New Android apps worth downloading: Banjo update, Planwise, Old School Defense

Kicking off today?s apps worth downloading is Banjo, a social networking app that locates nearby friends by gathering information from social networks. Planwise is next, bringing fresh financial strategy planning to your Android tablet. Finally, Old School Defense melds the comedy movie Old School with tower defense genre. You?re my boy, Blue!

Banjo update (Free)

What?s it about? Using information from multiple social networks, Banjo lets you see what?s happening at various places with your friends, whether they are in another state, country, or across the street.

What?s cool? Banjo is sort of a reverse social network, since it takes public check-in information, posted photos, and more and aggregates it together. Banjo keeps track of you and your friends, tipping you off when they?re closeby, and allows you to search for places using text entry. The updated optimizes the app for tablets, so Banjo should work well on whatever Android device you favor.

Who?s it for? If you want information about the area around you or to find out where your friends are hanging out, use Banjo.

What?s it like? You can get some similar location-based functionality from Foursquare and Sonar.

What?s it about? Tablet-optimized financial app Planwise helps you to plan your finances, helping you to save money over time and keep track of your debt and income.

What?s cool? The app helps you to track of your income and the amount of money you have in the bank, as well as what you?re spending your money on and how much you?ve already spent. The idea is that Planwise can help you prepare for major purchases or even just learn to save more money day to day. As mentioned, the app is meant for tablets, so it won?t work properly on your Android smartphone.

Who?s it for? Who doesn?t need a little hope organizing their finances? The free Planwise app is for anyone who owns an Android tablet.

What?s it like? More financial planning is available with Mint.com Personal Finance and You Need a Budget.

What?s it about? Old School Defense, devleoped by Big Blue Bubble, is literally a tower defense game based on the instant classic movie Old School, starring Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn. That ought to be all the description you need.

What?s cool? The premise of Old School Defense is based loosely on the film?s plot, forcing you to recruit ?pledges? for your fraternity and protect its party from incoming party crashers, bent on getting the frathouse into trouble. Like other tower defense games, you?ll need to strategically position your troops around the battlefield to intercept the crashers as they make their way along each path. Old School Defense includes both campaign mode and survival mode, and has more than 30 playable levels.

Check out this trailer to see for yourself:

Who?s it for? This one?s for tower defense fans, and definitely for people who love to quote Old School.

What?s it like? Try Medieval Castle Defense and Jelly Defense for more strategic maze-defending action.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/13182-new-android-apps-worth-downloading-banjo-update-planwise-old-school-defense

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WATCH: NBC 6 South Florida News

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

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49641962/ns/local_news-miami_fl/

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Statement by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on clashes in Egypt

TOKYO, Japan, January 30, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Clashes occurred in Egypt between demonstrators criticizing the Government and security forces on January 25 (local time), the second anniversary of the January 25 Revolution. In addition, on January 26 (local time), a riot broke out in relation to a court ruling concerning an incident of violence that took place after a soccer match in Port Said in February 2012, and killed and injured many people over two days.

Japan is deeply concerned by this state of affairs and expresses condolences for all of the victims of these clashes and their families. Japan also calls on all those involved for the maximum restraint and responsible behavior without use of violence. Furthermore, Japan expects the smooth and peaceful progress of the political process in Egypt.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to take necessary steps to ensure the safety of any Japanese citizens visiting or residing in Egypt.

Source: http://www.modernghana.com/news/442409/1/statement-by-the-press-secretary-ministry-of-forei.html

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Enable Text Selection in Finder's Quicklook

OS X: Quicklook is an awesome feature that quickly previews files without opening them. Here's a Finder hack that makes Quicklook even more useful: When you hit the space bar on a text document or PDF, you can select and copy text from the preview.

This is one of many Finder tricks posted by Mac Tricks & Tips. To set it up on your Mac, open a Terminal window and type:

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -boolean YES;
killall Finder

To disable it, enter:

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -boolean NO;
killall Finder

That's it!

Hit up the link below to see the 21 other Finder hacks, including always showing remote disk drives and more.

22 Finder Hacks, Tricks and Changes | Mac Tricks & Tips

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/M8soT9Ek9fQ/enable-text-selection-in-finders-quicklook

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Kenya gov't issues stern warning to int'l media

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenya's government spokesman appeared to make a veiled threat Wednesday against international journalists while announcing a tough stance on information deemed divisive surrounding nationwide elections March 4.

Government spokesman Muthui Kariuki told a gathering of international reporters that the government will summon journalists who publish stories that have a polarizing effect. He did not say what action would then be taken.

Kariuki told the journalists: "We will set you on fire before you set us on fire." He said the media and pollsters were the catalysts of violence that rocked Kenya following a disputed presidential vote five years ago.

"We believe to a greater extend that 2007-08 (violence) was as a result of a lot of information that journalists wrote and passed on to our people," he said.

Tom Rhodes of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Kariuki's threat to set journalists on fire and his accusations that the foreign press instigated some of Kenya's postelection violence was "utterly reprehensible and unbecoming of a government spokesman."

"The government spokesmen should refrain from empty accusations and explain specifically how the foreign press was responsible for inciting the postelection violence and respect Kenya's constitution that provides ample provisions for press freedom," Rhodes said.

More than 1,000 people died and 600,000 were driven from their homes following the December 2007 vote. The government is seeking to prevent a repeat of violence during this year's election.

Meanwhile, the top two contenders for Kenya's presidency were officially registered Wednesday by Kenya's electoral authority.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission cleared Prime Minister Raila Odinga and running mate Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka as candidates for the Coalition for Reform and Democracy. It also listed presidential candidate Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former government minister and vice presidential candidate William Ruto as candidates for the Jubilee Alliance.

Kenyatta and Ruto face crimes against humanity charges at the International Criminal Court for allegedly orchestrating the post poll chaos after the flawed 2007 presidential vote. A high court will determine the candidates' compliance for the positions.

A total of eight candidates will vie for the presidency in the March 4 elections. Candidates must get 50 percent of the vote plus one in order to be elected. Otherwise the top two candidates will compete head-to-head in a runoff vote in April, the same month that Kenyatta and Ruto face trial at The Hague.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenya-govt-issues-stern-warning-intl-media-115351706.html

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Corporations Spur Small-Business Growth - Business Insider

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of a country's economy; they are essential to generating good jobs. And those jobs are sorely needed worldwide. Gallup's World Poll estimates that of 3 billion adults globally who report they want a good job -- one that is 30+ hours per week and provides a consistent paycheck in a legitimate business setting of any size -- 1.8 billion, or 60%, are out of work.

Having a large corporation as a customer opens doors to easier credit and other business opportunities.

Some national leaders are beginning to take this problem very seriously. Leaders of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), for example, are putting programs and policy initiatives in place aimed at developing SMEs and encouraging them to compete for government contracts. But too few leaders are focusing on the role that private corporations can play in helping SMEs grow.

In GCC countries, SMEs represent more than 90% of the private sector and employ between 40% and 63% of the private labor force. However, SMEs' contribution to these countries' GDP is less than 40%, primarily because SMEs are concentrated in less profitable, less capital-intensive, and low-tech sectors; they pay lower wages and produce less per employee. But this also suggests that SMEs in the Gulf region have an unrealized potential for growth. If SMEs can grow in revenue and profits, they can create millions of sustainable quality jobs.

Large corporations have a key role to play

To help SMEs realize their potential, large corporations must get involved. Major corporations spend billions of dollars annually seeking products and services from other companies, such as landscaping, cleaning services, logistics, software development, food services, and office supplies. Seven in 10 small businesses increased in revenue and size within two years of becoming part of the corporate supplier base, as shown in a study of nearly 200 small U.S. businesses conducted by the Center for an Urban Future.

When small companies interact with large corporations, these SMEs make changes that improve their organizational structures, management practices, and operations. These changes lead small companies to upgrade their technologies, increase their efficiency, and most importantly, become financially stable. As a result, revenue becomes greater and more consistent, making it possible for these businesses to add new jobs. Having a large corporation as a customer also opens doors to easier credit and other business opportunities. The biggest upside is the spillover of new knowledge, innovation, and business models. When a few small businesses improve their systems or business models, other small businesses learn from that and raise their game to stay competitive, boosting the quality of the entire SME sector.

In some Gulf countries, for instance, large state-owned enterprises, such as Saudi Aramco, Saudi Telecom Company, and Qatar Telecom are already buying services and products from SMEs, thus fostering their growth. In December 2012, the UAE government endorsed a new law that requires government bodies to allocate 5% of their budget for goods and services provided by SMEs or entrepreneurs. This mandate sends a strong message to private corporations about what is required to support business growth in the small-business sector.

The benefits of this relationship extend to large businesses too. Large corporations are beginning to realize that making small businesses part of their supplier base is more than "corporate social responsibility" -- it is good business. Smaller companies are more flexible in providing innovative products and services to meet corporate needs. They are quicker in delivering services locally, which saves on costs. Their knowledge of local markets can be extremely valuable for corporations trying to enter those new markets.

A diverse supplier base also helps establish linkages between the big and small businesses, enabling easier access to resources and creating multiple information sources and a bigger customer base for the corporations. Corporations that restrict themselves to a small network of suppliers are also vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. In 2011, the earthquake in Japan and flooding in Thailand, for example, caused major disruptions in manufacturing activities for Apple, GM, Toyota, Intel, and HP. Diversifying the supplier base by using small businesses is one way to reduce risk in supply systems.

Four ways corporations can help SMEs

Corporations can offer small businesses quick opportunities to grow by buying their services and goods and by taking these four key steps:

Identify and support talent. Not every SME has the capacity to become a supplier. Identify elite performers based on talent and operational readiness. Once large companies have identified these businesses, they can mentor talented entrepreneurs through supplier development programs. Governments also can sponsor programs to boost the management capacity of high-potential SMEs to enhance their growth and competitiveness.

The 114 companies that participated in Gallup's Entrepreneurship Program -- sponsored by state government and a local university -- show how a well-designed program can spur SME growth and create jobs. Highly talented entrepreneurs outperformed their less talented peers by approximately 19 percentage points in year-over-year profit growth. On average, companies in this program grew by 13% in revenue and 57% in profit in one year. This growth led to an average increase of 18% in headcount, creating more than 500 new jobs in a year.

Provide financial help. SMEs need support to meet large corporations' needs. Installing automated invoicing or payment processing systems can be a burden for small companies. A loan from a corporation or a community development institution could help small companies with the capital to scale up their systems, enabling them to accept their first big contract.

Make the procurement process transparent. Acquiring information on large businesses' procurement processes is a hurdle for many small businesses. Corporations that provide a simple website with basic information about goods and services they need and the procurement officer's contact information would help small businesses know where to start.

Simplify the application and selection process. Make the selection process more accessible and straightforward. The IBM-funded website, Supplier-Connection.net, allows small businesses to apply to all participating companies using a single application form, making paperwork less burdensome. The site also helps small businesses collaborate to bid on contracts.

It is not the quantity but the quality of SMEs that will ultimately lead to job creation. The small-business sector is ripe for innovation and growth. Linking it to large corporations' supply chain can be a win-win for everyone involved. This includes SMEs and corporations -- and the governments looking to SMEs as a possible solution to their job-creation needs.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Gulf.

NOW READ: Its Better To Have Terrible Managers Than Mediocre Ones

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/corporations-spur-small-business-growth-2013-1

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Israel boycotts U.N. human rights scrutiny

GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel boycotted the United Nations' human rights forum on Tuesday, becoming the first country ever to decline to attend a session that was due to scrutinize its own rights record.

Israel's no-show at the Human Rights Council drew widespread criticism, including a tacit rebuke from the United States which said the U.N. process of reviewing human rights was a "valuable mechanism" as it was applied to all countries.

The council had been due to examine Israel under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in all U.N. member states. Its last review was in December 2008, when it attended.

Israel, which would likely have faced criticism for its dealings with the Palestinians, suspended relations with the council last May because of what it called an inherent bias against it.

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Reuters that Israel had announced it was "suspending indefinitely its participation in the U.N. Human Rights Council work. This policy has not changed."

Diplomats at the Geneva-based forum hoping Israel might have a last-minute change of heart expressed their disappointment.

The council's president, Poland's ambassador Remigiusz Henczel, called it "an important issue and unprecedented situation". The 47-member forum adopted a motion regretting Israel's no-show and urging it to cooperate in a review to be conducted at its October-November session "at the latest"

Arab states had been poised to criticize Israel's treatment of detainees, settlement expansion and naval blockade of the Gaza Strip which Palestinians say is collective punishment but which Israel says is vital for its security.

"As the only recalcitrant state among 193, Israel's deliberate absence would sabotage the principle of universality," Peter Splinter, Amnesty International's representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said in a blog.

"NON-COMPLIANCE"

U.S. human rights ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, addressing the council on Tuesday, avoided naming the close ally, while stressing that Washington greatly valued the way all countries' human rights records are examined.

"The Universal Periodic Review has been a valuable mechanism both because it is universally applicable to all U.N. member states on equal terms and because it is conducted in a cooperative and collaborative manner," she said.

Speaking for the European Union, Ireland said it was important to maintain universal participation and the cooperative nature of the review mechanism.

Egypt and other Arab delegations were less diplomatic.

"It is a clear case of non-cooperation and non-compliance by a state under review," said Egypt's Wafaa Bassim.

Pakistan's ambassador, Zamir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said that Muslim states had a "a great deal of reservations and anxieties" about postponing the review of Israel.

"What is surprising for us is the level of leverage and the level of understanding being extended to Israel by some countries for its behavior in violation of all of its obligations," he said.

"We wonder if this cooperative spirit would be extended to some other country not so close to some major powers in this world," Akram added in an apparent reference to Washington.

A team of U.N. investigators, set up by the council last year, is due to report soon on whether Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories violate international human rights law.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-boycotts-u-n-rights-scrutiny-session-142236841.html

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At a glance: 3 months later, Sandy losses mount

The hurricane that merged with another weather system to form Superstorm Sandy spun ashore three months ago Tuesday, devastating coastal New Jersey and New York and spreading winds, rain, snow and waves over parts of more than 20 states. The latest tallies from the second most expensive storm in U.S. history, after 2005's Hurricane Katrina:

DEATHS

The toll has fluctuated as causes of death are determined or changed, but as of Monday, the storm was behind the deaths of at least 146 people in the United States, according to government counts. That includes at least 98 in New York and New Jersey. There were 71 additional deaths in the Caribbean.

DAMAGE AND LOSSES

Sandy damaged or destroyed 305,000 housing units and disrupted more than 265,000 businesses in New York. In New Jersey, 346,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged, and 190,000 businesses affected.

Loss estimates in the affected states vary. Earlier this month, leading insurance company Munich Re Ag estimated insured losses at $25 billion and total losses at $50 billion. In December, state governments reported a total of $62 billion in damage and other losses.

FEDERAL AID

Congress on Monday passed a $50.5 billion emergency package of relief and recovery aid. Added to $9.7 billion previously approved for a federal flood insurance program, the total is roughly in line with the $60.4 billion President Barack Obama requested in December.

HOMELESS AND HEATLESS

At least 3,500 families in New York and New Jersey are still living in hotels and motels on the dime of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As winter has settled in, people who still have homes but no means to heat them have taken refuge in tents set up by aid workers.

LEGACY

Redrawn federal maps indicating flood-prone areas may force many property owners, especially in New York or New Jersey, to pay exorbitantly for flood insurance, raise their homes or move away altogether. In New Jersey, flood insurance premiums could cost as much as $31,000 a year.

In New York, a commission formed to examine ways to guard against future storms has called for flood walls in subways, water pumps at airports and sea barriers along the coast. It's unclear whether enough money can be found for all the expensive recommendations.

___

Sources: State government agencies and officials, AP reporting

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glance-3-months-later-sandy-losses-mount-074624901.html

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Jody Sherman, Ecomom Founder And Longtime Web Entrepreneur, Has Died

Jody Sherman, a longtime web entrepreneur most recently known as the co-founder and CEO of healthy kids products site Ecomom, has passed away. He was 47. Details on the cause of death have not been confirmed. The news was relayed earlier today to close friends, family, and business associates, and has spread this evening from a Facebook post written on his profile today by his wife Kerri, which reads:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GbKJ5FYgW4M/

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Cool, new views of Andromeda galaxy

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Two new eye-catching views from the Herschel space observatory are fit for a princess. They show the elegant spiral galaxy Andromeda, named after the mythical Greek princess known for her beauty.

The Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31, lies 2 million light-years away, and is the closest large galaxy to our own Milky Way. It is estimated to have up to one trillion stars, whereas the Milky Way contains hundreds of billions. Recent evidence suggests Andromeda's overall mass may in fact be less than the mass of the Milky Way, when dark matter is included.

Herschel, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA contributions, sees the longer-wavelength infrared light from the galaxy, revealing its rings of cool dust. Some of this dust is the very coldest in the galaxy -- only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero.

In both views, warmer dust is highlighted in the central regions by different colors. New stars are being born in this central, crowded hub, and throughout the galaxy's rings in dusty knots. Spokes of dust can also be seen between the rings.

One view, seen at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16682 , is a mosaic of data from Herschel's Photodetecting Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and spectral and photometric imaging receiver (SPIRE).

The second view, seen at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16681 , shows data from only the SPIRE instrument, which captures the longest of wavelengths detectable by Herschel.

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by consortia of European institutes and with important participation by NASA. NASA's Herschel Project Office is based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the United States astronomical community. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

More information is online at http://www.herschel.caltech.edu , http://www.nasa.gov/herschel and http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Herschel .

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/X5WUouTdFgU/130128224157.htm

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Archos Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad

Normally when I find a new product from Archos, it’s an Android tablet. ?This time, they have a Bluetooth keyboard for us. ?The Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad works with the iPad 2 and the 3rd- and 4th-gen iPads. ?At 9.48″ x 7.32″ x 0.2″, it’s not much thicker than a Smart Cover; it weighs [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/01/29/archos-ultrathin-bluetooth-keyboard-for-ipad/

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Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade Review - Nintendo Life

Obstacle to fun, maybe

If you were to poll gamers at large and ask them what they felt were the worst things about the Wii, chances are you'd hear "waggle" and "bad minigame collections" pretty frequently. In fact they often went hand in hand, and Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is trying its hardest to make sure both of things carry over into the Wii U generation. We can only hope that they don't.

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade ? it just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? ? is, as you might guess, a collection of short games that you can play with up to three friends. You might also guess that the games would revolve around an "obstacle" theme, but you'd be wrong; many of them are standard rounds of target practice, hide and seek, or, erm, picking the balloon with the number two on it after the game tells you to pick the balloon with the number two on it. That last one's not much of a game really, but there you go.

The collection is given a sort of theme park approach, with the games broken up into smaller, unlockable areas. Again, you'd expect the space area to contain space-themed games and the Western area to host games with a cowboy flair but by and large everything is just thrown at the wall with no regard for where it lands, and there's no telling what you'll encounter where. Fortunately, we guess, whatever you encounter will be reliably awful, so there's that to look forward to.

The games are hosted by a dead-eyed teddy bear with a stare so cold and creepy that we were constantly on edge for that inevitable moment when he'd pull out a knife. Half of his face is frozen in a bizarre semblance of what we can only assume is the developer's attempt at "'tude", while the other half just passively smiles. This, combined with the fact that his lips don't move when he talks, makes it seem like we've walked in on the bear in the middle of a massive coronary that's doomed to go untreated.

The entire package feels like a holdover from the previous generation; none of the graphics come anywhere near the capabilities of Nintendo's newest console, and the Wii U GamePad barely factors in at all, with each of the games requiring instead a Wii Remote and, often, Nunchuk. This means Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade plays identically to every other poorly-responsive, uninteresting, lazily slapped together mini-game collection you've been doing your best to avoid since 2006.

Every game supports four players; if there are fewer human players than that, the CPU will fill the void. Human players can enter any name for themselves that they like, but oddly the game also requires you to choose a separate name for the bear to call you by. This is because the developers only gave the bear a limited bank of audio files from which to draw, so you may tell the game that your name is William, but then you'll have to choose whether it calls you Chano or Shamus or Julio instead. It's bizarre to say the least.

In each game you'll compete against the other three for points. This nearly always involves waggling as quickly as possible, but sometimes it can rely on maneuvering crosshairs around the screen instead. No game is any more complicated than that, and it often feels as though the developer went out of its way to assign the most frustrating control schemes possible. Some games, for instance, are races that see you hopping from platform to platform. Despite the fact that each player has a perfectly good D-Pad and A button to use, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade requires you to thrust the Wii Remote in the direction you wish to jump. Not that it cares where you actually thrust; it's a crapshoot whether or not the game will ever recognise your input. It's a needless and mandatory use of the least reliable control scheme possible, which is pretty much par for the course here.

The Wii U GamePad only comes into play during the bonus rounds. The rest of the time it features the glass-eyed bear glowing creepily at you and loudly narrating minor gameplay developments without moving his mouth. During the bonus rounds the winner of the previous game spins a roulette wheel, which determines what the bonus game will be. Here the GamePad is used differently than the Wii Remotes, but it's certainly no more fun, and it really does feel like a tacked on addition to what's essentially a low budget Wii cash-in.

The sound effects are beyond terrible, as the four players on-screen avatars laugh and hoot and holler over each other throughout every event, turning everything into a clamorous, cluttered aural monstrosity. The bear barks meaningless platitudes about every minor thing that happens ? from a player grabbing a coin to a player not grabbing a coin ? and while you're not likely to come away from this game feeling fulfilled you're more or less guaranteed a headache.

We'd like to close on a positive note of some kind, but we genuinely can't. This is an absolutely terrible game, and you don't want it. Trust us.

As clunky and poorly considered as its title, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is awful. Relying entirely on the shallow and repetitive waggle that should have died along with Wii, there's absolutely no reason to recommend this obnoxious, screaming, clattering monstrosity at all. It's mindless entertainment at its worst, but, on the bright side, it might be the perfect way to cure your childrens' burgeoning video game addiction.

Source: http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/wiiu/family_party_30_great_games_obstacle_arcade

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Dick Van Dyke honored for lifetime achievement

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? He's acted, danced and sang his way through movies, television and the stage, making Dick Van Dyke an entertainment triple-threat long before Hollywood used such hyphenates.

The 87-year-old actor, best known for the 1960s hit comedy "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and Disney's big-screen musical "Mary Poppins," can now add lifetime achievement honoree. He added that honor to his resume at Sunday night's 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"They tell me you never work again once you get this award," Van Dyke said on the red carpet. "I'll have to let them know I'm available."

His career has spanned eight decades, starting with work as a disc jockey and a standup comic in the late '40s. He even worked as a national television morning-show host, with no less than Walter Cronkite serving as his news anchor.

But perhaps Van Dyke's most critical career break came in 1960, when director Gower Champion hired him as the male lead opposite Chita Rivera in the new Broadway-bound stage musical "Bye Bye Birdie."

Van Dyke had no professional dance experience, and out-of-town tryouts did not go well. Nevertheless, Champion refused to fire the actor, who would go on to New York with Rivera and win a Tony award for his performance.

About a year later, Van Dyke was starring in his own sitcom, in the role of TV comedy writer Rob Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Three prime-time Emmys for Van Dyke and more than 50 years later, the series remains revered by many critics as one of the earliest models of great workplace comedy.

"'The 'Dick Van Dyke Show' was the most fun I ever had and the most creative period of my life," he said on the red carpet.

During the series' run, Van Dyke also enjoyed big-screen hits, including the 1963 "Birdie" movie and the 1964 all-star comedy, "What a Way to Go!" But biggest of all was "Mary Poppins," in which he introduced the Oscar-winning song "Chim Chim Cher-ee."

"I'm world-famous for my Cockney accent," Van Dyke kidded in his acceptance speech. He has said his British-born co-star, Julie Andrews, told him he never got the accent right.

Last year, Van Dyke presented the same lifetime achievement honor to his former TV co-star, Mary Tyler Moore.

These days, Van Dyke sings with his vocal group, The Vantasix, and enjoys life with his wife of one year, makeup artist Arlene Silver. The couple met seven years ago at the SAG Awards.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dick-van-dyke-honored-lifetime-achievement-025510248.html

Martha Raddatz

Using Technology in a Personal Injury Practice

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The changes would we have seen in the last 20 years not only in the law practice but in business in general have been profound and due largely to advances in technology.

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It seems like only yesterday that the newest and best was the fax machine. Next came email, SMS messaging, cloud computing, smart phones, mobile phones, iPads and tablets. We are now a connected society by virtue of 24/7 contact.

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At the Baumgartner Law Firm, we have decided that if you do not keep up with technology you get left behind and for that reason pride ourselves on using the latest and greatest technology available. Often, it is difficult to make the commitment to change, the old ?if it isn?t broken don?t fix it? mentality, however advances in technology have increased productivity and those who do not use technology to their benefit or not as productive as others.

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In the legal practice some of the technology that we find helpful are as follows:

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*Dragon Dictation ? Dragon Dictation is an application I use each and every day. For those who might find themselves ?typing challenged? Dragon is a lifesaver. This blog article is being produced entirely by Dragon.

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*Scan snap ? having a personal scanner on each computer enables you to email documents immediately and respond promptly, in addition to making your files more organized. Scan snap can even take a PDF document and scan it into Word for editing.

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*Internet Fax Service ? there are multiple providers of excellent Internet fax services that are very effective in maximizing your time in sending and receiving faxes. We still maintain the old dedicated fax service with a landline, but eventually the Internet fax service will make the old fax completely unnecessary.

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*IPad and iPad Mini ? the iPad is a truly fun and productive tool, not only did is it iPad very effective for trial presentations, it is invaluable in many other ways such as reviewing and annotating documents. There are multiple very good programs for making the iPad a very productive legal tool.

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*Cloud services ? services such as Dropbox, Box.net, Google Drive and others are very simple and inexpensive ways of keeping files that are not confidential available on any computer.

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There are many other technology advances for both Apple products and the PC that make law firms much more productive from practice management solutions to apps to improve productivity.

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There is no doubt that new technology requires a learning curve that scares many users away. Investing the time in implementing new technology is essential in the law practice of the 21st century.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2013 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Personal Injury Attorneys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.texastriallawyers.com/blog/using-technology-in-a-personal-injury-practice/

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U.S. mental health experts urge focus on childhood screening

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. mental health system has huge gaps that prevent many children with psychological problems from receiving effective treatment that could prevent tragic consequences later in life, experts told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday.

Just over a month after the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, mental health experts said psychological disorders usually emerge before people enter high school but that only one-quarter of children with problems see trained professionals and often the care is not enough.

"We see the results of insufficient mental healthcare in school failure and suicide. How do we do better?" Michael Hogan, head of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, said in written testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"While the gaps in children's mental healthcare are huge, there is also reason for hope," he added. "In part, this is because we know more about what works, and what doesn't."

Hogan, a former New York mental health commissioner, was scheduled to appear with two other experts Thursday at the Senate committee's first hearing on mental health issues since the presidency of Republican George W. Bush, who set up the commission Hogan now chairs.

The hearing was scheduled in response to the shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School where Adam Lanza, a young man described as having mental issues, gunned down 26 people including 20 young children with an AR-15-type assault rifle on December 14.

The tragedy and other mass shootings in recent years have ignited a debate about gun control and mental health, including a push by President Barack Obama for stronger gun controls and better mental health training for schools and communities.

Robert Vero, chief executive of a network of Tennessee clinics called Centerstone, said mental health professionals who work with children also lack access to parents and other relatives whose problems may contribute to a child's troubles, sometimes due to inadequate insurance coverage.

"We need to be able to teach parenting skills if we want the child's behavior to change," said Vero. "We need to be able to address the parent's depression or addiction."

The experts credited Obama's healthcare reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with making a step forward by requiring insurers including Medicaid to provide coverage for mental health issues.

But they said the American social safety net still fails to provide adequate access for the poor and elderly, noting that state mental health funding declined $4 billion from 2009 to 2012 as a result of budget constraints posed by recession and the weak economic recovery.

(This story was corrected to fix clinic network's name to Centerstone from Cornerstone in paragraph 8)

(Editing by Jilian Mincer and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-mental-health-experts-urge-focus-childhood-screening-173821054.html

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Tumor cells engineer acidity to drive cell invasion

Jan. 25, 2013 ? Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at Wayne State University School of Medicine investigated the acidity in solid tumors to determine if pH levels play a role in cancer cell invasion in surrounding tissues. They found that an acidic microenvironment can drive cancer cells to spread and propose that neutralizing pH would inhibit further invasion, providing a therapeutic opportunity to slow the progression of cancers.

Their study appeared in the Jan. 3 online release of Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research.

According to the study's corresponding author, Robert J. Gillies, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Imaging & Metabolism at Moffitt, acidity in solid tumors is the result of an increased fermentative metabolism combined with poor delivery of blood to tissues.

In this study, tumor invasion and pH were monitored in immunodeficient laboratory mice hosting a variety of tumors. "We monitored the test animals over time using microscopy and found that the highest regions of tumor invasion corresponded to areas with the lowest pH," Gillies explained. "Tumor invasion did not occur in regions with normal or near normal pH levels. Furthermore, when we neutralized the acidity with oral sodium bicarbonate, the invasion was halted."

Researchers proposed that the acidic pH of the tumor microenvironment represents a "niche engineering" strategy on the part of tumor cells, promoting invasion and growth of malignant tumors into surrounding tissue. Niche engineering is a concept in ecology describes how plants and animals alter their environment to in ways that promote their own growth and survival over their competitors. "We have long regarded cancers cells as an invading species," said study co-author Robert Gatenby, M.D., chair of the Diagnostic Imaging Services and Integrated Mathematical Oncology departments at Moffitt.

A key to this process of adaptation and invasion is increased glucose metabolism in the tumor. "The vast majority of malignant tumors metabolize glucose at high rates," Gillies said. "We have proposed that there is a direct, causative link between increased glucose metabolism and the ability of cancer cells to invade and metastasize."

According to the research, elevated glucose metabolism is the cause of increased acidity in the tumor microenvironment. Most tumors develop an abnormal vascular network that tends to be poorly organized and leaky, disrupting blood flow and hampering the delivery of oxygen.

"This poorly organized vascular system has a two-fold effect on tumor acidity," explained Gatenby. "First, it subjects tumor regions to poor perfusion, which restricts oxygen and increases the rate of glucose fermentation. Second, the poor perfusion hampers the ability to eliminate the resulting acids, resulting in very low pH in surrounding tissues."

As tumor cells adapt to increasing acidity, niche engineering through normal cell death and new blood vessel formation occurs in the tumor and the immune response is suppressed.

"Tumor cells perform niche engineering by creating an acidic environment that is not toxic to the malignant cells but, through its negative effects on normal cells and tissues, promotes local invasion of malignant cells," Gatenby said.

The researchers suggested that targeting this activity with buffers and other mechanisms aimed at increasing pH levels will likely provide a valuable alternative to traditional therapies focused entirely on killing tumor cells.

Funding for this study came from federal grants U54 CA143970; R01 CA 077575; R01 CA 131990S.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Moffitt Cancer Center.

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. V. Estrella, T. Chen, M. Lloyd, J. Wojtkowiak, H. H. Cornnell, A. Ibrahim-Hashim, K. Bailey, Y. Balagurunathan, J. M. Rothberg, B. F. Sloane, J. Johnson, R. A. Gatenby, R. J. Gillies. Acidity generated by the tumor microenvironment drives local invasion. Cancer Research, 2013; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-2796

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/7fXZ1prXsAs/130125111145.htm

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MTN Career for a Senior Manager, VAS, Data and Content ... - Job

MTN Career for a Senior Manager, VAS, Data and Content Development

posted on 2013-01-25??|?by Admin | 49 views

Sponsored Links

Careers in MTN Nigeria is focused on the strategic development of talent in line with the key business imperative of ensuring continuity through our key source of competitive advantage our people.

Job Title Senior Manager, VAS, Data & Content Development
Department: Marketing and Strategy
Location: Lagos
Job Description:
Quickly evolving platforms and partners
Translate customer insights into innovative concepts that achieve business objectives while providing value to customer segments
Integrate product development requirements with technical capacity such as Messaging, Portals, Data services, devices, content an d applications, and all supporting platforms including SDPs, service creation environments, policy control engines, etc
Balance and negotiate stakeholder requirements
Champion new data, applications, content portals and messaging product concepts, as well as existing key products and services across the organization
Own and maintain all data, portals and messaging product and service business rules
Support all business units with regard to product development and support
Deeply understand and propose direction for multimedia portal and services investments
Work and drive to optimise mobile device, content and applications value chain
Review telecommunications market and contribute to the development of strategies for MTNN products and services, demonstrating an understanding of MTNN business strategies and needs of the customer.
Develop detailed plans in support of approved strategies, organizing required resources, monitoring and periodically reporting progress of plans.
Direct and provide a strategic framework for product managers to develop and manage new 3rd party relationships, contracts, data services/features, content and application portals and messaging products.
Develop possible future scenarios of MTNN?s data, applications/content portals, VAS and messaging product portfolio by considering current and future business models and technologies, and determine combination of features and scenarios that will positively impact and satisfy customer?s needs and aspirations.
Identify and advise on new opportunities for MTNN to explore by providing products and services based on the evolution of technologies.
Design and develop new systems, products and services for multiple market segments, across the entire spectrum of customers addressed by MTNN.
Ensure market managers and the rest of the organization are aligned with the evolution of the product and services roadmap based on new technologies.
Drive product and service delivery across the organization in the medium to long term by agreeing and setting goals cross functionally.
Maintain in-life products and services.
Ensure full integration of quality management processes and their effective deployment on a day-to-day basis.
Use relevant metrics and measures to routinely monitor progress against targets and take appropriate managerial action to ensure targets are met or exceeded.
Provide performance data to support management decision-making.
Identify training and development needs of team members and manage skills enhancement programmes for the team to ensure enterprise sales targets are fully met.
Review performance of individual team members and complete appraisals in accordance with the employee performance appraisal procedures and time schedules.

Job Conditions: Normal MTNN working conditions. May be required to work extended hours. Frequent national travel.
Reporting To: ??? General Manager, Innovation & Product Development
Required Skills:
??? A first degree or post-graduate diploma in Marketing, Accounting, Business Administration or a related discipline
An MBA will have an advantage
A first degree or post-graduate diploma in Engineering and/or Design is desirable.
Training and certification in Project Management is desirable
At least 12 years work experience of which includes:
5 years in advanced Business development, or Product Development and Management experience in a Telecommunications-related environment
12 months experience in managing Portals or data services development, or technical/technology partner management
3 years experience in advanced Project Management
3 years in co-coordinating a number of external agencies and suppliers at management level
2 years experience in dealing with senior stakeholders within an established organization.

Employment Status : Permanent
Qualification: other

This vacancy expires on 2/6/2013

How to Apply

http://careers.mtnonline.com/mtncareers/vacancies.asp?deptid=8&id=1930

Job Category: IT and Telecoms

Disclaimer: Though we make every effort to verify the authenticity of our job posts, Employment Nigeria is in no way affiliated with any of these companies whose vacancies we publish.

Source: http://www.employmentng.com/jobs/jobdetails.php?recordID=4368

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Video: Starbuck Shares Get a Jolt

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50588473/

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Entrepreneurs plan D.C. road trip to talk up immigration reform

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco-based entrepreneur Garrett Johnson is usually too busy with his messaging start-up for much travel, but one issue has inspired him to cross the country: immigration reform.

On February 5, he and a dozen other entrepreneurs will head to Washington to talk with members of Congress about why new visa rules are needed to bring in the kind of talent that would help their companies grow.

They are striking now because Congress has taken up immigration in recent weeks, with a group of legislators working to find some sort of reform that would be acceptable to a majority of Congress, a staffer familiar with the situation says.

The skilled-worker visa reform the entrepreneurs want is relatively uncontroversial. Yet many Democrats say they do not want to address it without also taking up a thornier question: giving the 12 million or more people in the country illegally the chance to gain legal resident status and even become U.S. citizens.

While big technology companies have long schmoozed government to help advance their agendas, including patent reform and cybersecurity, the move is highly unusual for start-ups, say entrepreneurs and others in the technology community.

"Primarily they don't get involved because everyday they're trying to keep their doors open," said Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, organizer of the trip. But when it comes to outside issues affecting young companies, "immigration is absolutely the biggest on the horizon."

The entrepreneurs' wish list includes letting demand, rather than a quota, determine how many of the popular skilled-worker visas known as H-1Bs are issued. They also want visas and permanent residency documents known as green cards for entrepreneurs and those holding degrees in key science-related fields, and exemptions from caps on H-1Bs and green cards for those with advanced U.S. degrees.

Start-ups care because they have trouble finding all the staffers they need to grow, software engineers in particular. Many of the most suitable applicants apply from overseas ? often from China or India - and are too hard to hire because it is time consuming and expensive to sponsor a candidate's visa. Thousands more jobs are forfeited when companies are unable to expand, say economists.

Many engineers say technology companies are trying to game the system and find cheap talent abroad instead of hiring one of the thousands of unemployed engineers already here. That goes for start-ups, too.

"What they're doing is saying, 'We don't want to pay a fair wage,'" said Kim Berry, president of the Programmers Guild, a group representing U.S. software and networking engineers. He supports H1-B visas only if recipients earn salaries of at least $100,000. He also is for helping overseas entrepreneurs with good ideas come to this country. Green cards could be issued, for example, once a company proves to be a domestic jobs creator.

For Johnson, who worked as a staffer on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee before leaving in 2011 to found SendHub, the trip allows him to lobby officials on an issue close to home. His co-founder, Briton Ash Rust, had to hopscotch from job to job until he found one that offered working papers. He did finally land a green card.

The situation still dogs the company, which now numbers 11 people, when it comes to hiring.

"About 95 percent of the applications I get, I have to turn away because I can't get them a visa," said Rust.

Entrepreneurs are hoping to tap into the momentum created the last time start-ups got riled up. That was over Internet legislation known as SOPA and PIPA that died early last year, quashed in part by complaints multiplied across social media like Facebook and Twitter. One was that the bills' provisions could compromise the functioning of the Internet.

"Everyone is riding the high of the influence startups have," said Johnson. As immigration reform moves along and new proposals become public, the same platforms "will be our value add," he said.

Silicon Valley has long supported immigration reform for high-skilled workers, and some companies have even voiced support for comprehensive reform, as long as it meets their goal of winning more visas for potential employees.

"We would like to see reform of the high-skilled visa system, regardless of approach," said Lisa Malloy, an Intel spokeswoman. Software maker Microsoft Corp has called for comprehensive reform, as has computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co.

All three are among the technology companies that backed last year's STEM Jobs Act, which aimed to give 55,000 visas to foreigners with U.S. graduate degrees in key fields. The bill passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives but never came to a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

During their trip, the entrepreneurs, including Virginia Klausmeier of smart-fuel startup Sylvatex, will focus on high-skilled reform, Guardino said, because what they know best is the need to increase the pool of legal job candidates.

"Whether Congress and the Administration do that as a standalone or part of a bigger comprehensive immigration bill is not the relevant point for us," said Guardino. "Our key message is, get that job done."

If the effort on broad immigration reform fails, he said, Silicon Valley would keep pressing on skilled-worker reform.

(Reporting by Sarah McBride, editing by Prudence Crowther)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/entrepreneurs-plan-d-c-road-trip-talk-immigration-120206290--sector.html

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Religious exemptions key to RI gay marriage debate

Rhode Island State Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, center left, and his partner Tony Caparco, far left, greet Wendy Baker, center right, and her partner Judy McDonnell, third from right, both of Providence, R.I., in the gallery of the House Chamber at the Statehouse, in Providence, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Legislation to allow gay marriage in the state is headed for a vote Thursday in the House after being unanimously endorsed Tuesday by a legislative committee. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Rhode Island State Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, center left, and his partner Tony Caparco, far left, greet Wendy Baker, center right, and her partner Judy McDonnell, third from right, both of Providence, R.I., in the gallery of the House Chamber at the Statehouse, in Providence, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Legislation to allow gay marriage in the state is headed for a vote Thursday in the House after being unanimously endorsed Tuesday by a legislative committee. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Rhode Island Speaker of the House Gordon Fox, center, speaks with Ray Sullivan, campaign director for Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, right, in the House Chamber at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I.,Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Legislation to allow gay marriage in the state passed a House vote Thursday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Rhode Island Speaker of the House Gordon Fox, right, speaks with people on the floor of the House Chamber as R.I. State Rep. Frank Ferri, D-Warwick, center, and Sue Pegden, left, legal council to the speaker, look on at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I., moments before the House was called into session Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow gay couples to marry Thursday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Rhode Island Speaker of the House Gordon Fox places papers on the rostrum moments before calling the House into session in the House Chamber at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday to allow gay couples to marry. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Rhode Island State Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, opens discussion on a same-sex marriage bill on the floor of the House Chamber at the Statehouse, in Providence, R.I., Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday to allow gay couples to marry. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? The fate of gay marriage legislation in Rhode Island could hinge on the exemptions it affords religious groups that oppose it, the state Senate president said Friday, a day after the House overwhelmingly passed the bill.

Teresa Paiva Weed said she remains opposed to the bill and has heard that the sticking point for many senators is on how broad of a religious exemption is included in the only New England state that doesn't allow same-sex marriage.

The Newport Democrat said she doesn't want to fast-track the legislation and promised a "full and fair debate" on what she said is a personal and emotional issue for many lawmakers. She made the comments during a taping of WJAR-TV's "10 News Conference."

She said she doesn't know whether there's enough support in the Senate to pass the legislation, which would make Rhode Island the 10th state to allow gay marriage.

"There's a whole group of people who are genuinely struggling with this issue," she said. "The debate and the discussion in the Senate will be very real, and neither I nor anybody else ... really knows what the final outcome of that will be."

She would not detail her own objections to the bill or say what it would take to get her to support a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, saying it would be inappropriate for her to comment because of her leadership position.

Paiva Weed said several senators have told her they want a more expansive religious exemption to protect religious leaders, churches, religious charities and organizations that do not support same-sex marriage.

In legislative testimony, a lobbyist for the Roman Catholic Church raised concerns that Catholic schools and charitable organizations could be forced to change employee benefit policies if compelled to recognize the same-sex spouses of employees.

The bill passed by the House states that religious institutions may set their own rules for who is eligible to marry within their faith and specifies that no religious leader can be forced to officiate at any marriage ceremony.

Paiva Weed said she has instructed her legal advisers to compare Rhode Island legislation's religious exemption to those written into gay marriage laws in Maine, Washington state, New York and Maryland.

She said some in the Senate might be willing to put the question of gay marriage to the voters as a referendum. But that idea would run into difficulties in the House. Fox and Gov. Lincoln Chafee remain opposed to subjecting what they say is a civil rights issue to a popular vote.

"This is one of those issues you don't punt," Fox said.

It's likely to be weeks or even months before the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings and a vote on the legislation. That's in stark contrast to the House, where House Speaker Gordon Fox followed through on his promise to hold a vote on gay marriage before the end of January.

Fox, a Providence Democrat, is gay. He dropped gay marriage legislation two years ago when he concluded it would not pass the Senate. Following Thursday night's 51-19 vote in favor of the legislation, Fox said he trusts the Senate to weigh the merits of the bill and dismissed concerns from some gay marriage supporters that Paiva Weed would use the issue in political horse-trading that often occurs at the end of the legislative session.

"I'm used to that kind of stuff," he said.

Chafee urged the Senate to act on the legislation. The governor, an independent, argues that Rhode Island is at a competitive disadvantage to other New England states that allow it.

"Now that the House has swiftly acted, I urge Senate leadership to 'call the roll' ? for our economy, for our gay and lesbian friends and neighbors, and for history," he said in a statement.

Wendy Becker said she's optimistic the Senate will pass the bill. The Providence woman married her partner in Massachusetts, and they have two children. Becker has come to the Statehouse many times to testify in favor of gay marriage.

"I think we've reached the tipping point," she said. "Frankly, I don't want to have to come back here next year."

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Smith reported from Cranston, R.I.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-25-Gay%20Marriage-RI/id-ce4985be8a5f4ea0b86e34fa272d0464

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Top white-collar crime prosecutor getting SEC job

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will nominate former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White, who built a reputation prosecuting white-collar crimes, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama would announce White's nomination during a ceremony in the State Dining Room Thursday afternoon.

"She's got an incredibly impressive resume," Carney said. "The president is very pleased to be able to nominate her."

At the same event, Obama will renominate Richard Cordray to serve as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a White House official said. The president used a recess appointment last year to circumvent Congress and install Cordray as head of the bureau. That appointment expires at the end of this year.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the nomination before the president announces it.

White spent nearly a decade as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, handling a wide array of white-collar crimes and complex securities and financial fraud cases. White House officials say that experience makes her well-positioned to implement Obama's Wall Street reform legislation.

While serving as U.S. attorney, White also won convictions related to the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

If confirmed by the Senate, White would take over the helm at the SEC from Elisse Walter, who is serving out the rest of former SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro's term. Schapiro resigned in December.

In 2000, White led the criminal prosecution of more than 100 people ? including members of all five New York crime families ? accused of strong-arming brokers and manipulating prices of penny stocks. The action was called one of the biggest crackdowns on securities fraud in U.S. history at the time.

White's office also won a record $606 million in restitution from the securities arm of the Republic New York Corp. bank in 2001. That year, the bank pleaded guilty to conspiring with an investment adviser to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from Japanese investors.

Cordray has run the consumer bureau since last year, when Obama used a recess appointment to install him in the job. Senate Republicans had opposed Cordray, as well as the concept of the consumer bureau.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., first conceived of the idea of a consumer protection bureau. Obama considered naming her to lead the bureau, but her nomination would likely have run into deep opposition on Capitol Hill.

White, 65, currently heads the litigation department at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

She was the first woman to hold the position of U.S. attorney in Manhattan, one of the most prestigious positions in federal law enforcement. During her tenure from 1993 to 2002, White won convictions of white-collar criminals, drug traffickers and international terrorists. The most notable was Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

She also led the prosecution of mob boss John Gotti when she was acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn in 1992. Gotti died in prison in 2002.

If confirmed by the Senate, White would be the first prosecutor to head the 79-year-old SEC. Most SEC chairmen traditionally have come from Wall Street or the ranks of private securities lawyers. The choice of White is likely intended to bolster the agency's enforcement profile in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

White's background differs sharply from that of Schapiro, who stepped down last month after guiding the agency in the four years after the crisis. Schapiro worked at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry's self-policing organization. Some consumer advocates have said that Schapiro's experience as CEO of FINRA made her more likely to seek compromise and less likely to aggressively pursue misconduct.

During Shapiro's tenure, the SEC reached major settlements with the biggest banks on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank. But critics said the penalties were small compared with the banks' revenues. And they complained that no senior executives were held accountable.

White would be expected to give high priority to expanding the enforcement efforts.

At the same time, much of the pressing work facing the agency involves writing new rules. The SEC is seeking stricter rules for money-market mutual funds and must get into shape the so-called Volcker Rule, which would bar banks from making certain trades for their own profit.

As head of litigators at Debevoise & Plimpton, White has represented a number of financial institutions likely to have crossed swords with the SEC in enforcement cases. Her clients also included former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, whom she represented in a 2010 civil lawsuit by then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accusing Lewis of misleading shareholders in the bank's merger with Merrill Lynch.

White also represented the largest U.S. hospital chain, HCA, in the insider-trading investigations by the SEC and the Justice Department of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, whose family owned HCA. The investigations were closed in 2007 with no charges filed against Frist.

___

Associated Press writer Marcy Gordon in Washington and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-white-collar-crime-prosecutor-171753188.html

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Three people shot at Houston-area community college, police say ...

Three people on campus at Lone Star College were injured in what may have been an argument that escalated. Nearby schools went into lockdown as parents waited to pick up their kids. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

Three people were wounded Tuesday afternoon when gunfire erupted at a Houston-area community college, law enforcement officials said.

Authorities confirmed at a news conference ?that two "persons of interest" were involved and wounded in an altercation at the North Harris campus of Lone Star College. A maintenance worker at the college was also shot in the leg during the crossfire, said Maj. Armando Tello, acting sheriff for the Harris County Sheriff's Office. School officials say the worker, in his mid-50s, was in stable condition.

Police later said Carlton Berry, 22. was charged with aggravated assault. He remained in the hospital early Wednesday, Harris County Sheriff's Office Director of Public Affairs Alan Bernstein told NBC News.

Police did not identify the second "person of interest."

Police said a fourth person, a female with a student ID, was transported from the scene to the hospital, for an unspecified "medical condition."

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The shooting happened outside in a courtyard between an academic building and a library, Richard Carpenter with the Lone Star College System said. Police were dispatched at 12:51 p.m. CT and were on the scene within two minutes, according to Tello.?Police confirmed a handgun was involved, but could not provide more information because the incident?remains?under investigation.

Several federal officials have said the incident was gang-related, but the exact nature of the relationship remained unclear.

Authorities say the shooting at a Texas community college was the result of an altercation between two people.

The school said on Twitter that the shooting occurred at about 12:31 p.m. Carpenter said the campus will reopen Wednesday.

Live aerial video taken from NBC station KPRC-TV?showed emergency crews moving two people on stretchers into ambulances.

Police officers in SWAT gear were shown on the video entering buildings on the campus and bringing out students.

A spokesperson for Ben Taub General Hospital confirmed to NBC News that two patients from the shooting had been treated there. A?Houston Northwest Medical Center spokesperson said it had two patients from the Lone Star College incident. Neither hospital would release more information about the patients.

Witness Amanda Vasquez told KPRC she was in English class with about 25 other students when she heard shots fired, she thought in the hallway. She said she got under her desk, while other students ran out of the classroom.?

"We closed the door and we put the table against the door," Vasquez said. "And we were hiding and I was just trying to call my mom to let her know I was OK."

Police came in after about 30 minutes and said they could come out, she said.

Jed Young, a spokesman for the college system, told The Associated Press that a "shelter-in-place order" was issued at the college due to reports of a shooter on campus.?Students, faculty and staff were advised by the college website to take immediate shelter where they were. The school later said it was on lockdown.?

Lone Star College is a community college system based in the Houston region and has six campuses associated with it.

Lone Star's North Harris campus is 20 miles north of Houston in unincorporated Harris County. The campus has roughly 19,000 students.

According to the Lone Star College website, weapons are not allowed on the campus. The school offers firearm safety courses through its Second Amendment Academy.

NBC's Pete Williams, Jonathan?Dienst, Vignesh Ramachandran and Matthew DeLuca contributed to this report.

Student Amanda Vasquez emotionally describes to KPRC the scene when a shooter on a Lone Star College campus in Texas opened fire. Vasquez says she heard "five or six" gunshots and saw one shooter.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/23/16645383-three-people-shot-at-houston-area-community-college-police-say

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