Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Senate clears way for vote on insider-trading ban

(AP) ? Congress is rushing to make it absolutely clear to everyone that its members are banned from insider stock trading, hoping to improve their sagging image that has approval ratings at historic lows.

Senators made the first move Monday. Their 93-2 procedural vote cleared the way for Senate passage ? possibly later this week ? of a bill that would require disclosure of stock transactions within 30 days and explicitly prohibit members of Congress from initiating trades based on non-public information they acquired in their official capacity. The legislation, at least partly symbolic in nature, is aimed at answering critics who say lawmakers profit from businesses where they have special knowledge.

U.S. lawmakers already are subject to the same penalties as other investors who use non-public information to enrich themselves, though no member of Congress in recent memory has been charged with insider trading. In 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department investigated then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stock in his family's hospital company, but no charges were ever brought against the Tennessee Republican.

Voters may believe lawmakers paid an annual salary of $174,000 are enriching themselves by making investments based on what they learn in Congress. A recent segment of CBS' "60 Minutes" in November questioned trades by a House committee chairman, the current speaker and his predecessor's husband. Speaker John Boehner, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., all denied wrongdoing. Bachus chairs the Financial Services Committee.

"Members of Congress are not above the law," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said before Monday's test vote. "We must play by the same rules every other American plays by." He said the bill "will clear up any perception that it's acceptable for members of Congress to profit from insider trading."

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of registered voters found 56 percent favored replacing the entire 535-member Congress. Other polls this year have given Congress an approval rating between 11 percent and 13 percent, while disapproval percentages have ranged from 79 percent to 86 percent.

Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. said, "The numbers of people who have a favorable impression of this body are so low that we're down to close relatives and paid staff. And I'm not so sure about the paid staff."

Said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., one of the bill's authors: "Beginning today, the Senate is embarking on a mission to help address the deficit of trust with the American people."

The bill is entitled the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. President Barack Obama endorsed it in his State of the Union speech last week and also raised the issue in his radio and Internet address Saturday.

The White House said Monday in a statement, "The administration believes this bipartisan legislation is an important first step to prevent members of Congress from profiting from their positions and calls for swift passage."

The Senate bill would prohibit lawmakers from tipping off family members or others about non-public information that could influence a stock's price, in addition to the explicit ban itself, and would require members to disclose stock transactions within 30 days. And it would direct the House and Senate ethics committees to write rules that would make insider trading violators subject to congressional punishment.

Other legislative branch employees also would be subject to the ban, but only those who are required to file annual financial disclosure statements would be subject to the reporting requirement. For 2012, employees making $119,554 or more are required to file disclosure statements..

House leaders hope to pass their version of the bill by the end of February, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he wants to expand the legislation to include land deals and other transactions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-30-US-Congress-Insider-Trading/id-1068d7c27ccc4f8196fca70c6f7a52c4

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe

(AP) ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already caused the closure of one tabloid, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Officers were searching the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief ? and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-EU-Britain-Phone-Hacking/id-8e576c3c5d304972be7da3b8ad43ec21

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

'Bad losers' and?'animals'

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:11 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2012

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has labeled Real Madrid's players bad losers and animals after his club won their latest ill-tempered matchup.

Barcelona eliminated cup holder Real Madrid from the Copa del Rey quarterfinals with Wednesday's 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou.

El Mundo newspaper's website released Barca TV footage on Friday of Xavi caught off camera speaking about the game.

"In the changing room, they were (complaining). They're unbelievable - they don't know how to lose," the Spain midfielder said.

Xavi's comments will do little to calm the tense rivalry as he also labeled Madrid players "animals" for their physical challenges, specifically Lassana Diarra after the Madrid midfielder escaped a second booking in the closing moments of the first half.

"I said to him, you just showed (Lionel) Messi a yellow card and now the second one, what happened to it? Send him off," Xavi said he told referee Fernando Teixeira, adding: "It's the player who is responsible, especially if you challenge like an animal."

Madrid ended the match with 10 men after Sergio Ramos was sent off in the 88th minute, and Madrid was vocal in its criticism of Teixeira.

Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka, speaking instead of coach Jose Mourinho as he often does, responded to Xavi's statements on Friday.

"Of course Real Madrid knows how to accept losing, but not in that manner," Karanka said.

Mourinho criticized Teixeira in the postgame news conference and reportedly waited for the referee after the game to voice his opinion.

"Teixeira, you'll go and smoke a cigar now and laugh without feeling any bit of shame," El Mundo Deportivo newspaper quoted Mourinho as saying to Texeira, publishing a photo of the coach in the Camp Nou car park.

Karanka offered a qualified defense of Mourinho.

"Everyone knows our coach has a certain way of being, and there are times when he is OK and others when he's not," Karanka said.

While Madrid played perhaps its best match against Barcelona since Mourinho's arrival in 2010, the team has lost nine times and won only once in the last 14matches against its fiercest rival.

Madrid leads the Spanish league by five points at the halfway point of the season, with three-time defending champion Barcelona in second spot.

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


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'Bad losers' and?'animals'

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has labeled Real Madrid's players bad losers and animals after his club won their latest ill-tempered matchup.

Hope for Solo

Ailing U.S. goalie Hope Solo practices ahead of Friday's do-or-die game vs. Costa Rica.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46163353/ns/sports-soccer/

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Oil industry sees China winning, West losing from Iran sanctions (Reuters)

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) ? As the European Union prepares to ban Iranian oil and the United States turns the screw on payments, oil executives and policymakers say China and Russia stand to gain the most and Western oil firms and consumers may emerge the biggest losers.

Iran will continue to sell much the same volume of oil - 2.6 million barrels per day or around 3 percent of world supply - but almost all of it will flow to China, they reason. And being pretty much Iran's only remaining customer, Beijing will be able to negotiate a much reduced price.

The EU will ban Iranian oil from July. The United States plans sanctions on Iran's central bank and possibly its shipping firm. European headquartered oil firms such as France's Total and Royal Dutch Shell have already abandoned Iranian oil purchases or are in the process of doing so.

Japan and South Korea have signaled they may reduce purchases of Iranian oil to comply with U.S. sanctions designed to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

That leaves a growing number of buyers competing for alternative supplies. Inevitably attention has turned to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter and the only country that can quickly increase oil output and help the West avoid a price spike that would deal a severe economic blow.

The IMF said this week that crude oil prices could rise 20 to 30 percent if Iran were to retaliate by halting its oil exports altogether. Oil industry executives meeting in Davos said energy markets can afford to lose half of Iran's 2.6 million barrels per day. That would be roughly equivalent to supplies lost during Libya's civil war in 2011. They are confident Saudi Arabia will fill the gap.

"What we say is that oil is fungible. Iranian oil will still find its way into the market, to Asian markets, China and possibly at a lower price," a top Saudi source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"But if let's say 50 percent of Iranian oil is lost, we have spare capacity, we have the capacity to replace it as Libya has shown," he added.

The chief of Saudi state oil monopoly Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Falih, moved from one bilateral meeting to the next during the World Economic Forum this week. Over the past month or so the kingdom has received requests for additional oil from the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The European Union and Turkey buy almost a third of Iranian oil exports with the rest going to China, Japan, South Korea, India and South Africa.

"As a regular conversation we talked about increased supplies. Saudi Aramco is always positive," Jun Arai, the head of Japan's Showa Shell, told Reuters.

Russia too stands to gain from Western sanctions on Iran. The world's biggest oil producer is well positioned to raise its market share in Europe, despite misgivings among some Europeans about relying too heavily on Russia for oil and gas. Payment disputes between Russia and neighboring Ukraine have in the past threatened transit gas supplies to Europe.

"I'm sure Moscow is watching the situation with big interest," said Jos? Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive of Brazil's Petrobras. Arkady Dvorkovich, the Kremlin's top economic aide, concurred that Russia stood to benefit from sanctions that were guaranteed to keep oil prices at least at current levels around $100 a barrel by his reckoning.

Showa Shell buys 100,000 barrels per day from Iran under a deal that expires in March and like other firms would be exposed to U.S. sanctions if not given a waiver under the latest ban on dealing with Iran's central bank. "We are waiting for guidance from the government," said Arai.

For Total the guidance has been clearer. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been one of the main advocates of tough sanctions. "We have already stopped (buying from Iran)," said Total's chief Christopher de Margerie. The firm was previously lifting 80,000-100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Iran.

Peter Voser, chief executive at Royal Dutch Shell, said his company might take some time before suspending purchases, which market sources estimate at 100,000 barrels per day.

"We are a European company and therefore we are affected by the sanctions and we will obviously oblige and implement the sanctions. I need to study all the details in order to see how it goes forward," he said.

Apart from Total and Shell, Europe's biggest buyers of Iranian oil are Italian, Spanish and Greek companies.

CHEAP OIL

China has so far refrained from buying more Iranian crude but the perception in the industry and among diplomats is that the world's No.2 oil consumer will find it hard to resist buying unsold Iranian oil at a knockdown price.

"I think (the Iranian) oil will go somewhere else ... Iran may give a discount to make it easier and quicker but nothing will change," said De Margerie.

Robert Hormats, U.S. under secretary for economy, energy and agriculture, could not say with certainty that sanctions would reduce Iran's oil exports but he predicted more pain for the Iranian economy.

"You cannot predict what they (Iran) will do and how much they will discount their oil. But it will certainly cause more and more discomfort to the Iranian economy," he said, adding that China too had an interest in a 'constructive outcome'.

"No one has an interest in Iran continuing its non-peaceful nuclear program," he said. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes - electricity generation and medical equipment.

To maximize the impact of the sanctions, the U.S. will apply waivers very "selectively" and "responsibly," Hormats said. In addition, the U.S. administration is talking to Congress about extending sanctions to Iran's shipping fleet although the discussion is at an early stage, he added.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Janet McBride)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_davos_iran_oil

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

For a abounding, investing in hotels reaps unsubstantial gains ...

MUMBAI: The single of the initial questions tackled by Charles Allen as good as Sharada Dwivedi in The Taj during Apollo Bunder, their pithy latest story of the road residence, is since JN Tata built it during all. They note the renouned story of it being built to revenge the insult of being incited divided from the Europeans-only road residence, yet indicate out which whilst this might good have happened, ?it seems distant as well sparse the reason to glow the male of the distance of JN Tata, who in the past had not hesitated to cranky swords with governments as good as absolute blurb concerns?.

Allen as good as Dwivedi indicate the some-more trustworthy reason could distortion in an essay combined by an editor of the Times of India, Lovat Fraser, who was the tighten crony of Tata. Fraser removed he had combined which ?the male who built the road residence estimable of such the city would do some-more for Bombay than the donor of many museums?. Tata came to him after which as good as pronounced the thought had been in his thoughts for the while: ?He had not the smallest enterprise to own the road residence, however; his solitary instruct was to capture people to India, as good as in reality to urge Bombay.?

Fraser?s essay might have impelled Tata to movement, yet Allen as good as Dwivedi additionally indicate to the sole reason for Tata?s concern. In 1896, the mildew strike Bombay as good as over the subsequent couple of years, the once-prospering city became the shade of itself. During the rise, in 1899, 2, 800 people were failing any week, as good as people were journey the city. Tata had thrown himself in to plague-combat work, as good as contingency have realised which whilst the mildew could be brought underneath carry out, the certainty in the city would not be simply restored.

Structure the grand road residence in Bombay afterwards was the pointer which, during the begin of the latest century, the city was open for commercial operation again. Of march, the lot of the commercial operation was with Tata, which simply shows how, as with many shrewd businessmen, he could foster both open as good as personal interests together.

Yet this incomparable prophesy was mislaid upon Tata?s sisters who were frightened during the thought of him removing in to something as low-class as hospitality. The single is pronounced to have exclaimed to him in Gujarati: ?You have been structure an hospital of scholarship in Bangalore, the good iron as good as steel bureau, as good as the hydro-electric plan ? as good as right away we discuss it us we have been starting to put up the bhatarkhana( eating residence) !?

Currently with the Taj easy to the standing as the single of the world?s many appropriate hotels as good as alternative corporate groups seeking to come in the services zone, this acknowledgement unequivocally seems archaic. Nonetheless this disbelief during the Tatas? liberality impasse persisted for decades, not slightest during prolonged stretches when the zone was low, as good as the flagship road residence something of the dump.

Sometimes, Intangibles can be Strange

The 1950s as good as 60s were substantially the misfortune, when the hotel?s repute ? as good as family significance compared with the group?s sepulchral production businesses ? was during the lowest, nonetheless the costs were the drain. Yet the Tatas resisted the enticement to draw up it of, as good as distant from being surprising, their perspective essentially parallels which of the series of super-rich commercial operation people. Dig in to the portfolios of many of the world?s tip investors as good as we will find the road residence, maybe the sequence, which whilst frequency creation the detriment would frequency appear to beget the earnings such investors customarily require.

Mexico?s Carlos Slim Helu, for e.g., has interests in telecom as good as alternative businesses which continually put him during the tip of the world?s richest chairman list, nonetheless the single of his many long-standing investments is in Road residence Geneve, an superb 105-year-old investiture which might be Mexico City?s homogeneous of the Taj. Prince Al-waleed garbage bin Talal, the legendary Saudi financier, is the vital shareholder in the Four Seasons road residence organisation, as good as has taken sole seductiveness in restoring London?s critical Savoy Hotel.

He was additionally rumored to be in the regulating for Aman Resorts, the ultra-luxury sauna resorts, from the tide Indian owners, the DLF Group. Another Middle-Eastern financier, the Qatar Investment Authority, has paid for Singapore?s ancestral Raffles Hotel. The Sultan of Brunei owns such turning point hotels as London?s Dorchester as good as Paris? Plaza-Athenee. As good as in India as well, Mukesh Ambani?s Reliance has taken the poignant interest in the Oberoi group.

In all these cases, good commercial operation reasons can be done for the investment, nonetheless all these investors could substantially have done some-more income elsewhere if they were seeking usually during returns. Hotels need intemperate investment in infrastructure, maintain as good as unchanging renewals, as good as earnings can be usually anniversary as good as scarily contingent upon the ubiquitous sentiments about the city as good as transport during the sole time.

The deep-pocketed financier can unequivocally assistance, as good as as all these cases infer, utterly mostly such investors have been found who have been peaceful to demeanour over only financial earnings, to assorted unsubstantial benefits of opening hotels as well. Sometimes, it?s loyal, the intangibles can be strange.

The Waldorf-Astoria in Latest York City, the single of the many genre-defining oppulance hotels, originated in the family feud. After the genocide of American multimillionaire John Jacob Astor III in 1890, his younger hermit William Astor?s mother Caroline, the Latest York multitude diva, spoken she was the amicable conduct of the family as good as had to be called only Mrs Astor, as against to Mrs William Astor, as was the norm.

JJ Astor?s son, William Waldorf Astor, was so murderous during this appropriation which he tore down his family palace subsequent to his aunt?s as good as built the outrageous road residence, the Waldorf, to dwarf it. She attempted to omit what she discharged as ?a saved pub subsequent door? prior to in the future giving in as good as relocating out, permitting her some-more mild son to rip down their residence as good as set up the relating road residence, the Astoria, which in the future joined with his cousin?s as the Waldorf-Astoria.

Another critical Latest York road residence, the Pierre, right away run by the Taj, was built by hotelier Charles Pierre Casalesco, who was perturbed during the tumble of manners due to ?the immeasurable approved distance of World War we parties as good as wantonness breach guzzling which followed.? The 42-story palace was meant to be the lapse to the disdainful ways of aged Latest York, yet the Good Depression set in shortly after it was finished in 1929 as good as it went bankrupt. The customer was oil millionaire J Paul Getty, who sole the series of apartments to identical super-rich survivors of the Depression.

When the Taj in the future took over the government, it was presented as an critical ubiquitous incursion for the organisation ? yet it is tough not to consternation if the organisation was not during all shabby by the awaiting of saying the Taj name as good as the Indian dwindle drifting outward the single of the many prestigious addresses upon Fifth Avenue. The single of the some-more unsentimental reasons for opening hotels has been related to transportation.

The bang in Bombay which done the road residence identical to the Taj probable was partly driven by the opening of the Suez Canal, as good as the single family which done the income there, the Baghdadi Jewish Kadoories, shifted their bottom to Hong Kong as good as in 1928 non-stop the Peninsula, the single of the grandest hotels in Eastern Middle East, to happen during the same time with the execution of rail links which brought the city closer to the rest of China.

Another critical road residence combined by the railways was the Pera Palace in Istanbul, grown by the association which ran the critical Orient Express sight since they realised their guest would need the place of as many peculiarity to nap in once they in the future reached Istanbul.( Agatha Christie would after write many of her Murder upon the Orient Express in the road residence) .

Government regulations can be an astonishing reason for opening hotels. When Theodore Roosevelt was military government official of Latest York, he enforced the rarely without the friend magnitude called the Raines Law, written to cut down upon celebration by banning the sale of ethanol upon Sunday ? the many renouned day for drinking.

The the single difference was for hotels which could offer ethanol with food or in bedrooms, as good as roughly during once bars proposed opening 10 bedrooms ? the smallest series compulsory ? as good as incited in to hotels. Of march, the bars weren?t antithetic to the bedrooms being used, in any approach, as good as unequivocally shortly the outrageous bang in harlotry took place regulating them, all subverting the moralistic intentions of the law.

In Chennai currently, likewise foolish measures need bars to be trustworthy to hotels, as good as the little have combined lodges for this role, yet it isn?t transparent if this has facilitated prostitution.

The little of the owners of the grand hotels have, of march, used their properties for identical reasons as good as even for some-more sanctioned purposes it is obviously utterly the flog to have the grand as good as well-run residence to stay in. The Ambanis have tweaked this regulation somewhat by removing in the Oberoi?s services to run Antillia, their argumentative latest skyscraper palace, which insiders contend is run identical to the road residence, with the physical education instructor for any floor. Yet even during the some-more ubiquitous corporate turn, there have been ways in which the liberality business? imagination can be used opposite the group.

The Taj does the good understanding for the Tata Organisation, from upon condition which glorious catering during the Bombay Residence domicile, to provision food( around the moody catering auxiliary) to cafes during Westside stores run by Trent, the Tatas? sell operation.

The Taj mostly handles liberality during Tata Organisation events, not for giveaway, yet positively during unequivocally rival rates, as good as Tata managers additionally get to operate Taj properties wherever they transport during special rates. As good as in Mumbai, the Taj runs Wellington Mews, the formidable of oppulance operate apartments which the Tatas grown upon an existent parcel of skill owned by the group. With the ITC Organisation, the hotels multiplication has been means to operate their land resources profitably.

?We have the vast land bank as good as this has been the good approach to precedence it, ? explains ITC orator Bindu Panicker. The ITC Grand Central in Mumbai, for e.g., was built upon the site of an aged cigarette bureau as good as the ITC Gardenia in Bangalore came up upon the devalue where comparison association officials used to have their bungalows. Panicker says the alternative large synergy of the hotels with the rest of the association has been in the operate of products.

We operate all sorts of ITC products. Paper from the paper multiplication, ITC matches as good as agarbattis, Fiama di Wills toiletries from the personal caring multiplication, Aashirvaad atta from ITC Dishes, as good as more. With ITC Dishes, in sole, the collaborations have been mixed, with tip chefs from the hotels assisting the dishes multiplication rise products identical to the Kitchens of India finished food( the single of the products, Bukhara Dal, links without delay to the grill during ITC Maurya) .

Maybe the greatest cases of owners benefitting from hotels come not from the large bondage, yet particular hotels which have been leased out to the bondage to run. The owners of these hotels, who have been typically internal businessmen with the skill, yet not the imagination to run the road residence, good from carrying the veteran group regulating the place in lapse for the commission of the income ? as good as multiform alternative benefits.

The form these take varies; the little bondage have grave, stereotyped programmes for owners, yet others keep the contracts particular as good as have been presumably not as well penetrating upon all owners removing to know what the others have been getting.

Typically, yet, the package would embody operate of alternative properties as good as services of the road residence sequence up to an concluded amount. Yet there is additionally an unsubstantial good which comes by the chain?s ubiquitous physical education instructor posted to the property. The poignant partial of his pursuit involves gripping the owners happy, as good as this can be onerous.

Managers have been mostly asked to get bookings during alternative budding properties during the busiest times of the year, as good as since these have been owners they can?t be refused, so many vagrant as good as pleading for favours in in between road residence managers take place.

The flipside of this yet is which since such owners lend towards to have alternative commercial operation interests in the same city as the road residence, the solid tide of commercial operation can accumulate from upon condition which liberality services to them. ?You do have to be organisation as good as contend no to freebies not specified in owners contracts, ? explains the single ubiquitous manager.

?And of march, they will get the special rate, yet afterwards it will be unchanging revenue.? The family in in between owners as good as hotels can be difficult as good as spasmodic unequivocally diligent ? there?s the scandalous story of how the owners of the Imperial in Delhi demanded the Oberois lapse it in only the condition they got it, so MS Oberoi ripped out each airconditioning channel as good as infrastructure alleviation, withdrawal the sum mess. Yet with sufficient give as good as take upon both sides, both hotels, which do need deep-pocketed investors, as good as the owners can have the profitable attribute which goes over only business.

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Source: http://www.chinatravelarticle.com/news/hotelnews/abounding-investing-hotels-reaps-unsubstantial-gains.html

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

SOPA sponsor undeterred by conservative opposition, websites??? blackouts (Daily Caller)

Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, author of the Stop Online Piracy Act, announced Tuesday that the bill will resume markup before the House Judiciary Committee in February.

The announcement comes in the face of massive opposition to the bill, with several major websites ? including Reddit and Wikipedia ? planning to block access to their U.S. versions Wednesday in protest.

Critics of SOPA say the bill threatens free speech and would disrupt essential cyber security technologies.?Supporters say online copyright infringement costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars per year, and must be stopped.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa ? a vocal critic of SOPA and the Protect IP Act, its Senate counterpart ? ?said Friday that both bills remain ?flawed.?

?Smith [has] announced that he will remove the DNS blocking provision from his legislation,? acknowledged Issa in a statement. But, he added, ?despite the removal of this provision, [SOPA] is still a fundamentally flawed bill.?

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has assured Issa that the bill will not move to the House floor unless ?consensus? is reached.

Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation,?announced?Tuesday that it will hold votes in favor of SOPA and PIPA against lawmakers.

?Heritage Action opposes SOPA and PIPA and if they come to a vote will include them as a key vote on our scorecard,? said the influential conservative group.

Conservative non-profit FreedomWorks, which claims one million members, also announced its disapproval of the bills.

?Twenty-seven?Republican lawmakers who strongly opposed net neutrality are strangely cosponsors of SOPA in the House or PIPA in the Senate,? wrote Julie Boroski on the FreedomWorks blog.

?Yet, the proposed online piracy laws are equally as bad or perhaps?even worse?than net neutrality,? wrote Borowski. ?SOPA and PIPA would disrupt the growth of technology and infringe on free speech. Any individual interested in preserving the freedom of the Internet should not support either version of this dangerous bill.?

?Right now, the focus of protecting the Internet needs to be on the Senate where Majority Leader Reid has announced his intention to try to move similar legislation in less than two weeks,? said Issa Tuesday.

PIPA is sponsored by Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, who swatted at the opposition of Wikipedia and Reddit in a statement.

?The PROTECT IP Act will not affect Wikipedia, will not affect Reddit, and will not affect any website that has any legitimate use,? said Leahy. ? A foreign rogue website is clearly defined as one that has no real purpose other than infringement.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20120117/pl_dailycaller/sopasponsorundeterredbyconservativeoppositionwebsitesblackouts

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Gingrich rising in SC, but in time to edge Romney?

[unable to retrieve full-text content]EASLEY, S.C. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is drawing big, enthusiastic crowds and fending off new attacks from GOP front-runner Mitt Romney while reveling in a strong debate performance and a nod from tea party favorite Sarah Palin.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-19-Gingrich/id-80f1f4c44b7f4e9fb7ab2dfbd09933b5

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Japan official wary of Iran sanctions impact

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's finance minister said Wednesday that he's concerned about the effectiveness of proposed U.S. sanctions on Iran, as well as their potential impact on Japanese banks.

Jun Azumi said last week that Japan would take steps to reduce Iranian oil imports in line with U.S. sanctions after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

But Azumi struck a more cautious tone Wednesday, telling journalists at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that if the sanctions were imposed immediately, they could sustain "tremendous" damage to Japanese banks.

"We want to take steps to keep the damage to the Japanese economy to a minimum," Azumi said.

The sanctions, targeting Iran's oil exports in an attempt to halt what Western governments say is its effort to develop nuclear weapons, would bar financial institutions from the American market if they do business with Iran's central bank.

Tehran claims the reactors are for civilian energy use and scientific research.

Japan imports about 9 percent of its oil from Iran. Analysts say Japan will likely turn to other major oil suppliers to offset any further declines from Iran.

Azumi said he understood the potential danger of Iran's nuclear program, but also acknowledged "there were some concerns" that the sanctions would not be effective in convincing Iranian authorities.

He added that "Russia and China hold the keys to resolving this situation."

A U.S. delegation led by Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special advisor on nonproliferation and arms control, and Daniel Glaser, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing arrived in Tokyo Wednesday to discuss with Japanese counterparts how to proceed on the Iranian matters.

Earlier in the day, Azumi met with U.K. Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne to discuss trade, Iran and other matters. Osbourne told reporers that the British government appreciated that it is not easy for Japan to switch nearly one tenth of its oil supplies quickly.

But he said the two countries agreed it is not acceptable for Iran to continue to develop a nuclear weapon and that "we are prepared to use the tools available to us in the international community to stop that happening."


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

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9SB94G00&show_article=1

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Startup niche focused legal news site viable as stand alone ...

Well-known TechCrunch columnist and Silicon Valley journalist Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda) debuts today her new tech news site called PandoDaily.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Lacy has the backing of $2 million in venture capital and will feature three of TechCrunch?s most high-profile former bloggers: Michael Arrington, M.G. Siegler and Paul Carr.

Lacy's debut makes me wonder if we're ready for a startup legal news site. Not one that would be an offshoot of the large legal publishers (Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, ALM -Law.com, Wolters Kluwer) and not a small time effort started on a shoe string. But a legal news site that would compete with ALM's legal periodicals that would be driven by innovative people willing to work their ass off to get it off the ground.

Michael Arrington was a Stanford Law grad and corporate lawyer at Wilson Sonsini from 1997 to 1999, before getting into Internet startups. In 2005, Arrington started TechCrunch to cover internet startups and related news. When I asked him a few years later how he got TechCrunch to such prominence, he said blogging 16 hours a day for a year.

As TechCrunch grew, Arrington added writers and senior leadership in the form of CEO, Heather Harde, former vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Fox Interactive Media. In 2010 AOL bought TechCrunch for north of $25 million.

Unfortunately TechCrunch is a shadow of itself now that Arrington, Harde, and others have left. That's not to say AOL is not making money from the acquisition in ad revenue and growing out its ancillary blog and news site network.

Is a 'TechCrunch in the law' viable? I don't know. We have Above the Law (ATL) which has been labeled a aw gossip blog which circulates rumors primarily about big law. ATL appears to be financially viable and could be an attractive buy for a larger publisher.

My gut tells me a niche focused legal news & commentary site driven by people who know what they are doing with web publishing - from the writing and corporate leadership standpoint is viable. I also believe it would be something of value to larger legal publishers for a later acquisition.

Source: http://kevin.lexblog.com/2012/01/articles/publishing-1/startup-niche-focused-legal-news-site-viable-as-stand-alone-business-enterprise-/

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Globes: Comedy vies with drama this awards season (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? The Golden Globes have equally good comedy and drama masks this year.

Alongside heavyweight dramas, the category for best musical or comedy at the Globes usually is more of a lark, with nominees rarely emerging with best-picture prospects for Hollywood's top prize, the Academy Awards.

Yet Sunday's musical or comedy contenders make up a strong bunch that could give their best-drama cousins at the Globes a run for their money come Oscar time.

Leading the Globes, to be carried live on NBC from 8-11 p.m. EST from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, is the silent film "The Artist," with six nominations. Among them are best musical or comedy, directing and writing honors for Michel Havanavicius, and acting slots for Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.

Tied for second with five nominations each are the Deep South tale "The Help" and George Clooney's Hawaiian family story "The Descendants," both of them among best-drama contenders.

With the Oscars choosing up to 10 best-picture contenders when nominations come out Jan. 24, "The Artist" could have some other lighter fare as company there. Globe musical or comedy nominees "Midnight in Paris" and "Bridesmaids" have solid Oscar nomination prospects, along with the weighty dramas academy voters historically prefer.

Most years, the musical or comedy category is filled with nominees that have little or no chance at the Oscars, such as last year's Globe nominees "The Tourist" and "Burlesque." The last time a musical or comedy Globe winner earned the best-picture Oscar was nine years ago, when "Chicago" triumphed at both shows.

This time, the dual categories at the Globes could create an Oscar showdown between the dramatic and musical-comedy winners.

Along with "The Artist," Kristen Wiig's wedding romp "Bridesmaids" and Woody Allen's romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris," Globe nominees for best musical or comedy are Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cancer tale "50/50" and Michelle Williams' Marilyn Monroe story "My Week with Marilyn."

Besides "The Descendants" and "The Help," best-drama contenders are Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo," Clooney's political thriller "The Ides of March," Brad Pitt's sports tale "Moneyball" and Steven Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse."

Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of 89 entertainment reporters for overseas outlets, the Globes used to have a strong record predicting the films that would go on to win best-picture at the Oscars. But lately, a best-picture win at the Globes has not translated into victory on Oscar night.

Over the last seven years, only one Globe best-picture winner ? 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" ? has gone on to claim the top Oscar trophy. Before that stretch, the Globes had been on an eight-year streak in which one of its two best-picture recipients also won the main prize at the Academy Awards.

Last year, "The Social Network" won best-drama at the Globes and looked like the early Oscar favorite. But momentum later swung to eventual Oscar best-picture winner "The King's Speech." The year before, "Avatar" was named best drama at the Globes, while "The Hurt Locker" took best picture at the Oscars.

The Globes have a better track record predicting who will win Oscars for acting. A year ago, all four actors who won Oscars earned Globes first ? lead players Colin Firth for "The King's Speech" and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and "The Fighter" supporting stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.

This time, "The Help" leads the acting categories with three nominations, for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain. Along with Clooney, Pitt and Williams, other nominees include Meryl Streep for the Margaret Thatcher story "The Iron Lady," Leonardo DiCaprio for the J. Edgar Hoover biography "J. Edgar," Christopher Plummer for the father-son tale "Beginners" and Glenn Close and Janet McTeer for the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs."

Ryan Gosling has two nominations, as dramatic actor for "The Ides of March" and actor in a musical or comedy for the romance "Crazy, Stupid, Love."

Morgan Freeman will receive the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement.

Ricky Gervais, who ruffled feathers with sharp wisecracks aimed at celebrities as well as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, returns as host of the Globes for the third-straight time.

If the caustic comedian decides to again bite the hand that feeds him, a case working its way through federal court might provide some material: the HFPA is fighting for the right to dump longtime Globes broadcaster NBC if it can get a better deal with another network.

___

Online:

http://www.goldenglobes.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_on_en_mo/us_golden_globes

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Monday, January 16, 2012

The Science of the Glory (preview)

Feature Articles | Energy & Sustainability Cover Image: January 2012 Scientific American MagazineSee Inside

One of the most beautiful phenomena in meteorology has a surprisingly subtle explanation. Its study also helps to predict the role that clouds will play in climate change


Image: Steve Jurvetson

In Brief

  • Looking down on a cloud from a mountain or an airplane, sometimes you can spot a glory: rings of colored light around your shadow or the plane?s. ?
  • As in a rainbow, the colors are produced by the microscopic water droplets that compose clouds, but in the case of glories the physics is more subtle.
  • The light energy beamed back by a glory originates mostly from wave tunneling, which is when light rays that missed a droplet can still transfer energy into it.
  • The understanding gained from glories is helping climatologists to improve models of how cloud cover may contribute to or alleviate climate change.

On a daytime flight pick a window seat that will allow you to locate the shadow of the airplane on the clouds; this requires figuring out the direction of travel relative to the position of the sun. If you are lucky, you may be rewarded with one of the most beautiful of all meteorological sights: a multicolored-light halo surrounding the shadow. Its iridescent rings are not those of a rainbow but of a different and more subtle effect called a glory. It is most striking when the clouds are closest because then it dominates the whole horizon.


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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=7a169179251fa032a25c6cff284a381f

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Nigeria crisis talks fail to reach compromise (Reuters)

ABUJA (Reuters) ? Nigerian unions and President Goodluck Jonathan met late into the night Saturday but failed to reach a compromise over the removal of fuel subsidies that has raised fears of a shutdown of Nigeria's oil industry, a union leader said.

"The meeting is not deadlocked but we have not reached a compromise," Nigeria Labor Congress President Abdulwaheed Omar told reporters. "We will meet and return to talk with the government. Our position is that they should suspend the increase in the pump prices and then we will suspend the strike and start negotiation."

(Reporting by Felix Onuah)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120114/wl_nm/us_nigeria_talks

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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Corey Feldman: I'll reveal pedophiles' names

John M. Heller / Getty Images

Corey Feldman says he will reveal the names of two Hollywood pedophiles in an upcoming book.

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Actor Corey Feldman, now 40, has been open about being abused as a child actor.?

The?star of such?1980s hit?films as "The Lost Boys," "Stand By Me," and "The Goonies" said last year on "Nightline"?that he was "surrounded" by pedophiles?while working in Hollywood.?Now he says he is writing a book that will name those who abused him when he was a teen.

He told the British tabloid The Daily Mail this week that he's planning a tell-all book in which he'll give the names of two abusers. He told the newspaper that he believes revealing the names will put him in danger, but that he owes it to his own young son, Zen, now 7.

He has said that his good friend, the late actor Corey Haim, was also abused. The two actors confronted their pasts on their 2008 reality show, "The Two Coreys." Haim died of pneumonia in March 2010.

Feldman did not reveal when he hoped to publish the book.

Feldman is currently competing on the U.K. reality show "Dancing on Ice," similar to the ABC show "Skating With the Stars." He has told British?Web site Digital Spy?that he hopes to skate to "Billie Jean," by his late friend, Michael Jackson, and would like to try to moonwalk on ice. Feldman dressed like Jackson when he attended the singer's?memorial service?in July 2009.

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/11/10118794-corey-feldman-ill-reveal-pedophiles-names

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Friday, January 13, 2012

"Mad Men", "Twilight" unite in $412.5 million deal (omg!)

Jan 13 - Lions Gate Entertainment Corp said it bought private movie studio Summit Entertainment, producer of the blockbuster "Twilight" vampire series, for $412.5 million in cash and stock.

With the deal, television and movie producer Lions Gate acquires the fifth and final "Twilight" movie, set for release in November; a stronger presence in international distribution, and 13,000 older film titles such as Oscar winner for Best Picture "The Hurt Locker" for its film library.

The deal announced on Friday comes as Lions Gate is preparing for the March release of its first "Hunger Games" movie, part of a trilogy aimed at the teen audience that made "Twilight" a mega-hit. The first four "Twilight" films have sold nearly $2.5 billion in tickets around the world.

Lions Gate is the studio behind the film "Precious" and the "Saw" horror franchise as well as TV shows "Mad Men," "Nurse Jackie" and "Weeds." The company was engaged in a years-long battle with activist investor Carl Icahn that ended last August when Icahn dropped his battle for control and sold his shares in the studio.

Summit's chief executive, Rob Friedman, and Co-Chairman Patrick Wachsberger re-launched Summit in 2007 as a full-service movie studio, expanding from its roots as a company primarily devoted to the foreign sales of movies.

Both the Lions Gate and Summit labels "are expected to be active in the production and distribution of films," the companies said.

The majority of the purchase price was funded with cash on the balance sheet at Summit, the two companies said in a statement issued on Friday.

The remainder was funded with $55 million of existing Lions Gate cash, $45 million of cash received from a newly issued series of Lionsgate convertible notes, $50 million of Lionsgate common stock and an additional $20 million of cash or stock to be issued at Lionsgate's option within 60 days.

Summit's existing term loan was refinanced with a $500 million debt facility, secured by Summit assets as collateral. Lions Gate "anticipates repaying the loan well before the maturity date (in 2016), due to the significant cash flow the business is expected to generate," the statement said.

"The transaction is expected to be significantly accretive in Lionsgate's 2013 fiscal year beginning April 1, 2012," the companies said.

JP Morgan, Barclays Capital and Jefferies served as financial advisors for Lions Gate.

Shares of Lions Gate closed down 1.3 percent at $8.60 on Friday, just ahead of the deal's announcement. There was no change in afterhours trade.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Lauria, Joyjeet Das and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_lionsgate_buys_twilight_studio412_5_mln_214211319/44173356/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/lionsgate-buys-twilight-studio-412-5-mln-214211319.html

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PFT: Fisher 'torn' between Rams and Dolphins

Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson reacts late in the game against the San Diego Chargers during their NFL football game in OaklandReuters

After losing his final game as the Raiders? head coach, Hue Jackson said he was ?pissed? at his team and that he would be making changes. As it turned out, the Raiders were the ones making changes, firing Jackson perhaps because owner Mark Davis and G.M. Reggie McKenzie were displeased about those comments.

Now that Jackson has had a chance to simmer down, he says he wishes he hadn?t lashed out at that final press conference.

?I wish I could take it back and say it differently so people could really understand what I was trying to say,? Jackson said today on NFL Network. ?I wasn?t trying to say that I wanted to take total control of everything.?

Instead, Jackson says, what he was hoping to convey with his press conference after the Raiders lost to the Chargers in Week 17 was that he hoped to re-shape the team during the offseason. As the last coach hired by Al Davis, Jackson took the job under different circumstances than the franchise is faced with now, and Jackson said he would have liked the opportunity to mold the team in his own image, rather than to coach the team that Al Davis was running.

?I think when you work for the Raiders, you understand that Al Davis is first and foremost ? you work for him,? Jackson said. ?So I didn?t get an opportunity to put everybody that I wanted on my staff, or run the team or the situation with football operations the way I see fit. I took the job, and I knew the parameters of the job, and I accepted that, and I think at the end what was coming out of me was the emotion of a long season, being 8-8, losing to the Chargers with so much riding on the line ? the opportunity to win the AFC West, host a playoff game at home, opportunity to have the first nine-win season since 2002.?

But the bottom line is that even if Jackson wishes he could take it back and say it differently, the point remains the same: Jackson wanted to implement his own vision for the Raiders, and that vision apparently doesn?t mesh with the vision of Al?s son Mark Davis, who hired Reggie McKenzie as general manager.

Still, there?s a lot to be said for making sure you get your message across the right way, even in the heat of the moment after a tough loss. In his comments on NFL Network today, Jackson sounded much more reasonable and even-keeled than he did in that post-game press conference, and he described Mark Davis as ?a good man,? and said he has no hard feelings for Davis or McKenzie. If Jackson had approached his final press conference the way he approached today?s comments about getting fired, he might not have had to make today?s comments about getting fired.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/11/jeff-fisher-is-legitimately-torn/related/

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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Evolution is written all over your face

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2012) ? Why are the faces of primates so dramatically different from one another?

UCLA biologists working as "evolutionary detectives" studied the faces of 129 adult male primates from Central and South America, and they offer some answers in research published Jan. 11, in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The faces they studied evolved over at least 24 million years, they report.

"If you look at New World primates, you're immediately struck by the rich diversity of faces," said Michael Alfaro, a UCLA associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the senior author of the study. "You see bright red faces, moustaches, hair tufts and much more. There are unanswered questions about how faces evolve and what factors explain the evolution of facial features. We're very visually oriented, and we get a lot of information from the face."

Some of theprimate species studied are solitary, while others live in groups that can include dozens or even hundreds of others.

The life scientists divided each face into 14 regions; coded the color of each part, including the hair and skin; studied the patterns and anatomy of the faces; and gave each a "facial complexity" score. They studied how the complexity of primate faces evolved over time and examined the primates' social systems. To assess how facial colors are related to physical environments, they analyzed environmental variables, using the longitude and latitude of primates' habitats as a proxy for sun exposure and temperature. They also used statistical methods to analyze the evolutionary history of the primate groups and when they diverged from one another.

"We found very strong support for the idea that as species live in larger groups, their faces become more simple, more plain," said lead author Sharlene Santana, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in ecology and evolutionary biology and a postdoctoral fellow with UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics. "We think that is related to their ability to communicate using facial expressions. A face that is more plain could allow the primate to convey expressions more easily.

"Humans have pretty bare faces, which may allow us to see facial expressions more easily than if, for example, we had many colors in our faces."

The researchers' finding that faces are more simple in larger groups came as a surprise.

"Initially, we thought it might be the opposite," Santana said. "You might expect that in larger groups, faces would vary more and have more complex parts that would allow one individual to identify any member of that group. That is not what we found. Species that live in larger groups live in closer proximity to one another and tend to use facial expressions more than species in smaller groups that are more spread out. Being in closer proximity puts a stronger pressure on using facial expressions."

"This finding suggests that facial expressions are increasingly important in large groups," said co-author Jessica Lynch Alfaro, associate director of the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. "If you're highly social, then facial expressions matter more than having a highly complex pattern on your face. "

The evolutionary biologists also found that when primates live in environment with more species that are closely related, their faces are more complex, regardless of their group size. This finding is consistent with their need to recognize individuals of other closely related species that live in the same habitat to avoid interbreeding, Santana said.

Santana, Lynch Alfaro and Alfaro present the first quantitative evidence linking social behavior to the evolution of facial diversity and complexity in primates, and they also show that ecology controls aspects of facial patterns.

As species live closer to the equator, the skin and hair around their eyes get darker, the biologists report. They also found that regions of the face around the nose and mouth get darker when species live in humid environments and denser forests and that facial hair gets longer as species live farther from the equator and the climate gets colder, which may be related to regulating body temperature.

"This is a good start toward understanding facial diversity," Alfaro said. "There was not a good idea before about what aspects of faces were shaped by which evolutionary pressure. Sharlene [Santana] has been able to say what social complexity, social behavior and ecology are doing to faces."

In the future, Santana, Lynch Alfaro and Alfaro may use computer facial-recognition software to help quantify the faces in a more sophisticated way. They also plan to study the faces of carnivores, including big cats.

Previous studies, they noted, have found that primate species with moustaches and beards (such as No. 11 and No. 9 in the accompanying image) tend to look poker-faced; they don't move their faces much when they communicate, compared with other species (such as No. 4).

Alfaro praised Santana's ability to answer some of these difficult evolutionary questions.

"Sharlene has tested ideas that have been virtually impossible to test before," he said. "She has found a clever way to implicate the degree of sociality as contributing to the diversity of faces. Social behavior explains some aspects of facial diversity."

Santana also devised a way to test a theory that has been in the biological literature for decades but had never been tested before. As a lineage diverges and species accumulate, a series of changes in facial coloration and body coloration emerges. The theory she was able to test suggests that once a species evolves to have a certain color, such as hair color, the change is irreversible and it cannot evolve back to a previous color in its lineage. Santana found this theory to be wrong.

"The idea in biology that evolutionary change is irreversible is rejected very strongly by our data," Alfaro said.

Lessons for human faces?

Does the study have implications for the evolution of human faces?

The findings do suggest, Alfaro said, that an important factor in shaping human faces is the premium on making unambiguous facial expressions.

"Humans don't have all these elaborate facial ornamentations, but we do have the ability to communicate visually with facial expressions," Alfaro said. "Does reduced coloration complexity create a blank palate for visual expressions that can be conveyed more easily? That is an idea we are testing."

Santana's research is funded by fellowships from the National Science Foundation and UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles. The original article was written by Stuart Wolpert.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Sharlene E. Santana, Jessica Lynch Alfaro, and Michael E. Alfaro. Adaptive evolution of facial colour patterns in Neotropical primates. Proc. R. Soc. B, January 11, 2012 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2326

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/0eFQC1gWsfo/120111223744.htm

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Kutcher wants to return to 'Two and a Half Men' (AP)

PASADENA, Calif. ? A clean-cut Ashton Kutcher said Wednesday that he's interested in continuing with "Two and a Half Men" beyond this season ? and CBS wants him, too.

Kutcher's addition to television's most popular comedy following star Charlie Sheen's implosion was a grand experiment that has worked out better than CBS or the producers could have dreamed.

The show is up 20 percent in viewers over Sheen's final season, the Nielsen ratings company said, and Kutcher has also brought in a younger crowd.

"I've had a blast," said Kutcher, who plays the heartbroken Walden Schmidt. "Since I stopped doing `That `70s Show' I've always wanted to go back and do television."

Kutcher appeared at a news conference without the long hair and beard he has worn this season. It was cut as part of the plot in an episode of "Two and a Half Men" that airs Monday, he said.

Kutcher will be working on movies after filming for this season of "Two and a Half Men" concludes, but "right now I'm looking at it as a hiatus," he said.

CBS would have to strike a new deal with actors and producers to continue the show beyond this season. All parties seem interested in working it out, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said.

"In spirit and intent, everybody is very motivated," she said.

Series creator Chuck Lorre said he gave thought to ending the series after Sheen left last season and couldn't imagine it continuing. But CBS and his co-creator, Lee Aronsohn, nudged him to continue.

"Lee said, `Why not try? If we fail, no one would be physically harmed,'" Lorre said. "It seemed like such a heartbreaking way to end, and we didn't want it to, so we said let's keep the light on."

Writers were able to change the tone by making Kutcher's character a heartbroken Internet billionaire who has everything he wants except the woman he loves. Jon Cryer, who played Sheen's annoying little brother, is now Schmidt's older friend. It was all a welcome tone change, Aronsohn said.

"It's been a lot of fun and a challenge to create a different show with a lot of the same elements," he said.

Lorre, who was the target of sharp barbs from Sheen last spring after he was fired, said he wished his former star well.

"I really do," he said. "I'm glad he's sober and I think it's terrific."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120112/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_two_and_a_half_men

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Ind. Dems end boycott, GOP plans initial vote (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? A divisive labor bill is back in Republican hands after Indiana House Democrats on Monday ended a three-day boycott of the chamber to stall the measure.

Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said the right-to-work bill will get a committee vote Tuesday morning and could make it out of his chamber by the end of the week if Democrats continue to attend House sessions.

Indiana House Democrats returned to the Legislature after spending three days blocking the contentious bill but did not promise to stay long enough to allow a final vote on the measure. House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer told The Associated Press that Democrats were returning "just for today."

The Democrats' return put the issue of Republican vote-wrangling back on the table, at least for a day. Bosma needs 51 votes to pass the measure. Although Republicans outnumber Democrats 60-40 in the House, some Republicans such as Rep. Ed Soliday of Valparaiso have said they plan to vote against the measure.

Bosma said he is confident he will be able to lock in the votes needed to pass the measure. "We'll just keep calm and carry on," he said, echoing the British World War II motto he has adopted for the right-to-work battle.

Republicans want to make Indiana the first state in more than a decade to enact right-to-work legislation, which bans employment contracts that require employees to pay mandatory union fees for representation. Supporters claim it would bring more jobs to Indiana, where the unemployment rate has crept back up to around 9 percent in the recent months. Opponents say it is a move aimed at breaking unions in Indiana and claim it would depress wages for all workers.

House Democrats stalled work at the opening of Indiana's 2012 legislative session last week by denying Republicans the 67 members on the floor they need to conduct any business.

The measure is expected to find an easy path through the state Senate, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 37-13.

National right-to-work advocates came close in November to making New Hampshire the first right-to-work state since Oklahoma passed the measure in 2001 but could not find the votes to override a veto from Democratic Gov. John Lynch. The issue had been largely dormant since the late 1940s and '50s but has enjoyed a resurgence following the GOP's sweep in statehouses across the nation in 2010.

Indiana Republicans approved new $1,000-per-day fines for prolonged absences after a five-week walkout by Democrats last year over the same issue.

Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, said that if House Democrats stay in session the right-to-work measure could make it to the governor's desk as soon as two weeks from now.

But if they use a start-and-stop approach to stall the measure further, Republicans will be ready with the same fines they levied last year, he said.

"So if their idea is, come in one day be gone two days, come in a day be gone two, that's not going to fly for very long at all," he said.

The measure could reach Gov. Mitch Daniels' desk before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Daniels has made the labor bill one of his top priorities for the 2012 session and appeared in television ads pushing the measure. Last week, the NFL Players Association called the bill "a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers' rights."

Daniels has kept his involvement to mainly wholesale lobbying pitches, talking with newspaper editorial boards and filming television ads for the measure, but said he will personally pitch House lawmakers if needed.

"I'm willing to in case there are some who are on the fence," Daniels said.

Some Republican lawmakers, such as Rep. Bruce Borders of Jasonville, say they are looking at exempting Indiana's construction workers from the ban but have not said definitively whether they will support the bill.

"I'm still keeping my powder dry," Borders said last week.

Bosma did not discount the idea of carving the Indiana State Building and Construction Trades from the measure, noting that he pushed for that exemption last year.

"I'm a little leery about that approach, but I know there are some people interested in that," Bosma said, adding that he would oppose efforts to put the measure on the ballot for voters in 2013.

___

Tom LoBianco can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/tomlobianco

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_re_us/us_indiana_right_to_work

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

All About Beyonce And Jay-Z's New Arrival1676907


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Jay-Z and Beyonce
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676907/all-about-beyonce-and-jay-zs-new-arrival.jhtml

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Muhammad Ali returning to Ky. for 70th birthday (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Muhammad Ali is coming home to Louisville to celebrate another milestone ? his 70th birthday.

The iconic heavyweight boxing champion will bask in the limelight once again at a private birthday bash on the evening of Jan. 14 at the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. Ali turns 70 on Jan. 17. The party will double as a fundraiser for the center ? a cultural and education complex that also features a museum focusing on Ali's long career as a boxer, social activist and humanitarian.

"Louisville was the first to support Muhammad in his pursuit of gold," Lonnie Ali, the boxer's wife, said in a statement Saturday evening. "It is only fitting that Louisville and surrounding communities participate in this important celebration to mark his 70th birthday."

Ali Center spokeswoman Jeanie Kahnke said Saturday that Ali will be surrounded by old friends and people who made a difference in his life, including his longtime trainer Angelo Dundee. The party will feature a dinner, entertainment and speeches.

She described it as a "retrospective look and celebration" of Ali's life.

"It's significant for anyone to turn 70 years old," Kahnke said. "But for such a global icon, who has literally touched the lives of millions of people, it's a momentous event to celebrate."

A few tickets remained available for the $1,000-per-person event, she said.

Kahnke said that Muhammad and Lonnie Ali are looking forward to returning for the celebration. The Alis have a residence in Louisville but have recently been staying at their home in Arizona, she said. Ali is battling Parkinson's disease.

A series of community events ? titled "Seven Days for Seven Decades" ? will be offered from Jan. 15-21 at the center, touching on both the serious and fun sides of Ali.

"Community is an important part of Muhammad's life," Lonnie Ali said in her statement. "He was and is a master at building community around him."

She noted that Ali has engaged community support in the U.S. and around the world.

"In each community he visits, Muhammad involves people as stakeholders in his success," she said. "He makes people feel important, worthy and good about themselves and their actions. Muhammad continues to involve everyday people in his daily pursuit of life. He draws people in and makes them feel welcome. His support of community causes and individual efforts have been a way of life."

The week of events includes a "compassion fair" and workshops focusing on examples of compassion throughout the world. An exhibit will delve into the lives of people with dual African American and Native American ancestries. There will be screenings of films based on Ali's life.

On Jan. 15, a magician will perform in the center's main lobby ? a recognition of Ali's love of magic tricks. Also, people visiting the center during that week will receive a discounted admission for bringing non-perishable food items for a food bank.

"We really want to thank the community that has supported and loved and embraced Muhammad," Kahnke said.

The center opened in 2005 and draws about 85,000 visitors a year.

Born Cassius Clay, Ali began his boxing career as an amateur in Louisville in the 1950s, won a gold medal in boxing in 1960 at the Olympics in Rome. He went on to become a three-time world heavyweight champion. He first won the title by defeating Sonny Liston in 1964. Ali was then stripped of his boxing title in 1967 for refusing to be drafted for military service during the Vietnam War.

He regained the title in 1974 when he defeated George Foreman in Zaire. Ali's last title came in 1978 when he defeated Leon Spinks. Ali had three epic fights against his chief rival, Joe Frazier.

Ali has received dozens of international awards for his humanitarian efforts.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120108/ap_on_sp_ot/us_ali_birthday

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