Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads

Best quarter in Apple's history? Check. Retaking the smartphone crown from Samsung? Check. How about becoming the world's largest PC manufacturer? If you're Canalys and you factor iPads into the equation, then yes, another check. Per the research firm, "client PCs" (which include "desktops, netbooks, notebooks and tabs") grew by 16 percent to hit 120 million in Q4, from which Apple's 20 million units (15 million iPads + 5 million Macs) grabbed the leading 17 percent share. Cupertino's followed by HP, Lenovo, Dell and Acer in that order -- all of whom, save for Lenovo, saw their piece of the PC pie shrink. Not only did their slices shrink, but without slates the entire tart was .4 percent smaller than last year -- meaning that all of the growth in "client PC" segment was due to tablets. With that kind of statistical precedence Windows 8 can't come soon enough, right Stevie B?

Continue reading Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads

Canalys: Apple leading PC maker in Q4 2011, if you count iPads originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/30/canalys-apple-leading-pc-manufacturer-if-you-count-ipads/

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US, Taliban talks on prisoner swap falter

Reuters TV

A Taliban-affliated website recently posted video of this man who said he was Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. soldier held by the Taliban

By NBC News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Qatar almost failed as the Taliban leadership reportedly refused to accept the U.S. demand?of a?ceasefire before? swapping prisoners.

Sources in the Afghan Taliban said the Taliban had set up an office in Qatar hoping that it?would?help in a?prisoners' swap, especially for their five top commanders held at the?Guantanamo Bay?base since 2002.

The Taliban sources said their talks with the U.S. had been going for the past few years in exchange for an American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, captured by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Paktika province in June 2009, bordering Pakistan's South Waziristan.?

Maulvi Sangeen, a senior commander of the powerful Haqqani terror network, had initially claimed responsibility for kidnapping the U.S. soldier.

The Taliban sources said U.S. officials had earlier promised them they would exchange prisoners and later start peace talks.

However, according to the sources, the U.S. demanded that the Taliban announce a ceasefire in Afghanistan before any prisoner swap, which they said their central leadership had turned down.

STORY: Family of captured US soldier hopeful

"Our stance is the same. We will announce a ceasefire when the foreign forces start their withdrawal from Afghanistan,"?a Taliban source said.

The Afghan Taliban leadership is also worried about the reaction from their field commanders and fighters?if a?ceasefire were announced without getting anything to show in exchange.

Some members of the 140-strong Taliban delegation that went?to Qatar had started leaving after no breakthrough was seen in talks with the U.S.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/29/10264773-us-taliban-talks-on-prisoner-swap-falter

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Herman Cain and Sarah Palin: Do they still have political clout?

Sarah Palin is defending Newt Gingrich from establishment Republican attacks, and Herman Cain has given Gingrich his full endorsement. But will support from these tea party superstars make any difference?

When the political history of this era is written, two of the most colorful figures are likely to be Sarah Palin and Herman Cain.

Skip to next paragraph

The once-obscure former governor of Alaska, picked as John McCain?s running mate in 2008, went on to create a Palin-centric industry as public speaker, author, reality TV star, Fox News commentator, and potential presidential candidate who made tons of money while tantalizing millions of tea party supporters around the country with suggestions that she might run this year. She was (still is) catnip to the media.

Herman Cain, the businessman who?d never held elective office, similarly dazzled the tea party with his conservative policy positions, his self-confident and humorous manner, and an ability to hold his own in those early crowded debates with career politicians. That he?s African American seemed to dispel the charge that the tea party movement was tinged with racism. For a while, he was winning straw polls, but he had to ?suspend? his presidential campaign when a series of women made allegations of sexual misconduct.

How well do you know Sarah Palin? A quiz.

As the Republican nominating campaign has been whittled down to a four-man race, becoming a gloves-off rhetorical fight ? mainly between alternating front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich ? do Herman Cain and Sarah Palin have any remaining political clout?

At this point, it?s hard to imagine either one of them playing a prominent role at the GOP?s convention in Tampa, Fla., in August. For the most part, Republican presidential politics has moved beyond them. Despite their ability to rouse a tea party gathering, each carries certain baggage the Republican Party would just as soon not remind voters of that close to the November election.

But this past week both Palin and Cain weighed in on behalf of Gingrich ? Palin with a spirited defense of the former House Speaker, Cain with an official endorsement.

Gingrich in recent days has had to endure not only relentless attacks from the Romney campaign and the independent super PAC supporting the former Massachusetts governor ? the rhetoric could be measured in megatonnage ? but a series of biting sniper assaults from establishment Republicans like former Sen. Bob Dole and such conservative commentators as Peggy Noonan and Ann Coulter.

?If Gingrich is the nominee, it will have an adverse impact on Republican candidates running for county, state, and federal offices,? said Dole in a letter released Thursday. ?Hardly anyone who served with Newt in Congress has endorsed him, and that fact speaks for itself. He was a one-man band who rarely took advice. It was his way or the highway.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6Nh7_bAeoas/Herman-Cain-and-Sarah-Palin-Do-they-still-have-political-clout

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Rough seas still delay work on grounded liner (AP)

GIGLIO, Italy ? Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia.

Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours.

University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, or slipping into the seabed.

Recovery operations Saturday yielded a 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina. Fifteen crew and passengers remain missing.

The Concordia, with 4,200 people aboard, ran aground on Jan. 13 after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_ship_aground

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Convicted Jackson doctor seeks freedom pending appeal (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson asked on Friday to be released from jail, pending an appeal that could take a year to be heard.

Dr. Conrad Murray said in court papers filed in Los Angeles that he would agree to electronic monitoring or other conditions. But he asked to be set free while he appeals his conviction for involuntary manslaughter in the "Thriller" singer's 2009 death.

Murray, 58, was sentenced to four years in November after a six-week trial. Witnesses testified that he was guilty of gross negligence for giving Jackson regular doses of the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, and failing to monitor him.

According to his defense attorney on Friday, Murray is being held in a solitary cell and has his hands chained to his waist, or to a table, when he is allowed out.

Attorney J. Michael Flanagan wrote in a declaration to Los Angeles Superior Court that Murray's sentence "is very severe" considering the circumstances of the case.

Flanagan wrote that Murray's conviction stemmed from "an unusual situation, a close friendship with Michael Jackson and a desire to assist him through a difficult situation. Dr. Murray may have made wrong choices and not have exercised good medical judgment at times, but he never intended to injure anyone."

Murray, who pleaded not guilty and did not testify at his trial, said in the court filing that he had been told his appeal "will take well over a year before an opinion is rendered."

He asked for his request for release be heard by the court on February 24.

Murray last month asked for a publicly funded lawyer because he could not fund his appeal himself. He said in Friday's papers that he would try and find work to support his children if he was allowed out.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009 of an overdose of propofol and sedatives just weeks before a series of planned comeback concerts.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/en_nm/us_michaeljackson

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Ala. attorney questions death penalty in new book

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) ? After defending more than 60 people charged with capital murder and getting three men off Alabama's death row, attorney Richard Jaffe wants to get people talking about the death penalty and what he believes are its flaws.

The longtime Alabama defense lawyer, who once represented Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph, has written a book detailing many of the cases in his long career and explaining problems he has experienced with the capital justice system.

In "Quest for Justice: Defending the Damned," Jaffe details what he sees as recurring problems with death penalty litigation: Unqualified lawyers handling complex capital issues; a system that doesn't provide enough money for the defense to investigate cases and hire experts; and the arbitrary nature of death sentences.

"I'm not trying to change anyone's mind," Jaffe said during an interview in his office. "I wrote the book to invite people to question the death penalty system."

Jaffe spent years on the book partly because of his heavy case load. He tried a murder case just last week in Birmingham, winning an acquittal of his client after jurors deliberated only about 20 minutes.

Randal Padgett hasn't yet read "Quest for Justice," but he plans to soon: He's among the three Alabama people Jaffe helped free from death row. The three are among almost 140 people who have been freed from death sentences nationwide after initially being convicted and condemned to die.

Once confined to a 40-square-foot cell near the electric chair, Padgett, 51, now runs a small store in the north Alabama city of Guntersville. Of his one-time attorney he said simply: "I love Richard."

Padgett spent more than three years on death row after being convicted of capital murder in the slaying of wife Cathy Padgett, found dead in their north Alabama home in 1990 with dozens of stab wounds. A court ruled that prosecutors didn't give the defense an adequate opportunity to review forensic evidence and ordered a retrial, resulting in Padgett's acquittal and release from death row with Jaffe serving as his lawyer.

"If that hadn't happened, I'd probably be dead by now," Padgett said. "I used to think that in the United States of America you didn't go to prison if you were innocent, but I found out that's not the way it works."

Clay Crenshaw, an assistant attorney general who specializes in handling death penalty cases for the state, said only two of three people Jaffe helped free from death row were acquitted at retrials; the third, James "Bo" Cochran, was convicted on a lesser charge and freed from prison on time served. And, he said, police never charged anyone else in the slayings first blamed on Padgett and Jaffe's other exonerated death row client, Gary Drinkard.

"I am not aware of the district attorney in those counties conducting any investigation to search for the 'real murderer,'" Crenshaw said. "While Jaffe might celebrate these three cases, they all involved individuals who were convicted of capital murder and are now walking the streets."

Jaffe, who almost accidentally became a capital defense specialist after being appointed to a death penalty case three decades ago, uses Padgett's case and others to write that the system is badly flawed. The book will be released Feb. 1 by New Horizon Press of Far Hills, N.J.

While Alabama's system is particularly troubled, he writes, dozens of people have been wrongly convicted and executed nationwide.

"I always keep in mind the maxim that history will judge a society by the way it treats its weakest and most vulnerable," he writes. "Although most would assume that applies to the poor and the elderly, all one has to do is look at those who end up on death row: an overwhelming number are poor, disenfranchised and suffer from some mental defect or even brain damage."

Rudolph is the most famous of Jaffe's clients. Jaffe represented him for more than a year after his capture, withdrawing from the case before the loner pleaded guilty to bombing a Birmingham abortion clinic in 1998 and setting off bombs at the Olympics and elsewhere in Atlanta earlier. The deal allowed Rudolph to avoid a possible death sentence.

Jaffe got along with Rudolph, who admitted to planting the abortion clinic bomb in what he said was a bid to save the lives of unborn children. But Rudolph didn't express remorse for the death of a Birmingham police officer killed by the blast, and Jaffe said Rudolph's actions highlighted a big difference between them.

"In every case, my fervent stance against the death penalty precludes a person or the government from taking any life, for any reason," he writes. "Only the God I believe in should do that, without human intervention."

___

Online:

Jaffe's book site: http://www.questforjusticethebook.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-27-US-Books-Death-Penalty/id-560584d33fd34d1aaf2f1cdd3db3be8b

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Morning Links (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192218223?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Primitive Attraction: Magnetized Moon Rock Points to Lunar Core's Active Past

News | Space

A lunar sample collected by Apollo astronauts suggests that other-Earthly geophysics drove the moon's churning interior

By John Matson ?| January 26, 2012?|

CHIP OFF THE OLD ROCK: A piece of lunar sample 10020, a rock that appears to carry the signature of a past magnetic field on the moon. Image: NASA

The moon of today is a static orb with little to no internal activity; for all intents and purposes it appears to be a dead, dusty pebble of a world. But billions of years ago the moon may have been a place of far more dynamism?literally.

A new study of a lunar rock scooped up by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their Apollo 11 mission indicates that the ancient moon long sustained a dynamo?a convecting fluid core, much like Earth's, that produces a global magnetic field. The age of the rock implies that the lunar dynamo was still going some 3.7 billion years ago, about 800 million years after the moon's formation.

That is longer than would be expected if the lunar dynamo were powered primarily by the natural churning of a cooling molten interior, as is the case on Earth. The moon's small core should have cooled off rather quickly and put an end to any dynamo-generated magnetic field within a few hundred million years. So researchers may have to explore alternate explanations for how a dynamo could be sustained?explanations that depart from thinking of the lunar interior in terms of Earthly geophysics.

A standard-issue, Earth-like dynamo "would have died out on the moon much, much before 3.7 billion years ago," says Erin Shea, a graduate student in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lead author on a study in the January 27 issue of Science. "We have to start thinking outside the box about what generates a lunar dynamo."

The first clues that the moon had a dynamo came from a number of lunar samples that appear to record the presence of a magnetic field at the time of their formation. Specifically, the magnetic field is locked in metallic particles in similar orientations. But some of that magnetism could be explained by short-lived magnetic fields rather than by a dynamo. A meteor impact, for instance, can shock a magnetic signature into nearby rocks.

So researchers investigating whether the moon had a more long-lived magnetic field look for evidence of lunar paleomagnetism encoded in rocks that formed slowly in the presence of that field. Such slow-cooling rocks would remain largely unaffected by transient magnetic fields that came and went during solidification. Shea and her colleagues based their study on a rock collected July 20, 1969, the day that humankind took its first "giant leap" onto the lunar surface. The sample is a basalt from volcanic flows early in lunar geologic history, and it would have taken about two weeks to cool?roughly 10 times as long as a short-lived magnetic field from an impact would be expected to persist.

Using a high-resolution magnetometer, the researchers found that the lunar sample indeed formed in the presence of a magnetic field, perhaps even one as strong as Earth's magnetic field today. "What this sample tells us is that at some point the moon did have a dynamo," Shea says. "This magnetic field lasted much longer than we had considered before."

A similar paleomagnetic study in 2009 by some of Shea's co-authors demonstrated the presence of a lunar dynamo some 4.2 billion years ago. That is just at the cusp of what would be possible with an Earth-like dynamo driven by a cooling interior alone. "Even then it's not trivial," says Ian Garrick-Bethell, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz (U.C.S.C.), who was the lead author of the 2009 study.

"It's nice because this sample is also very pristine, like the previous sample that I studied," Garrick-Bethell says. He notes that the new sample not only cooled slowly but also shows no evidence of having been shocked and reheated since its initial formation. "It's a high-quality recorder of magnetic fields," Garrick-Bethell says. "If this sample does have any remnant [magnetization] in it, combined with the pristine nature of the sample, it suggests that there really was a dynamo."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5242ecbc123f1de925530d9bdd40bf6b

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Crazy rumor pegs Siri-powered Apple OLED iTV television set for spring release

Could Apple have an Siri-powered, OLED equipped iTV television set to debut this April or May? So a source within a “major electronics retailer” would have TechnoBuffalo believe.

Speaking

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/8EzxrEAV1PU/story01.htm

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Madonna Cries Discussing Her Mother at 'W.E.' Premiere

Madonna is having an auspicious January. She won a Golden Globe for her song "Masterpiece," she's getting ready for her halftime show at the Super Bowl and she's enjoying the New York premiere of her directorial debut, W.E.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/madonna-cries-discussing-her-mother-we-premiere/1-a-421898?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Amadonna-cries-discussing-her-mother-we-premiere-421898

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Israel arrests two Hamas officials at Red Cross office (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Israeli police Monday arrested two senior Hamas members at an International Committee of the Red Cross building in East Jerusalem where they had taken shelter for some 18 months, Red Cross and Israeli officials said.

Palestinian lawmaker Mohammed Totah and Khaled Abu Arafah, a former cabinet minister, face possible expulsion from the city when they appear before an Israeli judge this week, Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman said.

The ICRC confirmed the arrests and said that as East Jerusalem was an occupied territory under international law, Israel was not allowed to forcibly transfer Palestinians.

Israel had revoked Totah and Arafah's Jerusalem residency permits in July 2010, a step it has also taken against other Hamas members.

"Two Hamas activists were arrested at the Red Cross building. They were hiding in the building for a year and a half after their ID cards had been revoked on suspicions of being active in terrorist activity," Rosenfeld said.

Israel, along with the United States and the European Union, considers the Islamist Hamas movement a terrorist group. Hamas condemned the arrests as kidnapping by "the Zionist enemy."

Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it as part of its capital in a move never recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In response to Monday's arrests, a crowd of Palestinians smashed the gate of the Red Cross compound in Jerusalem, angry at what they charged was the organization's failure to protect Totah and Abu Arafah.

Hamas said both men deserved immunity from arrest because they were public officials.

In Geneva, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said: "It will not be in accordance with international humanitarian law" to deport the men as East Jerusalem is considered occupied land and its Palestinian residents protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfers of people.

Palestinian officials said at least 26 Palestinian lawmakers were in Israeli detention.

Last week, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, also of Hamas, was detained on suspicion of what the Israeli military termed "involvement with terrorist groups."

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Labib Nasir and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, writing by Sami Aboudi)

(This update adds the dropped word "arrested" in the lead)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_israel_hamas

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Same Sex Romance Comes to a Galaxy Far, Far Away (Newsarama.com)

Same-sex relationships are coming to the "Star Wars" universe, courtesy of video game developer BioWare and publisher Electronic Arts' new massively multiplayer online role- playing game (or "MMORPGs" or "MMOs" for short), "Star Wars: The Old Republic," and the decision is getting people talking.

MMOs are games that create immersive virtual environments in which millions of players can interact with computer-generated characters as well as characters created by fellow gamers. While this is BioWare's first MMO, the developer is known among fans for the emphasis they place on romantic relationships between characters in their single-player role-playing games. In the past, BioWare games have featured same-sex relationships between men and women, and in the case of the immensely popular sci-fi game "Mass Effect," relationships between men and women with an asexual alien.

BioWare originally announced that players and their companions in "Star Wars: The Old Republic" would only be able to experience mixed-gender romantic relationships. After many inquiries from fans asking the developer to explain the decision, earlier this week a new forum post by Stephen Reid, the senior online community manager for the game, showed up on the company's official website announcing that those fans had been heard and same-sex romance will be added to the game.

BioWare's statement explained that while the game will still launch with only male/female relationships, they will be adding same gender romance options in future updates.

"Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' will be a post-launch feature. Because 'The Old Republic' is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options."

"Companion characters" are computer-controlled characters that follow player-created characters around the virtual world, aiding them as gamers maneuver through the story.

The response to BioWare's announcement has been massive. There are 326 pages of comments as of Friday afternoon on the official "Star Wars: The Old Republic" forum alone. They range from "thank you for listening to our requests" to "how dare you expose my children to this."

The game has no firm release date, only a release window of "holiday 2011." It has also already received an ESRB rating of "T for Teen," meaning the game is recommended for players 13 and older. Neither facts have stopped detractors from crying foul, such as John Nolte on the blog "Big Hollywood," who starts his post on the subject with "Say goodbye to your child's innocence," and ends with the inaccurate proclamation, "Announcing the gay relationships AFTER the game has been sold is pure bait and switch."

The game already has reportedly broken preorder records for publisher Electronic Arts.

Got a comment? There's lots of conversation on Newsarama's FACEBOOK and TWITTER!

Related Stories:

Newsarama.com is the go-to source for the latest comic book and genre entertainment news, reviews and commentary. Newsarama's passionate audience contributes to lively discussions ranging from classic and new comics to movies, TV, manga, anime and more. Watch previews, interviews and more on our video player, sneak peeks of new comics on our Comic Book Viewer and sign up for our RSS feeds. And be sure to join our community so you can voice your opinion on our articles and in our lively forums.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/newsarama/20120123/en_newsarama/samesexromancecomestoagalaxyfarfaraway

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Rand Paul: Detained By TSA After Refusing Pat-Down!

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, son of U.S. Rep. and presidential candidate Ron Paul, was detained by TSA agents this morning after a standoff in Nashville, Tenn.

The younger Paul told his communications director about the airport predicament after he reportedly refused to complete the routine screening process.

Paul staffer Moira Bagley tweeted around 10 a.m., ET Monday , “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”

A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever “detained” ... but the fact is he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport this morning.

According to TSA officials, Rand Paul triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process (pat-down).

Paul’s office said he set off an airport security full-body scanner “on a glitch,” then raised objections when TSA agents would not let him simply walk back through the body scanner, instead demanding he undergo a full body pat-down.

He refused. Local law enforcement then escorted him out of the area.

The standoff was short-lived, in any case. By late morning, the Kentucky Senator was booked on another flight (and made it through security this time).

The issue of pat-downs is an important one to both Rand and Ron Paul, who have mentioned them numerous times as intrusions against American civil liberties.

Moreover, the U.S. Constitution actually protects federal lawmakers from detention while they’re on the way to the Capital for votes ... which Paul was.

According to Article I, Section 6:

“The Senators and Representatives shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same.”

The Senate is back in session today at 2 p.m., with votes scheduled at 4:30 p.m. It is not clear if Rand Paul will make it to Washington by 4:30 p.m.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/rand-paul-detained-by-tsa-after-refusing-pat-down/

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Homes burn as high winds fuel blaze near Reno

High winds cause a brush fire to spread quickly south of Reno, Nevada, destroying at least 10 homes. Msnbc.com's Al Stirrett reports.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated 10:25 p.m. ET: More than 10,000 people have been evacuated as a wind-driven wildfire burns out of control near Reno, The Associated Press reports. Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said hundreds of firefighters were "in the thick of battle" against a blaze that has burned across thousands of acres.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has declared a state of emergency.

See more coverage at NBC station KRNV

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, fire officials said that?the brush fire began around noon just north of Washoe Lake and that the cause was under investigation. They said they were unsure how many homes had been burned. Earlier, NBC station KRNV reported that at least 10 homes had been lost.

Original post: RENO, Nev. -- Fierce winds fueled a fast-moving brush fire through a valley south of Reno on Thursday, destroying at least 10 homes and threatening many more along a stretch of U.S.?395.?

At least 10 homes burned in the Washoe Area Estates?neighborhood, NBC station KRNV of Reno reported. Washoe County declared a state of emergency.

Heavy smoke forced authorities to shutdown?a five-mile stretch of the highway north of Washoe Lake in Pleasant Valley, about 10 miles from Reno, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

---

Authorities evacuated hundreds of children from Pleasant Valley Elementary School and residents of neighboring Washoe City.

Sheriff's deputies told the?Reno newspaper?winds?were pushing flames closer to Reno, where voluntary evacuations were issued in several neighborhoods.

Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Reno -- already delayed because of bad weather?-- was cut short because of the fire.?Biden was two hours late to give a speech to students?at Galena High School. The vice president was forced to end his speech?after 25 minutes because officials needed the high school gym as a command center for firefighters.

Winds in the area were gusting over?50 mph, The Weather Channel reported, but were expected to moderate on Friday to about 20 mph, with gusts to about 30 mph.

Winds gusts?up to 82 mph were reported within a few miles of the fire, and a gust of 122 mph was recorded atop Slide Mountain, which is between the fire and Reno at the Mount Rose ski resort.

Rounding up horses
Flames up to 40 feet high raced through sagebrush, grass and pines in an area where small neighborhoods are dispersed in a rural landscape. Washoe County animal services officials were helping round up horses and other livestock for evacuation.

NBC News

A large home is destroyed by flames near Reno on Thursday.

About six flights?were diverted, delayed or canceled at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport as a reult of heavy black smokein Washoe Valley, said spokesman Brian Kulpin.

The conditions were similar to those Nov. 18, when a wind-driven fire destroyed 30 homes in southwest Reno.

This post includes reporting from NBC station KRNV of Reno, msnbc.com staff and?The Associated Press.?

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10193877-homes-burn-as-high-winds-fuel-blaze-near-reno

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View a haunting photo of the Costa Concordia shipwreck from space (Yahoo! News)

New satellite photograph helps put the disaster in perspective

While the rest of the world ponders how the massive Costa Concordia cruise ship could have been steered into shallow, rocky water by a seemingly experienced captain, the vessel itself remains lodged just off shore near the Italian island of Giglio. And while there has been no shortage of photos of the ship snapped from land, the?satellite gurus at?DigitalGlobe decided to see what the wreck looks like from the reaches of?space.

The photo above was snapped with one of the company's two WorldView satellites ? both of which offer amazing close-up shots of our planet. The amazing image shows the Concordia lying listlessly on its side like a beached whale, with smaller ships dotting the perimeter. It's a surreal sight, and remembering that the wreck has already claimed at least 11 lives gives it an even more somber tone.

The Concordia ran aground on January 13 when it made a close pass by the island of Giglio and subsequently struck a reef. Both the coast guard and Costa Cruises ? the owner of the vessel ? has put blame solely on the captain, who reportedly ignored well-marked nautical map warnings and risked the lives of all 4,229 on board.

[Image credit:?DigitalGlobe]

(Source)

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120118/tc_yblog_technews/view-haunting-photo-of-the-costa-concordia-shipwreck-from-space

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brewcity77 I've been thinking about this after the UL game, especially as it seems the Cardinals are starting to be written off. Last year, we got in with an RPI of 64 and SOS of 30. Here are the categories: The Locks Syracuse: #1 in the RPI, #1 in both polls, #2 SOS. Lock them in. Georgetown: Even if they Hoyas tank, they should win 10 Big East games. That'd give them a 24 RPI and 18 SOS. They're in. Connecticut: UConn has yet to face the meat of their schedule, and losses to UCF and Rutgers aren't very good, but even if they go 9-9 in conference they project as #21 in RPI and #2 SOS. Barring total collapse, they'll be in. . Should Be In Marquette: The Warriors are favored in 10/12 games and even if they only go 10-8 in conference are projected as a top-30 RPI and SOS. That'd be one heck of a snub in the 68-team era. Seton Hall: The USF loss sucked, but the Pirates already have 4 top-50 wins. It's hard not to see them getting to at least 20 wins, and even with a 9-9 Big East record, that would give them a top-40 RPI and top-30 SOS. Honestly, 22 or 23 wins are more likely. West Virginia: Many wrote off the 'Neers after losing to Kent State, but they have no bad losses (including the Flashes) and are 6-5 against the RPI top-100. Their only game from here on out when they'll be an underdog is at the Carrier Dome. . On The Bubble Louisville: Critics are banging on the 'Ville and injuries could be their undoing (Rakeem Buckles the latest). Still, they had an excellent non-con schedule, boast 5 top-100 wins, and only 2 heavy RPI drags. Their next 7 games will be critical. If they go 4-3, they will be in good position to get to 9-9 in the Big East. While most will say that isn't good enough, Louisville would have the #36 RPI and #18 SOS. Honestly, if they go 8-10, they could still make the Dance. Their #45 RPI and #18 SOS would both be better than what got MU in last year, and a 20-11 record isn't nearly as bad as some that have made the cut when there were only 65 teams invited. Cincinnati: Despite winning 9/10 since the fight with Xavier, the Bearcats played a pathetic non-con. 11-7 in the Big East is realistic, but will it offset bad home losses to Presbyterian and St. John's? They only had 1 top-100 non-con win, against #74 Oklahoma. Even with an 11-7 Big East mark, Cincy would project to #74 RPI with the #99 SOS. It's hard to imagine an 11-7 or 12-6 Big East team being snubbed, but if their only top-50 wins are Louisville and Georgetown, that's a possibility. Rutgers: Usually 5 non-conference losses sinks a team, but none of RU's losses are to any teams below 120 in the RPI. Their wins over Florida and UConn were major feathers in the cap. If they can win 5/6 at home (marking Syracuse as a loss) and steal a couple on the road (Providence and Notre Dame are promising) they could get to 10-8 in the Big East and 18-13 overall. 5-8 against the top-100 isn't horrible, especially with 3 top-20 wins (if they beat SHU at home). That would also give them the #84 RPI and #51 SOS, so they'd probably still need to pull off 2 wins, including one more quality win, in the Big East tournament, but it's not unthinkable. South Florida: Like Rutgers, hard to see a 5-loss non-con team making it. But the Bulls have been good at home, with wins over Cleveland State and Seton Hall, and a narrow loss to UConn. If they can hold serve at home and steal two roadies out of DePaul, Providence, or Pitt, they will be 11-7 in the Big East. Would a 18-13 record be good enough? Probably not without a Big East Tourney win or two, but they'd be looking at a 66 RPI and 37 SOS, around what got Marquette in a year ago. . It's Not (Totally) Impossible Pittsburgh: Initially I wanted to put them in the bubble club, but they have a long way to go. Pitt probably needs to go 8-4 the rest of the way to get on the bubble, and that might not even be enough. They do have 7 home games, so if they can turn Petersen back into a fortress, maybe they can get back in the mix. Win out at home, steal a road game at USF or Louisville (or better both) and they might get that "hot team" bump come Selection Sunday. An 8-10 league record would give them #63 RPI and #49 SOS. Notre Dame: Zero non-con wins against the RPI top-175 means ND would probably need to go 10-8 in the league just to be on the bubble. They still have 4 road games against top-20 RPI teams, and 3 more at home. On the plus side, the NIT still counts as postseason play. Villanova: The Wildcats had a solid non-con, but they lost almost every worthwhile game they scheduled, and took a bad loss to Santa Clara to boot. They probably would need to win every game at home (tall order beating UConn and MU when they got spanked there by USF), and take roadies from USF, Rutgers, and St. John's. Even that would only get their RPI to #59, so another win or two might be needed in the Big East Tournament. Highly unlikely, but not a complete impossibility. . No Chance In Hell DePaul: Their non-con was way too weak, giving them only 3 top-100 opponents and zero top-100 wins. They could win 4-6 Big East games, but that won't be enough. Still, Oliver Purnell has the arrow pointed up. St. John's: The Red Storm were one of the feel-good stories of last year, but having a losing record already and being favored in only 1 of their remaining 14 games must feel pretty bad. Providence: If the Friars go 10-2, they will still only have a 60 RPI and 125 SOS. But they won't go anywhere near 10-2.

brewcity77 I'm really curious, people saying 5, who do you think gets left out? If Marquette goes 7-11 in the Big East, they still have a better RPI (58) and SOS (18) than last year. Seton Hall at 7-11 would have a better profile than last year's Marquette team too (59 RPI, 30 SOS0. WVU would have the same RPI (64) as 2010-11 Marquette at 7-11, but a much better SOS (11). And if one of these teams collapsed, wouldn't that almost automatically mean that a Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, or USF was capitalizing on those losses to snag a bid, getting the league back up to 6? I know some people will just take the lowest option for the sake of it, I expect 1 or 2 people to say that, but I didn't expect 10% of respondents at this point to be saying that. Is it just trolling or does someone expect a major collapse or two?

Source: http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=29861.0

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[OOC] Races and Languages

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This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Dragon Age: Crimson Blight?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This thread contains information regarding the languages and races of Thedas.
I want this roleplay to reflect the diversity in Dragon Age. :)

Races:
Elven, Human, Dwarven, Qunari

Language:
Ferelden (English)
Dalish (Created by Bioware, found in DA Wiki)
Orlais (French)
Imperium (Latin)
Antivan (Spanish)
Chasind (Scottish Gaelic*)

(*Scottish Gaelic is the only language that cannot be translated with an online translator. Here are some links to a dictionary/url] and some common [url=http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/gaelic.php]phrases if you choose to play a Chasind Character)

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Obama jobs panel pushes tax reform, U.S. drilling (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama's jobs council is calling for a corporate tax overhaul, expanded domestic drilling and new regulatory reforms, a set of proposals unlikely to provide a quick fix for high unemployment or gain much traction in an election year.

A panel of business leaders advising Obama -- whose re-election chances could hinge on whether he can boost the fragile U.S. economy - will offer its latest job-creation prescriptions at a meeting with him on Tuesday. A draft of its report was obtained by Reuters.

Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has generated dozens of ideas since it was created amid political fanfare last February, but implementation of some of its key recommendations has lagged and the overall benefits remain uncertain.

"There's not one silver bullet on jobs," General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, who chairs the non-partisan panel, acknowledged in an interview before the report's formal release at the White House.

Immelt insisted that a number of the panel's earlier proposals, such as streamlining infrastructure building permits, were bearing fruit and the new ones deserved bipartisan support.

That could be a tall order in a divided Congress where the Democratic president's jobs agenda has largely stalled in the face of Republican resistance and election-year gridlock.

LOFTY THEMES

While the council used two earlier reports to present specific, although mostly modest, jobs proposals, the latest - with the lofty title "Roadmap to Renewal" - lays out a broader strategy to promote manufacturing, education and innovation.

"Investing in our future, building on our strengths, and playing to win - these are mantras we must adopt, along with the specific policies and initiatives that back them up, if we are going to renew our competitiveness," the report states.

This will be the focus of Obama's meeting with the CEOs, the latest in a series of White House events aimed at showing voters he is serious about tackling unemployment.

The November 6 election is widely seen as a referendum on his economic leadership, and his record is under attack from Republican presidential contenders like front-runner Mitt Romney.

Among the steps the council sees as urgently needed is long-delayed reform of the corporate tax system, which it says is outdated and "hurts both business competitiveness and American workers." "The council urges Congress and the administration to begin work on tax reform immediately," the report says.

The panel calls for lowering corporate tax rates to "internationally competitive levels" while broadening the corporate tax base by eliminating deductions and loopholes.

But the report notes disagreement among council members over whether to shift to a "territorial" system that exempts most or all foreign income from corporate taxes when it is repatriated.

The administration said last summer it was developing a broad corporate tax reform plan, an idea Republicans have also pushed for years, but one never materialized.

The mammoth U.S. tax code has not been thoroughly overhauled in 25 years, and most analysts see little chance in an election year. But they expect that growing budget deficits and public dissatisfaction may open the door to reform efforts in 2013.

'ALL-IN' ENERGY STRATEGY

In a proposal likely to be opposed by environmentalists, the report calls for an "all in" strategy on energy that would seek to further exploit domestic fossil-fuel supplies to reduce reliance on foreign imports. But it also urges development of cleaner energy sources and promotion of energy efficiency.

"The Jobs Council recommends expanding and expediting the domestic production of fossil fuels - including allowing more access to oil, gas, and coal opportunities on federal lands - while ensuring safe and responsible development of those sites," the report said.

In addition, the report called for a series of reforms to streamline government rules and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, which it said would enhance U.S. competitiveness.

Even though there is some common ground between Obama's Democrats and opposition Republicans, little movement is expected on these issues between now and Election Day.

Obama's strategy has been to cast Republicans as obstructing his economic recovery efforts, especially after they blocked much of his $447 billion jobs plan in September. Republicans charge that Obama has pursued failed spending policies.

The U.S. jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent in December, but employment remains about 6.1 million jobs below its pre-recession level.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/ts_nm/us_obama_jobs

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Samsung's Big Beautiful OLED TV of the Future Is Here [Televisions]

Looks like 2012 will be the closest thing we've had to the year of the OLED—real products with serious screen size. Like Samsung's "Super OLED," offering 55 inches of mega-rich color and brightness. Bonus: Kinect-esque body tracking, too. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uuNh3uU_Tzk/samsungs-big-beautiful-oled-tv-of-the-future-is-here

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?Coffee with Mayor? event sees attendance boost

WASHINGTON, Ill. ?

Representatives from the five entities that built and operate Five Points Washington shared coffee, fruit, biscuits and conversation Saturday with residents.

The occasion was the monthly ?Coffee with the Mayor? hosted by Washington Mayor Gary Manier. If the size of the crowd in the meeting room at the Washington District Library at Five Points was any indication, the event was a success.

?There must have been 30 or 40 people here within 15 minutes after the coffee started,? Manier said. ?I normally get eight or 10 during the two hours, sometimes three or four. Maybe we should do this more often with the Five Points entities. I?d be in favor of it.?

Elected officials from the city of Washington, District 308 School Board, and Washington Library District and Washington Park District boards were joined by members of the Washington Area Community Center board, District 308 Superintendent Jim Dunnan and library director Pam Tomka.

They heard mostly positive comments about Five Points, a multipurpose facility that will celebrate its fifth anniversary in October.

One resident with fiscal concerns requested a one-page spreadsheet showing what each taxing body spent to help get Five Points built and how much they continue to contribute.

?We can do that,? Manier said. ?It?s important to be as transparent as possible.?

Another visitor, who doesn?t live in Washington but often comes to Five Points, told the mayor that Five Points should become more environmentally conscious.

It was Tomka?s idea to hold Manier?s coffee at the library with elected officials and administrators who are connected to Five Points.

?I thought the timing was perfect, with Five Points? anniversary coming up,? she said.

She?s seen a substantial uptick in annual use since the library opened at Five Points. From 2007 to 2011, the number of patrons walking in the door increased from 143,963 to 169,371, items checked out increased from 161,711 to 219,861, and library card holders increased from 11,220 to 13,316.

Five Points also has fitness, banquet and party facilities, additional meeting rooms, swimming pools and the 1,000-seat Caterpillar Performing Arts Center.

Manier said his next coffee will be held the first Saturday of February at Double D Diner. That will mark the one-year anniversary of his decision to take his coffee event on the road after attendance stagnated at City Hall.

Source: http://www.pekintimes.com/homepage/x123109135/-Coffee-with-Mayor-event-sees-attendance-boost

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Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott ties the knot

Release the doves!

Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott is a married woman. Her rep tells Us Weekly she and Chris Tyrell wed Saturday just before sunset in upstate New York surrounded by family and close friends.?

PHOTOS: Weddings of the year

The bride wore a custom Vera Wang strapless mermaid dress with abstract all-over lace underlay, layered tulle skirt with horsehair banding and hand-cut corded lace applique with hand-applied crystal and pearl beading. She complemented the gown with a mantilla veil with hand-cut chantilly lace applique. The groom donned a gray Ermenegildo Zegna suit.

PHOTOS: Celebs who wore Vera Wang wedding dresses

Scott, 25, posted a video on her band's site Sunday to announce the good news. "We got married! We just wanted you to hear it from us first," Scott gushed to fans after showing off her wedding ring. "We love you. We're so excited to be starting our life together, and we just had to let you in on the excitement."?

PHOTOS: Southern superstars

Tyrell, the lead drummer of country music trio Love and Theft, first met the "Run to You" singer when they each served as opening acts on Tim McGraw's Southern Voice Tour in 2010.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Tyrell popped the question to Scott while the two were enjoying a day at the lake in Tennessee.

Copyright 2012 Us Weekly

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45922300/ns/today-entertainment/

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Blue Jackets fire head coach

After weeks of lopsided losses and blown leads, the Columbus Blue Jackets fired second-year coach Scott Arniel.

In announcing Arniel's dismissal and the elevation of assistant Todd Richards to interim head coach, general manager Scott Howson said the season had "gone off the rails."

Under Arniel, the Blue Jackets were just 11-25-5 this season -- the worst record in the NHL.

Richards was 77-71-16 as head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2009-11.

Howson announced the firing after the club's latest dreadful loss: a 7-4 setback at Anaheim. The Ducks came into the game just one point ahead of the Blue Jackets' league-low 27 points but dominated throughout.

Howson said things had spiraled out of control recently. "We were playing pretty good [after a bad start] until the middle of December and we were going in the right direction, but it's gone off the rails since then," he said.

The Blue Jackets have blown eight games in which they led heading into the final period, the most in the NHL.

Richards said he did not plan wholesale changes. "I've got a list of to-dos," he said. "I don't think it's big changes. It's little tweaks, little things here and there."

Arniel was hired as the fifth head coach in Blue Jackets history June 8, 2010, and compiled a 45-60-18 record in 123 games.

Bruins

Forward Brad Marchand has been suspended for five games by the NHL because of a hit on the Canucks' Sami Salo. The league considers Marchand a repeat offender. He received a two-game suspension in March 2011. Marchand clipped Salo just before the end of the second period of Saturday night's game, receiving a major penalty and a game misconduct. He will also forfeit more than $150,000 in pay.

Blackhawks

Forward Patrick Sharp, among the NHL's top 10 scorers, will be out 3-4 weeks with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Sharp was injured late in the first period of Sunday's overtime loss to Detroit and did not return to the game. Sharp has 20 goals and 20 assists in 42 games this season.

Elsewhere

A fan who threw a banana at a black player during an NHL exhibition game has been fined $200. Christopher Moorhouse lobbed a banana at Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds as he was approaching Red Wings goalie Jordan Pearce during a shootout in the Sept. 22 game in London, Ontario. The 26-year-old Moorhouse pleaded guilty but did not appear in court. Moorhouse was charged with a provincial trespassing and given 90 days to pay the fine. Police said there wasn't enough evidence to charge Moorhouse with a hate crime.

First published on January 10, 2012 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12010/1202477-61.stm?cmpid=sports.xml

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