Ochocinco demure in long-awaited Super spotlight

New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco makes his way to answer questions during Media Day for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco makes his way to answer questions during Media Day for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco answers a question during Media Day for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco answers a question during Media Day for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Chad Ochocinco was the last Patriot to walk across the field and wade into the pack of reporters and photographers waiting near the sideline. He felt no need to rush the moment he'd longed for nearly his whole life.

This was his Super Bowl media day.

Ochocinco finally got to be on the receiving end of questions Tuesday at Lucas Oil Stadium for an annual event that he attended several times as a microphone-toting correspondent for his social media Ochocinco News Network.

Now, the microphones were aimed at him.

"Aw, man, I've dreamed of it," Ochocinco said, wearing his blue No. 85 jersey, blue Super Bowl cap and irrepressible smile. "I've been playing this game a long time ? started out at 4 years old. And this is what you dream of, to come to this stage and enjoy it. So that's what I'm going to do."

And he's doing it the New England way.

Instead of driving the conversation by talking about himself, Ochocinco was along for the ride. He didn't seem to mind that he didn't get one of the 14 podiums set up on the field for coach Bill Belichick and players.

Instead, he stood at the 13-yard line between podiums reserved for tight end Aaron Hernandez and receiver Matthew Slater, his soft tone often drowned out by his teammates' speaker-amplified comments.

Didn't matter.

"This is my podium," Ochocinco said, referring to his small section of artificial turf encircled by reporters and photographers. "If I was up there, you couldn't get to me. You couldn't smell the cologne I have on now."

During the nearly hour-long session, Ochocinco provided hardly a whiff of his old look-at-me ways. After 10 years of commanding the spotlight and losing games in Cincinnati, the social media mogul had to pull off one of his most difficult changes.

Ochocinco had to use the words "I'' and "me" much more sparingly in order to co-exist with Belichick in New England. He had to learn, he says, throwing in an obscenity, to shut up.

There was no remorse in his tone on Tuesday. He knew when the Patriots traded for him that his self-promoting ways would have to end. If he lapsed back into look-at-me, he'd be looking at the end of his stay in New England.

So, he did away with his lists of cornerbacks who couldn't cover him, his touchdown skits and victory guarantees. Ochocinco, who legally changed his name from Johnson to get more attention, would have to drop the "diva" from his job description.

"I could have talked," he said, 'but then I'd be sitting at home today.

"I think I've had a great career in general. The year wasn't what I expected, what everyone else expected. But I did everything I was supposed to do ? work, stay quiet. I don't know if being on this stage is a reward, but there's nothing else I can do. I'm part of a team and I've done everything asked of me."

Especially the "stay quiet" part, which went against his nature.

He repeatedly bumped egos in Cincinnati with coach Marvin Lewis, who referred to him once as "Ocho Psycho." Ochocinco miffed teammates with his attention-gathering antics ? and his sloppy pass routes ? and got under the skin of opponents by sending them Pepto-Bismol and other gifts. The league repeatedly fined him for his on-field celebrations and refusal to follow its uniform code.

He set Bengals receiving records, but made the playoffs only twice in 10 years and went 0-2. He tried to get out of town, but ownership made him stay. He started planning for his next career, getting involved in social media, including his OCNN venture.

During the NFL lockout last summer, he rode a 1,500-pound bull for 1.5 seconds, tried out for Kansas City's MLS team and took a 160 mph spin around the Atlanta Motor Speedway with Jeff Burton.

He felt revived when the Bengals traded him to the Patriots in July, but quickly realized his career was taking an abrupt turn. He became a small piece in a high-powered passing game, catching only 15 passes all season for 275 yards and one uncelebrated touchdown.

"I know the season hasn't gone the way he wanted to," said Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, filling in for Ochocinco on his OCNN crew this week. "The way they do things up there, I think he's kind of understood that and gone along with it. I'm happy for the guy."

Ochocinco sounded upbeat about all of it. Asked if it was bittersweet for him to get to the title game as a reserve receiver without a podium, he smiled.

"It's not bittersweet," he said. "It's the Super Bowl."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-31-FBN-Super-Bowl-Ochocinco's-Moment/id-86887625b9b24d80bfb45ad23ae4b6f2

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Video: Where will Fisher take the Rams?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/46195261#46195261

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UN chief: Africa leaders should respect gay rights (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia ? U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says African nations should stop treating gays as "second-class citizens, or even criminals".

Ban told African leaders that gathered in Ethiopia's capital on Sunday for an African Union summit that discrimination based on sexual orientation "had been ignored or even sanctioned by many states for far too long".

Ban said it would be challenging for Africa to "confront this discrimination". There was no immediate response from African heads of states to Ban's speech. Many African countries outlaw homosexuality and many African churches preach against it.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_af/af_au_gay_rights

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Robert Shumake ? Understanding The Real Estate Investing Tax ...

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Source: http://articlexone.com/arts/robert-shumake-understanding-the-real-estate-investing-tax-table.html

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Lunar Base Foe Romney Endorsement by Lunar Base Supporters a Contradiction (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | According to Florida Today, former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney journeyed to Florida's space coast and delivered a speech that was less visionary than that of his rival New Gingrich. But Romney does enjoy the endorsement of a group of aerospace giants.

While laying out four principles that his space policy would follow, Romney declined to state what his space policy or goals would be. He reiterated his desire for a committee to experts from across NASA, the military, the commercial sector, and academic to determine what that policy might be. He did not reiterate his opposition to a moon colony, however.

The Romney campaign released a letter of endorsement that decried the state of the space program under President Barack Obama and also suggested Romney would be the candidate best positioned to fix it.

The people signing the letter included former NASA administrator Mike Griffin, Apollo moonwalker Gene Cernan, shuttle era astronaut Bob Crippen, space tourism entrepreneur Eric Anderson and former space officials for various Republican administrations Scott Pace, Mark Albrecht and Peter Marquez, and William Martel, an Associate Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. According to Marcia Smith at Space Policy Online, Scott Pace heads Romney's space advisory team.

The group of aerospace heavyweights supporting Romney seems to offer a contradiction. While Romney has ridiculed the idea of a moon base or colony as proposed by Gingrich, a number of his advisers have been involved in return to the moon efforts, which are understood to involve establishing a moon base or colony.

Albrecht was the executive secretary of the National Space Council under President George H.W. Bush charged with trying to keep the Space Exploration Initiative, which included a lunar base, on track. Griffin was NASA administrator charged with running the canceled Constellation program, which also included a lunar base.

Romney has inoculated himself against the charge of being anti-space by having a group of aerospace heavy hitters endorse him. Also, whatever his advisers come up with is going to be less "grandiose" that Gingrich's proposal, even if -- as one might suspect -- it includes a lunar base. The maneuver is as adroit as it is cynical. Romney does not have to offer his own vision that can be sniped at. But he does offer a group of advisers that hint at a vision to come.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker . He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120128/pl_ac/10896257_lunar_base_foe_romney_endorsement_by_lunar_base_supporters_a_contradiction

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Sex role stereotyping and prejudices in children explored

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) ? Girls are not as good at playing football as boys, and they do not have a clue about cars. Instead they know better how to dance and do not get into mischief as often as boys. Prejudices like these are cultivated from early childhood onwards by everyone. "Approximately at the age of three to four years children start to prefer children of the same sex, and later the same ethnic group or nationality," Prof. Dr. Andreas Beelmann of the Fried?rich Schil?ler Univer?sity Jena (Germany) states.

This is part of an entirely normal personality development, the director of the Institute for Psychology explains. "It only gets problematic when the more positive evaluation of the own social group, which is adopted automatically in the course of identity formation, at some point reverts into bias and discrimination against others," Beelmann continues.

To prevent this, the Jena psychologist and his team have been working on a prevention programme for children. It is designed to reduce prejudice and to encourage tolerance for others. But when is the right time to start? Jena psychologists Dr. Tobias Raabe and Prof. Dr. Andreas Beelmann systematically summarise scientific studies on that topic and published the results of their research in the science journal Child Develop?ment.

According to this, the development of prejudice increases steadily at pre-school age and reaches its highest level between five and seven years of age. With increasing age this development is reversed and the prejudices decline. "This reflects normal cognitive development of children," Prof. Beelmann explains. "At first they adopt the social categories from their social environment, mainly the parents. Then they start to build up their own social identity according to social groups, before they finally learn to differentiate and individual evaluations of others will prevail over stereotypes." Therefore the psychologists reckon this age is the ideal time to start well-designed prevention programmes against prejudice.

"Prevention starting at that age supports the normal course of development," Beelmann says. As the new study and the experience of the Jena psychologists with their prevention programme so far show, the prejudices are strongly diminished at primary school age, when children get in touch with members of so-called social out groups like, for instance children of a different nationality or skin colour. "This also works when they don't even get in touch with real people but learn it instead via books or told stories." But at the same time the primary school age is a critical time for prejudices to consolidate. "If there is no or only a few contact to members of social out groups, there is no personal experience to be made and generalising negative evaluations stick longer." In this, scientists see an explanation for the particularly strong xeno?phobia in regions with a very low percentage of foreigners or migrants.

Moreover the Jena psychologists noticed that social ideas and prejudices are formed differently in children of social minorities. They do not have a negative attitude towards the majority to start with, more often it is even a positive one. The reason is the higher social status of the majority, which is being regarded as a role model. Only later, after having experienced discrimination, they develop prejudices, that then sticks with them much more persistently than with other children. "In this case prevention has to start earlier so it doesn't even get that far," Beelmann is convinced.

Generally, the psychologist of the Jena University stresses, the results of the new study don't imply that the children's and youths attitudes towards different social groups can't be changed at a later age. But this would then less depend on the individual development and very much more on the social environment like for instance changing social norms in our society. Tolerance on the other hand could be encouraged at any age. The psychologists' "prescription": As many diverse contacts to individuals belonging to different social groups as possible. "People who can identify with many groups will be less inclined to make sweeping generalisations in the evaluation of individuals belonging to different social groups or even to discriminate against them," Prof. Beelmann says.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Friedrich Schiller University Jena, via AlphaGalileo.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Tobias Raabe, Andreas Beelmann. Development of Ethnic, Racial, and National Prejudice in Childhood and Adolescence: A Multinational Meta-Analysis of Age Differences. Child Development, 2011; 82 (6): 1715 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01668.x

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127135938.htm

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Obama to target rising college tuition costs (AP)

ROMULUS, Mich. ? President Barack Obama will announce a plan to shift some federal dollars away from colleges and universities that don't control tuition costs and new competitions in higher education to encourage efficiency as part of an effort to contain soaring college costs.

Obama will spell out his plans Friday at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The speech will cap a three-day post-State of the Union trip by the president to promote different components of his economic agenda in politically important states.

On Tuesday night during his State of the Union address, Obama put colleges and universities on notice to control tuition costs or face losing federal dollars. That's had the higher education community nervous that he could set a new precedent in the federal government's role in controlling the rising costs of college.

Obama's education secretary, Arne Duncan, said Friday that schools should get federal dollars based in part on their performance.

"Historically, we've funded universities whether or not they've done a good job of graduating people, whether or not they've done a good job of keeping down tuition," Duncan said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

The money Obama is targeting is what's known as "campus based" aid given to colleges to distribute in areas such as Perkins loans or in work study programs. Of the $142 billion in federal grants and loans distributed in the last school year, about $3 billion went to these programs. His plan calls for increasing that type of aid to $10 billion annually.

He wants to create a "Race to the Top" competition in higher education similar to the one his administration used on K-12 to encourage states to better use higher education dollars in exchange for $1 billion in prize dollars. A second competition called "First in the World" would encourage innovation to boost productivity on campuses.

"We have to educate our way to a better economy," Duncan told MSNBC.

Obama's proposal also includes the creation of new tools to allow students to determine which colleges and universities have the best value.

His plan will likely be a tough sell in Congress, which must approve nearly all aspects of it except the creation of the new tools.

The Obama administration already has taken a series of steps to expand the availability of grants and loans and to make loans easier to pay back, and Obama spelled out Tuesday other proposals to make college more affordable, such as extending a tuition tax break and asking Congress to keep loan interest rates from doubling on July.

His administration has also targeted career college programs ? primarily at for-profit institutions ? with high loan default rates among graduates over multiple years by taking away their ability to participate in such programs.

But until now, it has done little to turn its attention to the rising cost of tuition at traditional colleges and universities.

The average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges last fall rose 8.3 percent and with room and board now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board. Rising tuition costs have been blamed on a variety of factors, including a decline in state dollars, an over-reliance on federal student loan dollars and competition for the best facilities and professors.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former education secretary, said the autonomy of U.S. higher education is what makes it the best in the world, and he's questioned whether Obama can enforce any plan that shifts federal aid away from colleges and universities without hurting students.

"It's hard to do without hurting students, and it's not appropriate to do," Alexander said. "The federal government has no business doing this."

___

Hefling reported from Washington.

___

Online:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Education Department: http://www.ed.gov/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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Summary Box: $14,460 for a shipwreck (AP)

PAYBACK: Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers $14,460 apiece Friday to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.

NO DEAL: Some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured.

SEE YOU IN COURT: consumer groups have signed on as injured parties in the criminal case against the Concordia's captain, who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all those aboard were evacuated. one of Italy's best-known consumer groups has engaged two U.S. law firms to launch a class-action lawsuit against Costa and Carnival in Miami.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground_summary_box

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What really happened prior to 'Snowball Earth'?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) ? In a study published in the journal Geology, scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggest that the large changes in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates which occurred prior to the major climatic event more than 500 million years ago, known as 'Snowball Earth,' are unrelated to worldwide glacial events.

"Our study suggests that the geochemical record documented in rocks prior to the Marinoan glaciation or 'Snowball Earth' are unrelated to the glaciation itself," said UM Rosenstiel professor Peter Swart, a co-author of the study. "Instead the changes in the carbon isotopic ratio are related to alteration by freshwater as sea level fell."

In order to better understand the environmental conditions prior to 'Snowball Earth', the research team analyzed geochemical signatures preserved in carbonate rock cores from similar climactic events that happened more recently -- two million years ago -- during the Pliocene-Pleistocene period.

The team analyzed the ratio of the rare isotope of carbon (¹³C) to the more abundant carbon isotope (¹²C) from cores drilled in the Bahamas and the Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The geochemical patterns that were observed in these cores were nearly identical to the pattern seen prior to the Marinoan glaciation, which suggests that the alteration of rocks by water, a process known as diagenesis, is the source of the changes seen during that time period.

Prior to this study, scientists theorized that large changes in the cycling of carbon between the organic and inorganic reservoirs occurred in the atmosphere and oceans, setting the stage for the global glacial event known as 'Snowball Earth'.

"It is widely accepted that changes in the carbon isotopic ratio during the Pliocene-Pleistocene time are the result of alteration of rocks by freshwater," said Swart. "We believe this is also what occurred during the Neoproterozoic. Instead of being related to massive and complicated changes in the carbon cycle, the variations seen in the Neoproterozoic can be explained by simple process which we understand very well."

Scientists acknowledge that multiple sea level fluctuations occurred during the Pliocene-Pleistocene glaciations resulting from water being locked up in glaciers. Similar sea-level changes during the Neoproterozoic caused the variations in the global carbon isotopic signal preserved in the older rocks, not a change in the distribution of carbon as had been widely postulated.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. P. K. Swart, M. J. Kennedy. Does the global stratigraphic reproducibility of ?13C in Neoproterozoic carbonates require a marine origin? A Pliocene-Pleistocene comparison. Geology, 2011; 40 (1): 87 DOI: 10.1130/G32538.1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127140523.htm

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Why is there no video of Obama-Brewer tiff? (Washington Post)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191886824?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Vanessa Hudgens Auctions Gown For Cancer Charity - Starpulse.com

Vanessa Hudgens is auctioning off the dress she wore to the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards to raise cash for a cancer charity.
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Bidding for the silk Candie's Couture gown began on Monday and the auction will continue on eBay.com until February 2.
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All proceeds from the sale will benefit Stand Up To Cancer.
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Hudgens says, "I am proud to continue to support Stand Up To Cancer and all the incredible work they do. Cancer touches all of our lives in some way and I am honoured to donate this gorgeous Candie's Couture gown to help to raise funds and awareness for this important initiative."
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This is the first eBay auction Hudgens, who was part of the 2010 Stand Up To Cancer telethon, has taken part in.

Source: http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2012/01/25/vanessa_hudgens_auctions_gown_for_canc

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Five things to watch for in Obama's State of the Union

Former White House speech writers offer pointers to watching President Obama's State of the Union Tuesday night.

President Obama is offering his fourth third (the first address a new president gives isn?t titled the ?state of the union?) - and, he hopes, not final - State of of the Union address to the nation Tuesday night. Ahead of the annual report on the state of the US (spoiler: We?re guessing the answer is ?strong?), Decoder dropped by the Bipartisan Policy Center for a talk with four former White House speechwriters to get their thoughts on what to look for tonight.

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Here are their five things to watch.

1. Burn the straw men.

John McConnell, a writer for President George W. Bush, told a story related to him by the late great speechwriter Bill Safire, who could not get Richard Nixon to stop saying some variation of ?while some of those close to me have urged me to take the easy way, I have opted for?? before continuing on to what he wanted to do.

Unfortunately, Safire noted, nobody was advising the president to take the easy way. As such, Safire would sometimes walk past the closed door to the Oval Office and whisper ?take the easy way, Mr. President.?

Obama, McConnell advised, should ?avoid strawmen? If you?re contradicting a counter argument, make it a real counter argument.?

Bob Lehrman, a former writer for Vice President Al Gore, concurred.

?Whenever you see somebody say - and Obama does this, I?m sorry to say - ?some may say,? they?re heading straight for a straw man, Lehrman said. ?You can find real people on the other side and you can rebut what they say and you are much more credible when you do it.?

Indeed, one of the best things Obama could do ?is agree with the other side,? Lehrman said. ?People will say ?He?s a reasonable person.??

2. Big themes, but many ideas.

President Obama isn?t just laying out his plans for the next year, pointed out Vinca LaFleur, a former writer for President Bill Clinton. He?s giving a taste of what a second Obama term would look like. That?s going to mean the standard presidential laundry list of proposals - but Obama needs to find broad themes and narratives to encapsulate the policy to make it relateable. Particularly given the President?s election/political goals, making the State of the Union - always a political document - into something approaching a nationally-televised campaign speech.?

3. Watch your tone.

Chriss Winston, the former chief speechwriter to President George H. W. Bush, said Obama would be well-served to ?avoid a hectoring, lecturing tone this evening and perhaps extend the olive branch one more time.?

?The American people have kind of had it with the fighting that?s gone on between the White House and Congress. I would hope that tonight the speech will be President Obama laying out his vision but doing it in a way that allows for the possibility of some progress, at least this spring,? she said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/MryCaPz-Nc4/Five-things-to-watch-for-in-Obama-s-State-of-the-Union

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PFT: Roethlisberger case settled for 'less than a game check'

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In a lengthy interview containing plenty of content, context, and clues about the future of the Colts current franchise quarterback, Peyton Manning makes it abundantly clear to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star that now isn?t the best time to be an employee of the team.

?I?m not in a very good place for healing, let?s say that,?? Manning said, regarding the team?s facility.? ?It?s not a real good environment down there right now, to say the least.? Everybody?s walking around on eggshells.? I don?t recognize our building right now.? There?s such complete and total change.??

That explanation implies that Manning is still healing.? Which means he isn?t healthy.? And it also means he?s necessarily frustrated by the fact that he has to try to get healthy in the midst of revolutionary change.

?I mean, it?s 20 degrees, it?s snowing, the building is absolutely empty except when you see coaches cleaning out their offices,?? Manning told Kravitz.? ?I guess it?s the reality of the football world, just not something I?ve had to deal with very often.? But I?m in there every day, so I have to sit there and see it.? Everybody?s being evaluated and I?m no different.? It?s not the best environment.?

Peyton adroitly has positioned the decision on his future as a decision that not he but owner Jim Irsay will make.

?One thing [new G.M. Ryan Grigson] kind-of, sort-of told me, without really wanting to tell me, was that Irsay will be the guy I?m going to sit down and talk with,?? Manning said.? ?That?s going to happen at some point, but we haven?t had that conversation yet because we really don?t need to have that conversation yet.??

Did you catch that one?? It?s subtle, but significant.? Not ?Jim? or ?Jimmy? or ?Mr. Irsay.?? Just ?Irsay.?? Peyton refers to ?Irsay? as ?Jim? on at least two other occasions in the interview, but to call the owner only ?Irsay? in that specific moment is telling.

Folks, Peyton isn?t happy.

?One of the things about football is, it?s a relationship business,?? Manning said.? ?Sometimes guys get fired, it goes across the ticker, ?Jim Caldwell got fired? and that?s that.? But when it?s every day in a relationship business . . . with Bill [Polian], with Marvin [Harrison], Edge [James], guys who retire, get cut, traded or fired, it?s just really hard.? I don?t think I have an emotion for it.?

Did you catch that one?? Peyton puts Bill Polian in the same category as Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James.

Folks, Peyton isn?t happy.

?I just want to pay tribute to all those guys,? Manning said.? ?It?s unfortunate because so many of them have been such a big part of so many big wins here, and this is so . . . sudden.? Their keys didn?t work the next day.? There?s no other way to do it?? I don?t know.? That?s hard to see, all these people leaving.?

Folks, Peyton really isn?t happy.

But he?s setting it up so that if (when) he ends up playing for another team, it?ll happen because the Colts left him with no options.

?I don?t want to get into some kind of fan campaign with the owner, but I think it?s well documented that I want to play in the same place my whole career,?? Manning said, which could be just enough to launch a fan campaign with the owner.? ?It?s been a privilege to play here.? I love the fans, the city, the transformation of the fans, how our place has become the toughest stadium to play in, the fact our fans wear more jerseys to games than anybody else.? It?s been fun to be a part of that.

?But I understand how it works.? I understand tough decisions have to be made.? There?s personal and there?s business and that?s where we?ve got to separate the two. I?ve seen other guys leave places and it was personal.? I?ve invested too much into this city for that to happen.? We live here, we?ve given lots of time and money to the community and our church, and that?s never going to change.? Nothing changes that.?

Manning says nothing about whether he?ll agree to delay the $28 million option bonus that comes due on March 8 in order to give the team more time to determine whether he?s healthy before paying him that money.? But given his current mindset, it?d be surprising to see him do anything he doesn?t have to do in order to make things any easier for an organization that has made things harder than necessary on Manning?s former coworkers.

?There?s no other way to do it??

Yep, Peyton won?t be doing ?Irsay? any favors.

At the heart of the matter is, I firmly believe, the team?s apparent intention to use the first overall pick in the draft on Peyton?s successor instead of dangling that pick for the kind of modern-day Herschel Walker package that could propel the Colts to more Super Bowl wins.? I?d previously believed that Peyton already had made that known to ?Irsay.?? I now believe that Peyton has come to that conclusion without articulating it to the team.? Yet.

Manning may never have to.? If, due to the current environment in the building, he?s not healed by March 8 and not willing to throw ?Irsay? a bone by backing up the due date, the decision that Manning may secretly want will be made by someone else.

The only thing we know for sure is that, contrary to the ?report? last week from Rob Lowe, Peyton isn?t retiring.? Yet.

?I never thought ?Sodapop Curtis? would announce my retirement,? Manning said.

The full interview merits a complete read.? And none of this should be regarded as criticism of Peyton Manning.? I?m simply trying to analyze and interpret the facts, the statements, and the possible motivations.? He?s a smart guy, and he?s hardly a passive participant in his life.

Peyton surely knows what he wants to do, and his comments to Kravitz surely are aimed at making it happen that way, with minimal damage to the Peyton Manning brand, in Indy or elsewhere.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/24/roethlisberger-case-settled-for-less-than-a-game-check/related/

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Identity theft insurance not always worth the cost ? Maine Business ...

The phrase ?identity theft? has become one of those terms that makes one?s blood run cold. We?ve heard so many stories of financial losses, ruined credit and related horrors that we react emotionally to the subject.

That emotional response has prompted many consumers to buy insurance that kicks in if some form of identity theft strikes the insured. The question before us is, is such insurance worth the cost?

There?s no simple answer, as is usually the case in consumer matters. The quick historical view back to 2006 finds Consumer Reports said such coverage was ?typically not worth the money.? The magazine notes more than half of ID theft protection is sold by banks, and that those premiums amount to a consumer subsidy for federally required loss protection through credit card and bank account fraud. The passing of time hasn?t changed CR?s opinion that you can ? and should ? take more effective steps yourself to protect your credit and good name.

ID theft insurance typically costs $120 to $300 a year. That?s more than victims often incur through the theft and misuse of their credit card numbers, the most frequent type of ID theft. Federal law limits liability in such cases to $50 per card.

Those who sell the coverage point to the time-consuming process of restoring credit and correcting information on their credit histories. The insurers say their policies can help consumers cope with what can be a trying and frustrating process.

Most people in the insurance industry give the same advice they would when buying other types of coverage. Find out what the policy limits are; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners says most ID theft policies have policy limits of $10,000 to $15,000. If the policy covers lost wages, find out how the coverage is triggered and what limits apply. Know if there is a deductible; some policies require the holder to pay as much as $500 toward the cost of reclaiming your financial identity before the insurer pays a penny.

Before buying, check your homeowner?s insurance policy. It may include ID theft coverage, or you might be able to add coverage more affordably than buying separate coverage. If you decide to buy a separate policy, compare the coverage of several companies.

The insurance commissioners warn against becoming a victim of insurance fraud by making sure the agent and company you?re dealing with are licensed to do business in Maine. Find the Bureau of Insurance online ( http://www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance), by phone (207-624-8475 or TTY 888-577-6690) or by writing to the Bureau at 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.

David Leach, principal consumer credit examiner for the Maine?s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, advises people to be their own advocates. Leach says it?s critical for each of us to get one free credit report from one of the reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) every four months. Do this by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com and only that site. That, plus keeping a close watch on all credit card activity, will help keep identity thieves at bay.

As to separate insurance, Leach says, ?Consumers who sign up for these types of services are paying close to $250.00 a year for a service they can essentially run themselves.? He notes that most financial institutions that issue credit cards will waive all losses in cases of identity theft or fraud. Visit the bureau?s website at www.credit.maine.gov.

For a rundown on federal ID theft laws and tips to protect yourself, visit the Federal Trade Commission website, www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine?s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email atcontacexdir@live.com.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/22/business/identity-theft-insurance-not-always-worth-the-cost/

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Super Bowl first: Social media command center

By Athima Chansanchai

It'll probably take the rest of winter for Niners and Ravens fans to get over what happened yesterday that knocked their respective teams out of Super Bowl XLVI (that would be 46 for all of you who don't read Roman numerals). But for Patriots and Giants fans, the fun is just beginning. Through a newly installed social media command center, visitors to the big game in Indianapolis will be able to ask questions and receive answers leading up to the Feb. 5 showdown.

For the next two weeks until?the NFL's most important game, an Indianapolis-based?team (no, not the Colts) is operating out of a 2,800-square-foot space to read and respond to fans who are one of 100,000 to 150,000 lucky souls who will be in Indianapolis for the game, posting about the Super Bowl and their beloved teams. (This includes those who are traveling to the city for pre/during/post-game festivities, or watching from places other than the about 70,000-capacity stadium, but still in and around the city.)

This social media super team will provide directions, to-do around town suggestions and other important information (such as what to do in case of an emergency at the stadium).

Indianapolis digital marketing firm Raidious is in charge of the operation, with CEO Taulbee Jackson at the helm. Jackson sits on the Super Bowl host committee and was asked to help with social media strategy. I reached to Jackson by phone this morning and he shared more details on this Superbowl first.

"It's the first time any facility like this has been built to manage social media for such a large event," Jackson said. "We were outgrowing our second office in 18 months at the same time the Host Committee asked for our help, so we designed and built the space with the express intention of using it as the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center, then taking over the space afterwards."?

The team ??which includes about 50 people, led by?Raidious' staff of 16 and students and journalism/telecommunications students from Ball State University, Butler University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis?? will work in the command center 15 hours a day. (Not all at once!)

One team will focus on social media management and moderation, while the other (most likely the students) will work?on content development for posts on all the events and activities that surround the game, as well as things to do in Indianapolis since a big part of the team's mandate will be promoting the city to newcomers. "It's?Hoosier hopsitality for the 21st century," Jackson said.

Given that the two league championship teams are from New York and New England, it's a good bet there will be first-timers in the zone. While most visitors are expected to arrive in the city next Wednesday or Thursday (Feb. 1 and Feb. 2), the social media command center will swing into high gear starting this week.

As we've already seen, sports fans are some of the most rabid in social media posts, with record-setting tweets about Tim Tebow?(9,420 tweets per second), as well as the 7,196 tweets per second during the Women's World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan last summer. And have you ever looked at your Facebook on football Sundays, much less the playoffs? It's one sure way to see who's a fan, and how intense they are about it. (On my Facebook, the Bears, Ravens, Raiders and Niners fans are definitely the most vocal.)

In fact, every time the Super Bowl comes around, it's a proven magnet for the millions who are active on Facebook, Twitter and now, Google+. In 2011, the only Facebook status update topic in the world, amongst 800 million users?that bested the Packers winning Super Bowl 45 was the death of Osama bin Laden.?

For those who will be in Indy, there will be plenty to write home about, but they'll also be in company with the millions glued to their sets that Sunday watching with them. ?

The Super Bowl social media command center will concentrate on key word-based monitoring, but because they're geo-targeting the Indianapolis/Indiana area and those coming to town for the game, they won't be as overwhelmed as they would be if they tried to deal with all the online traffic the event generates.

"One of the reasons we've staffed it the way we have, and put in all this technology, is to deal with the high levels of volume, even limiting that to the Indianapolis, Indiana area," Jackson said.

Safety is another priority, using Twitter to get any emergency instructions and information out quickly if necessary.?

From the main Super Bowl XLVI site, fans can access the social media command center's activity through its management of the Super Bowl Facebook page, Flickr and Twitter accounts and the site's blog.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10216687-super-bowl-first-social-media-command-center

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New study sheds light on evolutionary origin of oxygen-based cellular respiration

Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
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Contact: RIKEN Global Relations Office
gro-pr@riken.jp
RIKEN

Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to fundamental science, the findings provide key insights into the production of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.

As the central process by which cells capture and store the chemical energy they need to survive, cellular respiration is essential to all life on this planet. While most of us are familiar with one form of respiration, whereby oxygen is used to transform nutrients into molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for use as energy ("aerobic respiration"), many of the world's organisms breathe in a different way. At the bottom of the ocean and in other places with no oxygen, organisms get their energy instead using substances such as nitrate or sulfur to synthesize ATP, much the way organisms did many billions of years ago ("anaerobic respiration").

While less well-known, this latter type of cellular respiration is no less important, fuelling the production of most of the world's nitrous oxide (N2O), an ozone depleting and greenhouse gas 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide. As the enzyme responsible for catalyzing the reactions underlying anaerobic respiration, nitric oxide reductase (NOR) has attracted increasing attention in environmental circles. The mystery of NOR's catalyzing mechanism, however which accounts for a staggering 70% of the planet's N2O production remains largely unsolved.

With their latest research, the team sought an answer to this mystery in the origin of an evolutionary innovation known as the "proton pump". To accelerate ATP-synthesis, aerobic organisms harness the potential of an electrochemical concentration gradient across the cell, created by "pumping" protons out using energy from an oxygen reduction reaction. The enzyme powering this mechanism, cytochrome oxidase (COX), is genetically and structurally similar to NOR, suggesting a common ancestor. No evidence of any "pump", however, has been detected in anaerobic organisms.

That is, until now. Using radiation from the RIKEN SPring-8 facility in Harima, Japan, the world's largest synchrotron radiation facility, the researchers probed the 3D structure of qNOR and discovered a channel acting as a proton transfer pathway for a key catalytic reaction. While not itself a proton pump, the position and function of this pathway suggest it is an ancestor of the proton pump found in COX. The finding thus establishes first-ever evidence for a proton pump in anaerobic organisms, shedding light onto the mysterious mechanisms governing the production of nitrogen oxide and the evolutionary path that led to their emergence.

###

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: RIKEN Global Relations Office
gro-pr@riken.jp
RIKEN

Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to fundamental science, the findings provide key insights into the production of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.

As the central process by which cells capture and store the chemical energy they need to survive, cellular respiration is essential to all life on this planet. While most of us are familiar with one form of respiration, whereby oxygen is used to transform nutrients into molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for use as energy ("aerobic respiration"), many of the world's organisms breathe in a different way. At the bottom of the ocean and in other places with no oxygen, organisms get their energy instead using substances such as nitrate or sulfur to synthesize ATP, much the way organisms did many billions of years ago ("anaerobic respiration").

While less well-known, this latter type of cellular respiration is no less important, fuelling the production of most of the world's nitrous oxide (N2O), an ozone depleting and greenhouse gas 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide. As the enzyme responsible for catalyzing the reactions underlying anaerobic respiration, nitric oxide reductase (NOR) has attracted increasing attention in environmental circles. The mystery of NOR's catalyzing mechanism, however which accounts for a staggering 70% of the planet's N2O production remains largely unsolved.

With their latest research, the team sought an answer to this mystery in the origin of an evolutionary innovation known as the "proton pump". To accelerate ATP-synthesis, aerobic organisms harness the potential of an electrochemical concentration gradient across the cell, created by "pumping" protons out using energy from an oxygen reduction reaction. The enzyme powering this mechanism, cytochrome oxidase (COX), is genetically and structurally similar to NOR, suggesting a common ancestor. No evidence of any "pump", however, has been detected in anaerobic organisms.

That is, until now. Using radiation from the RIKEN SPring-8 facility in Harima, Japan, the world's largest synchrotron radiation facility, the researchers probed the 3D structure of qNOR and discovered a channel acting as a proton transfer pathway for a key catalytic reaction. While not itself a proton pump, the position and function of this pathway suggest it is an ancestor of the proton pump found in COX. The finding thus establishes first-ever evidence for a proton pump in anaerobic organisms, shedding light onto the mysterious mechanisms governing the production of nitrogen oxide and the evolutionary path that led to their emergence.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/r-nss012012.php

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INFLUENCE GAME: Online companies win piracy fight (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Outspent but hardly outgunned, online and high-tech companies triggered an avalanche of Internet clicks to force Congress to shelve legislation that would curb online piracy. They outmaneuvered the entertainment industry and other old guard business interests, leaving them bitter and befuddled.

Before Senate and House leaders set aside the legislation Friday, the movie and music lobbies and other Washington fixtures, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, had put in play their usually reliable tactics to rally support for the bills.

There were email campaigns, television and print ads in important states, a Times Square billboard, and uncounted phone calls and visits to congressional offices in Washington and around the country. That included about 20 trips to the Capitol by leaders of the National Songwriters Association International, often accompanied by songwriters who performed their hits for lawmakers and their staffs.

"We bring our guitars on our backs," said songwriter Steve Bogard, the association's president.

Such campaigns are often music to the ears of lawmakers. This time, however, it was smothered by an online outpouring against the legislation that culminated Wednesday. According to organizers, at least 75,000 websites temporarily went dark that day, including the English-language online encyclopedia Wikipedia, joined by 25,000 blogs.

"The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet," said a message on Wikipedia's home page, which was shrouded in shadows and provided links to help visitors reach their members of Congress.

Thousands of other sites posted messages protesting the bills and urging people to contact lawmakers. Protest leaders say that resulted in 3 million emails.

Google, its logo hidden beneath a stark black rectangle, solicited 7 million signatures on a petition opposing the bills. Craigslist counted 30,000 phone calls to lawmakers and there were 3.9 million tweets on Twitter about the bills, according to NetCoalition, which represents leading Internet and high tech companies.

"It's still something we're trying to comprehend," said Google spokeswoman Samantha Smith. "We had such an overwhelming response to our petition that it honestly far exceeded our expectations."

As co-sponsors of the bills peeled away, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Friday postponed a vote that had been set for this Tuesday on moving to the legislation. The vote seemed doomed well beforehand. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, also put off further work. "I have heard from the critics," he said.

Just weeks ago, the bills seemed headed toward quiet approval with bipartisan backing that ranging from liberals such as Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., to conservatives such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The turnabout was so unexpected that some think the online world's triumph signals a pivotal moment marking its arrival as Washington's newest power broker.

"This does serve as a watershed moment," said Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a communications professor at the State University of New York at Albany who studies how political groups use high technology. "Certain channels for communication that people routinely use have the power to get their users to become political activists on their behalf."

Both bills are aimed at thwarting illegal downloads and sales of thousands of American movies, songs and books, as well as counterfeit pharmaceuticals, software and other copyrighted products. They would do so by making it easier to stop American websites and search engines from steering visitors to largely foreign websites that pirate the items.

Supporters estimate that online piracy costs the U.S. at least $100 billion annually and thousands of jobs; even the bills' critics say sales of pirated products must be stopped. But foes say the legislation goes too far, threatening to curb Internet free speech, stifle online innovation and burden online businesses with damaging regulations.

"People love their Internet. They use it every day, they don't want it to change and they don't want Washington messing with it," said Maura Corbett, spokeswoman for NetCoalition.

Claims that "big brother" would oversee the Internet infuriate bill supporters, who say their opponents employed fear-mongering and distortion to foment an online frenzy.

"They've misidentified this issue as an issue about your Internet, your Internet is being jeopardized," said Mike Nugent, executive director of Creative America, a coalition of entertainment unions, movie studios and television networks. "In fact their business model is being asked to be subjected to regulation. They're misleading their huge base."

Misleading or not, the online community had a huge impact on members of Congress, with many saying they heard little from the entertainment industry but plenty from Internet users.

"Everyone's online, and a lot of people online are very inclined to complain about" new fees and other problems, said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va. "It's a culture of fairly quick mobilization."

The bills' champions said they purposely avoided hauling entertainment celebrities to Washington, saying they preferred to focus on how the measure would help the entire economy.

"If we brought in Hollywood stars, that would play into the other side's narrative that this is all about Hollywood," said Steven Tepp, who helped guide the campaign for the Chamber of Commerce. "We want to keep the focus on the reality that this is much, much broader."

In the end, the outcome showed the lobbying world is changing, said Kathy Garmezy, an official with the Directors Guild of America, which supports the bills.

"Of course you say to yourself, `What can you change?'" she said. "I don't think we've come to conclusions or closure."

Participants say last week's online protests were spawned last fall, as Congress was writing the bills and Internet users started chatting and emailing about them.

The blogging service Tumblr called attention to the measures on its website in November. Other efforts also garnered attention, including a drive by owners to remove their domain names from GoDaddy.com, which sells domain names and was a supporter of the anti-piracy legislation.

Among the first to publicly say they would darken their sites on Wednesday were Reddit and Wikipedia.

"Like most things on the Internet, it was very unorganized and chaotic," said Erik Martin, Reddit's general manager.

In terms of their Washington presence, online businesses are adolescents compared to the well-established industries they are battling.

According to Maplight, a nonpartisan group that analyzes money's role in politics, current senators have received $14.4 million over the past six years from entertainment interest groups supporting the online piracy bills, seven times the $2 million they got from Internet groups opposing the legislation.

The differences are also stark when it comes to lobbying.

Google, one of the Internet world's largest players in Washington, spent $5.9 million lobbying on all issues during the first nine months of 2011, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. The Chamber of Commerce spent $46 million, the most in town.

Even so, online businesses have been beefing up their representation in Washington, the center's figures show.

Google's $5.9 million paid for 112 lobbyists last year, more than double the $2.8 million it spent for 54 lobbyists in 2008. Facebook's $910,000 for lobbying during the first three quarters of 2011 paid for 21 lobbyists, compared with two lobbyists and $351,000 it spent a year earlier.

High tech companies are also learning the value of big names. One Google lobbyist is former Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, a House Democratic leader and presidential candidate. Last year, Facebook hired Joe Lockhart, a press secretary for President Bill Clinton, as vice president of global communications.

Bill supporters lost one advantage because former Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, could not personally lobby senators. The Capitol Hill veteran retired from the Senate last year and is legally barred from lobbying his former colleagues for two years.

___

Online:

Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act: http://tinyurl.com/7lqbgzh

House's Stop Online Piracy Act: http://tinyurl.com/75vtcxg

NetCoalition: http://www.netcoalition.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_hi_te/us_online_piracy_lobbying

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Fast-moving winter snowstorm hits Northeast (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Snow lovers in the northeast finally got what they have been waiting for Saturday morning, with a fast-moving storm bringing 3 to 7 inches from central Pennsylvania to Connecticut.

For many areas away from the Great Lakes, this will be the heaviest snowfall since a storm in late October, according to weather.com.

"We haven't missed it, but it's been noticeably absent," said Victoria Lupica, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia International Airport, which had 66 cancelled flights Saturday morning. Though the snow has stopped for now, the airport was still experiencing departure delays of up to two hours.

Totals could reach 3 to 5 inches in New York City, two to four inches in Philadelphia and up to 3 inches in Boston. At La Guardia International Airport in New York, arrival delays were up to 30 minutes and increasing due to snow and ice, according to the airport's website.

This late and moderate storm in the northeast is a big change from the heavy snows of last winter -- which included a post-Christmas blizzard that dumped 20 inches on New York City.

Light snow was falling again in Chicago Saturday morning. A snowfall Friday brought up to 8 inches and prompted the cancellation of more than 700 flights at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports. Flight operations were back to normal at Chicago airports Saturday, the city's aviation department said.

In parts of South Carolina, voters in the Republican presidential primary were seeing rain Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Thunderstorms, some with hail, were predicted for the southeastern United States.

In the West, heavy snow was predicted for mountain areas of the western states, according to weather.com. Melt from unusually heavy snowfall this week combined with heavy rain will increase the threat of flooding throughout western Washington.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/ts_nm/us_weather

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Italy returns 2,000 year-old statue to Libya (AP)

TRIPOLI, Libya ? Italy has returned to Libya the head of a 2,000 year-old statue that was smuggled out of the country in the 1960s.

Prime Minister Mario Monti gave the sculpted head of Domitilla Minor, the daughter of Roman emperor Vespasian, to Libyan authorities during his trip to Tripoli on Saturday.

The sculpture was taken from Libya's northwestern city of Sabratha in the 1960s, and recently auctioned at Christie's.

Monti was making his first visit to Libya since the capture and killing of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in October.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/fossils/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya_antiquities

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Source: Braun appeal of positive drug test begins (AP)

NEW YORK ? Ryan Braun's appeal of his positive drug test began Thursday before baseball arbitrator Shyam Das.

The start of the National League MVP's appeal, first reported by the New York Daily News, was confirmed by a person familiar with the session who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceeding was not to be made public.

Calls to Braun's agent, Nez Balelo, and Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney were not returned.

When the positive drug test was first reported by ESPN.com last month, Braun had a spokesman issue a statement saying there were circumstances supporting "Ryan's complete innocence."

Under the joint drug agreement between baseball teams and the players' association, Braun will have to prove "the presence of a prohibited substance in his urine was not due to his fault or negligence."

As Braun tries to avoid a 50-game suspension, the burden is a heavy one to overcome. A baseball arbitrator has never ordered a suspension overturned following a grievance hearing.

The person did not know whether the hearing had concluded or whether it would extend into at least one more session. Typically in grievances, after the hearing the sides may submit written final arguments before the arbitrator rules.

MLB has not confirmed the positive test. Baseball's drug agreement says first positive tests are not made public until after the appeals process has been completed.

Technically, the arbitration is before a three-person panel that also includes a representative of management and the union. The independent member, Das, is the decisive vote in nearly all cases.

Braun is to receive his MVP Award on Saturday at the annual dinner of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. While he is expected to speak to the crowd from the dais in a hotel ballroom, he is not expected to take questions from reporters.

Braun has known about since the positive test since late October, people familiar with the appeals process said last month. If suspended, Braun wouldn't be eligible to play for the NL Central champions until May 31 at Dodger Stadium, barring any postponements. He would miss the first 57 days of the major league season, losing about $1.87 million of his $6 million salary.

The 28-year-old the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year, hit .312 with 33 homers and 111 RBIs last season and led Milwaukee to the NL championship series, where the Brewers lost to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_braun_positive_drug_test_appeal

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