2011 Bowl Predictions: Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman

Every year, there are bowl games that have a reputation of being offensive showcases.? Even though this is only going to be the fourth Military Bowl, the game in the nation?s capital is becoming one of those games that is just fun to watch.? The first three contests have had at least 48 points combined between the two teams and last year?s game had 71 points scored.? This year?s edition of the Military Bowl features two very potent offenses and there is the potential for a lot of yards and points at RFK Stadium.

Air Force, as usual, has one of the best rushing attacks in the nation.? While the offense is very productive, that did not translate into wins in the first half of this season.? They started the year 3-4 with the wins coming against FCS teams South Dakota and Tennessee State and they just got by Navy by a point in overtime after blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead.? But things came together in the latter part of the year.? Air Force won four of its last five games with the only loss to bowl-bound Wyoming.? That got them to seven wins and playing in their fifth consecutive bowl game.

Toledo has a very potent offense as well.? But they got off to a worse start than Air Force did this season.? The Rockets lost three of their first four games with the only win against FCS New Hampshire.? They were much better in Mid-American Conference play, winning seven of their eight games.? Unfortunately, the one conference loss was a wild 63-60 loss to eventual MAC champion Northern Illinois that prevented them from winning their division.? Regardless, Toledo racked up eight wins this season and is playing in their second consecutive bowl game.

So, will this be the highest-scoring bowl game of the 2011-2012 season?? Read on for the preview of the 2011 Military Bowl.

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Air Force Offense vs. Toledo Defense

As mentioned above, the Falcons had another great year running the ball.? They finished second in the nation in rushing averaging with just over 320 yards per game and they have a great senior leader running the attack.? Tim Jefferson has been the focus of this offense since he took over as the starter.? Asher Clark and Mike DeWitt are the other major contributors in the rushing attack.? When they throw the ball, Jonathan Warzeka and Zack Kauth are the main pass catchers this season.? It will be an interesting battle because the Toledo defense is much better at stopping the run than the pass.? The Rockets finished 28^th in rushing defense, but 109^th in passing defense this season.? They?ll have had time to look at the Air Force attack, so we?ll have to see how much the Falcons could throw early to try and loosen up the defense.

Edge: Air Force

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Toledo Offense vs. Air Force Defense

As potent as Air Force?s offense was this season, Toledo?s was even better and they did it with balance.? They averaged over 220 yards rushing and 270 yards passing per game this season which led them to have the eighth-best total and scoring offense in the nation.? The Rockets are led by the QB tandem of Terrance Owens and Austin Dantin.? Both of them averaged more than 150 yards of total offense and have kept defenses guessing all year.? The skill positions around them are loaded as well.? RB Adonis Thomas averaged 107 yards per game on the ground and WR Eric Page averaged more than nine catches and 93 yards receiving per game.? This offense is loaded and will be a big problem for the Air Force defense.? The Falcons were mediocre at best all season and will have a tough challenge trying to keep these Rockets grounded.

Edge: Toledo

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Special Teams

Neither special team unit has been stellar as a whole, but one player could prove to make a big difference in the game.? In addition to being Toledo?s leading receiver, Page finished in the top 20 in punt returns and averaged more than 23 yards per kickoff return.? He can turn the momentum in a game in a hurry and could make a big impact in this contest.

Edge: Toledo

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Coaching

This will be a heck of a debut game for Matt Campbell.? The interim head coach for Toledo after Tim Beckham left for Illinois, he had the interim tag lifted on December 9^th and is now the youngest head coach in FBS at 32.? This is his offense that is on display this year and he?ll get a chance to continue to build from a solid season this year.? Troy Calhoun has done a fine job in his five seasons, winning at least eight games in each of the first four.? This is also the fifth straight bowl under Calhoun and they have won two in a row.? He will be in line for a job in a BCS conference if he ever decides if he wants to make that type of move.

Who will win the 2011 Military Bowl?

Who will win the 2011 Military Bowl?

• Air Force

• Toledo

Total votes: 0

Edge: Air Force

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This and That

I?ll be curious to see how full RFK Stadium is for this game.? Neither school is close to the bowl site, so that will probably hold down attendance.? The magic number for Toledo in this game is 30.? They were 1-2 when they scored less than 30 points this season and 7-2 when they scored over 30.? Amazingly, Air Force is 10-10-1 in its bowl history after winning the last two bowl games.

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So, What Will Happen in the 2011 Military Bowl

This has got an offensive explosion written all over it.? It?s two of the best offenses in the country against a couple of mediocre defenses.? This could be a classic case of who has the ball last wins.? Toledo has the balance on offense and the versatility of Eric Page to pull out the victory.

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Line: Toledo by 3

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The Sports Mac Prediction: Toledo 52, Air Force 48

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/998758-2011-military-bowl-presented-by-northrop-grumman-preview-from-the-sports-mac

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CUPP's PunkThis graduates to tablets, earns a degree in security (hands-on video)

Remember CUPP Computing's PunkThis board we played with at Computex 2011? It's now left the confines of its 2.5-inch hard drive form-factor and jumped ship from a standard Asus netbook to a Core i5-equipped Eee Slate EP121, taking residence alongside the tablet's battery. As a refresher, PunkThis puts a complete ARM-based system into an x86 computer by replacing the SATA HDD with a single core 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3730 processor, 512MB RAM and WiFi, along with a mini-PCIe socket for SSD storage, plus connectors for the hosts video, audio and USB interfaces. While CUPP computing is still working hard to make PunkThis commercially available for tech-savvy individuals, it acquired Israeli security company Yoggie last July and built this demo machine to attract another kind of customer.

The tablet we tested was running Windows 7 Home Premium and Android 2.3.4 simultaneously, and was equipped with an additional button for switching between x86 and ARM modes. Since the Asus EP121 already uses a mini-PCIe SSD instead of 2.5-inch SATA storage, a prototype PunkThis board was designed to fit alongside a modified battery. Gingerbread didn't break a sweat supporting both the 1280x800-pixel capacitive touchscreen and pen-based Wacom digitizer thanks to some additional hardware and software tweaks. Beyond the ability to switch between Windows for heavy lifting and Android for improved battery life, it's possible to use both x86 and ARM side-by-side. Imagine antivirus and firewall software running on the PunkThis board in mission-critical security applications for enterprise, and it's easy to see where CUPP Computing is going with this. Check out the gallery below and our hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: CUPP PunkThis tablet hands-on

Continue reading CUPP's PunkThis graduates to tablets, earns a degree in security (hands-on video)

CUPP's PunkThis graduates to tablets, earns a degree in security (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/26/cupps-punkthis-graduates-to-tablets-earns-a-degree-in-security/

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NCAA F. ? Matt Barkley resta ancora con i Trojans

Una notizia inaspettata ha colto molti esperti del football: il quarterback di Usc Matt Barkley rester? ancora un anno al college.

?Voglio finire questo magico viaggio iniziato con i Trojans e regolare qualche conto in sospeso con altri college? ?ha spiegato Matt ai microfoni dei giornalisti californiani. La sua decisione ? stata ben accolta anche dall? head coach dei Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll, suo reclutatore nel college, che l?ha considerata appropriata.

Barkley era considerato il terzo miglior prospetto per il prossimo draft: quest?anno ha guidato la sua squadra ad un record di 10-2 e stabilendo il nuovo record di td pass nella Conference (39) ottenendo anche 3528 yards.

Ora con Andrew Luck dato alla prima chiamata il miglior quarterback del college ? Robert Griffin III di Baylor, giocatore talentuoso con una precisione del passaggio molto rara data la sua grande abilit? di scramble ma con una propensione molto alta agli infortuni che lo hanno limitato in molte occasioni.

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Source: http://www.playitusa.com/news/2011/12/16749/ncaa-f-matt-barkley-resta-ancora-con-i-trojans/

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Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse wedding: Jose + Joel

23 Dec

Guess what?s on the stands on Monday, y?all? It?s the winter MS Weddings, and for an extra awesome treat it features the beautiful, heartfelt wedding of Jose Villa and partner Joel Serrato. They are truly two of the nicest guys (as anyone who knows them can attest!) and we?re so super happy to be part of the crew that?s sharing a few shots, by the beautiful Elizabeth Messina, from their wedding this morning.

?It was such an honor to capture Jose & Joel?s?wedding?.they are both such talented & kind?men?i felt an incredible responsibility to?document one of undoubtably the most special?days in their lives with care?i wish them many?happy years together.? ?- Elizabeth Messina

You can see the rest of this gorgeous wedding on Martha Stewart and more photos on Style Me Pretty and Green Wedding Shoes today.

photography by: Elizabeth Messina /?event production: Lisa Vorce, Oh, how charming /?floral design: Mindy Rice / cake by: Sweet Saucy Shop /?invites by : Papel Press?/ venue:?Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse

Photo credits courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings / Story credit: Photographs by Elizabeth Messina/Martha Stewart Weddings, Winter 2012. Copyright ? 2012 / Cover credit: Photograph by Sang An/Martha Stewart Weddings, Winter 2012. Copyright ? 2012

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Source: http://www.100layercake.com/blog/2011/12/23/figueroa-mountain-farmhouse-wedding-jose-joel/

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Gloss Find: Photo Cube iPhone Photo Printer

Are you finished with your holiday shopping yet?

Well, at this point, GOOD LUCK ? but if you are gifting someone who will not judge you for belated, you have to check out this iPhone photo printer I discovered ? how many of your photos sadly never make it anywhere except the album in your phone?

NOW imagine you can take that iPhone, dock it into your printer, and print those special photos? Amazing, right???

Photo Cube iPhone Photo Printer ($100)

Source: http://mygloss.com/geek/accessories/gloss-find-photo-cube-iphone-photo-printer/

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California educators look to better English learning

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Roberto Bautista was lost when he entered kindergarten speaking only Spanish.

"I said, 'What are they saying?' I just pretend I understand," said the 9-year-old Los Angeles fifth grader. "My best friend knew how to speak English. He helped me."

Roberto's experience is typical for Spanish-speakers entering California schools. They usually get assigned to a program where the teacher must speak English almost exclusively even though kids don't understand.

Roberto has since moved on to a special bilingual program that teaches him in both Spanish and English, but the vast majority of pupils stay in an English-only program, often falling behind in academics as they learn the language then struggle to catch up. Many don't.

California has the largest Hispanic student population in the nation but ranks at the bottom for Hispanic reading and math achievement. Only 11 percent of the state's 1.6 million English learners ? the vast majority of them Spanish speakers ? reached proficiency levels in English in the last school year. About a third drop out of school.

Experts say the numbers point to the need for a statewide overhaul of how schools teach kids English.

"Miseducate this group and the whole state is in trouble," said Leo Gomez, professor of bilingual education at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Educators are now closely observing the Los Angeles Unified School District after the U.S. Department of Education recently criticized its 200,000-pupil English learning program, saying it violated students' civil rights by failing to provide an equal education to non-native speakers.

Under federal monitoring, LAUSD is overhauling its English learner program, the largest in the country. The revamped program, which is scheduled to be presented to the school board in March and begin next school year, could provide a model for other lagging districts.

Studies have long pointed out numerous deficiencies in the state system, which starts with a survey sent to parents asking what languages are spoken at home. Children from multilingual homes are then tested for English proficiency.

Low scorers are placed into English language classes until they're proficient and moved into regular classes.

California's teaching method, however, differs from that used in all but two other states. It uses "structured English immersion," where nearly all classroom instruction is in English, and learning English is prioritized over other academics.

The method, which holds that students master English faster, was adopted after 1998's Proposition 227 restricted the use of bilingual education. Immersion is also used in Arizona and Massachusetts.

All other states, however, use bilingual classroom models. Teachers give academic lessons in the students' native language while students receive separate English instruction until they reach fluency to switch into a regular classroom.

The idea is that continuing their academics in their native language allows them to be current when they're put into regular classes.

Opponents of immersion say children fall behind in their academic subjects while they learn English and never fully catch up.

"By the time, they're in middle school, they're English proficient but academically deprived," Gomez said.

Others say kids learn English either way. It's the quality of the program that matters most, said a 2009 study by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, a Latino affairs think tank that is now part of the University of Southern California.

The study found that once children master English and move into regular classrooms they perform at or above the same level as native English speakers, but too many children simply languish in English learner limbo.

In the study of LAUSD middle schoolers, researchers found 30 percent of students learning English had not gained language proficiency by 8th grade, although most had been in the English learning program since kindergarten. Of those who remained in English classes in high school, almost half dropped out and only 6 percent passed the state high school exit exam.

The state auditor found in a 2005 report that districts have a financial incentive not to move students out of English learning program? an average $448 annually per English learner in extra state and federal funding.

Deborah Sigman, state deputy superintendent of education, disputed that contention, saying districts are simply being cautious about not pushing through students prematurely.

Some experts note that although 80 percent of Spanish-speaking children are born in the United States, many are at a disadvantage because the majority comes from immigrant communities that are low income and provide limited exposure to English. Parents commonly have not graduated high school.

"These kids are really growing up in linguistically isolated areas," said Patricia Gandara, education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "They're having an enclave experience, not a mainstream experience."

She called for more training for teachers who have to cope with multiple levels of English proficiency in a classroom and little know-how to do that. "Teachers don't feel prepared," she said.

Other studies contend that too many kids are identified as English learners to begin with. A September study by Latino policy researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that even though children might speak English, the language skills test is set up to fail them.

The study noted in 2009-10, 88 percent of kindergarteners were classified as English learners based on a two-hour test in which four and five-year-olds who have just entered school must read and write words like "apple," which would be difficult for native English speaking children who have not had preschool.

They cannot get out of English learner status until third grade at the earliest. By then, they are already behind.

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, who is leading legislative efforts to address English learning program deficiencies, said he'd like parents informed that the survey is used for English-learner classification, what that means to a child's education, and more guidelines about answering.

A grandparent living in the house who speaks only Spanish shouldn't necessarily trigger an English test for the grandchild, said Padilla, the author of a recent law that moves the proficiency test from the fall to the spring so students will have the benefit of a school year of instruction behind them.

Los Angeles elementary teacher Io McNaughton, who taught immersion English in an East Los Angeles school and now teaches in a special program that aims at proficiency in Spanish and English, said more emphasis needs to be placed on middle and high school English learners, where prospects of moving into regular classes dim considerably.

Kids in immersion classes do learn English quickly, she said, but she noted that their achievement plateaus. "You'd be teaching English and saying this is working, it's great, but as you progressed through the grades, the achievement in reading and writing really dropped off," she said.

LAUSD officials say they're examining all aspects of their English learning program, from extensive teacher training to how English learners are identified to better monitoring of English learners after they're placed in regular classes. Particular attention is being placed on secondary schools, which federal officials underscored as deficient.

Proficiency testing will also be scrutinized, said Ana Estevez-Andressian, LAUSD's English learner compliance coordinator.

State Sen. Padilla, who was an English learner himself, said he's hoping meaningful reforms that can be replicated will come out of the effort. More than 25 percent of California's students are English learners, and that number comprises a third of English learners nationwide.

"We're not going to make statewide improvement if we don't hone in on English learners," Padilla said. "When you're looking at almost a third of all students, it's a crisis."

Source: http://rn-t.com/bookmark/16893063

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Jaime King at the 16th Annual GQ 'Men Of The Year' Party at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California - November 17, 2011

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Source: http://www.thevoguediaries.com/2011/12/jaime-king-at-16th-annual-gq-men-of.html

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Google to take on Apple iPad with 'Nexus' tablet

CBR Staff Writer Published 23 December 2011

Google's Eric Schimdt told an Italian newspaper that the company would be releasing a "high quality" tablet within six months

Google is working on a Nexus tablet to be released by mid-2012 in a bid to challenge Apple's iPad.

Google's chairman Eric Schimdt told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the company would be releasing a "high quality" tablet within six months.

He announced his company's intention to continue the "brutal competition" with Apple in the mobile communications market.

Commenting on Apple's Siri, he mentioned that Google has the technology to produce something on similar lines.

Google is itself becoming a major hardware manufacturer with its $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola's devices division, currently under consideration of competition authorities.

Schmidt also paid tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' role in kickstarting the tablet market and described the iPad as "amazing". He called Steve Jobs "the Michelangelo of our time."

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Source: http://mobility.cbronline.com/news/google-to-take-on-apple-ipad-with-nexus-tablet-221211

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Grab it While You Can: iMAME Emulator App for iOS

Do you like playing old arcade games? Do you wish there was a way to play those classic games of old on your iPhone or iPad, perhaps using a proper MAME emulator? Then point your browser here, without further ado, and pick up the free iMAME from the App Store, before Apple takes it down.
Apple [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/78E85tYvwpg/

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Baghdad blasts kill 57 as Iraq tensions rise (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? A rash of bombings hit Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 57 people in the first big attack on Iraq's capital since a crisis between its Shi'ite Muslim-led government and Sunni rivals erupted days after the U.S. troop withdrawal.

The apparently coordinated bombings were the first sign of rising violence after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki moved to sideline two Sunni Muslim leaders, just a few years after sectarian bloodletting drove Iraq to the edge of civil war.

At least 18 people were killed when a suicide bomber driving an ambulance detonated the vehicle near a government office in the Karrada district, sending up a dust cloud and scattering car parts into a kindergarten, police and health officials said.

"We heard the sound of a car driving, then car brakes, then a huge explosion, all our windows and doors are blown out, black smoke filled our apartment," said Maysoun Kamal, who lives in a Karrada compound.

In total at least 57 people were killed and 179 were wounded in more than ten explosions in Baghdad, an Iraqi health ministry spokesman said.

Two roadside bombs struck the southwestern Amil district, killing at least seven people and wounding 21 others, while a car bomb blew up in a Shi'ite neighbourhood in Doura in the south, killing three people and wounding six, police said.

More bombs ripped into the central Alawi area, Shaab and Shula in the north, all mainly Shi'ite areas, and a roadside bomb killed one and wounded five near the Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya, police said.

Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the height of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, when suicide bombers and hit squads targeted Sunni and Shi'ite communities in attacks that killed thousands of people.

Iraq is still fighting a stubborn, lower-grade insurgency with Sunni Islamists tied to al Qaeda and Shi'ite militias, who U.S. officials say are backed by Iran, still staging daily attacks.

U.S. TROOPS OUT ONLY DAYS AGO

The last few thousand American troops pulled out of Iraq over the weekend, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. Many Iraqis had said they feared a return to sectarian violence without a U.S. military buffer.

Just days after the withdrawal, Iraq's fragile power-sharing government is grappling with its worst turmoil since its formation a year ago. Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs share out government posts in a unwieldy system that has been impaired by political infighting since it began.

Maliki this week sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he organised assassinations and bombings, and he asked parliament to fire his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlaq after he likened Maliki to Saddam.

The moves against the senior Sunni leaders are stirring sectarian tensions because Sunnis fear the prime minister wants to consolidate Shi'ite control.

Iraq's Sunni minority have felt marginalised since the rise of the Shi'ite majority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Many Sunnis feel they have been shunted aside in the power-sharing agreement that Washington touts as a young democracy.

Thursday's attacks represented the first major assault in Baghdad since November when three bombs exploded in a commercial district and another blast hit the city's western outskirts on Saturday, killing at least 13 people.

In October, bomb attacks on a busy commercial street in northeastern Baghdad killed at least 30, with scores wounded.

(Additional reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Patrick Markey and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/wl_nm/us_iraq_violence

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Are You Watching This?! sports tracker for Android adds remote control for DirecTV, TiVo, Google TV

The Are You Watching This?! app has a long history of making sure sports fans don't miss the big games with its bookmarklets and apps that popped up notifications or emailed reminders. Now a new upgrade on Android, along with a few connected TV platforms, has taken things to the next level. In its newest iteration, the free app ties into DirecTV, TiVo or Google TV setups with IP control for one click switching to the appropriate channel -- key when a game is coming down to the last play and you're not sure where the remote is or which channel NBA / NFL / MLB etc. action is on. There's varying levels of filtering options so users can see alerts just when their team is playing, any decent matchup or just the must-see finishes.

We gave it a shot and found it worked as advertised, only requiring the app to be installed and enabled on the Google TV and our Android phone (DirecTV and TiVo boxes should be ready to go), however even though we already had our local channels set up on the TV, we had to enter our ZIP and cable provider on the remote app as well. We're starting to see similar companion technology built into apps from DirecTV, TiVo and Comcast, as well as Dijit's software, however the RUWT? game tracker algorithm and focus on live scores gives it a leg up for sports freaks. Check out the video trailer embedded above for a quick look or hop over to the Android Market to install it on phone, tablet and/or TV.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EngadgetHd/~3/51FkOizkohQ/

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Consider Riding Out a Fever Instead of Treating It [Health]

With cold and flu season setting in, you might have already had your first dance with a fever and treated it with medication, but a recent study in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests the best way to deal with a mild fever might be to let it run its course.

We've known the fever is a part of the body's natural line of defense, but this most recent study reveals a fever works to make certain parts of the immune system work harder. This temporary enhancement provided by a fever might actually help you get over the flu more quickly than if you suppress it with medication. That said, you still want to be careful with incredibly high body temperatures and if your fever raises above 103 F (39 C), you should seek medical attention. Photo by Cali4beach.

Catch the Fever: It'll Help You Fight Off Infection, Evidence Shows | Science Daily

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/-W8SVH5SePc/consider-riding-out-a-fever-instead-of-treating-it

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Disgraced former United Way CEO dies at 84 (AP)

McLEAN, Va. ? William Aramony, who built the United Way of America into a philanthropic powerhouse before leaving in disgrace and serving six years in prison for fraud, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 84.

Aramony was the United Way's CEO from 1970 to 1992. He resigned after using the organization's money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including gifts for a girlfriend who was 17 when they first met.

Aramony's son, Robert Aramony, said his father died Friday in Alexandria at the son's home. He suffered from prostate cancer that metastasized to bone cancer, Robert Aramony said.

William Aramony was a son of Lebanese immigrants and dedicated his time after his 2001 release from prison to peace-building efforts in the Middle East, his son said.

"At heart, that's what he was, a social worker," Robert Aramony said. "He did it his whole life."

At the United Way, Aramony built a tangled web of disparate organizations into one of the nation's best-known charitable groups. Revenue at United Way increased from less than $800 million to more than $3 billion during his time at the helm. The now-familiar structure of using United Way to facilitate payroll deductions at charity campaigns run through the workplace blossomed under Aramony's guidance.

The United Way's high-profile partnership with the National Football League also took hold under Aramony.

But the charity's successes were eclipsed by the scandal surrounding Aramony's spending habits.

Prosecutors argued that Aramony's spending on personal luxuries with United Way funds constituted a fraud on donors who expected their money would go to charity.

At his federal trial in 1995 in Alexandria, Va., where United Way is based, prosecutors and court officials estimated that he defrauded donors of anywhere from $600,000 to $1.2 million over a 10-year period. He was convicted on 23 of 27 counts, including fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.

Much of the case against Aramony concerned his four-year affair with Lori Villasor, whom he met while he was dating her older sister. Aramony, who was married at the time, took the teenager on trips, billing her plane tickets and meals as charity expenses.

His defense lawyer argued that Aramony was suffering from a brain trauma, a shrunken frontal lobe that made him increasingly irrational and coarsened his sexual drive.

He served six years of a seven-year prison sentence.

United Way Worldwide, as the charity is now known, issued a statement offering condolences to Aramony's family.

"Mr. Aramony integrated the network of local United Ways, formed national partnerships and increased contributions," according to the statement. "Since 1992, United Way has undergone major governance and structural changes. In partnership with the Board of Governors, a rigorous new audit, budget and other financial controls were implemented, along with a Code of Ethics, to ensure that the problems associated with former management can never occur again."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_ex_united_way_ceo

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Bishop: Penn State scandal reopens church wounds (Providence Journal)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/161944928?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Australia PM pushes to end India uranium sales ban (Reuters)

CANBERRA (Reuters) ? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is pushing to overturn a ban on sales of uranium to India, removing a diplomatic thorn between the two countries and potentially opening up new markets for Australian suppliers.

Australia has refused to sell nuclear material to India because it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but Gillard's ruling Labor party will debate lifting the ban at its conference next month.

"It is time for Labor to modernise our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India," Gillard said in a column in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

The move is set to spark heated debate at the party's December conference, but should easily pass with support from Labor's dominant right faction. The policy does not need to go to parliament for approval but the conservative opposition also supports uranium sales to India.

Gillard's policy shift comes on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Australia and would bring Australia's uranium policy into line with the United States.

Washington in 2008 signed a civil nuclear agreement with India over the use of uranium for nuclear energy.

Critics accused the United States of undermining the global non-proliferation regime, but the deal was seen by President George W. Bush as the centrepiece of a new strategic relationship with India, viewed in Washington as an increasingly important economic and geopolitical counterweight to China.

Australia, one of the United States' closest allies in the region, supported the U.S-India nuclear agreement as a member of the 46-member Nuclear Supplier's Group, but had continued to refuse to sell uranium to India.

India has long complained about the ban as it seeks access to nuclear supplies for its power sector and growing economy.

Australia has almost 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, but supplies only 19 percent of the world market. It has no nuclear power stations.

The country now has four mines, BHP Billition's Olympic Dam, potentially the world's biggest; Energy Resources Australia's Ranger mine; the Beverly mine, owned by U.S. company General Atomics, and Honeymoon mines, owned by Uranium One and Mitsui & Co.

Shares in smaller uranium producers and explorers rose, with

Paladin Energy up 4.5 percent and Toro Energy up more than 10 percent.

GREENS OPPOSED

A decision to lift the ban would be welcomed by Australia's mining sector but is strongly opposed by Labor's political allies, the Greens.

Strict conditions are imposed on uranium exports to ensure it is used for power generation and not weapons. Nuclear-armed India has repeatedly clashed with neighbouring Pakistan, which also possess nuclear weapons.

India has refused to sign the nuclear NPT, arguing it is discriminatory and flawed in allowing only countries which had tested nuclear weapons before 1967 to legally possess them.

Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are the only other non-signatories to the treaty.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who has just returned from India and who has championed uranium sales to the country, told Australian radio a change in policy would normalise Australia's bilateral relationship with India.

"It is about time we fronted up to the fact that India is a responsible nation. They have a desire to assist their community to get out of poverty, with 40 percent of the population having fewer than 12 hours of electricity per day," Ferguson said.

Greens leader Bob Brown condemned the proposal, and said selling uranium to India would encourage a nuclear arms race by countries in the region and make Australia less safe.

Two-way trade between India and Australia is currently worth about $20 billion a year, with the balance skewed in Australia's favour because of India's voracious appetite for resources.

Canberra has forecast uranium exports to rise from around 10,000 tonnes a year to 14,000 tonnes in 2014, worth around A$1.7 billion.

BHP Billiton, which is planning a major expansion of its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, said it would review its position on sales to India if the government changed its policy.

Rio Tinto had no immediate comment.

POWER PUSH

India's 19 nuclear plants produce only a small fraction of the country's electricity. That figure is projected to double over the next 25 years as new plants are built, requiring more overseas uranium purchases.

Uranium prices have fallen below $55 a pound since the March 11 tsunami that knocked out Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant. That compares with January's price of nearly $75, itself nearly half a high of $136 in 2007.

Australia has also been in discussions with the United Arab Emirates on agreements that could potentially open up a new market for Australian uranium.

For now, supplies of uranium to the world market continue to be supplemented with secondary sources of uranium -- stockpiled fuel and nuclear arms decommissioned since the end of the Cold War -- which are now in decline. That additional supply provided nearly half of demand in 1999 but by 2010 it had dropped to 30 percent, according to sector estimates.

The decline in secondary supply may accelerate once the "megatons for megawatts" programme that converts Russian nuclear warheads into reactor fuel expires in two years, taking secondary supply lines from Russian and U.S. uranium stocks to as low as 5 percent, from 40 percent now, analysts say.

BHP, Cameco, Rio Tinto and others are taking steps to dig new mines and expand old ones to take advantage of a forecast 20 percent leap in global uranium consumption by 2015.

In Australia, BHP also wants to mine 90,000 tonnes of uranium from its Yeelirrie deposit over 30 years but has yet to break any ground.

($1 = 0.980 Australian Dollars)

(Additional reporting by James Regan and Lincoln Feast in Sydney and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Ed Davies)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111115/india_nm/india605252

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Rescued baseball player Ramos thankful to be alive

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, left, shakes hands with Venezuela's Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami at the end of a news conference at Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire. El Aissami said Saturday that authorities had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, left, shakes hands with Venezuela's Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami at the end of a news conference at Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire. El Aissami said Saturday that authorities had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos attends a news conference at Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire Friday night. Authorities said they had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami, left, shows a picture of the SUV that Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was forced into at gunpoint, right, during a news conference at Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire Friday night. El Aissami said they had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos attends a news conference at Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire Friday night. Authorities said they had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

The alleged kidnappers of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos are presented to the media in the parking lot of the Venezuela's Judicial Police headquarters in Valencia, Venezuela, Saturday Nov. 12, 2011. Ramos' kidnapping ordeal ended after two days when police commandos rescued him in a flurry of gunfire Friday night. Authorities said they had arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and 74-year-old man were also arrested for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

VALENCIA, Venezuela (AP) ? His eyes tearing up with emotion, Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos embraced his rescuers Saturday and said he had wondered whether he would survive a two-day kidnapping ordeal that ended when commandos swept into his captors' mountain hideout.

Ramos said that he was happy and thankful to be alive a day after his rescue, saying that his final moments as a prisoner were hair-raising as police and the kidnappers exchanged heavy gunfire in the remote area where he was being held. He said his kidnappers had carefully planned the abduction and told him they were going to demand a large ransom.

"I didn't know if I was going to get out of it alive," Ramos told reporters at a police station in his hometown of Valencia, flanked by police investigators, National Guard commanders and Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami. "It was very hard for me. It was very hard for my family."

El Aissami said authorities arrested four of the captors, all of them Venezuelan men in their 20s. A 60-year-old woman and a 74-year-old man were also arrested as accomplices for supplying the kidnappers with food from their home in the area, he said. The six suspects were led past journalists at the police station with black hoods over their heads.

Authorities were still searching for four Colombian men who escaped during the rescue, El Aissami said. He didn't say whether anyone was wounded in the gunbattle.

Ramos, 24, was seized at gunpoint outside his family's home Wednesday night and whisked away in an SUV. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, and the abduction set off an outpouring of candlelight vigils and public prayers at stadiums as well as outside Ramos' house.

El Aissami said investigators' first break in the case came when they found the kidnappers' stolen SUV, a bronze-colored Chevrolet, abandoned in the town of Bejuma alongside the mountains of central Carabobo state. With that location pinpointed, he said, they studied past crimes in the area and ended up checking on a rural house that authorities believed had been used in a previous kidnapping.

An SUV parked outside had mud on it even though there was no mud in the area, El Aissami said. Investigators suspected that SUV was being used to shuttle food to another spot nearby, and eventually determined the house was probably being used by the kidnappers as a support base while holding Ramos elsewhere, he said.

El Aissami said authorities took over the house and detained the couple who had been cooking for the abductors.

Once investigators thought they had found the general area where Ramos might be, President Hugo Chavez personally authorized an aerial search mission and teams also set out on foot in the mountainous area, El Aissami said. He said the teams searched most of the day on Friday and finally came upon the remote house where Ramos was being held.

Chavez followed the operation "minute by minute," the justice minister said.

Ramos had recently returned to his homeland after his rookie year with the Nationals to play during the offseason in the Venezuelan league.

When he was abducted, he was standing with his father and two brothers just outside the front door of his family home in a working-class neighborhood of Valencia, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Caracas.

Ramos said his captors drove him for five or six hours, and once changed from one SUV to another. He said they bound his hands at first, but later allowed him not to be tied up. The kidnappers didn't cover their faces and they spoke little to him, he said.

"They demanded only money," he said.

Ramos said some of his abductors spoke with Colombian accents and revealed they had studied his movements before carrying out the abduction.

"They told me many things they knew of my private life," he said. "They knew a lot about me. They had very good information, an informant who told them all that."

Asked more about that informant, Ramos said he didn't have further details but that "they themselves told me."

El Aissami said one of the Colombians wanted by authorities lives in the area, and investigators believed he planned the kidnapping and studied Ramos' daily routine.

"This person is the one who gives the information to a criminal group," which in turn carried out the kidnapping, El Aissami said.

He said the investigation also pointed in part to "Colombian paramilitary groups that could be involved in the kidnapping."

Ramos said he was kept in a room and passed the time lying on a bed. When the gunfire erupted Friday as his rescuers arrived, "I was on the bed and I threw myself directly to the floor."

"It was like 15 minutes of shots until the officials arrived and saw me in the room," said Ramos, who hugged the justice minister as well as police and National Guard officers at the news conference.

Ramos said he was enjoying being back with his family, and planned to start training Monday to play with his Venezuelan team, the Aragua Tigres, on Wednesday.

He said he didn't plan to travel to Washington for now. "I want to stay here to give them that, to the Venezuelan people ... so that they can see me play here."

After his rescue was announced Friday night, Ramos' mother, Maria Campos de Ramos, celebrated, exclaiming on television: "Thanks to God!"

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo also celebrated the news.

"He asked me to thank all who played a role in his rescue, and all those who kept him and his family in their thoughts and prayers," Rizzo said in a statement. "I join Wilson in thanking the many law enforcement officials in Venezuela and investigators with Major League Baseball who worked tirelessly to ensure a positive ending to what has been a frightening ordeal."

A baseball official said Major League Baseball's local security agents worked with Venezuelan law enforcement on the case. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Security has increasingly become a concern for Venezuelan players and their families as a swelling wave of kidnappings has hit the country's wealthy and middle class in recent years. Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, and the vast majority of crimes go unsolved.

Major League Baseball officials said it was the first kidnapping of a major leaguer that they could recall. But relatives of several players in Venezuela have previously been kidnapped for ransom, and in two cases have been killed.

Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in Venezuela's baseball league.

"They didn't physically harm me, but psychologically I underwent very great harm," Ramos said. "I was always praying to God, and thanks to God he gave me the miracle of sending me these wonderful people."

He saluted his rescuers, saying: "I'm alive thanks to them."

___

Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda in Caracas and AP sports writers Howard Fendrich in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report. Rueda reported from Caracas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-12-BBN-Venezuela-Ramos-Abducted/id-be7faa370bf446c796c4ddb00d35b091

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Android Central Podcast Ep. 78

Podcast MP3 URL: 

http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral78.mp3

Thing 1: Motorola Droid RAZR

• Motorola Droid RAZR review
• Verizon confirms Droid RAZR goes on sale at 11:11 a.m. 11-11-2011, brings new data plans
• Test drive the Droid RAZR wallpapers and ringtones
• Key meets Kevlar on Droid RAZR
• Costco selling Droid RAZR with free bonus pack -- HD Dock, HDMI cable, and chargers
• Motorola Droid RAZR Car Dock
• Motorola Droid RAZR HD Dock

Thing 2: Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

• Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet officially announced
• Nook Tablet hands-on
• Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet Specs
• hhgregg to carry the Nook Tablet, Nook Color, Nook Simple Touch
• Nook for Android update adds Nook Newsstand
• Amazon confirms Netflix, Facebook, Pandora and more on Kindle Fire

Thing 3: Flash is dead, long live Flash

• Adobe makes it official: Adobe AIR now its focus for mobile, HTML5 takes over the web

Odds and ends

• Preview: ASUS Transformer Prime ushers in the Tegra 3 era starting at $499 in December
• Nvidia announces the Tegra 3 -- Kal-El brings PC class performance to Android
• How to manually update your Sprint Epic 4G to Gingerbread
• HTC announces first wave of devices destined for Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades
• Sprint announces Ice Cream Sandwich update for HTC devices

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/kT-JsVoVxx0/story01.htm

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Gingrich: Cain handling allegations well, so far (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says rival Herman Cain has handled the sexual harassment allegations against him well so far. But Gingrich is unsure what would happen if more accusations surface.

Gingrich, a former GOP House speaker, says Cain seems to have satisfied most people so far by his explanations.

Cain has denied accusations from four women about alleged incidents a decade ago.

Gingrich also tells CBS' "Early Show" that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's embarrassing presidential debate performance Wednesday, when he forgot one of the three Cabinet agencies he would abolish, could have happened to anyone.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111111/ap_on_el_ge/us_gingrich

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Egypt closes Great Pyramid after rumors of rituals (AP)

CAIRO ? Egypt's antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumors that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 on Nov. 11, 2011.

The authority's head Mustafa Amin said in a statement Friday that the pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops, would be closed to visitors until Saturday morning for "necessary maintenance."

The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local media that unidentified groups would try to hold "Jewish" or "Masonic" rites on the site to take advantage of mysterious powers coming from the pyramid on the rare date.

Amin called all reports of planned ceremonies at the site "completely lacking in truth."

The complex's director, Ali al-Asfar, said Friday that an Egyptian company requested permission last month to hold an event called "hug the pyramid," in which 120 people would join hands around the ancient burial structure.

The authority declined the request a week ago, al-Asfar said, but that did not stop concerned Egyptians from starting internet campaigns to prevent the event from taking place.

"It has been a big cause now on Facebook and Twitter for many people to write about," al-Asfar said.

The closure was unrelated to the rumors, he said, adding that the pyramid needed maintenance after the large number of visitors during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday last week.

The rest of the complex, which includes two other large pyramids, numerous tombs and the Sphinx, remained open.

Speaking by phone from the pyramids after 11:11 had passed, al-Asfar said he'd seen nothing out of the ordinary.

"Everything is normal," he said. "The only thing different is the closure of the Khufu pyramid."

Khufu is credited with building the Giza complex's largest pyramid, now one of Egypt's biggest tourist attractions. Khufu founded the 4th Dynasty around 2680 B.C. and ruled Egypt for 23 years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111111/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_egypt

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Researcher finds elderly lose ability to distinguish between odors

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Scientists studying how the sense of smell changes as people age, found that olfactory sensory neurons in those 60 and over showed an unexpected response to odor that made it more difficult to distinguish specific smells, putting them at greater risk from dangerous chemicals and poor nutrition.

"We found clear changes in olfactory sensory neuron responses to odors for those 60 and up," said Professor Diego Restrepo, Ph.D., director of the Center for NeuroScience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine who led the researchers. "When we presented two different odors to the olfactory sensory neurons of younger people they responded to one or the other. The sensory neurons from the elderly responded to both. This would make it harder for the elderly to differentiate between them."

According to the study published in the latest issue of Neurobiology of Aging, those losing their sense of smell are at a higher risk of malnutrition since taste and smell are closely related, they may also be unable to detect spoiled food, leaking gas or toxic vapors.

Researchers looked at 440 subjects in two age groups ? those 45- years-old and younger and those 60 and over. Their olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) were tested for their responses to two distinct odors as well as subsets of those odors.

Restrepo wanted to determine if age-related differences in the function of OSNs might contribute to an impairment of the sense of smell. For this, in a collaboration with Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, researchers biopsied cells from both age groups.

"Whereas cells from younger donors were highly selective in the odorants to which they responded, cells from older donors were more likely to respond to multiple odor stimuli? suggesting a loss of specificity," the study said.

The scientists had expected to find less OSNs in older subjects and they thought the neurons would be less likely to respond to stimuli. In fact, they found as many neurons in the old as the young but those over 60 could not differentiate between two odors, they blended together.

The study suggests that changes in nose and the brain contribute to smell loss in the elderly, Restrepo said.

###

University of Colorado Denver: http://www.ucdenver.edu

Thanks to University of Colorado Denver for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115105/Researcher_finds_elderly_lose_ability_to_distinguish_between_odors

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Obama seeks to hitch U.S. economy to Asian growth (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? With Europe mired in crisis, President Barack Obama is launching a charm offensive this week to hitch the U.S. economy to growth opportunities in Asia that he hopes can help power the recovery he needs for re-election.

Obama, who was born in Hawaii and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, will host Asian leaders including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Honolulu this weekend to seek to improve trade ties across the Pacific.

He will then travel to Australia to announce plans to boost the U.S. military presence in the region and will be the first American president to attend the East Asia Summit in Bali. There, he will heap attention on the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as India.

The campaign to cozy up to Asian powers large and small comes at a critical moment for the U.S. economy, whose recovery is at risk because of a spiraling debt crisis in Europe that dominated a G-20 leaders' summit in France last week.

"To have this trip happen when you have nothing but crisis in Europe and nothing but opportunity in Asia, you couldn't have more of a juxtaposition," said Victor Cha, who advised President George W. Bush on Asian affairs.

Georgetown University professor Charles Kupchan said he expected the Asia swing to be "much more upbeat" than the trip to Cannes had been for Obama, whose re-election chances in November 2012 will hinge on his economic record.

Executives from companies such as Boeing, Caterpillar, General Electric and Time Warner Cable will also attend the APEC summit to help Obama make the case that closer ties with Asia will help create U.S. jobs.

"When you look for rays of light, where is growth going to come from, one of the main answers is exports to Asia," Kupchan said. "It is something that this president needs to focus on, particularly in an election season."

Obama will not be able to leave the European financial crisis behind entirely. Asia-Pacific finance ministers meeting in Honolulu before the leaders' summit fretted about Europe's lack of strong action to deal with crises in Greece and Italy, and talked of ways to bolster their own economies to minimize potential spillover.

PACIFIC POWER

Obama will also seek to reassert the U.S. role as a Pacific power, shifting more of its budget-stretched military resources to Asia as it pulls out of Afghanistan and Iraq and worries less about security in Europe.

In Australia, he is set to announce an agreement for more than 2,000 Marines to train and do joint exercises from Darwin, a city with a large military presence on the country's northern coast, according to an Obama administration official familiar with the plans. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The cooperation deal is seen as a stepping stone to a more permanent presence for the United States in Australia, which could eventually see U.S. vessels stationed in Perth or nearby that could respond faster to regional threats or humanitarian emergencies than they could from Hawaii or California.

"This is part of a big push to put the United States back into the Asian game after a decade or so in which it has been preoccupied with the Middle East," Kupchan said.

Obama is likely to avoid direct references to China when making the announcement, although the agreement is widely seen to be a way for the United States to act as a check on Chinese power and defuse possible conflicts over waterways and disputed islands.

"It is sending a very clear message that the United States is not ceding Asia diplomatically to China," said Cha, now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Kupchan agreed, saying smaller and emerging powers in Asia "don't want China stepping all over them because of its economic clout." The United States provides a good military counterbalance that should not contradict its cooperative ties with Beijing so long as it is handled delicately, he said.

Asia has been a stated foreign policy priority for Obama since his first days in office, but wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and the Middle East soon diverted much of his attention.

Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said this week the winding down of U.S. involvement in those conflicts offered a chance for the Democrat to focus more on the Asia-Pacific, which he described as "a region that is really going to shape the future of the 21st century."

(Additional reporting by Rob Taylor in Canberra; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111111/pl_nm/us_apec_obama

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Obama to talk economy, currency with China's Hu (reuters)

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Justin Bieber to take paternity test on baby claim (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Justin Bieber will take a paternity test to counter claims that he fathered a baby boy with a young California woman after a brief backstage encounter last year, a source close to the singer said on Monday.

The Canadian singer also is contemplating legal action against the woman for defamation, his spokesman said.

Bieber, 17, spent much of last week denying the claims made by Mariah Yeater, 20, in a paternity lawsuit filed in San Diego, saying he had never met her. Yeater gave birth to a baby in July that she claimed was the result of having sex in a backstage bathroom with Bieber after a Los Angeles concert in 2010.

"Justin's team chose to proactively make arrangements for him to take a DNA test to put this to rest when he gets back from Europe," a source close to the singer said.

Yeater asked for a paternity test and is seeking child support in her lawsuit.

"It's sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false claims," a spokesman for the singer added.

"We'll vigorously pursue all available legal remedies to protect Justin and to hold those involved with bringing this suit accountable for their actions," he added

Teen heartthrob Bieber won award for best pop act and top male singer at the MTV Europe awards in Belfast on Sunday in a show hosted by his Disney Channel star girlfriend Selena Gomez.

He is expected to return to the United States from Europe in about two weeks time.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111108/music_nm/us_justinbieber

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