great White sent Slater flying over the top rope.

1354075834001|01:40Ezekiel Jackson def. Drew McIntyre (WATCH | PHOTOS)
With Drew McIntyre?s resolve and worth called into question by Teddy Long, the GM pitted him against Ezekiel Jackson. If McIntyre couldn?t win, Teddy said he?d have to start thinking about letting him go (WATCH). Fighting for his job, McIntyre clashed with the massive Ezekiel Jackson. While McIntyre argued with the ref about having his feet on the second rope during an attempted pinfall, Jackson swooped in, using his own questionable maneuver, grabbing McIntyre by the tights and rolling him up for the win.

1354065455001|02:37Big Show def. David Otunga (WATCH | PHOTOS)
With Mark Henry watching from David Otunga?s corner, Otunga tangled with Big Show. During the bout, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan attacked from behind, smashing Henry with his title. Next, Bryan taunted the dazed World?s Strongest Man, luring him up the entrance ramp. With Henry gone from ringside, Show promptly took care of Otunga, dropping him with a vicious WMD for the second week in a row.

Hunico def. Justin Gabriel (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Showing off his own moves against the athletic Justin Gabriel, Hunico dispatched of him with a flip from the top rope. After the win, Hunico and his friend Camacho teamed up to brutalize Gabriel by slamming him to the canvas.

Teddy Long revealed Mark Henry would be in David Otunga?s corner (WATCH)
Teddy Long passed on word form high above that the originally scheduled tag team match pitting Big Show & Daniel Bryan vs. David Otunga & Mark Henry would not take place. Instead, Big Show would face David Otunga ? with Mark Henry in his corner.

1354090247001|01:56Kaitlyn & Alicia Fox def. Natalya & Tamina (WATCH | PHOTOS)
In tag team action, Alicia dropped Natalya with a Scissors Kick for the win. Then with Natalya still reeling, Tamina blasted her own partner with a kick to the face, followed up by a Superfly Splash from the top rope.The devastating move harkened back to that of her father, WWE Hall of Famer??Superfly? Jimmy?Snuka.

?

Jinder Mahal def. Ted DiBiase (WATCH | PHOTOS)1354077555001|01:49
Sporting a turban, Jinder Mahal blasted the American tradition of making New Year?s resolutions. The aggressive Superstar then took it to Ted DiBiase, making him submit with the Camel Clutch.

Cody Rhodes agreed to face Booker T for the Intercontinental Championship then attacked his brother Dustin (WATCH | PHOTOS)?
After Booker T thanked the WWE Universe for an awesome year that began at Royal Rumble, Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes emerged to recap his year, including defeating Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania and bringing ?honor and prestige? back to Intercontinental Title. As Rhodes disparaged Booker ? calling him a washed up announcer ? his older brother, Dustin, came out to speak in Booker?s defense.?

?1354136976001|06:19Dustin ? whose alter ego is Goldust ? said that when he was down and out, Booker took him under his wing and inspired him. But Cody didn?t want to hear any of it. Booker backed up his defender, saying he was more of man than Cody would ever be. Next, Booker said he wanted to face Cody for his Intercontinental Title. After Rhodes agreed to face Booker next week on SmackDown, he blasted his own brother with a cheap shot kick to the groin and a leaping kick to the face from the second rope.

MATCHES

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2011-12-30/results

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Verifone's Efforts Pay Off (The Motley Fool)

Verifone (NYSE: PAY - News), the secure electronic payment solutions company, declared a great set of fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations. Let's take a closer, Foolish look at how Verifone's moves paid off.

Paving its way to success
The San Jose, Calif.-based company witnessed an exciting fourth quarter as profits nearly quadrupled from the year-ago period to $198.8 million. The huge jump in profits was mainly due to an income tax benefit that the company enjoyed to the tune of $205.1 million and 50% higher revenues of $410.7 million. However, if you exclude extraordinary items like the income tax benefit, the company's profits still rose by 57.9% to $57 million from the previous year's adjusted fourth-quarter profit.

Verifone's business has been booming across most geographical regions. In complete defiance of the European debt crises, the company's combined revenue from Europe, Middle East, and Africa more than doubled from the year-ago quarter to $148.6 million. Verifone's Latin American operations also saw revenues zoom 94.1% to 104.6 million, while Asia saw 40.3% higher revenues. However, revenues from Canada declined by 5.3% to $115.7 million.

Spreading its wings
Verifone's fourth quarter was certainly quite busy with two acquisitions under its belt.
In November, Verifone announced its acquisition of Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a provider of next-generation mobile retail solutions. The company said that the acquisition would enhance Verifone's initiatives to bring the smartphone- and tablet-based shopping and payment experience to retail businesses. This would certainly be helpful, especially at a time when smartphones and tablets like the Apple iPhone and iPad are the craze.

Besides that, back in August, the company finalized its acquisition of Hypercom, a manufacturer of point-of-sale terminals. The company said that the acquisition of Hypercom would complement its business and Verifone would try to enhance all of Hypercom's product lines under the Verifone brand itself.

Come rain or shine...
The company was also busy lapping up key partnerships during the quarter. For example, Verifone entered into a partnership with Visa (NYSE:V - News) to increase installations of in-taxi payment and media systems in London before the Olympic games in 2012. The deal has led to the signing up of nearly 7,000 cabs for a five-year agreement. Verifone anticipates installation of 10,000 credit card terminals before the commencement of the Olympics.

Verifone's strategic relationship with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - News) also bore fruit during the quarter, as the Google Wallet mobile payment system now boasts approximately 40,000 Verifone retail lanes across the country with NFC capability. NFC, or near-field communication, is a feature present mainly in the latest range of smartphones that can be used for making payments instead of using the traditional swipe of a credit card. The company is also in talks with Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News), AT&T (NYSE: T - News), and T-Mobile's joint venture, Isis, along with Paypal for plans slated for 2012.

The Foolish bottom line
Verifone seems to be making all the right moves with its partnerships and acquisitions. Going forward, I feel that Verifone stands to gain immensely through its ongoing partnerships, which would continue to boost the company's top-line growth. So what do you Fools think of Verifone? Leave your comments in the box below. Also, don't forget to stay up to speed with Verifone's latest money-spinning deals by adding it to your very own watchlist. It's free and lets you stay on top of the latest news and analysis for your favorite companies.

Keki Fatakia does not hold shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Google. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Visa and Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/fool/20111228/bs_fool_fool/rx171051

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60Beat, a Proper Game Controller for iOS

The iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad have turned out to be great for games. I play more these days than I have anytime since I was a stoner in college, hooked up to a SNES all day long. But sometimes you just really need a proper controller. Enter the 60Beat GamePad, a Playstation-style joypad for [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/7PNA_4SmkAA/

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Twitter-Writing Laser Gun Turns Tweets Into Art

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Source: http://findtechnologynews.com/twitter-writing-laser-gun-turns-tweets-into-art/

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Indie Box Office: Wim Wenders' "Pina" opens big (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? "Pina," Wim Wenders' 3D documentary about dancer-choreographer Pina Bausch, opened to an impressive $88,399 at three New York locations over the weekend, leading the specialty market.

The PG-rated movie, distributed by IFC films, had a per-location average of $29,466.

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," struggled to attract moviegoers in its first days of release. Jolie wrote, directed and produced the R-rated love story set during the Bosnian war. Distributed by FilmDistrict, it opened at three locations and grossed $27,827 over the four-day holiday weekend -- a per-location average of $9,276.

"The film garnered great reviews and important editorial coverage for a recent war that was overlooked by many," Bob Berney, FilmDistrict's president, theatrical distribution, said in a statement. "Angelina has made a great directorial debut with this beautiful and brutal film that pulls no punches and features an amazing cast."

In its third week of release, Roman Polanski's R-rated "Carnage," from Sony Pictures Classics, expanded from five screens to seven, and grossed $88,216 -- a per-location average of $12,602. The movie has grossed $205,871 so far.

In wider release, Focus Features expanded "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" from 16 locations in its second week to 55 in its third. The R-rated movie, directed by Tomas Alfredson, grossed $1.2 million -- a $22,000 per-location average.

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," an adaptation of John le Carre's espionage novel set in Cold War Britain, stars John Hurt, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

"It's just really satisfying a whole lot of moviegoers, making it the most in-demand specialized release in the marketplace," Jack Foley, Focus's distribution chief, told TheWrap Monday.

"The Artist," nominated for six Golden Globes, jumped from 17 locations in its fourth weekend to 167 in its fifth, averaging a solid $8,395 per house. The movie, directed by Michel Hazanavicus, grossed $1.4 million over the long weekend. It now has a total of $2.9 million.

David Glasser, the chief operating officer of the Weinstein Company, which released "The Artist," told TheWrap Monday that the company is pursuing "a very slow, methodical rollout and allowing audiences to see and enjoy this really beautiful picture."

Like with the Weinstein Co.'s Academy Award-winning "The King's Speech," audiences for "The Artist" are getting younger as the film moves into more theaters.

The Weinstein Co.'s other movie now in release, "My Week With Marilyn," had a softer weekend, grossing $888,000 while expanding from 244 to 602 locations in its fifth weekend. Its per-location average was $1,475. The movie, which stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, has grossed $7.3 million so far.

Other holdovers include "Shame," Steve McQueen's NC-17 movie starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Fox Searchlight's film, now in its fourth week of release, dropped by one location, from 51 to 50, and grossed $191,000 over the weekend -- a per-location average of $3,604. It now has grossed $1.6 million.

Sony Pictures Classics' "A Dangerous Method," increased from 17 locations to 58, and grossed $292,230 over the weekend -- a per-location average of $5,038. It has taken in $1.1 million since its November 23 release.

Fox Searchlight's other movie, Alexander Payne's "The Descendants," dropped from 878 locations to 813 in its sixth week of release, and grossed $3.4 million -- an average of $4,213 per location.

The R-rated movie, which earned George Clooney and director Alexander Payne Golden Globe nominations, has grossed $33.7 million in its six weeks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/film_nm/us_boxoffice_indies

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas attacks in Nigeria by sect kill 39 (AP)

LAGOS, Nigeria ? Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people Sunday, with the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.

Authorities acknowledged they could not bring enough emergency medical personnel to care for the wounded outside St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla near Nigeria's capital. Elsewhere, a bomb exploded amid gunfire in the central Nigeria city of Jos and a suicide car bomber attacked the military in the nation's northeast as part of an apparently coordinated assault by the sect known as Boko Haram.

The Christmas Day violence, denounced by world leaders and the Vatican, shows the threat of the widening insurrection posed by Boko Haram against Nigeria's weak central government. Despite a recent paramilitary crackdown against the sect in the oil-rich nation, it appears that Africa's most populous nation remains unable to stop the threat.

The White House condemned what it called a "senseless" attack, offered its condolences to the Nigerian people and pledged to assist authorities in bringing those responsible to justice.

In a statement, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "These are cowardly attacks on families gathered in peace and prayer to celebrate a day which symbolises harmony and goodwill towards others.".

The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa Catholic Church just after 8 a.m. The attack killed 35 people and wounded another 52, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

Though billions of dollars of oil money flow into the nation's budget yearly, Luguard's agency could only send text messages to journalists asking for their help in getting more ambulances.

Those wounded filled the cement floors of a nearby government hospital, with television images showing them crying in pools of their own blood. Corpses lined an open-air morgue.

The bombing and the delayed response drew anger from those gathering around the church after the blast. The crowd initially blocked emergency workers from the blast site, only allowing them in after soldiers arrived.

"We're trying to calm the situation," Luguard said. "There are some angry people around trying to cause problems."

In Jos, a second explosion struck near the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, state government spokesman Pam Ayuba said. Gunmen later opened fire on police guarding the area, killing one officer, he said. Two other locally made explosives were found in a nearby building and disarmed.

By noon Sunday, explosions echoed through the streets of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state where fighting between security forces and the sect already had killed at least 61 people in recent days. The most serious attack on Sunday came when a suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives at the state headquarters of Nigeria's secret police, the State Security Service.

The bomber killed three people in the blast, though the senior military commander apparently targeted survived the attack, the State Security Service said in a statement.

After the bombings, a Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north. The sect has used the newspaper in the past to communicate with public.

Boko Haram has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 504 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

This Christmas attack comes a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombings in Jos claimed by the militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded. The group also claimed responsibility for the Aug. 26 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital Abuja that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.

The sect came to national prominence in 2009, when its members rioted and burned police stations near its base of Maiduguri, a dusty northeastern city on the cusp of the Sahara Desert. Nigeria's military violently put down the attack, crushing the sect's mosque into shards as its leader was arrested and died in police custody. About 700 people died during the violence.

While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run assassinations from the back of motorbikes after the 2009 riot, violence by Boko Haram now has a new sophistication and apparent planning that includes high-profile attacks with greater casualties. That has fueled speculation about the group's ties as it has splintered into at least three different factions, diplomats and security sources say. They say the more extreme wing of the sect maintains contact with terror groups in North Africa and Somalia.

Targeting the group has remained difficult, as sect members are scattered throughout northern Nigeria and nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Analysts say political considerations also likely play a part in the country's thus-far muted response: President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, may be hesitant to use force in the nation's predominantly Muslim north.

In a statement, Jonathan condemned the blasts as a "unwarranted affront on our collective safety and freedom."

"I want to reassure all Nigerians that government will not relent in its determination to bring to justice all the perpetrators of today's acts of violence and all others before now," Jonathan said.

However, Jonathan has made the same promises after a series of spiraling attacks by the group. His spokesman, Reuben Abati, defended the president by saying the country planned to spend more on security and had made arrests targeting the group.

"The administration is very determined to address this new threat of terrorism that seems to have slipped into our environment," Abati told the AP.

But anger continues to grow over the sect's apparent ability to strike at will ? anger that could be seen at St. Theresa Catholic Church. After the blast, someone picked up a burnt piece of wood to scrawl: "Revolution now in the country" on its cement walls.

___

Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria and Njadvara Musa in Maiduguri, Nigeria contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111225/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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Little Drummer Boy (Americablog)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Monday, December 26, 2011

EA Sports: FIFA Street has over 50 ?never experienced skill moves?

EA Sports has detailed some of the features in its upcoming free-style football sim, FIFA Street, particularly the number of skills players can perform on that mini pitch.

According to EA Sports, there will be over 50 ?never-before-experienced skill moves??which accounts for double of that amount of skills viable in the latest yearly football installment, FIFA 12.

Over 50 new tricks should be cool nevertheless, particularly if EA Sports executed them pretty well. FIFA Street is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360 in March 2012.

Source: http://tbreak.com/megamers/48599/news/ea-sports-fifa-street-has-over-50-%E2%80%9Cnever-experienced-skill-moves%E2%80%9D/

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Boston Power heads to China

One of the leading lithium-ion battery makers in theUSAis set to expand into China after announcing $30million in new private equity.

The company has received investment from GSR Ventures, as well as Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management. It follows on from an announcement in September of $125million in growth capital and Chinese government stimulus programmes that is being used to boost manufacturing, research and development in the country.

Boston Power has started work on a new manufacturing site in Liyang and hopes the facility will be open by the end of 2012 ? it will be capable of producing 400MWh of lithium-ion battery cells every year. Meanwhile, the company is also establishing an electric vehicle battery research and development, and engineering facility in Beijing.?

Of course this doesn?t mean that it is turning its back on its Massachusetts roots. It will still have a team in Westborough that focuses on intellectual property development, global customer support, research and development and business development and partnerships.

See also

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGreenCarWebsite/~3/FZtRBgwfXl4/

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

1800PocketPC: Baconit : a nice little reddit app for Windows Phone http://t.co/gm2gQQ1S @BaconitWP #wp7 #windowsphone

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Baconit : a nice little reddit app for Windows Phone bit.ly/u4x9hg @BaconitWP #wp7 #windowsphone 1800PocketPC

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Source: http://twitter.com/1800PocketPC/statuses/150348721434005504

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Health Tip: Use Medications Safely (HealthDay)

(HealthDay News) -- If your child isn't feeling well and needs an over-the-counter medication recommended by your pediatrician, the American Academy of Family Physicians offers these safety guidelines:

  • Make sure the medicine treats only your child's symptoms, nothing more.
  • Make sure any caregivers know the correct timing, dosage and type of medication your child needs.
  • Always read the medication's label and follow directions carefully.
  • Keep medications stored in their original packaging, so you can easily refer to instructions.
  • Never give cough and cold medication to a child younger than age 4 or aspirin to anyone younger than age 18.
  • Don't combine medications unless your child's pediatrician says it's OK to do so.
  • Don't give any adult medication to a child.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111224/hl_hsn/healthtipusemedicationssafely

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

France recommends removal of risky breast implants

In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, Chantal Guerin, a 46-year-old accountant and mother of three, displays a breast implant made by Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that was removed from her left breast, during an interview with The Associated Press in Paris. Guerin had her left breast removed after cancer and had PIP implants put in both breasts. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011, Chantal Guerin, a 46-year-old accountant and mother of three, displays a breast implant made by Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that was removed from her left breast, during an interview with The Associated Press in Paris. Guerin had her left breast removed after cancer and had PIP implants put in both breasts. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Dr. Maurice Mimoun, a plastic surgeon at the St Louis hospital, holds silicone gel breast implants made by French company Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that he removed from a patient because of concerns that they are unsafe, Paris, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. French health authorities are considering whether to suggest that an estimated 30,000 women in France get their breast implants removed, amid warnings by leading doctors about risks of rupture and possible cancer risks. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Dr. Maurice Mimoun, a plastic surgeon at the St Louis hospital, holds a silicone gel breast implant made by French company Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that he removed from a patient because of concerns that they are unsafe, Paris, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. French health authorities are considering whether to suggest that an estimated 30,000 women in France get their breast implants removed, amid warnings by leading doctors about risks of rupture and possible cancer risks. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Director of Public Health Jean-Pierre Grall, right, Public Health officials Annie Podeur, center, and Jean-Claude Ghislain, left, participate in a media conference in Paris, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. Tens of thousands of women with risky, French-made breast implants should have them removed at the state's expense, the health minister recommended Friday, adding that such removals were "preventive" and not urgent. While implants made by Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, have not been linked to an increased incidence of cancer, the risk that they could rupture and leak a questionable type of silicone gel has been shown, Xavier Bertrand said in a statement. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Dr. Maurice Mimoun, a plastic surgeon at the St Louis hospital, holds silicone gel breast implants made by French company Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that he removed from a patient because of concerns that they are unsafe, Paris, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. French health authorities are considering whether to suggest that an estimated 30,000 women in France get their breast implants removed, amid warnings by leading doctors about risks of rupture and possible cancer risks. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS (AP) ? Tens of thousands of women with risky, French-made breast implants should have them removed at the state's expense, France's health minister recommended Friday, in an unprecedented move that could have implications across Europe and South America.

Xavier Bertrand said the mass removals were "preventive" and not urgent, and French health officials said analyses so far have found no link between the pre-filled silicone gel implants and nine cases of cancer among women implanted with them.

But Bertrand, in a statement, cited an unusually high risk that the implants could rupture and leak a questionable type of silicone gel into the wearer's body.

Health authorities in Britain ? where even more women have the implants than in France ? said Friday that for now they see no reason to take similar action.

Questions remain about the logistics and final costs of the removals. Francois Godineau, a top official in the French national health service, estimated it could deplete French government coffers by euro60 million ($78 million) at a time when the country is teetering on a brink of a new recession and struggling to tame state debt.

Investigators say the company Poly Implant Prothese used cheaper industrial silicone for the implants instead of medical silicone to save money. The implants were pulled from the market last year and the company is being liquidated.

"As a preventive measure not of an urgent nature, (French authorities) recommend that the removal of these implants, even those not showing signs of deterioration, be proposed," the statement said. It added that the costs of removal would be footed by France's national health care system ? presumably solely for French patients.

One reason for the drastic measure is the uncertainty about the contents of the silicone gel used and the risks it poses to internal organs. Also, standard mammograms and ultrasounds do not always indicate that an implant has ruptured, and many women may be walking around unknowingly with burst implants.

Some 30,000 of women in France, and tens of thousands more in Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries in Europe and South America have had implants made by PIP. The implants in question were not sold in the U.S.

All breast implants are subject to rupture, especially as they get older, and patients are meant to be informed of the risks before getting them put in.

But "these implants have a particular fragility" and appear to pose risks of rupture earlier in their life spans than other implants, Jean-Claude Ghislain of French health agency AFSSAPS, told a news conference Friday.

Removal of the implants can require general anesthesia and other risks associated with major surgery. The government recommendations say women who don't want to get them removed should be examined every six months.

Leading French plastic surgeons had been urging the government to act. The death last month of a woman who had the implants and developed a rare cancer catalyzed worries.

Annie Mesnil, who had a PIP implant to replace a breast removed after cancer in 1999, said she was relieved that the Health Ministry "accepts the idea that there is a potential danger."

But, she added, "It's not enough. They will pay for the removal of the implants, but they will not pay for the replacements."

France's state health care system normally pays for implants for medical reasons, but not for cosmetic implants. About 80 percent of those with the PIP silicone implants have them for esthetic reasons.

After the PIP product was recalled last year, a mammogram and ultrasound did not reveal any problem with Mesnil's implant. But Mesnil, 62, had it removed anyway, at her own expense, out of fear. When her surgeon took it out and studied it, "he discovered it had already burst," she said.

Chantal Guerin, a 46-year-old accountant and mother of three, had her left breast removed after cancer and had PIP implants put in both breasts. In 2010, she developed cancer in her right breast.

"One cannot directly incriminate the implant, since there is no scientific proof," she said in an interview. "But we have the right to ask ourselves a lot of questions, because there is a great amount of physical pain involved."

She insisted that women who have implants for cosmetic reasons should also be protected by government health care.

Following the French announcement, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said it was still not recommending that women in Britain have the implants removed. The agency says up to 40,000 women in Britain may have had the implants.

"We recognize the concern that some women who have these implants may be feeling but we currently have no evidence of any increase in incidents of cancer associated with these implants and no evidence of any disproportionate rupture rates other than in France," it said in a statement.

"We therefore do not believe that the associated risks of surgery from breast implant removal can be justified without further evidence."

In the U.S., concerns about silicone gel implants in general led to a 14-year ban on their use. Silicone implants were brought back to the market in the U.S. 2006 after research ruled out cancer, lupus and some other concerns.

___

Jill Lawless in London, Ingrid Rousseau and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-23-EU-France-Breast-Implants/id-7447638d663c46ec81d568659d6801fb

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Lawyers for Sheen's ex-wife fear media frenzy (AP)

ASPEN, Colo. ? Attorneys for Charlie Sheen's ex-wife want to stop what they expect to be a media frenzy when she appears in court on drug and assault charges.

Attorneys asked a judge to deny a live Internet feed from the courtroom requested by TMZ Productions when Brooke Mueller appears on Jan. 23.

The 34-year-old Mueller faces a felony charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and a misdemeanor assault charge.

She was arrested Dec. 3 after a woman reported being assaulted at a nightclub.

The Aspen Times reported ( http://bit.ly/rWhvw7) that police found between four and five grams of cocaine when they contacted Mueller.

Sheen and Mueller divorced earlier this year after Sheen was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her in 2009. He completed his probation in November 2010.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_en_ce/us_mueller_sheen_arrest

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Community Raises $87,000 To Help Provide Mammograms

VINTON, Iowa- It?s been more than five months since strong winds ripped through the town of Vinton, and left millions of dollars in damage behind.

Despite the physical and financial dent it put on the community, people living there still haven?t stopped giving. People in Vinton, Van Horne, Urbana and other surrounding areas have raised thousands of dollars to help provide mammograms for women.

?I?ve always thought it was a great place to live and this just confirms that fact,? said Mike Timmermans, The Foundation Director at Virginia Gay Hospital, in Vinton.

The hospital had never had a mammography device, despite a demand in the community. ?We are hoping to make mammograms more accessible to the women in the area,? said Michele Schoonover, the hospital?s Director of General Services.

With money from their annual Tree of Lights fundraiser, the Hospital purchased the $500,000 dollar machine. But they still had to renovate the room and pay for staff training. That?s when they called on their community, and got a big response. ?We were expecting around $50,000 from the community and they served past our wildest dreams,? said Schoonover.

Fundraising efforts started back in January and quickly caught on. The people of Benton County pitched in $87,000 so people in their community can be easily screened for breast cancer.

?I just think it?s great that people don?t have to travel for their mammography needs, they can do it in house,? said Timmermans.

The new unit is fully digital, it can identify the fingerprints of staff members who use it, and is accessible for those in wheelchairs.But most importantly, it can help save lives.

?People are surprising, they?ve really stepped up and we couldn?t be more grateful. It?s our chance to give back to the community and it makes you proud,? said Timmermans.

The hospital plans to start offering screenings twice a week starting at the end of January.

Source: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Community-Raises-87000-To-Help-Provide-Mammograms-136047363.html

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Nokia: Software glitch draining some Lumia batteries (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Some versions of Nokia's Lumia 800, the first flagship smartphone from the Finnish company using Microsoft Corp's Windows Phone operating system, have a software glitch that drains the batteries.

"We can now confirm that, while the battery in the devices is fine, in some variants a software problem is preventing the phone from accessing the full battery capacity," a company spokesman said.

He said the problem will be fixed in early 2012 with a planned, wider software update.

"Once this update is applied customers should experience much better battery life," he said.

The Lumia 800 is the first Nokia smartphone to use Microsoft software, the platform the Finnish firm has bet its future on.

Since Nokia unveiled the Lumia 800 the stock has dropped almost 30 percent, in part due to fears of poor sales because the device has received positive reviews, but limited interest from consumers.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111220/wr_nm/us_nokia_microsoft

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

40 Years On, the Triumphs and Challenges of America's 'War on Cancer' (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Jack Whelan first knew something was wrong when it got harder and harder to walk from the train station in Boston to the financial district where he worked.

He knew something was terribly wrong when he started getting nose bleeds.

A consultation with an oncologist confirmed Whelan's fears: He had advanced Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, a rare form of blood cancer that affects only about 1,500 people in the United States each year.

Forty years ago, Whelan would have had five years to live -- at the outside -- and who knows what his quality of life would have looked like.

But today, five years after his diagnosis and almost 40 years to the day that President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act declaring "war" on cancer, Whelan, 63, is power-walking, raking leaves, shoveling snow and back at work as a marketing executive.

Whelan is just one of the millions of Americans who have benefited from continued advances in cancer research. He has participated in four different clinical trials and is currently taking an experimental drug called LBH589 which, Whelan said, makes him "feel like Popeye the sailor after having spinach."

Just this month, scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where Whelan is being treated, discovered a single gene mutation present in 90 percent of patients who have this rare type of cancer, raising the hope that an even more targeted treatment will soon be able to attack the disease.

Since Dec. 23, 1971, and the passage in Congress of the National Cancer Act, research has made tremendous progress against what is still one of the world's foremost killers, experts say.

"Back at that time point, cancer essentially was a death sentence," said Dr. Raymond N. DuBois Jr., provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

That's no longer the case, however, thanks to advances in early detection, improved therapies and a better understanding of the genetics driving different forms of cancer, he said.

"Forty years ago, fewer than one-third of patients with a diagnosis of cancer lived five years. Almost no children with a diagnosis of the most common form of childhood cancer, acute leukemia, lived [that long]," said Dana-Farber president Dr. Edward Benz Jr. "In 2011, nearly 90 percent of children diagnosed with acute leukemia will be cured and nearly two-thirds of all people diagnosed with cancer will live at least five years."

Since 1991 alone, there's been more than an 18 percent reduction in deaths from cancer, added Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

An ounce of prevention

Much of this progress may have started with prevention.

Declines in smoking rates, helped by the landmark U.S. Surgeon General's Report in 1964 linking smoking to cancer, have continued over the decades, preventing countless cases of lung malignancies and other forms of cancer.

Colonoscopies to detect pre-cancerous polyps have not only reduced mortality but prevented many cases of colorectal cancer outright.

The adoption of regular mammography screening for breast cancer is another success story in its own right, as is screening for cervical cancer.

Thanks to, first, the Pap smear (which looks for abnormal cells on the cervix) and now the HPV test (which detects the human papillomavirus that can cause cervical cancer), death rates from cervical cancer in the United States plummeted more than 60 percent between 1955 and 1992, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

No doubt, incidence and mortality from cervical cancer will continue to decline with the advent of another major weapon: newly approved vaccines that prevent infection with the strains of HPV that cause most cases of this type of cancer.

These vaccines (two have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) have great potential to reduce head and neck cancers, as well as anal cancer deaths, which can also be caused by HPV, Brawley said.

But advances in detection have been complemented by improvements in treatment, the experts added. These include better surgical techniques. For example, studies suggest that women who have a lumpectomy to conserve their breast along with radiation typically have as good a prognosis as women who undergo a full mastectomy.

Targeted radiation has also made treatment much less onerous for prostate cancer patients, and new chemotherapies often arrive with drastically fewer side effects than in decades past.

The age of "targeted therapies" or "personalized medicine" -- an era ushered in by anti-estrogen breast cancer therapies such as tamoxifen (which debuted in the 1980s) -- is here, Brawley said. Those highly targeted medications were later joined by aromatase inhibitors as well as Herceptin (trastuzumab) to attack a specific form of Her2neu-positive breast cancer.

Scientists are also finding new targets for lung, colorectal and other cancers. For example, studies show that Tarceva (erlotinib) can improve the average survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer by about two months. That may not sound like much but, in lung cancer, it represents a huge stride.

"Wonder drug" Gleevec, a medicine used to push certain blood cancers into remission, is another targeted-therapy success story. In fact, a colleague of Whelan's was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia while still in his 20s and subsequently died. Had he been diagnosed a few years later, after the discovery of Gleevec, he would have lived, Whelan believes.

Brawley agrees that "personalized medicine is the future," and he predicts many more advances in this area in the next five years.

Dubois added: "We are doing molecular fingerprinting of each individual tumor and, although we're not using that right now to direct cancer care, the idea is once we have that information we will be able to use it to figure out exactly which treatments a patient needs so they're not being given unnecessary treatment. And the treatment they do get is going to be much more effective on the first round of therapy when it really makes the biggest difference."

Doctors now also know that "multi-modality" therapy -- meaning the combined use of surgery, radiation and drug therapy -- "has given people the best chance for good outcomes for particular kinds of cancer," said Benz.

Progress lacking on some fronts

But while there's been undisputed progress, "it's very incomplete progress," Benz and others acknowledged.

"If you look over the past 40 years, on some fronts we've actually been winning and on some fronts we're losing terribly," said Brawley. "We are our own worst enemy in terms of battling cancer with tobacco control, diet and exercise and getting everybody adequate preventive screening and treatment.

"In excess of 200,000 of the 500,000 lives that will be lost from cancer this year could have been avoided if we simply adopted all the cancer-control technologies that we've learned over the last 40 years," he added.

Although the smoking rate has declined dramatically since publication of the U.S. Surgeon General's 1964 report, it's been stalled at about 20 percent for 10 years now, Brawley said.

There are also lingering disparities in both prevention and treatment by race, socioeconomic status and urban versus rural locations, said Brawley.

Cancer therapies are also becoming increasingly complicated and expensive "at a time when the trend in health care and in support for cancer research is going down," added Benz. "I worry that we're going to see increasing disparities as cancer and personalized medicine becomes more complicated and expensive. It will be harder and harder to offer it to everybody who needs it."

Clinical trials may also become more difficult and expensive to conduct, as scientists recognize more and more subtypes of cancer. That means fewer people fit each particular subtype, Benz said.

Nevertheless, the overall message is a positive one.

"It's been a huge evolution since 1971," said DuBois. "It's just incredible."

More information

There's more on the National Cancer Act at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111222/hl_hsn/40yearsonthetriumphsandchallengesofamericaswaroncancer

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Optimism growing on deal to avoid federal shutdown (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The endgame at hand, both Democratic and Republican congressional leaders expressed optimism Thursday at prospects for swift compromise to extend Social Security tax cuts, keep long-term jobless benefits flowing and avoid a threatened partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Still another year-end bill, setting new rules for the handling of terror suspects in U.S. custody, won final congressional approval and headed to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature.

"Right now, Congress needs to make sure that 160 million working Americans don't see their taxes go up on Jan. 1," said Obama, referring to the tax cut extension at the core of the jobs program he outlined in a nationally televised speech three months ago.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, the most powerful Republican in an era of divided government, agreed. "We can extend payroll tax relief for American workers, help create new jobs and keep the government running. And frankly, we can do it in a bipartisan way," he said.

The long-moribund job market, too, appeared to be on the mend. Government figures showed 366,000 applications for unemployment benefits were filed last week, the lowest number since the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008 and the brutal recession that followed.

In the Capitol, the previous day's bristling rhetoric and partisan jabs all but vanished.0

Republicans agreed to consider changes to a $1 trillion spending bill compromise that they and at least one Democrat said had been wrapped up days ago. The White House said it wanted adjustments.

There were separate negotiations on legislation to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Democrats abandoned their demand for a surtax on million-dollar incomes that they wanted to include in the measure, removing a provision that Republicans strongly opposed.

"We hope that we can come up with something that would get us out of here at a reasonable time in the next few days," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

At a news conference, Boehner minimized the concession, noting that Democrats lacked the votes to impose the surtax a year ago when they commanded 60 votes in the Senate. Even so, he said, "there was some movement yesterday from the White House and Democrat leaders" toward a compromise.

Boehner also left open the possibility of a compromise on another key sticking point ? a House-passed provision that all but requires construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Construction "will put 20,000 people to work immediately And there are about 115,000 other jobs directly related to it," he said. Yet he skipped an opportunity to say construction of the project was a non-negotiable condition as talks on the payroll tax cut bill proceed.

Obama has threatened to veto the House-passed bill, in part citing the requirement for the pipeline. The project has been studied for more than three years, but the president recently announced he would put off a decision until after the 2012 elections.

Without an extension of the payroll tax cut, 160 million Americans will have smaller take home pay beginning on Jan. 1, a fact that the president and leaders of both parties stressed as they looked for compromise.

Obama asked Congress to extend and also to expand the payroll tax cut that took effect last Jan. 1 and is due to expire at the end of the year. The House-passed bill renews the current reduction for one year, and it was unclear whether a final compromise would go any further.

The president also wants to leave in place a system that provides aid for up to 99 weeks for the long-term unemployed. The House-passed measure reduces the total by 20 weeks, a step that the administration says would cut off 3.3 million individuals and that Democrats are hoping to soften if not reverse.

Also part of the negotiations was an attempt to head off a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, an item added in the House to appeal to conservatives unhappy at extending the payroll tax cuts.

Reid indicated that a number of expiring tax breaks were on the table, as well, a list that included a provision that benefits commuters who use mass transit.

In a bow to deficit-conscious conservatives in the House, Obama and leaders in both parties have agreed to offset the cost of the measure to avoid raising deficits.

The White House and Democrats wanted to use the surtax on million-dollar income to finance most of the bill. But with that off the table, they were required to look elsewhere in talks with Republicans.

The House-passed measure relied on a pay freeze and increased pension contributions for federal workers, as well as higher Medicare premiums for seniors with incomes over $80,000, beginning in 2017. The bill would also would raise a fee that is charged to banks whose mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and cancel more than $40 billion from the year-old health care bill that is Obama's signature domestic achievement.

At about $1 trillion, the year-end spending measure would lock in cuts that Republicans extracted from Democrats in negotiations conducted months ago against the deadline of a previous government shutdown threat.

This time, the two sides reached an agreement days ago, according to Republicans and at least one Democrat, well ahead of the Friday midnight deadline. Somewhat belatedly, the White House and Reid insisted otherwise, and Republicans accused them of reneging on the deal to gain leverage in negotiations on the payroll tax bill.

In response to the Democrats, House Republicans threatened on Wednesday to repackage the measure and pass it. The leadership held the threat in abeyance while compromise negotiations took place.

The separate defense bill covered military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more at a cost of $662 billion, $27 billion below Obama's request. The Senate approved it by a resounding 86-13.

The main controversy revolved around a provision to require military custody for foreign terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or attacking the United States. Under a change made to gain Obama's backing, the legislation would permit the FBI to arrest and interrogate foreign terror suspects, as is now the case.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_rdp

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Emington, Illinois Shooting: 5 Dead, Including 3 Children

EMINGTON, Ill. ? Five people, including a baby and two children, were found shot to death Friday at a home in a small eastern Illinois farming town, authorities said, and police said they were not searching for a gunman.

While not specifically saying the shooter was among the dead, Livingston County Sheriff Martin Meredith said the community was "safe from any harm" and authorities "are not looking for anyone in this crime."

County board member Bob Young, who lives in Emington, said the dead included a man, a woman, an infant, a first grader and a fourth grader. The family had moved to the town of about 100 people about 80 miles southwest of Chicago within the last six months and the two older children attend school in nearby Saunemin, Young said. The street where the family lived was closed by police, he said.

Meredith said first responders found the bodies after Livingston County dispatchers received a call Friday afternoon. Coroner Michael Burke will release the names of the victims once relatives are notified, the sheriff said.

Livingston County authorities and Illinois State Police crime scene technicians were still working the scene late Friday, Meredith said. He declined to release additional details about the shooting, saying more information would be released Saturday morning.

Ronald Groetsema lives near the home where the family was found and said he heard six to eight gunshots, then heard a second round of four to six shots a few minutes later. Groetsema's 12-year-old son got off the school bus with the children who died, he said.

"They were happy because it was the last day of school before Christmas break," Groetsema said.

Residents described Emington as a once strictly farming town that has gone through changes in the last 20 years as young families moved in. Young said the town has become more of a bedroom community from which people commute north to cities such as Joliet, about 45 miles away.

"We did have an awful disaster here," said Emington Mayor Daniel Delaney, who's been in office for 24 years. "You never would have thought it would happen in our town of 100 people or less. It's very sad. There were helicopters flying over earlier. Right now it's just very, very, very sad for us here."

Delaney said the town is not prosperous and has received help from the state. "It's always really had a hard time. Most of the people are retired or farmers who moved into town," he said.

Young said Emington has a post office that's been targeted for closure and just a handful of small businesses ? a grain elevator, a dog groomer and a small beauty salon. The town, he said, had never experienced anything like Friday's shootings.

"I've lived here all my life. I guess, 60, 70 years ago we had a bank robbery, was the other big thing, but otherwise, nothing like this," he said.

Young said he did not know the family well.

"We've seen the kids playing at the playground and talk to them," Young said. "We thought everything was fine."

___

Associated Press writers David Mercer in Champaign and Karen Hawkins and Caryn Rousseau in Chicago contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/emington-illinois-shootin_n_1155000.html

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

China sends campaigning rights lawyer back to jail (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China has sent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng back to jail, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, ending his probation in what was the first official account of his whereabouts in the last year.

Gao, however, appears never to have escaped secretive confinement in the first place.

A combative rights advocate who tackled many causes anathema to the ruling Communist Party, Gao was sentenced to three years' jail in 2006 for "inciting subversion of state power", a charge often used to punish critics of one-party rule.

Gao was given five years' probation, formally sparing him from serving the prison sentence. But his family was under constant surveillance and Gao was detained on and off over that time.

He was taken from a relative's home in Shaanxi province in northern China in February 2009 -- his family claims by security officers -- and had been missing since early last year, when he resurfaced briefly and made sporadic contact with friends and foreign reporters in April 2010.

Xinhua, in a brief story that appeared only in English, said a Beijing court "withdrew probation" on Gao and sent him back to jail.

"He had seriously violated probation rules a number of times, which led to the court decision to withdraw the probation," Xinhua cited a court statement as saying. It did not give details of Gao's alleged violations.

"He would serve his term in prison", referring to the three-year sentence, the report added.

Xinhua said that the court had "put him back in jail".

Gao's older brother, Gao Zhiyi, told Reuters he had not been told about the court's decision, despite his repeated appeals to police for any word of his brother's whereabouts.

Gao's wife Geng He, who fled to California with the couple's children, told Reuters she wasn't sure whether to be gratified or despondent over the news of her husband, whom she has not seen since January 2009.

"We kept on asking: 'Where is he? Where is he?' The government has not given us a single word, until this day, that we've got the news about him. Now we know that he still exists. Before this came out, we thought he was dead," Geng said, speaking in tears.

"I plead with the international community and the Western media to keep their focus on the Gao Zhisheng case. This persecution cannot continue. We will hire a lawyer to represent him," Geng said.

BEIJING ASKED TO CLARIFY GAO'S LOCATION

In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it was disappointed that Gao had been returned to jail and called on Beijing to immediately release him and clarify his whereabouts.

"The forced disappearance of Gao is a serious human rights concern and demonstrates that Chin is not living up to its commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"We again express our deep concern over the continued use of extralegal measures against Gao and other human rights activists, and urge China to uphold its internationally recognized obligations."

Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher on China for New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the news did not allay fears about the lawyer's well-being.

"This seems to be further proof of the politically motivated persecution against him," he said. It is "a continuation of his detention and deprivation of freedom. It's essentially preventing him from talking about what happened".

Catherine Baber, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Asia-Pacific, said the news about Gao was "truly shocking".

"The international community must not let up on the condemnation of the travesty of justice," she told Reuters.

Mo Shaoping, who previously served as Gao's attorney, said Chinese courts had no obligation to hold a hearing or even notify the accused that probation might be rescinded.

"Chinese procedures on this point are a blank," Mo said by telephone. "The public security authorities can apply to the court, and then the court simply has to give its written decision, and there's no prior notification or hearing."

The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention said in March that Gao was being detained in violation of international law.

Starting in February, China mounted a crackdown on potential political challengers to the ruling Communist Party, fearing that anti-authoritarian uprisings in Arab countries could inspire protests against one-party rule.

Many rights lawyers were detained, and most who have since been released have refrained from speaking out or renewing high-profile advocacy, fearing fresh bouts of detention.

CNN said on Friday that British actor Christian Bale was roughed up by Chinese security guards as he attempted to visit a blind legal activist whose detention has sparked a domestic and international outcry.

(Writing by Ben Blanchard; additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/wl_nm/us_china_lawyer

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German fans buy tickets for fanless game

Today?s special on StubHub: Tickets to a non-existent game. Good seats still available. Actually this is happening in Germany, and the game indeed exists ? but the crowd won?t. They?re calling it the Ghost Game, as German second division soccer team Hansa Rostock has sold more than 2,000 tickets to a match in which fans will not be allowed into the stadium. Hansa?s game against Dynamo Dresden will be played behind closed doors, after the German Football Federation levied a spectator ban following fan violence last month (see photo). Even so, Hansa Rostock is hoping for sellout.

Green Bay Packers fans usually experience the opposite of this: they?re allowed into the stadium, but their opponent doesn?t show up.

?In the first few days, we sold over 2,000 tickets, many more have been ordered,? Rostock?s director of sport Stefan Beinlich told football Magazine 11Freunde.

?With the sale of the tickets, we want to limit the economic damage to the club and we want to get the fans on board.?

Tickets ranging in price from five up to ?19.95 ($26) are on sale until Sunday.

And you know there?s at least one or two dopes who also paid for a parking pass.

***
German club sells tickets for ghost game [NBCSports]
Rostock aim to sell out closed-door clash [SuperSport]

Source: http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2011/12/14/ghost-game-german-soccer-team-selling-tickets-to-game-fans-are-not-allowed-to-attend/related/

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Psychology researcher finds that second-guessing one's decisions leads to unhappiness

Psychology researcher finds that second-guessing one's decisions leads to unhappiness [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Joyce Ehrlinger
jehrlinger@fsu.edu
850-645-7418
Florida State University

You're in search of a new coffee maker, and the simple quest becomes, well, an ordeal. After doing copious amounts of research and reading dozens of consumer reviews, you finally make a purchase, only to wonder: "Was this the right choice? Could I do better? What is the return policy?"

Reality check: Is this you?

If so, new research from Florida State University may shed some light on your inability to make a decision that you'll be happy with.

Joyce Ehrlinger, an assistant professor of psychology, has long been fascinated with individuals identified among psychologists as "maximizers." Maximizers tend to obsess over decisions big or small and then fret about their choices later. "Satisficers," on the other hand, tend to make a decision and then live with it.

Happily.

Of course, there are shades of gray. In fact, there's a whole continuum of ways people avoid commitment without really avoiding it.

Ehrlinger's latest research on decision making was published in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences. The paper, "Failing to Commit: Maximizers Avoid Commitment in a Way That Contributes to Reduced Satisfaction," was co-authored with her graduate student, doctoral candidate Erin Sparks, and colleague Richard Eibach, a psychology assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It examines whether "maximizers show less commitment to their choices than satisficers in a way that leaves them lesssatisfied with their choices."

The paper, based on two studies of Florida State undergraduate volunteers, finds that the maximizers' focus on finding the best option ultimately undermines their commitment to their final choices. As a result, the authors argue, "maximizers miss out on the psychological benefits of commitment," leaving them less satisfied than their more contented counterparts, the satisficers.

Past research into the differences between maximizers and satisficers looked at how the two groups made choices differently and, more importantly, how the process itself varied. Ehrlinger's research, however, looked at something else entirely: What happened after a choice was made?

"Because maximizers want to be certain they have made the right choice," the authors contend, "they are less likely to fully commit to a decision." And most likely, they are less happy in their everyday lives.

Whether being a maximizer is a central and stable part of the personality or simply a frame of mind remains unclear, but Ehrlinger hopes to isolate the cause of the behavior in future research.

"Current research is trying to understand whether they can change," she said. "High-level maximizers certainly cause themselves a lot of grief."

Over the years, Ehrlinger's scholarly research has led her to study self-perception and accuracy and error in self-judgment. Her latest research into the ways maximizers avoid commitment is important for several reasons.

First, the differences between maximizers and satisficers may play a bigger role than previously thought in consumer decision making and purchasing. For example: "Maximizers get nervous when they see an 'All Sales Are Final' sign because it forces them to commit," Ehrlinger said.

Also, a maximizer's lack of contentment creates a lot of stress, so the trait could potentially have an enormous effect on health, Ehrlinger explained. It's not just coffee-maker purchases they stress over and second-guess themselves about it's also the big life decisions such as choosing a mate, buying a house or applying for a job.

Even after considerable deliberation before choosing a mate or a house, a high-level maximizer may still feel unhappy, even depressed, with his or her final decision.

"Identifying the 'right' choice can be a never-ending task (for a maximizer)," Ehrlinger and her co-authors write. "Feelings about which option is best can always change in the face of new information. Maximizers might be unable to fully embrace a choice because they cannot be absolutely certain they chose the best possible option."

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Psychology researcher finds that second-guessing one's decisions leads to unhappiness [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
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Contact: Joyce Ehrlinger
jehrlinger@fsu.edu
850-645-7418
Florida State University

You're in search of a new coffee maker, and the simple quest becomes, well, an ordeal. After doing copious amounts of research and reading dozens of consumer reviews, you finally make a purchase, only to wonder: "Was this the right choice? Could I do better? What is the return policy?"

Reality check: Is this you?

If so, new research from Florida State University may shed some light on your inability to make a decision that you'll be happy with.

Joyce Ehrlinger, an assistant professor of psychology, has long been fascinated with individuals identified among psychologists as "maximizers." Maximizers tend to obsess over decisions big or small and then fret about their choices later. "Satisficers," on the other hand, tend to make a decision and then live with it.

Happily.

Of course, there are shades of gray. In fact, there's a whole continuum of ways people avoid commitment without really avoiding it.

Ehrlinger's latest research on decision making was published in the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences. The paper, "Failing to Commit: Maximizers Avoid Commitment in a Way That Contributes to Reduced Satisfaction," was co-authored with her graduate student, doctoral candidate Erin Sparks, and colleague Richard Eibach, a psychology assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It examines whether "maximizers show less commitment to their choices than satisficers in a way that leaves them lesssatisfied with their choices."

The paper, based on two studies of Florida State undergraduate volunteers, finds that the maximizers' focus on finding the best option ultimately undermines their commitment to their final choices. As a result, the authors argue, "maximizers miss out on the psychological benefits of commitment," leaving them less satisfied than their more contented counterparts, the satisficers.

Past research into the differences between maximizers and satisficers looked at how the two groups made choices differently and, more importantly, how the process itself varied. Ehrlinger's research, however, looked at something else entirely: What happened after a choice was made?

"Because maximizers want to be certain they have made the right choice," the authors contend, "they are less likely to fully commit to a decision." And most likely, they are less happy in their everyday lives.

Whether being a maximizer is a central and stable part of the personality or simply a frame of mind remains unclear, but Ehrlinger hopes to isolate the cause of the behavior in future research.

"Current research is trying to understand whether they can change," she said. "High-level maximizers certainly cause themselves a lot of grief."

Over the years, Ehrlinger's scholarly research has led her to study self-perception and accuracy and error in self-judgment. Her latest research into the ways maximizers avoid commitment is important for several reasons.

First, the differences between maximizers and satisficers may play a bigger role than previously thought in consumer decision making and purchasing. For example: "Maximizers get nervous when they see an 'All Sales Are Final' sign because it forces them to commit," Ehrlinger said.

Also, a maximizer's lack of contentment creates a lot of stress, so the trait could potentially have an enormous effect on health, Ehrlinger explained. It's not just coffee-maker purchases they stress over and second-guess themselves about it's also the big life decisions such as choosing a mate, buying a house or applying for a job.

Even after considerable deliberation before choosing a mate or a house, a high-level maximizer may still feel unhappy, even depressed, with his or her final decision.

"Identifying the 'right' choice can be a never-ending task (for a maximizer)," Ehrlinger and her co-authors write. "Feelings about which option is best can always change in the face of new information. Maximizers might be unable to fully embrace a choice because they cannot be absolutely certain they chose the best possible option."

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/fsu-prf121511.php

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