Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Dell halts online sales of Streak 7 tablet, turns toward a new mobile future

You might wanna pause for a moment of silence, because it looks like Dell has just discontinued its Streak 7 tablet. As the folks over at Streak Smart recently noticed, the Android slate has mysteriously disappeared from Dell's website, replaced only with a note to confirm that it's no longer available online. Dell, which axed the smaller Streak 5 back in August, provided us with the following statement:

Dell remains committed to the mobility market and continues to sell products here and in other parts of the world. Streak 7 delivered a unique experience for customers who wanted a larger screen-size yet the freedom of staying connected to their personal and professional content while on the-go. It continues to be available in many markets through retail, distributors and carrier partners such as Optus in Australia. A 10-inch version of the tablet, Streak 10 Pro, is currently offered in China, offering the ultimate digital divide between work and life. The Venue and Venue Pro devices, as well, continue to earn accolades for performance, design and functionality around the world. We also recently launched the Latitude ST, a 10-inch Windows 7-based touch-screen tablet designed for vertical markets such as education, finance and healthcare in November of this year. We remain committed to expanding our reach beyond PCs with a targeted set of open, standards-based mobility solutions and services designed for commercial and mobile professional customers.

So Dell isn't leaving the mobile space entirely, and it doesn't look like the Streak 7 is completely dead, though based on the above statement, it certainly seems to be on its way to pasture.

Dell halts online sales of Streak 7 tablet, turns toward a new mobile future originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

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iBuypower Chimera 4

The Chimera 4 (as indicated by the name) is iBuypower's fourth iteration of the Chimera series. It's built for speed on the gaming grid and comes in four base models, of which each can be configured down to the type of network card installed. The starting price for the most inexpensive version, the Chimera 4-FX is $799 and while it's the cheapest, it's no slouch.

The side of this mid-tower chassis features a mythical beast?possibly a fiery Balrog?wreathed in flames on a black aluminum canvas, giving it a "wow" factor, especially among fellow geeks. Inside it comes with a quad-core AMD FX-4100 processor (the other versions offer Intel options), 4GB of RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6770 (1GB), and a 600 Watt power supply. The processor can be upgraded up to an AMD FX-8150 for $200 more, and the GPU can be upgraded as high as an Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 (3GB) for $671 more.

The last version, the Chimera-V1, and most expensive features the new Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E processor, while the two middle units can only be upgraded up to a Core i7-2700K CPU. But you'll only really need these high-powered CPU if you plan on doing Photoshop CS5 work that would take advantage of such processing power. Every Chimera 4 also comes with its CPU overclocked by at least 10 percent.

A liquid cooling system and 120mm fan comes standard with every unit, but if you're uncomfortable with a liquid solutiuon iBuypower allows you to downgrade to a CPU fan and heatsink. There are grates on top of the chassis, utilizing the age-old science-fact that heat rises, creating a natural ventilation solution. There are also vents on the back of the case.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/OtS9QQTiISM/0,2817,2396918,00.asp

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Italy PM Monti unveils sweeping austerity package (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Mario Monti will present a 30 billion euro package of austerity measures to parliament Monday designed to shore up Italy's strained public finances and help to stem a debt crisis threatening to overwhelm the euro zone.

Cabinet approved the mix of tax hikes, pension reforms and incentives to boost growth in a three-hour meeting Sunday, opening one of the most crucial weeks since the launch of the euro more than a decade ago.

The package, dubbed a "Save Italy" decree by Monti, aims to raise more than 10 billion euros from a new property tax, impose a new tax on luxury items like yachts, raise value added tax, crack down on tax evasion and bring forward measures to increase the pension age.

The measures come before one of the most crucial weeks since the creation of the single currency more than a decade ago, with European leaders due to meet Thursday and Friday in Brussels to try to agree a broader rescue plan for the bloc.

Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, has been at the center of the crisis since mid-year, when its borrowing costs began to approach the levels which forced Ireland, Greece and Portugal to seek an international bailout.

Packed into a single emergency decree, the measures take effect immediately, before formal parliamentary approval, but Monti will have to secure the backing of legislators within 60 days for them to remain in force.

Monti, appointed at the head of a technocrat government to replace former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last month, had been under growing pressure to come up with concrete measures to address fears about Italy's towering debt mountain.

He has held to Berlusconi's pledge of a balanced budget by 2013, despite growing signs that Italy is heading into a recession that will make it extremely difficult to make inroads into a public debt of 120 percent of gross domestic product.

Deputy Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli said the measures outlined Sunday would allow the goal to be met despite a forecast that GDP would contract by 0.4-0.5 percent in 2012.

TEARS

Monti, who brought forward cabinet approval of the measures by a day to Sunday, is due to give a briefing to the foreign press at 1100 GMT before presenting the measures to parliament in the afternoon.

The package is divided into 20 billion euros of budget tightening and an additional 10 billion euros that will be pumped back into the economy in the form of measures to help companies and boost growth.

European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed the "timely and ambitious" measures and said the Commission would carry out a detailed assessment once it had received full details of the package.

Caught between the competing needs of boosting growth and ensuring that cuts do not further depress an already fragile economy, Monti's technocrat government risks growing opposition after an initial honeymoon period with a public fed up with the scandals of the Berlusconi era.

"A package to cry over," the daily Il Secolo XIX headlined its front page Monday, over a picture of Welfare Minister Elsa Fornero, who broke down in tears while presenting measures that will mean an effective cut in income for many pensioners.

Unions criticised the package and in an early sign of possible opposition to the Monti government, FIM-CISL, a union representing metal workers, said it would call a two-hour strike Wednesday.

"Yet again, the sacrifices demanded fall mainly on salaried workers and pensioners and on the weaker sections of society," the union said in a statement.

(Reporting By James Mackenzie; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/bs_nm/us_italy

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Tiny church in NYC awaiting Supreme Court decision (AP)

NEW YORK ? A Christian congregation with just 48 members and not even a storefront is hoping the Supreme Court will overturn a ruling that says holding its Sunday service in a Bronx public school is unconstitutional.

At issue is a New York City Board of Education policy that allows community groups, including religious ones, to use its buildings, but specifically excludes worship services.

A divided federal appeals court upheld the policy in June, reversing a district judge. The Supreme Court is considering whether to review the case and could decide that on Monday. If it grants review, its eventual opinion could be a landmark decision, the church's lawyer says.

Robert Hall, co-pastor of the evangelical Bronx Household of Faith, said last week that his little group never expected to get involved in a big-time court case that has now lasted 17 years.

"I can assure you this wasn't strategic planning on our part," the 68-year-old Minnesota native said. "Basically we just outgrew the place we were meeting," a Christian halfway house for men.

In 1994, church leaders looked at the nearby public school in its University Heights neighborhood, applied for a permit to hold its worship service there, and were denied.

That began a legal wrangle that reached the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals four times as Supreme Court decisions came down and the law evolved.

An early key moment came in 1995 when Hall, who has been with the church for 39 years, heard Alliance Defense Fund staff attorney Jordan Lorence on the radio, discussing barriers to religious rights.

"He called me up and said, `We're facing that issue right here,'" Lorence said.

Enter the ADF, a conservative group that says it champions "the legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage and the family." It has been on the case since and is bearing the costs. Lorence is the lead attorney.

"We took the case to defend the First Amendment principle of equal access," Lorence said. "This is private religious speech and we're requesting equal access to meet in the buildings the way New York City allows all other community groups to meet."

In 2002, during a time when the city was enjoined from enforcing its policy, the Household of Faith began using Public School 15, and it has been there ever since.

In its most recent ruling, in June, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the while city policy excludes religious worship from its buildings, it does not exclude "prayer, singing hymns, religious instruction, expression of religious devotion, or the discussion of issues from a religious point of view."

The court found the distinction reasonable, saying that when worship services are held in a school, "The place has, at least for a time, become the church."

The court said the distinction accommodated a 2001 Supreme Court decision allowing a Christian organization to use public school facilities. It also was a reasonable way for the city to avoid violating the Constitution's prohibition on government favoring any religion, the court said.

The Board of Education praised the ruling, saying it was "concerned about having any school in this diverse city identified with one particular religious belief or practice." However, it is allowing the 60 or so congregations that now hold services in schools to continue, pending Supreme Court action.

Lorence said the distinction between religious expression and worship is arbitrary.

"You can have singing and prayer and Bible study, with all the elements of what people traditionally understand a worship service to be, but you can't have a worship service?" he said.

He theorized that a group could hold a worship service and not call it that, "and the school district will need a theologian to figure out whether the group is conducting a worship service or not."

Hall said the Household of Faith's service lasts 90 minutes or more and includes Scripture readings, hymns, communion with grape juice and bread, preaching and "spontaneous prayer" from the congregation.

Lorence said he found "bizarre" the concept that the auditorium at Public School 15 becomes a church if worship is conducted there.

"When a labor union meets there, it doesn't turn into a labor hall," he said. "When Alcoholics Anonymous meets there, it doesn't turn into the Betty Ford Clinic."

But Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, "When a church sets up shop in a public school in a manner that conveys the appearance that the church is part of, or officially favored by, the school, it seems to run afoul of the separation of church and state."

Lorence predicted the Supreme Court would grant review and reverse the 2nd Circuit. But if not, he said, "It's over for the Bronx Household of Faith" because he can no longer go back to the 2nd Circuit.

"We're at high noon here," he said.

Pastor Hall said the church isn't worried. Though the church office is Hall's home, and some of their meetings are held in backyards, they are raising funds to complete construction of a building across from P.S. 15 that would handle all their needs, including youth ministry and worship services.

"Nobody's getting angry, there's no bad-mouthing the Board of Ed," he said. "We're kind of rolling with the punches and trusting in the Lord that he will work things out according to his good wisdom."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_us/us_church_school_space

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Scientists rediscover rarest US bumblebee

Scientists rediscover rarest US bumblebee [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

Cockerell's Bumblebee was last seen in the United States in 1956, say UC Riverside entomologists

RIVERSIDE, Calif. A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside recently rediscovered the rarest species of bumblebee in the United States, last seen in 1956, living in the White Mountains of south-central New Mexico.

Known as "Cockerell's Bumblebee," the bee was originally described in 1913 from six specimens collected along the Rio Ruidoso, with another 16 specimens collected near the town of Cloudcroft, and one more from Ruidoso, the most recent being in 1956. No other specimens had been recorded until three more were collected on weeds along a highway north of Cloudcroft on Aug. 31, 2011.

"Most bumblebees in the U.S. are known from dozens to thousands of specimens, but not this species," said Douglas Yanega, senior museum scientist at UC Riverside. "The area it occurs in is infrequently visited by entomologists, and the species has long been ignored because it was thought that it was not actually a genuine species, but only a regional color variant of another well-known species."

Yanega pointed out that there are nearly 50 species of native U.S. bumblebees, including a few on the verge of extinction, such as the species known as "Franklin's Bumblebee," which has been seen only once since 2003. That species, as rare as it is, is known from a distribution covering some 13,000 square miles, whereas Cockerell's Bumblebee is known from an area of less than 300 square miles, giving it the most limited range of any bumblebee species in the world.

"There is much concern lately about declines in our native bumblebee species, and as we now have tools at our disposal to assess their genetic makeup, these new specimens give fairly conclusive evidence that Cockerell's Bumblebee is a genuine species," he said. "With appropriate comparative research, we hope to be able to determine which other species is its closest living relative. Given that this bee occurs in an area that's largely composed of National Forest and Apache tribal land, it's unlikely to be under serious threat of habitat loss at the moment. Since its biology is completely unknown, however, it nevertheless may require some more formal assessment in the future."

Yanega went on to point out that it is not especially surprising for an insect species to be rediscovered after decades, when people might otherwise imagine that it may have gone extinct.

"When an insect species is very rare, or highly localized, it can fairly easily escape detection for very long periods of time," he said. "There are many precedents some of them very recently in the news, in fact of insects that have been unseen for anywhere from 70 to more than 100 years, suddenly turning up again when someone either got lucky enough, or persistent enough, to cross paths with them again. It is much harder to give conclusive evidence that an insect species has gone extinct than for something like a bird or mammal or plant."

UCR entomologists rediscover many such "lost" insect species and discover entirely new species on a regular basis, at the rate of several dozen species every year, primarily in groups such as bees, wasps, beetles, and plant bugs. According to recent estimates, approximately 8 million species are in existence, the vast majority being insects of which only about 1 million have been described.

"It should come as no surprise that we discover so many new species of insects so easily," Yanega said. "But the pace of species discovery and description is incredibly slow because there are so few insect taxonomists relative to the number of undescribed insects. Moreover, the work is painstaking, time-consuming, and not very glamorous, at least in the public's perception, when compared to studying things like dinosaurs."

As for plans regarding additional work with Cockerell's Bumblebee, Yanega said that the recent expedition, carried out together with UCR scientists Keve Ribardo and Greg Ballmer, was funded in part by the Friends of the Entomology Research Museum, a non-profit organization supporting UCR's Entomology Research Museum, but that nothing further was yet planned. The DNA sequencing was also carried out at UCR, as part of a larger study on wasp and bee relationships.

"The first step is to come to a firm conclusion regarding the status of this bee as a species," he said. "The second step is spreading the word to the scientific community that this bee deserves some attention, as it has been completely overlooked. Here at UCR we may or may not be involved beyond that point, in gathering data on the distribution and biology of this species, but at the very least our discovery can get the proverbial ball rolling."

###

The University of California, Riverside (http://www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call 951-UCR-NEWS.



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

?


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.


Scientists rediscover rarest US bumblebee [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Iqbal Pittalwala
iqbal@ucr.edu
951-827-6050
University of California - Riverside

Cockerell's Bumblebee was last seen in the United States in 1956, say UC Riverside entomologists

RIVERSIDE, Calif. A team of scientists from the University of California, Riverside recently rediscovered the rarest species of bumblebee in the United States, last seen in 1956, living in the White Mountains of south-central New Mexico.

Known as "Cockerell's Bumblebee," the bee was originally described in 1913 from six specimens collected along the Rio Ruidoso, with another 16 specimens collected near the town of Cloudcroft, and one more from Ruidoso, the most recent being in 1956. No other specimens had been recorded until three more were collected on weeds along a highway north of Cloudcroft on Aug. 31, 2011.

"Most bumblebees in the U.S. are known from dozens to thousands of specimens, but not this species," said Douglas Yanega, senior museum scientist at UC Riverside. "The area it occurs in is infrequently visited by entomologists, and the species has long been ignored because it was thought that it was not actually a genuine species, but only a regional color variant of another well-known species."

Yanega pointed out that there are nearly 50 species of native U.S. bumblebees, including a few on the verge of extinction, such as the species known as "Franklin's Bumblebee," which has been seen only once since 2003. That species, as rare as it is, is known from a distribution covering some 13,000 square miles, whereas Cockerell's Bumblebee is known from an area of less than 300 square miles, giving it the most limited range of any bumblebee species in the world.

"There is much concern lately about declines in our native bumblebee species, and as we now have tools at our disposal to assess their genetic makeup, these new specimens give fairly conclusive evidence that Cockerell's Bumblebee is a genuine species," he said. "With appropriate comparative research, we hope to be able to determine which other species is its closest living relative. Given that this bee occurs in an area that's largely composed of National Forest and Apache tribal land, it's unlikely to be under serious threat of habitat loss at the moment. Since its biology is completely unknown, however, it nevertheless may require some more formal assessment in the future."

Yanega went on to point out that it is not especially surprising for an insect species to be rediscovered after decades, when people might otherwise imagine that it may have gone extinct.

"When an insect species is very rare, or highly localized, it can fairly easily escape detection for very long periods of time," he said. "There are many precedents some of them very recently in the news, in fact of insects that have been unseen for anywhere from 70 to more than 100 years, suddenly turning up again when someone either got lucky enough, or persistent enough, to cross paths with them again. It is much harder to give conclusive evidence that an insect species has gone extinct than for something like a bird or mammal or plant."

UCR entomologists rediscover many such "lost" insect species and discover entirely new species on a regular basis, at the rate of several dozen species every year, primarily in groups such as bees, wasps, beetles, and plant bugs. According to recent estimates, approximately 8 million species are in existence, the vast majority being insects of which only about 1 million have been described.

"It should come as no surprise that we discover so many new species of insects so easily," Yanega said. "But the pace of species discovery and description is incredibly slow because there are so few insect taxonomists relative to the number of undescribed insects. Moreover, the work is painstaking, time-consuming, and not very glamorous, at least in the public's perception, when compared to studying things like dinosaurs."

As for plans regarding additional work with Cockerell's Bumblebee, Yanega said that the recent expedition, carried out together with UCR scientists Keve Ribardo and Greg Ballmer, was funded in part by the Friends of the Entomology Research Museum, a non-profit organization supporting UCR's Entomology Research Museum, but that nothing further was yet planned. The DNA sequencing was also carried out at UCR, as part of a larger study on wasp and bee relationships.

"The first step is to come to a firm conclusion regarding the status of this bee as a species," he said. "The second step is spreading the word to the scientific community that this bee deserves some attention, as it has been completely overlooked. Here at UCR we may or may not be involved beyond that point, in gathering data on the distribution and biology of this species, but at the very least our discovery can get the proverbial ball rolling."

###

The University of California, Riverside (http://www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call 951-UCR-NEWS.



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

?


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/uoc--srr120511.php

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45551524#45551524

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Dominican-Haitian activist Sonia Pierre dies at 48 (AP)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic ? Sonia Pierre, a human rights activist who bravely fought discrimination against poor Dominicans of Haitian descent since she was a child, died Sunday, according to colleagues. She was 48.

The renowned activist died outside of the municipality of Villa Altagracia while being rushed to a hospital after suffering a heart attack around noon Sunday, said Genaro Rincon, a lawyer who works with Pierre's Dominican-Haitian Women's Movement.

Pierre's chronic heart troubles were first discovered in 2007 when she was in Washington to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award honoring her work securing citizenship and education for Dominican-born ethnic Haitians.

Through the decades, her activism made her the target of threats in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, but it earned her recognition from overseas as a fierce defender of human rights, including an award from Amnesty International in 2003.

Pierre was one of 12 children raised in a dirt-floor barrack in a Dominican migrant worker camp and was just 13 when she was first arrested and threatened with deportation for leading her fellow Dominican residents of Haitian descent in a march for cane cutters' rights.

Since then, Pierre tirelessly fought to secure citizenship and education for the beleaguered minority of Dominican-born ethnic Haitians.

"She was like a sister to me," said Edwin Paraison, executive director of the Zile Foundation, a Haitian group that tries to improve relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. "The Haitian community has lost someone who was a huge advocate in the fight for Haitian rights."

An estimated 500,000 to 1 million ethnic Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, many in isolated village slums that dot the countryside. Most of those born in the Dominican Republic are descendants of Haitians who crossed the border fleeing violence or seeking economic opportunity.

When she won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2007, Pierre denounced what she said were "massive abuses" in the Dominican Republic against people of Haitian descent, particularly children.

"They suffer discrimination from the moment they are born," she said during the award ceremony in the U.S. Senate. "The authorities refuse to recognize them as Dominicans."

While Haiti has been plagued by poverty, violence and political instability, its eastern neighbor, with a population of more than 9 million, grew out of its own early struggles to be seen as a comparative land of opportunity even as many Haitian migrants are exploited as cheap labor.

Police arrested Pierre in 1976 when she led her fellow Haitian-Dominican neighbors in a march to demand rights for those who cut sugar cane. She was jailed for a day and threatened with deportation to Haiti, where her mother was born.

"I was crying because I didn't know anyone in Haiti," Pierre once recalled.

Her advocacy also has made her and her family targets in the Dominican Republic. She was once chased out of her Santo Domingo office by a man waving a pistol. She was also punched at a stop light by another man who told her, "I know who you are."

Pierre insisted she was trying to help her people and not malign the Dominican Republic. "I am not a critic of my country, and this is my country," she said. "I am a critic of my government."

Paraison, a former minister of Haitians living abroad, said Pierre is survived by three children.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_dominican_obit_sonia_pierre

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

H&R Block 2Q loss widens; RSM McGladrey sale done (AP)

NEW YORK ? H&R Block Inc. on Thursday said its fiscal second-quarter loss widened by 30 percent including charges for closing its ExpressTax business and other items.

The nation's largest tax preparer reported a loss of $141.7 million, or 47 cents per share for the three months ended Oct. 31. That compared with 36 cents per share a year earlier.

Excluding the ExpressTax charges and losses from discontinued operations, H&R Block said it lost 38 cents per share.

Analysts expected an adjusted loss of 35 cents per share, on average, according to data provided by FactSet.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Block earlier announced it was selling its RSM McGladrey consulting unit and said the sale closed Wednesday.

The earnings shortfall reflects the shift of RSM revenue to discontinued operations, but Block typically posts a second-quarter loss because most of its revenue comes during the U.S. tax season.

Growth in its Australian tax business helped the quarter's revenue rise 8 percent to $129.2 million, from $119.6 million last year.

Analysts were expecting revenue of $328.9 million for the quarter, but that included revenue from the company's RSM McGladrey business consulting unit.

Block moved its accounting for RSM to discontinued operations after the sale closed. Last year, RSM McGladrey took in revenue of $203.4 million in the fiscal second quarter.

Block's discontinued subprime mortgage unit, formerly called OptionOne but renamed Sand Canyon Corp., set aside $20 million to cover claims from investors who purchased securities backed by mortgages that have since failed.

The number of claims received during the second quarter spiked to $483 million from $21 million a year ago. Sand Canyon reviewed $61 million in claims during the quarter, resulting in incurred losses of $3 million.

While the incurred losses remained in line with prior quarters, the company received more than three times as many claims during the second quarter as it had in the previous four combined. Block CEO Bill Cobb said the increased reserve was "prudent in light of second-quarter activity" and maintained that the unit is financially strong enough to handle all valid claims.

Wall Street has fretted over the potential for big claims payouts, however, fearing Block would have to kick in cash to support Sand Canyon if losses exceed reserves.

The issue has weighed on the stock for some time but didn't ignite concern after hours Thursday.

Block shares lost 26 cents in the late session after ending regular trading up 33 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $16.06.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_h_r_block

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Pakistani model's nude photo causes fury

(AP) ? A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.

Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network website Facebook and Twitter since earlier this week.

Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.

Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims." Farzana Naz, interviewed by the same channel on the streets of Lahore, said that the actress had "bowed all us women in shame."

Twitter commentator Umair Javed however called on Pakistanis to "make copies of the picture and bury it in your backyard. This way, our grandkids will know there were some amongst us who lived free!"

Asked by reporters whether Pakistan would "pursue the matter" legally, the country's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, "First, let us see whether it is real or fake."

Malik for her part says that the photo at the root of the current uproar was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India. In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a "bold but not nude shot." She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.

Malik said that the photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies: "Whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."

Malik said she would "probably" take a legal action against the magazine for violating terms and condition.

Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik did all with her full consent.

"We have all the record(s)," he told the Pakistani television station. "Veena was very excited about that ISI idea."

Malik does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan's is moribund. Her ties to Pakistan's archrival have landed her in controversy in the past.

During a much-publicized talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticized her for having a scripted love affair with an Indian actor on an Indian reality show.

"What is your problem with me?" an angry Malik demanded of the scholar, who had accused her of insulting Islam.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-03-AS-Pakistan-India-Photo/id-159b19ca10c1433ca7fbd29412a9929b

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Pennsylvania court approves Harrisburg receiver (Reuters)

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) ? A Pennsylvania judge on Friday approved the appointment of David Unkovic as the receiver for the city of Harrisburg, the state's debt-laden capital, even though Unkovic has had ties to some of the city's largest creditors.

Commonwealth Court Judge James Kelley said Unkovic's experience with the creditors was not a conflict. Unkovic is a long-time public finance expert

"The court is convinced Mr. Unkovic meets the statutory qualifications and that there are no demonstrable conflicts which would prevent Mr. Unkovic from performing his fiduciary duties in the best interests of the City and the Commonwealth," Kelley wrote in his memorandum.

Unkovic will now have 30 days to develop and submit a recovery plan to the Commonwealth Court. Harrisburg is saddled with $317 million debt incurred during expensive renovations of an incinerator.

The appointment of the receiver followed a ruling last week by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge that the city of Harrisburg could not file for bankruptcy to get out its outstanding debt.

Unkovic worked for 27 years at the Saul Ewing law firm, which is representing Assured Guarantee Municipal Corp. in its fight to have Harrisburg pay what it owes on bond finance deals related to the retrofit of the incinerator.

He also worked for three years with the law firm of Cozen O'Connor, where he was bond counsel on behalf of Dauphin County, another major player in the incinerator project. Cozen O'Connor represented the administration of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett in its petition to have Unkovic named as Harrisburg's receiver.

Kelley said he was confident that Unkovic could perform his job as receiver fairly.

"Mr. Unkovic assuaged the court's concerns in relation to possible conflicts regarding payment as receiver and his position as a state employee, possible involvement with all of the city's authorities or stakeholders, financial interest in entities involved either directly or tangentially in these proceedings, as well as financial interests and conflicts remaining from past employment," the judge said.

The emergency action plan submitted last month by the secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development, Alan Walker, is to be implemented by Unkovic.

Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson, who had opposed the bankruptcy filing approved by the City Council, has supported using a modified version of Pennsylvania's Act 47 process for distressed cities.

"I am pleased that any questions about the bankruptcy filing by the city council and the appointment of Unkovic as city receiver have been resolved so that the focus can narrow in the next 30 days to the development of a financial recovery plan that moves the City of Harrisburg to long term fiscal solvency," Thompson said in a statement

Unkovic will remain on the state's payroll with the same $125,008 salary he started with six months ago when he became chief counsel for the Department of Community and Economic Development.

The governor also welcomed the approval. "The administration is pleased that the court moved quickly on this decision putting Harrisburg another step closer to fiscal recovery," Kelli Roberts, a spokesman for Corbett, said in an email.

(Reporting By Mark Shade)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/us_nm/us_harrisburg_approval

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Friday, December 2, 2011

US condemns storming of British embassy in Iran (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The White House says the U.S. condemns in the strongest terms the storming of the British Embassy in Tehran.

In a statement, the White House says Iran has a responsibility to protect the diplomatic missions in its country. The U.S. is urging Iran to condemn the incident, prosecute the offenders and ensure that no other incidents occur at either the British Embassy or any other mission in Iran.

Hard-line Iranian students stormed the embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag, burning an embassy vehicle and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the 1979 attack on the U.S. embassy there.

The White House says the State Department is in close contact with the British government.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_us/us_white_house_iran

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Syrians protest Arab sanctions "interference" (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Tens of thousands of Syrians protested Monday in state-backed rallies against unprecedented economic sanctions imposed by the Arab League over President Bashar al-Assad's military crackdown on popular unrest.

State television showed rallies "supporting national unity and rejecting foreign interference" in the capital Damascus and the second city of Aleppo. There were demonstrations also in the eastern cities of Deir al-Zor and Hasaka, the TV said.

The Arab League approved the sanctions against Syria on Sunday, the toughest imposed against a member state, isolating Assad's government over repression now in its ninth month which the United Nations says has killed 3,500 people.

The European Union said the sanctions were a further "reaction to the regime's brutality and unwillingness to change course," and Britain said they could help enlist support at the United Nations for action against Damascus.

But Syria's closest trading partners, Lebanon and Iraq, said they would not support the Arab League measures, and the actual economic impact could be less severe than proposed.

"We do not agree with these sanctions and we will not go along with them," Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told Reuters in Beirut.

Lebanon believes along with Iraq that the sanctions - which fall short of a full trade embargo - could harm their interests. Monday, the Arab League appealed to Damascus, offering "a review of all of the measures" if Syria drops its opposition to an Arab plan to end the crackdown.

Anti-Assad activists in Syria said Sunday that security forces had killed at least 24 civilians, many in a town north of Damascus that has become a focus for the protests. Others were killed in raids on towns in the province of Homs.

FIGHTING BACK

"The indications are not positive ... the sanctions are still economic but if there is no movement on the part of Syria then we have a responsibility as human beings to stop the killings," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, told reporters.

"Power is not worth anything when a ruler kills his people," he said after 19 of the League's 22 members meeting in Cairo on Sunday approved a decision to enforce sanctions immediately.

Along with peaceful protests, some of Assad's opponents are fighting back. Army defectors are grouped loosely under the banner of a Syrian Free Army and more insurgent attacks on loyalist troops have been reported in the last several weeks.

The sanctions include a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to Assad's government. They are aimed at halting dealings with Syria's central bank and investment in the country, Sheikh Hamad said.

He added that non-member Turkey, which attended the Arab League meeting, would also honor some of the measures, dealing a further blow to a Syrian economy already reeling from sanctions imposed by the EU and United States.

UNITED NATIONS "SILENCE"

Arab nations wanted to avert a repeat of what happened in Libya, where a U.N. Security Council resolution led to NATO air strikes. Sheikh Hamad warned Arab states that the West could intervene in Syria if it felt the League was not serious.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Arab League sanctions demonstrate that "the regime's repeated failure to deliver on its promises will not be ignored."

Hague said Britain hoped the move would help break what he called United Nations silence "on the ongoing brutality taking place in Syria," after Russia and China thwarted Western efforts to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria.

The sanctions represented the toughest Arab League action against a member state since Egypt's expulsion in 1978 over its peace accord with Israel. Cairo was later readmitted.

Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, said in an interview this month that he would continue the crackdown and blamed the unrest on outside pressure to "subjugate Syria."

Many Arab leaders have become increasingly concerned by a series of "Arab Spring" revolts that have toppled the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

MERCHANT CLASS

One Western diplomat said Assad could for now count on support from China and Russia at the United Nations but they may change position if he intensifies the crackdown and if the Arab League campaigns for international intervention.

China and Russia have oil concessions in Syria. Moscow also has a little-used naval base in the country and provides military advisers to the Syrian army.

"The sanctions are likely to lose Assad support among those in Syria who have been waiting to see whether he will be able to turn things around, such as merchants who could now see their businesses take more hits," the diplomat said.

The president of the Union of Arab Banks, a division of the Arab League, said the sanctions would hit Syria's central bank, which has "big deposits" in the region, especially the Gulf.

Arab ministers were spurred to action by worsening violence in Syria and by the Assad government's failure to meet a deadline to admit Arab League observers and take other steps to end its crackdown on the uprising.

Syrian official media quoted an undated letter by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem to the Arab League as saying Damascus viewed the plan for outside monitors as interference.

Syrian officials blame the violence on armed groups targeting civilians. Government security forces say 1,100 of their members have been killed.

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Editing by Douglas Hamilton and David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/ts_nm/us_syria

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

More Ethiopian troops seen in central Somalia: residents (Reuters)

MOGADISHU (Reuters) ? New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents.

Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period."

An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had previously denied scores of military trucks and armored vehicles had entered Somalia on November 19 and 20.

Sunday, residents from towns in central Somalia said they had seen new, larger convoys.

"We have seen heavily armed Ethiopian troops with tanks heading to Guriel and Baladwayne. There are many more of them and (they are) more armed than last week," Ahmed Muhudin Ugas told Reuters from Balanbal town.

"Since yesterday afternoon I counted over 100 armed trucks with tanks; their convoy has not stopped yet."

A senior official with the pro-Mogadishu Sufi militia group Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca also confirmed the deployment.

"Yes, Ethiopian troops are here and more have entered central Somalia," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters by phone. "Al Shabaab will be ousted from central Somalia but when and how are political points we do not want to disclose now."

Kenya sent troops into Somalia last month to crush al Shabaab, accusing the militant network of frequent attacks on its security forces and tourists inside Kenya.

Ethiopian soldiers previously went into Somalia in 2006, and left the country in early 2009 after ousting the Islamist Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from de facto power in Mogadishu.

They were dogged by accusations that their intervention, hugely unpopular with Somalis, was a rallying call for militias such as al Shabaab, who were not as powerful at that time.

This time, Ethiopia insists the deployment will be brief, although it has not given details on the size of the contingent.

Another resident in Guriel, in the central Galgadud region, said he had seen two different convoys of Ethiopian forces.

"Last night there was a convoy of Ethiopian troops that reached the town," Abdinur Osman Moalim told Reuters. "I don't know their number, but early in the morning we saw more than 40 vehicles of armed Ethiopian troops."

(Editing by George Obulutsa and; Alessandra Rizzo)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/wl_nm/us_somalia_ethiopia

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Plane with 3 men, 3 children crashes in Arizona (AP)

PHOENIX ? A small airplane slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high mountains east of Phoenix and exploded, killing the six people onboard, including the pilot and his three young children who were to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with him, authorities said.

The body of one child was recovered and dozens of sheriff's search and rescue personnel worked Thursday to recover the remains of the other victims, said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

A search and rescue team was in the rugged Superstitions Mountains searching for three missing teenagers Wednesday evening and saw the explosion as the twin-engine plane hit the cliff, Babeu said. The searchers found the teens, then went up the mountain to try to reach the crash site.

Ten deputies who spent the night on the mountain were relieved by ten more early Thursday. They and dozens of volunteers began searching the crash site at first light. Video from news helicopters Thursday morning showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.

The dead included the pilot and his three children, two boys and a girl ages 5 to 9, Babeu said. The father lives in Safford in southeastern Arizona and owned a small aviation business there.

He had flown to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up his children for Thanksgiving. The plane was headed back to Safford when it crashed.

Babeu said he personally notified the mother late Wednesday. The woman, who is divorced from the children's father, lives in Pinal County and also is a pilot.

Some immediate family members are out of the country, so the names of those involved can't yet be released, Babeu said.

"This is their entire family ? it's terrible," Babeu said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the (families) of all the crash victims. We have has so many people that are working this day, and we just want to support them and embrace them and try to bring closure to this tragedy."

There was no indication the plane was in distress or that the pilot had radioed controllers about any problem, he said.

It was very dark at the time and the plane missed clearing the peak by only several hundred feet. The aircraft slammed into an area of rugged peaks and outcroppings in the Superstition Mountains, 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, at about 6:30 p.m. MST Wednesday, authorities said.

Callers reported hearing an explosion near a peak known as the Flat Iron, close to Lost Dutchman State Park, Sheriff's spokeswoman Angelique Graham said.

Witnesses reported a fireball and an explosion.

"I looked up and saw this fireball and it rose up," Dave Dibble told KPHO-TV. "All of a sudden, boom."

Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site reported finding two debris fields on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact.

"The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain," Babeu said late Wednesday. "This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain."

Video after the crash showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common. Flames could still be seen from the suburban communities of Mesa and Apache Junction hours later.

The region is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and cactus. Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains. The elevation is about 5,000 feet at the Superstition Mountains' highest point.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Rockwell AC-69 was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford. A man who answered the phone Wednesday night at Ponderosa Aviation declined comment.

Kenitzer said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash.

___

AP writer Michelle Price in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_us/us_arizona_plane_crash

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Free iPod Music Downloads: Legal and Safe

Apple iPod isn?t only trendy however it also assists make music revolution within the new era. This new technologies from Apple Computers has brought a brand new order of musical pleasure to quite a number of males and girls. Which is why it has spread widely and its music widely shared about the globe. You can have a wide array of possibilities from the downloadable music inside the World wide internet for your Ipod.

You can choose from millions of songs and download what you want and when you want it. Effortless free iPod music downloads are also available in the Internet of which music can be kept for as long as you want.

You are going to discover entirely totally free iPod music downloads within the net specifically where thousands of music tracks are stored for legal sharing. And for those who obtain a song you like, you could download it effortlessly and legally. You will find a lot of questions nonetheless about the legality of no cost of charge iPod music downloads.

International and domestic iPod music downloads are bombarded with questions of legality in accordance to the Recording Industry Association of America or RIAA. There are still a handful of websites that offer legal free iPod music downloads including:

3hive.com

Amazon.com

eMusic.com

Epitonic.com

Freekidsmusic.com

Garageband.com

IUMA.com

MFiles.co.uk

MP34U.com

MP3blogs.org

Music.download.com

PureVolume

Vitaminic

and iTunes Music Store

Completely cost-free iPod music download internet websites above have wonderful blog-style listings of definitely totally free iPod compatible MP3 songs by record artists and labels, and mainstream and independent artists. Some will offer you using a no cost two-week trial period to check on the services supplied by these internet web-sites that deliver cost-free of charge iPod music downloads.

You can find specialized sites too that give no cost iPod music downloads for young listeners. These are clean, professionally designed interface to give free of charge iPod music downloads where you could download free of charge iPod music across all main genres. There are actually extra than hundreds of thousands of songs which are no cost for iPod music downloads.

When you discover it tough to appear for the songs you like, it is possible to often go to iTunes Music Shop. It?s not as low-cost as other iPod music download shops even so it really is definitely safe and legal technique to obtain access to 1 million songs.

Websites that offer free iPod music downloads can also update you to new cool accessories about your iPod and Apple computer that can help you and your gadgets achieve maximum performance. Accessories include car chargers, pocketdock firewire, pocketdock line out firewire, pocketdock combo, pocketdock line out USB, earbuddy and more. Websites that offer free iPod music downloads also feature not only songs but entire albums as well as updates on which songs and artists are becoming popular and hitting the charts.

From these featured cost-free iPod music downloads within the World-wide-web, it is possible to easily find the songs you want to have on your iPod. You are able to find the songs you like by browsing by means of the store?s library by discovering it by genre. Or you discover too lots of outcomes; you could make it less complicated by looking by artist, album or song title. For songs that are incredibly well-liked for the moment, you?ll find lists of songs that are topping charts about the globe that may make the search simpler.

Cost-free iPod music downloads on different genres of music include option, indie and punk, Broadway, children?s music, classical, nation, dance and DJ, folk, international, jazz, Latin, miscellaneous, new age, Opera, pop, rap and hip-hop, rock, R&B and soul, and soundtracks.

There are plenty of internet websites that offer free of charge iPod music downloads but some people who have iPods do not know exactly where to begin. The best technique to search for these no cost iPod music downloads is via search engines like MSN, Google and Yahoo. Once you have found the websites you are looking for, you?ll be able to click on them 1 by 1 and start by looking for the songs you wish to download for absolutely free.

After completing the downloading process of free iPod music, the songs you want are already stored in your computer which you can easily transfer to you iPod. Take note about where you saved the iPod music you downloaded for free for easy access later.

With free of charge iPod music downloads, there is no need for you to break the law and join illegal files sharing communities in the Net. In the event you cannot afford to buy new music downloads, it is possible to maximize the use of absolutely free iPod music download internet websites today.

Please visit our articles about iPod and iPod Touch

Source: http://rupertmurdoch.hardbossenterprizes.com/free-ipod-music-downloads-legal-and-safe/

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Report: Iran lawmaker says 12 CIA agents arrested (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? An influential Iran parliamentarian has said that the country has arrested 12 agents of the American Central Intelligence Agency, the country's official IRNA news agency reported.

Parviz Sorouri, who sits on the powerful committee of foreign policy and national security, that the alleged agents had been operating in coordination with Israel's Mossad and other regional agencies, and targeted the country's military and its nuclear program.

"The U.S. and Zionist regime's espionage apparatuses were trying to damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services," Sorouri was quoted as having said on Wednesday.

"Fortunately, with swift reaction by the Iranian intelligence department, the actions failed to bear fruit," Sorouri said.

The lawmaker did not specify the nationality of the alleged agents, nor when or where they they had been arrested.

Iran periodically announces the capture or execution of alleged U.S. or Israeli spies, and often no further information is released.

This current announcement follows the unravelling by Lebanon's Hezbollah of a CIA spy ring in that country. Hezbollah reportedly works closely with Iran.

Hezbollah's longtime leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, boasted in June on television he had unmasked at least two CIA spies who had infiltrated the ranks of the organization. Though the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon officially denied the accusation, American officials conceded that Nasrallah wasn't lying and that Hezbollah had subsequently methodically picked off CIA informants.

The United States and its allies suspect Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon program, a charge Iran denies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

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Friday, November 25, 2011

Target: BoGo Free Pillow Pets! | MyLitter - 2011 Black Friday Deals ...

Target has got the 18? Pillow Pets ( full size ones) on sale from $12.99 and up. The best deal are the ones that are BOGO, so you are getting 2 for $19.99! Shipping will run you around $6.50 for both, but $13 each for a full size pillow pet is a great deal! Thanks Surviving the Stores!?

**When you get to Target, type in ?Pillow Pet? and it will bring up a TON of them! Make sure to look for the BOGO ones!

See more Black Friday deals HERE.

?

This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you support this site. Thank you!

Source: http://mylitter.com/target/target-bogo-free-pillow-pets/

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Thursday, November 24, 2011

What Car Insurance Products are Mandatory

Car insurance is used by millions of people around the world, as a way to protect themselves and their vehicles in the case of an accident or loss. In most jurisdictions around the world, it is mandatory to have a certain level of car insurance (test-autoversicherung.de) protection, which is also known as vehicle insurance and motor insurance.
Compulsory insurance is used as a way to protect third parties in the case of accidents that are not their fault, and is considered to be an essential aspect of public driving in most countries around the world. Compulsory car insurance is normally quite affordable and often linked to car registration and taxation schemes. In some places, mandatory car insurance is linked to a pay as you drive scheme where it merges with petrol prices, as a way to avoid the situation of uninsured drivers.

Other than basic third party coverage, most other car insurance protection is voluntary in nature. This means that people have the choice of whether or not to take out car insurance, with the option to leave their own vehicle and person uninsured if so desired. There are a number of items that can potentially be insured as part of a car insurance policy, including third party personal, third party property, the insured person, the insured vehicle, fire and theft, additional comprehensive, extended liability, and no fault insurance. In the vast majority of cases, only basic third party protection is deemed to be mandatory before driving on public roads, with drivers having the choice of whether or not to take out additional protection.

Vehicle insurance premiums are priced according to a variety of criteria, including the level of coverage being provided, the length of the contract, and the person who has taken out the contract. A variety of personal information may also be used to price a vehicle insurance policy, including the sex of the driver, the age of the driver, the driving history of the insured party, and any other relevant information. When driving any car on a public road, it is important that you are insured as a way to protect yourself and others in the case of accidents and damage. Most government roads departments around the world have extensive information regarding car insurance schemes, including relevant information on the legal status of various insurance protections.

Source: http://www.suppressedscience.net/car-insurance-products/

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Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer

Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jason Cody
codyja@msu.edu
517-432-0924
Michigan State University

Metformin prevents tumors from growing in human cultures

EAST LANSING, Mich. An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher.

The research, led by pediatrics professor James Trosko and colleagues from South Korea's Seoul National University, provides biological evidence for previously reported epidemiological surveys that long-term use of the drug metformin for Type-2 diabetes reduces the risk of diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast cancers.

The research appears in the current edition of PLoS One.

"People with Type-2 diabetes are known to be at high risk for several diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast, liver and pancreatic cancers," said Trosko, a professor in the College of Human Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. "While metformin has been shown in population studies to reduce the risk of these cancers, there was no evidence of how it worked."

For the study, Trosko and colleagues focused on the concept that cancers originate from adult human stem cells and that there are many natural and man-made chemicals that enhance the growth of breast cancer cells.

Using culture dishes, they grew miniature human breast tumors, or mammospheres, that activated a certain stem cell gene (Oct4A). Then the mammospheres were exposed to natural estrogen a known growth factor and potential breast tumor promoter and man-made chemicals that are known to promote tumors or disrupt the endocrine system.

The team found that estrogen and the chemicals caused the mammospheres to increase in numbers and size. However, with metformin added, the numbers and size of the mammospheres were dramatically reduced. While each of the chemicals enhanced growth by different means, metformin seemed to be able to inhibit their stimulated growth in all cases.

"While future studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism by which metformin works to reduce the growth of breast cancers, this study reveals the need to determine if the drug might be used as a preventive drug and for individuals who have no indication of any existing cancers," he said.

"Though we still do not know the exact molecular mechanism by which it works, metformin seems to dramatically affect how estrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause the pre-existing breast cancers to grow."

In addition, further research needs to be done with human cultures to see if metformin can reduce the risk of pancreatic and liver cancers in Type-2 diabetics as well, he said.

###

Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.


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

?


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.


Diabetes drug shows promise in reducing risk of cancer [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jason Cody
codyja@msu.edu
517-432-0924
Michigan State University

Metformin prevents tumors from growing in human cultures

EAST LANSING, Mich. An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher.

The research, led by pediatrics professor James Trosko and colleagues from South Korea's Seoul National University, provides biological evidence for previously reported epidemiological surveys that long-term use of the drug metformin for Type-2 diabetes reduces the risk of diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast cancers.

The research appears in the current edition of PLoS One.

"People with Type-2 diabetes are known to be at high risk for several diabetes-associated cancers, such as breast, liver and pancreatic cancers," said Trosko, a professor in the College of Human Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. "While metformin has been shown in population studies to reduce the risk of these cancers, there was no evidence of how it worked."

For the study, Trosko and colleagues focused on the concept that cancers originate from adult human stem cells and that there are many natural and man-made chemicals that enhance the growth of breast cancer cells.

Using culture dishes, they grew miniature human breast tumors, or mammospheres, that activated a certain stem cell gene (Oct4A). Then the mammospheres were exposed to natural estrogen a known growth factor and potential breast tumor promoter and man-made chemicals that are known to promote tumors or disrupt the endocrine system.

The team found that estrogen and the chemicals caused the mammospheres to increase in numbers and size. However, with metformin added, the numbers and size of the mammospheres were dramatically reduced. While each of the chemicals enhanced growth by different means, metformin seemed to be able to inhibit their stimulated growth in all cases.

"While future studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism by which metformin works to reduce the growth of breast cancers, this study reveals the need to determine if the drug might be used as a preventive drug and for individuals who have no indication of any existing cancers," he said.

"Though we still do not know the exact molecular mechanism by which it works, metformin seems to dramatically affect how estrogen and endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause the pre-existing breast cancers to grow."

In addition, further research needs to be done with human cultures to see if metformin can reduce the risk of pancreatic and liver cancers in Type-2 diabetics as well, he said.

###

Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.


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

?


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/2011-11/msu-dds112311.php

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