Teens broke into CNN newsroom to check Facebook?

By Rosa Golijan

Courtesy Fulton County Sheriff's Office

18-year-old Aldayne Fearon (pictured) was arrested along with 17-year-old Francis Mutemwa on Friday. We are choosing to not show Mutemwa's mugshot as he is a minor.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Friday,?two teenagers were arrested on the fifth floor of the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.?They had allegedly broken into the building and were in the process of checking their Facebook pages when they were caught.

The?Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that ??according to Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones ??CNN security contacted authorities to report that there was "someone in their secure area newsroom" on Friday.?

When officers arrived, they discovered 18-year-old Aldayne Fearon and 17-year-old Francis Mutemwa. According to Jones, the teens appeared to have climbed over a ledge in order to gain access to the CNN newsroom before beginning to use two computers.

"At the time of their arrest, they were checking their Facebook pages on those computers," says Jones.

We have reached out to?Turner Broadcasting System as well as the Atlanta police department for further information about the incident. In the meantime, the?Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains?that?a statement released by Turner Broadcasting Systems on Friday afternoon simply stated: a "security incident occurred at CNN Center on Friday morning and was resolved. It is being handled by the Atlanta Police Department."

According to the?Fulton County Jail website, both?Fearon and?Mutemwa appear to have been released on Saturday. They were charged with criminal trespass.

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10271625-teens-broke-into-cnn-newsroom-to-check-facebook

slither slither chattanooga joey lawrence joey lawrence loma prieta loma prieta

Eric James Borges' Suicide Note, Memorial Service Sheds New Insight Into Bullied Gay Teen's Life

Jacob Rogers had been bullied at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but at the start of his senior year, it had become so bad he dropped out of school before taking his own life. "He started coming home his senior year saying 'I don't want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a faggot, they call me gay, a queer,'" friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Jacob Rogers had been bullied at Cheatham County Central High School for the past four years, but at the start of his senior year, it had become so bad he dropped out of school before taking his own life. "He started coming home his senior year saying 'I don't want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a faggot, they call me gay, a queer,'" friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/eric-james-borges-gay-teen-filmmaker-suicide-note_n_1240101.html

rupaul meet the press barry sanders barry sanders jay z chris herren beyonce gives birth

Refresh Roundup: week of January 23, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of January 23, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of January 23, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/29/refresh-roundup/

jewelry stores sleep no more cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle pawn stars restrepo

911 call reveals frantic efforts to help Moore (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A 911 recording revealed frantic efforts by friends of Demi Moore to get help for the actress who was convulsing as they gathered around her and tried to comfort her.

Moore was "semi-conscious, barely," according to a female caller on the recording released Friday by Los Angeles fire officials.

The woman tells emergency operators that Moore, 49, had smoked something before she was rushed to the hospital on Monday night and that she had been "having issues lately."

"Is she breathing normal?" the operator asks.

"No, not so normal. More kind of shaking, convulsing, burning up," the friend says as she hurries to Moore's side, on the edge of panic.

Another woman is next to Moore as the dispatcher asks if she's responsive.

"Demi, can you hear me?" she asks. "Yes, she's squeezing hands. ... She can't speak."

When the operator asks what Moore ingested or smoked, the friend replies, but the answer was redacted.

Asked if Moore took the substance intentionally or not, the woman says Moore ingested it on purpose but the reaction was accidental.

"Whatever she took, make sure you have it out for the paramedics," the operator says.

The operator asks the friend if this has happened before.

"I don't know," she says. "There's been some stuff recently that we're all just finding out."

Moore's publicist, Carrie Gordon, said previously that the actress sought professional help to treat her exhaustion and improve her health. She would not comment further on the emergency call or provide details about the nature or location of Moore's treatment.

The past few months have been rocky for Moore.

She released a statement in November announcing she had decided to end her marriage to fellow actor Ashton Kutcher, 33, following news of alleged infidelity. The two were known to publicly share their affection for one another via Twitter.

Moore still has a Twitter account under the name mrskutcher but has not posted any messages since Jan. 7.

Meanwhile, Millennium Films announced Friday that Sarah Jessica Parker will replace Moore in the role of feminist Gloria Steinem in its production of "Lovelace," a biopic about the late porn star Linda Lovelace. A statement gave no reason for the change. The production, starring Amanda Seyfried, has been shooting in Los Angeles since Dec. 20.

During the call, the woman caller says the group of friends had turned Moore's head to the side and was holding her down. The dispatcher tells her not to hold her down but to wipe her mouth and nose and watch her closely until paramedics arrive.

"Make sure that we keep an airway open," the dispatcher says. "Even if she passes out completely, that's OK. Stay right with her."

The phone is passed around by four people, including a woman who gives directions to the gate and another who recounts details about what Moore smoked or ingested. Finally, the phone is given to a man named James, so one of the women can hold Moore's head.

There was some confusion at the beginning of the call. The emergency response was delayed by nearly two minutes as Los Angeles and Beverly Hills dispatchers sorted out which city had jurisdiction over the street where Moore lives.

As the call is transferred to Beverly Hills, the frantic woman at Moore's house raises her voice and said, "Why is an ambulance not on its way right now?"

"Ma'am, instead of arguing with me why an ambulance is not on the way, can you spell (the street name) for me?" the Beverly Hills dispatcher says.

Although the estate is located in the 90210 ZIP code above Benedict Canyon, the response was eventually handled by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

By the end of the call, Moore has improved.

"She seems to have calmed down now. She's speaking," the male caller told the operator.

Moore and Kutcher were wed in September 2005.

Kutcher became a stepfather to Moore's three daughters ? Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle ? from her 13-year marriage to actor Bruce Willis. Moore and Willis divorced in 2000 but remained friendly.

Moore can be seen on screen in the recent films "Margin Call" and "Another Happy Day." Kutcher replaced Charlie Sheen on TV's "Two and a Half Men" and is part of the ensemble film "New Year's Eve."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_en_mo/us_people_demi_moore

the prisoner the prisoner gene simmons my bloody valentine mario manningham mario manningham holes

Cyprus FinMin says banks won't need gov't help

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus' banks will be able to recapitalize on their own and won't need state support thanks to fiscal measures buttressing the island's financial system, the government said on Saturday.

Cyprus' Finance Ministry said in a statement that the economy has "strong foundations" and added that it will soon unveil a growth-oriented package of measures that it's preparing in partnership with the private sector.

The ministry made its remarks a day after international ratings agency Fitch downgraded the eurozone member by a notch to BBB-, a step above junk status.

Fitch said the downgrade was mainly due to the large Cypriot banking system's heavy exposure to Greek debt and its greater capital needs in light of the higher likelihood that banks will take a hit on Greek government bonds that exceeds 50 percent.

Fitch said Cypriot banks would need to almost double the euro900 million ($1.18 billion) ? or 9.9 percent of gross domestic product ? to build an adequate buffer against losses on their Greek exposure if the "haircut" on Greek government bonds reaches 70 percent.

Standard & Poor's became the first ratings agency to push Cyprus into junk territory with a two-notch downgrade earlier this month. Moody's also rates the island just above junk.

Cyprus government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou on Saturday called the downgrades unfair.

"We consider that the downgrades don't reflect the real state of the Cyprus economy, which is in better shape than many other economies, either in the eurozone or in the European Union in general," he told reporters.

According to the European Commission, the island's deficit is projected to shrink from 6.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 to 2.7 percent this year following a string of fiscal consolidation measures including a 2 percent sales tax hike and a two-year public sector wage freeze.

The island's debt is projected to reach 68.4 percent of GDP this year, well below the eurozone average of nearly 87 percent.

But high borrowing costs have effectively locked Cyprus out of the international markets. The island is relying on a euro2.5 billion ($3.29 billion) low-interest loan to meet its financing needs for this year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-28-EU-Cyprus-Financial-Crisis/id-245774c9f49b40078e6ab0737b5281a5

ashton kutcher twitter sandusky barbados raiders chargers latin grammys latin grammys ogopogo

Statins May Stave Off Liver Cancer in People With Hepatitis B (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Popular cholesterol-lowering statins may also lower risk for liver cancer among people with hepatitis B, a new study shows. Hepatitis B, an inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus, is one of the main causes of liver cancer.

This is not the first time that statins have shown promise in reducing risk for cancer. Other studies have hinted that these drugs may play a role in preventing certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.

In the new study of more than 33,000 individuals with hepatitis B followed from 1997 to 2008, those who took a statin were less likely to develop liver cancer, when compared to participants who were not prescribed statins. What's more, the longer a person took statins, the greater the liver-cancer risk reduction. Study participants were prescribed the statins to treat high cholesterol levels. Overall, 1,021 people developed liver cancer during the study period.

More research is needed to see how statins may lower liver cancer risk among people with hepatitis B, the researchers said.

"Statins have potential protective effects against cancers [and] carriers of hepatitis B virus infection have a substantial risk of [liver] carcinoma," said Dr. Pau-Chung Chen, a professor of environmental medicine and epidemiology at National Taiwan University, in Taipei. "Statin use is not only a benefit to preventing cardiovascular diseases, but also an additional, convenient and acceptable strategy for preventing hepatocellular carcinoma," or liver cancer, Chen said.

However, statins can cause a potentially dangerous rise in liver enzymes and liver damage. Regular liver function tests are required for all people who take statins.

The study appeared online Jan. 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"This is exciting and unequivocally solid research," said Dr. Eugene Schiff, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Liver Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

"One of the issues is that statins are relatively contraindicated in people with liver disease," Schiff said. But "the take-home message for people with hepatitis B or anybody with liver disease is that statins are safe. This re-emphasizes the point that if someone has chronic hepatitis B and there is an indication for statins, they should get them and they may be beneficial far beyond lowering cholesterol: They may also reduce their risk for liver cancer."

Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Manhasset, N.Y., is more cautious. "In almost all other liver conditions, cirrhosis must be present before [liver cancer] develops," he said. During cirrhosis, scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue. "Statins must be used with caution in patients with cirrhosis, which can limit their use in patients with liver disease at risk of developing liver cancer," he said. "Further studies are needed in this patient population to confirm these findings."

More information

For information on hepatitis B, visit the U.S. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120127/hl_hsn/statinsmaystaveofflivercancerinpeoplewithhepatitisb

roddy white howard stern howard stern free shipping day free shipping day golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq

Can Too Much Information Harm Patients? [Excerpt]

Features | Health

In his new book, cardiologist Eric Topol explores the ways in which the digital age is transforming medicine

By Eric Topol ?| January 27, 2012?|

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care (Basic Books, 2012), by Eric Topol, a professor of innovative medicine and the director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute.

Nearly 7 Billion people on the planet

Over 3 million doctors

Tens of thousands of hospitals

6000 prescription medicines, 4000 procedures and operations

Countless supplements, herbs, alternative treatments

Who gets what, when, where, why and how?

When a 58 year old, active, lean, intelligent financier from Florida came to see me for a second opinion, I should not have been surprised. For Valentine's Day the prior year, his wife's present was a computed tomography (CT) scan for his heart. She heard about it on the radio and also saw heart scan billboards on the highway. There was even a special deal of $100 off for Valentine's.

But her husband didn't have any symptoms of heart disease, didn't take any medications, and played at least two rounds of golf a week. On the other days, he worked out on an elliptical machine for 30 to 40 minutes. Until he got the heart scan.

My patient was told that he had a score of 710?a high calcium score?and his physician had told him that he would need to undergo a coronary angiogram, a roadmap movie of the coronary anatomy, as soon as possible. He did that and was found to have several blockages in two of the three arteries serving his heart. His cardiologists in Florida immediately put in five stents (even though no stress-test or other symptoms had suggested they were necessary), and put him on a regimen of Lipitor, a beta-blocker, aspirin and Plavix.

Now, in my office four months later, this patient is not doing well at all. He is worried that he might have a heart attack if one of the stents becomes clotted. He feels profoundly tired and has muscle aches that are so disturbing he can neither play golf nor do his usual exercise. He complains of marked depression and an inability to have or sustain an erection. A fit individual, who had taken good care of himself and was enjoying his life, was now debilitated and depressed. The cardiology trainee who saw this patient with me asked, "How could this have happened?"

Unfortunately, this individual's story is not so uncommon. Think predator and prey: the physicians and hospital advertise, leading to a high volume of heart scans, billed directly to the patients at some $500 each. Then, should an abnormal score come up, the patient may be quickly referred for first a diagnostic procedure, and then one to implant metal stents in the arteries on the surface of the heart. Naturally the cardiologist who put in multiple stents feels gratified to have saved the patient's life with unsuspected, advanced coronary disease. Overall, however these cases are like riding a train to the last stop, regardless of the most logical destination. All procedures are performed, as likely as not, the outcome is not a saved life but a "cardiac cripple."

I didn't enjoy telling the patient that he should probably not have ever had the stents. I could see the cholesterol buildup in the two arteries on an angiogram he brought with him, but the case was not severe. Of course, it was too late to do anything about the stents, which can't be removed, except to reassure him that he was not in any imminent or real danger, but I could get him off some of his medications, which would help his current symptoms and get him back to golf and exercise.

Mark Twain said, "To a man with a hammer, a lot of things looks like nails that need pounding." Surgeons are notorious for a similar bias: "When it doubt, cut it out." My patient was the victim of the same tendency. As badly as he got pounded, it could have been worse: in 2010 the "Olympic record" of stenting was published. One patient had sixty-seven stents placed throughout his coronary arteries and bypass grafts, in the course of twenty-eight coronary angiograms over a ten-year period.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=82900df7612edac6a69381c4a806a9a2

ringer ringer cathedral high school terry fator terry fator gerard butler brady hoke

Common explains feud with Drake (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? The Sundance Film Festival became the unlikely center of hip-hop's latest feud when actor-turned-rapper Drake and rapper-turned-actor Common came to town.

Common was promoting his role in upcoming family drama "LUV," while Drake was performing at one of the many late-night parties.

The two have traded insults recently via their raps, but Common said he didn't want to say anything else about Drake not in rhyme form.

"I feel like I said everything I really needed to say on the record. I just looked at it as like `Hey, it's just a hip-hop battle,'" he explained in an interview this week.

"The time to talk is on record as far as I'm concerned. If we in the ring, then we just handle our business in the ring."

Common had the most recent entry into the battle, by adding his verse to a Rick Ross song and naming Drake directly ? a move that the Chicago native said he felt obligated to make.

"Ice Cube, when he was going at N.W.A., once he left N.W.A., you knew who it was. Jay-Z and Nas ? Jay-Z said, `Smarten up, Nas.' And you just knew. Cats would say names," he continued.

"So that's just the way that I feel like you've got to do it. I don't want to like leave anything _I don't want anybody else to think I'm talking about them. I want you to know, `Hey this is who I'm talking to.'"

Common, known more lately for his acting than his rapping, started the battle with a song called "Sweet" on his new album, "The Dreamer/The Believer."

"He (Drake) felt offended by it. And the song is really discussing how hip-hop has a softer side," said Common.

"And I made it clear that I'm not talking about anyone specifically. For me it was no different than when Jay-Z addressed with `DOA,' he was talking about Auto-Tune. I was talking about, `Hey, you know hip-hop is starting to become more just saturated with softer songs,'" he said. "And I don't see anything the matter actually with the love songs. I do love songs. So I don't see anything the matter with it, but when the music becomes saturated with it, I mean, I speak up. I love hip-hop music."

The festival continues through Sunday.

___

Online:

http://www.thinkcommon.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_ot/us_people_common

peoples choice awards friends with kids andy cohen andy cohen weather radar deplorable mls draft

Fed says no rate hikes until at least late 2014 (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery.

Without making major shifts to its outlook for the economy, the central bank described the unemployment rate as still elevated and said it expects inflation to remain at levels consistent with stable prices.

It depicted business investment as having slowed, dowgrading its assessment from the December meeting.

Economic conditions "are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014," the central bank said in a statement.

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, an inflation hawk who rotated into a voting seat this year, dissented against the decision. He preferred to omit the description of the time period for ultra-low rates.

As part of an effort to provide more insight on its thinking to financial markets and the public, the Fed later on Wednesday will begin publishing individual policymakers' projections for the appropriate path of the benchmark federal funds rate. That release is scheduled for 2 p.m. (1900 GMT)

If the Fed can convince financial markets it will be on hold longer than they had anticipated, long-term interest rates could drop as investors price in the new information.

"A significant contingent of the committee views this exercise not so much as a process improvement but more as an opportunity to ease again via the forward rate communications channel," Stephen Stanley, an economist at Pierpoint Securities, said ahead of the Fed's announcement.

There is also the possibility that officials will announce an explicit inflation target, perhaps a hard marker of 2 percent or a range of 2 percent or a bit below. The Fed has been debating a statement on its long-run goals, but whether one will be released on Wednesday is unclear.

While forecasters expect the U.S. economy grew at a 3 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2011, they look for growth of just around 2 percent this year.

Fed officials appear likely to bide their time in determining whether more monetary stimulus is needed. Many economists expect they will eventually decide on another spurt of Fed bond buying - probably one focused on mortgage debt.

In response to the deepest recession in generations, the Fed slashed the overnight federal funds rate to near zero in December 2008. It has also more than tripled the size of its balance sheet to around $2.9 trillion through two separate bond purchase programs.

The policy is credited with having prevented an even more devastating downturn, but it has been insufficient to bring unemployment down to levels considered normal during good economic times.

In December, the U.S. jobless rate stood at 8.5 percent, and some 13 million Americans were still actively looking for work but could not find it.

Analysts said the Fed's shift in communications will put an even greater emphasis on a post-meeting news conference by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke set for 2:15 p.m. (1915 GMT).

"The chairman is likely to remain non-committal to any additional policy easing, but he is likely to reinforce the Fed's commitment to 'review the size and composition of its securities holdings' and be 'prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate,'" said Millan Mulraine, senior macro strategist at TD Securities.

(Editing by Tim Ahmann and Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_usa_fed

mythbusters cannonball uss arizona myth busters tracy mcgrady tracy mcgrady mash alec baldwin kicked off plane

Stricken ship passengers ponder compensation

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

Seagulls stand on a rock near the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, is seen at night. A large platform carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia on Tuesday, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea. Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but officials from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were seen on the bow of the Concordia and in the waters nearby making preparations to remove the fuel, while the search for missing passengers continues. (AP Photo/Italian Navy GOS handout)

BERLIN (AP) ? Herbert Greszuk was at the bar on the fifth deck of the Costa Concordia when the ill-fated luxury liner hit a reef.

Unable to get back to his second-deck cabin after the emergency signal came, he made it to a lifeboat with only the clothes on his back ? leaving behind everything he had with him for the cruise, including his tuxedo, camera, jewelry, euro400 ($520) in cash, credit cards, identity papers and even his dentures.

The 62-year-old, who runs a small flower shop and cafe in the western German town of Recklinghausen, counts himself lucky to have escaped the ship after it capsized Jan. 13, but estimates that he lost at least euro10,000 in goods alone.

He's only one of the 4,200 passengers and crew who were on board and will likely want compensation, and material loss just scratches the surface. There's the ruined holiday, physical and mental trauma, and payments to families of the dead, among other things, in an incident many believe was preventable.

"It's about accountability, " Greszuk told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his cafe. "Something like this must not be allowed to happen again. So many people died; it's simply inexcusable."

In Rome on Thursday, representatives of ship operator Costa Crociere SpA met with consumer activists to discuss a blanket compensation deal for some 3,206 people from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the ship hit the reef.

The offer would consider the price of the ticket, costs incurred in getting home after the disaster, the cost of items lost aboard the ship as well as damages for the ruined vacation and trauma resulting from the accident, said Furio Truzzi of the consumer group Assoutenti.

The offer would not apply to the hundreds of crew on the ship, the roughly 100 cases of people injured or the families who lost loved ones. Sixteen bodies have been recovered so far, while another 16 people are still missing and feared dead.

"We are working for a collective transaction to come up with a value for damages," Truzzi said. "Each passenger can decide if this proposal is satisfactory. If it is not, they are free to react through a lawyer."

Truzzi said it was premature to discuss exact amounts of compensation. He said it would be an average and that any passenger who deemed his or her losses greater than the offer was free to counter the proposal.

He said Assoutenti would work separately on a proposal for those who lost loved ones in the disaster and was open to working with crew members.

The ship ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio after the captain, Francesco Schettino, veered from his approved course. Costa Crociere's chief executive, Pier Luigi Foschi, has said Schettino didn't have approval to change the course and was going too fast ? 16 knots ? to be so close to shore.

Schettino is under house arrest, facing accusations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all passengers were evacuated.

Although it is still early and talk of compensation is ongoing, lawsuits are expected to be filed in Germany, Italy, the United States and elsewhere.

Attorney Hans Reinhardt, who represents Greszuk and a dozen other German survivors, said passengers did sign liability wavers ? a common requirement for cruises ? but that he considers them void under the circumstances.

"You do not sign off on a disaster situation, what you sign there is for normal daily situations like if there is a little storm or high water or something like that," he said. "This was such a large failure by the captain and by Costa that you can sign whatever you want but you will still get your money."

Depending upon their individual situations, he said he is seeking between euro10,000 and euro50,000 for his clients and would wait for three months to see if Costa would settle before taking the matter to court.

Though the cruise company is Italian, Costa's parent company is Miami-based Carnival Corp. and Reinhardt said he was trying to determine which could be held responsible for the incident. If it's Carnival, he said he would pursue his case in the U.S., where damages awarded tend to be higher than in Germany.

The company also faces the question of compensation for crew members who have lost their jobs because of the accident, not to mention the costs of salvaging the ship and of a possible environmental disaster if the unused fuel cannot be safely removed.

Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies in pristine waters that are prime fishing grounds and part of a protected area for dolphins and whales.

German reinsurers Hannover Re AG and Munich Re AG, two of the world's largest, both said this week that liability claims from the fatal capsizing could run in the triple-digit millions of euros. Swiss Re, the other reinsurance powerhouse, said Thursday it was still too early to even guess what it might cost.

Reinsurers offer backup policies to companies writing primary insurance policies, which helps spread the risk around so the system can handle large losses from disasters.

Carnival has said it has liability insurance, though with a $10 million deductible. Of the so-called "hull insurance," which covers damage to the ship, Carnival is responsible for the first $30 million in damage, while the rest is covered by a network of insurers led by XL Group.

Carnival also said it expects lose $85 million to $95 million in bookings on the ship that have had to be canceled.

Meantime, Greszuk said he has been trying to piece together his life ? getting a new driver's license, credit cards, passport and other identity documents ? but is feeling abandoned by those responsible for his plight.

"I feel so lost and alone," he said. "Nobody is helping us out. Neither Costa nor the travel agency have contacted me ? do you know how that feels? I called the travel agency and they said it's not our problem any more, call Costa. I called Costa and they said they'd get back to me, but as of today, I haven't heard a word."

___

Colleen Barry reported from Milan, Italy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-26-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-d36677b066664c6c8f644d1e74100730

joe flacco joe paterno school closings giants vs 49ers san francisco 49ers san francisco 49ers news channel 5

Zevia Stevia Sweetened Zero Calorie Soda Review

I’m addicted to Diet Coke. I don’t drink gallons a day or anything like that (spoken like a true addict…), but I do drink a 20 oz. bottle almost every day with my lunch. That probably doesn’t sound like a lot, but I can tell when I’ve been drinking it too many days in a [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/25/zevia-stevia-sweetened-zero-calorie-soda-review/

gaslight justin timberlake michael dyer meteor shower bachmann bachmann iowa caucus results

A win under belt, Gingrich lands in firing line

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is greeted by supporters after Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is greeted by supporters after Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is greeted by supporters after the mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Fresh off his big South Carolina win, Republican Newt Gingrich found himself on the defensive Monday as the volatile GOP presidential contest shifted to Florida.

Chief rival Mitt Romney sharpened his attacks on the former House speaker, calling him "erratic" and pressing for disclosure of clients, contracts, records and other work he was paid to do after leaving Congress. Atop Romney's list are Gingrich's consulting arrangements with mortgage giant Freddie Mac and details of ethics investigations in the 1990s.

Romney also charged that Gingrich had engaged in "potentially wrongful activity" when he worked with former colleagues in Congress to create a prescription drug benefit for Medicare.

"We could see an October surprise a day from Newt Gingrich," Romney said after a round-table session with people struggling with home foreclosure problems.

Gingrich, who earlier had appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," mocked Romney as "somebody who has released none of his business records, who has decided to make a stand on transparency without being transparent." After initially balking, Romney is set to release personal tax records on Tuesday.

The sniping between the two contenders opened a Florida fight that is shaping up as pivotal to determining which one of them will become the GOP's presidential nominee. The four candidates ? Gingrich, Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul ? were to meet Monday night in Tampa for the first of two debates heading into Florida's primary on Jan. 31.

Gingrich, who planned a pre-debate campaign appearance on Monday afternoon in Tampa, basked in his come-from-behind triumph in South Carolina two days earlier. The win made for three different winners in the first three states to hold contests, with Santorum winning Iowa and Romney taking New Hampshire.

Gingrich's campaign said it had raked in $1 million in the first 24 hours since South Carolina's primary Saturday.

Frequently the aggressor in the race, Gingrich is now the one taking fire from all sides.

Santorum described Gingrich as too "high risk" to be the Republican standard-bearer. Romney has been calling Gingrich a lobbyist. Gingrich flatly denied lobbying on behalf of Freddie Mac or other clients.

"It's not true. He knows it's not true. He's deliberately saying things he knows are false," Gingrich said. "I just think that's what the next week will be like."

Gingrich told ABC he has campaign lawyers working to make the Freddie Mac records public. He said the decision rests with the Center for Health Transformation, which he founded but no longer owns. Two former Gingrich companies earned $1.6 million over eight years from Freddie Mac. Gingrich has said he only earned about $35,000 a year himself.

Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac has come under scrutiny because of its role in the housing meltdown.

After the housing forum Monday, Romney told reporters that Gingrich should consider giving back any money he earned from the troubled mortgage company.

Gingrich said he was braced for more criticism from his remaining opponents and their allies. On Sunday, some Republican leaders voiced worry about Gingrich's combative style.

He also seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"I think you're going to see the establishment go crazy in the next week or two," Gingrich said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-Gingrich/id-afa3fa2c8b754a91aeab6d12785a9556

natalie wood van halen annalynne mccord billy the kid neville neville george lucas

EU readies ban on Iran oil imports, central bank sanctions (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union governments are expected to agree Monday new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, including plans to phase in an oil embargo.

The sanctions follow fresh financial measures signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve, and will mainly target the oil sector, which accounts for some 90 percent of Iranian exports to the EU. Europe is Iran's second-largest oil customer after China.

"We want them to think 'This is really getting very, very serious now'," said one European diplomat.

Western countries believe Iran is seeking nuclear bombs; Tehran says its nuclear program is to generate electricity.

Other than the oil embargo, the EU measures are also expected to include sanctions against the Iranian central bank and a ban on trading in gold with the government, diplomats say.

But EU sanctions are likely to take effect slowly. During weeks of negotiations among the EU's 27 members, Greece and other southern European states pushed hard for a lengthy grace period to limit their own economic costs.

Greece, in particular, is heavily dependent on Iranian oil -- it sources nearly a quarter of its oil imports from Iran -- and has argued that it needs time to find alternative sources.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are expected to agree to phase in the embargo, allowing existing contracts to be fulfilled for several months after the ban is imposed.

EU diplomats say the grace period will likely end on July 1, but ministers will also debate the idea of setting up a review beforehand to assess the impact and costs of the ban.

They will also reassure Athens that it will still be able to buy oil on reasonable terms after the ban goes into effect.

Greece, which relies on financial help from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to stay afloat, now gets Iranian crude on preferential financing terms.

"The financial situation of Greece at the moment is not the brightest one, and rightly they are asking us to help them find a solution," a senior EU official told reporters Friday.

With a significant part of EU purchases of Iranian oil covered by long-term contracts, the grace period will be an important factor in the efficiency of EU measures.

The unprecedented effort to take Iran's 2.6 million barrels of oil per day off international markets has kept global prices high, pushed down Iran's rial currency and caused a surge in the cost of basic goods for Iranians.

A diplomatic push is underway, officials say, to secure supplies from other producers. Saudi Arabia, the world's top producer, said this month it would increase production by about 2 million barrels per day.

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft in London and Sebastian Moffett in Brussels; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/ts_nm/us_iran_eu

narcolepsy narcolepsy chicago weather forecast robert kardashian one tree hill weather st louis faceoff

GOP race turns to new terrain in Florida (The Arizona Republic)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190117383?client_source=feed&format=rss

makana makana gloria cain gloria cain kandi burruss occupy portland occupy portland

Florida next stop in now-scrambled Republican race

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Callista Gingrich looks on at right. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a South Carolina Republican presidential primary-night rally at The Citadel, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. Santorum says it's a "wide open race" for the GOP nomination, even after finishing a distant third in Saturday's primary. He'd hoped to build momentum from a late victory in the Iowa caucuses. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally at the Citadel, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. Santorum says it's a "wide open race" for the GOP nomination, even after finishing third in Saturday's primary. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, stands with his wife Ann as he speaks at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? A suddenly scrambled Republican presidential contest shifts to Florida after Newt Gingrich stopped Mitt Romney's sprint to the GOP nomination with a convincing victory in South Carolina.

The air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy is gone, at least for now. His rivals, led by Gingrich, have until Florida's Jan. 31 contest to prove South Carolina was no fluke.

Larger, more diverse and more expensive, Florida brings new challenges to Gingrich, who again must overcome financial and organizational disadvantages as he did in South Carolina, whose primary he won Saturday.

"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has. But we do have ideas. And we do have people," Gingrich, the former House speaker, told cheering supporters after his victory. "And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. And with your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."

Romney struck a defiant tone before his own backers gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, saying: "I will compete in every single state." He wasted no time jabbing at Gingrich, saying: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, third in South Carolina, pledged to compete in Florida and beyond. His presence in the race ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could ultimately help Romney help erase any questions about his candidacy.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida. He already had said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.

But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama still in its early stages.

Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.

Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his Internet message.

Aides to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first. But that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.

Romney swept into South Carolina as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.

Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-22-GOP%20Campaign/id-084e5f720a834db981a96571a77cd49e

melissa gorga melissa gorga pueblo co pueblo co pineapple express martyn martyn

Thunderbolt gains support from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, but can it topple USB 3.0? (Digital Trends)

The battle over which data cable standard will dominate in the years ahead is beginning to heat up. With USB 3.0 beginning to take off, the fate of Intel?s high-speed Thunderbolt port has been under scrutiny as of late. Everything runs on USB and though Apple has been a huge proponent of the new Thunderbolt port, including it as one of the only ports on its entire line of MacBook computers, support from the world?s most popular tech manufacturer doesn?t necessarily guarantee success. Some years back, Apple famously backed a USB 2.0 competitor called FireWire, but was forced to eventually give in after the entire PC world embraced USB 2.0.

This time, Apple may not have to go it alone.?Acer, Asus, and Lenovo will offer Ultrabook laptops with Thunderbolt ports, reports DigiTimes. The Ultrabooks will coincide with the launch of Intel?s new Ivy Bridge processor platform in the second quarter (March ? June) of 2012. Ivy Bridge, a codename for Intel?s upcoming processors, will support Thunderbolt and USB 3.0. Sadly, in the same report, DigiTimes says that due to cost, Thunderbolt ports will likely only sneak into high-end laptops in 2012.?Hopefully more PC makers will jump onboard as time goes on.

If you?ve plugged a charger into your phone or a mouse into your computer in the last few years, you already know what USB (Universal Serial Bus) is. Any device that gets power through USB is using USB 2.0 or higher, which was released in 2000.?

Thunderbolt vs USB 3.0

The benefits of Intel?s Thunderbolt ports over USB 3.0 are clear. Thunderbolt offers speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second (or 1.2 Gigabytes per second) while USB 3.0 only offers speeds up to 5Gbps or 640 Megabytes per second, slower than the other highest data cable standard on the market, SATA3, which tops out at 6Gbps. Thunderbolt is actually faster than a lot of computer?s internal drives. What does this mean? Well, if you wanted to download a 25GB movie on USB 3.0 it might take a minute to a minute and a half, but on Thunderbolt, it would take about 30 seconds. Both are fast, but there is a difference.

Thunderbolt?s list of benefits don?t end there. While USB 3.0 can deliver 4.5 watts of power to devices, Thunderbolt can deliver 10 watts. Then there?s the coolest thing: Thunderbolt can be used as an HDMI replacement as well. It can deliver HD video and eight channels of HD audio as well, which is why Apple uses it for its new ?Thunderbolt Display? external monitors.?

USB 3.0?s biggest defense against Thunderbolt is its legacy. It is quite fast, but is also backward compatible with all previous USB standards and devices, meaning there are tens of thousands of USB peripherals, hard drives, and whatnot that can still be used with a USB 3.0 port. Unless everyone decides to throw away their mouse today, USB 3.0 has a huge incumbent advantage. In a best case scenario, it would take Thunderbolt years to overthrow USB, and likely longer because USB 3.0 is pretty damn fast itself.?

Thunderbolt has another weakness as well: Intel owns it. Currently, Thunderbolt is only compatible with Intel chipsets. For it to come to the majority of smartphones and tablets, it would need to be adapted to run on ARM processors, as virtually no phones run on Intel processors. We don?t see Intel doing that anytime soon, which is sad. Currently, it would be expensive, and perhaps impossible, to try to implement a Thunderbolt-like port on a phone, according to AnandTech, so don?t expect it soon.?

Let?s just use both

Thunderbolt is a fantastic new standard with some clear benefits, but USB 3.0 has a history that we can?t ignore and is itself a marked improvement from USB 2.0. Why can?t most devices support both? This sign of support for Thunderbolt among top PC makers is encouraging, but there is no way it will come at the expense of USB 3.0 ports. All of these Ultrabooks will come with both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, which is fantastic.

The only piece of the puzzle missing is Apple. It would be equally grand if Apple would support USB 3.0. It would open up Mac users to many new peripherals and possibilities, just as Thunderbolt does. There?s nothing wrong with both standards living side by side for a time. If Thunderbolt takes off, then great. If not, then hopefully USB 4.0 will match its specs. Can?t we all just play nice?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

Windows 8 ARM tablets may not get the classic desktop

Do Ultrabooks stand a chance, or are they destined for failure?

Apple hogging all the laptop aluminum, competitors turn to fiberglass

Apple jumps to No. 3 PC retailer in US

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20120120/tc_digitaltrends/thunderboltgainssupportfromacerasuslenovobutcanittoppleusb30

occupy dc trisomy 18 farrah abraham whats going on venus williams bowl projections bedlam

Power of Europe's boardrooms captured in new book (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? For 15 years, New York-based Dutch photographer Jacqueline Hassink has been making her mark with global art projects, covering subjects as diverse as Haute Couture fitting rooms in Paris, the gardens of Kyoto and the boardrooms of Europe's leading corporations.

Magnum photographer Martin Parr declared Hassink's "The Table of Power" (1996), in which she photographed the boardrooms of 40 multinational companies, one of the most important photo books of the 20th century. Her new sequel "The Table of Power 2," revisits companies from the 2009 Fortune Global 500 list, documenting the impact of the economic downturn.

Hassink recently spoke to Reuters about "The Table of Power 2" and another book "View, Kyoto." Publisher Hatje Cantz released "The Table of Power 2" in Europe and Asia on January 17. D.A.P. will publish the book in the U.S. in March 2012..

Q: You made "The Table of Power" sixteen years ago. What drew you to this topic and why did you revisit the subject?

A: "I took part in a photography workshop in Oslo in 1993 and I was asked to pick a Norwegian book and choose one word to work with. I chose "table" in Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt." I projected this taxonomy as a map onto the city of Oslo, then looked for other tables in Norwegian society. That led to the idea of creating a map of Europe, by photographing its most potent meeting places: the meeting tables of the boards of directors of Europe's largest corporations. I wanted to reveal the centers of economic power, the meeting tables where top executives were seated, making decisions upon which millions of people depend. In 2008 with the onset of the worst recession since the 1930s, I decided to look once again at Europe's economic landscape."

Q: What do tables reflect in business and society?

A: "Tables symbolize the core of our society. They are a fascinating symbol of how we organize our private and public lives. Within families, tables show a hierarchy. The father heads the table and the mother sits closest to the kitchen. In corporations, boardroom tables represent a similar power play. CEOs usually sit at an oval or rectangular table at the head, or in the middle of the longest stretch. Ideally they face the entrance, which is the most secure place in the room."

Q: How does the value of these companies compare with 16 years ago?

A: "The top 40 in Europe in the first project had total revenues of $1,194,368.2 million. The top 40 from Europe in the second project had total revenues of $5,252,710.9 million.

Q: What else has changed in boardrooms since the last visit?

A: "The technology and the lack of ashtrays. Boardrooms can be highly complex these days with a lot of built-in technology. A striking new feature is the presence of BlackBerry trays."

Q: Which companies are still on the original list?

A: "BASF, BP, Daimler, EDF, ENI, Fiat, Nestl?, PSA Peugeot Citro?n, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens, Total and Volkswagen. I only visited three companies twice -- ENI, Siemens, and Volkswagen -- where the same spokesperson accompanied me.

Q: Your project represents the first time in Europe that boardrooms have been photographed and made public. Do you consider this a journalistic endeavor?

A: "I consider it an artistic endeavor, simply because it is an artistic project and not a journalistic project."

Q: Why did you decide to include in "The Table of Power 2" the banks and financial institutions?

A: "Since major banks and financial service companies have played an enormous role in the economy's downward spiral, and thus our immediate social coexistence, they too were included in 'The Table of Power 2,' alongside industrial, multinational corporations. I simply observed the economic landscape of Europe in the year 2009, and I could not do the project without adding the banks nor not include Russian corporations in the project."

Q: Your work covers spiritual and material ideas, and you recently filmed the monks and their gardens in Kyoto. Why?

A: "My work develops over time. I travel extensively and ideas develop usually while traveling. Something catches my eye, which I observe in several continents. That is usually how a new body of work starts. I am interested in the relationship between private and public space in Zen Buddhist temples and gardens. I have been working with these monks since 2004 on a photography project called "View, Kyoto" and over time I have learned a lot from them. ... I talked with them about the meaning of space and their relationship to nature. As a person I have become more balanced. They taught me how to live life in a Buddhist way.

Q: What was your most challenging project?

A: "The hardest project was by far 'Arab Domains' (2005-06). Over two years I visited 18 Arab countries, portraying 36 top female executives. For almost every country I needed to get a visa and I traveled for weeks through the Middle East and North Africa."

Q: What are you working on?

A: "I just finished 'View, Kyoto' (2004-11) and I am making another film in Kyoto in 2012. In 2013, my book "View, Kyoto" will be published. I am planning to continue working on fashion world projects, like "Haute Couture Fitting Rooms, Paris" (2003-10) and a new project in China."

(Reporting by Liza Foreman; Editing By Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/lf_nm_life/us_boardrooms_book

palladium king arthur king arthur september 11 2001 september 11 2001 pomegranate pomegranate

Romney preparing for the long haul in 2012 race (AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Preparing for the long haul, Mitt Romney said Saturday's South Carolina presidential contest "could be real close" and he agreed to two more debates with his rivals ahead of the Florida primary.

In the face of questions about releasing his tax returns and struggling with a renewed threat from Newt Gingrich, Romney lashed out at the former speaker, calling on the former House speaker to better explain his contractual ties to Freddie Mac, the quasi-government mortgage company. Gingrich served as a consultant to Freddie Mac over a period of eight years.

Romney said he would attend a debate Monday in Tampa, Fla., and his campaign confirmed he would be at one Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla., ahead of the state's primary Jan. 31. His planned appearances are an acknowledgment that the former Massachusetts governor will have to continue the battle with Gingrich longer than expected or hoped.

But Romney avoided confronting Gingrich, his chief rival in South Carolina's first-in-the South vote, at a stop at Tommy's Country Ham House.

Both men had scheduled campaign events for the same time on primary day. Romney stopped by the breakfast restaurant 45 minutes ahead of schedule. When Gingrich arrived at the restaurant ? just minutes after Romney's bus left the parking lot ? he said: "Where's Mitt?"

About an hour earlier, Romney was outside of his Greenville headquarters, launching a new attack on the speaker. He called on Gingrich to further explain his contracts with Freddie and release any advice he had provided. "I'd like to see what he actually told Freddie Mac. Don't you think we ought to see it?" Romney said.

It was another response to pressure on Romney to release his tax returns before Republican voters finish choosing a nominee. A day earlier, Romney had called on Gingrich to release information related to an ethics investigation of Gingrich in the 1990s.

Romney says he will release several years' worth of tax returns in April. Gingrich has called on him to release them much sooner. On Saturday, Romney refused to answer questions from reporters about the returns and whether his refusal to release them had hurt him with South Carolina voters.

Romney still has significant advantages over his three remaining Republican rivals, including an enormous financial edge and a well-organized campaign. But with his Iowa victory now rescinded, losing in South Carolina would be a setback that could draw the primary contest out much longer. Just 10 days ago, Romney's campaign was looking ahead to the general election as they anticipated a quick sweep in early primaries.

"This could be real close," said Romney as he chatted on the phone with a voter he called Saturday morning. He urged the man to go vote.

And as he stood on a chair inside Tommy's, where it was impossible to tell who in the tightly packed crowd was there to see him and who was there to see Gingrich, a woman shouted her thanks for buying breakfast.

"I'm happy to pay for breakfast," Romney responded, "but there's no free lunch."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

dadt dadt tucker carlson tucker carlson richard castle richard castle comedy central

Apple's education announcement: what you need to know

Today's education event was a reasonably small one, so far as Apple pressers go, held at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, with a smattering of media representatives in attendance. It arrives on the tails of some already hearty numbers for the company, including the existence of 20,000 learning-themed apps and 1.5 million iPads currently in use for education. But Cupertino's plans for the future of learning are grand indeed, including the desire to "reinvent the textbook" via iBooks 2. And while our expectations weren't particularly grandiose going into this morning, we were, indeed, pretty impressed with what we saw. So, what did you miss if you happened to sleep in late today? Find out, after the break.

Continue reading Apple's education announcement: what you need to know

Apple's education announcement: what you need to know originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/an0XImOTqa4/

donovan mcnabb donovan mcnabb the waltons the waltons weta weta rudolph the red nosed reindeer

Iran still has path to end nuclear dispute: W.House (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Iran still has a way out of the growing confrontation over its nuclear program, the White House said on Wednesday, but a spokesman would not confirm reports that President Barack Obama wrote to Iranian leaders expressing a readiness to talk.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran should engage major powers in discussions about its nuclear work, which the United States and many other countries say is intended to build a nuclear weapon, as European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton outlined in a letter in October.

"If the Iranians are serious about restarting talks, then they need to respond to that letter," Carney told a White House briefing. "That is the channel by which ... the restarting of those talks would take place."

Carney declined to confirm reports from Tehran that Obama had sent Iranian leaders a new letter about talks, but did not deny a letter had been sent. Direct communications between the U.S. and Iranian governments, which have no diplomatic ties, are rare.

"We don't discuss specific ... diplomatic communications," he said, adding that anything said privately to Tehran would be consistent with what the United States has said publicly.

Earlier, Iranian politicians said Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran. Iran's foreign minister said discussions were under way on reopening talks, but the EU and the State Department denied it.

"There are no current talks about talks," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday.

"What we are doing, as we have said, is making clear to the Iranians that if they are serious about coming back to a conversation, where they talk openly about their nuclear program, and if they are prepared to come clean with the international community, that we are open to that," Nuland said at a media briefing.

DIPLOMATIC STRATEGIES

Still, after weeks of mounting pressure and new U.S. and European sanctions that target Iran's oil exports, Washington appeared to be emphasizing a diplomatic strategy on Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for generating electricity.

The EU is preparing to intensify sanctions against Tehran with an embargo on Iran's oil exports and possibly freezing the assets of Iran's central bank. Obama is preparing to implement new U.S. sanctions that target foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank.

Iran has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the region's oil flows, in response to any embargo. U.S. officials have warned that closure of the strait would provoke an American reaction.

Any step Obama takes toward talks with Iran is almost certain to generate criticism from his Republican presidential rivals and hawks on Capitol Hill.

Obama, in an interview with Time magazine on Wednesday, rejected criticism from leading GOP candidate Mitt Romney and reiterated his pledge to "take every step available to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

"Can we guarantee that Iran takes the smarter path?" he asked. "No, which is why I've repeatedly said we don't take any options off the table in preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon."

Obama's Republican critics condemned the prospect of renewed talks with Iran, highlighting the danger the Democratic president faces of appearing weak in his dealings with Iran during an election year.

"I think it's very difficult to have talks with a country around the world who's vowed to do everything but wipe us off the face of the Earth," said John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

"This is not the kind of environment that I believe could lead to constructive discussions," he added. "And in fact, I do think it makes America look weak."

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that during a visit to the Middle East last week, leaders seemed to think the United States was on the verge of new talks with Iran.

"I certainly hope we are not going to do that foolish venture again," she said. "We've done that . it didn't work then, it's certainly not going to work now. To reward them with conversations after they've been so belligerent as of late is counterproductive."

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Alister Bull; Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/pl_nm/us_iran_usa

digestive system solon rhetoric npr supernova obama approval rating pennsylvania