Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Davis, Dujardin win lead honors at SAG awards (omg!)

Octavia Spencer, winner of award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role for "The Help," left, and Viola Davis, winner of the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role for "The Help," pose backstage at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were the maids of honor at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, where their Deep South drama "The Help" won them acting prizes and earned the trophy for overall cast performance.

Davis won as best actress and Spencer as supporting actress for "The Help," while Jean Dujardin was named best actor for the silent film "The Artist" and Christopher Plummer took the supporting-actor award for the father-son tale "Beginners."

The wins boost the actors' prospects for the same honors at the Feb. 26 Academy Awards.

In "The Help," Davis and Spencer play black maids going public with uneasy truths about their white employers in 1960s Mississippi.

"I just have to say that the stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It's all of our burden, all of us," Davis said, accepting the ensemble prize on behalf of her "The Help" co-stars.

Accepting her best-actress award, Davis singled out two performers in the audience who inspired her early in her career: "The Help" co-star Cicely Tyson and Meryl Streep, Davis' co-star in the 2008 drama "Doubt" and one of the nominees she beat out for the SAG prize. Streep had been nominated as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," a role that won her the dramatic actress award at the Golden Globes over Davis.

A French film star who is a newcomer to Hollywood's awards scene with "The Artist," Dujardin played a silent-era screen idol fallen on hard times as talking pictures take over in the late 1920s.

"I was a very bad student. I didn't listen in class. I was always dreaming," Dujardin said. "My teachers called me 'Jean of the Moon,' and I realize now that I never stopped dreaming. Thank you very much. Thank you for this dream."

Plummer would become the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy when she won best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy."

Backstage, Plummer joked when asked if he would like to win an Oscar, an honor so elusive during his esteemed 60-year career that he did not even receive his first Academy Award nomination until two years ago, for "The Last Station."

"No, I think it's frightfully boring," Plummer said. "That's an awful question. Listen, we don't go into this business preoccupied by awards. If we did, we wouldn't last five minutes."

Spencer, a veteran actress who had toiled in small TV and movie parts previously, had a breakout role in "The Help" as a brassy maid whose mouth continually gets her in trouble.

"I'm going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the under-served, the underprivileged, overtaxed ? whether emotionally, physically or financially," Spencer said.

On the television side, comedy series awards went to "Modern Family" for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for "30 Rock"; and Betty White as best actress for "Hot in Cleveland."

"You can't name me, without naming those other wonderful women on 'Hot in Cleveland,'" the 90-year-old White said. "This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it."

The TV drama show winners were: Jessica Lange as best actress for "American Horror Story"; and Steve Buscemi as best actor for "Boardwalk Empire," which also won the ensemble prize.

For TV movie or miniseries, Kate Winslet won as best actress for "Mildred Pierce," while Paul Giamatti was named best actor for "Too Big to Fail."

Before the official ceremony, the Screen Actors Guild presented its honor for best film stunt ensemble to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." The TV stunt award went to "Game of Thrones."

The winners at the SAG ceremony often go on to earn Oscars. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars ? Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

The same generally holds true for the weekend's other big Hollywood honors, the Directors Guild of America Awards, where Michel Hazanavicius won the feature-film prize Saturday for "The Artist." The Directors Guild winner has gone on to earn the best-director Oscar 57 times in the 63-year history of the union's awards show.

The guild's ensemble prize, considered the ceremony's equivalent of a best-picture honor, has a spotty record at predicting what will win the top award at the Oscars.

While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG ensemble recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

Though "The Help" won the ensemble prize this time, "The Artist" and George Clooney's family drama "The Descendants" are considered stronger contenders for the best-picture Oscar.

Both "The Artist" and "The Descendants" also were nominated for writing and directing Oscars, categories where serious best-picture candidates generally need to be in the running. "The Help" missed out on nominations in both of those Oscar categories.

Mary Tyler Moore received the guild's lifetime-achievement award, an honor presented to her by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

___

Associated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

Jean Dujardin poses backstage with the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for "The Artist" at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_davis_dujardin_win_lead_honors_sag_awards025954059/44350163/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/davis-dujardin-win-lead-honors-sag-awards-025954059.html

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Prince Harry: Queen needs husband for her work (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's Prince Harry says be believes Queen Elizabeth II's husband is so important to her that she could not carry out her public duties without him.

In rare public comments about his grandparents, Harry highlighted the role of Prince Philip in supporting the queen on her many duties, including occasional visits abroad and hosting foreign dignitaries. He also paid tribute to the monarch's hard work ethic despite her age.

"These are the things that, at her age, she shouldn't be doing, yet she's carrying on and doing them," he said in an interview with The Radio Times published Tuesday.

"Regardless of whether my grandfather seems to be doing his own thing ... The fact that he's there ? personally, I don't think that she could do it without him, especially when they're both at this age," Harry added.

At 85, Elizabeth is Britain's second longest-serving monarch after Queen Victoria. Her 60th year on the throne ? called the Diamond Jubilee ? will be celebrated this year in major events both in Britain and in Commonwealth nations around the world.

The monarch has been supported in most of her duties and overseas trips by Philip, who turned 90 last June. Although he had expressed a desire to scale down his royal engagements, last year the pair still made a historic trip to Ireland, hosted a state visit by U.S. President Barack Obama and visited Australia on a 10-day tour.

Philip, who is known to be active and robust, suffered a health scare before Christmas when he went to the hospital complaining of chest pains. He recovered after undergoing a successful coronary stent procedure.

The royal has resumed his official duties and in the next few months, he will accompany the queen on travels throughout Britain, while their children and grandchildren plan to travel around Commonwealth countries to mark the Jubilee.

Harry's comments were part of a series of interviews conducted for an article on the queen published in the Radio Times. The report also quoted Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and his predecessor Tony Blair on their impressions of the monarch.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_royals

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Writers wanted: HLS Office of Communications | HLS Administrative ...

HLS Communications seeks law students with reporting experience to write for Harvard Law School publications and the web and assist with editorial research. Please contact: ?lgrant at law.harvard.edu or call 617-495-3118.

This entry was posted in Jobs by adup. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/adup/2012/01/30/writers-wanted-hls-office-of-communications-2/

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Abbott wins 3rd US title with mesmerizing grace

Jeremy Abbott salutes the crowd after his routine in the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Jeremy Abbott salutes the crowd after his routine in the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Jeremy Abbott laughs while holding up his first place medal after winning the men's free skate event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Jeremy Abbott competes in the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Jeremy Abbott competes in the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Jeremy Abbott competes in the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

(AP) ? Rust will no longer be Johnny Weir and Olympic champion Evan Lysacek's only worry if they come back.

Jeremy Abbott proved he's capable of contending with the best in the world ? past and present ? in winning his third title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday. Needing only to stay on his feet to claim the title, he put on a sublime display of quiet elegance and superior skill that was simply bewitching.

"I skate to give a performance like that and so I felt really good," Abbott said. "I was really nervous when I started, I was shaking a little bit. But from the second I set for the quad I was like, 'I'm going to do this.' I just really took it into my hands and made sure that I did what I needed to do."

His final score of 273.58 was the highest ever at the U.S. championships, and puts him within striking distance of world champion Patrick Chan. It was about 12 points better than 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko scored in winning his seventh European title Saturday.

Adam Rippon, a two-time junior world champion, was second. Ross Miner finished third for a second straight year.

Earlier Sunday, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won their first pairs title together after winning the previous two years with other partners.

The U.S. men have been in a bit of a funk without Lysacek and Weir the past two years. No one's come close to winning a medal at the world championships, and the Americans did so poorly last year they actually lost the third spot they've had since 2002.

Abbott is one of the most technically sound skaters in the world, with beautiful edges that carve the ice like a master craftsman and perfect body control. He's also one of the few skaters who has managed to maintain the balance between the performance quality that makes figure skating so entertaining and the tough physical tricks the system now demands. But he's never been commanded the international respect Lysacek and Weir did, flopping at the 2009 world championships and again at the Vancouver Olympics.

Even last year, when the U.S. title was there for his taking with Lysacek and Weir gone, Abbott struggled so mightily he failed to even make the world team.

But Abbott is a different man now, and the rest of the world ? Lysacek and Weir included ? would do well to take notice.

"When I was competing with (Lysacek and Weir), both had these larger-than-life personalities and took all the attention," Abbott said. "I really feel I've come into my own. I feel like, with them coming back, it would be just like any other competition. Personally I wouldn't feel any different with them than without them."

Abbott landed the only quadruple jump of the day, and his spins were so tight and perfectly centered that coaches will no doubt be asking for a DVD of them. But it was his presence that was truly spectacular. He picked the music for his free skate, a Muse song that he found on his iPod. He played a part in the choreography, too, resulting in perfect harmony between skater and song. It was as if he let the music wash over him and tell his skates what to do. The audience was so spellbound you could hear his blades carving the ice, and it wasn't until the final notes of his music faded that fans erupted in applause.

Abbott, meanwhile, was so caught up in his own moment that he stood at center ice for a good 10 seconds, not moving a muscle.

"I really at that moment was just feeling the energy of the audience. It was a cool moment to see," Abbott said. "I've won this twice before but both times it was a little surreal and I didn't get the opportunity to take it all in. This time I was lucid and calm. I got to take in the moment and the energy.

"No tears were shed," he cracked. "I was just really enjoying the moment."

The only damper on his day was news that his stepfather, Allen Scott, had blacked out during his performance. The 64-year-old Scott was taken to a hospital, and Abbott said he was able to talk with him.

"His heart rate is down. His blood pressure is really high, but he's coherent," Abbott said. "He's OK and my whole family is with him."

If Abbott comes remotely close to this performance at the world championships in March, it will go a long way toward regaining that third spot. Abbott and Rippon will need to finish with a combined placement of 13 or better.

"It's very important to our federation and other skaters," Rippon said. "But going into worlds, it won't be my focus. This competition was about getting all the monkeys off my back and being able to move forward from that. I know I'm capable of a lot more than I did today and hope that I can show that (at worlds)."

Rippon will need a bit more energy than he had Sunday, when he skated tentative and flat, as if he was trying to hold onto his spot on the podium rather than move up.

He's lucky he didn't get a ticket for loitering as he geared up for a triple axel-step-double toe combination, holding his edge on the entry for what seemed like forever and leaving no doubts about what was coming. Not only did he not do his planned quadruple salchow, he only did a double. A well-done double but a double nonetheless, with nowhere near the point value of a quad or even a triple.

What saved Rippon was his artistry. He has the extension of a ballet dancer, and he used every part of his body, from the tips of his toes to the top of his head, to express his music.

"It wasn't completely perfect, but I'm very proud of what I did," Rippon said.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh, a distant third after the short program, needed a strong effort to have any chance of overtaking Rippon and making the world team. He went the opposite direction, instead, dropping off the podium after taking a big splat on his quadruple toe attempt and turning out on the landings of two other jumps.

Miner took advantage, moving up a spot with a strong program that had only one error, a fall on a triple axel.

Denney and Coughlin had won the last two U.S. titles, each with a different partner. They teamed up in May and, even in a sport where couples have all the stability of Jell-O, their matchup came just three weeks after Coughlin and Caitlin Yankowskas finished sixth at the world championships.

Clearly, though, Denney and Coughlin knew what they were doing. As good as each other was with someone else, they're that much better together. Their performance Sunday was one of the best of the entire week in any discipline, any event. The highlight was their carry lift. Coughlin carried Denney three-quarters of the way around the rink, and did it with such speed and strength she looked as light as a feather pillow. Midway through, she switched positions, turning in the opposite direction of the way he was skating.

You know how tough it is to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time? Try that, times 10.

"I've been dreaming all week about doing that carry after skating clean and that feeling from the audience," Coughlin said. "Oh, I had so much fun."

___

Follow Nancy Armour at http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-29-US%20Championships/id-7f26ce35e34a4bf5b186e5518334c86b

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U.S. has "no desire" for new military bases in Asia: admiral (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The United States is placing renewed priority on Asia as it winds down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no desire for new bases in the region, the head of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said on Friday.

Admiral Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said the military's goal is to have a network of places close to the sea lanes of Southeast Asia where American forces can visit on rotation, avoiding the costly maintenance of bases.

"There is no desire nor view right now that the U.S. is seeking basing options anywhere in the Asia-Pacific theater," he told reporters in Washington.

Willard spoke as U.S. and Philippine officials were wrapping up two days of strategic talks in Washington that prompted speculation that Washington aimed to reopen bases in the Philippines. The Pentagon flatly denied having new basing plans.

He said his Hawaii-based Pacific Command preferred a model along the lines of plans to set up a Marine training facility in northern Australia and to rotate warships through Singapore.

"As I look at where the forces are and where they need to be present day-to-day, we are biased in Northeast Asia, and when we look at Southeast Asia and South Asia, the pressure is on Pacific Command to deploy and sustain forces there day to day," said Willard.

The Pacific Command has 50,000 U.S. forces stationed in Japan and 28,000 in South Korea.

Willard noted that media and public discussion of the U.S. strategy in Asia portrayed the policy as being aimed at China, with its fast-growing military budget and assertiveness over maritime territory claims in contested waters of the South China Sea.

But the admiral said the Pacific Command's primary mission was protecting sea lanes in the South China Sea that carry $5 trillion in commerce annually, including $1.2 trillion in trade with the United States.

The U.S. goal with China's military was to build closer military-to-military ties, overcoming differing philosophies on the purpose of such contacts, "trust factor" issues and other disputes, said Willard.

High-level U.S.-China dialogue and leaders' meetings like next month's U.S. visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has resulted in a situation where "the military relationship at that strategic level has been ... sustaining itself," said Willard.

"In other ways, at the operational and tactical level, getting our two militaries more acquainted with one another through operations or through counterpart visits have not advanced," he added.

"I'm not satisfied that the military relationship is where it needs to be," said Willard.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/pl_nm/us_usa_asia_bases

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Vanishing inflation bolsters case for Fed easing (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? It has only been a few days since the Federal Reserve adopted a formal goal for inflation, and already policymakers are missing their target.

The U.S. central bank's preferred measure of inflation sank to its lowest level in more than a year in the fourth quarter, data showed on Friday.

Growth in the government's personal consumption expenditure index, which the Fed now targets at 2.0 percent, dropped to a 0.7 percent annual rate, about a third of its pace during the previous three months.

Of course, the Fed aims to hit its target over the longer run and will be willing to look through often volatile food and energy prices.

But even stripping those costs out, the inflation rate fell sharply to 1.1 percent over the past three months, a potentially troubling sign that the trend is not the Fed's friend.

With unemployment still at an elevated 8.5 percent, Friday's data could buttress the case within the central bank for taking new action to boost the economy.

"Clearly, much work remains to achieve the Fed's dual mandate of maximum sustainable employment in the context of price stability," said New York Fed President William Dudley, who has hinted he supports doing more to lower borrowing costs.

"Inflation has retreated and may be headed down further," Dudley told reporters on Friday.

PRIMING THE MONEY PUMP

The Fed's policy-setting committee is divided between officials who want to pump more money into the economy and others known as hawks who worry inflation could get out of hand.

Currently, many investors think the Fed will try to lower borrowing costs further this year through "quantitative easing," which entails purchasing securities on the market in order to bring down interest rates for mortgages and business loans.

Economists at 12 of 18 primary dealers, the large financial institutions that do business directly with the Fed, said the central bank would do further quantitative easing, a Reuters poll showed. The poll was conducted after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference on Wednesday.

If that happens, this would amount to "QE3" or the Fed's third round of quantitative easing since November 2008 when its first QE program was launched about two months after Lehman Brothers collapsed, during the depths of the financial crisis.

The inflation reading "very much supports the idea from the non-hawkish core of the committee that inflation has a downward trajectory right now," said Michael Hanson, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Still, some temporary factors likely pushed inflation numbers lower during the fourth quarter, which could keep officials from rushing into more monetary stimulus.

Prices for durable goods fell at a 2.7 percent annual rate, which analysts attributed to automakers recovering from supply- chain disruptions created by an earthquake in Japan in March.

That suggests while inflation is well below the Fed's target, the economy does not appear poised to slip into deflation, a debilitating spiral of falling prices and wages. Fears of deflation were a major justification for a $600 billion quantitative easing program in late 2010.

"This isn't really deflationary," Paul Ashworth, economist at Capital Economics in Toronto, said of the price data.

Nonetheless, the sharp easing in inflation potentially gives the Fed more room to ramp up efforts to boost employment. The PCE price index will likely rise just 1.4 percent this year, said Jeff Greenberg, an economist at Nomura in New York.

The jobless rate, however, remains several percentage points higher than where most Fed officials would prefer it to be, even though it has fallen in recent months. In December, it stood at 8.5 percent.

With this in mind, both Greenberg and Ashworth expect the Fed will launch a new bond-buying program by mid-year.

One factor that could force policymakers to spring to action more quickly is a possible worsening of Europe's banking crisis, which could drag large U.S. financial institutions into a rut and trigger a new credit crunch.

Argued Hanson of BofA-Merrill: "That's the wild card and that would potentially change the way the Fed reacts."

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_usa_fed_inflation

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Eric Avebury: Travellers and legal aid

The Legal Aid Bill prevents Gypsies and Travellers from getting legal aid in circumstances where they may lose their homes. With 2,000 Gypsies living in caravans on unauthorised sites from which the landlords are being given stronger powers to evict them. they will not qualify for legal advice on how to contest orders for their removal when they are trespassers, as so many of them are when it is made as difficult as possible for them to acquire land of their own, and there are no spare pitches for rent. But we did get assurances from the Minister who replied,Jim Wallace, that injunctions under S 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and orders under Sections 289 and 290 of that Act, which lead towards the loss of a Traveller's home, would still be subject to legal aid.

The amendments attracted a gratifying number of supporters and I think we have the ammunition to ask for discussions with Ministers before the Bill gets to its final stage of Third Reading.

At the end of his speech, Jim Wallace took credit for the recent Government annoiuncement that ?60 million was being made available for local authorities and registered social landlords to provide Traveller sites for some 600 caravans. I happened to have telephoned five of the successful applicants for this money and was able to point out that none of them had even identified the necessary land, let alone applied for planning permission. And if by some miracle all of the planned schemes were implemented overnight, they would still cover only a third of the technically homelss Travellers.

Source: http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2012/01/travellers-and-legal-aid.html

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Friday, January 27, 2012

American Idol judge behaving badly: Steven Tyler puckers up in Aspen

American Idol judge Steven Tyler is engaged, but isn't ready to let go of his lover-boy image just yet. Keep your eyes on American Idol contestant Haley Smith.

Wednesday night's American Idol began with overexcited, 24-year-old, Jenni Schick, a writhing, coquettish, ball of energy who freely discussed her desire to kiss various celebrities.? And though Idol host Ryan Seacrest did not join the ranks of smooch-worthy Adam Levine, Lady Gaga, and Steven Tyler on Jenni's list; he did make the list of people Jenni's boyfriend would like to kiss. Hmmm.

Skip to next paragraph

So, Jenni bounds into her audition and immediately expresses her desire to lock lips with Steven Tyler.? Steven shows an amazing amount of restraint for an over 60 man whose days of young girls throwing themselves at him must have an expiry, and makes her sing for him first. There was a lot riding on Jenni's audition: The affections of both Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler, and its also safe to say that after this performance, Jenni is no longer going to have her job as Virginia elementary school music teacher.

Her cover of Pat Benatar's, "Heartbreaker", manages to (just) earn her not a ticket to Hollywood and a full-on-the-lips smooch from Steven.? Being engaged (to model Erin Brady), Steven really should have played a little harder to get.? Perhaps Ryan could offer some lessons on boundaries.

Despite Steven Tyler and his loose lips, there was something special about American Idol's auditions in Aspen.? Not only were the contestants entertaining and some even talented, but the entire judging panel seemed more likeable.? Maybe, it's the altitude?? Maybe JLo, Steven, and Randy are best served chilled?? Whatever the reason, there was faint glimmer of promise in the judge's on this episode ? and it was a sight for sore eyes.

Richie Law was certainly happy to see the judges in his neck of the woods.? He's obviously been practicing his best Scotty McCreery (Season 10 Idol winner) impression for the past year.? And while he has a good (deep) voice, he should have been denied a ticket to Hollywood on the grounds that Idol 't doesn't need a Scotty 2.0 this year.? Idol should be holding out for the truly original contestants.

I'm talking about vegetarian, sausage-maker Haley Smith.? Haley breezed into the audition with the relaxed mellow air of a true flower child, which did her so much more justice than the slightly maniacal pre-audition clip of her professing her love for nature, complete with unstable laugh.? The judges were digging her 60's vibe, man.? The free love continued, especially after Haley's performance of Rufus's, "Tell Me Something Good."? And that they did. Not only did the judges give her a ticket to Hollywood but Steven Tyler expressed his honor at being able to hear her sing.

The judges weren't so unanimous when it came to self-proclaimed Vintage Glitter Queen, Angie Zeiderman's cabaret performance.? Jennifer respected Angie's show tune's chutzpah but Randy scoffed, claiming it was an instant turn off.? Both Angie and Jennifer were determined to prove Randy wrong, so Angie offered a beautiful rendition of "Blue Bayou," instead.? Thankfully, this was enough to change Randy's mind and Angie earned her golden ticket to Hollywood and was one step closer to opening for her own idol, Lady Gaga.

Of course, she'll have to get in line behind Jenni.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/IaRo1jCzePo/American-Idol-judge-behaving-badly-Steven-Tyler-puckers-up-in-Aspen

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Prison dilemma: surging numbers of older inmates

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 9, 2008 file photo, Debbie Coluter, a certified nursing assistant, holds the hand of an elderly inmate with Alzheimer's disease, as she helps him to his cell at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 9, 2008 file photo, Debbie Coluter, a certified nursing assistant, holds the hand of an elderly inmate with Alzheimer's disease, as she helps him to his cell at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

NEW YORK (AP) ? In corrections systems nationwide, officials are grappling with decisions about geriatric units, hospices and medical parole as elderly inmates ? with their high rates of illness and infirmity ? make up an ever increasing share of the prison population.

At a time of tight state budgets, it's a trend posing difficult dilemmas for policymakers. They must address soaring medical costs for these older inmates and ponder whether some can be safely released before their sentences expire.

The latest available figures from 2010 show that 8 percent of the prison population ? 124,400 inmates ? was 55 or older, compared to 3 percent in 1995, according to a report being released Friday by Human Rights Watch. This oldest segment grew at six times the rate of the overall prison population between 1995 and 2010, the report says.

"Prisons were never designed to be geriatric facilities," said Jamie Fellner, a Human Rights Watch special adviser who wrote the report. "Yet U.S. corrections officials now operate old age homes behind bars."

The main reasons for the trend, Fellner said, are the long sentences, including life without parole, that have become more common in recent decades, boosting the percentage of inmates unlikely to leave prison before reaching old age, if they leave at all. About one in 10 state inmates is serving a life sentence; an additional 11 percent have sentences longer than 20 years.

The report also notes an increase in the number of offenders entering prison for crimes committed when they were over 50. In Ohio, for example, the number of new prisoners in that age group jumped from 743 in 2000 to 1,815 in 2010, according to the report.

Fellner cited the case of Leonard Hudson, who entered a New York prison at age 68 in 2002 on a murder conviction and will be eligible for parole when he's 88. He's housed in a special unit for men with dementia and other cognitive impairments, Fellner said.

A.T. Wall, director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections and president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators, said he and his colleagues regularly exchange ideas on how to cope with the surging numbers of older prisoners.

"We are accustomed to managing large numbers of inmates, and it's a challenge to identify particular practices that need to be put into place for a subset," he said. "There are no easy solutions."

Wall said prison officials confront such questions as whether to retrofit some cells with grab bars and handicap toilets, how to accommodate inmates' wheelchairs, and how to deal with inmates who no longer understand instructions.

"Dementia can set in, and an inmate who was formerly easy to manage becomes very difficult to manage," he said.

States are trying to meet the needs. Some examples:

?Washington state opened an assisted living facility at its Coyote Ridge prison complex in 2010, with a capacity of 74 inmates. It's reserved for inmates with a disability who are deemed to pose little security risk.

?The Louisiana State Penitentiary has had a hospice program for more than a decade, staffed by fellow prisoners who provide dying inmates with care ranging from changing diapers to saying prayers.

?In Massachusetts, a new corrections master plan proposes one or more new facilities to house aging inmates who need significant help with daily living. Some critics object, saying inmates shouldn't get specialized care that might not be available or affordable for members of the public.

?Montana's corrections department is seeking bids for a 120-bed prison that would include assisted-living facilities for some elderly inmates and others who need special care.

In Texas, legislators have been considering several options for addressing the needs of infirm, elderly inmates. State Rep. Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, said no decisions have been made as the experts try to balance cost factors and public safety.

"You can't just generalize about these prisoners," he said. "Some are still extremely dangerous, some may not be.... Some you wouldn't want in the same assisted living facility with your parents or grandparents."

Fellner, who visited nine states and 20 prisons during her research, said corrections officials often were constrained by tight budgets, lack of support from elected officials, and prison architecture not designed to accommodate the elderly.

She noted that prison policies traditionally were geared to treat all inmates on an equal basis. So it may not be easy for prison officials to consider special accommodations for aging inmates, whether it be extra blankets, shortcuts to reduce walking distance, or sparing them from assignments to upper bunks.

The report said the number of aging prisoners will continue to grow unless there are changes to tough-on-crime policies such as long mandatory sentences and reduced opportunities for parole.

"How are justice and public safety served by the continued incarceration of men and women whose bodies and minds have been whittled away by age?" Fellner asked.

One of the problems facing prisons is that many of their health care staff lack expertise in caring for the elderly, according to Linda Redford, director of the geriatric education center at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

"It's a big struggle for them to keep up," said Redford, who has helped train prison staff and inmates in geriatric care.

"They're used to having to deal with issues of younger prisoners, such as HIV and substance abuse," she said.

Under a Supreme Court ruling, inmates are guaranteed decent medical care, but they lack their own insurance and states must pay the full cost. In Georgia, according to Fellner's report, inmates 65 and older had an average yearly medical cost of $8,565, compared with $961 for those under 65.

Redford said the challenges are compounded because inmates' health tends to decline more rapidly than that of other Americans of the same age due to long-term problems with drug use and poor health care.

"In the general population, 65 doesn't seem that old," Redford said. "In prison, there are 55-year-olds looking like they're 75."

Many states have adopted early release programs targeted at older inmates who are judged to pose little threat to public safety. However, a 2010 study by the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City found the laws were used infrequently, in part because of political considerations and complex review procedures.

Redford said a common problem is finding nursing homes or other assisted-living facilities that will accept released inmates who have family to live with.

"Nursing homes don't want former felons," she said. "Some states are looking at starting long-term care facilities outside prison for that could take care of parolees."

For inmates who are terminally ill and have no close family on the outside, it's probably more humane to let them die in prison if there's a hospice program available, Redford said.

"The inmates who are volunteering are at those guys' sides when they die ? they're really committed to making the last days as comfortable as possible," Redford said. "They're not going to get that on the outside."

___

Online:

Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/

Association of State Correctional Administrators: http://www.asca.net/

___

David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-27-Aging%20America-Aging%20Inmates/id-edb1d2972c7649748f0202c02890c4a2

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Nintendo sees first annual loss, cuts 3DS forecast (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Nintendo Co Ltd posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit and forecast a bigger-than-expected full-year loss, its first at an operating level, as it battles a strong yen and its games devices lose ground to gadgets such as Apple's iPhone.

The creator of the Super Mario franchise dominated the video games industry for years with its DS handheld players and Wii home consoles, but is now struggling to keep up as more versatile smartphone and tablet sales boom.

"To say that (the days of consoles) are over is likely an overstatement, but social network and Internet delivered games are growing and structurally changing the future of the industry, which is a strong wind against Nintendo," said Shigeo Sugawara, senior investment manager at Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management.

Nintendo now expects an annual operating loss of 45 billion yen ($575 million), dwarfing expectations of a 4.2 billion yen loss, based on the average of 21 analyst forecasts.

"Their time of growth (from consoles) is over, and, while I don't think the company will cease to exist, if they don't move into new categories, they will no doubt lose the great scale they've amassed," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Tokyo.

Nintendo cut its forecast for annual sales of its ageing Wii console to 10 million devices from 12 million, and for the 3DS handheld games device to 14 million from 16 million.

"We had higher expectations for the year-end season, but failed to meet them," President Satoru Iwata told reporters in Osaka.

Poor sales forced Nintendo to slash the price of its much-anticipated 3DS handheld games device in August, just six months after its launch.

The move halted its record of making profits on games hardware as well as software, a business model that took operating income to a high of 555 billion yen in 2008/09.

Nintendo also faces tougher competition in the home console market from Sony Corp's Move and Microsoft Corp's Kinect, and Iwata said consumers were more eager than ever to seek out bargains in the harsh economic environment.

The company plans to launch the Wii's successor, the Wii U, in Japan, the United States, Europe and Australia in the year-end season, Iwata told reporters.

But with cloud-based gaming emerging as a potential threat, Nintendo may have trouble generating excitement about its new product, some analysts say. Google is taking steps into gaming with Google TV, while Apple is thought to be preparing a new iPad and possibly a smart TV that could be game-changers for the industry.

"We think we need to consider the possibility that home consoles could become a thing of the past," Citigroup analyst Soichiro Fukuda wrote in a recent report.

"We think the direction taken by marketing trendsetter Apple will be very important and we will be watching the company's announcements at future events with interest."

PROFIT FALLS

Nintendo's profit slumped to 40.9 billion yen for the traditionally strong October-December period, compared with a consensus estimate for 52 billion yen, based on a survey of three analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The results came a day after Apple blew away Wall Street's expectations with its own quarterly earnings.

Shares in Nintendo have halved to below 11,000 yen since the beginning of the financial year in April, hit by weak 3DS sales and market disappointment with the Wii U next-generation home console, unveiled at the E3 games show in June and set to go on sale late this year. At their peak, in late 2007, the shares traded at 73,200 yen.

Last week, the stock dipped to 10,020 yen, the lowest since April 2004, before either the DS or Wii were launched.

($1 = 77.58)

(Reporting by Yoshiyuki Osada in OSAKA and Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Ian Geoghegan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/tc_nm/us_nintendo_results

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Dortmund's Mario Goetze out for up to 2 months

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:57 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) -Borussia Dortmund says young star Mario Goetze will up be out for up to two months because of a pubic bone injury.

The loss of the 19-year-old midfielder is a big setback for the defending Bundesliga champions, who are in a three-team tie with Bayern Munich and Schalke at the top of the standings.

Dortmund thrashed Hamburger SV 5-1 without Goetze at the weekend to start the second half of the season.

The club says Goetze requires two weeks rest before he can start rehab due to a "stress reaction" and "overload" in the pubic bone.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Barca awaits Real Madrid again

Real Madrid probably will abandon its defensive strategy and go on the attack against Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Reuters
That's a reason?

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45175309/ns/sports-soccer/

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

GOP Clown Car Arrives in Florida, Thread Two (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190690795?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Can Communications Prevent Protests? | Government In The Lab

Contributed by: Jaime Gracia on January 23, 2012. I was interested in hearing from both the vendor and 1102 community on the "triggers" of a protest, and if any best practices could be conducted to avoid a protest or avoid a protest from being upheld.The post on GovLoop and LinkedIn elicited...????????

I was interested in hearing from both the vendor and 1102 community on the ?triggers? of a protest, and if any best practices could be conducted to avoid a protest or avoid a protest from being upheld.

The?post on GovLoop?and LinkedIn elicited some great feedback, although it was interesting to see the source of the comments (e.g. industry or government). Although the comments from industry focused on debriefs, government commentors focused on process. Nonetheless, a few best practices that government should exercise were understood by all:
  1. Keep the evaluation as simple as possible;
  2. Tell the offerors exactly what you are going to evaluate;
  3. Evaluate exactly what you told the offerors you were going to evaluate; and when the source selection is over,
  4. Tell the offerors exactly what you did evaluate (and ensure it?s what you said you were going to do?no more, no less).

If the playing field is kept level for all players and the government has a reasonable rationale for source selection decisions, a protest may not be avoided, but the government will ?win? by having the protest denied.

Nonetheless,?in today?s budget constrained environment, more companies are vying for fewer available government dollars, resulting in more protests. In the past, companies may have been hesitant to file a protest because there was another opportunity coming up or concerned about the relationship with the agency, but now the mentality is ?throw something against the wall and see if it sticks.?

Here is the where the divergence exists, in regards to debriefs. Industry continues to complain about the seemingly lack of transparent and quality debriefs, or being told no debriefs because they are not required.

Questions:

  • Would you say your agency conducts transparent debriefs that encourage relationships and communications?
  • Are your agency?s debriefs described as hostile and difficult by industry?
  • Are protests at your agency going up, and if so, why do you think that is?
  • If protests are going down or have been steady at your agency, what can you attribute to this decline or rate?

Related Articles::

Source: http://govinthelab.com/can-communications-prevent-protests/

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Groundbreaking jazz manager John Levy dies at 99 (AP)

ALTADENA, California ? John Levy, the first prominent African-American personal manager in the jazz or pop music field, whose clients included Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis, has died at age 99.

Devra Hall Levy posted on his website that her husband died Friday in his sleep at his home in Altadena, California, less than three months before his 100th birthday.

An accomplished bassist, the New Orleans-born Levy performed with such jazz greats as Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner and Billy Taylor in the 1940s before joining pianist George Shearing's original quintet. In the early 1950s, he became Shearing's full-time manager and later went on to form his own management agency, John Levy Enterprises Inc.

Levy's client roster over the years included more than 85 artists, including Wilson, Lewis, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Freddie Hubbard, Ahmad Jamal and Abbey Lincoln as well as comedian Arsenio Hall.

In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized Levy as a Jazz Master, the nation's highest jazz honor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_en_mu/us_obit_john_levy

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Matt Foreman: Investing in LGBT Leaders or Burning Them Out ...

It is the perennial challenge facing social change movements around the world: how to create the biggest impact with limited resources. The challenge becomes even more daunting for movements in which activists and nonprofits find themselves hugely out-funded by their opponents and fighting on ever-shifting terrain.

A case in point is the movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality. For many on the outside, the gay rights movement looks like a well-oiled and well-funded machine, making huge strides and delivering big wins. From the inside, however, it's a completely different reality. The overwhelming majority of organizational leaders feel besieged from all sides, including the demands of fundraising, managing personnel, keeping up with new technologies, and handling hostile media. Oh, yes, and then there's the actual mission -- fighting for equality against opponents with deep pockets and a seemingly bottomless bag of ugly tactics and attacks. It's little wonder there is so much burnout and leadership turnover in the movement.

At the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, we've had a firsthand view of how one LGBT organization has responded to these realities -- and grown its impact -- through a determined effort to strengthen its leadership, staffing, and organizational infrastructure. Before you stop reading this post at the mere mention of the words "organizational infrastructure," please check out a new video that tells the story of one organization's transformation in much more compelling and human terms.

The video was created by my colleagues here at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund to show how the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) used a Flexible Leadership Award to address some very real and urgent challenges it was facing.

Here's the story: since its founding 35 years ago, NCLR built an astounding record of success in securing equal rights for and combating discrimination against LGBT people through the courts. Its Executive Director, Kate Kendell, and its Legal Director, Shannon Minter, are arguably the gay community's most respected and beloved leaders. Like virtually every other movement organization, however, NCLR put all its energies and money into this work, with little going into investing in the people who actually do it.

Beginning in 2004, the pressures and demands on NCLR started escalating, beginning with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordering the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Almost immediately, the organization found itself at the center of a raging national debate over marriage equality. That peak was followed by a historic NCLR victory in the California Supreme Court striking down anti-marriage laws as unconstitutional. Then came the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, an ugly, exhausting, expensive, and ultimately losing campaign to preserve the freedom to marry in NCLR's home state. Throughout it all, NCLR was attracting a surge of attention, support, and demand for its legal and policy work while its leaders were struggling to hold on and address all the challenges and opportunities presented by an ever-changing political environment. Put simply, they were stretched thin and weren't sure how to fix the situation.

"We were worn down, and I didn't think I could keep on going, as much as I truly loved my job. There were obstacles standing in the way of our success that we couldn't see," Kendell says in the video. "We now have the tools and resources to truly empower ourselves as leaders in the LGBT equality movement."

Thanks to consulting and coaching help supported by the Flexible Leadership Award, a senior team now works collaboratively to set strategy for NCLR, with team members playing key management roles that previously might have fallen exclusively on Kendell and Minter. As a result, NCLR has strengthened its fundraising operations its and communications with media, supporters, and donors, and the organization has maintained -- and grown -- a strong base of funding, even during the economic downturn. And last but not least, NCLR has developed a pipeline to nurture future leaders of the organization -- and of the LGBT movement in general.

The NCLR story is an important one not just for the LGBT movement but for all social change movements. The reason: it shows why special attention needs to be paid to developing and nurturing the leadership that organizations and movements must have to be successful. At the same time, we need to be real. In these hard times, nonprofits will inevitably choose to cut these kinds of investments rather than lay off program staff. That means it's up to philanthropic foundations and private donors to add dedicated support for leadership development to their grants and donations, recognizing that relatively modest investments can go a very long way in ensuring that the movements and the organizations they care about are able to meet new challenges and succeed.

When you watch the video, you'll also meet former NCLR Deputy Director Kris Hermanns. Just a few days ago, she became the Executive Director of the Pride Foundation in Seattle, one of the LGBT movement's largest and most successful community foundations. This is exactly the kind of growth and upward mobility we need in the movement. Hermanns will surely be missed at NCLR. But while several years ago this type of transition might have shaken the organization, now NCLR has built a strong foundation that can weather these changes that benefit the larger movement.

The Haas, Jr. Fund, through its Nonprofit Leadership Program, has invested more than $11 million since 2005 to support a culture of shared leadership among its grantees. And the results are clear: these investments produce significant returns in the ability of movements to advance fundamental rights and create opportunities for all.

For more on the Haas, Jr. Fund Flexible Leadership Awards, see my colleague Linda Wood's recent post on Beth Kanter's blog.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-foreman/investing-in-lgbt-leaders_b_1214900.html

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Cowen: Google?s Mobile Ad Revenues Could Surge To $5.8 Billion In 2012

google-mobileHow much does Google make in advertising from mobile? Cowen analyst Jim Friedland estimates that Google is generating $7 per year from each smartphone (and tablet). This includes both search and display advertising in mobile apps on both Android and iOS (iPhones and iPads). Thanks to the rapid growth in smart mobile devices from an estimated 509 million last year to nearly double that in 2012 to an estimated 914 million, Google's mobile ad revenues are expected to more than double from an estimated $2.5 billion last year to $5.8 billion in 2012 (see chart).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7YIJmkX760M/

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Monday, January 16, 2012

49ers win wild one

SF blows early lead, but beats New Orleans 36-32 on Davis' TD catch with 9 seconds left

Image: David Akers, Alex Smith, Vernon DavisGetty Images

San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis, right, and quarterback Alex Smith, center, celebrate after the 49ers' 36-32 playoff win over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday. Smith completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Davis with 9 seconds left to put San Francisco ahead for good.

updated 9:53 p.m. ET Jan. 14, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO - What a way to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of "The Catch."

Joe Montana to Dwight Clark then.

Alex Smith to Vernon Davis now.

Smith completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Davis with 9 seconds left just after Drew Brees had put the high-powered Saints ahead, and resurgent San Francisco capitalized on five New Orleans turnovers for a thrilling 36-32 playoff victory Saturday.

"This is huge for us," Davis said. "It's history, legendary, anything you can describe."

Smith ran for a 28-yard TD with 2:11 left and threw another scoring pass to Davis in the first quarter. Coach Jim Harbaugh's NFC West champions (14-3) proved that a hard-hitting, stingy defense can still win in the modern, wide-open NFL by holding off one of league's most dynamic offenses.

Brees completed a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with 1:37 left and the Saints seemed poised to rally from an early 17-point deficit when Smith and Davis delivered once more. It was a wild back-and-forth finish featuring an impressive passing duel over the waning moments.

Their highlight show came in the opposite end zone from where Clark caught a stretched-out 6-yard pass from Montana on Jan. 10, 1982. Saturday's game-winner by a leaping Davis ? who plowed over a defender as he landed ? came in the same end zone where Steve Young hit Terrell Owens for a winning TD with 3 seconds left in a 30-27 wild-card win over the Packers in the 1999 playoffs. T.O.'s grab became known as "The Catch II."

How about this one?

"You've got to call it the grab," Davis said of his play. "We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go."

San Francisco triumphed in its first playoff game in nine years and will move on to face the New York Giants or defending champion Green Bay Packers, who play Sunday. A win by the Giants would give the 49ers the home field.

The 49ers pulled off another last-second win in a season full of them ? and on a day former coach George Seifert served as honorary captain for the coin toss. San Francisco came from behind for five victories during the regular season, four on the road.

Davis, who wept on the sideline afterward days after saying he was overwhelmed early by Harbaugh's thick playbook, finished with seven catches for 180 yards. It was the most yards receiving by a tight end in a playoff game. He averaged 25.7 yards per catch.

Brees came up big down the stretch just as he did throughout a record-setting season, also hitting Darren Sproles for a 44-yard TD with 4:02 remaining ? one of Sproles' 15 catches for 119 yards.

"It stings right now because of the expectation level that we had coming into this tournament and understanding that if we win here we're into the NFC championship game and anything can happen," Brees said. "That's tough. Tough to swallow at this point."

The 49ers also showed that defense can still dominate in the days of big passers like Brees.

With Donte Whitner bringing the bruising hits and Dashon Goldson, Patrick Willis and their defensive mates pressuring Brees and forcing turnovers from every angle, surprising San Francisco is a win away from returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since capturing the proud franchise's fifth championship after the 1994 season.

Brees, whose team was coming off consecutive 600-yard games, completed 40 of 63 passes for 462 yards and four touchdowns and was sacked three times. He also threw two interceptions, his first in the postseason in five years, and New Orleans (14-4) fell short again in its quest to get back to the Super Bowl after winning it all two years ago. The Saints are still searching for the first postseason road victory in franchise history after falling to 0-5.

"Kind of an unbelievable game the way it went back and forth," New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. "It's obviously a difficult game to lose."

How far these 49ers have come since that 24-3 trouncing they took back in August at the Superdome in the teams' exhibition opener. Now, Harbaugh's "Who's got it better than us? No-body!" group is drawing comparisons to the good ol' days of Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and Steve Young. And of course, Dwight Clark, who came through with "The Catch" to beat Dallas in the NFC title game on Jan. 10, 1982.

All-Pro David Akers, the Niners' most experienced playoff veteran whose 44 field goals set a single-season record, kicked three more when it mattered most ? from 25, 41 and 37 yards.

The underdog 49ers made the big plays on both sides of the ball and on special teams.

"Guys were so confident, as long as we had time we had a shot," Smith said.

They also had a towel-waving sellout crowd of 69,732 behind them at Candlestick Park on a beautiful sunny winter day in the Bay Area. It was 62 degrees at kickoff.

Who Dat? It's the Saints headed home to the Big Easy empty-handed.

A year ago, New Orleans came out West and suffered a stunning loss to the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks in the NFC wild-card round.


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49ers win wild one

??The 49ers and Saints combine for three TDs over the final 2:11 with Vernon Davis' 14-yard score with 9 seconds left giving San Francisco a 36-32 victory.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45999499/ns/sports-nfl/

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Missing teenager Natalee Holloway declared dead (AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The parents of Natalee Holloway looked on somberly as a judge on Thursday declared their child dead, more than six years after the American teenager vanished during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba.

"We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," Dave Holloway said after a brief hearing. He said the judge's order closes one chapter in a long ordeal, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice."

Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005. The 18-year-old was last seen leaving a bar early that morning with a young Dutchman, Joran van der Sloot. Her body was never found and the ensuing searches for the young woman would reap intense media scrutiny and worldwide attention.

Thursday's hearing was scheduled long before van der Sloot ? a suspect questioned in Holloway's disappearance ? pleaded guilty Wednesday in Peru to the 2010 murder of a woman he met at a casino in Lima. Stephany Flores, 21, was killed five years to the day after Holloway, an 18-year-old from the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, disappeared.

Shortly after Flores' death on May 30, 2010, van der Sloot told police he killed the woman in Peru in a fit of rage after she discovered on his laptop his connection to the disappearance of Holloway. Police forensic experts disputed the claim.

Dave Holloway told the judge in September he believed his daughter had died and he wanted to stop payments on her medical insurance and use her $2,000 college fund to help her younger brother.

The teen's mother originally objected, but her lawyer, Charlie DeBardeleben, said she subsequently changed her mind once she understood her husband's intentions.

Natalee Holloway's parents were divorced in 1993 and Beth Holloway sat in the back row of the courtroom, mostly staring at her hands in her lap through the hearing Thursday afternoon in a probate court in Birmingham.

Although Beth Holloway declined to speak to journalists, her attorney signaled it was a difficult moment for her to witness a judge signing the order declaring her daughter dead.

"She's ready to move on from this," DeBardeleben added.

Mark White, an attorney for Dave Holloway, told the judge just before he announced his decision, that there was no evidence that Holloway was alive.

"Despite all that no evidence has been found Natalee Holloway is alive," he told the judge, noting that exhaustive searches, blanket international media coverage and even the offer of rewards had turned up nothing new.

King had ruled in September that Dave Holloway had met the legal presumption of death for his daughter and it was up to someone to prove she didn't die on a high school graduation trip. He had set the hearing after a period of several months in the event anyone might come forward with new information.

However, investigators have long worked from the assumption that the young woman was dead in Aruba, where the case was officially classified as a homicide investigation.

That investigation remains open, though there has been no recent activity, said Solicitor General Taco Stein, an official with the prosecutor's office on the Dutch Caribbean island.

"The team that was acting in that investigation still is functioning as a team and they get together whenever there is information or things are needed in the case or a new tip arrives," Stein said in a phone interview Thursday.

Dave Holloway said he hopes the 24-year-old van der Sloot, who is awaiting sentencing in Lima, gets a 30-year prison term sought by Peruvian prosecutors.

"Everybody knows his personality. I believe he is beyond rehabilitation," Holloway said.

Attorneys said both parents also expressed hope that van der Sloot's next stop is Birmingham, where he faces federal charges accusing him of extorting $25,000 from Beth Holloway to reveal the location of her daughter's body.

Prosecutors said the money was paid, but nothing was disclosed about the missing woman's whereabouts.

"I expect to see him in Birmingham," Dave Holloway said Thursday.

____

Online: AP interactive - http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/natalee-holloway

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_teen_aruba

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Guatemala leader takes office pledging 'iron fist' (AP)

GUATEMALA CITY ? Retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina was sworn in as president of Guatemala on Saturday, calling on the United States and Mexico to help him fight a wave of drug trafficking and violence that has overwhelmed the Central American country.

Perez won over voters by pledging to crush criminality with an "iron fist." Mexican drug cartels have seized large swatches of territory in Guatemala, which has one of the world's highest homicide rates.

Perez, 61, is the first military officer elected as Guatemalan president since the end of a military government 25 years ago. He served in that administration as director of intelligence.

"The change has begun," Perez told cheering supporters Saturday in Guatemala City. "We are committed to the peace and integral security that we all desire."

"Today I call on my international associates to combat drug trafficking: Mexico, Central America and I make a special call to the United States..." Perez said.

His tough campaign resonated in a country of more than 13 million people where murders are committed at a rate of 41 for every 100,000 residents, according to a recent U.N. homicide report. That is well over twice the rate in neighboring Mexico.

"He was the only one who from the start had a national security program," said Leonel Archila, a 43-year-old businessman among the 5,000 people at the ceremony. About half were Guatemalans bused in from around the country. All wore blue or white shirts and sat in sections organized to form a giant Guatemalan flag.

The mood was marred by the assassination a day earlier of congressman Oscar Valentin Leal Caal, who was shot to death outside the headquarters of the former ruling party. Colleagues said he had been in negotiations to join the new president's party.

"We are profoundly concerned about the assassination of Leal, an elected representative of the people, and we hope to see the investigation generate results," U.S. Ambassador Arnold Chacon said.

Close advisers say Perez supports meeting the conditions set by the U.S. Congress for restoring aid it eliminated in 1978 ? halfway through the Central American country's 36-year civil war.

Among the requirements is reform of a weak justice system that has failed to bring to justice those responsible for abuses during the conflict. A U.N.-sponsored postwar truth commission said state forces and related paramilitary groups committed most of the killings.

The U.S. also insists that the government back a U.N.-supported international anti-corruption team whose prosecution effort has been criticized by Guatemala's political elite.

Perez has long insisted there were no massacres, human rights violations or genocide in a conflict that killed 200,000 civilians, mostly Mayan Indians.

"I suffered and lived through the armed conflict and 15 years after having signed the (peace) agreement Guatemalans are still being betrayed," Perez said on Saturday. "I pray to God for a true reconciliation. I pray that my generation is the last of war and the next one is the first of peace."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_guatemala_inauguration

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45970023#45970023

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