Friday, 30 December 2011

Rare Slow-Spinning Star Reveals Space Oddity (SPACE.com)

Astronomers have discovered a strange spinning star that appears to be older than the explosion that gave birth to it, scientists say.

The star is a pulsar, a rotating, super-dense core left behind after a massive star goes supernova. This pulsar, known as SXP 1062, is spinning quite slowly, suggesting an advanced age.

But the pulsar can't be as old as it looks, because the star probably exploded less than 40,000 years ago, researchers said. They've just now begun delving into this newly discovered cosmic mystery.

A pulsar is born

Pulsars are created after supernova explosions, when a star's remnant collapses and becomes so dense that protons and electrons squish together to form neutrons. [Supernova Photos: Great Images of Star Explosions]

Conservation of angular momentum causes these newly formed, city-size neutron stars to rotate, often extremely rapidly. They're called pulsars because this rotation makes their light appear to pulse at regular intervals.

Astronomers feel fortunate to have detected SXP 1062.

"Not many pulsars have been observed within their supernova remnant, and this is the first clear example of such a pair in the [Small Magellanic Cloud]," study leader Vincent H?nault-Brunet, of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.

A second team, led by Frank Haberl of the Max-Planck Institute in Germany, independently confirmed H?nault-Brunet's findings that the leftover supernova debris is between 10,000 and 40,000 years old.

A cosmic mystery

H?nault-Brunet's international team used NASA's Chandra space telescope and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory to spot X-rays emitted by SXP 1062.

Most pulsars spin extremely rapidly, with some of them making hundreds of revolutions per second. But SXP 1062 is spinning just once every 18 minutes or so.

"The most interesting aspect of this pulsar is possibly its extremely long period ? 1,062 seconds ? which makes it one of the slowest pulsars on record," said Lidia Oskinova, of Germany's Institute for Physics and Astronomy, who worked with H?nault-Brunet.

"Slowly spinning pulsars are particularly difficult to detect," Oskinova added. "Only a few with periods longer than a few thousand seconds have been observed to date."

Since pulsars slow down as they age, SXP 1062's sluggish rotation seems to imply an advanced age, in contrast to the supernova remnant that surrounds it.

"Extremely slow rotation in pulsars normally points to old objects? ? something that? doesn't quite agree in this case with the fairly young age of the supernova remnant," Oskinova said.

Did something cause SXP 1062 to decelerate faster than normal? Was it born with a slower spin than other pulsars? These questions remain unanswered, but the solution could lie within the information already collected, researchers said.

"Our plan is to fully mine the X-ray data to study the system's variability in greater detail, and further study the optical spectra to investigate the properties of the companion star," Oskinova said. "We can't wait to see what the data tells us."

The results will be published in the January edition of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111227/sc_space/rareslowspinningstarrevealsspaceoddity

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Matthew McConaughey engaged to longtime girlfriend (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Matthew McConaughey is engaged to marry his longtime girlfriend, Camila Alves.

The 42-year-old actor proposed to the Brazilian model on Christmas Day. He announced the move in a tweet that included a photo of the couple kissing and read, "just asked camila to marry me, merry Christmas."

McConaughey's publicist confirmed the engagement Tuesday.

McConaughey and Alves have two children together, son Levi and daughter Vida.

His film credits include "We Are Marshall," "Tropic Thunder" and "The Lincoln Lawyer."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_en_ce/us_people_matthew_mcconaughey

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Thursday, 29 December 2011

White House Seeks $1.2T Hike in Debt Limit

John Boehner, meanwhile, asks Obama to intercede

(NEWSER) - The White House launched a PR campaign to try to save the floundering payroll tax cut extension last night, asking supporters to chime in with what $40 meant to them?since that?s how much the average family stands to lose per paycheck if the extension doesn?t pass, CNN reports. Whitehouse.gov was inundated with more than 10,000 responses, and #40dollars soon topped Twitter?s trending chart, David Plouffe boasted in an email. Many respondents spoke of gas money, grocery bills, and health care costs. More?

Source: http://www.newser.com/story/136272/white-house-seeks-12t-hike-in-debt-limit.html

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sarah_tomlinson: A kindergarten photo has proved my love of shoes and handbags started at an early age and Mum's wedding shoes indicate it's hereditary.

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Tuesday, 27 December 2011

WABI_TV5: Bates College Grads Running Hard Cider Business http://t.co/jzqCP3YB

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Boston Globe wants the Mitt franchise (Politico)

Back in June 2007, The Boston Globe published a seven-part series called ?The Making of Mitt Romney,? chronicling the candidate?s life from boyhood to businessman to presidential hopeful.

The series, which included not only articles but extensive photo galleries, videos, and documents, was seen then as the definitive profile of Massachusetts?s former governor and established the Globe as the paper of record on Romney, even as he left the statehouse in pursuit of the national limelight.

Continue Reading

?We very much consider ourselves the paper of record of Mitt Romney,? said Don MacGillis, the paper?s national politics editor, and in January, the paper will lay down an impressive marker ? ?The Real Romney,? a 336-page biography based on its 2007 series.

Presidential elections always present newspapers with the chance to be an authoritative voice on their hometown candidates, but they also bring in national media eager to find just the overlooked biographical detail or unexplained financial transaction that will redefine the candidate ? and undermine the local paper?s claim to expertise.

The Globe learned this lesson the hard way in 2004, shortly after it published its biography of another Massachusetts presidential candidate, Democrat John Kerry ? a seven-part series on the candidate had appeared a year earlier. The Globe authors offered what, at the time, was the most detailed portrayal of Kerry?s Vietnam War experience, only to have that account overshadowed by the narrative presented by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Republican group that largely succeeded in redefining what had been the highlight of Kerry?s career.

Though the Globe?s initial reporting may have been accurate and thorough ? ?it stands the test of time,? said Michael Kranish, one of the book?s authors ? the narrative was no longer theirs.

Other papers have struggled on the national stage, as well. This time four years ago, the Chicago Tribune was losing hold of its grip on then-Sen. Barack Obama to a national media that was swooping in with more resources and an appetite for the candidate?s new narrative.

?For the Tribune, it was a struggle, because we had pretty much owned the coverage of Barack Obama,? David Mendell, a former Tribune reporter who started covering Obama in 2003, told POLITICO. ?We were the leading news resource on Barack Obama coverage when he was a U.S. senator, and it was difficult to suddenly have to compete with the world.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1211_70840_html/44008263/SIG=11mcqmum9/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70840.html

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Monday, 26 December 2011

dougjaeger: "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." Bill Gates, Chairman and former CEO, Microsoft

Twitter / doug jaeger: "Your most unhappy custome ... Loader "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." Bill Gates, Chairman and former CEO, Microsoft

Source: http://twitter.com/dougjaeger/statuses/150778587606298625

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Stock market quiz: Can you predict the market based on the trader's face?

The stock market is a roller coaster, rising and falling hundreds of points, sometimes in a single day. If it's stressful for investors, it wreaks emotional havoc on the traders who work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. As photographers have discovered over the years, the daily story of the stock market can be encapsulated in a single trader's face. Can you tell the market's performance based on the expressions of these traders? Take our 10-question stock market quiz:

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/7ECVnptUiMw/Stock-market-quiz-Can-you-predict-the-market-based-on-the-trader-s-face

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Sunday, 25 December 2011

Startup Brings Ecommerce Directly to Magazine Websites (Mashable)

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: 72Lux

[More from Mashable: You Know Your Klout Score. What?s Your Kred Score?]

Quick Pitch: Shop across many online retailers with a single checkout and shipping fee.

Genius Idea: Bringing that service to third-party publishers.

[More from Mashable: Keas Is Like FarmVille for Corporate Wellness]


Shopping for women's apparel and accessories across different retailers isn't as difficult as it was a few years ago, thanks to search tools such as ShopStyle and Google Product Search. Checking out, however, can still be a chore when you're dealing with multiple site registrations and shipping fees.

72Lux eliminates much of the hassle by allowing you to shop from more than 900 retailers from its website, including such recognizable brands as Bloomingdales, Macy's and Yoox. You can browse (by designer, garment type, color and size), search and select different goods from retailers, and check out only once. What's more, you'll pay a flat shipping fee of $15, although returns have to be addressed specifically to individual retailers.

The startup takes a cut of every sale, which founder and CEO Heather Marie says is greater than the 2-3% affiliates usually receive.

That's a promising business in and of itself, but what's even more promising is the ecommerce solution 72Lux is developing for third-party publishers. As we've seen, many retailers are developing content offerings on their websites to make them more like shoppable magazines. Now, certain consumer magazines -- Marie declined to disclose which -- are working to allow customers to shop directly from their sites, instead of referring them elsewhere to purchase. The first launch will be announced in Q1 2012, Marie says.

That could open up a significant new revenue stream for publishers, although it's not yet clear what effect that will have on magazines and their readers. Enabling readers to quickly and seamlessly purchase the goods they're reading about is, yes, a convenience, but there's also the risk that readers will begin to question recommendations for products that publishers have such an obvious, vested interest in.

72Lux has raised $300,000 in seed funding to date and is currently raising its next round.


Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111223/tc_mashable/startup_brings_ecommerce_directly_to_magazine_websites

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Politics ? N Korea to loom large in Japan-China summit

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Source: www.japantoday.com --- Friday, December 23, 2011
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda heads to Beijing on Sunday as the first foreign leader to meet the Chinese leadership after the death of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Il. President Hu Jintao could use the occasion to assure the international community that Beijing was working to ensure a stable transition of? ...

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/n-korea-to-loom-large-in-japan-china-summit

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Saturday, 24 December 2011

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Source: http://yoyo.youthactiv8.org/activity/p/12456/

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Obama faces battle on new clean-air rules

Reporting from Washington?

The Obama administration has adopted tough new limits on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants, winning praise from environmentalists and public health advocates but sparking warnings from industry groups that contend the new regulations are too expensive and will place dangerous pressure on the nation's electrical grid.

The update to the Clean Air Act comes after a relentless 20-year battle in Washington. It marks the first time the Environmental Protection Agency has curbed power plant emissions of mercury, a known neurotoxin that can be profoundly harmful to children and pregnant women. The administration said cutting mercury in the air could prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths a year.


FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this article said the stricter emission limit was 1.2 pounds of mercury per million BTUs of energy produced. It is per trillion BTUs of energy produced.

The announcement marks a strategic shift for the Obama administration, which had labored to mute industry and Republican complaints that environmental rules kill jobs, culminating in a decision this summer to halt standards to cut smog. Since then, the administration has moved to reassure its voter base of its commitment to the environment, most notably by delaying a decision on a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

The Keystone XL pipeline decision and now the mercury rule are political gambles for President Obama, since Republican challengers could push the jobs argument in crucial coal-reliant states like Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Obama put himself squarely behind the mercury decision, releasing a short video in which he underscored the fact that President George H.W. Bush had signed the "bold and necessary" law authorizing the EPA to reduce toxic substances in the air in 1990.

"Over the years, the law was never fully implemented. Special-interest groups kept delaying the process," Obama said. "Today my administration is saying, 'Enough.' We are announcing new, common-sense, cost-effective standards to dramatically reduce harmful air pollution."

Industry lobbyists and congressional Republicans, who have fought vigorously to halt new clean-air rules, warned of rolling blackouts and massive layoffs in the energy sector if the regulations were implemented. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) vowed to introduce legislation to halt the mercury rule when Congress returns after the holiday break.

"This rule isn't about public health. It is a thinly veiled electricity tax that continues the Obama administration's war on affordable energy and is the latest in an unprecedented barrage of regulations that make up EPA's job-killing regulatory agenda," Inhofe said in an emailed statement. "I am determined to apply the brakes to President Obama's runaway regulatory agenda before it wrecks our economy."

Inhofe's measure is not likely to progress through the Democratic-controlled Senate, and if it were to get through Congress, Obama almost certainly would veto it.

Environmentalists praised the new standard as a historic leap in efforts to curtail air pollution.

"We can breathe easier today," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in an emailed statement. "Dirty coal-fired power plants will have to clean up the toxic soup of emissions that is polluting our air and making people sick, especially children."

Under the new rule, power plants can emit 1.2 pounds of mercury per trillion BTUs of energy produced. The industry had sought a higher limit, 1.4 pounds. But the EPA arrived at its figure based on a formula set out under the Clean Air Act, and analysts said the agency could not deviate from it. The rule would remove 90% of the mercury spewing into the air, the EPA said.

Companies would have three years to clean up their emissions of mercury, arsenic, acid gases and nearly 70 other toxic substances, and utilities could appeal for at least one more year while they installed the necessary equipment. Much of the industry has argued that the timetable is too tight and could lead to power outages.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found in an August 2011 report, however, that industry had overstated the effects of the mercury rule and others on electricity reliability, noting that many of the inefficient, 50-year-old coal plants were already being replaced.

The industry itself is divided about the costs and benefits of the mercury rule. Most of the utility sector agrees with Scott Segal, director of the lobbying group Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, in his assertion that the mercury rule is the most far-reaching and potentially devastating federal intervention into the power industry to date.

"It will increase the cost of power, undermining the international competitiveness of almost two dozen manufacturing industries, and it will reduce employment upstream in the mining sectors," he wrote in an email. "All told, it is anticipated that the rule will result in the loss of some 1.44 million jobs by 2020."

But about a dozen states have already adopted mercury rules and, according to the EPA, more than half of the country's coal-fired plants already use the pollution-control technology needed to cut mercury.

Some utilities that comply with their states' standards contend that those that don't are trying to stall the inevitable, given how harmful mercury, arsenic and other emissions are. Ralph Izzo, chief executive of Newark-based Public Service Enterprise Group, said industry warnings about reliability were overstated and the time had come to limit mercury.

From 2006 to 2010, his company retrofitted its coal-fired plants, creating local jobs without disrupting reliability, Izzo said.

"Let's hire the engineers and construction crews to get this done," Izzo said, "rather than spending the next two years hiring lawyers" to fight the rule.

neela.banerjee@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Y3alHh3KZWU/la-na-epa-mercury-20111222,0,3131921.story

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Friday, 23 December 2011

Vatican: No plans to limit Sistine visitors

The Vatican is determined to avoid limiting the number of visitors to the Sistine Chapel with its Michelangelo frescoes, despite harmful buildup of dust and other pollutants, the director of the Vatican Museums said Wednesday.

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"We will try to keep it open" without putting a limit on the growing number of visitors to the chapel, "in the conviction that it is possible to do so without risk to the paintings," Antonio Paolucci wrote in the Holy See's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

Paolucci, who also is one of Italy's most renowned art restoration experts, said the Vatican was working to give the chapel where popes are elected an "updated and efficient air conditioning system able to ensure the refreshing of the air and the combating of pollutants in both solid and gas forms."

Some 4 million people visit the Museums annually, with the chapel the highlight ? or even the sole aim of the visit ? for countless numbers of them. Ticket sales are a big moneymaker for the Vatican.

Dust, sweat, humidity and carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors who jam into the chapel to crane their neck to look at the frescoed ceiling can build to unwanted levels.

Last year, a high-tech monitoring system was installed in the chapel to obtain data, and the monitoring "is a good way along," Paolucci said.

The monitors register temperature and relative humidity at various heights in the chapel as well as the temperature of the frescoes themselves, dust levels, and the concentration of carbon dioxide, as well as the direction and speed of air currents in the cavernous room, he noted.

One surprising result of the study is the finding that many visitors loop back for another look at the chapel during their tour of the sprawling museums, Paolucci said.

"You would think that the number of visitors in the celebrated chapel would be equal to those who enter the Vatican Museums," Paolucci said. "Instead, no. They are more."

"This means that some, after having visited the chapel a first time, return, before leaving" the Museums, he said. "This makes us understand how impracticable and perhaps even inopportune it would be to put a cap on the number" of chapel visitors, Paolucci wrote.

In 1993, an air conditioning system was installed after the conclusion of the restoration of the "Last Judgment," Michelangelo's masterpiece on one of the chapel's walls, which he painted after his frescoed work on the ceiling.

The chapel, which also features works by Botticelli and Perugino, underwent an ambitious restoration that spanned two decades and ended in the 1990s. Some critics found the cleaning made the colors look too bright for their tastes, but defenders said the restoration removed centuries of accumulated dirt and candle smoke, making it possible to marvel at the original vividness.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755403/ns/travel-destination_travel/

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Occupy Christmas: Nativity Scene Offends Protesters


What happens when you put a nativity scene in the middle of an Occupy camp?

This video happens. And it's pretty ironically hilarious, to say the least.

The reactions of the Occupy Wall Street protesters below speak for themselves. Seeing a guy state that "It's offensive" while wearing a baseball hat that says "F--k the police" ... so priceless. Watch the tables turn as Baby Jesus & Co. do the occupying:

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/occupy-christmas-nativity-scene-offends-protesters/

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Thursday, 22 December 2011

'Prometheus' Teaser Trailer: A New 'Alien' Threat

"Prometheus" isn't an "Alien" prequel, you say? Sure fooled me ? because the just released trailer for director Ridley Scott's long awaited return to the science fiction arena looks exactly like a continuation of his 1979 horror masterpiece, in the very best of ways.
The trailer, which hit the web today, is a teaser in the [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/22/prometheus-teaser-trailer/

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Monday, 19 December 2011

Gary Hart: The Glitter of the Ballroom

Perhaps for obvious reasons of predictability, dependability and reliability, we used to expect our leaders to conform to convention. And the boundaries of convention were formed by political society, history, and tradition. Thus, presidents should be sufficiently ambitious to seek office, but not so ambitious as to trample on others. They should be transparent, but be able to harbor dark secrets. They should be colorful enough to entertain but not so colorful as to offend. In former days they were expected to be intelligent, but that expectation has suffered recently.

A journalistic friend recently asked if I thought former Congressman Newt Gingrich could win the Republican nomination, and the answer is yes. Given our traditional expectations of leaders and recent rigid expectations of Republican constituencies, this is somewhat astounding. He writes stories. (So do I, but mine differ a great deal from fantasy.) There are, of course, all those marriages, a steep hurdle for the family values party. The Tiffany charge accounts seem to have been discounted, more easily done in a party of wealth. And he has converted from Southern Baptist to Roman Catholicism. Taken all together, and leaving aside the ambiguous paths he trod in the treacherous groves of high-powered lobbying, any element of this profile would have been sufficient to disqualify him even two or three decades ago. Times have certainly changed.

What entrances some observers of Mr. Gingrich are his many facets and his ability to appear to be so many different things to so many different people. Cameleon analogies are too easy. The resemblance is more to the giant reflector balls in ballrooms, those with so many little mirrors that large crowds can have a brief glimpse of something like themselves as the strobe lights flash and glitter. Surely there must be more to it than that. One writer recently commented that his most recent "surge" (a poll-driven barometer) was attributable to his ability to corner the market on contempt, contempt for liberals, Democrats, Obama, Muslims, mainstream media and of course all those of us in the unwashed multitudes who are not nearly as smart as he is.

For one or two of us, Mr. Gingrich's most troubling characteristics are his attention span of a precocious 3-year-old and his latent tendency toward grandiosity. Perhaps in coming years he will learn to be able to sit down for more than five minutes at a time and concentrate and focus on a single thought. That would certainly be helpful in the White House. At present, President Gingrich would make Bill Clinton look sedate. But a president with a messianic sense of destiny and conviction that he is on earth to fundamentally alter history, with a comparison of himself to Winston Churchill (who never exhibited such a sense), is nothing less than a dangerous thing.

Churn up a mixture of messianic destiny, widespread contempt for those who differ, and an almost manic restlessness and we might soon have a nominee for president who, if elected, would provide many Americans with a sudden interest in a rather long sabbatical in more traditional and predictable democracies, especially those without nuclear arsenal.

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Follow Gary Hart on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gary__hart

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/newt-gingrich-republican-nomination_b_1155604.html

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Sunday, 18 December 2011

Tournament of THG: Demi Lovato vs. Taylor Lautner!


Welcome back to the Tournament of THG, where fans vote on the most popular star of 2011! The concept is simple: Pick your favorite of the two stars in each poll. Done.

So far in Round One, Kristen Stewart and Miley Cyrus are neck and neck, as are Selena Gomez and Robert Pattinson. Those contests remain open for your votes as well!

Katy Perry is creaming Courtney Stodden, Lady Gaga has a large lead over Ashton Kutcher, and the Middleton sisters are beating Kim Kardashian and Charlie Sheen.

Your next contest: Demi Lovato vs. Taylor Lautner! Who do you like more? Vote!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/tournament-of-thg-demi-lovato-vs-taylor-lautner/

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Saturday, 17 December 2011

Officials: Sex offender shoots 3 at courthouse

A sex offender opened fire in a northern Minnesota courthouse shortly after being convicted Thursday, injuring three people ? including the local prosecutor, authorities said.

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The suspect, Daniel Schlienz, 42, was taken into custody after the shootings Thursday afternoon at the Cook County Courthouse in Grand Marais, a remote town near the Canadian border, State Public Safety spokesman Doug Neville said.

Schlienz, who had been on trial earlier Thursday on sexual misconduct charges. His father told the Duluth News Tribune that he went to the courthouse and was told that his son was the shooter. He said his son had recently threatened suicide.

"He hated the prosecuting attorney that did this," Gary Schlienz told the newspaper. "I don't want to make excuses for him, but they prosecuted him pretty bad. He had no job, no money, nothing."

Cook County prosecutor Timothy Scannell was undergoing surgery Thursday night at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth, spokeswoman Beth Johnson said. Scannell and another hospitalized victim were conscious and talking before being taken to the hospital, while the third victim was treated and released, Neville said. Scannell suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Schlienz was found guilty Thursday of a sex crime in a jury trial presided over by Judge Mark Munger, according to John Kostouros, spokesman for the Minnesota judicial branch.

"The judge and the jury were still talking in the courtroom afterward ... when they heard shots in another part of the courthouse," Kostouros told Reuters.

No metal detectors
Online state court records listed several cases involving Daniel Schlienz in the past two decades, but most were minor traffic cases. More serious charges included fleeing a peace officer and the criminal sexual conduct case, which was first filed in 2006.

The newspaper reported that Schlienz had entered an Alford plea in that case in 2007 on charges that he sexually assaulted two 15-year-old girls and one 17-year-old girl. His father told the newspaper that his son later decided to withdraw the plea and fight the charges.

A county official said the courthouse doesn't have metal detectors and visitors aren't usually searched.

The county's two-story courthouse, which has just one courtroom, has no metal detectors and visitors aren't searched when they enter the building, Cook County Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said.

"As far as I know, there's no checking for knives or any of that stuff," Sobanja said.

Grand Marais, home to about 1,300 residents, is about 110 miles northeast of Duluth and sits along the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota's far northeastern tip.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45694366/ns/us_news/

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Most commodities higher on mix of economic news (AP)

Commodity prices are mostly higher as Europe's financial problems were offset by signs of an improving U.S. economy.

Many commodities benefited as investors looked for bargains Friday after sharp, across-the-board sell-offs earlier in the week. Metals and agricultural contracts rose; energy fell.

U.S. government reports have shown a drop in the number of people filing for unemployment claims and an improvement in manufacturing in the New York and Philadelphia regions.

The news is more troubling in Europe. Italy's lower house of parliament has approved an austerity package, but Fitch ratings agency is warning it could downgrade six nations that use the euro, including Italy and Spain.

Many analysts believe commodity prices will remain uneven over the next couple of weeks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_bi_ge/us_commodities_review

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Friday, 16 December 2011

Samsung Galaxy Note for AT&T to ditch Exynos, sport 4G LTE?

Is a 4G LTE-capable Galaxy Note headed stateside? According to PocketNow, that could very well be the case. Rumour has it Sammy's bringing a branded variant of the 5.3-incher, purportedly the SGH-I717, to AT&T's lineup sometime in early 2012. We'd already seen the Note pass through the Commission's gates and had anticipated a U.S. debut would soon follow, but that version -- the GT7000B -- might simply be a color variant of the currently available international model. An operator tramp stamp and 700MHz / 1700MHz radios won't be the only changes reportedly on deck, as this tablet / phone in-betweener is said to pack a dual-core 1.5GHz MSM8660 -- similar to the HSPA+ 42 and LTE-friendly Qualcomm chipsets found in the Skyrocket and T-Mobile's SGS II. Bear in mind, folks, that this is all still hearsay. Until we get word of an official release, you'll just have to make do with an unlocked import.

Samsung Galaxy Note for AT&T to ditch Exynos, sport 4G LTE? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/zfsgb5DikiI/

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Famed hotelier taps into lobbies of decades past

PUBLIC Chicago opened for business in October. Hotelier Ian Schrager is hoping its $35 million renovation and focus on "cheap chic" will make the hotel a hit.

By Chris Rodell, msnbc.com contributor

Ian Schrager wants PUBLIC, his "new" Chicago hotel, to entice locals to check out the place travelers check in.

"About 150 years ago, the grand hotel lobbies were manifestations of these great cities," Schrager told msnbc.com. "It?s something hotels have gotten away from. We intend to bring it back. We want the lobby at PUBLIC Chicago to be a 24-hour beehive of city activity."

That means mingle nooks, poetry readings, a library, video installations, performances and ambitions to be the in-demand home to Chicago?s best restaurant and liveliest bar.

PUBLIC Chicago is a 285-room, history-drenched hotel located in the Gold Coast neighborhood ? about one mile north of the Loop central business district. It reopened to the public in October, though it originally started as the Ambassador East Hotel in 1926.

Sound familiar? It was to an eclectic mix of celebrities ranging from a sex symbol to a Sex Pistol: both Elizabeth Taylor and Sid Vicious were fond of the old hotel. Other famous guests included David Bowie, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Redford, Robert Plant and Frank Sinatra.

And now it's popular with a?new crowd.

"The hotel has opened to great fanfare during what traditionally is a slow time of year," said Peter Walterspiel, the hotel's general manager. "Ian's recent hotels have served more niche-type clientele. The name here says it all. It's public."

Moreover, Schrager intends to turn his private venture into a brand. He has plans to open PUBLIC hotels in New York and Miami, and wants to seize on a consumer thirst for what he?s called "cheap chic" with rooms starting at $135 and coffee, an in-room staple that can cost $15 in some luxury hotels, for $5 a pot.

He wants everyone in the city, both the rowdy and the rich, to feel they have a stake in the hotel's success.

"We want the lobby to have a feel of a 1950s coffee house or, really, a Starbucks," he said. "There needs to be an electricity in the air. A great hotel today has to be about more than just a place to get good night?s sleep. The best restaurant and the best bar needs to be right under your roof."

Famed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is overseeing what was and by local edict will remain the Pump Room restaurant.

Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel wrote: "The Pump Room ... has recaptured its mojo as a celebrity-spotting, see-and-be-seen destination. The dining room and its attendant lounges are packed every night, and 8 p.m. reservations are the stuff of legend, in the sense that they may not really exist." Vettel went on to say that the food was "solid," and that "Pump Room is a very good restaurant with the potential to be a great one."

Nilou Motamed, features editor for Travel + Leisure, recently cited Pump Room as a must-stop spot for travelers visiting Chicago.

Schrager says he was urged to change the name of the fabled restaurant so he put it to a vote. "We had more than 28,000 votes and keeping it the Pump Room won in a landslide."

So far, PUBLIC is getting?public approval.

"For me, the best part is to see couples 60 to 70 years old sitting right next to 20-something couples and both of them enjoying themselves," said?GM?Walterspiel. "The neighborhood seems to really have embraced the hotel. It's becoming a gathering place."

More stories you might like:

Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., contributor who blogs at EightDaysToAmish.com

Source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/09/9330823-famed-hotelier-taps-into-lobbies-of-decades-past

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