Asian stocks sink after Europe credit downgrades

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stocks sank Monday after a ratings downgrade rattled Europe and crucial talks aimed at nudging Greece toward solvency were mired in disagreement.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index slid 1.7 percent to 8,364.51 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1 percent at 19,009.58. South Korea's Kospi index dropped 1.6 percent to 1,846.66. Benchmarks in Taiwan and mainland China also fell.

Standard & Poor's decision Friday to strip France of its top-notch credit rating and to downgrade eight other nations that use the euro battered investment sentiment, raising fears that a solution to the continent's sovereign debt crisis may be far off.

A collapse appeared imminent in negotiations between the Greek government and its private creditors on a bond swap.

Without the swap, debt-crippled Greece is unlikely to secure a second financial bailout ? which could hurl the country to a bankruptcy that would send economic shock waves around the world. Greece's first bailout came in 2010.

"There is growing risk of a disorderly default by Greece, with talks reportedly breaking down after private sector creditors could not agree on the coupon level of fresh bonds," said Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne, Australia.

"With a euro14.4 billion bond repayment due in March, and without restructuring in place, the entire sum would fall, making it increasingly likely that Greece will default," Shamu wrote in a email.

Improving monthly machine orders in Japan did little to stem worries. Core private sector machinery orders, excluding shipbuilding and electricity, rose 14.8 percent in November. That was the fastest growth since January 2008, the government said.

In energy trading, benchmark oil rose 15 cents to $98.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to close at $98.70 per barrel in New York on Friday.

The euro fell to $1.2646 from $1.2670 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.83 yen from 76.96 yen.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-15-World-Markets/id-8ec06cf647904bd2850e35ace1b63aab

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Open NFC stack now available for Android 4.0, makes NFC hardware easy to use for OEMs

The good people at Inside Secure have ported over their Open NFC stack to Ice Cream Sandwich, giving OEM's one less hurdle to jump when getting devices ready for upgrading.  The new 4.3.3 release allows almost any NFC hardware to become Android compliant by using a Hardware Abstraction Layer and special kernel module to communicate via a set of consistent APIs.  What this means to you and I is that hardware developers can now use the free and robust Open NFC 4.3.3 stack to get their hardware working, and software developers can use the Android SDK add-on to communicate with it.  This means shorter engineering and development time dedicated to NFC from start to finish -- something that all impatient Android enthusiasts will be happy about.

Inside Secure says to expect new devices using the Open NFC 4.3.3 stack to ship later this year.  We don't know if this will be the push needed to make NFC relevant, but it sure can't hurt.  For more info, and more technical specifications than you can shake a stick at, see the links below.

Source: Inside Secure; via: PhoneScoop
More: Open NFC developer site

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/TJNbnLl2ZaA/story01.htm

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Drop in Melanoma Deaths Limited to Educated Whites: Study (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Recent declines in death rates due to the skin cancer melanoma among white Americans appear to be limited to those with higher levels of education, researchers have found.

The findings reveal a widening education-related disparity in melanoma death rates and highlight the need for early-detection strategies to effectively target high-risk, low-educated whites, the American Cancer Society researchers said.

The investigators noted that overall melanoma death rates among white men and women aged 25 to 64 in the United States have been declining since the early 1990s, but it hasn't been known if death rates among whites might vary depending on a person's socioeconomic status, a term used to describe their levels of income and education.

To examine the issue, the researchers reviewed death certificates from 26 states and found that melanoma deaths declined about 10 percent between 1993-1997 and 2003-2007 in both men and women.

However, reductions occurred only among whites with at least 13 years of education, and there were actually slight increases among those with the least education. As a result, the education-related gap in melanoma death rates rose by nearly 52 percent in men and by almost 36 percent in women between 1993-1997 and 2003-2007, the investigators found.

The study was published in the Jan. 16 online edition of the journal Archives of Dermatology.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to document this education gap in melanoma mortality trends among non-Hispanic whites in the U.S.," study leader Vilma Cokkinides said in an American Cancer Society news release.

"The reasons for the widening of the educational gap in mortality rates are not yet understood, but we do know the cornerstone of melanoma control is recognizing the signs of melanoma early. Lower socioeconomic status is associated with suboptimal knowledge and awareness of melanoma, inadequate health insurance, and lower rates of skin self-examination or physician screening," she explained.

The researchers said there's a need for more vigilant primary and secondary melanoma-prevention education campaigns that target high-risk people with low socioeconomic status and the doctors who care for them.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about melanoma.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120117/hl_hsn/dropinmelanomadeathslimitedtoeducatedwhitesstudy

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Santorum Opens Fire on Romney (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/187405280?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Video: Fed Inquiry into Diamond Foods

CNBC's Brian Shactman reports shares of Diamond Foods plunged on a report Federal prosecutors have opened an inquiry on possible fraud activity involving payments to walnut growers; Williams-Sonoma shares fell on its lowered profit forecast; and oil f...

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45979361/

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Tanker carrying fuel arrives at iced-in AK town

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy breaking ice near the city of Nome Alaska Jan. 14, 2012. The Healy is breaking ice near Nome to assist the Russian tanker Renda move into final position for offloading nearly 1.3 million gallons of petroleum products to the city. Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel to Nome moored less than a half mile from the town's iced-in harbor Saturday evening, Jan. 14, 2012starting final preparations for delivering the diesel fuel and gasoline, the Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy breaking ice near the city of Nome Alaska Jan. 14, 2012. The Healy is breaking ice near Nome to assist the Russian tanker Renda move into final position for offloading nearly 1.3 million gallons of petroleum products to the city. Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel to Nome moored less than a half mile from the town's iced-in harbor Saturday evening, Jan. 14, 2012starting final preparations for delivering the diesel fuel and gasoline, the Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow)

RECROPPED VERSION OF NY115 - In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy guides the Russian tanker Renda closer to the fuel transfer mooring point Saturday Jan. 14, 2012. Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel to Nome moored less than a half mile from the town's iced-in harbor Saturday evening, starting final preparations for delivering the diesel fuel and gasoline, the Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy guides the Russian tanker Renda closer to the fuel transfer mooring point Saturday Jan. 14, 2012. Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel to Nome moored less than a half mile from the town's iced-in harbor Saturday evening, starting final preparations for delivering the diesel fuel and gasoline, the Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy guides the Russian tanker Renda closer to the fuel transfer mooring point Saturday Jan. 14, 2012. Russian tanker carrying much-needed fuel to Nome moored less than a half mile from the town's iced-in harbor Saturday evening, starting final preparations for delivering the diesel fuel and gasoline, the Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)

NOME, Alaska (AP) ? Crews worked to build a path Sunday over a half-mile of Bering Sea ice for the final leg of a Russian tanker's mission to deliver fuel to a town isolated amid one of the most severe Alaska winters in decades.

The tanker was moored roughly a half-mile from Nome's harbor after a Coast Guard cutter cleared a path for it through hundreds of miles of a slow journey stalled by thick ice and strong ocean currents.

The tanker got into position Saturday night, and ice disturbed by its journey had to freeze again so workers could create some sort of roadway to lay a hose that will transfer 1.3 million gallons of fuel from the tanker to the harbor in Nome.

On Sunday, workers spent the morning walking around the vessel and checking the ice to make sure it was safe to lay the hose, which will take about four hours, said Jason Evans, board chairman of the Sitnasuak Native Corp.

With the tanker and the Coast Guard ice breaker sitting just offshore and poised to deliver the fuel, Evans said the bulk of the mission's biggest challenges were now behind the crew.

Still, the final job of transferring fuel from the ship to the town comes with its own hurdles: In addition to waiting for the ice to freeze, crews must begin the transfer in daylight, a state mandate. And Nome has just five hours of daylight this time of year.

"In theory, it was possible and in reality, it now is done," Evans said of the journey.

A storm prevented Nome's 3,500 residents from getting a fuel delivery by barge in November. Without the tanker delivery, supplies of diesel fuel, gasoline and home heating fuel were expected to run out in March and April, well before a barge delivery again in late May or June.

The especially harsh winter has left snow piled up 10 feet or higher against the wood-sided buildings in Nome, a former gold rush town that is the final stop on the Iditarod dog sled race. On Sunday, everything was covered in a layer of wind-blown snow and vehicles looked frozen in place, as though they haven't been moved in weeks.

The tanker began its journey from Russia in mid-December, picking up diesel fuel in South Korea before heading to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where it took on unleaded gasoline. Late Thursday, the vessels stopped offshore and began planning the transfer to Nome, more than 500 miles from Anchorage on Alaska's west coast.

In total, the tanker traveled an estimated 5,000 miles going from Russia to South Korea, then toward Japan and to Dutch Harbor and Nome, said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander of District Seventeen with the Coast Guard.

Despite the complicated logistics of delivering fuel by sea in winter, Sitnasuak opted for the extra delivery after determining that it would be much less costly and more practical than flying fuel to Nome.

Mark Smith, CEO of Vitus Marine LLC, the fuel supplier that arranged to have the Russian tanker and its crew deliver the fuel, described the challenges as substantial, partly because winter has been especially harsh in the region this year. He said that moving the tanker even with the help of the cutter through more than 300 miles of pack-ice was "a very profound obstacle."

"It seems that every day brought a new crisis," he said. "Opinion appeared to be divided in Nome, where some welcomed the arrival of the tanker and others thought it was a manufactured and unnecessary crisis."

Cari Miller was among the residents unconvinced a real crisis was at hand. The 43-year-old mother, who has lived in Nome for eight years, said she believed that another fuel provider in town had plenty of fuel for the community.

"We do not have a fuel crisis," she said. "It wasn't necessary."

Kwan Yi, 40, a maintenance worker at the Polaris Bar in Nome, faulted Sitnasuak for not arranging for barge delivery earlier last fall, but said he believed the town was in need of fuel. He said he was pleased the fuel tanker had arrived after struggling with frozen pipes and gas leaks.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who flew to Nome on Sunday, said the town's ordeal had captured the world's attention as it displayed a reality of Alaska life.

"This is real. This is what we deal with," the senator said, while making an appeal for more resource to be placed in the Arctic.

The crew of the 370-foot tanker Renda was working to ensure safety in the transfer of the fuel through the segmented hose, Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow said in a telephone interview from Nome on Saturday night.

Once crews created a suitable path for the hose to rest on, its segments were to be bolted together and inspected before the fuel can begin to flow.

Though the transfer must start during daylight, it can continue in darkness, Betty Schorr of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has said. It could be finished within 36 hours if everything goes smoothly, but it could take as long as five days, she said.

Evans said once the hose is laid, personnel will walk its entire length every 30 minutes to check for leaks. Each segment of hose will have its own spill containment area, and extra absorbent boom will be on hand in case of a spill.

Evans, however, cautioned that delivering the fuel is only half the mission.

"The ships need to transition back through 300 miles of ice," he said. "I say we're not done until the ships are safely back at their home ports" in Seattle and Russia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-15-Nome%20Iced%20In/id-d48434057db34eda8ad253c38a911708

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Project to pour water into volcano to make power (AP)

Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in Central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise.

They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn't dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes ? without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents.

Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas, weak demand for power and waning political concern over global warming. Efforts to use the earth's heat to generate power, known as geothermal energy, have been further hampered by technical problems and worries that tapping it can cause earthquakes.

Even so, the federal government, Google and other investors are interested enough to bet $43 million on the Oregon project. They are helping AltaRock Energy, Inc. of Seattle and Davenport Newberry Holdings LLC of Stamford, Conn., demonstrate whether the next level in geothermal power development can work on the flanks of Newberrry Volcano, located about 20 miles south of Bend, Ore.

"We know the heat is there," said Susan Petty, president of AltaRock. "The big issue is can we circulate enough water through the system to make it economic."

The heat in the earth's crust has been used to generate power for more than a century. Engineers gather hot water or steam that bubbles near the surface and use it to spin a turbine that creates electricity. Most of those areas have been exploited. The new frontier is places with hot rocks, but no cracks in the rocks or water to deliver the steam.

To tap that heat ? and grow geothermal energy from a tiny niche into an important source of green energy ? engineers are working on a new technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems.

"To build geothermal in a big way beyond where it is now requires new technology, and that is where EGS comes in," said Steve Hickman, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.

Wells are drilled deep into the rock and water is pumped in, creating tiny fractures in the rock, a process known as hydroshearing.

Cold water is pumped down production wells into the reservoir, and the steam is drawn out.

Hydroshearing is similar to the process known as hydraulic fracturing, used to free natural gas from shale formations. But fracking uses chemical-laden fluids, and creates huge fractures. Pumping fracking wastewater deep underground for disposal likely led to recent earthquakes in Arkansas and Ohio.

Fears persist that cracking rock deep underground through hydroshearing can also lead to damaging quakes. EGS has other problems. It is hard to create a reservoir big enough to run a commercial power plant.

Progress has been slow. Two small plants are online in France and Germany. A third in downtown Basel, Switzerland, was shut down over earthquake complaints. A project in Australia has had drilling problems.

A new international protocol is coming out at the end of this month that urges EGS developers to keep projects out of urban areas, the so-called "sanity test," said Ernie Majer, a seismologist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It also urges developers to be upfront with local residents so they know exactly what is going on.

AltaRock hopes to demonstrate a new technology for creating bigger reservoirs that is based on the plastic polymers used to make biodegradable cups.

It worked in existing geothermal fields. Newberry will show if it works in a brand new EGS field, and in a different kind of geology, volcanic rock, said Colin Williams, a USGS geophysicist also in Menlo Park.

The U.S. Department of Energy has given the project $21.5 million in stimulus funds. That has been matched by private investors, among them Google with $6.3 million.

Majer said the danger of a major quake at Newbery is very low. The area is a kind of seismic dead zone, with no significant faults. It is far enough from population centers to make property damage unlikely. And the layers of volcanic ash built up over millennia dampen any shaking.

But the Department of Energy will be keeping a close eye on the project, and any significant quakes would shut it down at least temporarily, he said. The agency is also monitoring EGS projects at existing geothermal fields in California, Nevada and Idaho.

"That's the $64,000 question," Majer said. "What's the biggest earthquake we can have from induced seismicity that the public can worry about."

Geologists believe Newberry Volcano was once one of the tallest peaks in the Cascades, reaching an elevation of 10,000 feet and a diameter of 20 miles. It blew its top before the last Ice Age, leaving a caldera studded with towering lava flows, two lakes, and 400 cinder cones, some 400 feet tall.

Although the volcano has not erupted in 1,300 years, hot rocks close to the surface drew exploratory wells in the 1980s.

Over 21 days, AltaRock will pour 800 gallons of water per minute into the 10,600-foot test well, already drilled, for a total of 24 million gallons. According to plan, the cold water cracks the rock. The tiny plastic particles pumped down the well seal off the cracks. Then more cold water goes in, bypassing the first tier, and cracking the rock deeper in the well. That tier is sealed off, and cold water cracks a third section. Later, the plastic melts away.

Seismic sensors produce detailed maps of the fracturing, expected to produce a reservoir of cracks starting about 6,000 feet below the surface, and extending to 11,000 feet. It would be about 3,300 feet in diameter.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released an environmental assessment of the Newberry project last month that does not foresee any problems that would stop it. The agency is taking public comments before making a final decision in coming months.

No power plant is proposed, but one could be operating in about 10 years, said Doug Perry, president and CEO of Davenport Newberry.

EGS is attractive because it vastly expands the potential for geothermal power, which, unlike wind and solar, produces power around the clock in any weather.

Natural geothermal resources account for about 0.3 percent of U.S. electricity production, but a 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology report projected EGS could bump that to 10 percent within 50 years, at prices competitive with fossil-fuels.

Few people expect that kind of timetable now. Electricity prices have fallen sharply because of low natural gas prices and weak demand brought about by the Great Recession and state efficiency programs.

But the resource is vast. A 2008 USGS assessment found EGS throughout the West, where hot rocks are closer to the surface than in the East, has the potential to produce half the country's electricity.

"The important question we need to answer now," said Williams, the USGS geophysicist who compiled the assessment, "is how geothermal fits into the renewable energy picture, and how EGS fits. How much it is going to cost, and how much is available."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_re_us/us_geothermal_volcano

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Crowd too big, Beijing Apple store cancels sale

A Chinese man in a red hood reacts since he is pushed away by police officers after he refused to leave the Apple Store as stains of eggs are left in its glass wall in the background in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular smartphones. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A Chinese man in a red hood reacts since he is pushed away by police officers after he refused to leave the Apple Store as stains of eggs are left in its glass wall in the background in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular smartphones. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A policeman tries to drag away people who refused to leave the Apple Store in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular new iPhone 4S model. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Stains of an egg are seen on the iPhone 4S logo on the Apple store's glass wall in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular smartphones. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Chinese people wait outside an Apple Store to buy the iPhone 4S model in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular smartphones. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

A policeman, center left, tries to disperse the crowd outside an Apple store in Beijing Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. An angry crowd shouted and threw eggs at Apple's Beijing flagship store after it failed to open on schedule Friday to sell the popular new iPhone 4S model. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

BEIJING (AP) ? Raw eggs splattered and streaked the gleaming windows of Beijing's Apple store Friday, hurled by angry and frustrated shoppers when the launch of the iPhone 4S was canceled due to fears over the size of the crowd.

The incident highlighted the role of Chinese middlemen who buy up wildly popular iPhones or smuggle them from abroad for resale at a big markup.

Hundreds of customers ? including migrant workers hired by scalpers in teams of 20 to 30 ? waited overnight in freezing temperatures outside the Apple store in a shopping mall in Beijing's east side Sanlitun district.

When the store failed to open as scheduled at 7 a.m., the crowd erupted in anger. Some pelted the store with eggs and shouted at employees through the windows.

A person with a megaphone announced the sale was canceled. Police ordered the crowd to leave and sealed off the area with yellow tape.

There were shouts of "What are you doing?" and "Go in! Go in!" as some of the people were pushed away from the entrance.

Employees posted a sign saying the iPhone 4S was out of stock.

"We were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not be available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being," said Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

The iPhone 4S quickly sold out at other Apple stores in China, Wu said. She said the phone still will be sold in China through Apple's online store, its local carrier China Unicom Ltd. and authorized resellers.

Wu declined to comment on what Apple might know about scalpers buying iPhones for resale.

China is Apple's fastest-growing market and "an area of enormous opportunity," CEO Tim Cook said in October. He said quarterly sales were up nearly four times from a year earlier and accounted for one-sixth of Apple's global sales.

Apple's China stores are routinely mobbed for the release of new products.

The company has its own stores only in Beijing and Shanghai, with a handful of authorized retailers in other cities, so middlemen who buy iPhones and resell them in other areas can make big profits, said Wang Ying, who follows the cellphone market for Analysys International, a research firm in Beijing.

"Apple is making a lot of money, so it is not too concerned about the scalpers," Wang said.

Wang and other industry analysts said the size of the underground trade and price markups are unclear.

In Shanghai, stores limited iPhone 4S sales to two per customer. Several hundred people were waiting when the stores opened, bundled up against the cold. Some passed the time playing mahjong.

Buyers included 500 older people from neighboring Jiangsu province who were hired by the boss of a cellphone market, the newspaper Oriental Morning Post said. They arrived aboard an 11-bus convoy and were paid 150 yuan ($23) each.

Online bulletin boards were filled with comments about Friday's buying frenzy, many complaining about or ridiculing the scalpers.

An Apple contractor manufactures iPhones in China, but new models are released in other countries first. That has fueled a thriving "gray market" in China for phones smuggled in from Hong Kong and other markets.

Last May, the Sanlitun store was closed for several hours after a scuffle between an employee and a customer during the release of the iPhone 4, the previous model in the series.

Customers began gathering Thursday afternoon outside the Sanlitun store. People in the crowd said the number grew to as many as 2,000 overnight but many left when word spread the store would not open. About 350 people remained when the protest erupted after 7 a.m.

"On the one hand there is poor organization and on the other there were just too many people," said a man outside the Sanlitun store who gave only his surname, Miao. "I don't think they prepared well enough."

Another man who refused to give his name said he was a migrant laborer who was paid 100 yuan ($15) to wait in line overnight.

Others said scalpers had organized groups of 20-30 migrant workers to buy phones or hold places in line. Organizers held colored balloons aloft to identify themselves to their workers.

Beijing resident Zhu Xiaodong said he was waiting to buy the phone for himself.

"I just like the 4S," he said, adding that he was upgrading from the previous iPhone 4 model.

The iPhone 4S had its debut Oct. 14 in the United States and six other countries.

The delay between the release of Apple products in the U.S. and in China has yet to affect the company's reputation with Chinese customers, said Ted Dean, managing director of BDA China Ltd., a research firm in Beijing.

For other products, such a delay "sort of gives the impression here that you're not giving the Chinese consumer a fair shake," Dean said. "But demand and that 'cool factor' is so huge for Apple products that you don't hear that about them."

___

Associated Press writer David Wivell, researchers Zhao Liang and Yu Bing, all in Beijing, and AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Shanghai contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Apple Inc.: http:://www.apple.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-13-AS-China-Apple/id-9eb125dcdbce4cc9a02e21c404d1550d

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Accenture plans 100 tech jobs

Accenture plans 100 tech jobs

By Business Reporter

Monday, January 09, 2012

GLOBAL consulting giant Accenture plans to add 100 highly-skilled technology jobs to its Irish workforce over the next 12 months.

The company will target graduates and experienced specialists in areas such as Java, SAP, cloud computing, mobility and workplace collaboration technologies to fill the planed posts.

Accenture said the new technology jobs are in addition to positions created in the Accenture Analytics Innovation Centre, which opened in Dublin last year and which continues to recruit.

Accenture Ireland managing director Mark Ryan said: "As technology increasingly underpins successful operations and supports high performance, clients look to Accenture to assist them with new operating models, while delivering technologies and processes to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and support growth."

Mr Ryan said the company offers "unparalleled opportunities in an environment that supports the professional growth of our employees and allows them to work on leading edge business and technology issues facing our clients".

"For these new positions, we are seeking highly motivated and talented individuals, passionate about and skilled in technology," he added.

In Ireland, Accenture provides management consultancy, technology services and outsourcing to private and public sector clients including Microsoft, Kerry Group and the Revenue Commissioners.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

?

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, January 09, 2012

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iebusiness/~3/N5or5jev6tE/

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Onetime Democratic speaker to become GOP leader in Louisiana

TODAY'S TAKE

State Senator John Alario of Louisiana will make history on two fronts when he is named president of the Louisiana Senate today (January 9). Not only will the longtime lawmaker become just the fifth state legislator in the nation to have led both chambers of his legislature, he will become the first one ever to do so under different party affiliations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Alario, a Republican, twice served as the Democratic speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives under former governor Edwin Edwards, a Democrat. He served in that capacity from 1984 to 1988 and again from 1992 to 1996, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reports.

Alario became a Republican in 2010, "conceding that the change could only enhance his chances of becoming the Senate's presiding officer" under Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, The Times-Picayune notes. In Louisiana, the governor suggests lawmakers to lead each legislative chamber.

Some conservative Republicans and Tea Party members in Louisiana are unhappy about Alario taking control of the state Senate. Jindal, however, is a strong supporter of Alario, who served nine terms in the state House before being elected to the state Senate in 2007. "We think John is the best person for the job," Jindal tells The Times-Picayune. "John is one of the most well-respected persons in the Legislature."

The current Louisiana Senate president, Joel Chaisson, is leaving the legislature to become a district attorney. Louisiana's legislative session will begin in March.

"Today?s Take? provides a quick analysis of the day?s top news in state government.

? Contact John Gramlich at jgramlich@stateline.org

Source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Headlines/~3/eMEMq0S5SwY/story

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Goldie Taylor To CNN?s Don Lemon On GOP Race Controversies: ?These Are Absolutely Planned, Seeded, On-Purpose Stuff?

video

On Sunday?s CNN Newsroom, host Don Lemon spoke with political analyst Goldie Taylor about recent racially-insensitive incidents among several GOP candidates. ?Let?s be clear, these are not stumbles or miscues, these are absolutely planned, seeded, on-purpose stuff,? Taylor exclaimed.

RELATED: Rick Santorum To John King: I Didn?t Say Black People, I Said ?Blah? People

?There are people out there who will say that you and I are more sensitive because we happen to be African-American,? Lemon said to Taylor.

Taylor said race didn?t make a difference. ?This is a human rights issue,? Taylor opined. ?So whether you?re black, brown, white, you know, asian, or gay, lesbian, straight, this is a human rights issue.

Lemon then played the clip of Rick Santorum explaining how he didn?t say he didn?t want to make ?black peoples? lives better. The two gave a deadpanned paused, then completely cracked up.

?This is a result of running with scissors!? Taylor quipped.

?The narrative that seems to be coming out of this GOP field seems to be that we don?t want to give our hard earned dollars to people who don?t work ? to people who are lazy, to people who are, you know, involved in criminal behavior, to other people who have not earned what we have earned. That seems to be what Newt Gingrich is saying. That seems to be what Ron Paul has been saying. It certainly seems to be what our friend, Rick Santorum was saying on that tape. If he didn?t get the rest of the word out, I?m still not giving him a discount.?

Watch Lemon and Taylor criticize some of the GOP candidates on race issues below via CNN:

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Source: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-don-lemon-and-goldie-taylor-discuss-recent-gop-controversies-over-race/

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Geri Brin, FabOverFifty.com: Helping Baby Boomers Stay Fab

Geri Brin is an Internet entrepreneur who's confident and chic, with a loyal fan base, an inner circle of hip friends and big plans for her growing digital empire. Not bad for a 64-year-old baby boomer.

After a lengthy career in magazine publishing at Fairchild Publications, Brin set out on her own at 50 and started a custom print and publishing business, luring clients like American Express, Citigroup and Liz Claiborne. A go-getter, she says she "loved wearing all the hats: editor, marketing person and publisher." As she took more control of her life, she realized that she wanted to do something special for her "vibrant" generation. In less than two years, Brin has created a lively, unique online community at FabOverFifty.com, where she inspires boomer women to not only use what they've got, but love it, too.

At 50 years old, you did something most adults fear -- you started over. What motivated you to create your own business?

I wanted to do something for women in my demographic, because it's such an incredible group of women. The women in my generation have done fabulous things and now the world is waking up and realizing we are what we've always been. Marketing people, companies are starting to realize how vibrant we are. I spoke to people in the publishing industry and realized that a book or magazine about women in my generation was not the way to go -- they said, "Why not do a website?" Here I was, 61 years old, and I was going to start a website. But in fact, if you do anything creative and learn how to research, you can do almost anything in communications, so starting a website was based on the same principles as starting a magazine.

I wanted FabOverFifty to have more depth than just a fashion and beauty site. The idea is to celebrate women of my generation, not by patting us on the back but by showing to each other and to the rest of the world what we've accomplished and what we've yet to accomplish. We find that it's resonating with women. We cover beauty, fashion and health, but not from the angle of "senior." When anyone uses the word "senior," it makes me nauseous.

Who are the "founders" of FabOverFifty? There seems to be quite a group of successful women with that title.

We call them "founders," which is a slight misnomer. When I founded the site, I connected with the owners of 25 really cool apparel stores and specialty shops across the country in major cities like Miami, Chicago, L.A., because I knew that the women who shopped in those stores would be unique. I wanted to find women who didn't necessarily have a lot of money, but who had a lot of taste and accomplishments. Those women -- I think I interviewed 80 to 90 when I launched the site -- are the original group of founders and they are from all fields, and we keep adding to them. The community is anyone who joins the site, but with the founding people, we do interviews and features on them.

What is the most unique feature of the website?

I think the section called "Ask an FOF." We have over 1,000 women across the country that we call "gurus," and these women are experts in certain categories -- they have a passion for different subjects. So you can ask a question about anything, from gardening to health. Let's say you're going to your daughter's wedding and want to know what to wear on a Saturday afternoon ceremony -- you plug in your question, and that question gets sent out to all the gurus listed as style experts, and they will answer you. Some women get 45 answers, some get three answers, and you generally get answers pretty quickly. It's women recommending to other women. I you consider the concept of Angie's List, where people write reviews, this is really similar, with women in your age group who have passions for different subjects giving advice and recommendations. We find that that section is doing really well and getting a lot of traction, and nobody else has that on their site.

Your son Colby played an integral part in launching FabOverFifty. How did he contribute to this women-centered site?

In the beginning, Colby helped launch the site by feeding it with content and doing all the PR work, and he's still involved with it in terms of content and stories. He'll do interviews and health stories. He's now in the sports marketing business, but I would call this his satellite job. He's 32, and he's worked with me for about seven of the 10 years since he graduated from college. He still spends about two days per week with us working on projects for the website. I love working with him, and he's a very smart, intuitive guy. I've helped him learn things about marketing and he teaches me. That's what I love about young, smart, passionate people, because you never do stop learning.

The idea for your spinoff dating blog -- "Date My Single Kid" -- really made me laugh. It's every mom's dream and every kid's nightmare, but we've all been there. Where did the idea come from?

That has truly been a little journey for us. We launched that over a year ago, in July 2010, Every time my editor, Lena, and Colby, who are both 32, transcribed an interview I had done for the site, inevitably part of the transcription would be me and the woman discussing our single kids. "How old is your daughter? Oh, she's 23! And what does she do? Is she married? Does she have a boyfriend?" My son would laugh because he knows that's how I am, and all of sudden it popped into my head as we were sitting and brainstorming, what a great idea it would be to start a feature on the site that would reflect what we do in real life anyway. Women are constantly trying to fix up their children -- I mean, I'm a Jewish mother, but all mothers do it. So, we launched it, and the goal was just to have another fun feature on the site. Then the New York Post picked up the story in July 2010 and we started getting phone calls from "The Today Show" and "The View," asking if we'd be on TV. The hosts positioned it that I had started a website to get my son married, which could not be further from the truth. Then we started getting calls from Hollywood producers pitching sitcoms and reality shows, and we are now in conversation to do a reality show. It's funny -- people really respond to the concept because today it's hard to meet the right person. There is so much going on in all of your lives that we didn't have to deal with in our lives, and this is just another tool to help young people meet the right person. We're not replacing your interactions at work or out having fun -- this is just another way to help your son, daughter, niece, nephew or grandkid out.

It's been fun, and in fact, if there is a show, it would be great fun and the show would not be a typical reality show -- it would really be about moms connecting with other moms to help their kids.

We've got about 900 kids registered, and we got a real rush of kids after being on "The View" and "The Today Show," and every week kids get added, but we really don't promote it. It's a feature that we'll always keep on the site because we think it's cool, but we haven't really promoted it so instead of there being hundreds of thousands, we've got a respectable number for a free service.

You gave up a salaried position to launch this site. How do you plan on making it profitable?

The whole site is free of charge, and the only thing that is paid on the site at this point is if you want to become a premium member, and that's $35 for the year. You get a gift and some great perks, it's a great membership and we have a few hundred people who are premium members. The site isn't profitable yet, but our business model is constantly evolving. We have a couple of revenue streams. We have a shop with merchandise that is unique to our audience -- stuff you won't find in Bloomingdales or Macy's -- the premium membership and events. We hosted a Beauty Bash this year in New York City and had about 900 women. There were dermatologists, plastic surgeons, one-on-one consultations, L'Oreal was a major player and they had skin damage sessions, we had makeup artists and free haircuts from Mark Garrison, who gives $300 haircuts and consultations.

Because my background is in publishing, the way we approach advertising is through content-related programs, and I look at our site as a marketing tool for companies. You won't see huge banners splashing across the site, but we have 45,000 registered members, and about 25,000 of those are signed up for our email list, so if someone wants to promote to our email list and it's a product that we like or have serviced before, they will pay us for that. We integrate into editorial content as well -- for example, the FDA just approved this company's product that you strap onto your body several times a day and it helps tone and slim your body, and we have developed this whole program with them to test their product. So we rounded up 1,700 women who wanted to test their product, and we've narrowed that down to 21 women, and we'll follow these women for two months and write up the results in a feature. So we're promoting the product but in a much more personal, intense, authoritative way than if we just sold this company an ad on the site. It's really a marketing partnership, and that's the biggest part of our revenue. L'Oreal wants to do a series of Beauty Bashes this year with us, so that's going to be another source of revenue beyond the fact that it's wonderful to have such a prestigious company supporting us because they are very much after this demographic.

What are the best and worst parts of being a boomer?

The greatest part about being a boomer is that you really can take all of your accumulative experiences in life, whether it's relationships, your job or friendships, and you can apply all that experience into this new section of your life and feel good about it. When you're young, you're going through all the relationship struggles, boyfriends, husbands, friends, all of that goes away when you get older, and yet you have all that experience behind you. Boomers don't sit and dwell on the bad things, you take what happened to you, some which is great, some which is not so great, and you apply it to what you're doing in your life now. You apply it without the tension that you had when you were younger. There's nothing that is the end of the world, other than the end of the world. When you're young, you want to get married, have kids, have a career -- we've done all of that. Now it's time to live life really to its fullest without tensions. Boomers have things in perspective.

The bad part of being a boomer is that we're not going to have enough time to use all our knowledge, which is sad, but it's true: youth is wasted on the young. I don't want to be 30, I don't want to be 20, but I wouldn't mind being 45 right now. And that's only because I'd have more time than I do right now.

A lot of boomers complain that they feel invisible -- "people don't see me." I think that's baloney. When I was 41, construction workers whistled at me because I had a hot body. Well, I don't have a hot body at 64 but you know what, I don't care! I don't want to be 41 again to get whistled at -- I want to be 41 again so I'd have more time. I don't feel invisible at all, in fact, I feel much more visible than I ever did in my life because I feel good about myself, I've accomplished things in my career in the last 40 years, I have two great kids, I have a nice apartment, I have great friends, I have my health ... I'm lucky! Boomers are so important because they're the ones spending the money, and companies realize that now. We're very vibrant and want to look good, and makeup companies want to sell us cosmetics. We, as contemporaries, just have a different mindset. We got into colleges that only males were getting into -- Princeton, Yale, Harvard. We forged the way and now we're running universities, and we're in science and math and on Wall Street. I'm no female liberator -- we women just somehow forged the way. Look at Arianna Huffington -- she would have never been Arianna Huffington 40 years ago. It was a man's world. We're not what our mothers were.

What's your advice for boomer women who have fallen on hard times, or are having difficulty accepting this new stage in their life?

Times have been tough for boomers, and for women who are hitting that 50 mark and may have lost their jobs or are feeling unhappy because of the economy. Fifty is a huge transition in any women's life. Even if you have a successful career, marriage, kids, everyone goes through a transition at 50. If you're facing other challenges and extra burdens, I would say that this is truly the best time of your life, because you're vibrant, you're still young and you have to look at it as the beginning of something instead of the end of something. There are new men around the corner, you're talented because you've had a job, and you have to apply those talents to the future. You may have to even change your career, but that's not a bad thing. Women are a resilient bunch. I find women complaining less, even in this economy, than men. I know a women who was a big TV producer that lost her job, and she decided to work for J. Crew during the holiday season. A man would never do that -- it's beneath them. Women find they can survive, and they do.

Entrepreneur Spotlight

Name: Geri Brin
Company: FabOverFifty.com
Age: 64
Location: New York
Founded: 2010
Employees: 8
Website: www.FabOverFifty.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/geri-brin-faboverfifty_n_1190548.html

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Apple Announces Education Event On January 19 In NYC

Apple has always been bullish when it came to supporting education, and that trend continues with the announcement of an education event on January 19 at New York's famous Guggenheim Museum.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tzvhUf0LjXw/

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Two former Tibetan monks set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule

A child of the Tibetan community in Bodhgaya, north India, at a candle-lit vigil on 8 January held in memory of self-immolations in Tibet.

Two former Tibetan monks have set themselves on fire in western China, in the latest of several self-immolation protests against Chinese rule, activists have said.

The Xinhua news agency said a man burned himself to death in a hotel room on Friday. On the same day, a 22-year-old set himself on fire at a crossroads in Aba prefecture, Sichuan, suffering serious burns.

The London-based Free Tibet group said the men were protesting about the tight Chinese restrictions controlling Tibetan life and culture. At least 14

At least 14 monks, nuns and former monks are believed to have set themselves on fire in the past year, mostly in traditionally Tibetan areas of Sichuan that have been focal points of opposition to central government control.

Most of the activists called for Tibetan freedom and the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

China rogularly blames supporters of the Dalai Lama for encouraging acts of opposition. Xinhua cited a Tibetan expert as saying "the Dalai Lama clique" had "instigated and enticed" the two men to set themselves on fire.

The Dalai Lama and representatives of the self-declared Tibetan government in exile say they oppose all violence.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/08/tibetan-monks-fire-protest-chinese-rule

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Bill O'Brien, 'the right guy,' takes Penn St reins

Penn State's new football coach Bill O'Brien addresses the media after he was introduced during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

Penn State's new football coach Bill O'Brien addresses the media after he was introduced during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

Penn State's new football coach Bill O'Brien is surrounded by the media after he was introduced during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

Penn State's new football coach Bill O'Brien addresses the media after he was introduced during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

Larry Johnson, Penn State's defensive line coach, answers a reporter's questions after the introduction of Bill O'Brien as Penn State's new head coach during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. Johnson will remain in his position on the new staff, according to O'Brien's statements Saturday. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Looking on are acting athletic director Dr. Dave Joyner, left, and university president Rodney Erickson. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

Penn State's new football coach Bill O'Brien is surrounded by the media after he was introduced during an NCAA college football news conference, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in State College, Pa. O'Brien, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, replaces Hall of Famer Joe Paterno, fired Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. (AP Photo/Andy Colwell)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Sporting a Nittany Lions pin on the lapel of his dark gray jacket, Bill O'Brien took the podium, looked straight ahead and introduced himself with two quick, no-nonsense sentences.

"I feel like I'm a mentally tough guy right now. I feel like I'm the right guy."

And with that, the 42-year-old O'Brien, the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator the past four years, was off and running at his first briefing as Penn State's new head football coach, the school's first in nearly a half century.

It is his first head-coaching job.

"This is unbelievable," he said.

Actually, for many Penn State fans and former players all over the country, how this all came to be is exactly that ? unbelievable.

Until Nov. 9, the Nittany Lions had been directed by the same person for 46 seasons ? Joe Paterno, who was fired that day in the aftermath of a child sex abuse scandal involving retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The case also forced the school president to resign.

Not only is O'Brien replacing Division I's winningest coach, he is joining a still-reeling school attempting to steer its way through federal, NCAA and Big Ten inquiries ? not to mention criminal proceedings against former administrators. Sandusky, meantime, is awaiting trial after waiving a preliminary court hearing last month. He has denied the charges.

O'Brien will remain with the Patriots for the duration of their playoff run. New England has a bye this weekend.

The new coach said he would pull together his staff during the next two or three days, and get the assistants on the recruiting trail immediately while he works with New England. He will retain assistant Larry Johnson from Paterno's staff to coach the defensive line.

"I'm going to surround myself with good people," O'Brien said, "and I'm excited to do that."

His five-year contract, finalized Friday, included base compensation starting at $950,000, with a 5 percent increase each season. O'Brien will also collect another $1 million a year for radio and television work, as well as a $350,000 Nike contract.

The base package is roughly on par with Paterno's compensation, which was about $1.02 million last year ? a relative bargain for a coach with two national championships. Until now, Penn State never released details of salary from endorsement deals outside the school.

O'Brien joined New England in 2007 following 14 seasons on the college level, including stops at Duke, Maryland and Georgia Tech. The Patriots are third in the NFL overall in scoring (32.1 points per game), and second in total offense (428 yards) and passing (317.8 yards).

Penn State finished a 9-4 campaign with a 30-14 loss in the TicketCity Bowl to Houston on Jan. 2. The Nittany Lions relied on defense much of the year after the offense struggled with a two-quarterback system.

Asked how the looming uncertainties affected his decision-making, O'Brien said he had tough questions for school officials during his interview and received "very, very honest answers." He declined to give specifics.

"I'm here now. ... It's my job as the head football coach at Penn State to have the best football program both and off the field," said O'Brien, who, like Paterno, is a Brown graduate. O'Brien added he looked forward to meeting Paterno and stresed respect would be shown for JoePa's accomplishments.

"Replacing a legend, I've heard it a lot in the past few days. I'm not here to be Joe Paterno. There's only one Joe Paterno," O'Brien said. "What I'm going to try to do is be Bill O'Brien and we're going to do the best we can to continue the success that he's had here for many, many years."

School President Rodney Erickson said the Nittany Lions were looking for someone who would "maintain the school's commitment to excellence on the field and in the classroom. We have that leader in Coach O'Brien."

John Nichols, professor emeritus at the College of Communications and a member of the search committee, said O'Brien's credentials as a coach, along with his enthusiasm as a "true believer in the college model" and the education of student-athletes, stood out.

He said the committee also made sure it found someone of the "highest integrity," which Erickson had deemed a non-negotiable criteria.

"In the current environment, we just absolutely had to do that," Nichols said. "This person will be entrusted with a huge chunk of Penn State's reputation in a critical time. Finding that person was absolutely integral."

Russ Rose, women's volleyball coach and another member of the search committee, said he liked O'Brien's confidence during the interview.

"I liked the fact that he said 'I'm a hell of a football coach.' I think it's important we hire a hell of a football coach," Rose said. "I took it as a real positive that he had confidence he was a good football coach."

O'Brien rocked on his heels and fidgeted with a water bottle while taking questions from reporters at the Nittany Lion Inn, a hotel on campus. Stepping to the podium, he surveyed the crowd and found his young son, Michael, wearing the blue No. 25 jersey of tailback Silas Redd. O'Brien and his wife, Colleen, have another son, Jack.

"I can't wait to get going on this," he said, "get everyone headed in the right direction."

This was O'Brien's first year coordinating the Patriots' powerful offense, but he has also coached star quarterback Tom Brady since 2009 and spent 2008 coaching receivers.

O'Brien recently was in the spotlight when he and Brady got into a heated argument, shown on national television, after Brady threw an interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' 34-27 win over the Washington Redskins on Dec. 11.

Asked about the incident and his relationship with Brady, he spoke of the Pro Bowl quarterback in glowing terms, adding: "Football is an emotional game."

Brady has described O'Brien as a great coach and friend; Pats receiver Julian Edelman said he is charismatic and emotional.

New England coach Bill Belichick, whom O'Brien thanked during the news conference, said in a statement: "This is a great match between a storied program and an old-school football coach. Bill will be up to the task and I couldn't be happier for him."

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who served as interim coach ? winning just one game down a tough, season-ending stretch ? was passed over for the position but wished O'Brien well. The longtime assistant, who interviewed for the job, remained on the staff as of Saturday though his future was uncertain.

"No matter the challenges that the university may face, Penn State will always have my support," Bradley said. "This is forever my home and forever my family. It is important that we come together to support our players and our university."

Not everyone, though, was willing to hop aboard the O'Brien bandwagon.

In column Saturday for the Washington Post, ex-NFL linebacker and Penn State standout LaVar Arrington said his initial postings on Twitter on Friday amid rumors of O'Brien's hiring were too harsh.

At one point, Arrington wrote on the social media site, "I'm done all my PSU stuff will be down before obriens introduction! We are! No more for me!"

"This hiring represents the Board of (Trustees') feeling toward all that has happened," he wrote in the column. "In my opinion, the board has concluded that everyone and everything associated with the football team is guilty of a crime that we simply did not commit ? and that's wrong."

O'Brien addressed the rumblings in a letter he said he sent to former players.

"We respect the rights to one's opinions, beliefs and contributions to Penn State," he said, reading it at the briefing. "We respectfully request the opportunity to earn your trust through communication ... In time, we will find we have more common interests and goals than not."

Designating himself the new leader of the "Penn State football family," O'Brien said he commended those with passionate loyalties to the school.

"You should love this school. You are why we want to be here," he said, reading from his letter. "We want you to know that you will always be welcome and be part of the program because we are Penn State."

In a separate statement Saturday released through the school, Tim Sweeney, president of the official Football Letterman's Club, said the new coach had the full support and backing of the organization.

"Our highly regarded standard of academic achievement equals that of our on-field performance, and we feel that Coach O'Brien is an excellent choice to continue this tradition that for so long has defined Penn State," Sweeney wrote. "Welcome to the Penn State Football family, Coach."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-07-Penn%20State-O'Brien/id-642bccd9135e427eb087694dd84c72e9

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Medical Marijuana License Fees That Saved Cops' Jobs at Risk in Mendocino

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Since 2010, Mendocino County marijuana growers with a doctor's recommendation have been permitted to license plants with Sheriff Tom Allman's department, under chapter 9.31 of the Mendocino County Code. Growers wishing to cultivate up to 99 plants must pay the Sheriff's Department an inspection fee and a $50 per-plant permit fee. In return, growers receive zip-ties that mark each of their 99 plants as certified legal, and the promise that the inspected medical marijuana crop won't be raided by local law enforcement.?

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But a court case out of Southern California could invalidate the program -- ?the first and only of its kind in California, according to Mendocinco County Counsel Jeanine B. Nadel.?

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In its opinion on Pack v. Long Beach, the state Court of Appeals ruled that state and local governments cannot issue permits for medical marijuana dispensaries or grows because in doing so, the government would violate the federal Controlled Substances Act.?

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"If the Pack decision stands, I think we would have issue with our permitting procedure," Nadel told SF Weekly shortly before the new year. "Our permit for 99 plants might be in jeopardy."

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The state Supreme Court is expected to decide if it will hear an appeal from the city of Long Beach on the Pack decision sometime in February. If an appeal is heard, the 9.31 program can continue as normal while the case is in the courts, Nadel said.?

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Source: http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog//2012/01/medical-marijuana-license-fees-that-saved-cops-jobs-at-risk-in-mendocino

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Video: Not your father?s golden years

For many Americans, the dream of a worry-free retirement remains elusive. NBC?s Anne Thompson explains why.

Related Links:

http://www.facebook.com/nbcnightlynews

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45906384/

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