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Cops: Delaware day care encouraged toddlers to fight

Day care workers in Philadelphia are accused of staging and recording toddlers fighting. WCAU's Claudia Rivero reports.

By NBC News staff and NBCPhiladelphia.com

Authorities have suspended a Delaware day care's license?after three employees there allegedly encouraged a?pair of toddlers?to fight one another.

Cell phone video taken in March appears to show?two three-year-olds fighting the Hands of Our Future Daycare in Dover, Del., while three female workers cheer them on, according to Dover Police.

Several other children were roaming around in the room at the time, Delaware Online reported.

For more visit NBCPhiladelphia.com.

CBS Philadelphia reported that in the video, police say one child can be heard crying and yelling, "He?s pinching me," while a day care worker responds, "No pinching, only punching."

On Monday, police?arrested Tiana Harris, 19, of?Dover; Estefania Myers, 21, of Felton; and Lisa Parker, 47, of Dover. All three women face two counts each of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment as well as nine counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count each of conspiracy.

?Clearly one of the children is crying and does not want to continue on, and he is pushed back into the fray by one of the adults,? Dover Police Captain Tim Stump told CBS.

According to Delaware Online, police said Harris and Myers were ?shown and heard laughing and encouraging the altercation."

The incident came to light when a Dover police officer saw the video over the weekend during an unrelated investigation and alerted detectives.

The city business license for Hands of Our Future was suspended pending a hearing, police said.

?It?s shocking, disturbing and infuriating to watch this video that shows the two children whaling on each other,? Stump told Delaware Online. ?These are our most precious cargo and to have adults responsible for caring for their well-being to have them behave as such is sickening.?

Stump added that it is unclear whether other children were involved.

Parent Cristyl Slack, who said she has known Myers since childhood, told CBS her 4-year-old daughter was at the day care on the day of the fight. She said she was angry the allegations were just coming out now, months later.

?I feel if my daughter is around anything, I should have known that day,? Slack said.

?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/21/13394425-delaware-day-care-workers-arrested-for-allegedly-encouraging-toddlers-to-fight?lite

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Dredging Today ? The Netherlands: GREENFORCE Ball Joint ...

GREENFORCE Ball Joint Nominated for Maritime Innovation Award

VOSTA LMG has received a nomination for the development of the GREENFORCE ball joint.

This is a revolutionary design of a ball joint for the use in floating pipelines behind cutter suction dredgers. The new design reduces costs and reaches several advantages for the environment.

The nominees of the Dutch HME Maritime Innovation Award 2012 are VOSTA LMG, Huisman Equipment BV, Kranendonk Production Systems BV, and Imtech Marine & Offshore BV.

GREENFORCE Ball Joint

The revolutionary new design, based on GREENFORCE technology, provides full wear liner protection and will result in less power and fuel consumption, less CO2 emission, less wear and has the possibility to apply a modern, self lubricating bearing system, avoiding the need for grease.

In the past 40 years little has changed in the design of ball joints for the dredging industry. As experienced supplier of ball joints, VOSTA LMG has identified several improvement points.

One of these points is the metal to metal bearing area. The grease required for these bearings will end up in the maritime environment. The GREENFORCE ball joints enable the use of a modern, self lubricating bearing system.

The flow pattern inside the ball joint also provides room for improvement. VOSTA LMG has managed to substantially reduce the flow resistance, turbulence and flow speed, which caused loss of energy and internal wear.

Dredging Today Staff, August 22, 2012; Image: vostalmg

Source: http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2012/08/22/the-netherlands-greenforce-ball-joint-nominated-for-maritime-innovation-award/

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Does the Human Brain Sense Major Future Catastrophic Events ...

Some believe that the Human Brain knows when something bad is going to happen? Perhaps, you?ve experienced anxiety prior to a major big event. If it was an Earthquake, or a Volcano, then there might be an explanation for that due to small earthquake swarms that your body feels, but consciously does not break us out of our fast-paced life.

Now then, with regards to 911 event, I recall that in Princeton they have an EGG Project where they noted a ?spike? in what they call the ?collective consciousness? which was very interesting ? human brain wave frequency spectrum spikes. And really I am not completely sure of the accuracy of that, but listened to some late-night talk show Coast-to-Coast interview with some academic scholars. I take anything on that show with a grain of salt, however, it was an interesting topic even if Sci Fi like speculation.

Nevertheless, if we go down this path of speculation into that which is not known, one could ask the question; does human thought control the Sun, or does the Sun control human thought? It would make sense that any evolved species on this planet would have evolved and adapted to the heat and light sources, that is self-evident, so obviously there is a correlation, and to deny it is simply a miss of science. The question of does human thought control the Sun would be akin to the once-upon-a-time thought that the Universe revolved around Earth, it?s an ego-centric error most likely. But it is possible that the Sun or solar flares effect human thought or our entire biosystem in some way.

The Solar Maximum/Minimum Cycle is said to be 22-years (11 give or take on each side) although I wonder if that is accurate, as we have not been measuring it to the degree we can today for very long. And like any surfer will tell you, the 9th wave of the 9th set is the best to surf on, so you wait for the sets until it is upon you. So, considering Cycles in nature, economics, business, climate, life, weather, patterns, and complex systems it is possible that we don?t know all we think we know, due to our lack of observational ability, and the reality of the rouge-wave or ?black swan? event, which just throws a wringer in everything and blows out all the mathematical modeling running current data into the infinite when we know or should know that just doesn?t fit the geological record on Earth or other long-term evidence elsewhere.

So, yes the solar maximum will be cooking along for all we know in 2012, which should cause increased ambient atmospheric temperatures, expansion of the atmosphere, and play into the hands of global warming alarmists due to water supplies, droughts, and temperatures. Also increased hurricane seasons and storms perhaps as well. This could cause additional chaos in an already economically shaken world. Increased energy costs due to unfortunate legislation and global warming theories will exacerbate the problem causing scarcity, non of this is very good, but it is inevitable due to human actions. There will be fortunes lost and opportunities made, such is the case in any crisis.

In Arthur C Clarke?s second book with Stephen Baxter; ?SunStorm? there are some really interesting issues to consider, and lots of thought went into that book. Imagine working in the DOD; I guess I?d be concerned with satellite communications and back-ups, network relays, outages, etc. We cannot allow our Nation?s defense systems to be let down in case of such events. Regardless if these events happen in the near future or far off future, the reality is they will happen, and this planet has experienced magnetic disturbances, solar flares, space weather, etc. many times over billions of years, and will again, so we need to be thinking here, as what if the entire net-centric grid goes down.

Consumers will be pissed due to their new 3D TV Soccer World Cup satellite going down, or their Google Phone GPS, or maybe in the future self-driving car on the fritz, but that is nothing compared to the disruptions of 3G, 4G wireless communication or the US Militaries eye?s blinded and 100s of billions of dollars in satellite communication rendered in-operative. That is scary stuff, we need a plan, a real one, not run-for-cover, scrambling chaotic mess.

Speaking of the Mayan Calendar, I am sure that it is irrelevant, and even love to joke about it; ?the Mayan?s just ran out of stone to keep making their calendar? and that was the day it happened to end on? I guess my biggest issue, and yes, I like to watch the ?end-of-the-world? Hollywood Movies also, they are an intriguing genre indeed. But even in real life we have all these scare tactics to move agenda?s ?created realities? or ?created crisis? such as Y2K, total nuclear war annihilation, Ice Age, Global Warming, Major Asteroid Strike, Bird Flu, etc, it?s always something to propel fear and every religion; god bless them has some end-of-times scenario too.

The Mayan?s seem to believe that they had knowledge of time of renewal or beginning, which we have taken out of context to coincide with end-of-times prophesy. Not sure why humans feel the need to do this? All this doom and gloom is not so good. Worse, we know there is such a thing as forced prophesy or self-fulfilled prophesy, and that is very scary when you have folks who wish to bring about such things in real life or promote them until that time period passes.

Anyway, yes, I?d say that the notations you made in looking at world events and Solar Flares is interesting especially 911, and more research should be done there, there is much more to the story. I?ve even ran across some very interesting way-out conspiracy theories that actually make sense, in an improve-able way when it comes to 911, which is a cool place to think, as long as one does not fill their minds with nonsense, as it could make for a rather excellent SCI FI thriller screenplay.

Maybe the human mind does experience pre-knowledge of catastrophic events through time and in advance on a cellular level though some sort of unknown quantum mechanics relationship. We don?t know, but it is a fun place to think, even if there may be nothing to it at all. Please consider all this.

Source: http://www.spirit917fm.com/209-does-the-human-brain-sense-major-future-catastrophic-events.html

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Fitted to the lasting appeal - Atv Classifieds

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Source: http://www.adjingo.com/atv/free-ads-118205.html

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Scott Brown says Rep. Akin should step down after ?legitimate rape? comment

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., calls on Akin to step aside. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts is calling on Rep. Todd Akin to drop out of the Missouri Senate race after he said yesterday that victims of "legitimate rape" do not need access to legal abortions because they rarely become pregnant.

Brown is facing a challenge from Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren this November. Brown called Akin's comments "outrageous" in a statement:

As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for US Senate in Missouri.

Earlier on Monday, Mitt Romney called Akin's comments "insulting" but stopped short of asking him to step aside. Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom is also an adviser on Brown's campaign. At least four other Republican Senate candidates have criticized Akin since Sunday, Talking Points Memo reported, and no national Republican has ventured to defend Akin.

Akin said in a local TV interview on Sunday that women who are raped usually do not become pregnant because of some biological mechanism, and thus don't merit an exception to his plan to outlaw abortion. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said. He later said he "misspoke" and understood that rapes can result in pregnancy.

Polls show Akin has a slight lead over Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri, which has been trending away from Democrats. Under Missouri law, Akin could step down and be replaced by Republican Party leaders without a penalty no later than Tuesday. He has until Sept. 25 to withdraw via a court order.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/scott-brown-says-rep-akin-step-down-legitimate-145729298.html

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England v South Africa: 3rd Test, Day Four, Live Stream, Where to Watch Online, Preview

England eked out a six run lead over South Africa on the third day of the third Test between the two countries. The hosts responded to South Africa's first innings score of 309 with a 315 lead by new boy Jonny Bairstow's 95 and Ian Bell's 58. The visitors closed the day's play on 145/3 after Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann took two quick wickets to reduce them to 50/2.

Day Three:

The day's action started with England picking up from a position of 208/5 in response to South Africa's first innings score and with Bairstow and Matt Prior at the crease. They opened well, cautiously, looking to build confidence and rhythm before scoring but it all went wrong after Graeme Smith took the new ball.

Prior played to a loose ball outside off and nicked it straight to Jacques Kallis in the slips, giving Vernon Philander his second wicket of the match. Broad followed soon after, falling to Dale Steyn (4/94) and after Bairstow, stifled and forced into a run drought by some excellent bowling, was bowled by Morne Morkel, England, at 264/8, were staring at a first innings deficit. Fortunately, the tail wagged slightly and a fighting and unbeaten 37 from Swann led them to a narrow lead. However, they will be disappointed at not having a bigger one, given they had the time and personnel to do that.

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South Africa came out to bat with a bit of a dilemma. With 50 overs left in the day, should they go for their shots, get some runs and put pressure on their hosts or play the day out and wait for a fresh start? As it turned out, Swann and Broad made up their minds for them, removing Smith and Alviro Petersen in the matter of a couple of overs. With both openings back in the pavilion, it was left to old hands Hashim Amla and Kallis to steady the ship and they did just that, putting on 81 for the third wicket. The Proteas would ideally have preferred the two batted through the day but England struck with only a few overs left to leave the match, once again, on a razor's edge. Steven Finn trapped Kallis in front and the all-rounder left after a strong 31; all three of the South African batsmen left after a good start, which will be good news for England.

Day Four:

South Africa already have a 1-0 lead in this three match series. A draw will be happily taken at this point, since it guarantees a series win and the No 1 ranking. To that end, Amla and Steyn (in as a nightwatchman) will look to keep England on the field for as long as possible, if only to tire them physically and mentally. The visitors still have considerable batting to come, with AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph and Jean-Paul Duminy still to bat but Amla will be the key man. His mental fortitude and ability to bat prolonged periods under intense pressure will be the perfect foil for others to build innings of their own.

England, meanwhile, have no choice. They must win this Test in order to retain their top ranking and to do that they have to bowl South Africa out as quickly as possible... this means they have to attack from the very first ball. The key for Andrew Strauss could be how much turn Swann gets from the pitch in these last couple of days. The South Africans are not the greatest players of spin and if Swann, who already has a wicket this innings, can get Amla out quickly, the rest could be easy.

Teams:

England: A Strauss (c), A Cook, J Trott, I Bell, J Taylor, J Bairstow, M Prior (wk), S Broad, G Swann, J Anderson, S Finn

South Africa: G Smith (c), A Petersen, H Amla, J Kallis, AB de Villiers (wk), J Rudolph, JP Duminy, V Philander, D Steyn, M Morkel, I Tahir

Umpires: Kumara Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Simon Taufel (Australia)

Where to Watch Live:

You can follow the game live from 10.30 am BST to 7 pm BST on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD 1. Special commentary will be available on BBC 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 LW and via the BBC Sport Web site.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/375091/20120819/england-south-africa-third-test-live-stream.htm

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State vehicle insurance policy. Get Auto Insurance Quotes and ...

Article by Kumarsk

Need to locate a straightforward definition of Car Insurance coverage?An policy that is acquired by the owner of the motor vehicle to cover losses due to thefts, targeted traffic mishaps is termed as car Auto insurance coverage is a smart monetary device for the shoppers offering protection and protection against expensive and harmful surprises in the form of highway mishaps and thefts. Several important elements like one?s age, intercourse, status of marital, past claim report, previous driving heritage influences his anticipated foreseeable future car insurance policy claim. Car is a single the primary insurance coverage comparison sites offering a number of insurance policies and coverage possibilities to help the clients find the finest coverage.Fetch Optimum Discounts with the support of our comparison facility at the click of a button We charge distinct automobile rates for various customers on the foundation of a number of specific aspects and factors like age, sex, earlier driving document and motor vehicle make and design, amongst other factors. Your are entitled to get more than 10%-15% discount on your whole cost if you are using same supplier for purchasing your car, house and daily life insurance services. There are several firms connected with automobile insurance that are providing numerous varieties auto insurance quotes of special discounts to its buyers like many automobile savings, great driving savings, anti-theft special discounts, and so on. You can save on your auto insurance fees by simply swapping your present firm and appear for beautiful special discounts with a new supplier. Merely trying to keep a great, clean driving document and excellent credit history will entitle you to obtain some fantastic reductions.et connected to most Easy and price-effective Vehicle with usAuto is reputed as the very best Web advertising and marketing resource in the business to help the consumers obtaining finest, reliable quotes at the comfort of their homes. Auto Insurance policy can aid you find the finest insurance policy bargains in the complete place with our comparison facility. Carrying out complete research and study of the estimate picked is essential ahead of signing on the final coverage. Our top automobile comparison facility can very easily conserve your hundreds of bucks by comparison of numerous prices and prices, aiding you discover the very best program.Discover Most Inexpensive Car Insurance coverage Quote Choose free auto prices with us and get the most inexpensive car insurance policy offer. We can support you in creating a proper decision relating to the automobile coverage, supplying you with the most critical automobile details. We can help you auto insurance quotes in choosing the right offer alongside with offering free of charge info and assets relating to e. A buyer really should compare insurance policy prices in purchase to fetch the superb reasonably priced and cheap car deal. If you are browsing for most reasonably priced vehicle policy coverage, then you can simplify your search by visiting us. You can acquire the best car quote from the top rated-notch insurance policies providers, supporting you fetch the best auto insurance deal according to your precise needs.Pick the very best vehicle coverage for youOur firm will help you in finding very low-cost go over in accordance to your specific needs and demands. With us, the buyers can easily find an insurance policy coverage cover in their budget and meets their economic and time requirements. Appear for the greatest insurance possibilities like complete protection, numerous motor vehicle, luxury cars etc. at our comparison service. We can assist you in situation of your mishaps with our greatest automobile policies that can avail you full financial protection. You can decrease price of teenage vehicle insurance policy by availing the most affordable coverage for your teenager with us. We bring you the greatest insurance insurance policies from leading companies which are most inexpensive and low-cost at our comparison services.

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Originally posted 2012-03-28 07:18:43.

Category: General Topics |

Source: http://www.dayingjiayulecheng.com/2012/08/19/state-vehicle-insurance-policy-get-auto-insurance-quotes-and-rates-on-line/19

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Does Debt Consolidation Work? - Women In The Black | Personal ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A personal finance and education website for women. Join our ... Pauline Heng, Operations Manager at Collection House Limited, states debt consolidation does not work effectively to change people's bad spending habits. The method does ...

Source: http://womenintheblack.com.au/does-debt-consolidation-work/

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SF Mayor Encourages Lawn Mowing

SIOUX FALLS, SD -

Sioux Falls mayor Mike Huether is urging homeowners to mow their lawns this weekend to keep weeds in-check.

You're also urged to call the city's Lawn Enforcement Hotline if you see weeds or grass that have grown over eight inches high.

That number is 605-978-6900.

? 2012 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/sf-mayor-encourages-lawn-mowing/?id=136059

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nfl: Eagles' Rodgers-Cromartie fined $21k for Leftwich hit. http://t.co/SVH7jTJw

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

Source: http://twitter.com/nfl/statuses/236582588448399360

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Gillmor Gang Live 08.17.12. (TCTV)

Gillmor Gang test patternGillmor Gang - Robert Scoble, Keith Teare, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor. Recording live at 1pm Pacific.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/f-WHQRDdiEo/

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New Super Mario Bros. 2

By Will Greenwald

It seems strange to keep calling a game ?New? when it's the third ?New? game in a row with the fourth on the way, but New Super Mario Bros. 2? does just that. It's a ?New? sequel to a ?New? game that's a successor to the side-scrolling Mario games that helped define gaming for decades. And, sadly, this $39.99 (direct)?Nintendo 3DS? (and 3DS XL?) game isn't particularly ?new? in any way besides its name. It lives up to the high standards set by the rest of the Mario series, but it doesn't actually offer anything new that isn't a gimmick with little significance in the game. It's still a great play-through, but it's effectively the same game you played on the DS with New Super Mario Bros., the Wii with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and presumably on the upcoming Wii U with New Super Mario Bros. U.

The Basics
The premise is standard Mario fare: Bowser and his kids kidnapped Princess Peach and you need to rescue her. This time the kids are mercifully the Koopalings, musically-named offspring from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, and not the insufferable Bowser Jr. from Super Mario Sunshine. You have to run through eight worlds, two of which are optional and require tricks to access, before finally fighting Bowser.

This is the same Mario gameplay you've enjoyed in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros., and if you're an old-school gamer Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3. You play Mario as he runs across sprawling levels, jumping on enemies and picking up items like fire flowers and tanuki leaves. It's simple and works well, and the controls are responsive enough to never make you feel frustrated when you die.

The Coins
Besides the standard princess-rescuing mission, Mario has the vague mission to collect as many coins as possible. This becomes an important part of the level design and Mario's new powers, but it doesn't actually affect the game's story, progression, or mechanics. You still beat each level by jumping on a Mario flagpole or beating a boss, you still unlock different routes in each world by collecting special star coins in each level and using them at signposts. The only hint that anything has changed is that the game throws coins at you constantly. They appear out of nowhere, and new power-ups like the gold flower and gold block let you explode enemies and bricks into flowers and run around with a trail of gold coins behind you.

While coins are supposedly made more important in this game, they have less value than in any other Mario game. Their only in-game use is, like in other Mario games, to give you an extra life for every 100 coins (and lives haven't mattered in Mario games since the Nintendo Entertainment System). Besides that, you're collecting coins for the sake of collecting and they only serve as a vague score mechanic, similar to the conventional point-based scoring the game still does. Unlike the space theme and gravity mechanic of the Super Mario Galaxy games or even the water-spraying mechanic of Super Mario Sunshine, the coins in New Super Mario Bros. 2 feel like a gimmick for gimmick's sake, and were shoved into the game with no thought for how they integrate. Nintendo wasted an opportunity here to give coins actual value and put a twist on the decades-old concept. Instead of mushroom houses that give Mario items, mushroom stores could have sold Mario items. Special stores could have unlocked bonuses like concept art or older games. There could have even been an overarching goal to collect a lot of coins to get the best ending like in the Wario games. Instead, Nintendo just dumped tons of extra coins into a Mario game that's just like the last few Mario games.

The coins serve some use in multiplayer, but only as a scoring mechanic beyond the points of which the game also keeps track. You can play through Coin Rush courses, sets of three randomly chosen levels, and see how many coins you can get. You can then share your high score through SpotPass, and challenge other players nearby.

The 3D
Like the coins, the 3D integration is another underwhelming gimmick. Instead of taking advantage of working on multiple levels, the 3D just makes the background pull farther back and the information on the screen pop out slightly. It doesn't change the game or add any real depth in the slightest, and since the backgrounds themselves are completely flat they don't even help make the levels seem bigger. The Paper Mario games ironically used depth better than this, and hopefully Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS will make better use of the glasses-free 3DS of the handheld.

These missed opportunities don't mean New Super Mario Bros. 2 is bad, though. On the contrary, it's an excellent game on its own. It's just the same excellent game we've played twice before. The controls are responsive, the level designs are occasionally inspired (but not often), and depending on whether you go after the star coins in each level the game offers anywhere from a relatively breezy path to a surprisingly hard challenge. However, Mario set the standard for platforming games, and with few exceptions every new Mario game has had some change to make it seem fresh. The ones that haven't (Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii) offered such stellar level design that they made up for it. New Super Mario Bros. 2 puts grossly superficial changes on a well-known foundation and it makes the whole affair seem like a gaudy DLC pack rather than a sequel.?It plays great and it's an entertaining romp, but the ?New? before its name and the number after it just don't feel justified.

More Video Game Reviews:
??? New Super Mario Bros. 2
??? Skyrim: Dawnguard
??? London 2012: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games
??? Gravity Rush (PS Vita)
??? Max Payne 3
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/AHCjOTEMljw/0,2817,2408517,00.asp

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Report Reveals Canadian Minister Was Briefed on Potential RIM Takeover

Today in international tech news: It was revealed the Canadian industry minister was briefed last spring on a potential RIM takeover. Also: The prime minister of Uganda, a country well-noted for its stance against homosexuality, had pro-gay messages posted on his website by hackers; Eastern European hackers targeted Australia; and Google Earth may have unearthed hitherto unknown pyramids in Egypt.


Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/227b88e5/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C759360Bhtml/story01.htm

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What Google auto-fill thinks about your state

9 hrs.

Google's suggested search terms are alternately helpful, funny and nonsensical?? sometimes all three at once. This handy interactive map lets you check out what people seem to think about all 50 states, or at least what Google thinks they think.

The creator, Renee DiResta, thought it would be fun to see what others felt about each state by typing "why is (state name) so?..." and letting Google fill in the rest.?

The results are accurate in a way, highlighting at least what people seem to care about when it comes to those states: Wyoming is windy, unpopulated, empty and cold; California is liberal, broke, anti-gun and expensive; Pennsylvania is boring, haunted, humid and famous. And so on.

Auto-fill results will change depending on the season, of course. Right now political questions are contending with the?weather for most queried, but the map would probably look different if it weren't an election year, or if it were football season. Results also depend on your search history and location.

It's still good fun, although plenty of the suggestions are less than charitable. Don't blame Google for thinking you're trying to ask why Florida is "so trashy"?? remember, these autofill databases are built by what users search for, not the personal opinions of Googlers.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/what-google-auto-fill-thinks-about-your-state-947728

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Workers Compensation Litigation Trends - 2012 Edition | Workers ...

Michigan workers compensation attorney lists four trends that are influencing our practice and changing how we handle cases.

Social Media: Surveillance and activities checks are nothing new in the field of workers compensation. Insurance companies have always followed our clients looking for evidence of fraud or deceit. Social media websites are providing a brand new set of problems. Our clients are posting pictures and comments that can be used against them at trial, most of the time out of context. We have seen claims adjusters make snap decisions based solely upon what is found on Facebook or Twitter. Some employers are even requiring employees turn over login credentials as a condition of employment.

Partial disability: House Bill 5002 was signed by Governor Snyder in December 2011. This legislation changes how wage loss benefits are calculated. If an insurance company or employer determines that a person is only partially disabled, wage loss benefits can be reduced or even eliminated. This is based upon ?wage earning capacity? which is the person?s theoretical ability to find post-injury employment. Since it does not matter whether or not wages are actually earned, a person could find themselves with no wage loss benefits and no job.

More disputed medical: House Bill 5002 gives employers more control over the choice of medical providers. The injured worker must now wait 28 days to select his or her own doctor. This is significant because most minor injuries are resolved within a month. This effectively eliminates employee choice. Our experience shows that this also delays correct diagnosis and treatment. As a result, we are seeing more cases where the insurance company refuses to authorize reasonable and necessary medical care.

Pre-existing conditions: Insurance companies are now saying more conditions are related to old age. The facts surrounding an injury are often disregarded if an MRI shows arthritis in a person?s back or neck. Conditions like degenerative disc disease or stenosis are often used as a magic bullet to stop the payment of benefits. This problem has become even worse as magistrates try to adapt to a heightened evidentiary standard for these types of claims.

To speak with one of our workers compensation attorneys in Michigan, call (855) 221-COMP for a free consultation. There is no fee unless workers compensation benefits are recovered.

- Alex Berman is the founder of Michigan Workers Comp Lawyers. He?s been representing injured and disabled workers exclusively for more than 35 years.? Alex has helped countless people obtain workers compensation benefits and never charges a fee to review a case.

Related information:

How a workers compensation attorney can help you

Source: http://workerscomplawyerhelp.com/workers-comp-lawyer-blog/2012/08/workers-compensation-litigation-trends-2012-edition/

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ১৬ আগস্ট, ২০১২

Psychopaths get time off for bad brains

Biological evidence may prompt sentencing break for violent offenders

Web edition : 4:08 pm

A callous, manipulative psychopath convicted of a brutal crime can count on a long prison stint. But a judge may issue a slightly shorter sentence if presented with a biological explanation for the criminal?s psychopathic personality.

Supplying judges with scientific evidence about suspected brain deficits in psychopathy led to a reduction in prison sentences from about 14 years to 13 years, researchers report in the Aug. 17 Science. The results come from a nationwide, online survey of state judges given a hypothetical scenario about a psychopath convicted of what lawyers call aggravated battery.

Judges taking the survey tended to view psychopathic criminals as dangerous, whether or not scientific evidence was introduced, say psychologist Lisa Aspinwall, lawyer Teneille Brown and philosopher James Tabery, all of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. A hypothetical psychopath in the new study got sent to the slammer for longer than the average nine-year sentence given to non-psychopaths found guilty of aggravated battery in real courts.

Aspinwall and her colleagues informed judges that clinicians use psychopathy ? which is not an official psychiatric diagnosis ? to refer to individuals who are impulsive, emotionally shallow, outwardly charming, lacking in empathy or remorse, chronic liars and callous manipulators (SN: 12/9/06, p. 379). Judges were told that psychopathy is incurable.

But any tendency toward reduced sentences for psychopathic convicts in a survey would be weaker in actual courtrooms where judges hear evidence contested by prosecutors and defense attorneys, says psychologist Jennifer Skeem of the University of California, Irvine.

?It is premature to apply neuroscience on psychopathy to decisions about criminal responsibility and sentencing,? Skeem says.

It?s hard to know whether defense attorneys could win reduced prison sentences for actual psychopathic offenders by introducing brain evidence, Tabery acknowledges. Even in the new 19-state survey, evidence about biological contributions to psychopathy led to substantially reduced sentences in two states (Utah and Maryland), slightly reduced or unchanged sentences in six states and slightly increased sentences in three states (Colorado, New York and Tennessee). The remaining eight states included too few participants to determine statewide trends.

?No one knows if real-world sentencing of psychopathic defendants works as it does in this study, or even whether most judges consider psychopathy when imposing sentences,? says lawyer and psychologist Stephen Morse of the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia.

Aspinwall?s group can?t say whether psychological or social explanations for a psychopath?s crime would affect sentencing decisions as much as biological evidence did, Morse adds.

In the online study, 181 judges read a scenario in which a man beat a store clerk with a gun during a robbery, causing brain damage to the victim. All judges saw evidence that the criminal was a psychopath. In addition, 90 judges received scientific findings from either the prosecution or the defense about psychopathy?s biological roots. Prosecutors argued that biological evidence supported a longer sentence; defenders sought a reduced sentence.

About 87 percent of judges listed at least one factor, such as the crime?s seriousness, as relevant to lengthening the sentence. When judges received biological explanations of psychopathy from the defense, the proportion taking at least one sentence-reducing factor into account rose from around 30 percent to 66 percent.

For unclear reasons, the judges didn?t rate psychopaths as having less free will or being less responsible after hearing evidence about brain influences on the condition.
Found in: Humans and Psychology

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/343095/title/Psychopaths_get_time_off_for_bad_brains

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RIM is taking two BlackBerry 10 beta units on tour soon for carrier previews

As the world awaits the arrival of BlackBerry 10 hardware, the Wall Street Journal has a report from RIM CEO Thorsten Heins that the company is ready to start showing off the "nearly complete" devices to carriers next week. Separately, CrackBerry has heard the same from its sources, along with word that more internal employees are becoming a part of the beta test group (already plugging away since May on alpha dev units like the one shown above) as well. As RIM is preparing to ramp up production of test devices, the CEO was also ready to confirm more details about the hardware, including that two devices are due at launch -- one all-touchscreen and one QWERTY / touchscreen combo -- with plans to expand to six models evenly split between the two options, and that it will stick with removable batteries.

Before RIM tries to convince end users early next year that its new OS was worth the wait, it will have to persuade potential carrier partners. Fortunately, if you believe one unnamed WSJ source, it's already showing a "marked improvement" over existing phones that makes BlackBerry more competitive with Android. We're not sure if that will keep BBM addicts on the hook until new hardware launches, but with the roadshow about to commence we should hear more concrete details soon.

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RIM is taking two BlackBerry 10 beta units on tour soon for carrier previews originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/14/blackberry-10-carrier-preview/

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Leave a comment - Brooklyn Park Real Estate

In the second quarter of 2012, fixed-rate loans accounted for more than 95 percent of refinance loans, based on the recently released Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) Quarterly Product Transition Report. Refinancing borrowers clearly preferred fixed-rate loans, regardless of whether their original loan was an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate. Of borrowers who refinanced during [...]
RISMedia ? Real Estate

Source: http://brooklyn-park-real-estate.com/blog/more-than-95-percent-of-refinancing-borrowers-choose-fixed-rate-mortgages/

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বুধবার, ১৫ আগস্ট, ২০১২

Invest in Your Home, Not Stocks: Chris Martenson | Daily Ticker ...

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook!

Don't look to the major market indices to get a sense of the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and the S&P 500 Index (GSPC) are headed toward multi-year highs and both have posted gains of 8 percent or more since January. This discord between investor sentiment and the current macro outlook has strategists like Chris Martenson confounded.

"It's almost inconceivable at this point that we're not seeing some money off the table," Martenson says in an interview with The Daily Ticker. "Markets don't always move in sync with the economy [but] we have a global slowdown right now?and there seems to be a lot of risk out there."

Martenson, the CEO and co-founder of the website PeakProsperity.com and the author of "The Crash Course," says he expects coordinated global intervention by central banks to jolt the depressed economies of the U.S., China, Japan and Europe, going so far to say "we need something larger than we've seen before."

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, reported Tuesday that the euro zone economy contracted in the second quarter, falling 0.2 percent from the previous three months. Most economists believe that the 17-member region has already entered a recession.

Meanwhile, economic growth in Japan slowed to an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the second quarter compared to 5.5 percent growth in the first quarter of the year. U.S. gross domestic product grew a modest 1.5 percent in the April to June quarter. And China ? the world's second and fastest growing economy ? has experienced six consecutive quarters of slower growth prompting concerns that the country is headed for a hard landing.

The rise in global markets has partly been a response to expectations that the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will take more aggressive action ? i.e. quantitative easing ? this fall to prevent further economic deterioration. The Federal Reserve did not take new steps to boost the U.S. economy at its August policy meeting but said it "will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability." ECB Chief Mario Draghi excited markets in late July when he vowed to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro but a week later softened his tone, proclaiming his bond buying comment was merely "guidance." Investors around the globe later dumped stocks.

The interminable guessing and conjecture about central bank action has caused hedge funds, institutional and retail investors to become speculators, Martenson says. Professional money managers have publicly acknowledged their own difficulty picking stocks. Hedge Fund titan Louis M. Bacon has decided to return $2 billion to investors after his Louis M. Bacon Moore Capital Fund was down 2 percent in 2011 and flat for the year.

Martenson's investment recommendations range from the conventional (he's a buyer of gold) to the unorthodox.

"One of the things we counsel people to do is consider investing in your own homestead," he says. "Plugging all the leaks" in your house yields a 10, 12 or even 18 percent return on investment by cutting the homeowner's heating and energy bills, he notes. "This is a time you have to consider other places for investments," he adds.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/invest-home-not-stocks-chris-martenson-164200388.html

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Answers To Your Urgent Questions About Commercial Real Estate ...

The returns from an investment in commercial property can be impressive, but to do so, you need to be patient and willing to do the necessary research. A lot of people have found continued success in real estate investment with the helpful advice found in the following article, and you can use it also to see to your own business achievements.

If you are new to commercial real estate investing, you should learn how to manage one investment type at a time. Pick one type of property, at first, and pay close attention to it. You want to be an ace investor in one property type rather than just OK at many different types.

Commercial real estate has many brokers to offer. There are agents who only represent tenants and there are full-service brokers who work with both tenants and landlords. A tenant?s-only broker may serve your needs better than a full service broker.

When you are purchasing a commercial property buy as many units as possible. Having more units in the same property gives you more profit potential without much more work. Many purchasers will not even glance at a property if it has less than ten units, and most believe that the more units included, the more money you can make.

Calm and patience are both sound practices when you are searching for commercial property. Do not be hasty about making a investment decision. Without due consideration, you might find that the real estate purchase does not meet your criteria for successful financial gain. Plan to keep your eye on your market for as long as a year if you want to find the right investment.

Social media is an important tool for keeping brokers and investors appraised of your services. Don?t fade online when you complete a deal.

Using a checklist is useful when you have multiple properties that you are considering. Take the first round proposal responses, but do not go any further than that without letting the property owners know. Do not be scared to let the owners know about other properties you have in mind. This could help you score a better deal.

Collect all of your financial paperwork, including bank statements and proof of income, before you begin searching for a property. The lending institution will think you are not very responsible with your money and they may not lend it to you.

Keep your focus on the largest issues when writing your letters of intent. Keep it simple and save the smaller issues for later in the negations. This will make negotiations less tense and make gaining agreement on the smaller issues easier to complete.

By using the advice from this article, you have begun the process of becoming knowledgeable in the commercial real estate market. Follow the advice you?ve read here to reap the greatest rewards by taking advantage of deals others won?t even know how to find!

Sim Sadler is a real estate expert and has been buying and selling commercial real estate for over 25 years, through every market you can imagine.

Source: http://www.simsadler.net/answers-to-your-urgent-questions-about-commercial-real-estate-2/

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The Wristwatch That Monitors Your Health

Mobile health is moving beyond your smartphone. Soon, you could be managing your health with spy-gadget-like wearable trackers.

The newest has a name straight out of an Indiana Jones flick: Amulet. Once built, it should look just like a wristwatch?and will hopefully be just as easy to use.

Amulet is the brainchild of postdoctoral researcher Jacob Sorber and his team at the Institute for Security, Technology and Society at Dartmouth College. The new tracker doesn't monitor vital signs itself but rather communicates wirelessly with other devices, such as scales, insulin pumps, or blood pressure cuffs. For instance, Sorber says, the Amulet might vibrate to let a diabetic know her blood sugar is dropping if it gets a signal from the pump. Patients can "check in" to certain devices to log their health information or even send it to a doctor.

"The applications we're envisioning are as automated as possible," Sorber says. "We want it [medical aid] to happen directly and automatically."

This is good news for mobile health in general. There's already a slew of apps to help you monitor your health, but most are used to help with watching weight or getting in shape. Because Amulet is so closely tied to its designated user, it could be used to help manage chronic diseases like diabetes or complications due to a stroke. Ideally, Amulet will even alert a user if he shows signs of distress.

Sorber says his device is intended to solve another big problem with monitoring health via smartphone: "They're not as tightly coupled to the person as they should be." That is, smartphones have an annoying habit of disappearing or getting stolen; they're simply not secure enough to house personal health and wellness information.

Sorber's team modeled the device's design after a watch so a person would have it around her wrist nearly all the time. As an added layer of protection, Amulet will authenticate its user by tracking the unique electrical markers put out by the muscles in the wrist, Sorber says.

When a user first starts wearing Amulet, the device will gauge these pulses by emitting a low-frequency pulse of its own to develop a signature that defines you and only you. Sorber says that even though some of these electrical outputs change depending on diet, stress, and other factors, in their 50-person study the scientists found a few signals that remained stable enough to use to authenticate each Amulet's exclusive user. The tracker will shut down if someone else tries to wear or access it.

Of course, all this automation comes with a price (both medically and monetarily). Bluetooth and wireless-enabled medical devices aren't cheap, and Amulet might require specific kinds of hardware. If communication between Amulet and the insulin pump it controls, for example, breaks down, it could spell disaster for the patient. A malfunction that releases high doses of insulin into the bloodstream could be a matter of life and death. But Sorber and his colleagues say that those are questions that will be answered before Amulet leaves the research phase.

"Things like software bugs when you have actuators without a human in the loop could go very wrong," Sorber says. "One thing we're hoping in the course of this project is to get some stronger safety guarantees than any product out there today."

By effectively taking the smartphone out of the equation, Sorber hopes that many of the worrisome viruses popping up in cell phones recently won't be a factor with Amulet. To make the information filtered through the tracker itself secure, the researchers plan to use data encryption and a possible fail-safe to get user approval before any adjustment the medical actuator chooses goes into effect, Sorber says. "Hopefully, we can get a guarantee that this thing won't kill you."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/the-wristwatch-that-monitors-your-health-11711445?src=rss

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Leaked photos allegedly show next-generation iPhone's motherboard

5 hrs.

Reports suggest that the next-generation iPhone will be announced on Sept. 12, so it's no surprise that we're seeing more tid-bits of information dripping out of the gossip pipeline than through?a decent?colander.

The latest gem? Photos which allegedly show the next-generation Apple smartphone's motherboard.

As 9to5 Mac's Mar Gurman reports, the photos were provided by a member of the WeiPhone forums, a Chinese-language community that focuses on Apple news and gossip.

The images don't really tell us much??? particularly because they do not show a processor??? but what they do suggest,?Gurman explains, is that the SIM card used by the next-generation iPhone could be a new "Nano-SIM" format. Additionally, the pictured part's?battery connector appears to have five pins ??rather than the four pins found on the current generation device ??and might indicate that the next iPhone will have a new higher-capacity battery.?Oh, and there seem to be more antenna connections as well, which could mean that the next iPhone might?offer LTE?connectivity.

Considering that some of the details offered by these photos do support some of the rumors we've head over and over?? LTE connectivity, higher-capacity battery, and so on?? they might be worth keeping in mind. After all: The?particularly persistent rumors tend to pan out ... except when they don't.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/leaked-photos-allegedly-show-next-generation-iphones-motherboard-939648

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মঙ্গলবার, ১৪ আগস্ট, ২০১২

Officials: China fugitive killed after massive manhunt

The manhunt for a serial killer wanted in China since 2004 ends when police shoot Zhou Kehua dead outside a factory. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports. Editor's note: Some viewers may find these images disturbing.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

BEIJING -- A fugitive gunman thought to have shot dead nine people since 2004 was himself killed by police in southern China on Tuesday after a massive manhunt that has gripped the country.

Zhou Kehua, 42, who was responsible for nine deaths across several provinces, was finally cornered and shot dead at a Chongqing shoe factory around dawn, the official Xinhua news agency reported.


Keen to put on a show of strength after the sacking earlier this year of Chongqing's controversial Communist Party head Bo Xilai, who led a high-profile crimebusting campaign, authorities mobilized thousands of police to catch the killer.

China cops on trial over alleged murder cover-up

Zhou had been implicated in robberies and killings in three provinces dating back to 2004 and resurfaced last week to shoot dead a woman outside a Chongqing bank, Xinhua said.

Authorities described Zhou, who targeted people withdrawing money from banks, as "ruthless and extremely dangerous," had repeatedly dodged police manhunts.?

"Police ... confirmed that the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau was praised and honored by China's Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu immediately after the operation," Xinhua added.

Chinese news portals showed a lurid picture provided by the police of Zhou sprawled on the ground with blood streaming from his head.

China's most politically explosive trial rapped in a matter of hours when Gu Kailai, the wife of Chinese politician Bo Xilai, did not object to murder charges against her. ITV's Angus Walker reports.

Gun crime is rare in China as a result of tight controls over firearms.

The hunt for Zhou has been the most popular topic on China's Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo for the past few days, and has dominated the news.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/14/13272743-officials-chinese-serial-killer-shot-dead-after-massive-manhunt?lite

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'Happy and glorious' Olympics come to rocking end

Athletes enter the Olympic Stadium during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Athletes enter the Olympic Stadium during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Fatboy Slim performs during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Kristy Wigglesworth)

Annie Lennox performs during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

George Michael performs during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

British singer Jessie J performs during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LONDON (AP) ? With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday in a spectacular, technicolor pageant of landmarks, lightshows and lots of fun.

The closing ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats.

The Spice Girls staged a show-stopping reunion, and Monty Python's Eric Idle sauntered through "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" ? accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

It all made for a psychedelic mashup that had 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organizers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world.

What a way to end a games far more successful than many Londoners expected. Security woes were overcome, and traffic nightmares never materialized. The weather held up, more or less, and British athletes overachieved.

It all came with a price tag of $14 billion ? three times the original estimate. But nobody wanted to spoil the fun with such mundane concerns, at least not on this night.

"We lit the flame, and we lit up the world," said London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe. "When our time came, Britain, we did it right."

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge declared the Olympics over with praise for the athletes.

"Through your commitment to fair play, your respect for opponents, and your grace in defeat as well as in victory, you have earned the right to be called Olympians," he said, adding: "These were happy and glorious games."

But the night was about splash more than speeches.

Festive and fast-moving, the ceremony opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack ? the floor of Olympic Stadium floor arranged to resemble the British flag.

Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye ferris wheel and the chubby highrise known as the Gherkin.

Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighborhoods not far from Olympic Stadium just a year ago.

Liam Gallagher performed "Wonderwall," a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem "Survival," and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing "We Will Rock You."

The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.

The night ended with the extinguishing of the multi-petaled Olympic cauldron and a supercharged rendition of "My Generation" and other classics by The Who that had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Confetti rained down, and fireworks lit up the sky.

Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Rogge. They sang along to "God Save the Queen." There was no sign of the queen herself, who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the July 27 opening ceremony.

Following Olympic tradition, the 10,800 athletes of the London Games marched in as one rather than with their nations, symbolizing the harmony and friendship inspired by the games.

As the crowd cheered their heroes and flashbulbs rippled through the stadium, the Olympians cheered back, some carrying national flags, others snapping photographs with smartphones and cameras.

They held hands, embraced and carried each other on their shoulders, finally forming a human mosh pit on the field.

The ceremony had something for everyone, from tween girls to 1960s hippies. The face of John Lennon appeared on the stadium floor, assembled by 101 fragments of sculpture, and just as quickly gave way to George Michael, Fatboy Slim and Annie Lennox.

Eight minutes were turned over to Brazil, host of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, which delivered an explosion of samba, sequins and Latin cool. Following tradition, the mayor of London handed the Olympic flag off to his Rio counterpart.

Britons, who had fretted for weeks that the games would become a fiasco, were buoyed by their biggest medal haul since 1908 ? 29 golds and 65 medals in all.

The United States edged China in both the gold medal and total medal standings, eclipsing its best performance at an Olympics on foreign soil after the Dream Team narrowly held off Spain in basketball for the country's 46th gold.

While the games may have lacked some of the grandeur of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were more than a few unforgettable moments.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. Michael Phelps ended his long career as the most decorated Olympian in history.

British distance runner Mo Farah became a national treasure by sweeping the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races, and favorite daughter Jessica Ennis became a global phenomenon with her victory in the heptathlon.

Female athletes took center stage in a way they never had before. American gymnast Gabby Douglas soared to gold, the U.S. soccer team made a dramatic march to the championship. Packed houses turned out to watch the new event of women's boxing. And women competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei for the first time.

And then there was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee from South Africa running on carbon-fiber blades, who didn't win a medal but nonetheless left a champion. And sprinter Manteo Mitchell, who completed his leg of the 4x400 relay semifinal on a broken leg, allowing his team to qualify and win silver.

Britons seemed exhausted and exhilarated after two glorious weeks in the world's spotlight, and just months after the country celebrated the queen's 60th year on the throne with a magnificent pageant and street parties.

Some at Olympic Park acknowledged happy surprise that not much had gone wrong, and so much had gone right.

"I was a bit worried we wouldn't be able to live up to it," said Phil Akrill of Chichester. "But walking around here it's just unbelievable."

Even non-Brits were proud of their adopted homeland.

"It's just been a really nice thing to see," said Anja Ekelof, a Swede who now lives in Scotland. "The whole country has come together."

___

Associated Press writers Fergus Bell and Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

___

Follow Paul Haven on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-12-OLY-Closing-Ceremony/id-4dba8ed49322436882912bd61dda90b5

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Celebrity Real Estate - Curbed National

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Source: http://curbed.com/archives/2012/08/13/celebrity-real-estate-96.php

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Paul Ryan says he'll release 2 years of taxes

(AP) ? Rep. Paul Ryan says he will only release two years of his tax returns ? the same amount Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has agreed to release.

Romney's running mate says voters are concerned about the economy, not tax returns. He says the focus on the candidates' tax returns is a distraction from President Barack Obama's record.

Ryan tells CBS' "60 Minutes" that he and Romney will focus on what it takes to turn the country around.

Romney has been criticized for refusing to turn over more tax returns. Romney has released one year so far and vowed to release this year's returns when they are ready.

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Brazilian boos at women's volleyball final: Gold won but Olympic spirit lost?

At the women's volleyball final Saturday, Brazil dominated the US for a deserved gold. But the Brazilian crowd's tone turned foul, raising questions about the Olympic spirit at Rio 2016.

By Mark Sappenfield,?Staff writer / August 11, 2012

Brazil celebrates their victory over the United States in the women's gold medal volleyball match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday in London.

Dave Martin/AP

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The world got a taste of what Rio 2016 might feel like at the women's volleyball gold-medal match, and it was at once a carnival and, perhaps, just a bit of a funeral.

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In the end, there was no doubting how much it meant to the Brazilians, as they collapsed in a jubilant heap after the match's final point, wrapped in each other and their own disbelief. Volleyball is a national passion, and after losing the men's soccer final to Mexico earlier in the day, a win here seemed a golden tonic. ?

Nor was there any doubting that it was a gold medal thoroughly deserved. From the second set of their four-set demolition of a US team ranked No. 1 in the world, their volleyball was irresistible. Feeding off a crowd that was overwhelmingly Brazilian and louder than a jumbo jet at takeoff, every block, dig, and spike was party waiting to be unleashed, a Brazilian flag dancing in every aisle.

But it came at a cost, and one that will only be more pronounced come 2016.?

The Olympic spirit.

The Olympics, after all, are not just another World League or Brazilian Superliga match.

They are the Olympics.

They are the place where American and Iranian wrestlers can stand atop the podium with nothing but friendship and mutual respect. They are where those who do not come first are cheered as earnestly as those who do. They are our two-week window into humanity's better nature, frankly. ? ?

And that was conspicuously absent at Earl's Court Saturday, as from the second set onward, the Brazilian fans booed loudly as every American stepped up to serve. ?

Whether or not it influenced the match or not is immaterial. If it did, it was only in helping the Brazilian team, which is notorious for playing on emotion. The US women, who face crowds much worse than this when they play on the road, probably found this tame. The booing is no excuse for their collapse after dominating the first set 25-11, and to their credit, the players did not try to make it one.

It is also immaterial whether it was malicious. "It's their culture," said American outside hitter Logan Tom after the match. "It's not an insult."

Indeed, the Brazilian fans cheered heartily for the US and for bronze-medal winners Japan after the match. And for the players, this was a true Olympic moment. Yes, their medal-stand celebrations might have been a bit jarring to the American eye, but it was also hard not to share at least a little in the joy of their achievement.?

The greater issue is what this heralds for Rio 2016.

On one hand, it leaves no doubt that the Brazilians are going to have a lot of fun. As the fans were waiting for the medal ceremony, a drum emerged from somewhere (how did that get through security?)?and the crowd erupted into chants and songs brimming with national pride.?

But was there really ever any doubt that Rio would be a party? This is Rio, after all.?

It also suggests that the Brazilian athletes will get more than a polite welcome. And at sports close to Brazilians' hearts, the the crowd noise might be heard in Buenos Aires. "They support the sport of volleyball to a level not seen in the rest of the world, and I respect that," said American setter Lindsey Berg.?

Certainly, the crowd's passion elevated the Brazilians Saturday as the Americans came unglued. What was the most technically proficient team in the women's game at times looked as sloppy as high schoolers, as Brazil, seen as inconsistent and on a downward slope before the tournament began, gradually found their old samba swagger. By the fourth set, the US resembled nothing so much as a bug on the Brazilian windshield.

Athletes competing against Brazil in 2016, be warned. ?

That atmosphere can create a drama of its own?? a team going into a lion's den and refusing to be cowed. The triumph of standing in a cauldron of sound all willing you to fail, and still stubbornly finding that spot of sublime achievement.?

But is that the Olympics?

In four years, we may find out.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nTCv0U4wbXg/Brazilian-boos-at-women-s-volleyball-final-Gold-won-but-Olympic-spirit-lost

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