Liberty Newspost 01-02-2013

Curated News Edition
- 02/01/14
http://www.LibertyNewspost.com
Car bomb kills at least five in Hezbollah district of Beirut

Oliver Holmes and Stephen Kalin (Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:04:36 PM
(Reuters) - A car bomb killed at least five people in Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut on Thursday, the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Shi'ite and Sunni targets in Lebanon. Several other cars were destroyed by the force of the blast, the blackened and twisted wreckage smoldering on the street in front of buildings whose facades were torn off by the explosion. Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said five people were killed and 66 wounded. A security source said the blast was caused by a car bomb. People at the scene said that in addition to the five confirmed dead, the charred remains of a body was found on Thursday evening. A security source, who [unable to retrieve full-text content]
spoke on condition of anonymity, said the body was that of a suicide bomber. The explosion occurred less than a week after former finance minister Mohamad Chatah, a critic of the Shi'ite Hezbollah militant group and its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was killed along with six others by a car bomb in Beirut. Last summer, bombs exploded in southern Beirut and outside two Sunni Muslim mosques in the northern city of Tripoli, killing scores of people. Bombers also struck the embassy of Hezbollah's Iranian backers in southern Beirut in November. The violence has been fuelled by sectarian tensions over the conflict in neighboring Syria, where Assad is fighting Sunni Muslim rebels battling to overthrow him. Assad is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot [unable to retrieve full-text content]
of Shi'ism. Hezbollah has sent fighters to join Assad's forces, while Lebanese Sunni Muslim fighters have supported the rebels. FIGHTING IN TRIPOLI Clashes broke out in Tripoli on Thursday evening between Lebanese militias who support opposing sides of the Syrian war, a regular occurrence following such bombing in the small Mediterranean country. A women from the Alawite Jebel Mohsen neighborhood was killed by sniper fire from militants in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh, her family said. A further five people were wounded in street battles which included gunfire and explosions, residents said. "(Terrorism) is being directed towards all people. It is being directed to create sectarian strife among Lebanese," the health minister told reporters.
The bomb struck just after 4 p.m. when the streets of southern Beirut's Haaret Hreik district were packed with rush hour traffic. A Reuters Television cameraman said Hezbollah members fired into the air to disperse people, fearing possible subsequent explosions. Hezbollah's deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem called for calm and the "quick formation of a national unity cabinet", after months with a caretaker government in the country following the resignation of the prime minister in March. "Lebanon is on the road to ruin if there is no political understanding," he told Hezbollah's al Manar television. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which was condemned by both sides of Lebanon's sectarian divide. It was not clear if a specific person was targeted by the bomb.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour appealed for international support to curb the violence and cut off financial aid and other support for bombers. "Everyone must work to curb the sources of terrorism. If not, this whirlpool will envelop everyone. Lebanon is suffering, others are suffering, everyone is suffering," he told Al Arabiya Television. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam and Reuters TV; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alison Williams) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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1.3 Million People Lost Unemployment Benefits. It Could Get Ugly - Businessweek
Joshua Green (unemployment Google News)
and had borrowed $2.5 billion from the federal government to pay jobless claims. Were going Submitted at 1/2/2014 8:53:16 AM to pay down that debt, make the When Congress reconvenes on system solvent, and provide an Jan. 6, one of the first issues it economic climate that allows will take up is whether to renew businesses, large and small, to put a n e m e r g e n c y f e d e r a l people back to work, McCrory unemployment program that said at the time. When the new expired on Dec. 28, cutting off 1.3 law took effect on July 1, the million jobless workers. Enacted maximum weekly benefit fell in 2008 at the start of the from $535 to $350 and its recession, it provided up to duration fell to between 12 and 20 47 weeks of benefits for those still weeks (depending on the states looking for work when their state unemployment rate) from 26 unemployment benefits ran out. weeksthe standard in most Senate Majority Leader Harry other states. Reid says hell try to pass a That was only half the blow. temporary extension, but most Reducing state benefits violated Republicans have balked at the t h e t e r m s o f t h e f e d e r a l $25 billion-a-year cost. If the programwhich is intended to program isnt revived, the impact supplement, not replace, state could be significantnot just for a i d s o w o r k e r s i n N o r t h the 1.3 million people losing a Carolina were also disqualified vital lifeline but on the broader from receiving federal benefits. In economy. essence, the states experience How will these workers fare? over the last six months is a One place to look for answers is harbinger of what may be in store North Carolina. Last February, at for the rest of the country. This t h e b e h e s t o f t h e b u s i n e s s doesnt have to be a thought community, Republican Governor experiment, because you can just Pat McCrory signed a bill cutting look at whats happened in North the amount and duration of state Carolina, says Aaron Chatterji, jobless benefits, even though a n e c o n o m i s t a t D u k e North Carolinas unemployment Universitys Fuqua School of rate ranked among the highest in Business. The 1.3 million people the country. The state had losing their benefits are going to exhausted its unemployment trust be in the same position as the fund, paid for by business taxes, 170,000 people here who have
The decline in the unemployment rate gives you a very limited view of whats going on in our labor market, says John Quinterno, founder of South by North Strategies, an economic research firm in Chapel Hill, N.C. Year over year, the number of employed people in North Carolina ticked up by 6,082, while the unemployed fell by 101,901. That means the labor force contracted by 95,009. So the improvement has not necessarily been driven by more people going to work and is actually being driven to a large degree by people leaving the labor force. In October the states labor force participation rate hit a 37-year low. One benefit of unemployment insurance is that lost theirs. it has an anchoring effect, says At first glance, the effect appears Quinterno, because you have to to be positive. North Carolinas be looking for work to qualify unemployment rate dropped for benefits. dramatically, from 8.8 percent to Though the job market hasnt 7.4 percent between July and f u l l y r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e November. By comparison, the recession, many Republicans national unemployment rate fell believe extending jobless benefits by 0.6 percent over the same saps workers motivation to seek period. A closer look, however, employment or accept positions suggests that North Carolinas they deem less than ideal. I do unemployment numbers have support unemployment benefits fallen not because the long-term for the 26 weeks that theyre paid jobless have found work but for, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul because theyve quit looking said on Fox News on Dec. 8. altogether. As a result, the state no Beyond that, you do a disservice l o n g e r c o u n t s t h e m a s to these workers. When you allow unemployed.
people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, youre causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group. Economic research has shown that some job seekers do become less selective about the jobs theyre willing to take once their unemployment insurance expiresthe so-called employment effect. Theres evidence this may be occurring in North Carolina. A Dec. 20 note from JPMorgan Chases( JPM) chief U.S. economist, Michael Feroli, pointed out that the states employment growth has outpaced national growth since July. Yet he also noted that labor force participation has fallen much faster than it has nationally. In this case, he concluded, it would appear both channels are operative but the participation effect may be more important. Its hard to draw firm conclusions from limited data. But if the expiration of jobless benefits is prompting large numbers of North Carolinians to give up looking for work, it would augur poorly for the states economy and the countrys, too. Working-age Americans who cant find gainful employment represent lost economic value and unmet U.S. 1.3 page 7
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Powerful storm brings Arctic cold, snow to U.S. Northeast

Elizabeth Dilts and Scott Malone (Reuters: Top News)
meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:31:15 PM Forecast snowfall varied widely, (Reuters) - The first major winter with Washington expected to see storm of 2014 hit the northeastern under an inch, Philadelphia and United States on Thursday with New York 4 to 8 inches, Hartford heavy snow, dangerously low 6 to 10 inches and Boston 8 to 14 temperatures and strong winds inches. that snarled travel just as many Officials across the region urged people were returning from residents to stay off roadways and holiday breaks. planned to close some major The wide storm system stretches highways in New York State from the lower Mississippi Valley beginning at midnight ET (0500 to the Atlantic coast, with parts of GMT). New England including Boston " T o m o r r o w p e o p l e s h o u l d bracing for as much as 14 inches definitely consider staying in their of snow by Friday morning. Some homes if the storm continues as cities along the storm's southern we expect," said New York e d g e e x p e c t o n l y m i n i m a l Governor Andrew Cuomo. "This snowfall. is nothing to be trifled with. We Thousands of flights were have learned too well over the d e l a y e d o r c a n c e l e d , w i t h past few years the power of Boston's Logan International Mother Nature. We have seen the Airport warning it expected damage that has been done." takeoffs to end at about 8:30 p.m. Coastal flooding was forecast (0130 GMT) and officials at New along low-lying parts of New York area airports setting up cots England, with the risk greatest at for potential stranded travelers. high tide, near midnight. The snowfall was expected to The storm posed the first major intensify after sunset, with the challenge to the administration of heaviest accumulation coming New York's new mayor, Bill de overnight. Blasio. Problems from digging "The real action is going to get out from snowstorms have been cranked up this evening and political havoc for mayors in the during the overnight hours. We'll United States' biggest city for h a v e h e a v y s n o w , w i n d y decades. conditions, reduced visibilities," "We have to get it right. There is s a i d K i m B u t t r i c k , a no question," de Blasio told
reporters. "Before I even think of politics or anything else, this is our job." FLIGHTS SNARLED The powerful storm forced about 1,807 U.S. flights to be canceled and about 4,536 delayed, with the worst-affected airports Chicago's O'Hare International and Newark's Liberty International Airport, according to FlightAware, a website which tracks air travel. New York's three major airports were preparing to accommodate stranded travelers whose flights were canceled. "We have a few hundred cots at each of the airports should you decide to become an overnight guest," said Thomas Bosco, an official with the Port Authority of New York and Jersey, at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The authority also runs Newark and John F. Kennedy International Airport. One traveler worrying that his Friday flight out of Logan could be delayed or canceled was Ruben Raskin, 23, of San Jose, California, who was in the area visiting his girlfriend. "It kind of reminds me why I moved to San Jose after going to college out here," Raskin said. Conditions in Boston were bad enough by afternoon that the "Frozen Fenway" winter carnival,
featuring sledding and college icehockey at the baseball stadium where the Red Sox play, was canceled for Thursday and Friday. 'DANGEROUS' COLD EXPECTED The weather service said the mass of Arctic air would drop temperatures to levels 20 to 30 degrees below normal, with record lows possible on Friday. "Temperatures are expected to plummet tonight and tomorrow with wind chills dropping as low as 25 degrees below zero (F/-32 C)," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. "That is a very dangerous set of circumstances." The low temperature in the contiguous United States on Wednesday was -47 Fahrenheit (43 Celsius), reached in Van Buren, Maine, and tied in Babbitt and Embarrass, Minnesota, the weather service said. Patrick told non-essential state workers to head home at 3 p.m. ET (2000 GMT) as did his counterparts in neighboring Connecticut. Both encouraged private-sector employers to consider releasing their staff early. Slippery road conditions made driving a hazard in many stormhit areas. In Cleveland, Ohio, Chris Behm spent an hour trying to reach the vocational training center for
developmentally disabled people where he works before calling the commute off and urging his 19 employees to stay home. "It was terrible on all of the roads and there is more weather on its way," Behm said. "It just wasn't worth it to open and possibly kill someone." Officials in Boston and Providence said schools would be closed on Friday, and in other districts throughout the region, parents were bracing for the possibility their children would be home on Friday. "It's tough with these storms because I end up using days off that I don't want to take," said Kristen Carson, who had taken the train into Manhattan from her home in suburban Montclair, New Jersey. "After the holiday, it's really kind of a pinch." (Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere, Marina Lopes and Scott DiSavino in New York, Daniel Lovering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ian Simpson in Washington, Kim Palmer in Cleveland and Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Andrew Hay) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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FireEye buys cyber forensics firm Mandiant for about $1 billion

Jim Finkle (Reuters: Top News)
based systems for detecting malicious software and Mandiant's software that analyzes FireEye Inc. Chairman of the cyber attacks. Board, David DeWalt (R) and About a year ago the two Founder Ashar Aziz (L) pose with c o m p a n i e s e n t e r e d i n t o a Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld t e c h n o l o g y d e v e l o p m e n t outside the Nasdaq Market site in agreement that made it easier to Times Square following the deploy their products together. company's debut on the Nasdaq With the merger, FireEye will e x c h a n g e i n N e w Y o r k , gain Mandiant's team of forensics September 20, 2013. investigators. C r e d i t : R e u t e r s / B r e n d a n "They have these very strong McDermid Navy 'cyber' Seals who respond to ( R e u t e r s ) - C y b e r s e c u r i t y breaches and are very good at company FireEye Inc, one of last what they do," DeWalt said about year's hottest IPOs, has acquired Mandiant. He had previously Mandiant Corp, the computer served as chairman of Mandiant's forensics specialist best known for board. unveiling a secretive Chinese "My aim is to create the strongest military unit believed to be behind security company in the world," a series of hacking attacks on U.S. DeWalt said in an interview. companies. FireEye, which has yet to post a The $1.05 billion cash-and-stock profit, said the acquisition will be deal, which FireEye said closed immediately accretive to earnings on Monday, unites two companies a n d e x p e c t s t h e c o m b i n e d with relatively new technologies company's revenue to grow about for thwarting cyber attacks, and 5 0 p e r c e n t t h i s y e a r . I n brings together two of the most- comparison, Symantec Corp, the respected executives in the biggest maker of anti-virus security industry: FireEye CEO software, has said it expects fiscal Dave DeWalt and Mandiant 2014 revenue to drop 3 percent to founder Kevin Mandia. 4 percent. While sales of older anti-virus Mandiant is best known for its products have been on the decline, forensics services. The company security experts expect strong rose to prominence in February growth in both FireEye's cloud- 2013 when it published a report
detailing alleged links between a Shanghai-based unit of the People's Liberation Army and a long list of attacks on U.S. companies. [ID:nL4N0BJ3QA]. Beijing denied all allegations in the report. STOCK AND CASH Mandiant, which has long been profitable, generates sales of more than $100 million a year, according to DeWalt. FireEye in November forecast its 2014 revenue to be between $240 million and $250 million, up from an estimated $156 million to $158 million for 2013. DeWalt has declined to say when he expects the company to be profitable. FireEye, which has a market capitalization of around $5 billion, will pay for Mandiant with a combination of stock and cash. It issued 21.5 million shares and options, which were worth $939 million on Monday, when the stock closed at $43.69. A company spokesman said it had about 140 million shares outstanding after the deal was completed. It will also pay $106.5 million in net cash to Mandiant's shareholders, who include Mandia as well as Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and One Equity
Partners, the private investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. DeWalt said he owns some shares in Mandiant and will disclose the size of his stake within a few days through a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. FireEye shares were down 5.7 percent to $41.11 in late afternoon Nasdaq trade. They nearly doubled in their September 20 trading debut and have not moved significantly since. FireEye's rival include Palo Alto Networks Inc, which went public in 2012 in one of that year's most successful IPOs. Mandiant was founded in 2004 by Kevin Mandia, a former U.S. Air Force cyber-forensics investigator who co-authored an influential textbook on the subject. The company made its name by automating processes used to investigate computer breaches. The company was largely unknown outside the computer security world until February of last year, when it fingered the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind a Chinese hacking group known as APT1. Other security companies had
published reports on cyberattacks, but had shied away from so clearly identifying their perpetrators. DeWalt said FireEye would consider releasing similar reports now that it owns Mandiant. "You will probably see us continue to do it when it is appropriate," he said. "There is some incredibly egregious behavior." DeWalt is the former chief executive of anti-virus software maker McAfee who sold McAfee to Intel Corp. Mandia was named FireEye's chief operating officer. He said in an interview that he plans to move to Silicon Valley, where FireEye has its headquarters, from the Washington D.C. area. "I'm in this for the long-term," he said. "This is as exciting as heck for me." (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Grant McCool) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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Northeast prepares to get slammed by snow New York Daily News

Stephen Rex Brown (Top Stories - Google News)
Brian Snyder/Reuters A man rides his bicycle Thursday in Lawrence, Mass. through the snow, which is only going to get worse. Back to work while trudging through the snow. Winter storm Hercules bore down on the Northeast on Thursday as travelers prepared for delays due to high winds, plummeting temperatures and about a foot of snow on the first workday of the new year. By 4:15 p.m. more than 2,000 flights had already been canceled and over 7,600 delayed nationwide, according to FlightAware.com. "There will be travel problems," said Hugh Johnson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Albany. "It will be very cold." Boston's Logan International Airport announced the last flight there would be at 8:30 p.m. It expected to reopen sometime late Friday afternoon. The forecast called for up to 14 inches in Beantown. RELATED: NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS, 9 INCHES OF SNOW EXPECTED IN NYC afternoon. expected, as well as winds gusting Brian Snyder/Reuters The brunt The weather service issued a up to 45 miles per hour. of the storm is expected to hit blizzard warning for Long Island, Gov. Cuomo declared a state of Thursday evening into Friday where 8 to 10 inches of snow was emergency in New York and
outlined plans to close three major roadways at midnight Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday. The Long Island Expressway, NYS
Thruway I-87 and Interstate 84 will all be affected by the NORTHEAST page 7
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In our opinion: Extend unemployment benefits - Deseret News

(unemployment - Google News)
Extending unemployment benefits is not an ideal answer to sluggish job growth, but it is the humane thing to do. Rick Bowmer, Associated Press Enlarge photo President Obama has asked Congress to immediately extend unemployment benefits for those out of work for more than six months something lawmakers should agree to as an act of compassion and a recognition that administration policies have failed. Arguments against the extension are almost entirely in the realm of the philosophical and outside the sphere of pragmatism. An extension would be expensive, and must be temporary and shortterm. But the economy has yet to recover to the point where robust job growth eliminates the need for extended benefits, which provides up to 47 weeks of supplemental unemployment insurance payments. The argument that it encourages a culture of reliance on government handouts is not backed by persuasive evidence, or common sense. There are currently about 11 million people out of work while there are an estimated 3.9 million
available jobs. Benefits for about 1.3 million Americans, including 3,000 Utahns, have expired, and without an extension those people and their families face severe hardship. These are people who want jobs and want to work, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Workforce Services told The Deseret News. We are committed to doing everything we can to connect these people with jobs. Unemployment benefits are typically available for up to 26 months. The Bush Administration moved at the beginning of the 2008 recession to allow for an extension, which expired at the
end of 2013. Should Congress not renew the extension when it reconvenes, millions of people and their dependents would be unable to afford basic necessities and fall to a place of destitution that would carry long-term social costs. While 1.3 million workers is not a lot in comparison to the overall workforce, the economy has yet to improve to a point where job growth is robust. That may change soon, but while government figures show the economy added 2.1 million jobs in 2013 as of November, about half of those were in low-wage or part-time positions. Even those jobs are quickly snatched up as
unemployment benefits is not an ideal answer to sluggish job growth. It would cost an estimated $25 billion. Policy changes and greater market certainty would be better. But it is the humane thing to do for those who have been doing all they can to find work without success. The notion that large numbers of the unemployed prefer to live on government largesse is more anecdotal than factually substantive. The benefits are at a level that appropriately provides a short-term safety net, not an ongoing opportunity to languish in a condition that can rationally the unemployed seek any way be viewed as comfortable. possible to earn money. Many observers predict real Administration policies and economic growth in 2014 despite programs have not helped spur administration policies. We hope job growth. The president has they are correct. Given recent continued to stand in the way of positive economic indicators, an construction of the Keystone extension should be made shortPipeline, which would create term and be eliminated as soon as many high-paying jobs. His growth becomes robust. signature health care plan, under This entry passed through the t h e A f f o r d a b l e C a r e A c t , Full-Text RSS service if this is continues to create confusion and your content and you're reading it u n c e r t a i n t y i n m a r k e t s a s on someone else's site, please read businesses decide how to react. the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentAnd the administrations drive to only/faq.php#publishers. increase the minimum wage would eliminate jobs, particularly for the poorest Americans and those looking for entry-level experience. Extending
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NORTHEAST
continued from page 5
temporary closure during the height of the wicked storm. The brunt of the herculean storm is expected to hit Thursday evening into Friday afternoon. Some schools in New England and New York closed schools preemptively, cities issued on-street parking bans and homeless shelters were expected to fill beyond capacity. RELATED: MAYOR DE BLASIO: TEAM IS READY FOR SNOWSTORM Mike Groll/ AP The blizzard had already begun Thursday in Massachusetts as Hercules barreled for the Northeast. "We're going to see a lot of snow and a lot of wind," said Jason Tuell, director of the eastern region of the National Weather Service. "We're concerned about whiteout conditions possibly tonight with the blowing and drifting snow." The first major winter storm of the season already dropped up to a foot of snow on parts of Michigan and 6 inches or more in Illinois, prompting hundreds of flight cancellations Wednesday into and out of Chicago's O'Hare
International Airport, according to FlightAware. The blizzard had possibly claimed one life already: Officials said a Wednesday evening crash involving a pickup and a bus carrying casino patrons in Indiana may have been due to the weather. Police said the truck's driver was killed and 15 bus passengers were injured in the collision on a snow-covered and slushy highway in Rolling Prairie. Sections of interior southern New England and New York could get up to a foot of snow by the time the storm moves out, with forecasts generally calling for 6 to 12 inches. Weather: Snow, Deep Freeze On The Way Brian Snyder /Reuters The forecast called for up to 14 inches of snow in Boston. New York City, likely to see 3 to 7 inches, issued a snow alert. Gov. Cuomo urged the city's commuters to leave their cars at home in case major highways are closed for Thursday evening rush hour. We are looking at a serious storm situation, Cuomo said. Philadelphia and parts of
southern New Jersey were expected to see 3 to 7 inches of blowing, drifting snow. Jonas Caldwell, of Toms River, N.J., was prepared. PHOTOS: CELEBRITY BEACH BODIES Mike Groll/AP Christina Kistler walks her dog Sheldon in the snow Thursday in Albany. The weather is expected to worsen late Thursday and continue into Friday afternoon. "Santa brought me a snow blower, and I've got rock salt for the ice, so now I'm just waiting for the storm," he said while grabbing a coffee at a convenience store. He added he could work from home if necessary. "There are too many distractions at home," he said. "But I won't be stupid. ... If it gets as bad as they say it will be, or looks like it will, I'll be staying put." In Hartford, Conn., Hal Guy was preparing to enlist his children in the cleanup effort by buying snow shovels. RELATED: SNOW STEALS THE SHOW AT NHL'S WINTER CLASSIC AP The Northeast will get slammed by the winter storm Hercules Thursday.
Up to a foot of snow is expected in much of the region, with flight delays already piling up. "We broke a couple in the last storm," said Guy, of nearby Glastonbury. "We have four kids, so, three shovels, and we still have a little one back home." Over in Maine, where some communities are still recovering from a recent ice storm that cut power to more than 100,000 customers, people seemed prepared for more winter weather. Kelly St. Denis, of Auburn, went skiing Wednesday at the Sunday River ski area with family and friends. She said it's been cold but the skiing has been good. "Hey, it's winter in Maine," she said. "We go with it." With News Wire Services This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
Suspect in California priest's death taken into custody - CNN

Greg Botelho (Top Stories Google News)
1.3
growth potential. While some may settle for part-time work, others will try to qualify for disability. Long stretches of unemployment reduce the likelihood of finding a job, as skills and connections atrophy. As people cycle in and out of the
unemployment system this year, an additional 3.6 million workers will lose access to benefits if federal insurance isnt restored, according to a December report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Thats a lot of misery and squandered
economic potential. Its also why the Tar Heel test tube, as Feroli has dubbed it, is worth paying attention to. Says Chatterji, The statistics are so dramatic. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it
on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
[unable to retrieve full-text content] ABC News Suspect in California priest's death taken into custody CNN (CNN) -- Authorities have taken into custody a California man who they believe killed a Roman Catholic priest in a church rectory, the police chief said. Eureka Police Chief Andy Mills announced Thursday that an arrest warrant had been issued for Gary Lee... Arrest warrant issued, suspect named in killing of Eureka priest Los Angeles Times Police name suspect in California priest killing San Jose Mercury News SACRAMENTO - Law enforcement is looking for a man suspected of killing a... News10.net Reno Gazette-Journal all 266 news articles
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Weekly US Unemployment Benefit Claims Fall to 339K - ABC News

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer (unemployment - Google News)
levels and are at a level consistent with solid hiring. The job market has picked up in recent months. Employers have added an average of 200,000 jobs Submitted at 1/2/2014 7:34:24 AM The number of Americans a month from August through seeking unemployment benefits November. That's helped lower dipped 2,000 last week to a the unemployment rate to a fiveseasonally adjusted 339,000, year low of 7 percent. evidence that layoffs are low and Still, nearly 4.5 million people hiring will likely remain steady. r e c e i v e d s o m e f o r m o f The Labor Department said unemployment benefits in the Thursday that the less volatile week ending Dec. 14, the latest four-week average rose 8,500 to data available. That's 180,000 357,250. more than the previous week. The average was driven up in Of those recipients, about 1.3 recent weeks by spikes that million stand to lose their benefits reflected seasonal volatility this month, according to the around the Thanksgiving and N a t i o n a l E m p l o y m e n t L a w C h r i s t m a s h o l i d a y s . T h e Project, an advocacy group. That's government struggles to account because Congress opted not to for seasonal hiring by retailers renew an emergency federal and other businesses and for program, which provided up to 47 temporary layoffs of school weeks of additional benefits. The employees during the holidays. program expired last week. Applications are a proxy for Economists predict that the layoffs. They appear to have benefit cutoff will cause the stabilized near pre-recession unemployment rate to fall by as
pace than spending last month. That means Americans saved less to spend more. And existing home sales have fallen for three straight much as a quarter of percentage months, held back by higher point in early 2014. But they prices and mortgage rates. worry that the drop will likely Still, the economy expanded at a occur because many of the former 4.1 percent annual rate in the July recipients will give up on their job -September quarter, the best searches, which are required in growth in nearly two years. The order to receive benefits. The healthy gain largely reflected a government counts people as j u m p i n r e s t o c k i n g . T h a t ' s unemployed only if they're unlikely to be repeated in the current October-December actively seeking jobs. The job market appears to be quarter. But many economists strengthening and there have been have become more optimistic other signs that the economy is about the fourth quarter and improving. Americans are more expect growth will clock in at a confident and spending more. solid 2.5 percent annual rate. And orders to U.S. manufacturers This entry passed through the jumped in November, evidence Full-Text RSS service if this is that businesses are spending more your content and you're reading it on factory-made items such as on someone else's site, please read m a c h i n e r y , c o m p u t e r s a n d the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. electrical goods. Not all the data have been positive. Income rose at a slower
China demands investigation after consulate fire in San Francisco - CBS News
(china - Google News)
404 Error | Christianpost.com

(404 Error | Christianpost.com)
the Diplomat China demands investigation after consulate fire in San Francisco CBS News Two men look at the damage to the entrance of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. The consulate said in a notice on its website that a person came out of a van parked outside the compound Wednesday night with two buckets... China's San Francisco Consulate Set Ablaze by Arsonist the Diplomat China denounces 'despicable' arson attack at San Francisco consulate South China Morning Post China urges US to ensure safety following consulate arson attack Xinhua all 193 news articles
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California illegal immigrants can get law license, state Supreme Court rules - San Jose Mercury News
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With Downed Balloon, China and Japan Cooperate - New York Times (blog)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:41:29 AM
Citing a new state law allowing illegal immigrants to get their law licenses, the California Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for a Chico man to fulfill his dream of becoming an attorney despite his not being a U.S. citizen. In a unanimous ruling, the state Supreme Court determined there is no reason to block Sergio Garcia's bid for a California law license, now that a new law permits the state's high court to give such licenses to immigrants who are not yet citizens. State legislators, backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, pushed the legislation last fall as Garcia's case was unfolding in the Supreme Court. Sergio Garcia in Durham, Calif., 2012. (Patrick Tehan, Mercury News) During arguments in the fall, the justices appeared unlikely to back Garcia because federal immigration law appeared to preclude giving a law license to illegal immigrants. But the court invited the Legislature to fix the problem if it wanted to solve the conflict with federal laws. In
Thursday's ruling, the Supreme Court concluded that there is no longer reason to deny a law license to Garcia, or other illegal immigrants in his position. "We conclude there is no state law or state public policy that would justify precluding undocumented immigrants, as a class from obtaining a law license in California," Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote for the court. Garcia, a law school graduate who has waited for his green card for nearly a decade, has been in limbo while the state Supreme
Court determined whether it had the legal authority to give him a law license. Attorney General Kamala Harris and the State Board of Bar Examiners backed Garcia in the Supreme Court, but the Obama administration argued that federal immigration law prevents such licensing unless a state adopts a specific law allowing law licenses for illegal immigrants. U.S. Justice Department lawyers abandoned their opposition to Garcia's law license once the governor signed the legislation removing the primary block to his
quest to become a lawyer. Garcia could not immediately be reached for comment, but in the past has told this newspaper he has dreamed of becoming a lawyer and hoped his case would open the door for immigrants in his position to gain the right to a law license. Garcia, who has been in the United States since high school and has relatives who have become citizens, estimates it will still be years before he can get his legal immigration status through the cumbersome federal immigration system. Similar legal challenges are unfolding in Florida and New York, where illegal immigrants with law degrees are also seeking law licenses. Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-2860236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
New York Times (blog) With Downed Balloon, China and Japan Cooperate New York Times (blog) On Wednesday, a Chinese balloonist took off from the coastal province of Fujian, trying to land on an island claimed by both China and Japan. Unfortunately, the balloonist, a cook by profession, didn't make his target a small islet in the chain of... China balloonist deflated after missing his mark in islands spat Financial Times China: Balloonist Crash-Lands Into The Sea Sky News China's Risky Flirtation With Military Adventurism Wall Street Journal The Guardian- BBC News- South China Morning Post all 214 news articles
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Top News/ World News/
Hong Kong squirms Leaders set for in the shadow of crunch clash China - Toronto Star
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:33:42 AM
Toronto Star Hong Kong squirms in the shadow of China Toronto Star HONG KONGAs soon as she arrived in Hong Kong from mainland China in 1999, Yang felt the slights. When a phone disappeared from her college dormitory, she and a friend were
Chanelle Beasley, 12, found Antonio Cairoli Elected safe and well two days after missing - Mirror.co.uk Sportsman of the Year in going (Nation - Google News) Found: 12-year-old girl who went
immediately suspected and their bags rummaged through. The faces of... China CNR mulls Hong Kong IPO South China Morning Post Hong Kong stocks seesaw after China data MarketWatch Protests Signal Rising Tensions Between Hong Kong and Mainland China U.S. News & World Report (blog) all 133 news articles
Sportinglife.com
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Submitted at 1/2/2014 7:25:03 AM
'Rail ticket value for money not good' - David Sidebottom BBC News
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SportPulse Leaders set for crunch clash Sportinglife.com Carlos Tevez returned to Turin to train with his team-mates on New Year's Day after being granted
extended leave in his native Argentina due to personal issues, while Andrea Pirlo has recovered from a knee injury, giving Juve a full squad. Roma, who... Serie A Review - 2013: A Year To Remember Part 1 SportPulse all 2 news articles
Italy - Superbike News

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Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:21:45 AM
Antonio Cairoli Elected Sportsman of the Year in Italy Superbike News ... by thousands of followers with the hashtag #SkySportivo13 and
Antonio Cairoli got through the final leaving behind big names such as Valentino Rossi, Francesco Totti, Mario Balotelli, Luigi Datome, Vincenzo Nibali, Patrizia Pellegrini or Andrea Pirlo. and more
Mirror.co.uk Chanelle Beasley, 12, found safe and well two days after going missing Mirror.co.uk Police are searching for a 12-year -old girl who has not been seen since New Year's Eve. Chanelle Beasley, described as of dual heritage, 5'5" tall and of slim build, was last seen by her family at around 3pm at their home in Mitcham, south west London.
missing from her home in Mitcham on New... Evening Standard Plea to find missing 12-year-old Chanelle Beasley who disappeared on New... London24 Appeal to find missing Chanelle Beasley, 12, who could be in Chadwell Heath Ilford Recorder 24 Romford Recorder- Wimbledon Guardian all 13 news articles
BBC News 'Rail ticket value for money not good' - David Sidebottom BBC News An average 2.8% increase in rail fares comes into effect on Thursday, pushing the cost of some commuter travel to more than 5,000 a year. The increase is the smallest rise in four years, according to the pan-industry Rail Delivery Group. David Sidebottom... Renationalise the railways for the common good says Green Party The Economic Voice Rail fare rises: Commuters take a hit as ticket prices increase three times faster... The Independent UK train commuters spending THREE TIMES more than passengers in other... Mirror.co.uk Evening StandardTelegraph.co.uk- The Northern Echo all 178 news articles
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Sussex coastline set for high tides and flooding - BBC News
2013 confirmed as Australia's hottest year on record Sydney Morning Herald

BBC News Sussex coastline set for high tides and flooding BBC News High tides, large waves, and coastal flooding with winds of up to 70mph have been predicted for the Sussex coastline over the next 24 hours. The Environment Agency said the unsettled conditions would begin in the early hours of Friday. Members of
the... Britain braced for more heavy storms and floods The Times (subscription) UK weather: Batten down the hatches, Owen Paterson warns, as gales and rain... The Independent Severe flood warnings issued as more stormy weather expected Channel 4 News Bournemouth EchoTelegraph.co.uk- Sky News all 304 news articles
Yahoo!7 News 2013 confirmed as Australia's hottest year on record Sydney Morning Herald Australia smashed its previous annual heat record in 2013, with a summer heatwave and spring hot spell among the outstanding periods of unusual warmth. The Bureau of Meteorology on Friday confirmed last year was the hottest nationwide in more than
a... 2013 was hottest year on record in Australia, Bureau of Meteorology says ABC Online Mild new year for Melbourne as Australian temperatures soar Ballarat Courier Australia weather: temperatures set to peak just shy of 50 degrees The Age Central Western Daily- The Conversation all 23 news articles
Surface Pro 2 gets sly upgrade as Microsoft swaps CPU

Chris Davies (SlashGear)
Microsoft has quietly upgraded the Surface Pro 2, with new hardware including faster processors being sent out to those who returned their Windows 8 tablets after the December firmware update Continue reading
Decks are clear for Yeddyurappa's re-entry The Hindu

India assures security for US diplomatic institutions - The Hindu

The Hindu Decks are clear for Yeddyurappa's re-entry The Hindu The decks were cleared for the re -entry of the former Chief
Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa into the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, with key members of the party's highest decisionmaking body of the core committee holding formal discussions with him on... Done deal: BSY returns to BJP after year in exile Indian Express
BS Yeddyurappa back in BJP fold, announces merger of Karnataka Janata Paksha Daily News & Analysis BSY agrees to return to BJP Deccan Herald Hindustan Times- Free Press Journal- Economic Times all 107 news articles
Economic Times India assures security for US diplomatic institutions The Hindu The government has sought to allay concerns about security of U.S. diplomatic institutions here by pointing out that they are being protected by 150 police personnel on a round-the-clock basis. The
concerns had arisen after the government removed concrete... US missions in New Delhi still enjoy max security Deccan Herald Devyani and the Indo-US relationship GreaterKashmir.com India ups security for US Embassy in Delhi, posts 150 policemen NDTV Firstpost- Daily News & Analysis- Hindustan Times all 180 news articles
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World News/ Technology/
Doctor loses sister, wife Man in hospital after claiming in Malshej Ghat accident to have stabbed his sister to death at Bulli - Herald Sun - Times of India
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Economic Times Doctor loses sister, wife in Malshej Ghat accident Times of India PUNE: A doctor from Thane district survived the worst-ever accident at Malshej Ghat, but lost his wife and sister in the tragedy that happened on Thursday morning. Thirty-two-year old
medical professional Kasam Khan Yousuf Dalwai sustained multiple... 28 killed, 10 injured as bus falls into gorge Mumbai Mirror 27 die as bus falls into ravine in Thane Indian Express 27 dead as bus falls into ravine Free Press Journal Daily News & Analysis- Zee News- Business Standard all 71 news articles
Sky News Australia Man in hospital after claiming to have stabbed his sister to death at Bulli Herald Sun A MAN covered in blood has walked into Gladesville police station allegedly claiming he had stabbed his sister to death. The
woman's body was found in a Hobart St home in the northern Wollongong suburb of Bulli after the man handed himself in at... Woman's body found on NSW south coast The Australian Woman's body found in Bulli home NSW Police Online (press release) all 6 news articles
BlackBerry bins Global Creative Director Alicia Keys

Chris Davies (SlashGear)
BlackBerry is splitting with "Global Creative Director" Alicia Keys, with news of the break-up just short of a year after the singer was hired to promote BlackBerry 10. The celebrity Continue reading
Man, 32, with suspected knife wounds inflicted allegedly by woman, 35, at ... - NEWS.com.au
Christian World Adoption

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Man, 32, with suspected knife wounds inflicted allegedly by woman, 35, at... NEWS.com.au A MAN is in a critical condition after he was allegedly stabbed repeatedly at a home south of
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Gillmor Gang Live 01.02.14 (TCTV)

Steve Gillmor (TechCrunch)
John Taschek, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recording live today at 1pm Gillmor Gang Robert Scoble, Pacific. find our realtime live chat h e r e h t t p : / / f r i e n d f e e d . c o m /
realtime-network/47b84c58/ gillmor-gang-recording-live-today -1pm-pt. Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/GillmorGang
Technology/
13
The Anti-Resolution: How I Stay On The Ball With Fitness All Year Long
Owen Thomas (ReadWrite)
ReadWriteBody is an ongoing series where ReadWrite covers networked fitness and the quantified self. Youre probably going to flunk out on your New Year's resolutions. So why make them?
Instead, do what I did along the way to losing 83 pounds: Stop making decisions. Make Fitness The Default I typically exercise five or more times a week. This may sound like a lot to some people, but I found that going to five times a week made a subtle psychological shift in my head. It set exercising daily as the default. Resting one
or two days a week was the exception. When something is the default, you don't have to decide to do something. You just do it. Minimizing the number of decisions you have to make will help you stay on the ball. There's a scientific reason for minimizing the decisions you have to make. It's called decision
fatigue, and its a documented phenomenon where our ability to make good decisions wears down over the course of the day. Apple cofounder Steve Jobs had this figured out: He wore the same jeans and Issey Miyake sweater every day, so he could spend his decision-making powers on what shape the iPhone should take instead.
The usual way we go about sticking to a resolution: First, we decide on a goal. Then, every day, we wake up and decide whether we're going to stick to that goal. Over time, this becomes mentally exhausting. So set up your life so that you don't have to make a series of ANTI-RESOLUTION: page 17
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Technology/
Powerful, pure Android phones

Brian Bennett (CNET News)
said, if you can forgive its lack of 4G LTE support and slower Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, this An increasing number of Google venerable smartphone still has a Play Edition phones are cropping few tricks up its sleeve. It now up including the Sony Xperia Z enjoys a recent upgrade to Ultra GPE. Android 4.4 KitKat, has always It's no secret that Android been carrier unlocked (GSM, smartphones are on the rise, HSPA), and if you can scoop up having eclipsed Apple's mighty one used for under $250, remains iPhone in terms of total market a solid buy. Read the full review share. But there are many more of the Google Nexus 4. reasons for droid fans to cheer. Sony Z Ultra Google Play First, Google's buyout of Edition: Stunningly vast display Motorola is finally beginning to meets pure Android KitKat bear tasty fruit, in the form of Sony has officially entered the sweet devices such as the Moto X Google Play Edition program with and insanely affordable Moto G. the GPE version of its Xperia Z Second is the greater number of Ultra. Tagged the Sony Z Ultra Google Play Edition devices now Google Play Edition, this gadget's available for sale, all of which run massive size shamelessly pristine versions of Google's stretches what it means to be a mobile software. And I'm not phone or tablet. With sharp 1080p merely talking about Wi-Fi tablets LCD screen that boasts a vast 6.4 here either, but honest-toinches of viewing real estate, the goodness unlocked cell phones Z Ultra GPE is a mobile mediasold directly through the Google consuming monster. It also sports Play online storefront with no the same highly dust and water strings attached. The most advanced smartphone its stunningly bright and colorful with pristine Android 4.4 KitKat. resistant design Sony's latest crop So if its the sleek metallic lines of in Google's Nexus line, the Nexus OLED display, but with squeaky- And while some may miss HTC's of Xperia phones use. Read the the HTC One GPE, the Samsung 5 runs Android KitKat driven by a c l e a n A n d r o i d 4 . 4 K i t K a t intuitive Sense interface which the full review of the Sony Z Ultra Galaxy S4 GPE's vivid OLED m u s c u l a r S n a p d r a g o n 8 0 0 software. Also part of the deal is company typically layers over GPE. Read the full review of the screen, or perhaps the tablet-like processor, plus a great-looking t h e G S 4 G P E ' s s h a r p 1 3 Android, you'll be glad to find the S o n y Z U l t r a G o o g l e P l a y (and waterproof) Sony Z Ultra 4.95-inch IPS LCD screen. All megapixel camera, removable same set of powerful stereo E d i t i o n . GPE that get your Android heart that's packed into a compact and battery, and SD Card expansion speakers here plus quality 4.7- Motorola's Moto X targets the racing, chances are there's a handsome chassis for a very slot. Read the full review of the inch LCD screen. Read the full masses Google Play Edition phone with affordable, and unlocked, price Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play review of the HTC One Google Motorola's latest flagship phone your name on it. Here's a current starting at $349. Read the full Edition. might not technically run an Play Edition. list of phones which rock the pure review of the Google Nexus 5. Gorgeous phone design meets The LG Nexus 4 arrives, but with absolutely stock image of Android power of Android. software. Its software comes close Google's Samsung Galaxy S4 in pristine Android no LTE Google Nexus 5 souped up with all its minimalistic goodness Google's special edition of the Sure, the Nexus 4 isn't the though, and born from the union Android KitKat, LTE, and low Get the extremely popular HTC One merges this phone's freshest pure-Android device POWERFUL, page 19 price. Samsung Galaxy S4, along with arresting, lovely all-metal design Google has in its arsenal. That
Technology/
15
The BBC's Social Media Problem With Sherlock

Matt Asay (ReadWrite)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:09:03 PM
I'm not an information anarchist. I don't start from the premise that all information must be free. Or even that the availability of content necessitates it being open to all on equal terms. I collect a paycheck and believe others should, too, even if it means foolishly treating digital content as if it were analog property, the way Hollywood continues to do. But there's a fundamental problem with today's digital media policies, and it hit me last night while watching the BBC's new season of Sherlock. Yes, I, an American, was watching Sherlock, which premiered last night in the U.K. but doesn't air in the U.S. on PBS until January 14. The how is not important: anyone with a free U.K. proxy server can watch U.K. content once it airs across the pond. Today I'm focusing on the why: for a show that banks so heavily on surprise, I didn't want two weeks of my U.K. friends spoiling the show by talking about it. Put in policy terms, in a world where digital communication moves faster than digital content, we have a serious mismatch, and a significant problem. Not A Question Of Free
This isn't a question of whether the BBC has a right to release its content on its terms. It does. U.K. citizens pay for Sherlock and other excellent content to be created through license fees. When I lived in the U.K., my wife and I lived in terror of the TV detector vans, which allegedly roam the U.K. seeking out people that watch TV without paying. We were guilty, albeit not intentionally. The house we were renting had left a TV for our use, and we innocently turned it on to watch The Muppets, One Man and His Dog(don't ask me why) and Champions League football. We hadn't heard about the detector vans until a month or two into our stay and then we were warned that even if we put the TV out in the shed and didn't use it, the vans would still find us and make us pay. Big Brother, anyone? Anyway, the point is that people in the U.K. do pay for Sherlock, albeit not in any targeted sense of someone buying a ticket to see that show or even that channel. When Sherlock airs in the U.S., it will show on PBS, paid for by the government, corporate donations and other donations. While advertising has been introduced in the past two years, PBS is still mostly a public good and doesn't require that anyone pay for cable
or satellite TV. So even though my British friends pay through a TV tax, I can watch Sherlock completely for free. Yet this still doesn't make Sherlock"free" for the taking. Whether a matter of legal obligation (one of the BBC's requirements may be that its content must always have a period
of exclusivity in the U.K.) or otherwise, it's the BBC's content and it can choose how to distribute it. It's A Matter Of Conversation But the BBC cannot stop how we choose to talk about its programming and therein lies the problem. We no longer live in a world
where it takes months or weeks to travel across national borders, or where communication takes place between two people on either end of an analog phone line. With the explosion of social media, conversations happen across borders in real-time between crowds of people. And what do they talk about? Largely movies and music, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey(see chart to the right). Which means, of course, that for the next two weeks every Sherlock fan outside the U.K. must be on red alert for spoilers whenever they get on Twitter, Facebook or other social media. Or it means they need to get a U.K. proxy server and watch Sherlock now. Two weeks is not big deal, right? "First world problem," you say. And you're right. With Downton Abbey, the time delay is six months, but still no one is going to lose sleep over such an issue. Follow The Money And yet it should matter greatly to the media companies. Spoiled content turns into unwatched content which turns into less money. Synchronizing content watching with content communication thus becomes a BBC'S page 18
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Technology/
What to do about Snowden: The NY Times gets it right

Charles Cooper (CNET News)
Edward Snowden.(Credit: Laura Poitras/The Guardian/Screenshot by CNET) Edward Snowden is not the second coming of Kim Philby. Not even close. This fugitive NSA whistleblower did break the law, but that doesn't explain why so many still insist that the US government treat him like the notorious Cold War double-agent who betrayed his country's secrets to the Soviets. This morning's longoverdue New York Times editorial calling for clemency for Snowden, whose leaks revealed the stunning extent of the modern surveillance state, may suggest that the stale conversation in Official Washington about what to do about Snowden is starting to change. Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. That's the crux. Snowden, who still sits on a trove of documents that the government obviously doesn't want publicized, remains on the lam because he's
understandably afraid of serving a long prison sentence should he return to the US. And as long as he can reach places like China or Russia, which will summarily ignore extradition demands, the stalemate will continue. Unfortunately, the increasingly barren debate over Snowden has led nowhere since he revealed himself last June as the person who leaked secret NSA documents to The Washington
Post and Guardian. The folks baying for Snowden's head will never forgive his original sin, but had he not revealed state secrets, we likely would still be in the dark about the massive extent of government snooping. I think the guy deserves a medal, but even if you disagree, he deserves more leniency from the US. Related stories Contrast that with Philby, a turncoat British intelligence officer whose years of espionage
had a hand in sending many agents to their deaths. That's the sort of behavior which ought to invite a stern response. Now, compare that with Snowden's motivations -- and yes, motive does count for a lot. "I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself," Snowden said in a recent interview with the Post. I know. That's not going to mollify critics, like Business
Insider's Josh Barro, who claim a clemency deal would set a "terrible precedent." At some point, though, we've got to break out of this endless loop. As the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf smartly points out, no less than our first president, George Washington, granted a pardon to the farmers who violently protested a tax on whiskey. "He WHAT page 19
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ANTI-RESOLUTION:
good decisions. If you plan ahead, youve already made up your mind. Use Apps As A Safety Belt How do you manage this? The best tool is already close at hand: Use your smartphone. A basic calendar app is your best friend here. If youve resolved to exercise, block out time in your schedule. Figure out when you need to wake up, how long it takes to go from home to gym to work, and plot it all out. Then you'll never need to decide if you have time to exercise. What are you going to do at the gym? More decisions to make. Here's how to avoid them: Use a workout tracker like GymGoal to set up a schedule in advance, or if you're the more spontaneous type, use a workout generator. Then set up prompts and reminders. Pact, the app formerly known as GymPact, charges you if you miss a workout and pays you if you stick to your schedule. Lift is another good way to remind yourself of what you had planned, if you prefer the psychic rewards of checking things off lists. Most people use MyFitnessPal, a nutrition-tracking app, to log food as they eat it. But a cleverer way to take advantage of MyFitnessPal is to plan your meals in advance, to make sure they meet your
targets. MyFitnessPals extensive food database does the calculations for you. Again, this lets you avoid deciding what to eat, since you've set it all up for the day. When you head to the store, use a shopping list. Remember The Milk is a classic app for this job. If it's not on the list, you don't buy itno willpower necessary. Grocery aisles and checkout lines are designed for impulse buys, though. If the store is just too tempting, then use a delivery service to bring just what you ordered to your door. (Big grocery chains like Safeway do home delivery, and Amazon and Google as well as startups like Instacart and Postmates have gotten into the delivery business, too.) Get Some HelpAnd Change Your Mind Push notifications only go so far in motivating you. Sometimes you need help from a friend. Ive written about the trend towards coaching as a feature in fitness apps. Services like Fitocracy and Social Workout let you join group challenges. Or you can just turn to social networks for encouragement from your friends. Visualize yourself as a person who exercises and eats well. The key in signing up for group challenges or coaching is setting
expectations, for yourself and your friends or supporters. Ive written before about the idea of integrated regulation, where you stick to a behavior because it fits with your self-image. If you think of yourself as a runner, you'll go running. If you think of yourself as someone who eats healthy foods, you'll do that. If you dont create this system of integrated regulation, where your actions reflect your self-image, you're left with the hard work of constantly making decisionsdecisions that may not mesh with how you perceive yourself. Here, too, I think your smartphone can help. Take selfies when you exercise: That reinforces the idea that youre a person who exercises. (Believe it or not, there's an Instagram for exercise, called FitSnap, that lets you add workout stats to your photos.) Whatever you do, don't try to make a bunch of decisions on your way to fitness. Just make one decisionthat fitness is not something youre going to debate with yourself. Its just who you are.
Shopify Revamps Its iOS App With A Focus On Payments And Store Management
Darrell Etherington (TechCrunch)
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Shopify clients, and management of Shopify POS, too, for customers who are also using Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:29:33 PM their brick-and-mortar sales Ottawa-based ecommerce player solution. Shopify introduced a totally New for online merchants are redesigned version of its iOS notifications of each new order as mobile app today, with a new core they come in, as well as the ability concept that focuses on helping to dispatch shipping notifications, merchants do more to manage and and total control over inventory run their stores from their devices. management so that you can snap And in keeping with their new product photos with your iPhone, strategy post-gigantic raise, the delete old ones and more. The company is looking to help both Shopify POS companion features online and offline retailers in one let you make changes to your package with the new app. inventory and pricing, too, and T h e n e w a p p c o m e s w i t h with the help of the card reader, it payment powers, so that you can doubles as another register in use Shopifys free, Square-like addition to the existing iPad-based reader to collect funds from software. customers and complete sales in Shopify obviously isnt resting person. Its restricted to U.S. on its laurels after its big raise and merchants only for now, but the valuation of $1 billion, both company says more regions will announced at the end of 2013. gain access to the device later on. This is its first product launch of Along with that, theres also total 2014, but it definitely wont be store management for online the last, the company says.
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Technology/
Audi announcing Android deal at CES 2014

Wayne Cunningham (CNET News)
Audi currently integrates Google Earth into its navigation system, and is rumored to be working on Android adoption. As previously reported on CNET, Audi and Google are expected to announce a partnership at the upcoming CES 2014 in Las Vegas concerning the use of the Android operating system as an infotainment platform in vehicles. In past years, Audi has used CES to show off its high-tech development, from the first look at the new dashboard and infotainment system for the Audi A3 to last year's display of components to enable autonomous vehicles. Although Audi issued a press release about its new, Laserlight concept car it will unveil during CES 2014, the expected Android announcement will probably not be accompanied by a live demonstration. Audi's current partnership with Google integrates Google Earth satellite imagery and Street View into Audi navigation systems. And while Audi's current
infotainment software is mature and well-developed, the company lacks much in the way of branded app integration. Adopting an Android OS in the dashboard would make app integration easier. This version of Android would likely bear little resemblance to that found on phones and tablets, as Audi would need to keep tight control over which apps could be installed to avoid liability issues.
Likewise, Audi would want to make sure any apps installed in the car meet quality requirements. Audi would probably not swap its interface controller for a touchscreen with the adoption of Android. It is also quite possible that the actual interface would not change from current Audi vehicles. Audi has spent a lot of effort developing its Multimedia Interface controller and associated
touchpad. Audi's cabin design would not be conducive to a touchscreen interface. None of this development signals better or worse integration with the type of phone a driver brings into the vehicle. Audi will want to remain agnostic towards a driver's preferred phone. Much of Audi's infotainment development occurs at the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory near San Francisco,
which enables close cooperation with Google. Current Audi models include a dedicated mobile data connection, used for Google Earth imagery and other connected information sources. Audi announced during last year's Los Angeles auto show that it would include 4G/LTE connectivity built into the new A3 model. Any Audi vehicle using the new Android system will probably not being hitting the road for more than a year. The A3 is Audi's biggest new launch in the U.S., and it uses software already developed and proven. The A4 is due for an update, but development on that model must be well underway by now. The larger models, the A6, A7, and A8 would likely better coincide with a major infotainment software update in 2015. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
BBC'S
very big deal for both viewers and creators. Personally, I don't want information to be free. Not entertainment content, anyway. I want to pay for it. But I don't want
to pay for something that has been do so. spoiled by hearing about it Lede image courtesy of the BBC. months before I'm able to see it. And for the content creators, they shouldn't want me to wait, either. It's not in their financial interest to
Technology/
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WHAT
POWERFUL,
wouldn't have granted those pardons had he thought that he was making a radical case against the legitimacy of the US government or setting a precedent for anti-tax insurrections," Friedersdorf writes. Unfortunately, the precedent argument often gets trotted out as a substitute for creative thinking. I suppose the government can hew to the "my way or the highway" position indefinitely, and that would mean Snowden lives out the rest of his years as a fugitive. Again, we need some context. This is nothing like a Kim Philby situation, and the argument that a plea bargain "or some form of clemency" as the Times puts it, would set off waves of similar intelligence leaks just is not credible. It's time to let him come home.
I'll let The New York Times have the last word: "It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
iPhone 5s available at Best Buy for $125 through January 4

Yoni Heisler (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog RSS Feed)
Though the holiday shopping season is behind us, there are still great deals to be had on Apple products. On that note, one of the best Apple deals I've seen in a while comes courtesy of Best Buy where you can pick up a 16 GB
iPhone 5S for just ...
of Motorola and its fresh Google corporate masters, the Moto X enjoys timely Android upgrades not to mention a bevy of unique enhancements including Active Display notifications, quick launch camera, and premium design. Read the full review of the Motorola Moto X. Motorola Moto G: An unlocked budget Android deal If you want Android for a ridiculously affordable yet unlocked and unsubsidized price, the Motorola Moto G is your ticket. Compact and well-crafted, the Moto G comes packing Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box with a promise of a fresh update to KitKat around the corner. Best of all the Moto G starts at the rock-bottom asking Matthew Panzarino and the idle consumption rates price of $179. Read the full (TechCrunch) were up around 133.7w on 100v, review of the Motorola Moto G. with the new unit coming in at This entry passed through the Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:15:19 PM Full-Text RSS service if this is just 43w. Apple has today released its It also uses less materials over your content and you're reading it environmental report for its new all, which isnt too surprising on someone else's site, please read Mac Pro machine, which details given that its a ton smaller. The the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentsome fairly large savings on new Mac Pro uses 74% less only/faq.php#publishers. power and raw materials. The new aluminum than the previous device also earns a gold rating v e r s i o n a n d t h e p a c k a g i n g from the EPEAT, but that isnt consumes 82% less volume and too surprising as Apple has weighs 84% less than the older helped the organization rethink version. Apple says that this lets how it evaluates products. 3x more units fit in one airline Despite that retooling, however, shipping container. the new Mac Pro still puts up Our own Darrell Etherington s o m e i m p r e s s i v e g a i n s i n reviewed Apples new machine efficiency. For one, it uses 68% late last month and found it an less power than the previous impressive and powerful beast. generation Mac Pro when at idle. The full report is here ( PDF). We looked up last years model
Apples New Mac Pro Uses 74% Less Aluminum, 68% Less Power And 84% Lighter Packaging
20
Technology/
How to spot a fake image on Twitter

Victoria Turk
Study: body mapping reveals emotions are felt in the same way across cultures
Liat Clark
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:16:00 AM
A team of biomedical engineers has mapped the bodily reactions to emotions in 700 individuals and found that patterns were the same, whether the candidate was from Western Europe or East Asia. The study, carried out by a team from Finland, relies on descriptive feedback provided by candidates from Finland, Sweden and Taiwan. Brain mapping or external sensors could have been used to measure neurological changes and physiological outputs such as sweat and body
temperature, but by providing subjects with two silhouettes of the human body and asking them to point out exactly where they felt activity increasing or decreasing, the team could gather intimate data otherwise impossible. It does, of course, mean the study relies on candidates self-assessing accurately and without bias. However, the correlations that arose across cultural and linguistic boundaries provide a strong argument that the subjects did indeed report without bias. By: Liat Clark, Continue reading...
Awkward moments from the future of computing

Russell M Davies
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:00:00 AM
everybody's happy or everybody's dead. We want to hear a big story. Technological development is a So when a new technology hoves steady and predictable march -- into view we need someone to roll things get smaller, quicker, better. out that map for us. Show us The path we've taken is the only what's predestined, tell us what's obvious one. Two-hundred and going to happen. What behaviours forty volts. MP3s. PDFs. They are will emerge? Who will be the naturally occurring phenomena. winners? Will we finally get pills They're just there, part of the instead of food? ineluctable unfolding of history. By: Russell M Davies, Continue That's perhaps why technology reading... narratives tend towards the extremes -- utopia or dystopia,
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:00:00 PM
When hurricane Sandy hit the US east coast, fake images quickly went viral. To help spot fakes, researchers at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, applied a machine learning system to tweets that contained an image URL and the words "hurricane" and "sandy". The algorithm did not analyse the images, but used data in the tweets to classify them. The study's lead author Aditi Gupta and her PhD advisor Ponnurangam Kumaraguru explain how. By: Victoria Turk, Continue reading...
Technology/ Policy/ Economy/ Sports/
21
How to: Disabling iTunes song notifications

Erica Sadun (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog RSS Feed)
Was it only a year or two ago that we posted instructions on how to add "what's playing" notifications to iTunes? These days, we're
fielding requests on how to turn the darn notifications off. Yesterday, our own Ilene H was Chris Burns (SlashGear) haunting the TUAW back ...
CoinYe West is the newest Bitcoin, destroyed in one day

Users of the crypto-currency called Bitcoin have some competition out in the wild this week in the artist-inspired CoinYe West. This currency, while lovely to look at, will likely never Continue reading
Nimblstand: Making the Apple Wireless Keyboard even more useful

Steven Sande (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog RSS Feed)
The Apple Wireless Keyboard is great for use with a Mac, with long battery life, a great key feel and a compact size that makes it unobtrusive on a desktop. So why not use it with your iPhone or iPad? Unless you have some way
Donate to World Vision
One Incredible Chart That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

Joe Weisenthal (Markets)
to prop up the device ...
Lovie Smith The Future of the Military is finalizes deal as Robots Building Robots - By coach Aaron Martin and Ben FitzGerald Buccaneers (Sports News Headlines AARON MARTIN, BEN FITZGERALD (Foreign Policy)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:38:25 AM
Want to feel good about the longterm direction of the world? Try out this chart from Mark Perry: The chart ends a few years ago, noreply@blogger.com (Ad but the trend is clear and has ServeRSS) (AdServRSS Feed) almost certainly continued, even Your gift to provide seeds, tools, with the economic downturn. The and training will be multiplied 4 rise of China and India have been times by grant funds, and can huge drivers of this trend. mean the difference between life And that's not all the good news lately. As Bill Gates wrote in an and death for hungry children. end-of-year blog post, the last couple of years has seen further strides on big picture ailments like HIV infections and child mortality. Join the conversation about this story
Why tomorrow's arsenal can't be created with the tools of the past.
Yahoo! News)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Buccaneers say Lovie Smith is the ideal man to coach Tampa Bay.
22
Policy/
The Future of the Military is Robots Building Robots - By Aaron Martin and Ben FitzGerald
AARON MARTIN, BEN FITZGERALD (Foreign Policy)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:38:25 AM
From the B-2 bomber to the M1 Abrams tank, the United States has for decades developed, built, and fielded the most advanced and capable weapon systems in the world. That's changing because of declining budgets, emerging technologies, and global competition from rising powers like China. Today, for the first time in recent history, the Pentagon is in danger of losing its vast technological advantages over potential adversaries. And the evolution of the Air Force's most recent warplane provides a cautionary tale of what may lay in store. The development of the F-22 -- a next-generation fighter with advanced stealth and electronic warfare capabilities -- took 22 years and cost, in constant dollars, roughly 60 percent more than the Manhattan Project. Building each aircraft also took several years, and today, with production complete, the U.S. Air Force has roughly 187 F-22s. The aircraft is expected to stay in service through the 2040s, up to 66 years after engineers first began
developing the plane. By comparison, the development of the F-4 in the late 1950s took about 6 years and cost nearly 95 percent less, in constant dollars, than the F-22. Of course, there is really no comparison between the quality of an F-22 and an F-4 -- they operate in different eras and face different threats. There is also no comparison between an F-22 and most current combat aircraft around the world. A recent RAND study anticipates an "exchange ratio" wherein the United States would down 27 adversary aircraft for each F-22 lost in combat. However, with such a small fleet, each aircraft becomes increasingly valuable. And in some operations, the loss of even one aircraft could turn into a public relations or strategic victory for an adversary - even if that enemy cannot defeat U.S. forces outright. We don't need to accept this situation as our future. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, argues the value of " payloads over platforms." Given the time and cost issues of developing platforms like aircraft and ships we should instead focus our innovation efforts on the equipment they carry like
weapons, sensors, and communication gear. Admiral Greenert makes a valid case, but what if the process used for aircraft design, production, and fielding could provide us similar flexibility and innovation? Taking an approach of process over platforms could maintain U.S. advantage by building unmanned aircraft using short development cycles and accelerated production schedules that would lower both the overall cost of the program and the cost of building each individual aircraft. A fleet of such aircraft could be developed and produced adaptively, changing and growing to address threats as they emerge. A vision for this approach involves using advanced manufacturing technologies, including 3-D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) and integrated robotic assembly, to rapidly produce unmanned aircraft systems. Making that vision a reality will mean using digital technology -- data files for the production of aircraft components, software-driven assembly using robotic builders, and computerized remote piloting -- to generate a paradigm shift in the development of combat
aircraft. The ability to produce unmanned aircraft more quickly and add new capabilities rapidly will unleash the potential of these systems. 3-D printing was formerly a technology reserved for building prototypes and models, like machine tools or topographic models; but recent advances, including the ability to produce higher-quality products using a variety of materials, are opening entirely new frontiers in rapid design and production. The technology has the potential to reduce the amount of time and money that go into producing new aircraft. All defense contractors that build U.S. military aircraft currently use 3-D printing to a modest extent, but a significant expansion of these efforts could see production move from parts to entire systems. Robotic assembly is neither new nor unique to manufacturing. Car companies like Toyota and General Motors have extensively used robotic assembly for flexible manufacturing for years. Using this type of automated assembly to build planes would mean they could be finished in weeks or months -- not years. In a crisis, robotic assembly would also
allow contractors to build more aircraft in a hurry: instead of training highly skilled workers to man additional shifts or facilities, an automated assembly line could operate around the clock when needed with reduced manpower. Unmanned aircraft have proven to be a game changer in recent military operations because they can stay in the air longer than human-piloted aircraft and cost far less to use. Newer generations of unmanned aircraft will be able to fly further, take off from aircraft carriers, and fight alongside F-22s and F-35s. And they'll be able to fly themselves so effectively that human operators can be trained faster and potentially fly multiple aircraft simultaneously. Using automated production lines to build unmanned aircraft would allow defense contractors to move new aircraft models from development to production to operation faster and more cheaply than is possible today. That would allow us to experiment with a variety of unmanned aircraft, from a model that specializes in aerial combat to, say, a model focused on suppression of enemy FUTURE page 23
Economy/ Culture/ Featured/
23
FUTURE
air defenses -- even though some wouldn't make it to large-scale production. Rather than trying to predict combat needs 50 years in the future, planners would focus on near-term, clearer needs. We would build aircraft that last just 5 or 7 years, not 40 or even 70, and the military could update new models quickly, with improvements in communications or electronic warfare. In times of peace, that would keep potential adversaries guessing about what the Pentagon was actually moving into wide-scale production. During times of war, we could take the best prototypes and build whole fleets faster and cheaper
than could be done today. The current acquisition process is optimized for 20th-century threats, and therefore is not suited for the rapid pace of technological change that we now face. Digital, adaptable, and automated production can take advantage of rapid change, and would force adversaries to try to be more innovative and fast-paced, an inherently cost-imposing strategy. That would be more valuable than any one-weapon system. Unmanned combat aircraft and advanced 3-D printing haven't fully arrived, but they're not as far away as many people think. More importantly, experimenting with
these technologies could significantly change the national security dynamic. Now is the time to change the game -- if we don't, someone else will. Official U.S. Air Force / Flickr Creative Commons This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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The wrist reaper: Watch counts down your remaining seconds [video]
Kate Rinsema (Holy Kaw!)
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distract yourself from the mortality reminder youre Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:49:06 PM wearing on your wrist. Most people wouldnt dub a The actual time is also displayed, watch that counts down your so it isnt all about death, but r e m a i n i n g s e c o n d s T h e were not sure engraving Carpe Happiness Watch, buy, hey, the diem wouldnt accomplish the magics in the marketing, right? same thing without the awkward Using an algorithm, the makers conversations that are bound to of the Tikker estimate how much ensue. time remains on your personal To each his or her own, though. clock so that you can make the Full story at Kickstarter via NPR. most of each second, loving, Death tech. living, and otherwise trying to
Barnes Podcast: 2014 Is the Year of Obamacare

TWS Podcast (The Weekly Standard)
podcast, with executive editor Fred Barnes on why Obamacare will remain a major issue in 2014.
The WEEKLY STANDARD
24
Economy/
Eurozone Manufacturing Expands Except in France and Greece; Hollande Concedes Taxes 'Too Heavy' Offending Everyone
noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
signalling contraction for the twenty-second successive month. Chief Economist Comment Markit Chief Economist Chris Submitted at 1/2/2014 2:47:00 PM Eurozone manufacturing is at a Williamson 31-month high according to "While Germany, Italy and Spain Markit. Every country but France are seeing the strongest output and Greece are expanding. French growth since early - 2011, buoyed manufacturing is at a seven-month to varying degrees by improved low in an intensified downturn. export sales, France is seeing a The seasonally adjusted Markit steepening downturn, in part the Eurozone Manufacturing PMI result of widening export losses. rose for the third month running T h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t to post 52.7 in December, up from competitiveness is a key issue 5 1 . 6 i n N o v e m b e r ( a n d which the French manufacturing unchanged from the earlier flash sector needs to address to catch up estimate). with its peers." Hollande The latest improvement in overall Concedes Taxes 'Too Heavy' o p e r a t i n g c o n d i t i o n s w a s Offending Everyone underpinned by solid and French president Franois a c c e l e r a t e d g r o w t h i n t h e Hollande rang the bell on the new Netherlands, Germany, Ireland year the same way he rang the and Italy, while Austria continued bell throughout 2013, with an to expand at a robust clip despite economic as well as public the rate of increase easing slightly relations gaffe. since November. Meanwhile the His vague promise of lower taxes Spanish PMI moved back into coupled with an admission on expansion territory. There was national TV that taxes are too even relatively positive news from h i g h , i n f u r i a t e d F r e n c h Greece, where higher levels of households facing tax rises now, output and new orders elevated its at the start of the year. PMI to a 52-month high and close The Telegraph explains Franois to the 50.0 stabilisation point. Hollande concedes taxes 'too France moved in the opposite heavy' in admission that annoys direction, however, with its PMI all sides in France. A New Year's falling to a seven - month low and message from Franois Hollande
backfired as his vague promise that taxes would be lowered some time in the future jarred with French voters facing tax increases that took effect as he was speaking. Instead of winning plaudits for his unexpected admission that taxes had become "too heavy, much too heavy", the unpopular socialist president - weakened by tax increases, rising unemployment and a shrinking economy - provoked incredulity and scepticism among critics on both Left and Right. Hard-pressed French households faced VAT increases on most goods and services from Jan 1 and
only days earlier France's supreme court had upheld a new 75 per cent supertax on high-paying companies. Mr Hollande made his televised address in front of a virtual background, an image of the Elyse Palace, which provoked a flood of comments on Twitter comparing his appearance with that of a Soviet leader of the 1970s. He offered companies a "responsibility pact", which he defined as the possibility of "lower labour charges and fewer restrictions on their activity in return for hiring more workers and more dialogue with trade
unions". But he gave no details about which restrictions might be lifted or how he would reduce the high social security charges and payroll taxes that leave French companies with some of the lowest profit margins in Europe. His proposal came days after France's highest court approved his controversial 75 per cent "supertax" to be paid by companies on annual salaries exceeding 1 million. Mr Hollande's proposal immediately came under attack from the left wing of his Socialist Party. Marie-Nolle Lienemann, a Socialist senator, said: "This is not the time to offer companies incentives when ordinary people are struggling. It has to be balanced with measures to help them." She complained that households would be hard hit by an increase in the standard rate of VAT from 19.6 per cent to 20 per cent yesterday, with an intermediate rate increased from seven to 10 per cent. Bernard Accoyer, a centre-right MP, said his message was "a litany of his failures in 19 months EUROZONE page 26
Economy/
25
US Manufacturing PMI Shows Solid Expansion, Led by Large Companies; Expect "Measured Pace" Tapering
noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
panel generally reflect a solid final month of the year, capping off the second half of 2013, which was characterized by continuous Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:09:00 PM Both the ISM Report and the g r o w t h a n d m o m e n t u m i n M a r k i t P M I r e p o r t s h o w manufacturing." Markit: Here is a strengthening US manufacturing. l o o k a t t h e M a r k i t U S ISM: The December 2013 M a n u f a c t u r i n g P M I . Manufacturing ISM Report On Key Points Business shows Economic activity in the manufacturing PMI rises to 11 - month high, sector expanded in December for indicating solid improvement in the seventh consecutive month. business conditions " T h e P M I r e g i s t e r e d 5 7 Output supported by strong percent, the second highest increase in new orders reading for the year, just 0.3 Employment growth quickens p e r c e n t a g e p o i n t b e l o w to nine - month high November's reading of 57.3 Input price pressures intensifies percent. The New Orders Index increased in December by 0.6 Summary percentage point to 64.2 percent, Business conditions in the U.S. which is its highest reading since manufacturing sector improved at April 2010 when it registered 65.1 the fastest rate since January, percent. The Employment Index according to the final December registered 56.9 percent, an M a r k i t U . S . M a n u f a c t u r i n g increase of 0.4 percentage point Purchasing Managers Index compared to November's reading (PMI). At 55.0, up from 54.7 in of 56.5 percent. December's November and above the earlier employment reading is the highest flash estimate of 54.4, the PMI since June 2011 when the indicated a solid rate of Employment Index registered 59 e x p a n s i o n . percent. Comments from the Production in the series average
and the fastest since March 2012. All three market groups (consumer, intermediate and investment) posted higher levels of output in December, with manufacturers of investment goods posting the fastest rate of increase. Manufacturing Output Company size analysis Large manufacturers (more than 500 employees) reported a marked rise in output during
December. This generally reflected a sharp increase in new business , with the rate of new order growth the joint - fastest since late - 2009. In contrast, new order growth was only modest at small manufacturers (less than 100 employees), with new export work having fallen since November."Measured Pace" Tapering The consensus will start looking for additional Fed tapering,
perhaps at an accelerated pace. I expect tapering at a " measured" pace (small) accompanied by dovish statements from the Fed. When the economy slides, tapering will halt. Recall that Alan Greenspan used the term " measured pace" when he started hiking rates after the 2001 recession. Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com /account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
26
Economy/ Finance/
New York Declares State Of Emergency Ahead Of Nor'easter Snowstorm

Tyler Durden (Zero Hedge)
EUROZONE
Authorities are prepping hundreds of plows and tons of Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:09:58 PM salt, shutting down highways and A day after the new NYC mayor making contingency plans for was sworn in, it looks like he will mass transportation as a powerful be busy digging his brand new nor'easter that is expected to city from under "blizzardlike" dump up to 10 inches of snow on conditions including 5-6 inches of parts of the tri-state area and bring snow, which it seems are enough caustic 25-mph winds bears down for New York governor Andrew on the East Coast. Cuomo to declare... A blizzard warning is in effect Statewide state of emergency for Long Island, and winter storm declared --> stay off the roads if warnings are in effect for most of y o u the tri-state through Friday can#blizzard#StormWatch#NYS morning and hundreds of flights Andrew C u o m o at the region's three primary (@NYGovCuomo) January 2, airports were canceled by mid2014 afternoon Thursday. A winter The road closures are already storm watch is in effect for central known: New Jersey and points south. At midnight tonight the#LIE, 87Flurries began falling late S and I-84 will be closed until W e d n e s d a y i n t o T h u r s d a y , 5AM#blizzard#winterstorm leaving a light dusting of snow on Andrew C u o m o roads and walkways for the first (@NYGovCuomo) January 2, c o m m u t e o f t h e n e w y e a r . 2014 Forecasters say snowfall will Finally, some details on what to become heavier and steadier expect: Thursday evening into Friday,
accompanied by plunging temperatures and whipping winds that will make it feel like 10 degrees below zero in some spots overnight. Gov. Cuomo has already announced the Long Island Expressway will be shut down at midnight within Nassau and Suffolk. The Queens section of the L.I.E. will remain open. Route 87 south of Albany will also be closed, and all of Route 84 will be shut down. The roads will be reopened at 5 a.m., if conditions allow. In New York City, 6 to 8 inches of fluffy snow are expected by Friday morning, and 8 to 10 inches of snow are possible north and west of the city and Long Island. Three to 6 inches are expected to fall in central and southern New Jersey. The snowfall will combine with winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour to create possible white-out conditions, severely hampering
Can Greece repair its reputation?

Colin Freeman (Finance News Business news from the UK and world)
as president" and added: "He admitted that he underestimated the crisis, raised taxes and charges on companies too high and failed to make the necessary cuts in public spending." Vague Promises, Nonsensical Proposal Hollande offers a "possibility" of lower taxes and labor charges IF visibility late Thursday into businesses expand hiring and Friday, particularly in areas negotiate more with unions. e x p e c t e d t o s e e m o r e What business would accept that accumulation. Drivers are urged nonsensical proposal? Given the to stay off the roads after proposal was accompanied by an admission "taxes are too heavy, Thursday afternoon. The winds will cause the snow to much too heavy", it's no wonder drift onto roads, and the frigid everyone was offended. temperatures will prevent any It's also no wonder France is melting, which could make for going the opposite of the rest of dangerously slick roads for the eurozone. But the rest of the Friday's morning commute. eurozone is not out of the woods Mass transit is a "prudent option, yet. No structural problems have given that highways may be been fixed anywhere. closed," Gov. Andrew Cuomo Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Average: globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. Your rating: None Average: 5( 1 com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor vote) This entry passed through the representative for SitkaPacific Full-Text RSS service if this is C a p i t a l M a n a g e m e n t . S i t k a your content and you're reading it Pacific is an asset management on someone else's site, please read f i r m w h o s e g o a l i s s t r o n g the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. only/faq.php#publishers. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com /account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
Colin Freeman asks whether beleaguered Greece is fit to take over the EU presidency
Economy/ Culture/
27
STOCKS TUMBLE: Here's What You Need To Know (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ)
Sam Ro (Markets)
orders is particularly encouraging, because it is a forward-looking component of the index, and it U.S. markets ended 2013 at a suggests that the headline will be record high. And today, they able to sustain readings near started 2014 in the red. recent levels in the near term," First, the scoreboard: said Deustche Bank's Carl Dow: 16,441.6 (-135.0, -0.8%) Riccadonna. "The resilience of the S&P 500: 1,831.9 (-16.3, - manufacturing ISM provides 0.8%) important corroboration that the Nasdaq: 4,143.0 (-33.5, -0.8%) economy is not slowing sharply in response to the large Q3 inventory And now the top stories: build." So, stocks sold off today. But Weekly unemployment even famously bullish strategists, insurance claims fell to 339,000 like Nuveen's Bob Doll, have from 341,000 a week ago. While predicted that stocks could fall t h e n u m b e r w a s w e l c o m e , sharply before ending the year economists continue to warn higher. against taking the recent numbers The ISM manufacturing survey s e r i o u s l y d u e s o m e r e c e n t index fell to 57.0 during the technical distortions."While the month from 57.3 in November. Labor Department noted nothing T h e e m p l o y m e n t s u b - i n d e x unusual in last weeks claims climbed to 56.9, the highest figures, volatile seasonal factors reading since June 2011. The new c o n t i n u e t o o b s c u r e t h e orders sub-index jumped to 64.2, underlying trend in the claims the highest reading since April figures, which we believe remains 2010. "The strength in ISM new in the 315K-335K range," said
TD Securities' Gennadiy Goldberg. " The 4 week moving average of initial claims saw a notable move away from this range, jumping to 357K from 349K last week as the average now captures the seasonal volatility seen in the series over
the past several weeks. We therefore believe that claims remain largely worth discounting until seasonal volatility begins to abate later this month." Construction spending increased by 1% month-overmonth in November, which was
stronger than the 0.6% increase expected by economists. Previous months' numbers were also revised up sharply. However, Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson warns against taking the latest numbers too seriously because revisions have indeed been large. "[T]hese data are published far too early and are therefore deeply unreliable," said Shepherdson. But assuming the construction data is accurate, it's a good sign for growth. After the report, Barclays' raised its Q4 GDP growth tracking estimate to +2.9% from an earlier estimate of +2.8%. Don't Miss: 36 Crazy Things That Only Happen In China Join the conversation about this story
What Are Your New Year's Resolutions?

Walter Glenn (Lifehacker)
Most New Year's resolutions are
doomed to fail because they're too unrealistic. Fortunately, there's a science to it that you can use to your advantage. And hey, if you
don't want to put in that much
effort, why not just pick resolutions that are easier to keep? So, tell us: what resolutions did you make?
Read more...
28
Economy/ Sports/
Trading The Technicals: Bond Bears Beware Of "Defensive Posture"

The combination of impulsive gains and corrective weakness from the late October lows at 78.99, repeated failure to hold a break of 79.95/79.82 area support and now bullish seasonals (January is the strongest month of the year for the US $ Index) all tell BofAML's Macneil Curry that the US Dollar Index is headed higher. While he remains a longterm Treasury bear, Curry warns bond bears to take a wait-and-see approach and fears a "defensive posture" may correct bond yields and stock prices lower. Via BofAML, Bullish US $ Index as 2014 starts. We remain US $ Index bulls. The combination of impulsive gains and corrective weakness from the late October lows at 78.99, repeated failure to hold a break of 79.95/79.82 area support and now bullish seasonals (January is the strongest month of the year for the US $ Index) all
adopt a more defensive posture and ESH4 enters into a near-term correction within the larger bull trend. Bigger picture, ESH4 bears need a break of 1768.25/1754 to gain control. Gold weakness to continue Despite the rally in the US $, gold has proven to be very resilient. However, stay bearish against 1251/1270. Against here, the downtrend remains on firm footing for a test and break of the Jun lows at 1180, opening LONGTERM PIVOTAL SUPPORT BETWEEN 1127/1087 Average: Your rating: None Average: 3.7( say the US $ Index is headed w h i c h w o u l d c o m p l e t e a n Apr10/Jul12 decline and early 3 votes) higher. irregular Double Top formation. Sept. highs), we are NEUTRAL, This entry passed through the A closing break of 80.66/080.83 US Treasury yields trying to taking a wait-and-see approach. Full-Text RSS service if this is confirms (100d and Dec-20 high), break out, but watch the S&P500 Indeed, the risk for a near-term your content and you're reading it opening the Nov highs at 81.48, We have been and remain long- and, potentially, medium-term on someone else's site, please read ahead of 82.67 and beyond. term US Treasury bears, with yield top and turn lower is quite the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentFurther supportive of a higher US 10yr yields targeting 3.17%/ high. Watch 2.970%/2.965% only/faq.php#publishers. $ would be a /$ close below 3.30% and, eventually, 3.45%/ resistance AND ESH4 support at 1.6474 (Dec-31 low), which 3.50%. HOWEVER, right here, 1833.50/1824.50. Through these w o u l d r e s u l t i n a B e a r i s h with 10yr yields struggling to levels would say that 10yr yields Engulfing Candle, and a /$ close maintain the break of 3.00%/ have formed a near-term top and below the Dec-20 low of 1.3625, 3.012% support (61.8% of the bullish turn in trend, as investors
Lovie Smith takes over as Buccaneers head coach

(Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News)
(Reuters) - Former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith has taken over as head coach of the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a five-
year contract, the National Football League (NFL) team announced on Thursday. Smith, who was linebackers coach at
Tampa Bay from 1996 to 2000 as two mediocre seasons in charge. part of Tony Dungy's initial staff, replaces Greg Schiano, who was fired by the club on Monday after
Economy/ Culture/ Finance/
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Stocks Have Worst Start To Year Since 2008

Despite the best efforts of 330RAMP CAPITAL, US equity indices ended the first trading day of the year with the biggest loss (on that day) since 2008. Led by weakness in the high-beta indices as Trannies tumbled their most in 4 months and the S&P's biggest daily downswing in over 3 weeks. On a side-note, gas prices have never been this high on the first day of the year. VIX closed higher once again as stocks began to catch down to it's recent warnings. Bonds rallied from the open this morning (with 10Y 6bps lower in yield from its opening print) with 10Y back under 3%. EUR weakness drove the USD higher (but JPY strength weighed on stocks). The biggest moves appeared in commodities with gold and silver up nicely and WTI
crude down hard... on, and TWTR was up over 6%! Gas prices have never been higher on the first day of the year... Stocks were spanked from the panic-buying highs of New Year's Eve...Notably, the major selling pressure ended when Europe closed. Did we really see a
week but it seems the EUR repatriation filled its year-end liquidity needs and is now unwinding (on European bond's best day in over a year!!) Charts: Bloomberg Bonus Chart: Since 2000, there has now been 7 years with a negative first day. Of the previous 6, half ended the year with losses (-10.3%, -13%, and -38.5%)... will 2014 be any different?(h/t @Not_Jim_Cramer) Average: Your rating: None Average: 4.5( 6 votes) rotation from US equities into interestingly, means Utilities are This entry passed through the European bonds? now unchanged from the Taper... Full-Text RSS service if this is So buy TWTR you idiot!!! Treasuries rallied from the getyour content and you're reading it VIX pushed higher still and go... on someone else's site, please read stocks began to catch down... But commodities were the most the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentDespite Treasury strength, actuve space today with Gold and only/faq.php#publishers. Utilities are actually the worst silver surging and oil plunging... performer off the highs of New Gold's best day in 10 weeks; oil's Year's Eve... worst day in 13 months W h i c h , p e r h a p s m o s t and FX markets have had quite a
What bad weather looks like in Antarctica [video]

It is high time we raised interest rates and returned to normality

Jeremy Warner (Finance News - Business news from the UK and world)
No one ventures forth for a brisk walk in Antarctica when Condition 1 weather strikes, that is when the wind is blowing at 55
knots, the windchill hits -100 degrees Fahrenheit or visibility is less than 100 feet. Though this video goes back to 2006, its always nice to get some perspective in the winter that things could be worse.
(Note, the picture above was
taken from inside. Brrrrrrrr.) From the film, Antarctica, A Year on Ice. Full story at YouTube via Neatorama. Stormy weather.
Persisting with this monetary stimulus will delay recovery and sow seeds of future crises, says Jeremy Warner
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Economy/ Culture/ Sports/
These 'Split Scimitar' Wing Attachments Could Save Southwest Nearly $14 Million In Fuel Costs
Alex Davies (Markets)
Russia beats US in world junior hockey quarters

(Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News)
Southwest Airlines has ordered split scimitar winglets for 85 of its planes, a move that could save it nearly $14 million annually. The sword-like attachments, made by Boeing, cut drag and improve aerodynamics. They represent a step up over blended winglets, thanks to "new strengthened spars, aerodynamic scimitar tips, and a large ventral strake." 52 Boeing 737-800s will be retrofitted with the scimitar winglets. The system will be
included on 33 more 737-800s that should be delivered in 2014. Southwest says they will cut fuel use by 5%, a 2% improvement over what blended winglets offered. An Aviation Partners
Boeing representative estimated Southwest will save more than 55,000 gallons of jet fuel per plane, per year. Based on December jet fuel prices in North America provided
by the International Air Transport, that adds up to $13,852,025 annually. According to the latest numbers from the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Southwest posted an operating profit of $984 million in 2013. Another $14 million won't make a huge difference, but it's more than a drop in the bucket. SEE ALSO: Reenactment Of The First Commercial Flight Shows How Aviation Has Changed Since 1914 Join the conversation about this story
MALMO, Sweden (AP) Russia beat the United States 5-3 in the world junior hockey quarterfinals Thursday, rallying to take the lead on Nakita Zadorov's two power-play goals.
Emulate an Ambivert When You Need to Self-Promote

Adam Dachis (Lifehacker)
Self-promotion can suck, but it's a necessary task when you want to
get a job or share something you created that matters to you. While extroverts are generally believed to be the best at this task, discovered ambivertspeople psychologist Adam Grant
who fall in between introverts and extrovertsdo it best. When you have to self-promote, you want to emulate their behavior. Read more...
Culture/
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The Most Pirated Movies of 2013 And Why Piracy Isn't Hurting Profits
Angela Watercutter (Wired Top Stories)
Photo courtesy Warner Bros. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey finished 2013 a year where it earned over $300 million at the box office by being named the no. 1 most torrented movie of the last 12 months. The first film in The Hobbit movie trilogy had an estimated 8.4 million downloads via BitTorrent, according to TorrentFreak. The Hobbit, which had already racked up 2 million downloads by this time last year, was followed by Django Unchained(8.1 million downloads) and Fast and the Furious 6(7.9 million downloads). The full list is here. Other top torrents include Silver Linings Playbook and, surprisingly, no-sohot-at-the-box-office films like Gangster Squad and Now You See Me. There also were, according to TorrentFreaks post on the tally, a few notable absentees in 2013. The top grossing The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is missing for example, and Man of Steel didnt make the cut either, TorrentFreaks Ernesto wrote. Gangster Squad is perhaps the biggest surprise in this years list, as it grossed the least of all films,$105,200,903 worldwide.
Despite the high number of pirated films, however, Hollywood isnt hurting. The latest numbers show that 2013s box office is poised to be the best yet with$10.9 billion domestically, slightly edging out 2012s $10.8 billion. Researchers from Wellesley College and the University of Minnesota reached similar findings in a 2012 paper on the impact of film piracy, which stated that outside of international box office affected by release lags, we do not see
evidence of elevated sales displacement in US box office revenue following the adoption of BitTorrent, and we suggest that delayed legal availability of the content abroad may drive the losses to piracy. In other words, the longer something takes to get a proper release in theaters or on Netflix /iTunes/DVD/Blu-ray the more likely it is to be pirated. This seems to be especially true for Oscar-contender films. Pirating of films like Django Unchained saw
Many of the most-pirated films were also some of the highestgrossing, which may also indicate that people are downloading movies theyve already paid to see in theaters. Really, it shouldnt be that surprising that movies that sold scores of tickets, like the first Hobbit flick and 2013s top domestic grosser Iron Man 3, also made BitTorrents list theyre simply popular acrossthe-board. TorrentFreaks numbers, of course, only track whats on BitTorrent networks the site says the data is estimated by TorrentFreak based on several sources, including download statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers and dont include other pirated streams or forms of downloads, so total piracy numbers will therefore be a huge boost around this time last significantly higher. The figures year as screeners went out to also only include downloads that members of the Academy of happened from Jan. 1, 2013 to Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. mid-December so expect The Quentin Tarantinos film saw Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 500,000 downloads in just 24 to light up next years list. h o u r s a f t e r a r e v i e w c o p y This entry passed through the appeared online demonstrating Full-Text RSS service if this is that, as WIREDs David Kravets your content and you're reading it p o i n t e d o u t , t h a t w h i l e on someone else's site, please read H o l l y w o o d s t u d i o s l o u d l y the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentcomplain that pirate sites are only/faq.php#publishers. dooming their businesses the top flicks appearing on pirate sites often are seeded by insiders.
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Culture/
Microsoft's Surface Tablet May Have Been Saved by Christmas

Marcus Wohlsen (Wired Top Stories)
brings Microsofts overall traffic share in the U.S. and Canada to 2.3 percent, up from just 0.4 Submitted at 1/2/2014 1:53:00 PM percent at the same time last year, More than a few Microsoft Chitika said. Whats more, the Surface tablets were found under boost put Microsoft ahead of holiday trees this year, according Google-made tablets, which to new figures. Photo: Josh accounted for just a 2 percent Valcarcel/WIRED share of tablet web traffic over the The year has started on a holidays. surprisingly positive note for Chitika gets its data by tracking Microsoft. According to a new the devices on which ads from its report, the companys Surface network appear, comparing traffic tablets were found under more on the days before and after than a few trees this Christmas. Christmas. This could skew its The share of tablet web traffic results depending on which generated by Surfaces jumped a websites display its ads. But the full half-percent after Christmas, company claims to serve 4 billion according to an analysis by online ads a month, which should make advertising network Chitika. for a pretty decent sketch of That might not sound like much, device usage. but considering the Surfaces Amazons tablets saw the other overall minuscule share of the most notable post-Christmas gain, tablet market, its a big gain. It up 0.6 percent to a more than 9
faithful after Microsofts $900 million write down last summer due to poor sales of its firstgeneration tablet. More recently, Microsoft suggested the Surface 2 was doing better, though the math was still a little fuzzy about what was going on. These latest figures would seem to back up Microsofts assertions. But at this rate, it will still take decades of Christmases before the Surface comes anywhere close to unseating the iPad the Apple gift that keeps on giving. Image: Chitika This entry passed through the percent share of total tablet web than three-quarters of web traffic. Full-Text RSS service if this is traffic. The uptick helped Amazon More surprisingly, that share your content and you're reading it easily keep its spot as the d r o p p e d b y m o r e t h a n a on someone else's site, please read secondmost-used tablet overall. percentage point from its pre- the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentUnsurprisingly, the top tablet was Christmas share. only/faq.php#publishers. Apples iPad, which, though more News of the Surface surge should expensive, accounted for more bring some cheer to the Redmond
Ecoute Is a Simple and Attractive Alternative to the iPhone Music App

Thorin Klosowski (Lifehacker)
iPhone: You have a pretty good
selection of apps to choose from if you're looking for an alternative to the iPhone's Music app. If you're looking for something very
simple but still packed full of the
default app's features, Ecoute is worth a look. Read more...
Culture/ Gaming/
33
30 questions to ask yourself before its too late

Often, we focus so much on What if and If only that we miss the opportunities we could be making and taking right now. The beginning of a new year is a great time for resolutions, but before making achievable goals, its important to look at where we are, what we truly want and why we want those things. Rebelle Societys article from last summer shows theres never a best time to start on a new path, unless its right now, and to get someplace, wed better know where were starting from. What do you want to accomplish? And most importantly, why whats your motivation? Be unrealistic. Life itself is unrealistic. Your very existence is as random, impossible and unrealistic as it gets. Only unrealistic people accomplish extraordinary things. What are your ghosts? Your unspoken demons? The stuff you keep in your closet under a lock?
What are you most deeply afraid of? Say it out loud. Get real with yourself. Its how you conquer them. What are your favorite memories? Can you picture four or five instances in your childhood you are fond of? Do you see a river running through them? Whats that river, that common denominator, the deepest
statement about you and life that lies at the core of them? There is usually only one or two lifealtering statements that come up when you dig. Get to the bottom of it. How can you live from that same belief now? How can you transform your current experiences so they begin with that same idea that fueled your most cherished
childhood memories? What type of people inspire you and make you come alive? What people at this point in your life add to the truest equation of YOU? Reach out to them, get closer, touch them, spend time with them, be around them, aliveness is the one virus you always need to catch. What is your cosmic elevator pitch? Not your job description, not your professional bio, not your resume, not your About page. But if you got in an elevator on a spaceship that tours the galaxy and you could say anything you wanted about yourself, what would you tell your elevator mates? In short, who are you raw, unedited, wild, ordinary and extraordinary you? What does it come down to? And why? (Always, that goddamn solid why). Full story Rebelle Society. Find yourself. Photo credit: Fotolia
PAX separates from Penny Arcade in cofounder's New Year resolution

Jessica Conditt (Joystiq RSS Feed)
Penny Arcade the comic is officially distancing itself from PAX, the yearly gaming convention held in Seattle, Boston and Melbourne. Co-creator Mike Krahulik announced the ideological split in a blog post, as part of his New Year's resolution to be ...
Activision pulls several Marvel games from Steam, XBL, PSN

Sinan Kubba (Joystiq RSS Feed)
Activision began the new year by including the six-months-young removing several Marvel-licensed Deadpool. The departed Marvel games from digital storefronts, assortment includes Spider-Man
games Edge of Time, Shattered Dimensions, Friend or Foe, and ...
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Culture/ Gaming/ Featured/ Business/
Ford's Convoluted Solar Car Will Probably Never See the Light of Day
Damon Lavrinc (Wired Top Stories)
Photo: Ford The sun puts out over 170 petawatts of solar energy every day, but aside from impractical science experiments, we havent been able to tap into that energy source to power our cars. Ford thinks it has a solution, and it involves a plug-in hybrid, a solar panel mounted on the roof, and a canopy that acts like a magnifying glass. Oh, and the car has to be autonomous, too. At CES, Ford will unveil the C-
Max Solar Energi Concept, a lightly modified version of its compact plug-in hybrid crossover, with 1.5 square meters of flexible solar panels glued to the roof. The standard C-Max Energi gets around 20 miles of all-electric power after charging the on-board battery. With the Solar concept, Ford has nixed the need to plug in the C-Max by harnessing the suns rays to top up the lithiumion packs. But the solar panels are only good for around 300 watts of juice which would take days to fill the 8 kWh battery. So to make it work, Ford envisions a series of freestanding
canopies equipped with a solar concentrator. Think of it like a magnifying glass that can condense the suns energy and point it directly at the C-Maxs
solar panels. The only problem is the sun you know moves. To keep the C-Max in the optimal position to harness the solar energy, it would have to
autonomously move underneath the panel, tracking the suns arch over the earth. With all these puzzle pieces in place, Ford says the battery could be charged in about four hours, but we suspect that our friendly star will burn out before this thing ever sees production. [embedded content] This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
House of the Dead: Overkill The Lost Reels now free-to-play

Sinan Kubba (Joystiq RSS Feed)
Lebanon Succumbs to the Regional Civil War

Lee Smith (The Weekly Standard)
Helping Inflation Reflect Housing Bubbles - Forbes

(housing - Google News)
House of the Dead: Overkill The Lost Reels dropped from an original price of $5 to the much rounder free this week. The iOS remix of the 2009 Wii shooter still features in-app purchases, including $2 for the third and final campaign of the story ...
A car bomb detonated today in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. So far, four are reported dead and over 50 have been injured. With rumors spreading that the bombing may have been the work of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Sunni jihadist group with ties to al
Qaeda, it seems that this was the latest in a series of moves indicating that the regional
conflict with Syria as its red-hot center is growing ever wider, now encompassing all the Levant, from Baghdad to Beirut. In the Lebanese capital alone, within a one-week span a former Sunni minister was assassinated, Saudi Arabia bought a $3 billion share of a national army heavily infiltrated by Hezbollah, and then today the Party of God was targeted on its home turf.
Helping Inflation Reflect Housing Bubbles Forbes Today I am making a working paper available that summarizes some results from my dissertation (you can download the paper here). The basic story is that the consumer price index doesn't use house prices to measure inflation in owner-occupied housing,...
Products/ Featured/
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10 tips for safe winter driving

Liza Barth (Consumer Reports)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:29:59 PM
10 tips for safe winter driving Winter has arrived, and with the change of seasons comes the threat of nasty weather. Before winter strikes in full force, make sure you and your car are ready. As you head to the roads during this busy holiday travel season, following our tips can help ensure you get to your destination and back home safely. Keeping up with car maintenance year-round is important, but it carries added significance in the winter when being stranded can be inconvenient due to holiday travel plans, as well as being downright unpleasant waiting at the side of the road. As always, try to time your routine maintenance ahead of longdistance travel. Putting off service today can turn into an expensive problem down the road. As winter driving safety is so impacted by traction, it is key to make sure your tires are in top shape. Check tire pressure monthly, topping off as necessary. (Cold winter temperatures can lower tire pressure.) Inspect your tires for tread depth, an important factor in wet and snow traction. The tread should be at least 1/8 an inch, easily gauged by using a quarter and measuring from the coin's edge to Washington's head. Look for uneven tread wear, which typically indicates poor
wheel alignment or worn suspension components. If you do invest in new tires, be sure to have your vehicle's alignment and suspension checked before having the tires mounted to avoid premature wear. With the car prepped for travel, keep these 10 tips in mind: Clear off the snow and ice before driving. If snow has fallen since your car was parked, take the time to thoroughly brush it off the vehicle--including the roof-and scrape any ice from the windows. "Peephole driving" through a small, cleared spot on your windshield reduces your visibility and is quite dangerous. Accelerate slowly to reduce wheel spin. If starting from a standstill on slick snow or ice, start in second gear if you have a manual transmission or gearselectable automatic so the vehicle is less likely to spin the tires. Reduce your speed and drive smoothly. In slippery conditions, tires lose their grip more easily, affecting all aspects of your driving: braking, turning, and accelerating. Keeping the speeds down will give you more time to react to slippage or a possible collision, and it will lessen the damage should things go wrong. Allow longer braking distances. Plan on starting your braking sooner than you normally would in dry conditions to give yourself extra room, and use more gentle
pressure on the brake pedal. Don't lock your wheels when braking. Locked wheels can make the vehicle slide or skid. If you have an older vehicle without an antilock braking system (ABS), you may need to gently apply the brakes repeatedly in a pulsing motion to avoid having them lock up the wheels. If your vehicle has ABS, simply depress the brake pedal firmly and hold it down. The shuddering sounds and pedal feeling is expected (don't lift off the brake); the system is doing its job. Perform one action at a time when accelerating, braking, and turning. Asking a vehicle to do two things at once--such as braking and turning, or accelerating and turning--can reduce your control. When taking a turn on a slippery surface, for instance, slowly apply the brakes while the vehicle is going straight. Avoid sudden actions when cornering. A sudden maneuver-such as hard braking, a quick turn of the steering wheel, sudden acceleration, or shifting a manual transmission --can upset a vehicle's dynamics when it's taking a turn. Rapidly transferring the weight from one end or corner to another can throw a car off balance. In slick conditions, this can cause it to more easily go out of control. Be ready to correct for a slide. Should the rear end of the vehicle begin to slide during a turn, gently
let off on the accelerator and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slide. This will help straighten it out. Electronic stability control will also help keep control in a slide situation. But remember, safety systems may bend the laws of physics, but they can't overcome stupid. Don't let four- or all-wheel drive give you a false sense of security. 4WD and AWD systems only provide extra traction when accelerating. They provide no advantage when braking or cornering. Be extra wary of other motorists. They may not be driving as cautiously as you, so leave extra space, avoid distractions, and be predictable, signaling clearly ahead of any turns or lane changes.
Hagan Opponent Out With New Ad

Michael Warren (The Weekly Standard)
One of the leading Republican opponents to Democratic senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina has a new ad in which he promises to "clean up" the mess in Washington that she's "enabled." For more tips on winter driving, "Obamacare is a disaster, but the president won't admit it," says see our guide. Thom Tillis, the Republican Liza Barth Consumer Reports has no speaker of the state house of relationship with any advertisers representatives. "The debt's out of or sponsors on this website. control, and neither party has C o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 1 3 stopped it. Kay Hagan enabled C o n s u m e r s U n i o n o f U . S . President Obama's worst ideas. She refuses to clean up his mess, Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o so you and I have to clean up ConsumerReports.org for expert hers." Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
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Products/
High-tech automotive headaches

Jim Travers (Consumer Reports)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:29:59 PM
High-tech automotive headaches Todays cars are coming loaded with in-dash electronics that provide smart-phone connectivity, turn-by-turn navigation, multiple audio sources, and more. But for car buyers, the wow factor is often short-lived because of the complicated touch screens and troublesome control systems that come with those features. In our latest auto-reliability survey, conducted last spring, incar electronics generated more problems from 2013 models than any other problem area, with Cadillac, Ford, Honda, and Lincoln vehicles accounting for the most complaints. By contrast, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, and Lexus systems were relatively troublefree. (See the " Electronic Troubles" section below.) To find out what was going wrong, in October the Consumer Reports National Research Center re-contacted thousands of people who owned a 2011, 2012, or 2013 vehicle from one of the four most troublesome brands and asked about their specific problems and overall satisfaction with their infotainment systems. The majority of the 3,148 respondents reported frustrations. Sixty percent said they had problems learning how to operate the system during the first few weeks of ownership, with little
variation among the systems. In addition, one-third reported experiencing at least one system malfunction, such as an unresponsive touch screen or a problem with voice controls. The survey also found that age played a significant role in respondents experience with their systems. Almost 70 percent of drivers who are 65 and older reported having difficulty learning
to operate their systems. That number dropped to 52 percent for owners ages 45 to 64, and to 37 percent for drivers between 18 and 44. On a positive note, almost half of the respondents who initially had difficulty said they became a lot more proficient over time. Still, a similar number said they became only a little more adept at using their system, and one in 10 said
the systems had not gotten easier to use. In our October survey, more than a third of respondents who owned a car with an infotainment system experienced one or more problems with their cars audio, communication, or navigation functions. Looking only at 2013 models, 32 percent of owners with the MyFord/Lincoln Touch systems
reported problems, and 30 percent of those with HondaLink did. Only a fifth of Cadillac owners said they had problems with their Cue system. The most common malfunctions for the Ford and Lincoln communication systems involved voice controls and Bluetooth connectivity, used for hands-free HIGH-TECH page 39
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Does $100 Moto G Shake Notion That Unsubsidized Smartphones Must Be Expensive?
Chris Morran (Consumerist)
Engadgets round-up of ratings. Its by no means a top-line device Submitted at 1/2/2014 2:44:22 PM it doesnt have LTE capability, The general line of thought in the its screen is smaller than some wireless market is that prepaid more expensive competitors customers are offered older and (though it has better resolution cheaper smartphones because than some), and its camera has most prepaid customers dont also fewer megapixels but many of want to splash out the $500-800 the reviews say that the Moto G is for an unlocked, top-of-the-line about as good as you could hope device. Meanwhile, contract for a $179 phone. phone customers are pitched those Then came reports earlier this pricier phones but at discounted week that the Verizon-compatible rates (or monthly installment version of the device was selling plans) that make the phones more for only $99.99 at Best Buy. For affordable (and lock the customer an unlocked, new phone, thats into months or years of service). virtually unheard-of. Best Buy has But does a good smartphone need confirmed its been selling the to cost so much? Do phones for Verizon version at that price since the prepaid market need to be so shortly before New Years and bad? Maybe not. Verizon confirmed today that it The Motorola Moto G the less will be adding the Moto G to its -frilly version of its Moto X currently slim prepaid device came out around Thanksgiving at pickings on Jan. 9 for the $99.99 a retail price of $179, unlocked, price. meaning AT&T and T-Mobile Sprints Boost Mobile says it will customers could take it on either also be offering the phone, but at network and didnt need to sign a $129.99. contract. With its brightly colored options While it looks like our cohorts at and the low price point, the Moto Consumer Reports have yet to test G is obviously looking at the the device, it does have some i P h o n e 5 C a s c o m p e t i t i o n . rather positive reviews, ranging However, the iPhones $99 price from a 7.0 to a perfect 10 on tag is the subsidized version that
requires a two-year commitment to a wireless provider. The unlocked 5C will actually cost you $549. Granted, the 5C has more features than the Moto G (LTE service and a better camera chief among them), but do those improved specs really merit a $449 price difference?
Even the full-price AT&T/TMobile version of the Moto G is $370 less than the unlocked iPhone 5C. Its also significantly cheaper than most of the options that T-Mobile sells directly to customers through installment plans. For example an iPhone 4 from T-Mobile will eventually cost the buyer $408 (24
installments of $17), and that phone came out in 2010. As I mentioned last week, if phone companies are going to shed their practice of selling subsidized phones a practice that, in my opinion, is an antiquated holdover from the transitional period between landlines and wireless something will need to be done about the sticker prices of phones. While things like installment plans help delay the huge retail price of high-end smartphones, they are really just a substitute for the contracts we all hate. If we want true mobility in the wireless market, manufacturers need to make affordable, unlocked phones that will give consumers the freedom to choose their wireless providers without having to pay an exorbitant price for that freedom. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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Products/ Politics-Right/
2014 Kawasaki motorcycles bring thrills at both ends of the spectrum

Jeff Bartlett (Consumer Reports)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:59:59 PM
2014 Kawasaki motorcycles bring thrills at both ends of the spectrum The motorcycle industry is seeing a sales resurgence, with riders coming from different quarters looking for two-wheel escapism. Kawasaki is among the manufacturers freshening existing models and adding new ones to appeal to the shifting interests, luring new and returning riders, as well as discriminating wrist-twist veterans, into showrooms, as we were recently reminded. At the international motorcycle show in New York City last month, we toured the displays, spoke with company reps, straddled some iron horses, and came away enthused for spring. For instance, at the Kawasaki booth, there was action in
multiple categories for the 2014 model year. The spotlight was clearly shining on the Z1000 ($11,999), a striking street fighter that is essentially a stripped Ninja, with katana-sharp styling. Updated for 2014, the Z1000 is powered by a 1,043-cc liquid-cooled inline four and attitude. Built around the Ninja ZX-10R superbike frame, the Z1000 is engineered for corner carving, with its adjustable suspension, shortened final-drive gearing, and revised powerplant. Updates abound, from the LED lighting, to the new brake pads and antilock pump. At the other end of the sport bike spectrum, the Ninja 300 ($4,999) was on display. The Ninja 300 was released last year, updating a popular model with a slight bump in displacement, distinguishing it among the 250 class, and it benefited from a consequent boost in low-end power. The goal was
marks the 30th anniversary of the Ninja and the 40th anniversary of the Jet Ski. This is a big year for brand green, and it looks like riders will benefit from the product celebrations. Jeff Bartlett Learn more about riding in our motorcycle hub, buying guide, and in our reliability and owner satisfaction report. Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright 2007-2013 Consumers Union of U.S. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert to stand out from the competition. Vulcan 900 cruiser, offered in Ratings, buying advice and Kawasaki reps said their strategy basic, custom, and touring trims. reliability on hundreds of is drawing in the ladies, citing 20- After sitting on a wide range of products. Update your feed percent of Ninja 300 sales to American cruisers priced like preferences women, compared to about 11- sedans, this $7,999 midweight percent for the class. sure seems appealing, especially While neither new, nor updated, given Kawasakis reliability. several of us were drawn to the In other Kawasaki news, 2014
Chicago Ends 2013 with 415 Homicides

Greg Pollowitz (National Review Online - The Feed)
Two more fatal shootings occurred in Chicago on New Years Eve, bringing the citys murder total for 2013 to 415 people.
Vincent Rogers, a 26-year-old who lived in the 7100 block of South Damen and had a long arrest history, was the citys last homicide victim of the year. He was gunned down in the Englewood neighborhood Tuesday night and was pronounced dead at the scene,
authorities said. . . This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
Products/
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Report: 4.6 Million Snapchat Phone Numbers And Usernames Leaked Online
Mary Beth Quirk (Consumerist)
HIGH-TECH
implemented various safeguards to make it more difficult to pull that off in the last year. Snapchat is leaking Despite those measures taken by While many Snapchat users are Snapchat, SnapchatDB claimed used to nudity, many of them only that the leak was possibly thought they were exposed for the through the recently patched 10 or so seconds that late-night Snapchat exploit. selfie was on their recipients associated with Facebook and If youre worried that your phone screen. But a new report says the Twitter accounts, or simply to number has been leaked, you can phone numbers and usernames figure out the phone numbers of use a tool from Gibson Security to associated with more than 4.6 people you wish to get in touch look it up. Then you might want million Snapchatters in North to delete your Snapchat account with. America were leaked and posted So thats creepy, but at least the and tighten up your security online. site has been taken down by now. settings on any other social media A site run by a mysterious, Last week Snapchat discussed accounts to prevent creepers from anonymous group or person called concerns Gibson Security had contacting you. Unfortunately as SnapchatDB posted the with the app, after it claimed it Gibson points out, this wont information on its site with the had found a major security hole in erase your number from the details of the apps users next to apps find friends with phone leaked database. their locations. Though the last 4.6 million Snapchat phone numbers function. Snapchat two digits of each phone number n umbers and usernames responded to that claim on Dec. have been obscured to minimize l e aked[The Verge] 27 saying in theory, if someone spam and abuse, but This entry passed through the uploaded a bunch of phone SnapchatDB says itll reveal the Full-Text RSS service if this is numbers like every number in info to anyone who contacts it your content and you're reading it an area code, or every possible asking for the full number, reports on someone else's site, please read number in the US they could The Verge. the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentostensibly match those with Using that information could only/faq.php#publishers. usernames. allow snoopers to try to find But it added that it had also phone number information
phone calls and streaming music. Other owner complaints centered around radio, CD and DVD players, and touch screens. Due to a smaller number of Cadillac and Honda respondents, we dont have that level of detail for their systems. Overall there were fewer problems reported for GPS navigation, backup-camera, and MP3 player systems. The age curve was reversed for drivers reporting the most problems. In the youngest group, 46 percent of owners experienced some kind of malfunction, and only 36 percent of those ages 45 to 64 reported the same. That may be because younger owners are more tech savvy and likely to use and rely on more of their systems features. Overall, owner satisfaction with the systems is relatively low compared with other satisfaction surveys weve conducted. Among Honda owners, only 61 percent were highly satisfied with their cars infotainment system. Similarly, only 56 and 52 percent were highly satisfied with the Cadillac and Ford/Lincoln systems, respectively. If youre considering a car with
an infotainment system for the first time, one notable finding to consider is that your overall satisfaction may depend on how comfortable you are with technology in general. About 80 percent of owners who didnt consider those systems to be initially complicated reported high overall satisfaction. That contrasts with only 10 percent of owners who found them to be very complicated. Ease of use does matter. And in the long run, so does reliability. This article apeared in the February 2014 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers or sponsors on this website. Copyright 2007-2013 Consumers Union of U.S. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
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Products/ Business/ Social Media/
Musician: U.S. Customs Destroyed 13 Of My Flutes

Laura Northrup (Consumerist)
United Airlines only broke one of Dave Carrolls guitars and got heaps of bad publicity for it. It couldnt get worse than wrecking an expensive instrument belonging to a working musician, could it? How about destroying thirteen hand-carved instruments belonging to a professional musician? Thats what U.S. Customs allegedly did by mistake a few weeks ago to Boujemaa Razgui, a musician who plays two different types of Middle Eastern reed flute. Yes, by reed flutes we mean flutes made from dried reeds. The confusion came from rules that ban fresh agricultural products in order to stop the spread of plant diseases. The musician apparently was carrying new reeds home to Boston to make new flutes, and had checked them with his finished flutes in his
baggage. His baggage was missing when he came home to Boston on December 22nd, but all air travelers know that happens sometimes. It was when the airline delivered his bags to his house the next day, bereft of flutes, that he knew something was wrong. He eventually learned that the
Morocco. He claims that the reeds he was carrying in his checked baggage were already dried. Also, he says that the flutes arent made from bamboo. Customs disagrees with his account, claiming that what it destroyed were fresh green bamboo canes. Not flutes. Not reeds. Speaking to Gothamist, a spokesperson insisted,There were no instruments destroyed according to our people. Destroying the non-approved bamboo was necessary in order to keep exotic plant pathogens out of the country. instruments and reeds that he was U.S. Customs seizes, destroys bringing home from a trip to the musicians flutes over agricultural Middle East via Spain had been concerns[NY Daily News] seized by U.S. Customs at John F. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is Kennedy airport in New York. To replace the flutes, Razgui says your content and you're reading it that hell have to gather more on someone else's site, please read reeds: they only grow in a few the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentc o u n t r i e s , i n c l u d i n g S y r i a , only/faq.php#publishers. Lebanon, Spain, and his native
Even This Ylvis Parody Can't Explain Olympic Curling

Annie Colbert (Mashable)
America's housing market - The Economist

Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:48:59 AM
America's housing market
The Economist But high foreclosure rates lead to problems like blight, crime and falling house prices; some argue
that cities and counties ought therefore to be able to invoke eminent domain in depressed housing markets for the public
good. The San Francisco-based...
Every four years, jokes about the Olympics use curling as the punchline Curling, with its brooms and wacky pants, doesn't have the mainstream appeal of hockey or figure skating. But the American women's curling team hopes to at least give people a better understanding of the sport by answering the question, "What does the skip say?" in an on-ice parody of Ylvis' hit song. See also: 8 Oddly Specific Things You Can't Bring to the Sochi Olympic Games Women's 2014 team members Erika Brown, Debbie McCormick, Jessica Schultz, Ann Swisshelm and Allison Pottinger wear animal onesies while singing words often yelled by the team skip. Read more... More about Viral Videos, Team Usa, Winter Olympics, Watercooler, and Videos
Science/
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Inside One Of The FAA's New Drone Test Sites

Kelsey D. Atherton (Popular Science)
Welcome to North Dronekota According to the University of North Dakota's privacy policy regarding drone use, these signs must be set up alerting the public to a drone flight. Kelsey D. Atherton Earlier this week, flying barely under the wire of its 2013 deadline, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the six states it had selected as test sites for domestic drone use. The goal is to figure out how unmanned aerial vehicles can safely work in U.S. skies alongside commercial planes, news and police helicopters, cropdusters, and the whole range of peopled flying machines. Twenty-four states applied, eager to lead the country in developing commercial uses for drones and grab a slice of what the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International predicts will be an$82 billion industry by 2025. The winning candidates were Alaska, Virginia, New York, Texas, Nevada, and North Dakota. Prior to test site selection, the FAA authorized over 300 much smaller test sites for drones, most of which were universities and small police departments. The
FAA program is set to conclude in February 2017. In November, I went to one of these test sites in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to see what exactly the future of domestic flying robots might look like. Full disclosure: The North Dakota Department of Commerce paid for my trip."Unmanned is unequivocally the future of aviation." When I, along with four other journalists, traveled to the Roughrider State, I found a community united in avoiding the word "drone." The officials I spoke with refer to their flying machines as "unmanned aircraft." That's what the FAA is calling them, while at nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base the term is "remotely piloted vehicle." "Unmanned is unequivocally the future of aviation," 69th Reconnaissance Group Commander Colonel Lawrence Spinetta said, speaking at Grand Forks Air Force Base. It's not just the military that has adopted this attitude. In 2010, the University of North Dakota, which has a long history in training airplane and helicopter pilots, created the nation's first civilian degree program in piloting drones. The FAA granted the University of North Dakota a special certificate that allows the school to fly
unmanned vehicles. The FAA authorized the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Department to use drones for law enforcement missions in March 2013. Canadian dronemaker Draganflyer and California drone company Aerovironment have both partnered with the sheriff's department to test their small drones. In May, the department used a drone during a police mission for the first time. Grand Forks County Sheriff's Department Drone This is an Aerovironment Qube, and it fits in the back of a patrol car. Kelsey D. Atherton We passed a home with "Libertarian: Less Government, More Freedom" painted on the side. In Seattle, a plan for police to use drones was scuttled by the mayor before it had even taken off, following outcry and protest by privacy advocates. I asked North Dakota Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley why that didn't happen in Grand Forks. "We don't have that many Black Helicopters types," he said, before quickly clarifying, "There's a lot of trust in institutions here." He mentioned the state's status as the best-run in the nation, according to financial news company 27/7 Wall Street. Of course, not everyone in North Dakota would agree with Wrigley. Driving back from a tour
of Grand Forks Air Force Base, we passed a home with "Libertarian: Less Government, More Freedom" painted on the side. In an effort to gain community support for drone use, the University of North Dakota created the Unmanned Aerial Systems Research Compliance Committee, an academic ethics assembly that reviews and approves proposals for drone use. The committee's meetings are open to the public. I spoke with committee members Barry Milavetz and Thomasine Heitkamp about the project. Milavetz has a background in medicine; Heitkamp in social work. While neither comes from law enforcement or aviation, they both have extensive experience in the ethics of academic research. The keys to a successful drone program are community standards, feedback, and public notification, Heitkamp and Milavetz told me. These standards, adopted voluntarily by the University of North Dakota and accepted by the sheriff's department, may have influenced the FAA's drone roadmap, which issued privacy guidelines that seem to be based on the committee's work. UND Scan Eagle The Scan Eagle is an unarmed drone. It is in use
by the military, but it also has civilian applications. Here is one being tested by the University of North Dakota. Kelsey D. Atherton Test sites stand to benefit from an economic windfall, with new industry and jobs springing up around domestic drones. One example of the committee's influence is the sign pictured at the top of this page, which informs people driving by that a police drone is in use. Another example comes from a major concert, which prompted a tremendous influx of traffic into Grand Forks. The city, with a population of 53,000, expected thousands more visitors, and the sheriff's department wanted to use drones to better manage the traffic. The public safety benefit was there--it's easier to spot and resolve traffic problems from above. But flying cameras can make people uneasy. Heitkamp and Milavetz both discussed the challenge of data retention: what happens to the video recorded by the drone? Is it stored indefinitely, and if so, by whom, and who can gain access to it? In the case of the concert, the committee tried to balance the safety benefits and privacy concerns by allowing the drones to stream live video, but not record it for future use. And INSIDE page 42
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Science/ Finance/
Now On Twitter: More Than 300 Australian Sharks

Douglas Main (Popular Science)
Tweets also include the sharks' species and size. Chris Peck, from SLSWA, told Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:44:14 PM Sky News that the shark tweets Great white shark surfacing will notify swimmers much faster Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia than traditional warnings on the C o m m o n s B e s i d e s d o n n i n g radio and in newspapers. There swimwear and slathering on sun have been six fatal shark attacks lotion, visitors to Australian in Australia over the past two beaches may also want to check years, most recently in November, Twitter to see if there are any NPR reported. sharks nearby. The government in It should be noted that of course the state of Western Australia has not all sharks have tags (duh), so a now fitted 338 sharks, including lack of tweets doesn't mean an great whites, with acoustic tags absence of sharks. And the mere which send an electronic signal to presence of a shark doesn't mean shore-based receivers when the that swimmers are necessarily in animals come within about a half mortal peril. "Just because there's mile of the beach. When this a shark nearby doesn't mean to happens, the sharks' location is say that there's any danger," Kim tweeted out by the Surf Live Holland, a marine biologist at the S a v i n g W e s t e r n University of Hawaii, told NPR. Australia(SLSWA) account. "In Hawaii, tiger sharks are all
around our coastlines all the time, and yet we have very, very few attacks." Although Australia has had more sharks attack than any other country, the animals still present a relatively tiny threat to humans.
Fewer than ten people are killed every year by sharks worldwide-in the United States alone, cows kill more people every year(about 22). The state of Western Australia plans to begin catching and killing
large sharks in designated areas near Perth and some popular beaches, starting Jan. 10. But thousands are expected to protest the decision this weekend, and 100 scientists co-signed a letter to the State Goverment calling on it to abandon the shark cull and adopt non-lethal measures to protect beach-goers. Most scientists agree that shark culling is ineffective at preventing attacks, since many large sharks are highly mobile, and don't stick around any one area for long. S cientists agree that s harks are in trouble; about 100 million are killed every year, partially due to demand for shark-fin soup, an Asian delicacy.
INSIDE
they were only allowed to film cars, which matter for traffic snarls, and not people, which largely don't. If all this sounds pretty mundane for a future of flying robots, that's because it is. The essential part of making drones work in Grand Forks, at least according to the officials I spoke with, seemed to be trust--the sheriff's department voluntarily adopted the university's standards; the
university took their role as researchers and community stewards seriously; and the research compliance committee sought public input on all decisions about drone use. Now that the FAA has selected North Dakota as a test site, the state will begin rolling out programs that have already been implemented on a small scale in Grand Forks. By participating in the FAA's research project, North
Dakota, Alaska, Virginia, Nevada, Texas, and New York all stand to benefit from an economic windfall, with new industry and jobs springing up around domestic Evans-Pritchard drones. For now, though, the Ambrose (Finance News - Business news future of unmanned aircraft is still from the UK and world) in beta.
IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high
any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, warns IMF paper Debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by
Science/ Politics-Right/ Technology/
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FYI: Do Fat People Stay Warmer Than Thin People?
Meet Colorado's First (Legal) Marijuana Customer

Greg Pollowitz (National Review Online - The Feed)
Corps and two tours in Iraq, spent about $60 at 3D Cannabis Center Daniel Engber (Popular have shown that it takes longer to temperature would give fatter for an eighth of an ounce of Submitted at 1/2/2014 8:56:36 AM Science) induce hypothermia in obese people the sense of being colder Bubba Kush and a pot-laden patients than in their leaner overall. Submitted at 1/2/2014 11:32:36 AM The new year got a little happier truffle. counterparts. The extra fat seems But OBrien points out that many for pot smokers in Colorado on Today I was fortunate enough to Warm Santa Kirby Hamilton/ to insulate the bodys core. o t h e r f a c t o r s b e y o n d Wednesday as the nations first be the first recreational cannabis Getty Images Under certain conditions, though, subcutaneous fat help determine retail outlets for recreational purchase in the world, Azzariti At the yearly Rottnest Channel overweight people might feel the rate at which we chill. Smaller marijuana opened their doors. tweeted. We did it!! Swim in Western Australia, colder than people of average people, who have more surface Marijuana does not have to be a Aldworth said pot sales in the participants often smear their weight. Thats because the brain area compared to the total volume burden to our communities, said state are expected to reach $400 b o d i e s w i t h a n i m a l f a t f o r c o m b i n e s t w o s i g n a l s t h e of their bodies, lose heat more Betty Aldworth, deputy director million this year. More than $40 insulation against the 70-degree temperature inside the body and quickly. (Its often said that of the National Cannabis Industry million in tax revenue is targeted water. But their own body fat also the temperature on the surface of women feel colder than men; Association. Today in Colorado for public schools. Dozens of helps to keep them warm, like an the skinto determine when its average body size may play a we shift marijuana from the shops are opened or will open extra layer of clothing beneath the time to constrict blood vessels part.) A more muscular physique underground into a regulated soon. She spoke of jobs, tax skin. When scientists studied (which limits heat loss through may also offer some protection market. dollars and peace of mind for aspects of the event in 2006, they the skin) and trigger shivering against hypothermia, partly The first sale, orchestrated as a marijuana smokers. . . found that swimmers with a (which generates heat). And since because muscle tissue generates news media photo opportunity, This entry passed through the greater body mass index (BMI) subcutaneous fat traps heat, an lots of heat. We have a joke was made to Sean Azzariti, an Full-Text RSS service if this is appear to be at much lower risk of obese persons core will tend to around here that the person whos Iraq War veteran who has lobbied your content and you're reading it getting hypothermia. remain warm while his or her skin best-suited for cold is fit and fat, publicly for legalization and says on someone else's site, please read The same effect has been c o o l s d o w n . A c c o r d i n g t o says OBrien. pot helps mitigate problems the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentdemonstrated in hospitals where Catherine OBrien, a research This article originally appeared in stemming from his post-traumatic only/faq.php#publishers. patients whove suffered cardiac physiologist with the U.S. Army the January 2014 issue of Popular stress syndrome. Azzariti, who arrest are treated with therapeutic R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e o f Science. served six years in the Marine hypothermia to stave off brain Environmental Medicine, its injury and inflammation. Studies possible that the lower skin
Polaroid debuting $1,000 4K TV at CES

Brian Heater (Engadget RSS Feed)
Polaroid's been struggling with a bit of an identity crisis since the halcyon days of instant photography. Did you know, for
putting its name on TVs? Polaroid's celebrating CES with the release of two ambitious (if ... example, that the company's been
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Health/
Obamacare Brings Medicaid To Skid Row's 'Ugly Reality'

Sarah Varney (Shots - Health News)
on the streets in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood. She's still resistant to the idea that she can Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:16:00 PM now get health coverage because Audio for this story from All of California's expansion of T h i n g s C o n s i d e r e d w i l l b e Medicaid. Anna Gorman/ Kaiser available at approximately 7:00 Health News p.m. ET. If you were led blindfolded a few Transcript blocks east from Los Angeles' grand City Hall, you would know hide caption Martha Castro lives instantly when you entered Skid
Row. There is the pungent smell of urine and marijuana smoke, and the sound of music and easy laughter a carnival rising out of misery. This is the chaos that Chris Mack plunges into on most days. Once homeless himself, Mack is an outreach worker for the JWCH Institute's Center for Community
Health, a free clinic in the heart of Skid Row. Mack is part of a concerted push to enroll the nation's homeless in Medicaid. As of January, the health insurance program that's jointly funded by federal and state governments is being opened for the first time to all poor adults, not just those with disabilities or dependent children.
The outreach is important, homeless experts say. In addition to safe permanent housing, regular medical care is a critical intervention for getting lost lives back on track. "A person who is not feeling very well can't behave or perform very well," Mack says, "so I think OBAMACARE page 46
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How Language Seems To Shape One's View Of The World

Alan Yu (Shots - Health News)
hide caption"It's on the left," he says. "No, it's southeast of here," she says. iStockphoto Lera Boroditsky once did a simple experiment: She asked people to close their eyes and point southeast. A room of distinguished professors in the
U.S. pointed in almost every possible direction, whereas 5-year -old Australian aboriginal girls always got it right. She says the difference lies in language. Boroditsky, an associate professor of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego, says the Australian aboriginal language doesn't use words like left or
right. It uses compass points, so they say things like "that girl to the east of you is my sister." If you want to learn another language and become fluent, you may have to change the way you behave in small but sometimes significant ways, specifically how you sort things into categories and what you notice. Researchers are starting to study
how those changes happen, says Aneta Pavlenko, a professor of applied linguistics at Temple University. She studies bilingualism and is the author of an upcoming book on this work. If people speaking different languages need to group or observe things differently, then bilinguals ought to switch focus depending on the language they
use. That's exactly the case, according to Pavlenko. For example, she says English distinguishes between cups and glasses, but in Russian, the difference between "chashka" (cup) and "stakan" (glass) is based on shape, not material. Based on her research, she started HOW page 47
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OBAMACARE
health care is primary." The Medicaid expansion was a central provision in the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law. But after the Supreme Court declared the expansion optional for states, rather than mandatory, 26 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to do so. Even without all the states participating, some 9 million people are expected to enroll in Medicaid across the country, and 1.2 million homeless people could be newly eligible for coverage. Homeless advocates have cheered the expansion. Men and women living on the streets and in shelters will be able to see a doctor regularly, keep prescriptions filled to treat their asthma, diabetes and schizophrenia, and get referrals to private specialists for lingering ailments. 'Ugly Reality' Mack's journey through Skid Row is an arduous, even perilous undertaking: Some 54,000 people live on the streets in Los Angeles, and, as elsewhere in the nation, up to 80 percent are mentally ill or addicted to drugs or alcohol. That makes enrolling them in a complicated public insurance program all the more difficult. "A person who is not feeling very well can't behave or perform very well, so I think health care is primary. - Chris Mack, clinic outreach worker "Sometimes, on certain streets, people are following their habit,
smoking or drinking or shooting up," says Mack. "That's part of the ugly reality. Mack greets a woman perched on an upside-down plastic bucket, with a Burberry scarf covering her head. Her eyes are clouded with drink or drugs, and her cheeks are smeared with ash. She tells Mack that her name is Martha Castro, that she's slept on the streets for four years, and that she has been to the doctor just once for a lung infection. "Do you realize that you can have health insurance?" Mack asks her. "No, I don't want to apply for nothing else right now," Castro replies in a slur of words and confusion. She is adamant that, at 64 years old, she's healthy enough. And anyway, she says, she doesn't have any identification or money. "So then, how we gonna have insurance for the clinic?" Castro asks. I tell her the insurance Medicaid is free to her, and she doesn't need an ID card. But that doesn't matter to Castro, who is high or drunk and perhaps touched by mental illness. "That's it," she says, signaling that the conversation is over. Mack says he can't force anyone to sign up even someone like Castro, who he suspects has chronic asthma. "You see what I did?" he says to me. "I left the door open 'Martha, if you need help, you can come to us.' " Some Saying 'Yes, Please' To Insurance hide caption George Farag is
homeless and looking forward to gaining health insurance, after being unemployed for two years. Anna Gorman/ Kaiser Health News In a city crowded with chauffeurdriven, black SUVs and upscale hotels, Los Angeles' homeless are a reminder of life's cruel turns. For George Farag, an Egyptian immigrant and former security guard, that cruel turn came when he fell asleep one night on the job. "I work in security before. I sleep on the job. Kick me out," says Farag, standing in the lobby of the John Wesley Community Clinic. As if to prove the veracity of his story, he shows me the emblem embroidered on his shirt: It's his old company's logo. "After me lost the job, I lost everything," Farag says. "I sleep on the city two years." One of those nights sleeping on the streets, he says, someone ran over him. A hit-and-run that crushed his right leg. He's come to the JWCH clinic before for the occasional prescription, but on this day he's signing up for Medicaid. Through an opening at the glass enrollment window, a clinic worker hands Farag a copy of his new insurance forms, and he stuffs them into a worn plastic bag. "God bless you," Farag says through the window. Once he is enrolled, the clinic will coordinate his medical needs, and perhaps do something about the makeshift brace on his leg. Dr. Dennis Bleakley has been
treating Skid Row patients at the clinic for more than a decade. Before, he says, uninsured homeless adults, like Farag, had little access to specialists. Fractured bones, bulging hernias, diseased hearts all of these things went untended. "Now, at least you have a reasonable length of time [with a patient] and access to specialists," Bleakley says. "It's going to open up a whole new world for us. But even with new services available to them, the homeless will remain some of the toughest, most confounding patients. Disorder and addiction easily sabotage the best laid plans, and those who work with the homeless acknowledge that few make it out. That sobering reality doesn't stop Mack, the outreach worker, who heads back out on the street to find people who might qualify for Medicaid. He's like a rescue diver plunging into a roiling ocean to bring those who've fallen overboard back to safety again and again. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
Connected Culture Could Be Bad For Your Health

Quaker (Mashable)
Our lives are increasingly dominated by never-ending to-do lists and full email inboxes. We try to jam 54 hours into a 24-hour day. We no longer have the energy we want to spend time doing what matters most to us and the numbers prove it The 40-hour work week is a relic of the past. 40% of Americans are now regularly working over 40 hours a week, and "work/life balance" becomes increasingly difficult to maintain when we're only a text or email away from the office. And this culture of connectedness spills over from the workplace into our personal lives 7 in 10 parents say that "family time" often consists of sitting silently in front of the TV, lacking the energy to even make conversation or break out a board game Read more... More about Brandspeak, Lifestyle, Family Parenting, and Health Fitness
Technology/ Business/
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HOW
teaching future language teachers how to help their Englishspeaking students group things in Russian. If English-speaking students of Russian had to sort cups and glasses into different piles, then re-sort into "chashka" and "stakan," they should sort them differently. She says language teachers could do activities like this with their students instead of just memorizing words. "They feel generally that this acknowledges something that they've long expected, long wanted to do but didn't know how," Pavlenko says. "They felt that it moved them forward, away from teaching pronunciation and doing the 'repeat after me' activities." Pavlenko points to research showing that if you're hungry, you'll pay more attention to foodrelated stimuli, and she says speaking another language fluently works the same way. One's native language could also affect memory, according to Pavlenko. She points to novelist Vladimir Nabokov, who was fully trilingual in English, French and
Russian. She says Nabokov wrote three memoirs: he published one in English, and when another publishing house asked for one in Russian, he accepted, thinking he would simply translate his first memoir. "When Nabokov started translating it into Russian, he recalled a lot of things that he did not remember when he was writing it in English, and so in essence it became a somewhat different book," Pavlenko says. "It came out in Russian and he felt that in order to represent his childhood properly to his American readership, he had to produce a new version. So the version of Nabokov's autobiography we know now is actually a third attempt, where he had to recall more things in Russian and then retranslate them from Russian back into English." Boroditsky also studied the differences in what research subjects remembered when using English, which doesn't always note the intent of an action, and Spanish, which does. This can lead to differences in how people remember what they saw,
potentially important in eyewitness testimony, she says. John McWhorter, a linguist at Columbia University, acknowledges such differences but he says they don't really matter. The experiments "show that there are these tiny differentials that you can find that seem to correlate with what language you speak," McWhorter says. "Nothing has ever demonstrated that your language makes you process life in a different way. It just doesn't work." He calls this "the language hoax," which happens to be the title of his upcoming book. As an example, he refers to modern speakers of a Mayan language, who also use directions that roughly correspond to compass points, rather than left or right. Researchers asked people, most of whom only knew this language, to do tasks like memorizing how a ball moved through a maze, which would have been easier had they thought about it in terms of left and right, rather than compass points. The participants were just as good at
these tasks and sometimes better, leading the experimenters to conclude they were not constrained by their language. Boroditsky disagrees. She says the counterexamples simply prove language isn't the only factor affecting what we notice. Like studying to be a pilot or doctor, she says learning to speak a different language fluently can also change us, and this means we can learn those changes, like learning any other skill. "It's like a very extensive training program," Boroditsky says. "There's nothing exotic about the effects that language has on cognition. It's just the same that any learning has on cognition." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
Housing Authority Proposes Separating Affordable and Market Housing in ... Washington City Paper (blog)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 10:11:04 AM
Washington City Paper (blog) Housing Authority Proposes Separating Affordable and Market Housing in... Washington City Paper (blog) The rebirth of the neighborhood began with a federal Hope VI grant to turn the troubled Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg public housing complex into a new mixed-income community, with a one-to-one replacement of all the low-income units. That process was...
Surface Pro 2 tablet gets a quiet speed bump to 1.9GHz

Jon Fingas (Engadget RSS Feed)
Sometime, it pays to avoid the bleeding edge of technology. Microsoft has confirmed to The tablets are shipping with a faster Verge that newer Surface Pro 2
1.9GHz Core i5 inside instead of the 1.6GHz chip that came with the earliest models. The ...
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Politics-Right/
Redefining Marriage: Judicial Overreach at Close of 2013

Ryan T. Anderson (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
Walter Choroszewski Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom While most Americans were celebrating the Christmas season, judges were busy redefining state marriage laws. In New Mexico, Utah, and Ohio, judges have usurped the authority of citizens and their elected representatives to discuss, debate, and vote on important policy matters regarding the most fundamental institution of society. On December 19, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution requires New Mexico to recognize samesex relationships. The next day, December 20, a federal judge ruled that Utahs constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and woman violates the U.S. Constitution. (This came just a week after a federal judge struck down Utahs ban on polygamy.) The following business day, December 23, a federal judge ruled that portions of Ohios marriage amendment violate the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution does not require redefining marriage. In a Heritage Legal Memorandum, law
government welfare programs. Redefining marriage to abandon malefemale sexual complementarity would make o t h e r e s s e n t i a l characteristicssuch as monogamy, exclusivity, and permanencyarbitrary, as leading LGBT scholars and activists admit. The recent court rulings will not end the debate. Thats why we need to explain well what marriage is, why it matters, and what the consequences will be of redefining it. Whatever one thinks about marriage, the courts shouldnt be redefining it. America should make marriage policy through the democratic process rather than allowing judges to dictate it through decisions that have no professor John Eastman explains among other things. marriage protects children by grounding in our Constitution. w h y m a r r i a g e l a w s a r e Knowing what equality demands encouraging men and women to To help you engage in the debate, constitutional. Among other requires knowing what marriage commit to each other and take Heritage worked with allies to points, he explains: is and why it matters. Marriage responsibility for their children. produce a downloadable booklet The Equal Protection Clause does exists to bring a man and a Redefining the institution would using everyday language to not compel recognition of same- woman together as husband and further distance it from the needs explain why marriage matters. sex marriages because same-sex wife to be father and mother to of children and deny the ideal that This entry passed through the couples are not situated similarly, any children their union produces. a child should have both a mother Full-Text RSS service if this is in relevant respects, to opposite- Government recognizes it because and a father. Its hard to insist that your content and you're reading it sex couples. Moreover, policies it is an institution that benefits fathers are essential when the law on someone else's site, please read recognizing only traditional society in a way that no other h a s m a d e f a t h e r s o p t i o n a l . the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentm a r r i a g e f u r t h e r s o c i e t y s relationship does. It is societys Delinking childbearing from only/faq.php#publishers. c o m p e l l i n g i n t e r e s t s i n best way to ensure the well-being marriage leads to more state procreation and child-rearing, of children. State recognition of i n t e r v e n t i o n a n d e x p a n d e d
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Michael Moore: Lets face it, ObamaCare is awful

The piece itself is less interesting than the timing of it, appearing in the Times on day one for Submitted at 1/2/2014 1:31:53 PM ObamaCare coverage. Moores posted at 2:31 pm on January 2, not waiting around to see how the 2014 by Allahpundit law works before pronouncing it I was just thinking yesterday, I sucky and calling for a public wonder what a guy who supports option and single-payer. Hes as CastroCare thinks we should do to eager for his own reasons to see it fix ObamaCare? If you cant fail as righties are; the key guess, read this. If you can, why question is how many leftists are bother? His big knock on O-Care with him. Go back and look at this is true enough affordable Gallup poll from last month care aint so affordable but you showing a 12-point spike between already knew that, just like you October and December in the already know what he thinks number of Democrats who want should be done about it. The to expand what the law does. Sam Laird (Mashable) it's a fun way to experience the solution to gross mismanagement My hunch is that that numbers game they love in a setting both Submitted at 1/2/2014 3:07:33 PM of the federal exchange, ticked down now that the novel and traditional. And for You don't have to be a hockey many photographers, the entire capricious deadline-shifting websites kinda sorta working and fan to appreciate the NHL's situation is a dream come true. driven by political whim, and tens two million people have kinda annual Winter Classic. The This year's first Winter Classic of trillions in unfunded Medicare sorta enrolled, but Id like to see it liabilities is, obviously, a bigger tracked monthly. Progressives premise itself is cool enough: took place on Jan. 1 Two teams from the world's top See also: NHL Player Escapes role for government in health will be torn this year between hockey league facing off outdoors Locked Bathroom With Help care. Theres no problem with toeing the party line on how liberalism that socialism cant awesome O-Care is to improve in an iconic sports stadium From Twitter Read more... More their chances in the midterms and For many NHL players, it about Entertainment, Nhl, Pics, solve. harkens back to the days when and Sports they first learned to play hockey on frozen-over ponds. For fans,
Allahpundit (Hot Air Top Picks)
12 Magical Moments From the NHL's Winter Classic Showcase
dismissing O-Care as a giveaway to corporate interests in the name of galvanizing a challenge to Hillary from the left. (In his piece, Moore takes care to applaud potential Clinton opponent Brian Schweitzer for opening a few state-funded clinics for state workers as governor of Montana.) Youll see them oscillate between Moores position and OFAs until November, I suspect, when theyll finally start trending more durably towards the former ahead of 2016. Exit question: How could anyone dislike ObamaCare? This vid makes it sound fantastic. [embedded content] Related Posts: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
ZTE comes to CES with voice-savvy Grand S II smartphone, fitness-ready BlueWatch

Jon Fingas (Engadget RSS Feed)
ZTE clearly wants to make its presence felt at CES this year; it's coming to the show with no less than seven devices. The Grand S
II headlines the pack as the company's first smartphone with "high-precision" voice commands, which let you both unlock ...
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Business/
Here's What Conservatives Are Missing From The Debate On Extending Unemployment Benefits
Danny Vinik (Business Insider)
At the Washington Examiner today, David Freddoso argues that Congress is correct to allow the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation (EUC) program to expire. His argument perfectly encapsulates why Republicans are wrong here. During normal economic times, unemployed Americans can collect benefits for up to 26
weeks. The EUC program extended the duration to 73 weeks, although the exact length varied by states. This past Sunday, the EUC program expired and 1.3 million Americans lost their benefits.
Democrats are making a big push for another extension of the program while Republicans oppose it. There are two questions that conservatives must answer in the affirmative to justify ending
unemployment benefits. Here's the first: Do unemployment benefits disincentivize work when the economy is weak? HERE'S page 52
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Here's Why Some Women Are Eating Their Own Placentas

Christina Sterbenz (Business Insider)
Some 40,000 laws went into effect as the ball dropped this year, but the weirdest one might be Oregon's new law allowing mothers to take their placentas home from the hospital. Ignore your gag reflexes for a moment and know that various cultures assign certain powers to the placenta, the organ that connects the fetus to the wall of the uterus and gives it nourishment. For example, the Navajo, among other native tribes around the world, bury the placenta ceremonially. In fact, many women do want to take home their placenta for various cultural reasons," Alissa Keny-Guyer (D-Portland), the sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor. "And hospitals and birthing centers have tried to respond to these requests and have often done it and didnt realize that they were out of compliance with the law." While some moms might keep these birth organs for tradition, others may want eat them a practice called maternal placentophagy. Yes, you read that correctly. And the mothers who have practiced it
might surprise you. In a 2013 interview with Glamour Magazine, " Mad Men" star January Jones advised new moms to eat their placentas to avoid postpartum depression. Women like Jones may justify eating placentas because they contain prostaglandin (which makes the uterus contract) and the stress-easing hormone oxytocin, as The Guardian has noted. Proponents of placentophagy also point out that other non-human mammals eat the organ after
childbirth. Advocates of placentaeating also frequently point to a 1954 study finding 181 out of 210 women had increased milk production after placenta ingestion. Women have reported benefits more recently, too. In 2013, the majority of 189 women surveyed in the Ecology of Food and Nutrition perceived positive benefits from eating the organ and more importantly, said they'd eat their placentas again after future births.
However, as that study noted, the placebo effect could have causes those pluses. Other scientists have also expressed skepticism about the "proven" benefits of eating placentas. Mark Kristal a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Buffalo and a leading (if not the only) expert in placentophagia concluded the practice must provide a "fundamental biological advantage" to mammals but says the nature of this advantage remains a mystery, New York
Magazine reported. Every 10 or 20 years, people will decide they need to do it, labeling the behavior "natural" since many animals eat their placentas, Kristal told the magazine. "But it's not based on science. It's a fad," he said. Still, numerous mothering websites have endorsed the trend, posting recipes like roast placenta, placenta pasta, and placenta smoothies. Moms can even purchase DIY-kits (on Amazon and Etsy) to dry their birthing organs, grind them, and make swallowable capsules. O thers prefer to down the meaty sac totally raw. Regardless of whether some people actually believe the hoopla surrounding placentophagy, everybody deserves the right to practice it. The science might seem shaky, but some women, including many in Hawaii consider placenta-eating a matter of religious freedom. Many Oregon hospitals have already looked the other way when faced with a determined family who wanted to take the organ with them, according to The Oregonian. So the state just wanted to officially okay the practice. Eat up, moms. Join the conversation about this HERE'S page 52
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Talk/ News Photos
HERE'S
HERE'S
benefits is sound public policy. Freddoso believes the answer is That's an absurd standard on yes and points to North Carolina which to base policy decisions. as evidence. In North Carolina, And even if there is an upside to unemployment benefits expired letting the benefits expire, it entirely over the summer and doesn't mean that the policy employment has picked up since. makes sense. Plenty of policies It's unclear how much of this is a have some upsides and are still result of an improving economy, bad ideas. the end of benefits or something That leads us to the second else. question that conservatives must In addition, many workers have answer: dropped out of the workforce Are the costs of letting the EUC since then. The cause of this is p r o g r a m e x p i r e w o r t h t h e unclear as well, though the end of p o t e n t i a l b e n e f i t s ? jobless benefits is also likely a factor as workers must continue to This is the question that search for employment in order to c o n s e r v a t i v e s h a v e n ' t e v e n receive them. Once those benefits attempted to answer. They have expired, discouraged workers may not grappled with the costs of have stopped looking for work ending jobless benefits. Instead, altogether. the debate has focused solely on In reality, it's too early to draw whether the incentive effects of any strong conclusions from jobless benefits are real. N o r t h C a r o l i n a . F r e d d o s o There are still nearly three times basically admits this in his piece. as many unemployed workers as " T h a t ' s a t l e a s t e n o u g h t o there are job openings. That conclude that the world didn't means that even without the end," he writes. "It may even potential disincentive effect of suggest an upside to returning unemployment benefits, millions benefits to their normal duration." of workers still will not be able to Just because "the world didn't find work. Many of these workers end" doesn't mean that ending the just lost their most important
income source, because conservatives think there could be an upside to ending the EUC program. They aren't sure. They aren't even particularly confident. But it won't cause "the world to end" so I guess that means it's worth a shot. That's the exact opposite way we should approach this policy decision. Given how brutal it is to be long-term unemployed and how bleak their job prospects are, we should continue unemployment benefits for them unless we believe that the benefits of ending the EUC program (removing the disincentive for work) are highly likely to outweigh the human costs. The burden of proof is on conservatives to prove this, but they haven't even tried to do so. SEE ALSO: Yes, We Should Extend Unemployment Benefits Here's Why Join the conversation about this story
story
TED: Mick Cornett: How an obese town lost a million pounds - Mick Cornett (2013)
TEDTalks (TEDTalks (video))
Submitted at 1/2/2014 10:21:58 AM
Oklahoma City is a midsized town that had a big problem: It was among the most obese towns in America. Mayor Mick Cornett
realized that, to make his city a great place to work and live, it had to become healthier too. In this charming talk, he walks us through the interlocking changes that helped OKC drop a collective million pounds (450,000 kilos).
Daughter with Down syndrome bonds with mom through photos - Today.com
(news photos - Google News)
Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:31:32 PM
Daughter with Down syndrome
bonds with mom through photos Today.com Mother and daughter are side-byside in similar scenes, with Emer
taking Laoisha's photo and then taking turns performing a task, Laoisha taking her mother's. such as braiding each other's hair. Sometimes the photos feature and more Emer and Laoisha together, each
Business/ News Photos
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21 Photos That Show What College Frat Life Was Like 50 Years Ago Business Insider
Business Insider 21 Photos That Show What College Frat Life Was Like 50 Years Ago Business Insider He somewhat casually revealed a treasure trove of photos that had recently been shared with him that captured dorm and frat life at his alma mater, Lake Forest College in Illinois. The zip drives contained hundreds of behind-thescenes photos...
Here Are The States That Everyone Moved Into And Out Of In 2013
Rob Wile (Business Insider)
Each year Atlas Van Lines, the national moving company, tallies up all the moves they performed for every state, and shows which states saw the most inflows and
outflows. They published their findings for 2013 today, and compiled them into a handy infographic. States that saw the greatest percentage of inbound movers: North Dakota, North Carolina, and Texas.
States with the highest outbound move percentage: Connecticut, New York, and Indiana. You can see historical data here. Last year's top three were Washington DC, North Dakota, and North Carolina. The losers were Wyoming, Nebraska, and
New York. Check it out: ( AEI's Mark Perry was the first to post this) SEE ALSO: The Most Important Charts In The World Join the conversation about this story
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Daily World/ News Photos
News | London Evening Standard

(News | London Evening Standard)
Count the meerkats and pick up the penguins ... it's London Zoo's annual stocktake Penguins and meerkats are among the hundreds of species at London Zoo being counted today during its annual stocktake. Agatha Christie's war record gives clue to her plots with drugs and poison Agatha Christie's wartime service as a volunteer nurse gave her an insight into drugs and poisons that was later to prove invaluable in her literary career. Sky News presenter Jacquie Beltrao diagnosed with breast cancer The mother-of-three, who provides sports bulletins for Sky, took to Twitter to tell her followers of the diagnosis - which was made a day before Christmas. Sherlock returns with surprise cameo from star's real parents Sherlock fans finally found out how the detective faked his own death - but the returning TV drama had another surprise in store for eagle-eyed viewers. Forget results, here's funny: the most amusing sports snaps of 2013 From Formula One fans sunning themselves in Monaco to Gareth Bale showing off his thighs, take
a look at some of the more lighthearted sports images of the year.#shesaidyes!!! Rory McIroy and Caroline Wozniacki get engaged Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy and Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki have announced their engagement on Twitter. In pictures: the biggest news stories of 2013 From devastating natural disasters to the death of perhaps the most significant political figure of the past century, we take a look at the biggest stories from home and abroad. In pictures: the best Showbiz Party People of 2013 Our resident photographer Dave Benett gets invited to all the cool celebrity parties. Check out his favourite snaps of the year in our gallery. Makeover at Met: team that will star in Danny Boyles show about London police This is the team following in the footsteps of Dixon of Dock Green, The Sweeney and The Bill in Danny Boyles new comedydrama about Londons police force. Justin Bieber: 'My beloved beliebers. I'm officially retiring' Justin Bieber has announced on Twitter that he intends to retire in one of a series of cryptic messages posted over Christmas. In pictures: a year through the
Elizabeth Olympic Park and Oxford Circus at dusk show London at its best. Evangelical Christian suggests Daley is gay because his father died A prominent evangelical Christian has been criticised by members of her own faith after reportedly hinting that diver Tom Daley is gay because his father died. Hometown Glory: Adele at the Palace to receive MBE VIDEO: Singer Adele has capped a memorable year by being awarded an MBE by the Prince of Wales. Elephant mother: Daphne Sheldrick, 79, is still caring for orphans of the poaching epidemic When Daphne Sheldrick talks lens of a Standard photographer about her babies, she sounds just It's been an eventful year for the like any other mother. Busking capital - and here it is as seen with Billy Bragg through the eyes and lenses of Billy Bragg and Frank Turner Evening Standard photographer went busking together in King's Jeremy Selwyn Orson, I am your Cross yesterday to raise money f a t h e r : f a m i l y g o e s v i r a l for Shelter. Arrogant and cool: recreating famous film scenes Coriolanus at the Donmar with their baby Tom Hiddleston returns to the Being a new parent can be a London stage with a compelling testing time. But one young performance. couple have found a rather This entry passed through the i n v e n t i v e w a y t o e n t e r t a i n Full-Text RSS service if this is themselves and their baby son. your content and you're reading it The sky at night: amazing pictures on someone else's site, please read from London's leading aerial the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentphotographer only/faq.php#publishers. Aerial views of Regent Street at Christmas, the Shard, the Queen
How to Look Better in Photos: Celebrity Photographer's 6 Tips - ABC News

How to Look Better in Photos: Celebrity Photographer's 6 Tips ABC News But while some people kick off 2014 vowing to lose weight or spend more time with family, there's one New Year's resolution that is super simple to accomplish -- looking better in photos. Worldfamous celebrity photographer Nigel Barker, best known as...
Politics/
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WH: Were confident we know more about religious fidelity than a bunch of nuns, or something
Ed Morrissey (Hot Air Top Picks)
Yet another Fast & Furious gun turns up at a crime scene in Mexico
Erika Johnsen (Hot Air Top Picks)
church plan and no legal compulsion for that administrator to provide contraceptive coverage Submitted at 1/2/2014 12:01:15 PM where an eligible organization posted at 1:01 pm on January 2, with a self-insured church plan 2014 by Ed Morrissey invokes the accommodation, the It didnt take long for the Obama government lawyers argued in an administration to respond publicly earlier Circuit Court brief. to Supreme Court Justice Sonia But theres the rub. The act of Sotomayors temporary injunction s e l f - c e r t i f y i n g e s s e n t i a l l y against HHS for enforcement of facilitates the extension of the contraceptive-coverage i n s u r a n c e c o v e r a g e o f mandate. Expressing confidence contraception to the employees of in their position, the White House religious organizations, which insisted that their compromise means that they end up being the f o r r e l i g i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n s conveyance vehicle of the benefits satisfied any risk to conscience whether they directly pay for it or objections: not. In real terms, the We defer to the Department of organizations will end up carrying Justice on litigation matters, but the costs of their group risk pool, remain confident that our final because premiums will cover the rules strike the balance of provider costs imposed on the providing women with free insurers. Thats true whether contraceptive coverage while insurers impose a surcharge for preventing non-profit religious that coverage or not, and thats e m p l o y e r s w i t h r e l i g i o u s also true for insurers in all other objections to contraceptive contexts, too. The White House coverage from having to contract, argues that the preventive arrange, pay, or refer for such nature of contraception will save coverage, a White House official insurers in the long run from the said. costs of the illness of pregnancy, There is no statutory authority to but thats based on specious longr e g u l a t e t h e t h i r d - p a r t y term calculations that have no administrator of a self-insured impact on year-to-year cost
balancing necessary in risk pools anyway. All this compromise does is to offer a transparent sleight-of-hand to give religious organizations some political cover to claim that they are acting within their religious beliefs when they clearly are not. It should surprise no one that these religious organizations arent interested in lying to themselves or other Christians about the nature of this arrangement, even if the White House suffers from the belief that no one takes their prohibitions seriously. The White House will need to argue in court that they know better how to be faithful to the tenets of Christianity than a bunch of nuns. And, for that matter, a bunch of priests, too: In a huge victory for Priests for Life, a pro-life organization, a federal appeals court has issued a ruling saying it doesnt have to pay massive fines to the federal government for not obeying the HHS mandate, which forces religious groups and companies to pay for birth control or abortioncausing drugs for their employees. An emergency injunction granted
late this afternoon in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit means that Priests for Life will not have to obey the contraception mandate contained in the Affordable Care Act as its appeal is being heard. It also means that, tomorrow, Priests for Life will not have to cancel health insurance for its employees. This absurd mandate will probably founder on the fact that the federal government has imposed an unreasonable restriction on religious expression in service to an end that could easily have been achieved through less-restrictive means for example, free contraception from the government through expansion of Title IX benefits. This will hopefully be one of the more absurd sideshows in the eventual Supreme Court action this year. Related Posts: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
posted at 4:01 pm on January 2, 2014 by Erika Johnsen Lest anyone forget that the Obama administration has yet to fully come clean on the travesty that was Operation Fast and Furious the not-botched but certainly crooked gunrunning scandal in which federal officials pressed American gun dealers into selling more than 2,000 weapons to known cartel smugglers, and then allowed those criminals to funnel the weapons back across the Mexican border with no way of actively tracing them the results of the administrations egregiously deficient enterprise are still popping up in the aftermath of deadly violence. Back in August, CBS reported on the unwelcome discovery of three Fast & Furious guns at cartelrelated crime scenes, and now weve got another one, via CNN: A U.S. official said Tuesday that investigators have traced at least one firearm recovered at a December 18 gunfight in Puerto Peasco, across from the Arizona border, to Operation Fast and Furious. YET page 56
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YET
The shootout in Puerto Peasco, also called Rocky Point by Arizona tourists, two weeks ago left at least five suspected cartel gunmen dead, including possibly a high level Sinaloa cartel chief, according to Mexican authorities. Witnesses reported hours of shooting and grenade explosions, with Mexican authorities using helicopters to attack fleeing suspected cartel gunmen on the ground. The ATF, in a statement, said: ATF has accepted responsibility for the mistakes made in the Fast and Furious investigation and at the attorney generals direction we have taken appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated. And we acknowledge that, regrettably, firearms related to the Fast and Furious investigation will likely continue to be recovered at future crime scenes. Yes, well, as reassuring as Im
sure it is that that Attorney General Eric Holder has directed the ATF to take appropriate and decisive action to ensure that these errors will not be repeated, that assurance would carry rather a bit more weight if the Justice Department would talk the talk and walk the walk by finally releasing the subpoenaed documents they are still willfully withholding from Congressional investigation. Being held in contempt of Congress over the same evidently didnt even phase Eric Holder, and the administration is still trying to get the executive-privilege pull making its way through the judiciary dismissed out of hand. Fortunately, a federal judge completely rejected the administrations farcical argument that it somehow isnt the courts role to adjudicate the dispute (dismissing the case without hearing it would in effect place
the courts finger on the scale, designating the executive as the victor based solely on his untested assertion that the privilege applies, the judge wrote), but the administration is unapologetically looking to appeal that decision because the rule of law as well as that little constitutional mechanism we like to call checksand-balances clearly do no apply to the Most Transparent Administration, Evah. Related Posts: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
SNOW WAY OUT! Winter storm threatens to ground travelers across US

foxnewsonline@foxnews.com (FOXNews.com)
rush hour. "The saying it's too cold to snow, won't apply Thursday night and Submitted at 1/2/2014 2:55:12 PM early Friday. Temperatures for Northeast residents are bracing much of this storm will be in the for a cold welcome to 2014 due to single numbers and this will a winter storm predicted to bring create a snow that is as light as snow and frigid temperatures you will ever see in this part of across much of the region. the world. You should be able to Though snow began falling actually use a push broom to o v e r n i g h t i n p a r t s o f N e w move the snow if you would like." E n g l a n d a n d N e w Y o r k , - David Epstein, a meteorologist forecasters say the full storm in Maine would not hit until later Thursday. All of southern New England is As much as a foot of snow or under a winter storm warning more was forecast for some areas until Friday morning. The region overnight Thursday into Friday, is expected to get hit with 8 to 12 and temperatures were expected inches of snow inland and about to plummet, with some areas 10 to 14 inches of snow in areas seeing highs just above zero, the like eastern Mass. National Weather Service said. Vermont's two southernmost "There will be travel problems," counties, which will see belowsaid Hugh Johnson, a National zero temperatures on Friday, are Weather Service meteorologist in also expecting 6 to 12 inches of Albany, N.Y. "It will be very snow, The Burlington Free Press cold." reported. F O X N E W S W E A T H E R David Epstein, a meteorologist in CENTER Maine, summed up the weather Sections of interior southern New conditions in The Portland Press England and New York could get Herald: "The saying it's too cold up to a foot of snow, with to snow, won't apply Thursday forecasts generally calling for 6 to n i g h t a n d e a r l y F r i d a y . 12 inches. New York City, likely Temperatures for much of this to see 3 to 7 inches, issued a snow storm will be in the single alert. New York Gov. Andrew numbers and this will create a C u o m o u r g e d t h e c i t y ' s snow that is as light as you will commuters to leave their cars at ever see in this part of the world. home in case major highways are SNOW page 60 closed for Thursday's evening
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New set of taxes and fees kicks inunder ObamaCare in 2014

ADVERTISEMENT Get ready for the next wave of ObamaCare fees. With the launch of coverage under the health care law on Wednesday, a new set of taxes and fees is kicking in this year --
as part of the hundreds of billions of dollars the government intends to raise over the next decade to help pay for the program. This year, the increases come in the form of fees on health insurance companies which could translate into higher premiums. And for those who don't buy coverage, the IRS plans to slap them with a fine -- some call it a
"tax" -- for not complying. "This is only the beginning," the conservative Heritage Foundation warned Thursday. The biggest revenue-raiser kicking in this year is an annual fee on health insurers, meant to help fund premium subsidies and other provisions. The fee is projected to bring in $8 billion this year and roughly $100
billion over the next decade. The insurance industry -- and more than 200 House lawmakers -- are trying to repeal it, warning that these costs will be passed onto the consumer (though some will get Affordable Care Act subsidies). An industry-commissioned study by consultant Oliver Wyman estimated that rates will rise in 2014 by up to 2.3 percent for that
reason alone. By 2023, the study said, rates could be rising annually by up to 3.7 percent because of the tax. The other major fee to watch out for is the individual mandate penalty. Under the law, those who do not get insurance by the end of March and do not qualify for an NEW page 61
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UK opposition to EU wide green energy target could risk half a million jobs report
RT (RT - Daily news)
Published time: January 02, 2014 21:00 AFP Photo / Adrian Dennis A leaked official report from the European Commission says that over half a million jobs could be lost over the next two decades by the UKs opposition to new EU targets for green energy. European countries are currently debating over what the new climate change targets should be for greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy efficiency, as the current targets expire in 2020. Britain and the Czech Republic are the only countries in the EU actively opposed to having a renewable energy policy by 2030. The current set of targets are known as 20-20-20 and set three key objectives in energy policy by the year 2020. A 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gases emissions from 1990 levels, raising energy consumption from renewable resources by 20% and a 20% improvement in the EUs energy efficiency. The UK is arguing that countries should be able to reach greenhouse gas emission targets however they want to, for example by relying on nuclear power or carbon capture
technology. But a European commission report seen by the Guardian warns that creating renewable energy targets across the whole of the EU could create up to 568,000 jobs by 2030. Germany, Denmark, Austria and Finland are all said to back a renewable energy target. The UK climate secretary Ed Davey has said that individual countries must adopt a flexible approach in order to meet their
emission targets. We need a technology neutral approach to how individual countries meet their emissions targets. We will therefore oppose a renewable energy target at an EU level as inflexible and unnecessary, he said in a statement. His view is backed up by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The UK's view is that a single,
greenhouse gas target is the most effective way of combatting climate change, keeping energy prices down and strengthening energy security. A binding renewables target would not allow individual countries the flexibility to meet their emissions target, it said in a statement. The governments stance on the issue is supported by all the major UK political parties. Chris Davies, a Liberal Democrat MP who sits
on the EU committee on the environment said that governments shouldnt adopt a religious commitment to renewable energy generation. "Overall, having a renewable energy target is an expensive way of reducing CO2 emissions, and rules out other long-term options such as carbon capture and storage. If Europe wants to reduce OPPOSITION page 60
News Wire/
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Michigan says WAR SUX license plate is too offensive for state roads
Published time: January 02, 2014 20:57 (Image from flickr user@ouvyt) After rejecting an anti-war license plate for being offensive, the state of Michigan defended its decision in court by arguing that it was protecting children by prohibiting an area driver from registering a vanity tag that would have read WAR SUX. According to a December filing in Grand Rapids federal court, the state asked the judge to throw out a lawsuit that accuses Michigan of violating the plaintiff's First Amendment-protected freedom of speech when it rejected the proposed license plate. Ann Arbor, Michigans David DeVarti is suing the state with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. He requested the plate but was denied by the Michigan Secretary of States office, which called the lettering offensive. In court, the state clarified its position by suggesting the move was made with the best interest of children at heart.
Many young children of reading age ride in vehicles and are unwillingly exposed to license plates on other vehicles, reads the motion to dismiss the suit.They sometimes amuse themselves by reading or playing games with license plates. And because vehicles often travel in residential neighborhoods, youth may be exposed to license plates from their yards or driveways In a statement to the Associated
Press, Assistant Attorney General Ann Sherman added,Drivers cannot avoid an offensive word on a license plate in front of them because they cannot safely avert their eyes. According to Sherman, courts have previously upheld decisions made to protectthe physical and emotional well-being of youth even in the face of concern over First Amendment violations. DeVarti, however, strongly
concluded. In addition to representing DeVarti, the ACLU is in the midst of a similar case involving Michigan and a local man named Michael Matwyuk. The state reportedly denied his request to secure a license plate containing the word infidel, though it ultimately approved the plate in September. Meanwhile, DeVarti is far from the only person in the US who opposes the nations ongoing military operations. The results of a poll released earlier this week found that only 17 percent of Americans are in favor the war in Afghanistan, suggesting that support for the 12-year-old operation is now below that of disagrees with the decision. I feel like this is a statement of what was seen during low points who I am, he told CBS Detroit, of the Vietnam War. and, at the same time, I think that This entry passed through the its a positive message that we Full-Text RSS service if this is should be conveying of, hey, war your content and you're reading it is a bad idea, and we should do on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contenteverything we can to avoid it. M a y b e s o m e t i m e s i t s only/faq.php#publishers. unavoidable, but I think that we should strive through diplomatic channels for peace every opportunity we have, DeVarti
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PRIEST MURDERED Calif. police ID suspectin New Year's killing

OPPOSITION
failed to show up for the 9 a.m. Mass. Eureka Mayor Frank Jager told FoxNews.com that Freed's Submitted at 1/2/2014 2:55:12 PM 2010 silver Nissan Hybrid is Authorities in California are missing from the rectory. The hunting for a man suspected of California license plate number of murdering a beloved Catholic the vehicle is 6NDW400. priest whose body was found The Eureka Police Department inside a church rectory on New revealed there was forced entry at Year's Day, law enforcement the rectory and that a violent officials announced Thursday. struggle ensued. While a cause of An arrest warrant has been issued death has yet to be determined, for Gary Lee Bullock in the police said it appears Freed was alleged murder of Rev. Eric the victim of blunt force trauma. Freed, who was found dead inside The murder occurred sometime the rectory of the St. Bernard between Tuesday evening when Church in Eureka. parishioners left evening services According to police, Bullock was and Wednesday morning. arrested for public intoxication on Authorities are scouring the area Tuesday and taken to jail where for any sign of Bullock, 43, who he was "rejected due to his erratic is described as a 6-foot 1 white behavior." Bullock was then male with dark hair, weighing transported to a hospital for approximately 195 pounds. His evaluation and then ultimately last known address is in Redway, taken back to jail, where he was Calif., police said. released shortly after midnight on The community of Eureka, New Year's Day. A security guard meanwhile, is in a state of shock was alerted to noise in the area of over Freed's death. the church a few hours later and "Every once in a while, you meet spotted a man matching Bullock's one of those people who is truly d e s c r i p t i o n . A f t e r a s h o r t wonderful someone youd like conversation, the guard ordered to clone and fill the world with," the man to leave the premises. Jager said. "He was one of those Freed's body was discovered people." Wednesday morning after he Freed, who lived in Japan for
emissions at the least significant cost, it needs to be left to countries to decide how to do it," Davies told the Guardian. Tom Geartex, the Labour shadow energy minister, said that he was unconvinceda 2030 renewables target provides this necessary optionality, since it overlooks a more than 20 years, spoke several number of low-carbon but nonlanguages. In addition to serving renewable technologies, such as as pastor, he taught religious carbon capture and storage. s t u d i e s a t H u m b o l d t S t a t e Unsurprisingly, the wind industry University, where he was also said that not having a renewable director of the campus Newman energy target would make it harder for developers to win Center. Freed joined St. Bernard's Parish investment. "The EU needs to show leadership as pastor in August 2011. "He was a great speaker," Jager here and set a 2030 renewable said. "People just loved listening energy target as a matter of priority. It would send a crucial to him." The mayor also confirmed that political signal on the continuing there was a report of unlawful direction of travel away from entry at Sacred Heart Church, fossil fuels to clean energy another church in Eureka, on New sources across Europe, Maf Year's Day. The intruder fled SNOW before police had a chance to continued from page 56 respond, he said. It's unclear if You should be able to actually that incident is related to Freed's use a push broom to move the murder. snow if you would like." Anyone with information on The storm dropped a half-foot or Bullock's whereabouts or the more of snow in Illinois on location of Freed's car is urged to Wednesday, prompting hundreds contact Detective Sergeant Bill of flight cancellations into and out Nova 707-268-5261. of Chicago's O'Hare International This entry passed through the Airport, according to the aviation Full-Text RSS service if this is t r a c k i n g w e b s i t e your content and you're reading it F l i g h t A w a r e . c o m . on someone else's site, please read Authorities said the weather may the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- have been a factor in a fatal crash only/faq.php#publishers. involving a pickup and a bus carrying casino patrons in Indiana. Police said the truck's driver was killed and 15 bus
Smith, the deputy chief executive of Renewable UK, said . The German government has already set a target of 40-45% of its electricity supply to come from renewable sources by 2025. In contrast, the UK has one of the lowest shares of energy being generated by renewable sources of power along with Malta and Luxembourg The UK, Poland and Spain are not expected to meet their 2020 EU renewables target. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
passengers were hurt in the collision on a snow-covered and slushy highway in Rolling Prairie. AT LEAST 1,700 FLIGHTS CANCELED, 2,900 DELAYED Near blizzard conditions were forecast for areas along the Northeastern coast. The mayor of Bridgeport declared a state of emergency for Thursday, imposing special parking regulations so crews can plow. In Hartford, Hal Guy, of nearby Glastonbury, went shopping for three shovels. SNOW page 61
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exemption will be charged the fee. This year, that penalty will be $95, or 1 percent of household income, whichever is greater. The penalty will increase considerably in 2015 and beyond, though it remains unclear whether it is big enough to compel reluctant individuals to enter the insurance market. Finally, insurance companies are dealing with another set of increases. They are: -- A so-called "reinsurance fee" will be applied to some health insurers this year. The temporary fee is meant to raise $25 billion over three years, to help pay for the cost of those with pre-existing conditions signing up for coverage through the ObamaCare exchanges. The fee would start at $63 per person, but then drop to a bit more than $40 per person in 2015. It would drop again the following year. Critics warn that this could result in higher premiums, much like the annual tax on health insurers. -- Individual and group health insurers will be required to pay a
small fee to fund a PatientCentered Outcomes Research Institute. The fee is set at $2 per covered person this year, and will be adjusted annually based on "medical inflation." -- Some insurers will also be hit with a fee to fund what is known as a "risk adjustment program." This is meant to spread the risk around, by charging policies with lower-risk customers and using that money to offset costs for policies with higher-risk customers. -- The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed charging a monthly user fee equal to 3.5 percent of the premium for policies in the federal exchange. This money is meant to help fund the insurance exchanges. Republicans argue that all these fees and more will contribute to rising premiums. House Speaker John Boehner recently called the law "unworkable and unaffordable." But supporters, and the Obama administration, argue that the protections and benefits
Americans are getting in return more than make up for the costs. When coverage launched on Wednesday, the White House declared it a "new day for the millions of Americans who finally have the security that comes from quality, affordable health coverage." Among the changes, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to those with preexisting conditions; insurance companies cannot impose annual caps on health benefits; and millions may qualify for subsidies to help them buy insurance. Millions more will qualify for expanded Medicaid coverage. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
"We broke a couple in the last storm," he said. "We have four kids, so, three shovels, and we still have a little one back home." Guy said three of his kids, girls ages 8, 10 and 12, have been out of school for two weeks for the holidays and hope to get a couple more days off with the snow. Bruce Kelly, of East Hartford, was out looking for afterChristmas bargains. He said he wasn't going to worry on Wednesday about a storm due on Friday. "I used to plow for the state, so I'm used to big storms," he said. "Now I'm retired, so I can just sit and watch it. So, I'm not concerned at all." In Rhode Island, officials said crews would be prepared to plow, sand and salt roads or respond to any problems. While the bulk of the snow was expected to hit southern New England and southern sections of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, the prospect of additional snow was welcome news for many areas farther north. The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation in northern New Hampshire said the number of
skiers during the first five days of Christmas vacation week increased 26 percent compared to last year. "We seem to be in a sweet spot of snow," foundation executive director Thom Perkins said. Over in Maine, where some communities are still recovering from a recent ice storm that cut power to more than 100,000 customers, people seemed prepared for more winter weather. Kelly St. Denis, of Auburn, went skiing Wednesday at the Sunday River ski area with family and friends. She said it's been cold but the skiing has been good. "Hey, it's winter in Maine," she said. "We go with it." The Associated Press contributed to this report This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers.
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Pennsylvania cop reportedly pepper-sprayed girlfriends son for missing school

Boatright will fight the charges. Trooper Boatright vehemently denies the charges that have been Published time: January 02, 2014 filed against him," Zatko told 19:53 WTAE. "He is very much looking (AFP Photo / Raveendran) forward to the opportunity to A Pennsylvania state trooper is defend himself and clear his finding himself on the other side name. of the law after allegedly pepperAlthough the incident took place spraying his girlfriends son in April, the Associated Press because the teenager overslept reported that child welfare and missed school. employees had transferred the According to a local ABC case to local law enforcement affiliate, 48-year-old state trooper officials, who officially pressed Ernest Boatright has been charged charges in November. with child endangerment and Boatright, who's been a trooper harassment over the alleged since 1989, has been placed on altercation. unpaid leave since the charges The incident occurred earlier this Legal documents obtained by the knew he'd been struck with Pittsburgh. were filed. He's expected in court year in April, the Associated Press media claim Boatright used the pepper-spray because this wasnt For his part, Boatright has yet to for a preliminary hearing on now reports, but only on Tuesday s p r a y i n t h e r o o m o f h i s the first time Boatright had used comment on the accusations. January 22. However, he reportedly told This entry passed through the this week did the network, girlfriends 13-year-old son, who the substance on him. WTAE, report that charges had remains unidentified. As WTAE Until being placed on leave, investigators that while he did use Full-Text RSS service if this is being brought against Boatright. reported, court papers claim the Boatright worked as a state the spray, he did not actually your content and you're reading it The Pennsylvania State Police boy immediately woke up and trooper on the Pennsylvania discharge it on the boy or in the on someone else's site, please read suspended the officer over the began to suffer from coughing, Turnpike. The alleged incident boys room. Instead, he claims he the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentincident in November, and now sneezing as well as a runny nose reportedly occurred at the home was targeting a pair of cats in the only/faq.php#publishers. of Boatrights girlfriend in homes enclosed porch. His the AP reports that he is on and eyes. The boy reportedly added that he Menallen Township outside of lawyer, Mathew Zatko, indicated unpaid leave.

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