Perry: Abortion allowed if woman's life at risk

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast,Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Urbandale, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Westside Conservative Club breakfast,Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, in Urbandale, Iowa. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) ? Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry said Wednesday that he has "always struggled" with his position on abortion and clarified remarks he made a day earlier to indicate he would allow abortion if a woman's life were at risk.

The Texas governor, campaigning hard in the final week ahead of Iowa's lead-off Jan. 3 caucuses, had told a pastor Tuesday that he had undergone a "transformation" on abortion rights after meeting a woman, Rebecca Kissling, who said she was conceived during a rape. She was featured in former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's anti-abortion documentary, "The Gift of Life," and Perry attended its Iowa premier.

A day later, Perry said he opposes abortion rights in cases of rape and incest, but would allow the legal procedure if the pregnancy threatened the mother's life.

"I think I've always struggled with that issue," Perry told reporters after meeting with voters in a sports bar. "After I went to see the movie a 'Gift of Life' and had a conversation with Rebecca Kissling, and I really thought about this through the Christmas holidays and that's the conclusion I came to."

Asked if a mother's life was the only instance when he would allow abortion, he was concise as he boarded his bus: "That's correct."

In his push before Iowa holds its first caucuses, Perry is playing up his social conservative credentials. But his late shift on abortion drew questions about what exactly he believed on the issue many Iowans make their top priority.

A Time-CNN poll released Wednesday showed only 19 percent of those likely to caucus view cultural issues such as abortion and gay rights were unimportant to their selection of a candidate. A separate New York Times-CBS News poll earlier this month said 32 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers said they would not support and candidate who changed positions on abortion.

In Osceola on Tuesday, Perry told a voter he had changed his view.

"You're seeing a transformation," Perry said. "That transformation was after watching the DVD 'Gift of Life,' and I really started giving some, some thought about the issue of rape and incest, and some powerful stories in that DVD."

He cited Kissling during that meeting at an electric co-op.

"When the lady who was in it was looking me in the eye and saying, 'You need to think this through,' she said, 'I am the product of a rape' and she said 'my life has worth,'" Perry said. "It was a powerful moment for me."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-28-Perry/id-3e52dab2b27d47ed80ea27775611c651

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Gillmor Gang Live 12.28.11 (TCTV)

The Gillmor Gang ? Paul Greenberg, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor ? are recording live at 8am PT. Recording has concluded.

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6 books you should resolve to read in 2012

It?s common practice, as the year draws to a close, to reflect on the past twelve months ? to think back on what you did, how you spent your time, and who you spent it with. My years, more than anything, are shaped by books so when I look back I?m thinking about what I read. The same goes for thinking about the year to come: When I make my New Year?s resolutions, it?s pretty much just a long list of books that I want to get my hands on. And so, in looking forward to 2012, here are some things that I?ve already gotten my hands on; it would be wise of you to do the same. If what I?m reading (and loving) is any indication, 2012 is going to be a strange and wonderful year.

- Rachel Meier, Monitor contributor

An enchanting (couldn?t resist) retelling of a classic Russian fairy tale, except this time it?s set in Alaska, circa 1920. Mabel and Jack are newcomers to Alaska and are being pulled apart by desolation and loneliness. Unable to conceive, the couple remains childless and the strain of maintaining their farm has pushed them to the edge of their capacity. In a rare moment of playfulness, the couple builds a child out of snow. Shortly thereafter, a child called Faina appears ? ethereal, bewitching, and mysterious. Ivey creates a world out of emptiness and populates it in completely unexpected ways.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ozZyd0v4ueU/6-books-you-should-resolve-to-read-in-2012

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Local Songwriter Pays Tribute to the Troops

MT. VERNON - A local songwriter wrote a tribute for U.S. troops stationed overseas. "A Soldiers' Song," written by Greg Backes and performed by the Mt. Vernon High School Choir.

"It was drawn from having two boys in the military and seeing the sacrifice our military pays," Backes said. "I'm just wanting to get people to realize, that even though we are out of Iraq, we still have soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and other places,"

Backes is a part time music teacher. He says his students have a different perspective on the song and the world.

"My 4th and 5th graders, they've never lived in world when our soldiers weren't at war from the United States," Backes said.

Source: http://www.wsiltv.com/news/local/Local-Songwriter-Pays-Tribute-to-the-Troops-136210098.html

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First freely elected Tunisian govt sworn in (AP)

TUNIS, Tunisia ? Tunisia's first freely elected government has been sworn in following a popular uprising earlier this year.

The new government led by moderate Islamist party Ennahda received a vote of confidence in parliament Friday and was sworn in Saturday.

Tunisia threw off decades of authoritarian rule in January and held widely praised elections, but Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali warned the country faces many challenges: high unemployment, pockets of unrest and a stagnating economy.

Tunisia's democratic transition is being closely watched since its revolt led to a rash of similar uprisings across the Arab world.

Its new government is still only temporary, running the country until a new constitution is written and another round of elections held.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_tunisia

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Texas gunman was dressed as Santa, police say

A man suspected of opening fire on a family Christmas celebration outside Dallas was dressed in a Santa Claus suit when he killed six people and then himself, police said on Monday.

Authorities continued their search for clues in Grapevine, a Dallas suburb dubbed the ?Christmas Capital of Texas,? to explain the Sunday murder-suicide rampage that left seven shot dead among unwrapped holiday presents.

More related to this story

The dead ? four women and three men between the ages of 15 and 58 ? were found on Sunday morning in an apartment living-room by police answering a voiceless 911 emergency call, authorities said.

?By all appearances, they?re all part of the same family,? said Sergeant Robert Eberling of the Grapevine police department, adding that some were related through marriage.

Two pistols were recovered from the home, said Sgt. Eberling, who called it a ?gruesome crime scene? and the worst outburst of gun violence in the town?s history.

Authorities were waiting on autopsy reports before releasing identities, a potential motive and details on what exactly happened inside the home, Sgt. Eberling said.

?We have a petty good idea who these folks were, and we?re trying to work through contacting other family members so we can better piece together what took place and why it took place,? he said.

Sgt. Eberling said the suspected shooter was dressed in a Santa Claus suit but gave no further details.

The 911 caller never spoke to police, and officers did not see the telephone when they arrived, officials said. Sgt. Eberling said he believed police had to kick in the door to enter. No neighbours reported hearing gunshots, he said.

Sgt. Eberling said the victims appeared to have just opened Christmas presents when the shooting started, and there was no sign of forced entry or a struggle.

Circumstances of the shooting remained sketchy, but Sgt. Eberling said it appeared as though the bloodbath unfolded during a family holiday celebration.

No one was found alive by police arriving at the home, he said.

A community of about 46,000 people some 32 kilometres northwest of downtown Dallas, Grapevine is known for its wine-tasting salons and was proclaimed by the state Senate as the ?Christmas Capital of Texas? for its abundance of annual holiday-season events.

?This is obviously a terrible tragedy,? Mayor William Tate said on Sunday night in a statement.

?The fact that it happened on Christmas makes it even more tragic.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-International/~3/feP_ZCVqBa4/

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U.S. keeping Iraq at arm's length with troops out

By Helene Cooper and Thom Shanker

New York Times

WASHINGTON -- As Iraq erupted in recent days, Vice President Joe Biden was in constant phone contact with the leaders of the country's dueling sects. He called the Shiite prime minister and the Sunni speaker of the Parliament on Tuesday, and the Kurdish leader on Thursday, urging them to try to resolve the deepening political crisis.

And for the United States, that is where the U.S. intervention in Iraq officially stops.

Sectarian violence and political turmoil in Iraq escalated within days of the U.S. military's withdrawal, but U.S. officials said in interviews that President Barack Obama had no intention of sending troops back into the country, even if it devolved into civil war.

The United States, without troops on the ground or any direct influence over Iraq's affairs, has lost much of its leverage there. And so the latest crisis, a rapid descent into sectarian distrust and hostility that was punctuated by a bombing in Baghdad on Thursday that killed more than 60 people, is being treated in much the same way that the United States would treat any other diplomatic emergency abroad.

Obama, his aides said, is adamant that the United States will not send troops back to Iraq. At Fort Bragg, N.C., on Dec. 14, he told returning troops that he had left Iraq in the hands of the Iraqi people, and in private conversations at the White House, he has told aides that the United States gave Iraqis an opportunity; what they do with that

opportunity is up to them.

Though the president has been heralding the end of the Iraq War as a victory, and a fulfillment of his campaign promise to bring U.S. troops home, the sudden crisis could quickly become a political problem for Obama, foreign policy experts said.

"Right now, Iraq, along with getting Osama bin Laden, succeeding in Libya, and restoring the U.S. reputation in the world, is a clear plus for Obama," said David Rothkopf, a former official in the administration of Bill Clinton and a national security expert. "He kept his promise and got out. But the story could turn on him very rapidly."

For instance, Rothkopf and other national security experts said, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq is swiftly adopting policies that are setting off deep divisions among Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites. If Iraq fragments, if Iran starts to assert more visible influence or if a civil war breaks out, "the president could be blamed," Rothkopf said. "He would be remembered not for leaving Iraq but for how he left it."

Already, Obama is coming under political fire. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that Obama's decision to pull U.S. troops out had "unraveled."

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_19616147?source=rss

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Wedding Dress Design Games

Article by Peipei88315

Wedding Dress Design Games

Weddings rank among the most memorable days of married couples? lives. Though just one day, the event requires lots of planning to ensure everything runs smoothly. One of the key elements in bridal satisfaction-finding the perfect wedding dress-may take more time than any other wedding task. Wedding fans and soon-to-be brides can play design games and use design tools to design wedding dresses and their accessories.

Design Your Simple Wedding Dresses

Players choose wedding dress styles and textures in ?Design Your Wedding Dress,? accessible at the Games2Girls site. When perusing the Gowns, Veils, Bouquet and Shoes categories, players click the Back and Forward arrows to choose a style they like best. Players may customize the color for gowns and shoes by adjusting the color bar up and down any or all of the three color columns; players also may adjust the texture for gowns, veil and shoes by moving the Back and Forward arrows for Texture 1 and Texture 2.

Design Your Wedding Dressgames2girls.com/p/designyourweddingdress

PC and Video GamesSix brides and their weddings receive the design treatment in UBI Soft?s ?Imagine Wedding Designer,? available for the Nintendo DS platform. Players design every aspect of six wedding ceremonies, each with a bride who has differing tastes and styles. Not only do players design the wedding dress, but they also take responsibility for flowers, hair and makeup, invitations, music and wedding venue. Players also choose the wedding party and their outfits, and may unlock new accessories, characters and clothing for each satisfactory wedding they design.

Players get to plan their own big day in ValuSoft?s ?My Fantasy Wedding,? available for various Windows systems. Components that players choose include the groom, wedding party members and their outfits; wedding rings; wedding location (which they also may decorate); wedding cake and flowers; wedding dress, hair and makeup, shoes and veil and wedding music. Players also may engage in wedding games that unlock other dresses, rings and veils. To capture the special day, players may put pictures in a wedding album.

Imagine Wedding Designerubi.com/US/Games/Info.aspx?pId=7039

My Fantasy Weddingstimulus.com/games/family/my-fantasy-wedding.php

Wedding Dress Design ToolsWhile not technically a game, the Wedding Dress Creator site lets site visitors design every aspect of a wedding gown. To the bottom right of the bride, users select the bride?s skin tone and may place the bride in one of the following settings: beachfront, estate, patio or seaside balcony. On the right side of the screen, users choose the following components for the bride: hairstyle (up, short or long) and hair color; neckline, silhouette and sleeves; gloves, shoes and stockings; earrings, necklace and tiara; dress accessories and accent color (which alters the flowers? color in the background scene). Some necklines do not allow sleeves and will cover up necklace selections, while silhouette selection dictates whether the bride?s shoes will be visible. When finished, users may print out their design.

The Knot also provides a tool for bridal design. For ?My Inner Bride,? users select Face and Body shapes, plus style and color for eyes, eyebrow, lips and hair. For the wedding dress, users choose components such as neckline, skirt and details (like sashes and sleeves) and extras such as earrings, hair accessories and necklaces. Users also may choose background colors or scenes.

beach wedding dresses ? wholesale wedding dressesSexy Wedding Dress Up Games

Sexy wedding dress up games are an awesome way to get your bachelorette party to unwind, relax and let loose. Whether your party is staying in for the evening or going out for a night on the town, dressing up with your friends and bridal party will prove a good time for all. Challenge your creativity and embrace your sexy self with sexy wedding dress up game.

Barbie GirlPlay up your childhood fantasy of being a Barbie with your bachelorette party girls. Pick out a neon pink skirt, top and stilettos and you will be halfway to becoming Barbie.

Barbie is known for her exceptionally large bust. Regardless of your chest size, pick up a push-up bra and enhance Barbie?s most coveted asset.

If you are really feeling like getting into the sexy Barbie spirit, consider purchasing a long blond wig to wear for the evening. Your extra long, Barbie-style tresses will turn heads and give you the opportunity to see if Barbie blondes really do have more fun.

Playboy BunnyWith your upcoming wedding, becoming one of Hugh Hefner?s girlfriends is likely out of the question. Being a Playboy Bunny for a night, however, is a great dress up game for a bachelorette party.

Pick up a black or pink leotard, tights or pantyhose and some stilettos. To complete your Playboy Bunny look, you will also need the bunny ears, bunny tail and cuff links. Place the ears on your head, securing if necessary with bobby pins, and affix the tail with fabric glue.

Cuff links of the paper variety are easy to make for your Playboy Bunny night out. Cut strips of white paper long enough to go around your wrist. Use a hole punch to punch a hole on each side of the white paper and thread a piece of black ribbon through. Tie the black ribbon in a bow and you have cuff links worthy of a Playboy Bunny.

Source: http://www.guerrillagiving.org/wedding-dress-design-games/

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Lao National Assembly warns govt on possible impacts of high debt

Home

Laos News.Net
Sunday 25th December, 2011 (Source: ph.news.yahoo.com)

Vientiane (Vientiane Times/ANN) - National Assembly (NA) of Laos has expressed its concern about high public debt in Laos and has warned the government not to operate any projects without its approval.

The Assembly drew up a resolution at the closing ceremony of this month's session on Wednesday, which noted that public debt was already high.

The... ...

Read the full story at ph.news.yahoo.com

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Source: http://feeds.laosnews.net/?rid=202130737&cat=a6670896145a3ae3

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Friday, December 23, 2011.

Wet weather will move into the Northeast on Friday, as a low pressure system moves northward from the Southeast. The system that brought heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, and strong winds to the Lower Mississippi River Valley on Thursday will continue moving northeastward and into the Northeast. This system will produce a front that extends down the East Coast. Warmer temperatures to the south will support rain showers across the Mid-Atlantic states, while rain showers will turn to snow showers in the far Northeast and New England states. Higher elevations of the Northern and Central Appalachians will also see snow showers. This extremely fast moving system will move off the East Coast by mid-day, pulling scattered rain and snow showers eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.

Behind this system, high pressure continues building in the Plains and stretches eastward over the Mississippi River Valley into the Eastern US. This will push cols and dry air in from Canada, allowing for sunny and cool conditions to persist across the Central US.

In the West, a low pressure system over the Rocky Mountains weakens as it continues dipping southward and further into the Southeast. Expect a few more inches of snow across higher elevations of New Mexico, with light rain at lower levels. The rest of the Western half of the nation remains sunny and cool as high pressure dominates. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday have ranged from a morning low of -20 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont. to a high of 84 degrees at Fort Myers, Fla.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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The Features of Chinese bronze sculpture of the Warring States

In the Warring States period, China?s industry, agriculture, commerce, transportation, and other aspects were not affected by the war. The various vassal states were in the situations of mutual promotion and development, such as the Dujiang Weir, Zhengguo Canal, Honggou and other well-known water conservancy project did not only boost the development of agriculture, and bring benefit to the future generations as well. Furthermore, in terms of culture and ideology, all schools of thoughts contended for attention, bringing forth resplendent pre-Qin culture and leaving a great impact on later generations. The bronze sculpture sculptures were also produced in large numbers.

To the Warring States Period, the handicraft had made a great advancement and the level of the industries like smelting iron, Chinese bronze casting, lacquer, and silk had significantly improved. The production of bronze sculptures wielded founding, welding, lost wax and the craft of mix-inlaying gold and silver, leading to the crafts like the gold gilt and painting gold and engraving. The shapes tend to be thin and smart while the patterns meticulous and elaborate, of excellent technical and artistic level. Although due to popularity of the iron causing less and less bronze tools, still there are plentiful of Chinese bronze sculptures produced.

Overview of the Chinese bronze

Warring States period was the era that Chinese society experienced a dramatic change. The productivity had been rapidly improved and culture underwent unprecedented prosperity. At this point, the sacrificial Chinese bronze statue in the Shang and Zhou declined, but the daily utensils attained universal development, like the bronze mirror at leas was widespread in the ruling class. Ancient literature has recorded many about the ancients using bronze mirrors. For example, Strategies of the Warring States and The Songs of Chu all mention about the bronze mirror in the daily life. The big progress of the bronze mirror in the Warring States greatly relies on two points. First, the application of the iron tools in manufacturing the bronze sculptures supplies favorable conditions to the more detailed division of labor within the workshop and creation of new technology. Second, after evolution of the Shang and Zhou, the proportion of the alloy of the bronze mirror had tended to be scientific and stable, greatly increasing the practical effect. By the virtue of standardized shape and beautifully decorated ornaments, the bronze mirror of the Warring States marked that the ancient chinese bronze mirrors have headed from youth to maturity.

The Chinese bronze dragon during this period are characterized by various shapes and involve a lot of categories like the decorative art and handicraft, mainly including the design, calligraphy, painting, sculpture and so on. To put it in another way, they are the arts epitomize various schools of crafts. The application of patterns on the Chinese bronze grew up a number of decorative techniques with regularity in the long process of practice, making full use of the contrast, symmetry, empty and solid contrary, rhythmic changes in density, the repeated use of curves and arcs as well as highlighting the sense of direction and movement and so on. The utilization of calligraphy primarily finds expression in the inscriptions on Chinese bronze sculptures. During this period, the bronze sculptures were more made by the feudal lords, so the scripts varied and the character pattern was either fat or thin. Some followed the ones in Shang and Zhou as well as the inlaying gold characters and inscriptions in the form of birds or insects. Through these inscriptions engraved in bronzes we are able to get a glimpse of the calligraphy.

The paintings in the Warring States access to us are very limited, but we can get some knowledge of the painting achievements by means of the patterns on the bronzes to some extent, which is one significant feature of the bronze sculptures in the Warring States. Of which, some can be used to enjoy as painting artworks, such as the ones picturing the wars, hunting, feast, chariots, architecture in the society, simple in composition and plain in the lines as skillful as to the extent of the unity of form and spirit. Besides, animal statues and human sculptures cast by copper also turned up, which tied countless with the Chinese bronze sculptures now.

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Source: http://community.coast2coastmixtapes.com/xn/detail/2161836%3ABlogPost%3A595336

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Payroll tax cut OK'd by Congress, signed by Obama

WASHINGTON?? Shortly after Congress approved a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for millions, President Barack Obama on Friday signed a bill formalizing the extension and won a convincing victory for his jobs agenda.

1. Other political news of note

   1. Payroll tax cut OK'd by Congress, signed by Obama

      Shortly after Congress approved a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts, President Obama signed a bill formalizing the extension and won a convincing victory for his jobs agenda.

   2. Updated 24 minutes ago 12/24/2011 4:49:19 AM +00:00 Obama starts delayed Hawaiian vacation
   3. NYT: Obama wins 'tactical victory' ? GOP strategist
   4. SC voter ID law blocked by Justice Department
   5. Boehner announces deal with Reid on end to payroll tax impasse

The voices of Americans "made a difference" in persuading Congress to act, Obama told reporters in brief remarks. "This is some good news just in the nick of time for the holidays."

Back-to-back voice vote approvals of the measure by the Senate and House capped a retreat by House Republicans who had insisted that a full-year bill was the only way to prevent an immediate tax increase on Jan. 1.

The measure passed despite lingering grumbling from Tea Party Republicans. It buys time for negotiations early next year on how to finance a year-long extension of the 2 percentage point Social Security payroll tax cut.

Story: GOP strategist: Obama wins 'nice tactical victory'

It will keep in place a salary boost of about $20 a week for an average worker making $50,000 a year and prevent almost 2 million unemployed people from losing jobless benefits averaging $300 a week.

The payroll tax rate will now be kept at 4.2 percent until the end of February. It had been slated to increase after December 31 to 6.2 percent.

Analysts had warned that failing to renew the tax cut could jeopardize the economic recovery, perhaps even risking another recession.

Passage in the House ? Friday's action on the measure took less than a minute ? capped a swift retreat by House Republicans. Their move to force a holiday season confrontation with Obama and Senate Democrats had threatened to hit 160 million workers with a tax increase on Jan. 1. But it backfired badly.

Just 24 hours earlier, House leaders had insisted the only way to prevent that tax hike and a phase-out of jobless benefits for people out of work for more than six months was to pass a full-year renewal.

Quarrel
Those goals had been embraced by virtually every lawmaker in the House and Senate but had been derailed in a quarrel over demands by House Republicans for immediate negotiations on a long-term extension bill. Senate leaders of both parties had tried to barter such an agreement among themselves a week ago but failed, instead agreeing upon a 60-day measure to buy time for talks next year.

Thursday's decision by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to cave in to the Senate came after days of criticism from Obama and Democrats. But perhaps more tellingly, GOP stalwarts including strategist Karl Rove and the Wall Street Journal editorial board warned that if the tax cuts were allowed to expire, Republicans would take a political beating that would harm efforts to unseat Obama next year.

House GOP arguments about the legislative process and what the "uncertainty" of a two-month extension would mean for businesses were unpersuasive, and Obama took the offensive.

Friday's House and Senate sessions were remarkable. Both chambers had essentially recessed for the holidays but leaders in both parties orchestrated passage of the short-term agreement under debate rules that would allow any individual member of Congress to derail the pact, at least for a time. None did.

The developments were a clear win for Obama. The payroll tax cut was the centerpiece of his three-month, campaign-style drive for jobs legislation that seems to have contributed to an uptick in his poll numbers ? and taken a toll on those of congressional Republicans.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45776434/ns/politics/

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Purr-fect Pets Is Closing - Milford, CT Patch

Purr-fect Pets is continuing a big sale and then closing its doors for good after offering purr-fect service for more than a quarter century.

Customers, obviously disappointed, have been coming into the store to say good-bye to owner Tom Fomenko Sr. -- and to stock up on supplies marked more than half off its original price.

"It is time for me to move on," Fomenko said.

The store at 286 Boston Post Road has been known for a personal touch that far exceeded any chain establishment. Rabbits and guinea pigs were out in the open -- and the staff dished out expert advice, sometimes chatting with customers for hours at no cost.

"We're not a chain -- and we (the employees) and the customers are very involved--we are like family. We are definitely hands-on with our animals," explained employee Kate Poplaski, a biology major at Sacred Heart University with plans of becoming a veterinarian.

Fomenko's journey in the pet business began in 1975 when he and brother-in-law Danny Hughes opened a 216-aquarium store, Fishco, in 1975.

"Six years later, we had 1200 tanks and sold $8 million worth of fish," Fomenko said.

In 1984, Hughes passed away and Fomenko left the fish business behind, opening the doors to Purr-fect Pets in December of 1985.

"I had $80,000 worth of debt on credit cards to open this store but I managed to pay it off within the first year," Fomenko said.

There's hope that the store will re-open under new ownership.

"This has been a labor of love and I have been searching for the right person to take over the business--I did not want to just give it to anyone," Fomenko said.

A former, longtime employee, Stacey Stryker, her brother, and her husband are interested in reopening the store within the next year.

"We love animals and are family oriented and would like to try to make this work if we can get the finances and other aspects of the business in order to open the store in the near future," Stryker said.

"We would like to continue Tom's legacy," added her husband Chad Stryker.

Source: http://milford.patch.com/articles/purr-fect-pets-is-closing

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Saturday Links (Theagitator)

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

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Ron Paul walks out on CNN interview (Reuters)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? Ron Paul is just plain tired of CNN.

The GOP presidential candidate -- and current leader in the Iowa polls -- walked out on CNN reporter Gloria Borger Wednesday after she pressed him about racist newsletters sent under Paul's name in the early 1990s.

Paul insisted that he never wrote them, read them only after they were sent out and disavows them.

When asked about the money he supposedly made off them, Paul said "I'd like to see that money."

"It's been going on 20 years that people have pestered me about this and CNN does it every single time," he later added. "So when are you going to wear yourself out?"

When Borger maintained that she was asking legitimate questions because the newsletters were "incendiary," Paul said it was also legitimate to accept his answers.

He said it was only incendiary "because of people like you."

As Borger continued, Paul took of his microphone and left.

Paul's supporters have frequently accused the media of bias and criticized it for not giving the candidate enough attention.

Now, with Paul surging in the polls, he is getting plenty of it, but does he want it?

Perhaps not.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/tv_nm/us_ronpaul_cnn

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Spot of Culture: Richard Fortey loves...

Scientists who are changing the way we understand the world tell CultureLab their favourite places to seek inspiration and reflect.

(Image: Paul Grover/Rex Features )

Richard Fortey says he has "always loved" The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London. "I remember as a child visiting their tropical house with the huge water lily Victoria amazonica. Recently I revisited, and there it still was, with vast, rimmed leaves like tea trays for giants. The massive buds were about to open. (It wasn't the same plant, of course.) Nowhere else had quite made me think nature really is wonderful." Richard Fortey has retired as senior palaeontologist at London's Natural History Museum

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CNN's Morgan denies phone hacking in testy appearance (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Talk show host Piers Morgan told a British judicial inquiry on Tuesday he had never sanctioned phone hacking during his time as a tabloid editor, as he faced tough questions over his involvement in the "dark arts" of journalism.

Morgan, now a high-profile CNN talk-show host in the United States, edited the Rupert Murdoch tabloid at the heart of the hacking scandal, the News of the World, from 1994 to 1995 before going on to edit the Daily Mirror newspaper from 1995 to 2004.

Morgan has consistently denied any involvement in the practice which resulted in the closure of Murdoch's Sunday tabloid but politicians had called for him to appear before the high-profile inquiry after his name became associated with the scandal.

Asked why he had previously given interviews in which he said that everyone knew about phone hacking, Morgan said he was merely repeating rumors at the time and that no one at the Mirror had been found guilty.

"Not a single person has made any formal or legal complaint against the Daily Mirror for phone hacking, not one," he said, in often testy exchanges with the lead prosecutor in the inquiry and the judge, Brian Leveson.

Referring to Clive Goodman, the one journalist who went to jail for hacking, Morgan had said he had been made a scapegoat. But he said that still did not mean that he had had any prior knowledge of the issue.

"The Fleet Street rumor mill, which is always extremely noisy and often not entirely always accurate, was buzzing since this blew up with just endless rumors that it spread a lot further than Clive Goodman," he said. "I felt sorry for him."

Much of the questioning centered on an article Morgan wrote for another newspaper, the Daily Mail, in 2006 in which he made reference to how he had listened to a phone message left for the ex-wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney.

The article was written in 2006 and before any allegations of phone hacking had surfaced and caused such trouble.

As the scale of the phone hacking problem emerged this summer, McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills gave an interview about the incident and said that a senior journalist at the Trinity Mirror Group had admitted hacking her phone.

Mills said the journalist had confronted her with details of a message left by McCartney in early 2001 following a row between the couple. She said the journalist was not Morgan, but that he was editor of the paper at the time.

Asked about the incident, Morgan refused to say who had played him the recorded message and said he did not think it was entirely unethical to listen to someone's voice message.

The phone hacking scandal, which severely damaged the reputation and value of Murdoch's News Corp at the height of the scandal this year, has largely focused on the malpractice at the News of the World.

But the allegation by Mills briefly turned the spotlight on the behavior of other tabloids, which have for years competed ferociously to secure front-page stories.

It also turned the spotlight onto Morgan who took over from Larry King as he developed a high successful television career in the U.S. with the "Piers Morgan Tonight" show.

News Corp has accepted that people working for the News of the World hacked into the phones of celebrities, politicians and the victims of crime to generate stories. It said earlier on Tuesday that it had settled legal claims with a further seven people as it works through the separate allegations.

The scandal, which dominated news headlines in July, has also damaged the reputations of British politicians and police, who were all shown to be too close to Murdoch's media group.

At the height of the scandal, News Corp closed the 168-year-old News of the World and pulled its most important planned acquisition in Britain in decades, the $12 billion purchase of the rest of BSkyB it did not already own.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Kate Holton; Editing by Steve Addison)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111220/media_nm/us_britain_hacking_morgan

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Syria kills 60 fleeing soldiers, reports say

DAMASCUS?? More than 100 people have been killed in Syria, rights activists said, as the Arab League announced an advance party would be sent to the country this week to pave the way for monitors who will try to help end nine months of violence.

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on Monday that more than 60 army deserters had been shot dead by machinegun fire as they tried to flee their base, citing accounts from wounded survivors.

They were killed while trying to run away from their military positions on the way between the villages of Kensafra and Kefer Quaid, in Zawyia Mountain, in Idlib district.

It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.

The British-based observatory said three soldiers had died in fighting with armed rebels backing the opposition in Idlib province. The state news agency SANA said security forces there had killed at least one "terrorist" and wounded several.

The bloodshed occurred the same day Syria agreed to let Arab states monitor its compliance with an Arab League peace agreement aimed at stopping violence against anti-government protesters.

The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died since the protests began. Syria says more than 1,100 security personnel have been killed by foreign-backed "armed terrorist gangs."

Video: Death toll in Syria hits 5,000 (on this page)

The Arab League, which has imposed economic sanctions on Syria, had threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.

However, the executive head of the League said after the signing of a protocol on foreign observers that there was no immediate plan to lift sanctions that were imposed when Damascus at first refused outside monitors. Nabil Elaraby said observers would now determine whether Syria's government was complying.

The League would prepare a mission to monitor compliance with an agreement that calls for troops to withdraw from cities where protests have been held, for political prisoners to be freed, and for a dialogue with opposition groups, most of whom are set on following the example of Egypt and others in ending decades of one-man rule.

Syrian opposition leaders dismissed the agreement as a new stalling tactic by President Bashar al-Assad's government and called instead for foreign military intervention to stop Syria's crackdown on a nine-month-old pro-democracy protest movement.

Damascus said it had been urged to sign by Russia, its long-time ally and arms supplier, which has shown signs of losing patience. Moscow praised the deal as a chance for stability.

In a further sign of international pressure, the U.N. General Assembly voted to condemn Syria's use of force to quell protests, with Russia and China abstaining instead of voting against.

Insisting that Syria had not been forced into submission, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said he had won several unspecified modifications before signing the deal, which initially allows in observers for one month.

"The Arab League delegation's reports will be sent to me and the League's secretary-general at the same time, and he and I will discuss them before any other action is taken," Moualem said. "That is the text after Syria's modifications."

The remarks were broadcast on Syrian television. Most foreign media have been barred from Syria this year.

Story: Syria: Nation at a crossroads

While many Arab League rulers scarcely take more heed of public opinion than Assad, they are anxious to calm the situation and avoid a civil war that could shake a region already riven by rivalries between non-Arab Shiite power Iran and Sunni Arab heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia.

Iran, Syria's key backer, said the agreement to let in observers from the Arab League was "acceptable," if not ideal.

The U.S. State Department said it was skeptical much would change.

"We are really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington.

With rebel fighting against the army overshadowing peaceful protests, analysts said the Arab deal would do little to change Syria's spiraling bloodshed but indicated that Damascus was feeling the international pressure.

"The international and regional isolation is beginning to have an impact on their thinking," said Julien Barnes-Dacey, of Control Risks in London.

"But a point of no return has been passed by both protesters and authorities. They are not going to withdraw (from protest centers) and we are not going to see the end of deaths."

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45733984/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Why Iran lashes out at West

Is Iran pursuing a systematic strategy to provoke its enemies? It's not always that simple.

Amid rising clamor in Israel, the United States, and Europe to stop Iran's nuclear program ? possibly with military action ? a brief but incendiary news item emerged in Iran.

Skip to next paragraph

It purported to quote from the last will of the architect of Iran's missile program, "martyr" Maj. Gen. Hassan Moghaddam, who died when a mysterious explosion hit a Revolutionary Guard base last month.

"Write on my tombstone: This is the grave of the one who wanted to annihilate Israel," the obscure Student News Agency reported on Nov. 30, in apparent contradiction of the official line that Iran's missile program is purely defensive.

The decision to publish Moghaddam's final sentiments just a day after hundreds of ideological basiji militants stormed the British embassy ? tearing down the Union Jack, stealing portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, and temporarily trapping six diplomats ? will be seen by some in the West as further justification for conflict, or at least far harsher sanctions.

What might appear to be part of a systematic strategy by Iran to provoke its enemies, however, may instead be the latest episode in a decades-long pattern of Iranian factions and even "freelancers" using violence and provocative acts to undermine rivals at home ? even at the risk of making Iran more vulnerable to attacks from abroad.

The Nov. 29 attack on the British embassy has been cast by analysts as part of a power struggle between Iran's archconservative factions, with some trying to undermine President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"The argument that Iranians are very strategic is [wrong]. They are very tactical: They think very much in terms of the next move, and not where they want to end up," says Shahram Chubin, an Iran specialist based in Geneva for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

All critical debates in Iran today are among ruling but fractious conservatives, with almost no input from the emasculated liberal opposition, he says.

"There's no one to say: 'Hey, have we thought through what this means, because if we alienate the international community, and antagonize the EU all over again, won't we be more vulnerable to an Israeli attack?' " says Mr. Chubin.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_iwrqmuV7KA/Why-Iran-lashes-out-at-West

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Logitech Mini Boombox

For a long period of time, Bluetooth speakers, regardless of size or price, offered poor audio performance on par with low bitrate MP3s from the early days of file sharing. Logitech's Mini Boombox shows us how far not only Bluetooth, but portable audio, has come. At $99.99 (direct), this speaker is among the most compact, portable designs we've seen. The size alone sets you up for disappointment before hearing it, but the dual drivers of the Mini Boombox pack quite a punch. Obviously, a speaker this size is susceptible to distortion at high volumes, but the system still performs quite well, and pumps out more volume than you'd expect upon first glance. At half the price of the Aliph Jawbone Jambox ($199.99, 3.5 stars), it easily outperforms on the value front alone, earning it our Editors' Choice award for budget portable speakers.

Design
Measuring 2.3 by 2.8 by 4.6-inches, the black plastic Logitech Mini Bombox is unassuming to say the least. Its size makes it ideal for throwing in a carry-on bag, and at 8 ounces, it's not going to weigh things down much. It's surprising that the small front panel hides two speaker drivers for stereo audio behind its grille. The drivers are so close together, you're more or less hearing things in mono, but with the presence of two drivers you at least maintain the integrity of the stereo mix. The top panel has red, underlit capacitive touch controls for Track Forward and Backward, Play/Pause, Volume Up and Down, and Bluetooth and Phone Answering. There is also a tiny microphone pinhole on the left side of the panel. Durable black rubber material covers the side panels and the back panel houses the micro USB connection (for charging), a 3.5mm aux input, and the power switch. An included USB cable connects either to a computer or the included charger, but it is quite short, making charging from a low-to-the-floor wall outlet a bit of a pain. Another minor annoyance is, when charging, the red controls on the top panel light up regardless of whether the speaker is on or off. The only accurate indicator is the blue underlit Logitech logo on the front panel.

Performance
It's almost shocking to hold the Mini Boombox as it plays rock music at moderate to high volumes. It sounds great for such a small device, and you can feel the drivers vibrating. Though there is no deep bass to be had from such a tiny system, the speakers do a great job of providing a strong sense of low-end. The general frequency response sounds full, without the harshness or treble-heavy sound you might expect from something this size. Of course, at top volume, on both your sound source and the Mini Boombox, distortion starts to rear its ugly head. The difference between the Mini Boombox and, say, the Aliph Jawbone Jambox, is that the former costs $100 less, but they both suffer the same distortion issues at top volume. At reasonable volumes, both offer enjoyable audio.

Classical music, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," loses a bit of its low-end resonance on percussion hits and larger stringed instruments, but the sound is still engaging and never gets tinny or harsh. Rock music and hip hop, at reasonable levels, sound more robust than a speaker this size should be capable of. Only five years ago, audio performance this strong from such a tiny, portable unit was unheard of. Add in the fact that the audio quality is this strong when it's coming from a Bluetooth stream, and the Mini Boombox is quite impressive.

If you receive a call while listening to music, the audio indicator for an incoming call will sound through the Boombox's speakers. Pressing the Bluetooth/Phone button on the top panel answers and ends calls, and the mic, almost unnoticeable on the top panel, does a reasonable job with audio quality. Call clarity with mobile devices, especially iPhones, is rarely excellent to begin with, but the Mini Boombox does a good enough job that you'll be able to have a clear conversation, wireless and headset-free.

Logitech claims the Mini Boombox gets up to ten hours of audio playback on a single charge. This is a decent number, but it depends entirely on how loud the volume during use is. At moderate levels you will obviously get more battery life out of the speaker than if you're blasting it at maximum volume nonstop.

If you're looking for something in the wireless Bluetooth realm that's more powerful than the Mini Boombox or the Jambox, and are willing to move up in price?and size?the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker ($299.95, 4 stars) is our Editors' Choice for high-end portable speakers. You'll hear significantly more bass from it than you will with the Mini Boombox, but paying three times the price might seem too much. For $50 more than the Mini Boombox, the Logitech Wireless Boombox ($149.99, 3.5 stars) is a much larger portable system that also uses Bluetooth, but offers a little less overall value for the price. For its size, it's really a marvel that the Mini Boombox sounds as good as it does. At $100 you get wireless audio, a speaker for mobile phone calls, and a portable sound system for travel, and it does all of these things quite well.

More Speaker reviews:
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??? Logitech Mini Boombox
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??? Hercules XPS 101
??? Crosley Radio CR3001A Ranchero
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ToYgJ-tNY8Q/0,2817,2396893,00.asp

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Monday, December 05, 2011.

A cold front will bring more wet weather to the East, while a blustery storm system drops across the Four Corners on Monday.

In the East, a cold front extending from southern Texas through the Great Lakes will move slowly eastward through the Eastern Valleys. As the system progresses, warm moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will lift along the boundary. This will lead to widely scattered showers with areas of moderate to heavy rainfall from the Gulf Coast through the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast. The heaviest areas of rainfall are expected to occur near waves of low pressure along this front in the Tennessee and southern Ohio Valleys. Expect a variety Flood Advisories and Watches as this system progresses.

To the west of this activity, the last of several storms will move through the Four Corners Monday. This system will bring strong winds, colder temperatures, and significant snow accumulations to the region. Generally snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches are expected in the lower elevations of Colorado, with 10 to 16 inches in the higher elevations. Snow totals greater than a foot of snow are also likely in the northern mountains and east of the central mountains of New Mexico. Areas of blowing snow should be expected as north to northeast winds increase to 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Dangerous wind chill values are also expected with values ranging between 0 and 10 below zero Monday morning. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday have ranged from a morning low of -8 degrees at Laramie, Wyo. to a high of 82 degrees at Inverness, Fla.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_weatherpage_weather

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How to minimize web design expenses in your automotive business ...

Posted on 04 December 2011. Tags: design expenses, developing a website, economic downturn, initial html, web development business

It is common knowledge when you are developing a website from scratch it will cost a lot more money compare to a template. A web template is a design that is well tested in the market place, with all the common features you will look for in your industry. Take for example the automotive industry, with ever growing competition in the market place, and economic downturn. It is natural for the dealer principles actively looking for ways to save money. The big names in the automotive web development business will charge a premium amount for your custom developed website. But don?t let that word fool you, that ?custom? developed website may cost you 000 in real life is still derived from a previous template. A template doesn?t mean it is an exact copy, the hardest part of programming a website is the initial HTML, PHP, ASP code. If the design firm charged you a premium amount for your website, but reused all the code from their library including the CSS codes and even down to the structure of the pages. Only changing some graphics to make it look custom, do you still think you got a ?pretty good deal?? The hosting fees from these so called ?automotive specific? design firms can range from 0 to 0 per month, just for your website to sit on their server. On top of that any modification work major or minor will be on a separate bill. It is time for you the dealership to open your eyes, and stopping flushing your revenue down the toilet.

A template is definitely more cost effective compare to the ?custom? projects, but even then you have to do your shopping around carefully. Even some of the template providers will charge anywhere from 0-1500 for the so called ?setup? fee, and 0 to 0 per month for their template and hosting. Compare to 000 it is a noticeable saving, but what if I tell you you can get the same quality of work for much less. How much less you ask? Well what about setup fee, and per month? And all custom integration work is free, in another word it will be no money upfront, and very little per month. For the smaller dealerships who can?t afford the more expensive alternative, this will literally level the playing field. So remember the next time you are looking for an automotive specific web design firm, make sure you are not paying a premium for something that can be obtained for much less.

This article is brought to you by Dealer Template Inc; we are your automotive web design and SEO firm of choice. With many years of automotive web development and SEO experience we can help you reach your full potential at a fraction of the cost compare to the big names. Visit us online at http://www.dealertemplate.ca or http://www.dealerelites.ca for complete details.

Source: http://www.riredistricting.org/how-to-minimize-web-design-expenses-in-your-automotive-business.html

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ESA abandons Russian space probe, hopes it doesn't plummet to earth

Things have gone from bad to worse for the orbit locked Phobos-Grunt space probe, having lost contact with the European Space Agency, the probe faces abandonment and disaster. The soviet star-gazer got stuck in Earth's orbit shortly after launch, stunting its two and a half year jaunt to the Martian moon Phobos. Attempts to send commands that would break the craft loose of the Earth's grip have failed, and the ESA has since given up hope of contacting the probe. The Russians will continue to try and reestablish contact with the probe, hopefully avoiding an expensive disaster. Weighing 13.2 metric tons, most of which is fuel, the probe threatens to return to Earth with a bang, crashing down to terra firma with a toxic payload. It's certainly not been a good couple of months for Euro based space travel. In the meantime let's just hope it doesn't bump into anything else while it's up there, or you might miss the big game.

ESA abandons Russian space probe, hopes it doesn't plummet to earth originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oYal7gxw1Xk/

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Police are all ears when it comes to sound cannons

Sound has long been used as a weapon. The Germans put sirens on Stuka dive bombers in World War II to amplify the terror to unlucky souls below. Jamaican maroons ? fugitive slaves ? used the abeng horn to unnerve British colonial soldiers.

The U.S. Army blasted rock music to torment former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. And according to the Bible, Joshua brought down the walls of Jericho by having his priests blow rams' horns.

Now, the power of loud noise is being harnessed by police departments.

A device known as the sound cannon is joining Tasers, rubber bullets and pepper spray in law enforcement's expanding arsenal of nonlethal weapons.

It's officially called the Long Range Acoustical Device, or LRAD, and it has two primary uses. One is as a high-tech megaphone that generates a beam of sound that can cut through the din of a noisy protest far better than conventional public-address systems.

It also functions as a tactical weapon ? projecting a high-pitch chirping sound that makes people cover their ears and run away. And with a maximum volume of 149 decibels, the LRAD can get about as loud as a jetliner on takeoff.

Pittsburgh police used LRADs mounted on an armored vehicle to break up demonstrations jamming the city's downtown during the G20 international economic conference in 2009. More recently, New York police officers used small, hand-held LRADs to bark orders as they ousted the Occupy Wall Street protest from Zuccotti Park.

The Los Angeles Police Department has an undisclosed number of LRADs, but they are larger devices fixed to vehicles, which they say might have been helpful in breaking up the Occupy Los Angeles encampment at City Hall this week. Police did not have hand-held units.

LAPD Cmdr. Bob Green said orders to disperse made with bullhorns went largely unheard because of the din of crowd chants and helicopters hovering overhead. The police had to use pickup trucks with massive speakers to get the orders across.

"It's frustrating when you're not heard in those situations because ultimately it's all about communications," Green said. "Bad things happen when the batons are out and the adrenaline is flowing. So, if there's something better out there to get the message across, let's have it."

The device was developed for the Pentagon by San Diego military contractor LRAD Corp. after the Sept. 11 terror attacks as a sonic weapon to help control unruly crowds, foil hijackers and keep other potential threats at bay.

The Pentagon and law enforcement agencies are among the biggest customers, but there are civilian uses as well.

LRAD sells sound cannons to yacht owners as a means of keeping pirates from boarding. In 2005, an LRAD sound cannon staved off an attack by pirates on a five-star German-built cruise ship, called Seabourn Spirit, off the coast of Somalia.

The company also markets versions of the device for wind farms and aircraft owners, to scare off birds. There are six models, from one resembling a small stereo speaker to another as large as a home satellite dish. They are priced from $5,000 to $100,000.

There are a few competitors in the acoustic device market, among them HPV Technologies Inc. of Irvine and Ultra Electronics USSI of Columbia City, Ind.

"Interest in our technology has never been stronger," said Scott Stuckey, vice president for business development at LRAD. "It offers a safe solution for potentially dangerous situations."

Unlike a traditional loudspeaker, the device directs a loud beam of sound across a room like a spotlight ? hence the name, sound cannon.

Although it may be nonlethal, critics say that it could damage hearing or cause psychological harm.

Joshua Paul, a student at Rutgers University who was at the Occupy Wall Street rally, described the sound from the LRAD as "high-pitched and very disabling."

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/4eJtlxQRBoA/la-fi-sound-cannon-20111202,0,256407.story

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Herman Cain Suspends His Presidential Campaign (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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

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Book of Mages: Players Wanted!

Here is the link to this rp ==> Book of Mages: The Dark Times

In this world, there are six clans, three of fire magic and three of water. The Gifted of those Clans can duel with their powers. In light of the recent rise of the tyrant Black Mage, will you be saving the world with your arts...or suffering it to submit to your dominion?

I'm looking for as many players as I can get. Ideally I'd like six, one from each Clan, but I'd be happy with however many I can get and could cope with more. This is a game in which combat and duels will happen. They'll also probably take a while, so I want to see committed players who can post fairly often and who are willing to follow the Combat System in place.

I can promise challenge and adventure, and lots of interaction with your fellow mages... So please do come and take a look and see if it's something you'd like to play!

Edit: You don't -have- to be a mage either. You could play one of the unGifted, if you were so inclined.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/vs_rQdQbxms/viewtopic.php

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