Tuesday, January 31, 2012

[OOC] Lockwood Integrated Defense Industries

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Exxon selling Japan unit for $3.9B to cut refining (AP)

TOKYO ? Exxon Mobil Corp. is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. in a $3.9 billion deal that reflects a long-term decline in Japan's demand for fuel and a global strategy to refocus on exploration.

TonenGeneral Sekiyu will buy 99 percent of the shares of Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha, which refines and sells fuel and lubricants, the Japanese refiner said about the deal, announced Sunday. Exxon Mobil's stake in TonenGeneral will drop to 22 percent from 50 percent.

Large oil and gas companies have been shedding refining operations in recent years and turning to oil exploration and production in the hope of bigger profits. Tighter rules for car and truck fuel efficiency are expected to weigh on growth in demand for fuel in developed countries for years to come.

Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining, told a press conference Monday in Tokyo that it was a restructuring move amid a changing global energy market, but said the company remained "very committed" to its refining ? or downstream ? operations.

"What we continue to do is try to restructure ? in some cases invest, in some cases divest and in some cases restructure ? to make it a strong group of operations in our downstream" business, Glass told reporters.

Exxon has a "long-term strategy of moving away from refining, where the margins are wafer thin, and into exploration," said Nicholas Smith, a strategist at CLSA in Tokyo. "Refining is something that anybody can do. You can buy the tech off the shelf."

TonenGeneral said the move would give it more flexibility and competitive in a challenging environment.

"The Japanese market is getting tougher," said Jun Mutoh, the company's managing director. "The decision-making within the company will be more effective in the newly integrated production-distribution operation."

TonenGeneral will continue to deliver products and services under the Esso, Mobil and General brands and continue to rely on Exxon Mobil's technology and technological support in the refining and petrochemicals businesses.

Other major oil companies are making similar moves.

Marathon Oil spun off its refining operations last July. This summer ConocoPhillips also plans to split itself in two, separating its refining operations from its more profitable oil and gas exploration and production business. BP and Shell are selling refineries in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Exploring and producing oil and gas offers investors a chance for faster growth. Also, oil prices are high and are expected to remain so, which has helped producer profits and funded a boom in new exploration.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/as_exxon_japan

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Gogurt Slurp Saber ? Buy you must?

“Just in time for Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D” ?- Gogurt glow-in-the-dark yogurt lightsabers. I’m just hoping that it’s not actually the yoghrt that glows in the dark. ?More money spinners for the never ending Lucas franchise. Check out the video after the jump. Pin it

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/30/gogurt-slurp-saber-buy-you-must/

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

UFC on Fox 2 opener: Camozzi takes out Jacoby

CHICAGO --Chris Camozzi is one tough guy.

The veteran fighter dislocated a finger in the second and fought through it by only throwing jabs and hooks. In the final round, he dropped Justin Jacoby with great outside leg kick. Camozzi pounced to go for the kill and worked a guillotine choke. Jacoby backed up to the cage where he tapped just seconds later at the 1:08 mark of the third.

Camozzi (16-5, 4-2 UFC) came out guns-a-blazing throwing big shot landing his best at the end of the first. With less than 10 seconds left, he dropped Jacoby right a big right. Jacoby scrambled well to survive.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-opener-camozzi-takes-jacoby-215638663.html

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Teens send 'Lego Man' above the clouds

By Alan Boyle

It's very cool that two 17-year-old Canadians sent a flag-toting Lego figurine into the sky on a weather balloon, as part of a weekend project that cost less than $500. It's cooler still that they got back some fantastic video of the toy silhouetted against the backdrop of a curving Earth beneath a black sky. But let's not call it putting a "Lego man in space." Even though the balloon ascended to around 80,000 feet, that's only a quarter of the way to the boundary of outer space.

That distinction doesn't take anything away from the feat that Toronto teens Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad pulled off this month: The high-school students worked during four months' worth of free Saturdays to put together their balloon-borne experimental package, including four cameras, a cell phone with a GPS app, a home-sewn parachute and a Lego "minifig" holding a Canadian flag.


When the wind conditions were right, as determined by a website that calculates balloon trajectories, the teens headed out to a soccer? field in Newmarket and sent their rig up on an $85 weather balloon. The data suggest that the balloon rose to somewhere around 80,000 feet over the course of 65 minutes, then blew apart. The Lego man and the cameras came back down to Earth, buoyed by the parachute and protected within a plastic-foam box during the half-hour descent. Eventually, the cell phone guided the kids to a field about 75 miles away from the launch point.

The cameras recorded two videos and 1,500 photos, documenting the Lego man's amazing trip up through the clouds. "We never knew it would be this good," Ho told the Toronto Star.

But it got even better: After the Star published the teens' story, they were swamped with media attention. Canon, the company that made the cameras used on the Lego man's trip, said it would give Ho and Muhammad top-of-the-line cameras so they could continue their "creativity and inspiration." Lego sent its congratulations. A Toronto couple offered to reimburse the kids for their costs. Reports about the feat filtered out to The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Huffington Post and elsewhere. The YouTube video has been viewed more than 600,000 times, and there's even a Facebook fan page.

Most of the reports refer to the Lego man as being "in space" ? which makes for a nice headline but is unfortunately wrong. The issue may not seem like a biggie, but over the past year there have been all sorts of things sent up on balloons to stratospheric heights ? including a chair, an iPad (sans parachute), a vibrator and iPhones galore. Heck, a 7-year-old and his dad sent up an iPhone a couple of years ago, and the Toronto teens said they took their inspiration from the MIT students who kicked off the craze with a $150 balloon mission in 2009.

This is all great, but it could give folks the impression that sending things into space is so easy a kid can do it ? so why are we spending millions or billions of dollars to put things into orbit?

Lofting payloads on suborbital trips beyond the internationally accepted boundary of outer space ? 100 kilometers or 62 miles or more than 328,000 feet in altitude ? is devilishly hard. Just ask Virgin Galactic. or XCOR Aerospace, or Blue Origin, or Armadillo Aerospace, or Masten Space Systems, or all the other ventures that are trying to open the suborbital frontier.

Putting payloads in orbit is much, much harder. Just ask SpaceX, which burned through three launches and millions of dollars before achieving its first success.

Ho and Muhammad haven't reached those heights ... yet. But someday, they may well be putting real men and women into space. The teens are off to a good start, and they deserve all the accolades they're receiving this week for their near-space adventure.

More about near space:


Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10253843-teens-send-toy-above-the-clouds

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Ant Raid tops iPhone Games of the Week (Appolicious)

This week has seen an abundance of strong contenders for the best games of the week list, so much so that we?re holding a few back for next Thursday so that they all receive their dues. In the meantime, amuse yourself with this group of quality titles, starting with Ant Raid, a casual strategy game that first appeared on the iPad and is now available to players on all iOS devices. It offers a lot, whether you?re into action games or strategy games. Check it out, and four other great offerings, below.

Formerly just available for the iPad, Ant Raid has made its way to the iPhone, bringing along the casual strategy gameplay that made it so fun on the iPad. You?ll have to defend your ants? strongholds by dispatching soldiers to fight off incoming threats, using touch controls to select groups of ants and choose their targets. Sometimes, you?ll also need to send ants to recover their fallen comrades to heal them, or use your tapping ability to squash bugs yourself. Ant Raid packs great graphics and easy to learn gameplay, adding just enough strategy components to be compelling to lots of different kinds of players.

Niko (iPhone, iPad) $0.99

Niko doesn?t stray too far from the side-scrolling platformer premise we?ve seen working well since the days of Super Mario Bros., but that?s part of what makes it effective. Some of the time, you make Niko, the game?s protagonist, run around and avoid obstacles, but occasionally you need to direct an important jump to put Niko on a wall or platform. When flying through the air, Niko sticks to surfaces, changing up the way the game plays and allowing you to think vertically as well as horizontally as you navigate the world. The game is at its best when it?s sneaking in hidden stuff for you to find; most of the objectives you need to get the best score are off the beaten path. There?s lots to explore in Niko, making it a rewarding way to spend a buck.

Smash Cops (iPhone, iPad) $2.99

Top-down touch-controlled driving title Smash Cops is a challenging entry to the iTunes App Store. As a police officer, you need to navigate the streets, avoid running into civilian cars, and most importantly, ram criminals off the road. The controls are simple but take a lot of getting used to, since you steer basically by moving your thumb just behind your car to dictate where it?ll go. Your performance is judged on speed and efficiency, and Smash Cops never lets up on requiring you bring your best skills to bear. There?s a lot of driving action to be had, and smashing cars and sending them flying through the air is quite enjoyable.

Puzzlejuice is actually a combination of three well-known games in the puzzle genre: Tetris, Bejeweled and Word Search. The game starts with Tetris, dropping geometric blocks on you that you need to arrange at the bottom of the screen to form rows. Complete rows turn those blocks into letters. But each block has sections of different colors, and if you get enough of one color together, you can tap on them to reveal letters as well. Once you?ve done that, you need to clear the letter blocks by finding and creating words. The longer the word, the better the score, and the more blocks disappear along with your word. It?s a tough game that requires some really fast thinking, making it great for puzzle aficionados.

Another puzzler that mixes genres, TripleTown will at first remind you of match-three titles like Bejewled. The game screen is set up like a grid and you need to tap different spaces to place objects. Get three objects together in a group and they disappear, adding points to your score and creating a new object. But all the objects you place actually are building a town on the game screen, and every time you create a new object with a group, you can use a group of that new object to make an even better object. The result is an exercise in planning and puzzle-solving: making grass groups creates a bush, making a bush group creates a tree, making a tree group creates a house, and so on. But often, you?ll need to start at the bottom to get to the really high-scoring objects. It?s a great, addictive take on puzzling and it?s freemium, which means you don?t have to pay for the unlimited version unless you want to.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10878_ant_raid_tops_iphone_games_of_the_week/44324860/SIG=12o1veg2d/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/games/articles/10878-ant-raid-tops-iphone-games-of-the-week

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Stewart J. Lawrence: Post-Florida, Expect a Nasty Dogfight for the GOP Nomination

Look at the latest GOP polls coming out of Florida. It appears that Mitt Romney is slowly pulling away from Newt Gingrich, opening up a 9-point lead in the most recent poll, with just four days left before next Tuesday's critical, winner-take-all primary.

You might think that means that Romney is also leading Gingrich nationally. You'd be wrong. Gingrich, while slipping in Florida, is actually pulling ahead of Romney. The two latest national polls have Gingrich leading by 8-9 points, a slight increase over the smaller Gingrich lead from last week.

Since state and national polling has been conducted concurrently, the difference in the results can't be attributed to a time lag. What we're seeing, instead, are sharply divergent trends at the two levels.

Why? The explanation is fairly simple. Florida, far from being a bellwether state, has unique voter demographics. And by adapting his strategy to account for these demographics, Romney has managed to gain support in Florida that he's failed to win nationally.

Which voter demographics are proving most decisive in Florida? They include:

Women. In South Carolina, where Gingrich won a commanding 12-point victory, he surprised many observers by carrying both the male and female vote. But in Florida, Romney leads Gingrich by as much as 16 points among women, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.

Latinos. Not a significant factor in South Carolina, an estimated 11-12 percent of the GOP electorate in Florida is comprised of Latinos, mostly Cuban-Americans. Romney holds a 4-3 lead over Gingrich, according to the latest Insider Advantage poll. In other GOP primary states, the Latino share of the electorate will be smaller, and with greater concerns over U.S. immigration policy, could be far more favorable to Gingrich.

Absentee/Early Voters. Florida permits early voting, and some 10 percent of the electorate has already cast their vote. Voting began before the South Carolina primary, when Romney had a 30-point lead over Gingrich in Florida. Absentee balloting -- some if it from military voters -- also favors Romney.

Interestingly, the Romney-Gingrich gender gap isn't among the women many observers might expect: evangelicals. Gingrich still has a strong lead over Romney with this critical voting bloc. However, Gingrich's problem is that its share of the Florida vote is much smaller than it was in South Carolina -- and in many other GOP contests.

Gingrich, it seems, is losing relatively moderate GOP women, not conservative ones. That could be an important factor in the general election, where independent female voters may not take to Gingrich, either. But post-Florida, how badly Romney might hurt Gingrich with women in states with large numbers of evangelical voters is still unclear.

The big question coming out of Florida will be perception. If Gingrich loses, he will face renewed calls from the GOP establishment to withdraw from the race. And Romney, with his huge war chest, will continue to outspend Gingrich in future primaries. That could also give Romney a chance to slowly chip away at Gingrich's widening national lead.

But that lead is suggestive of just how much discontent with Romney remains among GOP voters, especially as the former Massachusetts governor continues to pivot to the center. In the South Gingrich has a huge polling lead over Romney, and that's not likely to change, no matter what
Romney does.

Another sign of GOP disaffection with Romney is the continuing rise of Rick Santorum. His percentage of the GOP vote nationally recently jumped to a record 18 percent, just 10 points behind Romney, in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll.

Santorum and Gingrich are going after the same evangelical voters, leaving Romney with virtually no support among this critical voting bloc. Were the cash-poor Santorum to drop out at some point, the bulk of his support would likely switch to Gingrich, giving the former House speaker a huge new source of backing nationally -- and in other primary states where evangelicals dominate the GOP electorate.

In short, Romney better enjoy what appears to be a likely victory in Florida while he can. Because it may end up bouncing about as far as Gingrich's South Carolina win did -- not very far.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-j-lawrence/florida-primary-gop-nomination_b_1237226.html

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Friday, January 27, 2012

HPV study finds 7% of U.S. teens, adults carry virus in mouths

An estimated 7% of American teens and adults carry the human papilloma virus in their mouths, an infection that puts them at heightened risk of developing cancer of the mouth and throat, researchers said Thursday.

Their study, the first to assess the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the U.S. population, may help health experts understand why rates of oropharyngeal cancer ? a type of head and neck cancer ? have skyrocketed in recent years, increasing 225% between 1988 and 2004.

The findings also indicate that the virus is not likely to spread through kissing or casual contact and that most cases of oral HPV can be traced to oral sex.

"There is a strong association for sexual behavior, and that has important implications for public health officials who teach sexual education," said Dr. Maura L. Gillison of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, who led the study.

Gillison will present the data Thursday at a meeting of head and neck cancer researchers and doctors in Phoenix. The results were also published online by the Journal of theAmerican Medical Assn.

HPV is best known as the cause of cervical cancer, which kills 4,220 women in the U.S. each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. The virus can also cause vulvar, anal, penile and various head and neck cancers. A study published in October in the Journal of Clinical Oncology traced more than 70% of new cases of oral cancers to HPV infection, putting it ahead of tobacco use as the leading cause of such cancers.

If present trends continue, HPV will cause more cases of oral cancers than cervical cancer by 2020, according to the October study.

HPV infection is common ? an estimated 80% of Americans have contracted the virus, Gillison said. It usually produces no symptoms and is typically cleared from the body through natural processes.

But persistent infections can cause cancer. Vaccines are now available for children and young adults to prevent cervical and anal cancers caused by the most troublesome HPV strains.

To get a handle on HPV's role in oral cancers, Gillison and her colleagues analyzed data from 5,579 people ages 14 to 69 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2009 and 2010. The NHANES survey includes a detailed questionnaire and a physical examination; volunteers provided a 30-second oral rinse from which researchers extracted cells to test for HPV infection.

They found that the overall prevalence of oral HPV was 6.9% ? far less than the rate of genital HPV infection in reproductive-age women, which can be as high as 42% among women in their 20s, Gillison said.

The infection rate varied substantially among different groups. For instance, 10.1% of men in the study had oral HPV, compared with 3.6% of women. The reason for the difference is unknown but it could have to do with oral sex practices, Gillison said.

Among people who had more than 20 sexual partners, the prevalence of oral HPV was 20%. But the researchers found it in less than 1% of people who said they were virgins and in less than 4% of people who said they had never performed oral sex.

Very little is known about how the virus is transmitted to the oral cavity and triggers the growth of cancer cells. But the findings strongly suggest that oral sex is to blame more than kissing, experts said.

"There is no evidence to suggest casual transmission of oral HPV infection," said Gypsyamber D'Souza, a cancer prevention expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore who was not involved in the new study. But anyone who is sexually active appears to be at risk, she said: "It only takes one partner who has had another [infected] partner."

Researchers also noted age differences; those ages 60 to 64 had the highest prevalence at 11.4%. That's in marked contrast to cervical HPV infection, which is most common among women in their early 20s.

It's unclear why the prevalence of oral HPV peaks much later in life, Gillison said. One possibility is that the immune system weakens with age, making people more vulnerable to latent infections. Another theory is that study participants in their 60s came of age during an era of sexual permissiveness that preceded public-health messages about safe sex, Gillison said.

The study also linked heavy smoking to oral infection. It's possible that smoking weakens the body's immune response, making it easier for an infection to persist.

The most common high-risk HPV strain, HPV-16, infected 1% of the participants. That strain raises the risk of oral cancer fiftyfold and accounts for most cases of squamous cell cancers of the mouth and pharynx. Squamous cell cancers, which arise in the mucous membranes that line the mouth and throat, are diagnosed in 2.6 per 100,000 people and are the most common type of oropharyngeal cancer.

Even with only 1% of people infected by HPV-16, that still translates to "hundreds of thousands of people" who will contract the virus and be unable to clear it, said Dr. Hans Schlecht, assistant professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

The data raise a number of important issues, experts said. For example, while Pap tests can detect HPV infection and precancerous cells in the cervix, there is no such screening test for precancerous cells in the mouth. Researchers also wonder whether the HPV vaccine will protect against oral cancers, a question that could take years to answer.

In the meantime, the new data should give parents more to think about as they consider whether to vaccinate their children ? especially their sons, Gillison said. HPV vaccination is recommended for females ages 9 to 26 and males ages 9 to 21.

"Some parents may have felt that the risk of HPV infection wasn't relevant to them," she said. "But this study shows 1 in 10 boys has an infection that can lead to a cancer. And HPV-16, which causes most of the cases of cancer, was almost six times more common in the men than in women."

The research also raises the delicate issue of educating people on safe-sex practices, Schlecht said. Based on the findings, doctors should encourage their patients who engage in oral sex to use barrier protection, he wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

shari.roan@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/X8KcBeMNx8U/la-he-oral-hpv-20120127,0,2252254.story

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Artist plans to bury 727 jetliner in US desert

(AP) ? A Swiss artist plans to bury an intact Boeing 727 jetliner in California's Mojave Desert and build a tunnel to give visitors a chance to see it.

Christoph Buchel has applied for a permit that will allow him to bury the 153-foot-long (46-meter-long) decommissioned airliner.

The Bakersfield Californian newspaper reports the project, called "Terminal," already has approval from the local planning department staff.

The jetliner would be buried 38 feet (11 meters) below the surface.

Visitors will be able to experience the subterranean art project via a tunnel connecting the plane to a parking area. And they'll be able to use the plane's restrooms, which will be connected to a septic system.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-01-26-Jetliner%20Burial/id-eab62a2ecfd24238a30c8c03e66ebcbc

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Competition

iOS devices combined — including iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — may have outsold Android devices combined — including Android phones and tablets — by a narrow margin last quarter.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/OakVLYtoQE0/story01.htm

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Etta James Dead At 73

Etta James’ performance of the enduring classic “At Last” was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait. In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/etta-james-dead-at-73/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=etta-james-dead-at-73

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Obama to take on economy in State of the Union

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama commands center stage in a political year so far dominated by Republican infighting, preparing to deliver a State of the Union address that will go right to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years in office. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose steps to make college more affordable and offer new remedies for the still worrisome housing crisis. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama commands center stage in a political year so far dominated by Republican infighting, preparing to deliver a State of the Union address that will go right to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years in office. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose steps to make college more affordable and offer new remedies for the still worrisome housing crisis. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

(AP) ? Addressing a divided nation amid a determined GOP campaign to take his job, President Barack Obama is preparing to issue a populist cry for economic fairness as he aims to corral the sympathies of middle-class voters 10 months before Election Day.

Obama delivers his third State of the Union address Tuesday in a capital and country shot through with politics, with his re-election campaign well under way and his potential GOP opponents lobbing attacks against him daily as they scrap for the right to take him on.

Obama's 9 p.m. EST address to a joint session of Congress and millions of television viewers will be as much as anything an argument for his re-election, the president's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.

Senior political adviser David Plouffe said Tuesday morning the president is "happy to have a debate" about his performance. Asked in an interview about Republican candidate Newt Gingrich's description of Obama as the "food stamp president," Plouffe replied, "It's a cheap applause line for the Republican base."

Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser now at the Brookings Institution, said, "Almost by definition it's going to be at least as much a political speech as a governing speech."

"The president must run on his record," Galston said, "and that means talking candidly and persuasively with the country about the very distinctive nature of the challenges the American economy faced when he took office and what has gone right for the past three years, and what needs to be done in addition."

With economic anxiety showing through everywhere, the speech will focus on a vision for restoring the middle class, with Obama facing the tricky task of persuading voters to stick with him even as joblessness remains high at 8.5 percent. Obama can point to positive signs, including continued if sluggish growth; his argument will be that he is the one to restore economic equality for middle-class voters.

Implicit in the argument, even if he never names frontrunners Gingrich and Mitt Romney, is that they are on the other side.

Obama's speech will come as Gingrich and Romney have transformed the Republican campaign into a real contest ahead of Florida's crucial primary next week. And he'll be speaking on the same day that Romney, a multimillionaire, released his tax returns, offering a vivid illustration of wealth that could play into Obama's argument about the growing divide between rich and poor.

Asked in an interview Tuesday about Romney's relatively modest tax rate in the range of 15 percent, given that he's a multi-millionaire, Plouffe said, "We need to change our tax system. We need to change our tax code so that everybody is doing their fair share."

Obama will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the country works.

The speech will feature the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values. The president is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and push to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.

For three days following his speech, Obama will promote his ideas in five states key to his re-election bid. On Wednesday he'll visit Iowa and Arizona to promote ideas to boost American manufacturing; on Thursday in Nevada and Colorado he'll discuss energy; and in Michigan Friday he'll talk about college affordability, education and training. Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America's economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, said that Obama "can't run on his record."

The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few." Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama "the most effective food stamp president in history." Romney says Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."

Obama will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt he will act without their help when it's necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.

The public is more concerned about domestic troubles over foreign policy than at any other time in the past 15 years, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 81 percent want Obama to focus his speech on domestic affairs, not foreign ones; just five years ago, the view was evenly split.

On the day before Obama's speech, his campaign released a short Web ad showing monthly job losses during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, with positive job growth for nearly two Obama years. Republicans assail him for failing to achieve a lot more.

House Speaker John Boehner, responding to reports of Obama's speech themes, said it was a rehash of unhelpful policies. "It's pathetic," he said.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is not conceding the next 10 months to "campaigning alone" when people need economic help. On the goals of helping people get a fair shot, Carney said, "There's ample room within those boundaries for bipartisan cooperation and for getting this done."

Plouffe appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" with Ryan and Plouffe also was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show and "CBS This Morning."

___

AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-24-State%20of%20the%20Union/id-b772ea196de44c5e914fcf6cc21216a3

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Poll: Obama hurting with swing voters (Politico)

President Barack Obama is poorly positioned with key independents less than a year from Election Day, with less than a third of swing voters expressing a favorable opinion of the president in a new poll.

Just 31 percent of independent voters indicated a favorable opinion of the president in a New York Times/CBS News poll out Thursday, compared to a 38 percent favorability rating among all voters.

Continue Reading

Asked about how Obama is handling his job, 52 percent of swing voters said they disapprove while 37 percent said they approve.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of swing voters said the president hasn?t made significant progress in fixing the country?s economy, while six in ten said Obama doesn?t share their priorities for the country.

The poll also revealed that more than five in ten independent voters, or 54 percent, do not have a clear idea of what the president wants to accomplish during a second term of presidency.

The New York Times/CBS News poll was conducted Jan. 12-17 among 1,154 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71649_html/44228698/SIG=11m3l70sv/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71649.html

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Friday, January 13, 2012

China hunts for high-profile armed robber

By David Challenger, CNN

January 10, 2012 -- Updated 0616 GMT (1416 HKT)

Police officers investigate the scene of the crime after a suspect allegedly killed a man during a robbery in Nanjing.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Massive search launched for killer who robbed a man of $31,700
  • More than 80,000 police have joined the manhunt for the suspect in Nanjing
  • Police have obtained two video clips of the suspect escaping the scene
  • The robber is believed to have killed at least six others throughout China

(CNN) -- Chinese authorities in eastern Jiangsu Province have launched a massive manhunt for a suspect in a deadly armed robbery, according to Chinese media.

The suspect allegedly shot and killed a man who had just withdrawn 200,000 yuan ($31,700) from a bank in Nanjing's Dongmen Street on January 6 and then fled the scene in a car, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Nanjing Public Security Bureau's Xuanwu district office told CNN that more than 80,000 police have joined the manhunt, while a reward of 150,000 yuan has been offered for information leading to the killer's arrest.

Authorities believe the suspect -- a man in his early 40s from Sichuan province called Zeng Kaigui -- is also responsible for shooting dead six others in six robberies in Changsha and Chongqing municipality over the past seven years.

Nanjing police have obtained two video clips of the suspect escaping the scene and published them online, and said Zeng is of medium build and wears black outfits during the robbery.

Police have posted Zeng's profile picture in public places like subway stations and Internet cafes, and have handed them out to taxi and bus drivers throughout the c

Many big screens in downtown Nanjing are also showing the suspect's video clips hourly with police warnings to citizens.

CNN's Shao Tian contributed to this report.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rss/edition_asia/~3/iN1Imonvtrc/index.html

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Musharraf to return to Pakistan, lead party in polls (Reuters)

KARACHI (Reuters) ? Exiled former president Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday he would return to Pakistan later this month to lead his recently formed party in campaigning for a parliamentary election, despite the possibility of his arrest and concern over his security.

"There are efforts to scare me, but these people don't know that I'm not among the afraid," Musharraf told a rally of about 8,000 supporters in the commercial centre Karachi via video link from Dubai.

The former general said he would return between January 27 and 30 and dismissed concern about his security. "I have fought wars. I am not scared of danger."

Musharraf's return, to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League's campaign for an election due by 2013, would add to the political uncertainty at a time of tension between the weak civilian government and the powerful military, which sets foreign and security policies.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more Pakistan stories see http://link.reuters.com/kac58m

Pakistan blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Musharraf resigned and went to live abroad after his allies lost a parliamentary election in 2008 and the new coalition government threatened him with impeachment.

His popularity had plummeted after he became embroiled in a row with the judiciary and briefly imposed a state of emergency in 2007.

Saudi and Pakistani sources told Reuters on Sunday that Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, planned to travel to Saudi Arabia to seek the kingdom's backing before going home.

SAUDI INDLUENCE

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has considerable influence in political circles in Pakistan because of its assistance to the South Asian nation's fragile economy.

"Musharraf will be travelling to Saudi soon in order to get support before he goes back to Pakistan," said a Gulf-based Saudi source familiar with the matter. A Pakistani source also said Musharraf, who is in Dubai, would go to Saudi Arabia soon.

The source declined to say what form of support he was seeking. Some reports have said Musharraf, who faces possible arrest on charges of failing to provide adequate security to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her assassination in 2007, will seek Saudi guarantees that he would not be detained.

He also faces threats to his life from Islamist militants seeking revenge for the crackdown he ordered against them.

In 2007, Saudi King Abdullah helped broker the return to Pakistan of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf had sent to Saudi Arabia in 2000 under what his government said was an agreement that Sharif would stay in exile for 10 years.

Saudi sources say their country is concerned about the friction between Pakistan's army and government in recent months.

"The stability of Pakistan is very important to the region and has to be maintained," said a second Pakistani source.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is facing his biggest political crisis since taking office in 2008, over an unsigned memo to the Pentagon seeking U.S. help to rein in Pakistan's generals, who have ruled the nation for more than half its history.

Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, in a column in the Financial Times, said a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked for the memo to be delivered. Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's then ambassador in Washington and a close Zardari aide.

Haqqani denies any involvement, and no evidence has emerged that the military was plotting a coup.

The Supreme Court has ordered an investigation into the matter, which could further threaten the civilian government, especially if it established a link between the memo and Zardari.

(Additional reporting by Amena Bakr in DUBAI; Writing by Qasim Nauman; Editing by Michael Georgy and Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120108/wl_nm/us_pakistan_musharraf

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US orders diplomat out after cyber-attack claims

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Venezuela's consul general in Miami was ordered Sunday to leave the United States after allegations surfaced that she discussed possible cyber-attacks on U.S. soil.

The State Department said it had declared the diplomat, Livia Acosta Noguera, persona non grata and given her until Tuesday to leave the country.

Javier Caceres / AP, file

Venezuela diplomat Livia Acosta Noguera, pictured earlier.


State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Venezuelan government was notified of the decision on Friday, giving her 72 hours to depart under standard diplomatic procedure. There was no immediate reaction from the Venezuelan government.

Toner would not discuss the reason for the expulsion, but said it was done in accordance with Article 23 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. That article does not require the expelling state to explain its decision.

The move follows an FBI investigation into allegations contained in a documentary aired by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision last month.

According to the documentary, "The Iranian threat," Acosta discussed a possible cyber-attack against the U.S. government when she was previously assigned as a diplomat in the Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico.

The documentary was based on recordings of conversations with her and other officials, and also alleged that Cuban and Iranian diplomatic missions were involved.

Citing audio and video obtained by the students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Univision said Acosta was seeking information about the servers of nuclear power plants in the U.S.

After the documentary aired, the State Department said the allegations were "very disturbing" and officials said the FBI had opened an investigation into the matter.

The New York Times reported that there was no indication American officials had been able to substantiate the allegations aired by Univision.

However, it said, the decision to expel the diplomat coincided with the Obama administration's expression of disapproval for Venezuela's willingness to maintain friendly relations with Iran.

Venezuela's leader, Hugo Chavez, expelled the American ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick D. Duddy, in September 2008, charging that the United States was backing a group of military officers plotting a coup against him.

In response, the United States expelled the Venezuelan ambassador.

Despite the breakdown in diplomatic relations, the two countries continue to have deep economic ties. Venezuela is the fourth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, the NYT said.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10064710-us-expels-venezuela-diplomat-after-cyber-attack-allegations

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Ford unveils 2013 Fusion at Detroit auto show

DETROIT (AP) - Ford hopes its redesigned Fusion can help it catch the Camry.

The original has been a huge hit since entering the market in 2005 and it topped the Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata last year with sales of 250,000. But the Fusion is still lagging behind Toyota's Camry, the best-seller among midsize sedans, which sold nearly 309,000.

Ford unveiled the new Fusion on Monday at the Detroit auto show. Gone is the shuttered grille, replaced by a more aggressive diamond-shaped one. The new version borrows the chiseled, aerodynamic look of Ford's other new cars, the Fiesta and Focus.

In the past, Ford would make different versions of a car for different regions of the world, spending millions more on development. But the 2013 Fusion will be sold globally, so Ford canvassed customers worldwide before choosing the final design. The company changed its original headlight, for example, after Chinese customers found it too sinister.

Here's more about the 2013 Fusion:

POWER: Ford will offer several types of Fusions, including a hybrid and plug-in hybrid. Ford expects the hybrid to get 47 miles per gallon in city driving, while the Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid which runs for a longer time on the battery alone, should get the equivalent of more than 100 miles per gallon. A 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine with Ford's EcoBoost system will get 37 mpg on the highway, while a 2.0-liter EcoBoost will be offered in a performance version.

Ford's base engine, a 1.6-liter I-4, will be the first Ford with an automatic stop-start system that shuts off the power when the car stops and restarts it when the driver releases the brake pedal, reducing fuel consumption. It's expected to get slightly better fuel economy than the current Fusion, which gets 33 mpg on the highway.

EXTERIOR: Ford wants the car to have a premium feel, so it even took the extra - and more expensive - step of embedding the Ford badge in the hood instead of attaching it to the grille. Ford designer Chris Hamilton described the look of the current Fusion as "slightly cold." Of the new Fusion, he says, "we wanted that feeling of the surfaces being worked on by hand."

INTERIOR: The 2013 has more rear-leg room thanks to thinner seats up front. Ford says it has used better, softer materials. Among the options are Ford's Sync voice-controlled entertainment system and its My Ford Touch dashboard screen.

OPTIONS: Ford will be the only car in its class with a lane-keeping system, which uses cameras to monitor whether a driver is staying in his lane and alerts him if he swerves off course. It will also have a system that parallel parks the car automatically, a blind-spot warning system and a cross-traffic alert which monitors oncoming traffic when the car is backing out of a parking space.

PRICE: Not revealed. But Ford Americas President Mark Fields said Monday that it will have a base price close to the current Fusion, which starts at $20,200.

CHEERS: Analysts were wowed by the design at a preview last month. The Fusion is likely to follow the success of other recent Ford redesigns, including the hot-selling Ford Explorer SUV.

JEERS: There is some concern among analysts that Ford will price the Fusion too high, especially when buyers pile on the options. The new Ford Focus compact car has seen sluggish sales this year, in part because dealers were stocked with high-end versions that cost more than the Fusion.

Source: http://www.katu.com/news/business/Ford-unveils-2013-Fusion-at-Detroit-auto-show-136953073.html

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Monday, January 9, 2012

2012 NFL Draft: Cincinnati Bengals Would Be Wise to Target RB in First Round

The Cincinnati Bengals saw their season end this weekend in Houston.

It wasn't a complete disappointment considering the youth surrounding the Bengals, as this is only the beginning for this ball club. With rookies Andy Dalton and A.J. Green in-house for the long haul, the Bengals have a great foundation to build around.

What was disappointing was the running back position.

Cedric Benson rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last three seasons but gained only 14 yards on Saturday and was only the team's third-leading rusher in the game.

The veteran running back will be a free agent this offseason, and he didn't give Cincinnati much reason to bring him back for anything less than a mediocre-to-average deal.

Benson's yardage total has dropped each of the last three years and at 29 years old, he doesn't warrant a long-term deal, either.

The 2012 free-agent class has a number of running back options including Benson, but the Bengals also have a second first-round draft pick this year courtesy of Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raiders.

Picking 17th and 21st, they are in prime position to address two of their biggest needs.?Running back tops that list, followed by guard, cornerback and wide receiver.

If Benson walks, the Bengals are left with Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott under contract, and neither of them are long-term answers. Solid complements but not long-term answers.

Fortunately for the Bengals, running back has talent in that portion of the draft even if it is a bit of a reach.

Miami's Lamar Miller provides the most value. He has good size at 5'11" and 212 pounds and is rumored to run the 40-yard dash in the sub-4.4 range. He's still developing, but he grades out in the mid-to-late first round.

Washington's Chris Polk and Virginia Tech's David Wilson are also fringe first-round talents.?

What Should the Bengals Target at RB?

    What Should the Bengals Target at RB?

  • Keep Benson

  • Draft Miller

  • Draft Wilson

  • Draft Polk

  • Get Somebody Else

With the new rookie salary cap, it will not only be beneficial for the Bengals to avoid the free-agent market, but it would be the best decision they could make.

Miller, Polk and Wilson could all be every-down backs in the NFL and fit in perfectly with the fresh new look Cincinnati is sporting.

When the offseason officially hits, don't be surprised if Cedric Benson isn't high on the Bengals' wish list. In fact, the Bengals would be wise to address their running back position in April when they're on the clock.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1016732-2012-nfl-draft-projections-bengals-wise-to-target-rb-in-first-round

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Police release victim sketch in Long Island serial killer case (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Police released a sketch of a third unidentified victim in the hunt for a possible Long Island serial killer preying on prostitutes advertising on Craigslist.

Ten sets of human remains have been found on local beaches since police began their investigation in December 2010.

Suffolk County police on Sunday said they released a photo of the third unidentified victim in the case to ask for the public's help in finding out more about her.

Police said remains from the woman's body were actually found in April 1996, but her skull was found on an Ocean Parkway beach last April in the midst of their current investigation.

Police would not comment on the circumstances that led to her death.

According to the online database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the woman's left and right legs were found in April 1996 with scars on both of them. Red toenail polish was found on each of her toes, said the database, which estimates she was between the ages of 18 and 50.

The investigation into a possible serial killer was prompted by the search for Shannan Gilbert, a New Jersey prostitute who went missing in Long Island in May 2010. Police found her body last month.

Police have said they do not think Gilbert's death is connected to the suspected serial killer.

The search for Gilbert led police to find five bodies wrapped in burlap sacks on Gilgo Beach in December 2010. The bodies have been positively identified as prostitutes advertising on Craigslist.

Since then, five more bodies have been found.

The other two unidentified victims in the case were also believed to be prostitutes advertising on Craigslist. Police in September released sketches of an unidentified woman and man.

The woman, estimated to be between the ages of 18 and 35, is believed to have a tattoo on her right ankle and was apparently killed in 2000.

The man was Asian and between the ages of 17 and 23. Police said he was found wearing women's clothing and believed he died a violent death at least five years ago.

(Editing by Lauren Keiper and Colleen Jenkins)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120108/us_nm/us_serialkiller_longisland

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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Labor Department sues China Star restaurant over wages

? The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Wichita restaurant alleging it failed to pay its workers minimum wage.

The lawsuit filed Thursday against the owners of China Star seeks unspecified wages and additional damages for nine named employees for their work between January 2009 and March 2010. It also seeks an injunction restraining the owners from further violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Named in the lawsuit are co-owners Hank Luc and Xin G. Chen, doing business as China Star of Wichita.

Luc told The Associated Press that the employees were lying to the Labor Department.

He says the restaurant paid the workers what they were owed and that he tried talking to the Labor Department, but officials there don't listen to him.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/06/2164816/labor-department-sues-kan-restaurant.html

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Saturday, January 7, 2012

LG Shows Off Its New Google TV Set Before CES | TechCrunch

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he?d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User?s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. ? Learn More

In keeping with our prediction that Google TV would be seeing something of an expansion this year at CES, LG?s first foray into the Google TV ecosystem has just been unveiled ahead of the show.

As you can see in the picture, it?s got a new interface but the guts are still Google TV. This is probably something that we?ll be seeing more of: manufacturer-specific builds, like Sense and TouchWiz for your TV.

The TV itself is of an unspecified size, but chances are it will come in large and extra-large sizes (42? and 55? or thereabouts) when it comes out later this year. It comes with LG?s ?Magic Remote Qwerty,? which is, as you might expect, a combination of its voice-controlled Magic Remote with the magic of QWERTY. Or AZERTY, depending on where you are.

I?m liking that it?s passive-glasses 3D; active glasses are a thing of the past and glasses-less isn?t quite there yet. Polarized is how you see it in the theater in general, and it?s the way to see 3D at home if you want to see 3D at all. Just stay away from its ?built-in 2D to 3D conversion engine,? which sounds supremely awful.

LG is hedging its bets, though; it will also be showing its own Smart TV platform in case the Google devices flop. We?ll be sure to drop by their booth during CES to get an eyes-on with these new displays.

More info at LG?s press release.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/05/lg-shows-off-its-new-google-tv-set-before-ces/

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Friday, January 6, 2012

Supreme Court to examine Texas redistricting

WASHINGTON ? As the election season intensifies, the Supreme Court will hear a dispute Monday involving the fairness of new voting districts drawn by the Texas Legislature.

The case arises as several challenges from other states and localities have been made against the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. Advocates on both sides are watching the Texas case for signals from the court on whether a decades-old provision intended to ensure equality at the polls should stand.

In Texas, a San Antonio-based federal court blocked the Legislature's voting-district maps, saying they could not be used until officials had ensured, based on the 1965 law, that they didn't harm the interests of Hispanics and blacks.

Texas contends the lower-court judges wrongly drew a new, interim plan for state House and Senate districts and Texas' 36 congressional districts. State lawyers say the judges should have deferred to the legislative plan even though it had not been cleared under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

That section, covering nine mostly Southern states and scores of smaller jurisdictions elsewhere with a history of racial discrimination, requires the localities to show in advance that new maps or other changes would not undermine minorities' voting rights.

Though Texas only implicitly challenges that section, several direct attacks to the constitutionality of Section 5 are simmering, including one from Shelby County, Ala., to be heard by a federal court this month.

At the Supreme Court, the looming constitutional question "will be the 800-pound gorilla in the room," says Professor Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California-Irvine. Hasen observes that because of other cases in the pipeline, the justices are likely to "sooner rather than later" rule on the constitutionality of Section 5's pre-clearance rule.

It's an issue that can determine the fate of voting districts, as well as voter identification rules and any new election procedures. It could also make a difference not just in who casts a ballot but who wins an election.

The justices put the case on a fast track because of scheduled primary elections this spring. The Texas primary already has been delayed from March 6 to April 3 because of the litigation.

In 2009, when the justices last took up the Voting Rights Act, Chief Justice John Roberts said the "pre-clearance" rule intrudes on states and suggested it may no longer be necessary because "things have changed in the South." Yet in 2009, Roberts and the court majority did not rule on the constitutionality of Section 5 because the Texas utility district that challenged the law was exempt under a "bailout" provision.

The latest Texas dispute arises from growth in the state, particularly among Latinos, as documented by the 2010 Census. From 2000 to 2010, population rose by more than 4 million people, to 25 million. Hispanic population rose by about 2.8 million, the black population by about 523,000, and white population by about 465,000.

Because of that growth, the state gained four more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The GOP-controlled Legislature drew maps for the U.S. House and for the state Senate and House. As the San Antonio-based federal court documented, the Legislature's maps reduced "minority opportunity districts" (in which Latinos or blacks constitute at least 50% of voting age population) and minimized the chance that they could elect candidates of their choice.

"We picked up four seats, and it's important to look at the people who contributed to that," says state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat who is part of a coalition challenging the Legislature's maps. "It just seems very suspicious that the state of Texas is willing to accept that growth for political power in Congress but overlook those who brought them to the dance."

State Attorney General Greg Abbott defends the voting districts and emphasizes the drawing of boundaries is "a core function of" a state legislature requiring a "complex balancing of countless different interests." He says lower-court judges should have presumed the Legislature acted in good faith and not drawn a new map based on their own criteria.

The Justice Department says Texas may not enforce the districts until they are tested in a separate court proceeding underway in Washington. Yet it says the lower court should have more fully explained its rationale for the interim district boundaries.

Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-NewsTopStories/~3/PBrbYS1suDg/1

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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

45% off Men's Converse Chuck Taylor Sneakers at Sports Authority; on sale for $29.97, originally $55 @Sports Authority

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