The Morning Wrap - The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

And They're Off: Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are going head-to-head today in Floriday's primary election. The Miami Herald reports that absentee ballots are likely to play a major role in deciding the winner, with at least 632,000 Republican voters mailing in their votes so far.

Confidence Vote: In an effort to boost sinking approval ratings and regain public trust, the Senate voted Monday to consider legislation that would bar lawmakers from making stock or securities deals based on information they learn as members of Congress, The New York Times reports.

Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing: The much-anticipated showdown between the National Park Service and Occupy D.C. demonstrators didn't happen yesterday. Although the agency had said it would begin enforcing a no-camping rule starting at noon on Monday, no protesters have been cited or arrested so far, The Washington Post reports.

Big Names, Unclear Mandate: Corporate Counsel explores the make-up and mission of the new Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, the new financial crimes unit announced by President Obama in last week's State of the Union address.

Antitrust Investigation: The European Union is investigating whether Samsung Electronics violated antitrust laws in its use of special patents known as "standards-essential," The Wall Street Journal reports.

Source: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/01/the-morning-wrap-15.html

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Taylor Lautner Out Of 'Stretch Armstrong'

'Twilight' star drops out of big-screen adaptation of elastic Hasbro toy.
By Kara Warner

Taylor Lautner
Photo: Getty Images

Bad news for those looking forward to seeing Taylor Lautner as super bendy, slightly superheroic "Stretch Armstrong": He's officially out of the big-screen treatment of the popular '70s Hasbro toy.

MTV News confirmed Lautner's departure with a source close to the production. According to The Wrap, Lautner had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts. The "Twilight" heartthrob is reportedly set to begin work on an independent film with Oscar-winner Gus Van Sant.

Relativity Media announced Monday (January 30) that it will take over production of the film from Universal. The studio has inked a distribution deal with Hasbro. The movie was originally slated to be released in 2012, but it will now hit theaters on April 11, 2014. A new cast is expected to be announced shortly.

When MTV News asked Lautner about "Stretch Armstrong" last year, he seemed excited to explore the unknown with "Armstrong," since the film version is a brand-new concept and not a reboot or sequel. He also admitted that the character's superpower — the ability to stretch one's body parts to extremes — is hardly super at all.

"It's like the worst superhero power, possibly, to get, and how you're going to take that and use it for good and how you're going to be creative with that [is the predicament]," Lautner said. "The awesome thing with toys is it doesn't give you a story line, so you get to create it."

Although no creative decisions have been made yet, "Muppets" and "Get Him To The Greek" screenwriter Nick Stoller [http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/05/19/stretch-armstrong-similar-to-iron-man/] was originally attached to write the script and has said the film would be an origin story similar to the tone set in "Iron Man."

Who should fill Taylor Lautner's spot in "Stretch Armstrong"? Sound off in the comments section!

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: Taylor Lautner

Related Photos

• The Evolution Of: Taylor Lautner

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678148/taylor-lautner-stretch-armstrong.jhtml

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Thousands take polar bear plunge in Chesapeake Bay

Plungers run into the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Plungers run into the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

David Zihmer runs out of the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Laura Hanna runs out of the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ? Thousands of people clad in bathing trunks, bikinis and even some woolly winter hats have taken the Polar Bear Plunge into the Chesapeake Bay for charity.

The surging mass of bathers whooped and hollered as they dashed into the chill winter waters, monitored by safety divers in wetsuits just offshore at Sandy Point State Park in Maryland.

Some participants spent mere seconds in the water, leaving behind sandals and floppy beach hats in the rush to get out just as fast as they got in. Some wore costumes, one like "Star Wars" character Darth Vader.

Saturday's was the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge at the park, benefiting Special Olympics Maryland. Last year's plunge raised nearly $3 million, but there was no immediate word on the amount raised this year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-29-Polar%20Bear%20Plunge/id-7a9ef9aacf234e319c9b219118449336

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Poll ruling sparks street clashes in Senegal

Reuters

Anti-government protestors march past burning tires in Dakar on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.

Toure Behan / AFP - Getty Images

Tires burn in a street on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Senegal's capital Dakar, where clash broke out between police and young protesters.

AP

Protesters set fires in a street on Friday.

Reuters reports from DAKAR?? Protesters hurled rocks at police who retaliated with tear gas in Senegal's capital Dakar on Friday after a top legal body said President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run for a third term in elections next month.

Local television said one policeman died from head injuries after clashes in the capital Dakar. Reuters reporters saw youths set fire to tires in the street and overturn cars after a late-night ruling of the West African country's Constitutional Council.

Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10254694-poll-ruling-sparks-street-clashes-in-senegal

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Jesse Jackson adds voice to Grammy protest (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday urged Grammy organizers to reinstate 31 ethnic and minority musical categories that have been cut from the music industry's top awards.

In a letter to Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, sent three weeks before the February 12 Grammy Awards show, Jackson said the elimination of awards for Native American and Hawaiian musicians, and cuts in Latin Jazz, R&B and other categories were ill-considered and unfair.

Jackson said some of the categories dropped by the Recording Academy in a major overhaul last year "constitute the very heart of the music that nourishes and inspires minority communities."

Writing on behalf of the Rainbow Push Coalition of U.S. civil rights groups, Jackson called for an urgent meeting with Portnow to try and resolve the conflict that has spurred months of protests and a lawsuit by leading musicians.

Portnow said on Friday he was "receptive to meeting with the Rev. Jackson to explain how our nomination process works and to show the resulting diverse group of nominees it produced" for this year's Grammy Awards.

Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Bobby Sanabria are among dozens of musicians who have protested the decision, announced last April, to slash the number of Grammy categories to 78 from 109 for the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Some categories, such as Hawaiian and Native American albums were dropped completely, while others including Latin music and R&B saw the number of award categories halved.

Portnow said at the time the changes were necessary to maintain "the prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music."

Sanabria and three other Latin Jazz musicians filed a lawsuit in New York in August saying the cuts would harm their careers financially. They have also called for a boycott of the CBS network, which broadcasts the annual Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles.

The 2012 Grammy Awards take place on February12. Rapper Kanye West leads the field of contenders with seven nominations followed by British singer Adele, Bruno Mars and alternative rock band Foo Fighters.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Corrects Jackson name in paragraph 1.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/music_nm/us_grammys_protest

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Troops welcomed home from Afghanistan in Fort Gordon ceremony

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: chronicle.augusta.com --- Thursday, January 26, 2012
? A small but proud group of soldiers and civilians welcomed home members of the Army?s 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, Charlie Company, on Thursday. The homecoming was unique because most of the roughly 30 soldiers in formation at Fort Gordon?s Gym No. 6 had already returned from Afghanistan in the past two weeks. The ceremony was an official welcome ? complete with brass band and cake ? to supplement the big hugs the soldiers had already received from family members at the airport. read more ...

Source: http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2012-01-26/troops-welcomed-home-afghanistan-fort-gordon-ceremony

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Behind Obama's financial aid 'shopping sheets' (AP)

NEW YORK ? President Barack Obama wants to make it easier to size up the cost of college.

As part of his broad plans to make college more affordable, Obama said Friday that he would push for financial aid "shopping sheets" that make it easier for families to comparison shop between schools.

Federal education officials say the goal is make adoption of the form mandatory for schools to maintain access to federal aid. That would be a powerful incentive, as the federal government issued more than $140 billion in grants and loans last year.

As it stands, officials say the financial aid award letters that schools mail out to students in the spring can be unclear or even misleading. That can result in students signing up for more debt than they realize.

For example, schools usually state an "out of pocket" cost in award letters after subtracting aid such as grants and scholarships. But some schools also subtract loans from the out-of-pocket cost. That's despite the fact that loans actually push up costs because of interest charges.

Schools also may not spell out the type of loans that's included in the aid package, even though the terms on federal and private loans can differ significantly.

To address the issue, the Department of Education and the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rolled out a model financial aid form in October and asked for the public's comments on how it could be improved. On Friday, the CFPB said feedback indicated the most important figure for students is the amount of debt they would have upon graduation.

The Department of Education was required to develop the model form as part of federal education reforms in 2008. The adoption of such a form has also been widely supported by student advocates.

The push to standardize financial aid award letters comes at a time when students are graduating with more debt than ever before. The Institute for College Access & Success estimates that two-thirds of graduates have student loans, with an average debt of about $24,000.

___

Follow Candice Choi at http://www.twitter.com/candicechoi

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_comparing_college_costs

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These Tiny Snails Are So Small They Look Like Cute Little Boogers [Bugs]

Unlike the world's biggest bugs, these Partula snails are so small they look like little ants wearing a Halloween snail costume. And even though I usually hate bugs, when you miniaturize them, they look kind of cute! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/bTlSWt9QLUk/these-tiny-snails-are-so-small-they-look-like-cute-little-boogers

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Comcast Taps Lynn Charytan To Run New Legal Regulatory Group ...

Lynn Charytan has the right connections for this gig: Before joining Comcast in 2010 she was a lawyer at WilmerHale, where her mentor was William Lake ? who now runs the FCC?s Media Bureau. Her appointment to this new job is one more sign of Comcast?s determination to?strengthen its legal and lobbying muscle in Washington as it increasingly finds itself under the gun in policy disputes. For example, the FCC?and Justice Department are exploring the deal that Comcast and other cable operators recently made to sell wireless spectrum they control to Verizon, and cross-market products with their erstwhile competitor.?Here?s Comcast?s release:

WASHINGTON?Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), one of the world?s leading media, entertainment and communications companies, announced the establishment of a new Legal Regulatory Group. The new group will be headed by Lynn R. Charytan, Vice President of Legal Regulatory Affairs.

?Since joining us last year, Lynn has brought a new level of professionalism and rigor to these areas. We are fortunate to have her leading this new team.?
.
Ms. Charytan joined Comcast in November 2010 from WilmerHale where she was a partner and chair of the Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group. During more than 17 years with that firm, she advised clients on telecommunications, privacy, and Internet-law matters in all sectors of the communications industry ? from equipment manufacturers to wireless companies to video providers.

The new Legal Regulatory Group will provide corporate-wide legal advice taking into account considerations of both the Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal businesses, and will continue to ensure compliance with the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal conditions. The Group will oversee all legal regulatory advocacies, including filings in federal and state regulatory proceedings and related litigation and appeals, for both Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.

The Group will also work closely with the M&A and securities law attorneys in the Corporate Law Department to help with the legal regulatory aspects of transactions and SEC filings, and will also be responsible for the retention and oversight of outside counsel for regulatory matters at the FCC, the FTC and other federal, state and local agencies, and related administrative and court proceedings.

?We are pleased that Lynn has agreed to take on this expanded role to oversee legal regulatory matters for the combined company,? said David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation. ?Since joining us last year, Lynn has brought a new level of professionalism and rigor to these areas. We are fortunate to have her leading this new team.?

Ms. Charytan is based in Washington, D.C. and will report substantively to Kyle McSlarrow, President, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Washington, D.C. She will also be part of the Comcast Corporate Legal Department, reporting functionally to Arthur R. Block, Comcast?s General Counsel.

She has been recognized by her peers for inclusion in the 2010 and 2011 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of telecommunications law. She graduated from both Columbia University and Harvard Law School with honors.

Get the latest Industry news sent straight to your Wall.

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/comcast-taps-lynn-charytan-to-run-new-legal-regulatory-group/

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Kenny Chesney leads ACM Awards nominations with 9

In this June 17, 2011 photo, Kenny Chesney appears on the NBC "Today" television program in New York. Chesney's duet with Grace Potter, "You and Tequila," helped Chesney to nine Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, including top honor entertainer of the year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this June 17, 2011 photo, Kenny Chesney appears on the NBC "Today" television program in New York. Chesney's duet with Grace Potter, "You and Tequila," helped Chesney to nine Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, including top honor entertainer of the year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2010 file photo, musician Taylor Swift poses for a portrait in West Hollywood, Calif. Swift had three Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

FILE - In this March 3, 2009 file photo, country music performer Jason Aldean is shown in Nashville, Tenn. Aldean had six Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Kenny Chesney's steamy duet, "You and Tequila" with Grace Potter, continues to radiate heat.

The song helped Chesney to nine Academy of Country Music Awards nominations Thursday morning, including the top honor of entertainer of the year. Jason Aldean, next with six nominations, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and 2011 winner Taylor Swift round out the fan-voted category.

Lady Antebellum had five nominations, Paisley had four and several were deadlocked at three, including Swift.

Nominees were announced via social media with the help of stars like Reba McEntire and Lionel Richie. Fans were chosen to announce the entertainer of the year candidates. They'll have a chance to pick the winner in that category and new artist of the year for the 47th annual ACM Awards, which will air live April 1 from Las Vegas on CBS with McEntire and Shelton hosting.

Chesney is a four-time entertainer of the year winner and was the first victor under the academy's current fan-voted format. He's nominated for a 10th time in the male vocalist category and received double nominations as artist and producer for album of the year for "Hemingway's Whiskey" and single record of the year and vocal event of the year for "You and Tequila." He also receives a song of the year nomination as performer on "You and Tequila," written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter.

Potter, best known as an indie rock performer with her band The Nocturnals, received three nominations for the collaboration.

Aldean also is up for male vocalist, album of the year for "My Kinda Party," single record and vocal event of the year for the duet "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson, and video of the year for "Tattoos on This Town."

Lady Antebellum will compete for its third straight vocal group of the year win. The trio of Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley also is up for album of the year for "Own the Night" as artist and producer, and both song and video of the year for "Just a Kiss."

Along with his fifth straight entertainer nomination, Paisley will be going for another win in the male vocalist category. He's won it five times in a row. He also scored a double nomination in the vocal event category for "Old Alabama" with Alabama and "Remind Me" with Carrie Underwood.

Eric Church's "CHIEF" and Miranda Lambert's "Four the Record" round out the album of the year category. Lady A won last year for its breakthrough "Need You Now."

Nominees for the new artist of the year will be announced after the close of online voting Jan. 30. Fans are currently picking the nominees in that category from a list of eight semifinalists.

Fans can begin voting at the ACM website for entertainer and new artist nominees on March 19. The other award winners are picked by the academy's membership.

It's Shelton's first nomination for the academy's top award. The news comes the week after Shelton's father, Dick, passed away.

"The support I have felt this week is overwhelming," Shelton said in a statement. "Thank you everyone for this honor."

___

Online:

http://www.acmcountry.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-26-Music-ACM%20Awards-Nominations/id-075fcfa2fde646d3b0fc44b25f810b34

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Susan Kaiser Greenland: The Role of Mindfulness in Education

Google the word "mindful" and you'll find about 24,900,000 entries. Google the word "mindfulness" and there are around 13,600,000 entries. Ever wonder how these ancient, distant, and diverse Asian practices known as mindfulness have made their way into our living rooms today? Quite simply it is thanks to some noteworthy people who clocked hours, days, weeks and years on a meditation cushion. They saw something important and then they showed it to us.

In the United States we have had the benefit of extraordinary Eastern teachers coming west to teach us their native practices. But without a doubt, those who have had the greatest impact translating classical Eastern practices for Westerners, without dumbing them down, have been our own Western teachers. Many of them are Americans who were drawn to Asia fresh out of college in search of meaning and who came home to share what they learned with the rest of us.

From the Theravada tradition Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg have had a remarkable impact through their organizations, the Insight Meditation Society and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Around the same time that Jack, Sharon and Joseph were studying in Asia, Alan Wallace with the Santa Barbara Institute, Ken McLeod with Unfettered Mind, and Robert Thurman from Columbia University were sitting formidable three-year retreats with Tibetan teachers to learn Tibetan practice from the inside-out. In the 1960s, Yvonne Rand stayed closer to home, in Northern California, where she was a disciple of Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi who lived here at the time. Other American teachers followed similar paths at a similar time, but these are the ones who have most influenced me. They are just a few of the dedicated American teachers who have translated classical practice to make it more accessible in the West and more obviously relevant to our modern, everyday lives.

But when it comes to secular mindfulness there is one teacher who has influenced absolutely everyone: Jon Kabat-Zinn. Touched by the same practices and many of the same Adepts as the American Buddhist teachers, Jon approached the translation issue via a different route. In broad terms, he taught adults to hold off for a short while from reacting to or even analyzing a stressful situation in order to pay attention in a particular way. And it worked. This learned skill allowed those who practiced MBSR to better control their reactive emotions, and therefore respond, when they were ready, in a more thoughtful, calm, reasonable way. Armed with a successful, evidence-based program, he was able to successfully integrate, or some might say infiltrate, the medical establishment using MBSR.

Now Jon is interested, really interested, in education and is bringing his considerable experience to bear on the role of mindfulness in education. His first full talk on the subject is happening here in San Francisco at Zellerbach Auditorium on February 17 at 7:30pm. The organizers -- Mindful Schools -- have priced this talk so that it is affordable to everyone with tickets ranging from $15-$250 which can be purchased on their website. All proceeds from this event will benefit Mindful Schools.

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Follow Susan Kaiser Greenland on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sKAISERg

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-kaiser-greenland/the-role-of-mindfulness-i_b_1229546.html

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[OOC] The Elder Scrolls: Agents Of Talos

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the OOC for "The Elder Scrolls: Agents Of Talos"

If you wish to ceate a character, ask questions, Chat or just generally dick about, this is the place to do it.

Have fun RolePlaying.

~SkunkishBlue!
this is the first day of my life
I?m glad I didn?t die before I met you
But now I don?t care I could go anywhere with you
And I?d probably be happy

SkunkishBlue

Member for 1 years

---

---

I'd like to make the archer character please. I'll get started on my character right away. Also, I'd like my character to be a bosmer. :D

The Vampire Mistress

Member for 0 years

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Yay! I Can't wait to see him/her Mistress! And Bosmer is Great! Oh and before i forget, could you please name them by a real Bosmer name and use the character sheet design that i layed out please. Not trying to be annoying but..you know. Thanks still and i can't wait to see your character!

SkunkishBlue

Member for 1 years

---

I would like to reserve the sneak expert. He will be a Imperial if that is good with you.

Corvan

Member for 5 years

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I'd like to reserve the Healer. He'll be a Dunmer.

DarknessUndying

Member for 0 years

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Cravan you have sneek and Darkness you have healer!

Just so you all know, i just found out that my internet will be down somtime tomorrow untill probebly somtime next week DX I know its annoying but sadly it can't be helped, i will try to go on as much as possible at collage but i don't know how oftern that will be sorry guys.

SkunkishBlue

Member for 1 years

---

-Disregard-

Vanity was stronger than love at sixteen and there was no room in her hot heart now for anything but hate.-Gone with the Wind

Madmoiselle

Member for 1 years

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Yeah the Leader is open mad and i'd love you to be them! Is there any chance you can make them female? if you don't want to don't worrk, i just don't want an all male group. But yeah you got the place!

SkunkishBlue

Member for 1 years

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I was planning on making a female haha! :) I'll get her done hopefully by the end of today, or sooner. She'll be either a Breton or Nord, gah...not sure yet :P.

Madmoiselle

Member for 1 years

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XD Its fine Mad, i'm not sure when i will accept them as i maynot have the internet tomorrow but i will be sure to as soon as possible. And Breton or Nord are both fine!

SkunkishBlue

Member for 1 years

---

---

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New Yahoo CEO says company needs to "do better" (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Scott Thompson said reviving the company's flagging display advertising business was his "highest priority," even as he crafts a broader plan to bring the struggling Internet company back to fighting form.

"There's no question that we need to do better," said Thompson on his first quarterly earnings since taking the reins earlier this month, as Yahoo reported another decline in sales and profit on Tuesday.

Analysts prodded Thompson for clues about his plans for Yahoo Inc, which fired former CEO Carol Bartz in September and last week saw co-founder Jerry Yang resign unexpectedly, but all they received were boilerplate comments about how the company needs to "do better" and "get innovative products that matter into the market."

The lack of details didn't damage Wall Street's assessment of Thompson's debut, with many analysts appearing willing to give the former PayPal President some breathing room to settle in and figure out a strategy.

"He seemed to be speaking with a greater sense of urgency to act than his predecessors have," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan.

Thompson, along with Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse, gave few hints about the progress of Yahoo's strategic review as well, dashing hopes that his arrival might hasten a transaction.

Morse said talks with Yahoo's Asian partners -- Alibaba and Softbank -- about a restructuring were continuing but beyond that provided little concrete detail on where things stand.

Thompson, who was only hired as CEO two weeks ago, added that the company's board has narrowed down its options to the ones that appear "most promising."

Shares of the company slipped 9 cents to $15.60 in after-hours trade.

TO INVEST IN CORE BUSINESSES

A Boston native with a thick accent, Thompson said he would infuse the roughly 14,000-employee organization with speed.

"When it comes to making decisions, I make them quickly and then push to move fast, fast, fast," he said.

"We will get speed back into the equation and move aggressively. To me that's how we get to playing offense rather than defense."

He stressed that Yahoo would invest the majority of its resources into its core businesses, while remaining open to potential acquisitions and looking for "revenue streams that look different from what we're doing today."

He also addressed the age-old identity question that has frustrated many of the company's previous CEOs, noting that Yahoo is "fundamentally" both a media company and a technology company. "We better be darn good at both," he said.

One of the most pressing concerns is Yahoo's display advertising business, which is facing increasing competition from Google and Facebook, and which declined in the fourth quarter.

"Their core display (business) is becoming an issue. It takes the company from being a growth company to being a melting ice cube. So it's a big deal," said Brett Harris, an analyst at Gabelli & Company.

Yahoo's Morse said that macroeconomic factors, particularly in Europe, resulted in weaker than expected display advertising revenue in the fourth quarter and continued to be a concern.

"We still look out, especially upon Europe, with some caution," Morse told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

But he said Yahoo was seeing some positive trends in the new year, noting that some large advertisers that had limited their ad spending with Yahoo in 2011, had already committed to "meaningful upfronts" in 2012.

The struggling Internet company projected that its net revenue in the first quarter would range between $1.025 billion and $1.105 billion.

The company earned $296 million in net income in the three months ended December 31, or 24 cents a share, compared with $312 million, or 24 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were expecting 24 cents per share in profit.

In the fourth quarter, Yahoo reported net revenue, which excludes fees that Yahoo shares with Web partners, of roughly $1.17 billion, compared with $1.205 billion the same time last year.

Display ad revenue, Yahoo's main source of revenue, totaled $612 million for the quarter. Search ad revenue for the quarter came in at $465 million, $48 million of which stemmed from its partnership with Microsoft.

Thompson said he had spent his first few weeks at Yahoo meeting with the company's employees, managers and customers.

While Thompson said he wouldn't lay out a detailed strategy until he has fully assessed Yahoo's direction, he pointed to data as a key building block for the company's future.

Yahoo will leverage its deep stockpile of data about the company's roughly 700 million users to provide better products for Websurfers and better services for advertisers, Thompson said.

"If you believe data and great technology and great technologists can begin to predict what is in a user's mind and what they want to do next, having that base of data to start from is a big, big advantage," said Thompson.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wr_nm/us_earnings_yahoo_options

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[OOC] Group 1 intro: Jo and David

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This group will be starting in Briggsdale, Colorado (I just couldn't help it...) -- directly east of Fort Collins on 14.

Places of interest:
- Briggsdale Elementary School
- Briggsdale Undivided Highschool
- Briggsdale Market
- US Post Office
- Pawnee Sportsman Center (quite a distance from Briggsdale)

Environment:
Briggsdale is largely rural, with few places of interest.
The climate is dry, with dirt roads and rough vegetation.
A majority of Briggsdale is open and flat, with only the center of the city sporting buildings and homes.
There was a population of approximately 586 people.
With no nearby hospitals, many individuals bunked down in their homes to try and escape the reaches of the infection.

~*Do not frown, you never know who is falling in love with your smile*~

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Arab League extends Syria mission 1 more month (AP)

BEIRUT ? A clash between Syrian forces and army defectors erupted Sunday in a suburb of the tightly held capital of Damascus, adding urgency just as the Arab League was extending an observers' mission that so far has failed to end long months of bloody violence.

The two events outlined how an uprising against President Bashar Assad that started with mass popular protests is moving now toward an armed conflict that could draw international intervention ? an outcome the Arab League is trying to avoid.

Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, extended the much-criticized observers mission for another month, officials from the 22-member organization said.

The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to reporters, said the U.N. would train the observers.

The observer mission is supposed to be the first step toward implementing an Arab League plan to end the Syria crisis. Other points are pulling heavy Syrian weapons out of cities, stopping attacks on protesters, opening talks with the opposition and allowing foreign human rights workers and journalists in.

"There is partial progress in the implementation of the promises," Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said in Cairo about Syria's implementation of the plan. Syria "did not carry out all its promises, although there are some implementation of pledges."

He added that the use of "extreme force" by Syrian forces have led to a reaction by the opposition "in what could lead to civil war."

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters that his country will pull out its observers because "the Syrian government did not implement the Arab plan." He urged Muslim countries, China, Russia, Europe and the U.S. to put pressure on Assad's government to stop the violence.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the harshest Arab critics of the crackdown, It recalled its ambassador from Damascus last year in protest.

So far the observer mission has not gone well. Though some credit it with tamping down violence in some places, the Local Coordination Committees activist group said Sunday that 976 people, including 54 children and 28 women, have been killed since the observers began their mission last month.

The U.N. estimates some 5,400 have been killed since it began in March.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the Arab League to "maximize" the effectiveness of the mission of the observers in Syria "to stop the killings."

"The deployment of the observers, has been disappointing ... Assad played games with observers," by moving around forces instead of removing them from cities, while the killing continues, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The Arab League faced three options Sunday: ending the mission and giving up its initiative, extending it, or turning the crisis over to the U.N. Security Council, as some opposition groups have urged. There, however, it would face a possible stalemate because of disagreements among permanent members over how far to go in forcing Assad's hand.

The mission's one-month mandate technically expired on Thursday.

The pullout of Assad's security forces from the Damascus suburb of Douma marked the second time in a week that troops have redeployed from an area near the tightly-controlled Syrian capital, an indication that Assad might be losing some control.

Diplomacy has taken on urgency as opponents of Assad's regime and soldiers who switched sides increasingly take up arms and fight back against government forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' head Rami Abdul-Rahman said government troops had pulled back early Sunday to a provincial headquarters and a security agency building in the Damascus suburb of Douma after hours of clashes, although they still controlled the entrances. The clashes broke out after Syrian troops opened fire at a funeral on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, the battles resumed between the defectors and troops loyal to Assad, according to the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group. The LCC said that heavy machine gun fire was used in the clashes, and five people were killed.

Abdul-Rahman had no information on casualties from the clashes but said security forces at an entrance checkpoint shot dead one man who was passing by on Sunday. He added that one person was shot dead in a nearby town of Rankous as well as another person in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The LCC said 12 people were killed in Syria Sunday. The LCC and the Observatory reported intense gunfire in the central city of Homs that left at least one person dead.

State-run news agency SANA said gunmen opened fire at the car of an army brigadier general, killing him and another army officers who was in the vehicle.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso confirmed that security forces had abandoned Douma.

A video posted by activists on social media showed five masked gunmen, one of them in uniform, who read a statement saying, "the city of Douma has been liberated from Assad's gangs." He warned Syrian troops not to try enter Douma or defectors would "fire rockets at the presidential palace" in Damascus and execute five prisoners they are holding.

The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the video.

Also Sunday, state-run SANA, said an estimated 5,255 Syrian prisoners have been released over the past week under an amnesty, raising the total freed since November to more than 9,000. Opposition groups say thousands are still being held.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Syria as the bloodshed escalates. The U.S. has long called for Assad to step down, and officials say his regime's demise is inevitable.

Two U.S. Senators plan to introduce a bill to stiffen the sanctions.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would require President Barack Obama to identify violators of human rights in Syria, call for reform and offer protection to pro-democracy demonstrators. It would also block financial aid and property transactions in the United States involving Syrian leaders involved in the crackdown.

___

Al-Shalchi reported from Cairo.

Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Storms kill at least two in Alabama (Reuters)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) ? Powerful thunderstorms tore through Alabama early Monday, killing at least two people and producing heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas, downing trees and powerlines and leaving thousands without electricity.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms struck the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city particularly hard hit.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner, one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency official, Bob Ammons, in reference to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

Rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

Isolated tornadoes, damaging winds, localized flooding and large hail still threaten much of central Alabama with a tornado watch remaining in effect through mid-morning, according to the National Weather Service.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado watch extends into parts of Georgia through the afternoon.

In Mississippi, the National Weather Service was tracking a thunderstorm to the southwest of Hattiesburg that was producing wind gusts of 40 to 50 miles per hour.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. Towards western Tennessee structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 mph, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

Assessment teams from the National Weather Service were headed to the area to survey damage. It has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, less than 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Reporting by Peggy Gargis, Verna Gates and Kelli Dugan; Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni and Suzi Parker; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/us_nm/us_weather

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Young The Giant takes seaside sound on U.S. tour (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? They made a splash with their California beach-inspired debut album. Now indie rock band Young the Giant are hoping the rest of America will be swept away by their carefree seaside sound.

With their first two singles, up-tempo tracks "My Body" and "Cough Syrup," garnering radio, television and film play, the band, all in their early 20s, are kicking off their first headlining tour on February8

"We're a little jittery in a good way, we're excited to do our first big headlining run in theaters. It's amazing to see people already buying tickets to these things. It takes a lot of weight off our shoulders as it's selling well," lead singer Sameer Gadhia told Reuters.

Formed in Irvine, California in 2004 as The Jakes, the band went through a few line-up changes before settling on Young The Giant, with Gadhia on vocals, Francois Comtois on drums, Payam Doostzadeh on bass and Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata on guitar.

The band recorded their self-titled first album, released in 2011, while still in their teens living together on the beach in Southern California. Songs like "Strings" and "12 Fingers" emote the feel of seaside living while Gadhia's distinctive voice showcased against up-tempo guitar riffs.

"We were living a carefree lifestyle, I guess a respite from all the previous responsibilities that we had all had, and we just lived on the beach for a year. We didn't really have much money but we were writing music sometimes, and we were out on the beach just having a good time," said Gadhia.

Their sound attracted the attention of fans across the world. British singer Morrissey sang their praises and MTV selected them as a "push" artist, which led to Young The Giant performing a raucous rendition of "My Body" at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

"As far as VMAs and MTV, specifically VMAs, that's really what I think helped everything push so quickly," said Comtois.

The "Young the Giant" album peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 chart, with Spin Magazine's David Menconi calling the music "boldly earnest anthems in need of a cozy arena." Rolling Stone's Matthew Perpetua called the single "Apartment" beautiful, while Drowned in Sound's Alex Yau drew comparisons to Tennessee band Kings of Leon.

However, not all critics were won over by the songs. Pitchfork's Ian Cohen called the album "corporate indie," while Paul Mardles at British newspaper The Observer described the band "an anemic Coldplay," giving the album two stars out of five.

CHASING A DARKER SOUND

Not wasting any time between records, the band are already working on their follow-up album, and planning to preview some new material during their 40 plus date U.S. tour.

"Definitely the first record was a success but we were 18 or 19 years old when we wrote that material. Now we've experienced a lot together, we've grown together as individuals, musicians and as a group, we don't feel like that was the best we could have done," said Gadhia.

"I think we really feel like we're in our element now and it took all that time to get to where we are right now."

While the first record was an homage to the carefreee seaside life, the second will explore a more mature sound from the band.

"We've experienced a lot, we've travelled so much. I think there will be a little bit darker songs on this (second record), but we're not trying to completely betray what we do naturally together," said the lead singer.

Young The Giant, who Gadhia calls "an Internet band," are closely connected with their fans on social media platforms, and

hosted an online contest after fans sent them remixes of their songs.

"It's constantly surprising to me how far reaching our fan base is," said the lead singer. "They're the ones that are always keeping in touch with us online and it's awesome to see that because we're most definitely from the Internet generation of bands."

The band released a free EP of remixes through their Facebook page in response, including two fan-made remix tracks along with fellow indie rock bands such as Two Door Cinema Club, Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club adding an electro-dance sound to their songs. Gadhia also expressed an interest in working with Brooklyn-based rap group Das Racist.

While the band are adamant they won't stray too far from rock, they may see some cross-genre collaborations down the line.

"Our musical tastes have adapted to our surroundings so I think we want to be able to bring in elements of what we listen to now into the way that we understand what pop music is," said Comtois.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/music_nm/us_youngthegiant

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Santorum: 2 rivals not electable over health care (AP)

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't electable because they've both supported policies too similar President Barack Obama's health care plan.

In Thursday night's GOP debate, Santorum says the health care plan Romney helped implement when he was governor of Massachusetts was an "abject disaster." Santorum says it is the basis for Obamacare and will make it impossible for Romney to debate Obama on the issue.

Santorum says Gingrich repeatedly supported "the core" of Obama's health care plan before disavowing it later.

Santorum says he's the only candidate who can stand up to Obama on the issue.

Gingrich and Romney are both defending themselves and say they can stand up to the president and vow to repeal Obama's health care plan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_santorum_healthcare

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Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality

Thursday, January 19, 2012

A program designed to boost cognition in older adults also increased their openness to new experiences, researchers report, demonstrating for the first time that a non-drug intervention in older adults can change a personality trait once thought to be fixed throughout the lifespan.

Personality psychologists describe openness as one of five major personality traits. Studies suggest that the other four traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion) operate independently of a person's cognitive abilities. But openness ? being flexible and creative, embracing new ideas and taking on challenging intellectual or cultural pursuits ? does appear to be correlated with cognitive abilities.

The new study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, gave older adults a series of pattern-recognition and problem-solving tasks and puzzles that they could perform at home. Participants ranged in age from 60 to 94 years and worked at their own pace, getting more challenging tasks each week when they came to the lab to return materials.

"We wanted participants to feel challenged but not overwhelmed," said University of Illinois educational psychology and Beckman Institute professor Elizabeth Stine-Morrow, who led the research. "While we didn't explicitly test this, we suspect that the training program ? adapted in difficulty in sync with skill development ? was important in leading to increased openness. Growing confidence in their reasoning abilities possibly enabled greater enjoyment of intellectually challenging and creative endeavors."

Researchers tested the cognitive abilities and personality traits of 183 participants and a control group of 131 older adults a few weeks before and after the intervention.

At the end of the program, those who had engaged in the training and practice sessions saw improvement in their pattern-recognition and problem-solving skills, while those in the control group did not. And those who improved in these inductive reasoning skills also demonstrated a moderate but significant increase in openness.

This study challenges the assumption that personality doesn't change once one reaches adulthood, said Illinois psychology professor and study co-author Brent Roberts.

"There are certain models that say, functionally, personality doesn't change after age 20 or age 30. You reach adulthood and pretty much you are who you are," he said. "There's some truth to that at some level. But here you have a study that has successfully changed personality traits in a set of individuals who are (on average) 75. And that opens up a whole bunch of wonderful issues to think about."

###

The paper, "Can An Old Dog Learn (and Want to Experience) New Tricks: Cognitive Training Increases Openness to Experience in Older Adults"

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu

Thanks to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116814/Enhancing_cognition_in_older_adults_also_changes_personality

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