NASA probe reveals organics, ice on Mercury

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Thu Nov 29, 2012 4:15pm EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Despite searing daytime temperatures, Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, has ice and frozen organic materials inside permanently shadowed craters in its north pole, NASA scientists said on Thursday.

Earth-based telescopes have been compiling evidence for ice on Mercury for 20 years, but the finding of organics was a surprise, say researchers with NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, the first probe to orbit Mercury.

Both ice and organic materials, which are similar to tar or coal, were believed to have been delivered millions of years ago by comets and asteroids crashing into the planet.

"It's not something we expected to see, but then of course you realize it kind of makes sense because we see this in other places," such as icy bodies in the outer solar system and in the nuclei of comets, planetary scientist David Paige, with the University of California, Los Angeles, told Reuters.

Unlike NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, which will be sampling rocks and soils to look for organic materials directly, the MESSENGER probe bounces laser beams, counts particles, measures gamma rays and collects other data remotely from orbit.

The discoveries of ice and organics, painstakingly pieced together for more than a year, are based on computer models, laboratory experiments and deduction, not direct analysis.

"The explanation that seems to fit all the data is that it's organic material," said lead MESSENGER scientist Sean Solomon, with Columbia University in New York.

Added Paige, "It's not just a crazy hypothesis. No one has got anything else that seems to fit all the observations better."

Scientists believe the organic material, which is about twice as dark as most of Mercury's surface, was mixed in with comet- or asteroid-delivered ice eons ago.

The ice vaporized, then re-solidified where it was colder, leaving dark deposits on the surface. Radar imagery shows the dark patches subside at the coldest parts of the crater, where ice can exist on the surface.

The areas where the dark patches are seen are not cold enough for surface ice without the overlying layer of what is believed to be organics.

So remote was the idea of organics on Mercury that MESSENGER got a relatively easy pass by NASA's planetary protection protocols that were established to minimize the chance of contaminating any indigenous life-potential material with hitchhiking microbes from Earth.

Scientists don't believe Mercury is or was suitable for ancient life, but the discovery of organics on an inner planet of the solar system may shed light on how life got started on Earth and how life may evolve on planets beyond the solar system.

"Finding a place in the inner solar system where some of these same ingredients that may have led to life on Earth are preserved for us is really exciting," Paige said.

MESSENGER, which stands for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging, is due to complete its two-year mission at Mercury in March.

Scientists are seeking NASA funding to continue operations for at least part of a third year. The probe will remain in Mercury's orbit until the planet's gravity eventually causes it to crash onto the surface.

Whether the discovery of organics now prompts NASA to select a crash zone rather than leave it up to chance remains to be seen. Microbes that may have hitched a ride on MESSENGER likely have been killed off by the harsh radiation environment at Mercury.

The research is published in this week's edition of the journal Science.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/iNqEPyBKM5E/us-space-mercury-idUSBRE8AS17F20121129

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Analysis: Obama, Boehner seek cliff talks leverage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? One month before the deadline, negotiations between President Barack Obama and Republicans to save the economy from a plunge over the fiscal cliff are still in the throat-clearing stage. Serious bargaining is on hold while the two sides vie for political leverage.

Deal or no deal, nothing is likely to become clear until far closer to the year-end deadline, when the lure of getting away for the holidays will sharpen the focus of negotiators.

"There's a stalemate. Let's not kid ourselves," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Friday, punctuating the end of a week of political theater by divided government. "Right now we're almost nowhere."

He spoke as Obama all but called Republicans heartless louts from a Charles Dickens story. Their failure to pass an extension of middle class tax cuts would amount to a Christmas "lump of coal" for millions, Obama said in Hatfield, Pa. "That's a Scrooge Christmas," added the recently-re-elected president, who claims a voters' mandate to extend existing tax cuts for all but upper incomes.

Boehner, too, claimed a mandate after voters renewed the House Republican majority on Nov. 6. But the speaker's political hand was weakened ? witness his postelection announcement that the GOP would put revenues on the bargaining table. His control seems to have eroded further in the weeks since, as a smattering of the GOP rank and file let it be known they could support the president's tax plan under the right circumstances.

"Rate increase, if the package includes significant entitlement reform that gets you to $4 to $6 trillion (in deficit savings) over 10 years, I would vote for that," a retiring Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, told reporters on Friday.

Rep. Charles Bass made similar comments. "If it gets us past the fiscal cliff and the president is willing to consider meaningful savings in entitlements, it's a legitimate solution," said the New Hampshire lawmaker, who was defeated for re-election this fall.

Yet the speaker also made a little-noticed move this week to shore up his bargaining position.

He issued a statement noting that Senate Democrats are threatening to weaken the Republicans' ability to block legislation in their chamber in the new Congress that convenes in January.

"Any bill that reaches a Republican-led House based on Senate Democrats' heavy-handed power play would be dead on arrival," he warned.

In the talks to date, Democrats have declined to identify a single spending cut they are willing to support, while Republicans avoid specifics on revenue increases they would swallow.

Once each side moves beyond opening gambits, Republicans will have to decide whether they are willing to raise income tax rates on upper incomes, as Obama wants, or hold fast to closing loopholes as a means of producing increased tax revenue.

For their part, Democrats will decide how much savings to pull from benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and possibly Social Security without cutting guaranteed benefits, a line they vowed not to cross in earlier budget negotiations.

Obama's opening proposal, delivered to Boehner and other Republicans by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Thursday, calls for $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade, hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending, a possible extension of the temporary Social Security payroll tax cut and enhancing the president's power to raise the national debt limit.

The new federal revenue would include $950 billion generated by raising taxes on families with incomes over $250,000 and by closing certain tax loopholes by the end of this year, according to administration officials who described the offer Friday only on condition of anonymity. The remainder would be achieved through an overhaul of the tax system next year and would not become effective until 2014, said the officials, who were not authorized to provide the details by name.

Obama is seeking new spending to help the unemployed, homeowners whose property's value is less than their mortgage, doctors who treat Medicare patients and wage-earners.

In exchange, the president would back cuts of an unspecified amount this year, and savings of as much $400 billion from Medicare and other benefit programs in 2013.

The White House plan also counts about $1 trillion in spending cuts agreed to last year, as well as about $800 billion that the administration claims as savings because of the drawdown of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republicans said they were surprised at the plan, and Democrats wondered aloud why.

"Each side said they'd submit a down payment. We have. Our preference is revenue. What is theirs?" said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Republicans have an opening offer of their own, in line with their conservative anti-tax views, much as Obama's is designed to solidify his own political position. While agreeing to new revenue, GOP lawmakers want to extend expiring income tax cuts at all levels, including the top brackets. They also want to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare and curtail future cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit programs. The same adjustment would raise revenue for the government by making a change in annual adjustments of tax brackets.

"We're the only ones with a balanced plan to protect the economy, protect American jobs and protect the middle class from the fiscal cliff," Boehner said on Friday.

That was a jab at Obama, who campaigned for re-election advocating a balanced approach to avoiding the fiscal cliff that combines higher taxes on the wealthy with spending cuts.

Said the president: "In Washington, nothing's easy, so there is going to be some prolonged negotiations."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? David Espo is AP's chief congressional correspondent. Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-obama-boehner-seek-cliff-talks-leverage-212309595.html

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Somers Native Named to Muhlenberg College's Academic Honor Roll

Natalie Wizel, a Somers native and member of the Muhlenberg College women?s soccer team, has been named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll for excellence in the classroom and on the field.

To be named to the Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.40 or higher and be a starter or key reserve on her team.

A double major in Spanish and media/communication, Wizel started all 19 games as a midfielder to help the Mules earn a CC playoff berth. She led the team in scoring with 10 points on four goals and two assists after entering the season with a total of five points in her first three years.

Muhlenberg finished the season with a record of 8-9-2 and earned the fourth seed in the CC playoffs with a 6-3-1 league mark. The Mules lost only one game by more than a goal.

Source: http://yorktown-somers.patch.com/announcements/somers-native-named-to-muhlenberg-colleges-academic-honor-roll

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Travel and leisure: Car Rental For Budget Travellers | elarazaman1 ...

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Tibetan self-immolates in northwest China

A Tibetan villager has died after setting himself on fire, Chinese state media said Saturday -- the latest death in a wave of protests against Beijing's rule.

China's official Xinhua news agency said the herdsman set himself alight late on Friday in the northwest province of Qinghai.

It quoted local authorities as saying that the 26-year-old, identified as Dazheng, set himself ablaze in the village of Dageri in Zekog County.

Xinhua earlier reported that another Tibetan died on Thursday, also in Qinghai. It identified the man as Libong Tsering, 19, who died in the Dowa township of Tongren county.

Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically Tibetan areas.

China rejects this, saying Tibetans enjoy religious freedom. Beijing points to huge ongoing investment it says has brought modernisation and a better standard of living to Tibet.

The Tibetan government-in-exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala expressed "deep concern over the alarming escalation in self-immolations by Tibetans inside Tibet".

Dharamshala has been the headquarters of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, since he fled from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

The Central Tibetan Administration said in a statement that the latest death had pushed the total number of self-immolations since 2009 by Tibetans inside Tibet to 81, including five in the last six days and 19 in November alone.

The administration said that Chinese authorities had cut off Internet and phone lines following the latest death.

The Tibetan government-in-exile urged China's new leadership to "promptly address the longstanding grievances" of Tibetans that have led to the "escalation in desperate forms of protest".

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Source: http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/Tibetan_self-immolates_in_northwest_China_999.html

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Church of England urged urgently to revive female bishops plan

John Sentamu and Rowan Williams head the Archbishops' Council. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/Press Association

A senior body of the Church of England has said attempts to allow women to become bishops should be revived "as a matter of urgency", with fresh proposals debated in the General Synod next year.

The call is a clear sign of concern over the damage that could be done to the church's image and status if the issue remains unresolved for years.

In a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Sheffield, the Archbishops' Council called on the house of bishops to come up with a strategy in December for bringing revised plans before the synod in July, meaning a final approval vote could be expected in late 2014 or 2015.

When the vote on female bishops failed last week, it was thought that the synod might have to wait until 2015 for the matter to be tackled again. But the ensuing outcry from within the church, among the general public and in parliament led the church's most senior "civil servant", William Fittall, to urge the Archbishops' Council to consider an "urgent and radical" new strategy that could see women in the episcopate by 2015.

The council is a body comprising representatives from all three houses of the synod, headed by the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the archbishop of York, John Sentamu. It said many of its members had voiced the "deep degree of sadness and shock" they felt in the aftermath of the vote, last Tuesday.

It added: "In its discussions, the council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013. There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency. The council therefore recommended that the House of Bishops, during its meeting in a fortnight's time, put in place a clear process for discussions in the New Year with a view to bringing legislative proposals before the synod in July."

There remain many questions over what such proposals would look like and whether they would be able to muster a two-thirds majority in the same synod that rejected the legislation last week. The legislation that was voted on last week was the result of 12 years of wrangling and debate, and was almost sunk in July after the bishops added an amendment that supporters of female bishops felt tipped the balance too far in their opponents' favour.

Christina Rees, a member of the council and prominent campaigner for female bishops, said there was now a feeling among many that the church should pursue a simpler form of legislation. The measure voted down last week would have allowed women to enter the episcopate but would have been accompanied by a code of practice to allow opponents to request an alternative, male bishop.

"Even though it wasn't unanimous in council, there was a substantial group of us who would like to go forward with simpler, more straightforward legislation to achieve the main objective of the measure, which is to get women into the episcopate," she said.

Leading opponents said in a statement they were not in principle against fresh legislation being passed speedily through synod as long as it made "clear and fair provision" for their theological needs.

Simon Killwick of the Catholic Group and Rod Thomas of the conservative evangelical group Reform said in a statement: "If agreement can be reached at round-table talks on fresh legislation which provides clearly and fairly for all members of the Church of England, there is no reason why fresh legislation should not be fast-tracked through the synod before the next elections in 2015."

Meanwhile, anger over last week's vote continues to spread at the church's grassroots. In the diocese of Hereford, women have been urged to wear an apron to church on Sunday December 9th as a protest. "The idea is that women wear an apron or pinafore on top of their clothes as a mockery of the idea that they are fit only for tea-making," said Christine Walters, from Stoke Lacey. "We all know that women contribute so much to the church, and especially our women priests, who need our support at the moment. We are asking men to wear a purple ribbon."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/28/church-of-england-female-bishops

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Messi back at top of AP rankings, Iniesta 3rd

By SIMON HAYDON

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:57 a.m. ET Nov. 27, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Lionel Messi moved back to the top of the AP Global Football rankings, and Barcelona stayed No. 1 in the team poll after a 4-0 win over Levante in the Spanish league.

Messi earned 183 out of a possible 200 points from The Associated Press' panel of 20 global football journalists. Last week's winner, Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, was second. Ibrahimovic topped the previous poll mainly for his four goals for Sweden against England.

Barcelona was voted the top club of the week after stretching its lead to three points over Atletico Madrid and 11 points over third-place Real Madrid.

Ibrahimovic garnered 124 points, while another Barcelona player, Andres Iniesta, leapt into third place with 119.

"Two clinical finishes from Messi got Barca rolling towards a 4-0 win against Levante and followed his Champions League double against Spartak," panelist Will Tidey of the San Francisco-based Bleacher report said. "Gerd Mueller's record is just three goals away."

Mueller, a former Germany and Bayern Munich great, holds the record for most goals scored in a calendar year with 85.

The panel's two Italian voters, Paulo Condi of La Gazzetta Dello Sport and Aurelio Capaldi of Rai Sport, paid tribute to Iniesta.

"He made things easy for Barca as he twice set up Messi, scored a goal and allowed Cesc Fabregas to kill the game," Capaldi said.

Borussia Dortmund, which is giving Bayern Munich a fight in the Bundesliga, had two players in the top five. Striker Robert Lewandowski was fourth with 83 points and midfielder Mario Goetze, who played a key role in Lewandowski's two goals in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Mainz, was fifth with 63.

"Mario Goetze is currently in superb form," Christian Schaetzle of website derfussballblogger.de said. "He was the outstanding player in both Dortmund's Champions League win in Amsterdam and in his side's important away win at Mainz in the Bundesliga, involved in nearly all the goals."

Several panelists thought Philippe Mexes' overhead kick in AC Milan's 3-1 Champions League victory at Anderlecht was even better than Ibrahimovic's dramatic goal against England a week earlier.

"His goal was more beautiful than that of Ibrahimovic, because he controlled the ball first with the chest and there was a goalkeeper between the posts," Francois Colin of Belgium's De Standaard said. "Most of all this was a game that mattered."

For Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News, it was a "prettier goal in many ways than the bicycle kick from Ibrahimovic."

Mexes' efforts brought him into sixth place.

With Barcelona seemingly glued into the top team position, Bayern and Dortmund were second and third in the AP poll, with no English team in the top five for the first time since the survey began.

Barcelona had 176 points, well ahead of Bayern with 129 and Dortmund with 105. Real Madrid, which lost to Real Betis on Sunday, plunged to 24th.

"There's a team in Europe nobody expected anything from before this Champions League season," Schaetzle said. "Borussia Dortmund won Group D, the Group of Death (with opponents Real Madrid, Manchester City, Ajax), with its phenomenal 4-1 win at Ajax to reach the Round of 16."

AC Milan was rewarded for its 1-0 victory over Serie A leader Juventus and the victory over Anderlecht by being voted into fourth by the panel, which gives 10 points to their top choice down to one point for 10th.

Unglamorous English team West Bromwich Albion, which has slipped almost unnoticed into third place in the Premier League, was in the top 10 for the second straight week, coming in eighth, a few points behind Manchester United.

Newly-crowned J-League champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima was voted into 10th after clinching the title with one round still to play.

John Duerden, of website www.kickoffasia.com, paid tribute to J-League top scorer Hisato Sato.

"He has had his critics over the years but his goals have given a first title to Hiroshima," Duerden said.

AP Global Soccer 10 Rankings for week ending Nov. 25.

(Previous week's rankings in brackets)

Players

1. Lionel Messi (2), 183 points.

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (1), 124.

3. Andres Iniesta, 119.

4. Robert Lewandowski, 83.

5. Mario Gotze, 63.

6. Philippe Mexes, 50.

7. Jordi Gomez, 35.

7. Toni Kroos, 35.

9. Willian, 28.

10. Radamel Falcao, 22.

Teams

1. Barcelona (1), 176 points.

2. Bayern Munich, 129.

3. Borussia Dortmund (8), 105.

4. AC Milan, 98.

5. Atletico Madrid, 80.

6. Paris Saint-Germain, 55.

7. Manchester United, 49.

8. West Bromwich Albion (6), 42.

9. FC Porto, 32.

10. Sanfrecce Hiroshima, 30.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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MLS names Best XI ? no surprises

??PST: For the first time in 10 years, the team has 3 forwards, but positions have always been a loose thing when it comes to recognizing the season?s best.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49609960/ns/sports-soccer/

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Powerball jackpot climbs to $550M on ticket sales

Pat Powell, 30, of Atlanta, buys a Powerball lottery ticket at a convenience store, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, in Atlanta. "I think my odds are zero to zero," says Powell "I don't think I'm going to win but I'll just join the hype. If I did win, I'd open up my own business, an internet caf? in the West Indies and have a learning center here in Georgia. I'll invest and try to be as smart with it as I can with it. I will say for the past 3 days, for whatever reason, I've been thinking about winning this money and what I'd do with it. There's no ritual but it's just been on my mind so it's like, let me just join the hype and just do it." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Pat Powell, 30, of Atlanta, buys a Powerball lottery ticket at a convenience store, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, in Atlanta. "I think my odds are zero to zero," says Powell "I don't think I'm going to win but I'll just join the hype. If I did win, I'd open up my own business, an internet caf? in the West Indies and have a learning center here in Georgia. I'll invest and try to be as smart with it as I can with it. I will say for the past 3 days, for whatever reason, I've been thinking about winning this money and what I'd do with it. There's no ritual but it's just been on my mind so it's like, let me just join the hype and just do it." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Lamar Fallie, 52, of Chicago buys six Powerball tickets at a BP gas station Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 in Calumet Park, Ill. Fallie who is currently unemployed say he doesn't normally play the lottery but was lured by tonight's 500 million dollar jackpot. If he wins he says he will take care of his church first, then every child Beasley Elementary School will get a laptop, he will make a donation to Julian High School then he will retire from being unemployed. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Norn Phneo sells Powerball tickets to Billy Fulginiti, of Philadelphia for himself and his coworkers, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Canterbury Country Store manager Toni Halla smiles as she rings in another powerball customer, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 in Canterbury, N.H. Halla says sales in the small town of 12,000 people has been brisk. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Retired Dr. Paul Kruzel kisses his lottery ticket for luck after buying it at the Canterbury Country Store Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 in Canterbury, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

CHICAGO (AP) ? As Americans went on a ticket-buying spree, the Powerball jackpot rose to $550 million Wednesday, enticing many people who rarely, if ever, play the lottery to purchase a shot at the second-largest payout in U.S. history.

Among them was Lamar Fallie, a jobless Chicago man who said his six tickets conjured a pleasant daydream: If he wins, he plans to take care of his church, make big donations to schools and then "retire from being unemployed."

Tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide ? about six times the volume from a week ago. That meant the jackpot could climb even higher before the Wednesday night drawing, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

The jackpot has already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner, but Powerball officials say they now believe there is a 75 percent chance the winning combination will be drawn this time.

If one ticket hits the right numbers, chances are good that multiple ones will, according to some experts. That happened in the Mega Millions drawing in March, when three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, which remains the largest lottery payout of all time.

Yvette Gavin, who sold the tickets to Fallie, is only an occasional lottery player herself, but the huge jackpot means she'll definitely play this time. As for the promises she often gets from ticket purchasers, Gavin isn't holding her breath.

"A lot of customers say if they win they will take care of me, but I will have to wait and see," she said.

In the hours before Wednesday's drawing, Associated Press photographers across the nation sought out ticket buyers and asked about their lottery fantasies. Here's a look at what they found:

___

When Atlanta barber Andre Williams buys scratch-off tickets, he typically does a dance in his shop for good luck. As a first-time Powerball player, he plans to reprise the dance ? and buy a few extra tickets to enhance his chances.

I don't even know if I'll look at it," said Williams, who bought his ticket at a newsstand. "If I win, I might pass out."

Paralegal Pat Powell was buying her first Powerball ticket at another store in Atlanta, even though she acknowledged her odds were probably "zero to zero."

Still, Powell has specific plans should she win: start an Internet cafe in the West Indies and a learning center in Georgia.

"I've been thinking about winning this money and what I'd do with it," Powell said. "There's no ritual, but it's just been on my mind. So it's like, let me just join the hype and just do it."

Atlanta accountant Benita Lewis, who had never played the lottery before, didn't want to be the only one left in her office without a ticket.

"I did feel nervous buying it like I could be the one," she said. "I'm going to retire and pay off all my family's debt."

___

In Philadelphia, seafood salesman Billy Fulginiti bought 50 Powerball tickets with co-workers and a few more with a small group. He said he only plays when the jackpot is especially large.

"You go to bed at night wishing you wake up a millionaire," Fulginiti said. He planned to take a long vacation and "help a lot of people, a lot of charities," if any of his tickets turn out to be winners.

___

Powerball purchases at the Canterbury Country Store in Canterbury, N.H., have been so steady that the manager has been working extra evening hours to keep up.

Horticulturist Kevin Brags buys tickets at the store two to three times a month. He says he usually picks numbers higher than 32 because so many people use numbers 31 and lower, largely because of birthdays.

The birthday theory didn't scare off Paul Kruzel, a retired doctor who chooses the days his children were born.

Both, however, have the same plans for winning: "make a lot of people happy."

John Olson has a more elaborate idea: He'd like to buy an island.

___

At a downtown Detroit convenience store, Ceejay Johnson purchased five Powerball tickets. If she strikes it rich, the analyst from Southfield, Mich., said she would buy a home for her sister in Florida. Then she would "go into hiding" and take care of her family.

"And the IRS," she added.

___

Associated Press photographer Jim Cole reported from Canterbury, N.H.

___

Associated Press photographers Paul Sancya in Detroit, David Goldman in Atlanta and Matt Rourke in Philadelphia, and AP writers David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jeff McMurray in Chicago contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-28-Powerball-Jackpot/id-f26437641af54c0c9f6838d14d083226

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Tax credit luring pre-Broadway shows to Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) ? The New York-bound musical "Kinky Boots" enjoyed a pre-Broadway run at a downtown Chicago theater this fall, but only after the state of Illinois lured producers with something that's scarce these days ? money.

The Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein production that's based on a 2005 movie, along with a second musical, "Big Fish," were the first to apply for a certificate making them eligible for a state theater tax credit. Lawmakers slipped it into a package of tax breaks approved late last year for corporate heavyweights Sears Holding Corp. and the CME Group Inc.

The breaks appear to be doing their job: Producers say the credit ? worth up to $500,000 per production or a cap of $2 million per year ? was instrumental in their decision to bring the shows to Chicago instead of going straight to New York or previewing in Seattle, Toronto or San Francisco.

In the highly competitive business of attracting big-name, revenue-generating productions, Chicago theater officials say they're in talks with at least nine other productions.

The timing and principle of such a state tax credit primarily benefitting Chicago ? given in the midst of Illinois' almost unprecedented financial crisis ? has raised some financial experts' eyebrows. Currently, the state is nearly $8 billion behind in paying bills to social service providers and other state contractors; the state's employee pension program is underfunded by $95 billion; and Illinois residents are being asked to pay higher income taxes.

But proponents, who argued for the tax break for five years, now can point to "Kinky Boots" and "Big Fish" as evidence of success. They say the unique tax break brings Chicago something more than money ? a show-business shine that generates buzz. Only Louisiana and Rhode Island have similar legislation, intended to bring shows to cities like New Orleans and Providence.

"From a bigger picture standpoint, it has huge impact to the city and state and that's the real motivation behind this," said Lou Raizin, president of Broadway in Chicago, which runs five theaters. "We're getting a bite of the Big Apple before they do and I love that."

Producers often like to test shows outside of New York before debuting on Broadway. It lets them gauge audience reactions and make updates, improvements and changes. But producers say an out-of-town preview can be pricey. Besides "Kinky Boots," Chicago has had two pre-Broadway shows since 2006 ? "The Pirate Queen" and "The Addams Family," starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth.

"Big Fish" producer Dan Jinks said other cities wanted to host his show, but the tax credit made it easier to choose Chicago.

"It's extremely smart of the legislature to realize if a brand new musical is spending all that money in Seattle, why shouldn't they be spending it in Chicago instead?" Jinks said. "To give Chicago that competitive edge is a really smart thing to do."

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the legislation in December 2011, offering tax breaks to productions headed to Broadway within a year and productions that run longer than eight weeks. It applies to theaters anywhere in Illinois that seat more than 1,200 and offers discounts on taxes related to labor and other production costs.

"Kinky Boots" producer Hal Luftig said his entire show costs about $13 million, including between $2.5 million and $3 million to come to Chicago. For him, the $500,000 was a motivator.

"Chicago is a great theater town and being able to have that help and that aid was a big driving force for us to come here," Luftig said.

Nobody doubts the productions will bring the city valuable revenue, not only from the shows' own spending, but also theatergoers shelling out for hotels, restaurants and shopping sprees. But exactly how much is hard to ascertain. Broadway in Chicago officials did not respond to requests for the per-show information, though they said their productions bring a total of $750 million to the city annually.

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Sandra Jones said the agency did not have such figures.

Legislative supporters of the measure assured that the bottom line would not be a loss to the state.

"Taxpayers will get their money back," said Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, who said he would support expanding the tax credit if it is successful. "We're getting money that we otherwise wouldn't get at all. It's outside money. It's why you should do it, because we get more back than we put in."

Some critics, though, find it unwise for Illinois to be giving away any type of tax break while in a financial mess. Ralph Martire, executive director of the Chicago-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, said Illinois shouldn't be contemplating tax credits when it has billions of dollars in debt.

"Every penny you use for poor theater decisions is a penny you can't use to educate an inner-city child," he said. "I know it's a relatively small amount of money, but it's absolutely unjust for state government to be kicking that money in that industry this year."

Raizin, with Broadway in Chicago, said the tax credit's impact goes beyond a monetary figure.

"When word starts to really spread nationally and internationally about the great city we have, that's where the huge value is," he said.

Luftig said he's already told his fellow Broadway producers about his "positive experience" in Chicago.

"New York is looking," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tax-credit-luring-pre-broadway-shows-chicago-181855194.html

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Ashlee Simpson & Vincent Piazza Split!

Sources say the couple has broken up after a year and a half! See more celeb pairs who are back to going solo

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/gone-splitsville-celebrity-breakups/1-b-16462?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Agone-splitsville-celebrity-breakups-16462

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Judge mulls new trial for dad in family slayings

FILE - This undated file booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Joliet, Ill., shows Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Ill. On Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, a judge in Joliet is scheduled to sentence Vaughn for the June 2007 killing of his wife, Kimberly Vaughn, 34 and three children: 12-year-old Abigayle; 11-year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake, in the family's SUV as they drove to a waterpark. (AP Photo/Will County Sheriff's Office, File)

FILE - This undated file booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Joliet, Ill., shows Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Ill. On Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, a judge in Joliet is scheduled to sentence Vaughn for the June 2007 killing of his wife, Kimberly Vaughn, 34 and three children: 12-year-old Abigayle; 11-year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake, in the family's SUV as they drove to a waterpark. (AP Photo/Will County Sheriff's Office, File)

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) ? A judge will decide Tuesday whether an Illinois man convicted of killing his wife and three children deserves a new trial, based in part on claims that the behavior of lawyers next door during Drew Peterson's murder trial made it impossible for the man to get a fair trial.

Christopher Vaughn was convicted of fatally shooting his family in their SUV so he could start a new life living in the Canadian wilderness. His September trial overlapped with the high-profile trial of Peterson, the former suburban Chicago police officer convicted of murdering his third wife.

Vaughn's attorney, George Lenard, said press conferences held by Peterson's lawyers outside the Will County courthouse were so detrimental to the reputation of court that they damaged his own credibility with the jury.

He noted that in one press conference, Peterson's attorneys jokingly said, "Stacy who?" when asked what effect Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who vanished in 2007, might have on Peterson's trial in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

"That gave defense attorneys, all of us, a black eye," Lenard told the judge during a hearing Monday. "Nobody ever said to me that made defense attorneys look good."

Prosecutors said jurors made the right decision amid "overwhelming" evidence against Vaughn. Assistant State's Attorney Mike Fitzgerald noted that if Lenard was concerned about the media spectacle surrounding Peterson's trial, he could have asked that Vaughn's trial be delayed, but he did not.

Peterson was convicted in the courtroom next door of killing Savio, whose drowning was initially ruled an accident until the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson triggered a new investigation. Peterson hasn't been charged in his fourth wife's disappearance.

Judge Daniel Rozak said he would announce his decision Tuesday.

Lenard also argued that jurors' own comments after convicting Vaughn of first-degree murder made it clear they considered factors they should not have, including Vaughn's apparent lack of emotion during the 5 1/2 week trial.

Lenard said that because Vaughn did not testify, it was improper to consider his demeanor during the trial.

He also said that prosecutors unfairly attacked his integrity by using such terms as "silly," ''ludicrous" and "shameful" to describe Lenard's arguments. "I didn't have the opportunity to defend myself," he argued.

The defense attorney also noted that jurors deliberated less than an hour, despite hearing the testimony of more than 80 witnesses and considering more than 700 exhibits. And some jurors said after the trial that they didn't even consider Lenard's argument that perhaps his wife shot her three children, and shot at her husband before turning the gun on herself.

Fitzgerald said that after watching all the witnesses and seeing powerful blood evidence, jurors agreed that the case against Vaughn was "overwhelming." The prosecutor also noted that a jury in the same courthouse deliberated for just seven minutes before convicting a defendant.

Rozak didn't ask any questions during Monday's hearing. The judge said he wanted to consider the motion overnight and read transcripts of various parts of the trial, including jury selection.

Vaughn was convicted in September in the 2007 slaying of his wife, his 12-year-old daughter, 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. During his trial, prosecutors said the slayings were part of Vaughn's plan to start a new life in the Canadian wilderness.

Investigators said Vaughn had surprised his family with news that he was taking them to a water park the morning of June 14, 2007, but pulled off the road soon after starting the trip.

Prosecutors allege he first shot his wife, then twice shot each of his children ? who were buckled in the back seat of the family SUV ? and then shot himself in the leg and wrist in an attempt to make it seem like his wife was the shooter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-26-Shootings-Father%20Sentencing/id-6fdaa23082ca4ffb8b99a96a5e8f35bc

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HBT: Greg Maddux named to Team USA staff

Team USA manager Joe Torre has picked his coaching staff for the World Baseball Classic and it?s an impression collection of big names:

Pitching coach ? Greg Maddux
Hitting coach ? Gerald Perry
Bench coach ? Larry Bowa
First base coach ? Dale Murphy
Third base coach ? Willie Randolph
Bullpen coach ? Marcel Lachemann

Maddux as pitching coach is interesting because if he ever showed a desire to do that on a full-time basis teams would be lining up to hire him.

And no doubt part of the job for all six of those coaches is talking various stars into actually playing in the WBC.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/26/greg-maddux-dale-murphy-willie-randolph-named-to-team-usa-coaching-staff-for-wbc/related/

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Tips And Tricks For Web Marketing Enthusiasts - Jim McGilvary

It may seem like you need to get started immediately with your online business, but you should take the time to learn about how to market your business online. This article is packed with tips that will boost your online marketing strategy.

If hiring someone who specializes in marketing is out of the question, take advantage of the many free online tools available. Consider joining an online business community and other online social groups that will benefit your business.

Make sure that you are constantly informed with all different aspects available to you via the Internet. Technology is constantly improving so you need to make sure you keep your website up-to-date with the latest innovations.

TIP! Your website should incorporate lots of descriptive and rich keywords. Adjectives and adverbs can be great tools to use in order to pique the interest of your audience.

You will need to generate leads to get sales. Real-time leads are great because they give you access to a potential customer right away who has been seeking information on your products. If no time elapses between a customer?s request for information and you contacting him, he is much more likely to buy right away.

Online marketing is both similar to, and different from, other marketing tactics. For example, search engines may decide not to focus on title tags in the future. If the search engines do implement a major change, you need to be ready to alter your campaigns to include techniques such as video marketing.

TIP! Before you focus on building your web business, you first need to focus on the particular niche you?ll be catering to. For instance, if you?re trying to sell electronics, the Amish crowd isn?t going to be your primary target.

Change your content around so your customers feel like they are controlling things. There is too much spam and unwanted emails in the Internet world so make sure your emails are wanted and contain useful content. But if they feel that they?re dictating the search and that they?re not being coerced into anything, they?re more likely to trust your site.

A small businessman may be overwhelmed by the huge Internet businesses already out there. Check your prices with your competitors, and change them if need be. You can also allow customers access to an online storefront, which features all of your products in a single location.

Have a section of your site dedicated to customer feedback about your products. Potential customers want to see reviews, because they want to know what they are buying is high quality. Comments show that your site is honest and trustworthy and makes your customers feel comfortable purchasing from you.

TIP! Make sure you get feedback as often as you can. This is vital to success since your judgement of your site?s appearance may not be how others see it.

Make sure the content on your website is unique and engaging. Your content should get high rankings with search engines in order for you to attract more customers.

Consider the following affiliate marketing tip. Your landing page should have a very clear objective. Your site is about selling the product. Your viewer should be able to see what you?re selling and whether they want it instantly when they see this page. When they have to search around for the product, the viewer will get frustrated and leave.

Try to encite emotions when your customers visit the site. Get your reader to think about how much easier their life would be when they use your product. Focus your copy on making your customer feel as if they are already experiencing the value and benefits of your product, while reading the ad.

TIP! Make your website interesting and beautifully designed. The website that you create is the very center of the internet marketing strategy you employ.

For new marketing websites, sites that have a small number of quality pages do better than sites that attempt to pack in too much information. Start with a small site to achieve the best search results. Search engines will be more likely to overlook your site when it has a million or two indexed pages, than when it only has ten to twenty thousand.

Give people a limited time offer. You may offer free shipping to a limited number of shoppers, for instance, or you may give away gift-wrapping to those who make orders prior to a given date. But it is important that urgency is created to get the people to act right away.

There are many aspects to marketing on the web, but every Internet entrepreneur has to start somewhere. The best and most successful know that they never stop learning and you can learn right along with the best with the advice in the article above.

TIP! When you are using internal links, be sure that you don?t forget to use keywords. The longer people stay on your website, the more likely they are to buy something, so make sure interesting, older content is easy to find.

Hello I am Jim McGilvary and I have one of the fastest growing team of online entrepreneurs that are building their business on autopilot. We are a team of over 600 of online entrepreneurs that are working as one. It is a very powerful way to grow and build your business.

?Click the banner below and register on our team site for free and hold on ?

If your team doesn?t have a step by step plan for your success, then check out what my team has to offer. We have a free automated recruiting system that will build your business on autopilot. We walk you through a step by step process with daily marketing assignments to ensure your success. Click here to see what my team has to offer.

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I invite you to register for free on any of my team sites and take a look around and see if my team has what you need to have success in this great industry. Click here and?promise?that today is the day to take action today

Source: http://www.jimmcgilvary.com/tips-and-tricks-for-web-marketing-enthusiasts/

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Emergency Fund for Freelancing Web Designing

Freelancers of the modern days are quite impulsive and risk-takers. Most of them like to set out on our own and often crave excitement. But little do they understand that there is a difference between excitement and practical aspects of life. Signing the first contract with a client or just by creating the first design as a freelancer, however tempting may be but it really cannot make you a businessman. Before jumping into any conclusion one thing you should have before you start is an emergency fund.

It?s very important to understand what an emergency fund is. It is a kind of savings account with enough money to cover your living expenses for a minimum of 3 months. It is a cash account that you can access without penalty.

An emergency fund is essential and which is like a boon during an emergency. It provides security and some peace of mind during the start up of your business.? You?re doing not become dependent on the vagaries of your clients and you can use that security intelligently during the time of negotiation with your clients which will ultimately give you better deals for your business.? It is basically a state of mind After all, if you know you have enough money to not work for 3 months, you can be choosy about projects, clients and money.? This emergency fund allows you to understand every client and every job offer and their real worth.

Setting up an Emergency Fund

?The Major things you will need:

? ?A bank account - preferably one which online only and doesn't come with ATM card or check book facilities. As your main aim will be saving the money and not to withdraw the money whenever you need it.

? ?Save at least 3-6 months of expenses.

It is totally up to you to decide till how many months? savings is enough for you.
?
Suggestions for Saving the Money

T here is a few ways you can save the money:

? ?Give up your indulgence for 1 month and save the money that you would have spent for your emergency fund.

? ?At the end of that month, check for yourself how much you have saved by giving up all or some of your indulgences.

? ?If you can't leave them completely, find a cheaper alternative for all those things.

? ?Try to get a better rate on your credit cards. If you get an offer for a lower interest rate than you're currently paying on your card you can save it.

? ?Make a meal plan and stick to it. If you can properly plan your meals for the week then not only you will get healthier food, but you will be able to save money.

The Keys to a Good Emergency Fund

? ?Depositing money is easy, but somewhat harder to get money out of.

? ?The fund is cash; you can access it immediately without penalty during emergency.

? ?It's in a savings account so that you can earn some interest.

? ?It has an automatic deposit set up, so that you're always saving at least a small amount.

? ?Ultimately you have enough money and you are feeling secure.

Source: http://money.ezinemark.com/emergency-fund-for-freelancing-web-designing-7d380ba4f801.html

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Successful Keys to Internet Marketing for Online Business

Internet marketing for online business presents itself as a different model from marketing offline businesses. There are different strategies to put in place as the marketer takes into account specialized tactics to bring an abundance of exposure to the front door. And because we are not dealing with a brick and mortar, we are going to have to look at the "virtual front door" as Web Page Marketing.

The store front, actually represented by the business owner's web page is the key to captivating prospective clients and in some cases even getting them to return and recommend the site and services to others. But before landing on the site we have to address the bigger picture of finding customers who are looking for the product or service offered by the online business owner.

Internet marketing for online business is just like setting up a blind date between two people. When they both show up, there is either going to be a boom or a bust. If the well prepared business owner designs the proper online marketing strategies for his small business, the client will feel like the connection is a match made in heaven.

So how does "the courting" begin? It starts by the small business owner addressing some key questions from the outset.

1. What does your best customer look like? This is important because you are being consistent with your own objectives when you focus on drawing from the right pool.

2. What is this customer typing into the internet to find you? You have to learn to think like your customers and stay one step ahead of them - there are systems in place to help you do that. Be sure to take advantage of them.

3. How can you contribute added value to the customer's experience? There will be many on the playing field - a small business owner who understands the value of internet marketing for online business, know without a doubt that this is where branding comes in. Making yourself stand out from the "me-too crowd" can be an absolute game changer that will pay dividends well into the future.

4. Professional Web Design even before the customer lands on the site. Web page marketing starts the moment the page populates, and at that point there is about a 7 second window to make a great impression. The world is moving so quickly that a bad impression can push a customer away very quickly, never to return.

5. Old school courtesy. Just because you are focused on internet marketing for online business, that does not mean that common courtesies and accepted social norms go out of the window. Customers are people too. They want to be appreciated and valued and the best way to do that is to treat them as if you are looking at them eye to eye.

These ideas are enough to lay the ground work and help the new small business owner or even the one who is trying to re-create an existing image. Re-inventing your business personae online is something that is very simple to do. So even if you started wrong, you can finish strong.

In most of my examples above, I focused on direct, hands on management. That is a good place to start. But in the long run (translation: ASAP) you are going to want to find systems to move things forward for you, in your absence. Systems create leverage and multiplicity and that additional power of course, helps the small business to grow faster, with less hands on tweaking.

The right system means less work or more expansion - whichever direction the small business owner wants to travel. And it all starts with having a system in place to help with the heavy lifting - working smarter, not harder.

Source: http://panoramyzabrzanskie.blogspot.com/2012/11/successful-keys-to-internet-marketing.html

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Tourists visit Southfork to remember Larry Hagman

PARKER, Texas (AP) ? Tourists and locals flocked to Southfork Ranch on Saturday, bringing flowers in memory of Larry Hagman, who played the infamous J.R. Ewing on the TV show "Dallas."

Hagman died in Dallas on Friday at age 81 due to complications from his battle with cancer.

Southfork, a ranch north of Dallas, was known to millions of viewers as the Ewing family home. Exterior shots of the house and pool were shown when the series aired from 1978 to 1991, although the show wasn't filmed there.

The ranch has been open for tours since the mid-1980s, and now sees more than 100,000 visitors each year. Each room of the house has a theme for each character.

On Saturday, J.R. Ewing's room had flowers and a card for tourists to sign.

"Today is about Larry Hagman and his family," said Janna Timm, a Southfork Ranch & Hotel spokeswoman. "He was such a wonderful person, and we will really miss him."

"Dallas" was recently revived on TNT this summer, and all of the scenes were filmed at Southfork or other places in the Dallas area. Hagman had revised his role as the scheming oilman who would even double-cross his own son.

Linda Sproule of Peterborough, Ontario, had been traveling through the U.S. the past couple of weeks and heard about Hagman's death Friday while in Dallas. She said she didn't know where Southfork was but wanted to come because she was a fan of the show in the 1980s.

"I remember on Friday nights we watched it, and J.R. was bigger than life in some ways," she said after taking the Southfork tour Saturday morning. "This ranch is beautiful. Being here is kind of emotional in a way."

Barbara Quinones and her husband were in town for their daughter's soccer tournament and had already planned to visit Southfork when they heard news of Hagman's death.

"We loved him because he was so ruthless," said Quinones, of Albuquerque, N.M. "This is a sad day, but I'm glad we're here."

Some of the show's stars, including Hagman, came to Southfork for the series' 25th anniversary. The Fort Worth-born actor also had visited several times before the show was revived.

"He was definitely a gentleman, a class act," said Jim Gomes, vice president of resorts at Southfork Ranch & Hotel. "He loved the fans as much as they loved him."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tourists-visit-southfork-remember-larry-hagman-225402013.html

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Cyber Monday likely to be busiest online sales day

NEW YORK (AP) ? Black Friday is a distant memory. Small Business Saturday is long gone. Now, it's Cyber Monday's turn.

Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season.

This year's Cyber Monday is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row: According to research firm comScore, Americans are expected to spend $1.5 billion, up from $1.25 billion last year on Cyber Monday, as retailers ramp up deals to get shoppers to click on their websites.

Amazon.com, which is starting its Cyber Monday deals at midnight on Monday, is offering as much as 60 percent off a Panasonic VIERA 55-inch TV that's usually priced higher than $1,000. Sears is offering $430 off a Maytag washer and dryer, each on sale for $399. And Kmart is offering 75 percent off diamond earrings and $60 off a 12-in-1 multigame table on sale for $89.99.

Retailers are hoping the deals will appeal to shoppers like Matt Sexton, 39, who for the first time plans to complete all his holiday shopping online this year on his iPad tablet computer. Sexton, who plans to spend up to $4,000 this season, already shopped online on the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday and found a laptop from Best Buy for $399, a $200 savings, among other deals.

"The descriptions and reviews are so much better online so you can compare and price shop and for the most part get free shipping," said Sexton, who lives in Queens, N.Y., and is a manager at a utility company.

Sexton also said it's easy to return an online purchase to a physical store than it had been in previous years. "That helps with gifts," he said.

How well retailers do on Cyber Monday will offer insight into Americans' evolving shopping habits. With the growth in high speed Internet access and the wide and increasing use of smartphones and tablet computers, people are relying less on their work computers to shop than they did when Shop.org, the digital division of trade group The National Retail Federation, coined the term "Cyber Monday."

As a result, the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday has have become busy for online shopping as well. Indeed, IBM Benchmark, which tracks online sales, said on Thanksgiving, a day that historically had not been big for online shopping, online sales this year rose 17.4 percent over 2011. Of that, mobile shopping, or shopping on smartphones and tablets, rose 18.3 percent. Meanwhile, online sales on Black Friday were up 20.7 percent.

For the overall holiday season, comScore predicts online sales will be up 17 percent to $43.4 billion. And the research firm expects online sales to surpass 10 percent of total retail spending this holiday season. The National Retail Federation estimates that overall retail sales in November and December will be up 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion

"People years ago didn't have the kind of connectivity to shop online at their homes. So when they went back to work after Thanksgiving they'd shop on the Monday after," said Vicki Cantrell, executive director of Shop.org. "Now they don't need the work computer to be able to do that."

But as other days become popular for online shopping, Cyber Monday may lose some of its cache. To be sure, Cyber Monday hasn't always been the biggest online shopping day. In fact, up until three years ago, that title was historically held on the last day shoppers can order items with standard shipping rates and get them delivered before Christmas. That day usually falls in late December.

Even though Cyber Monday is expected to be the biggest shopping day this year, industry watchers say it could just be a matter of time before other days take that ranking.

"Of all the benchmark spending days, Thanksgiving is growing at the fastest rate, up 128 percent over the last five years," said Andrew Lipsman, a spokesman with comScore.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-25-Cyber%20Monday/id-0dd269847fed441fb743d32221b81871

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Classic Car Show 2012 Photos Gallery | TunedTech Car Enthusiasts

The Birmingham NEC has been reported to play host to the recent Footman James Classic Motor Show 2012 once more. This year?s Classic Car Show has been held on its own rather than alongside the Top Gear Live show.

It?s not like the Top Gear Live show since there was a large range of beauties on display that sheltered eleven halls. At the same time as one hall was devoted to classic Motorcycles, the other ten has played host to over 1,400 classic cars. This year?s show was become the biggest to date with arround 58,000 visitors in about three days. In this show, there were many clubs came with an array of classics on display such as Audi, Triumph, Vauxhall, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and BMW.

There was also a Jaguar XKR presented which came in Die Another Day. In addition, there was DeLorean DMC 12 that is also a favorite at any car show. However, in this show, there were a few special guests including the legend Sir Stirling Moss, , TT Riders Guy Martin and Mick Grant, Comedian Steve Coogan and Red Dwarf?s Chris Barrie.

In addition, the dream rides were accessible to all visitors who would donate to charity that will be taken from a ten mile ride as a passenger. Meanwhile, the dream cars that were accessible were Ferraris, Maserati?s, Aston Martins, and Lamborghini?s. As a result, with about 1,000 rides completed, the total of over ?30,000 was collected for this charity.

Furthermore, some of the most interesting cars on display at the show was a Ford GT40 Porsche 911, Ferrari 1963 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, , Bugatti, Porsche Carrera, Ferrari Testarossa, Red Bull Lotus,? and also the winner of the Meguiar?s club showcase final ? the VW Beetle 1200 Deluxe. To get a closer look of this event, just check out on our gallery below.

Source: http://www.tunedtech.ca/classic-car-show-2012-photos-gallery/

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Iraq, Afghan war veterans joining Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) ? As Tammy Duckworth sees it, her path to Congress began when she awoke in the fall of 2004 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She was missing both of her legs and faced the prospect of losing her right arm.

Months of agonizing therapy lay ahead. As the highest-ranking double amputee in the ward, Maj. Duckworth became the go-to person for soldiers complaining of substandard care and bureaucratic ambivalence.

Soon, she was pleading their cases to federal lawmakers, including her state's two U.S. senators at the time ? Democrats Dick Durbin and Barack Obama of Illinois. Obama arranged for her to testify at congressional hearings. Durbin encouraged her to run for office.

She lost her first election, but six years later gave it another try and now is one of nine veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who will serve in next year's freshman class in the of House of Representatives.

Veterans' groups say the influx of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is welcome because it comes at a time when the overall number of veterans in Congress is on a steep and steady decline. In the mid-1970s, the vast majority of lawmakers tended to be veterans.

For example, the 95th Congress, which served in 1977-78, had more than 400 veterans among its 535 members, according to the American Legion. The number of veterans next year in Congress will come to just more than 100. Most served during the Vietnam War era. In all, 16 served in Iraq or Afghanistan, not all in a combat role.

"We're losing about a half a million veterans a year in this country," said Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America. "We are not going to be in a world where a significant plurality of people spent some time in the military, so to have 16 men and women who fought in this current Congress is incredibly significant."

Tarantino said he recognizes that the 16 Iraq and Afghanistan vets have wide-ranging political views. But at the end of the day, he said, their shared experiences make it more likely they'll put political differences aside on issues like high unemployment and suicide rates among returning veterans, or in ensuring that veterans get a quality education through the post-9/11 GI bill.

Their election victories also provide a sense of assurance to veterans.

"The biggest fear we have as veterans is that the America people are going to forget us," Tarantino said. "When you have an 11-year sustained war, the fight doesn't end when you pull out."

Duckworth carries the highest profile of the incoming vets. She was co-piloting a Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade landed in her lap, ripping off one leg and crushing the other. At Walter Reed, she worried about what life as a double amputee had in store. But during her recovery, she found a new mission ? taking care of those she describes as her military brothers and sisters. That mission led her to a job as an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs during Obama's first term.

"Had I not been in combat, my life would have never taken this path. You take the path that comes in front of you," Duckworth said from a wheelchair last week as she and her fellow freshmen went through orientation at the Capitol. "For me, I try to live every day honoring the men who carried me out of that field because they could have left me behind, and they didn't."

Duckworth is one of two freshmen Democrats who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The other is Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who served near Baghdad for a year and was a medical operations specialist. Gabbard said she hopes the two of them can be a voice for female veterans and the unique challenges they face.

About 8 percent of veterans are women. They tend to be younger on average. Nearly one in five seen by the Department of Veterans Affairs responds yes when screened for military sexual trauma.

Seven Republicans served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most had backing from tea party supporters who share their views that the size and scope of the federal government should be curtailed.

?Ron DeSantis of Florida was a judge advocate officer in the Navy who deployed to Iraq as a legal adviser during the 2007 troop surge.

?Brad Wenstrup of Ohio was as a combat surgeon in Iraq.

?Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan served in an administrative capacity with an artillery unit in Iraq and retired after suffering a neck injury. He also served as an infantry rifleman in Vietnam.

?Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma was a combat pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan.

?Scott Perry of Pennsylvania commanded an aviation battalion in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.

?Doug Collins of Georgia was a chaplain in Iraq.

?Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Harvard Law School graduate, was an infantry platoon leader in Iraq and then was on a reconstruction team in Afghanistan. In between, he was a platoon leader at Arlington National Cemetery.

Cotton said the reason he ran for Congress is the same one that led him to enter the Army after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I felt we had been attacked for who we are ? the home of freedom," Cotton said. "And I worry now our liberty is threatened at home by the debt crisis we face, which in the long term will mean less prosperity and less opportunity, and therefore less liberty."

Cotton said he could easily see himself working with Duckworth and Gabbard on veteran's issues. "They've carried a heavy load and we owe them a great debt," he said.

At the same time, it's clear the freshmen veterans have clear differences of opinion over policy matters. For example, Gabbard is a strong critic of the war in Afghanistan. She says the United States needs to get out as quickly and safely as possible. Cotton opposes setting timetables for withdrawal.

"We're trying to win a counter-insurgency war where we can put a friendly, allied, stable government in place," Cotton said. "It's certainly been a long and somewhat winding road, but on the whole, America and our interests in the world are much better off for having waged the war in Afghanistan."

There also will be differences over spending priorities. Cotton is reluctant to trim spending on defense as a way to deal with the deficit.

Duckworth said certain programs need close examination, particularly in the area of government contracts. She said she "can actually stand up and talk about defense spending in a way that will be realistic without being attacked for lack of patriotism or not being strong on defense."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/9-more-iraq-afghan-war-veterans-joining-congress-140652303.html

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Wireless networks: Mobile devices keep track

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2012) ? A more sensitive technique for determining user position could lead to improved location-based mobile services.

Many mobile-phone applications (apps) use spatial positioning technology to present their user with location-specific information such as directions to nearby amenities. By simultaneously predicting the location of the mobile-user and the data access points, or hotspots, improved accuracy of positioning is now available, thanks to an international research team including Sinno Jialin Pan from the A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research1. Software developers expect that such improvements will enable a whole new class of apps that can react to small changes in position.

Traditionally, device position was determined by the Global Positioning System (GPS) that uses satellites to triangulate approximate location, but its accuracy falters when the mobile device is indoors. An alternative approach is to use the 'received signal strength' (RSS) from local transmitters. Attenuation of radio waves by walls can limit accuracy; and, it is difficult to predict signals in complex, obstacle-filled environments.

Software developers have tried to circumvent these problems by using so-called 'learning-based techniques' that identify correlations between RSS values and access-point placement. Such systems do not necessarily require prior knowledge of the hotspot locations; rather they 'learn' from data collected on a mobile device. This also has drawbacks: the amount of data can be large, making calibration time consuming. Changes in the environment can also outdate the calibration.

Pan and his co-workers reduced this calibration effort in an experimental demonstration of a protocol that calculates both the positions of the device and the access points simultaneously -- a process they call colocalization. "Integrating the two location-estimation tasks into a unified mathematical model means that we can fully exploit the correlations between mobile-device and hotspot position," explains Pan.

First, the researchers trained a learning-based system with the signal-strength values received from access points at selected places in the area of interest. They used this information to calibrate a probabilistic 'location-estimation' system. Then, they approximated the location from the learned model using signal strength samples received in real-time from the access points.

Experimental trials showed that this approach not only required less calibration, but it was more accurate than other state-of-the-art systems. "We next want to apply the method to a larger-scale environment," says Pan. "We also want to find ways to make use of the estimated locations to provide more useful information, such as location-based advertising." As this technique could help robots navigate by themselves, it may also have important implications for the burgeoning field of robotics.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jeffrey Junfeng Pan, Sinno Jialin Pan, Jie Yin, Lionel M. Ni, Qiang Yang. Tracking Mobile Users in Wireless Networks via Semi-Supervised Colocalization. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 2012; 34 (3): 587 DOI: 10.1109/TPAMI.2011.165

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/QOVx-2lnpLY/121123132612.htm

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