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WASHINGTON ? Republicans took the offensive Tuesday and cast President Barack Obama as the culprit for the economy's persistent frailty, hoping to shift the focus away from his State of the Union address' theme of economic fairness.

As they awaited the president's election season speech to the nation Tuesday night, Republicans in the Capitol and on the campaign trail said three years of Obama policies of higher spending, bigger government and tax increases have left the economy stuck in a ditch.

"If the president wants someone to blame for this economy, he should start with himself," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "The fact is, any CEO in America with a record like this after three years on the job would be graciously shown the door."

White House officials argue that the economy has resumed growing and generating new jobs on Obama's watch, though growth has been generally listless and the jobless rate remains at a high 8.5 percent.

One of Obama's themes will be economic fairness, including protecting the middle class and making sure the wealthy pay an equitable share of taxes. Republicans seemed determined to blunt that message and prevent the president from making it the top issue of this year's presidential and congressional elections.

"This election is going to be a referendum on the president's economic policies," which have worsened the economy, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The politics of envy, the politics of dividing our country is not what America is all about."

Boehner also said nearly 30 House-passed bills aimed at helping the economy have stalled in the Democratic-run Senate, most of them rolling back or blocking environmental, workplace and other regulations. He said he hoped Obama "will extend somewhat of an olive branch" to work with Republicans on boosting the economy.

Poised to give the GOP's formal, televised response to Obama was Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who flirted with running for his party's presidential nomination before deciding against it last May.

The first White House budget chief under President George W. Bush, Daniels has portrayed himself as a foe of budget deficits. He has described Obama's fiscal policies as "catastrophic."

Budgets are non-binding annual blueprints for federal tax and spending policy whose details are frequently ignored. They can also be hard to approve if they address or ignore difficult issues, so leaders sometimes avoid votes on them so vulnerable lawmakers seeking re-election can escape taking a controversial stance.

Obama was delivering his State of the Union address during a rowdy battle for the GOP presidential nomination that has ended up playing directly into Obama's theme of economic fairness.

That fight has called attention to the wealth of one of the top contenders, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and the low ? but legal ? effective federal income tax rate of around 15 percent that the multi-millionaire has paid in the past two years. Romney, who is in Florida campaigned for that state's Jan. 31 primary, released his tax documents for that period on Tuesday.

"The president's agenda sounds less like "built to last" and more like doomed to fail," Romney said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. "What he's proposing is more of the same: more taxes, more spending, and more regulation."

Romney's chief rival so far, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said in a written statement that the top question about Obama's speech was whether he "will show a willingness to put aside the extremist ideology of the far left and call for a new set of policies that could lead to dramatic private sector job creation and economic growth."

Republicans criticized Obama for putting off, so far, construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run from western Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast. Supporters say it would create thousands of jobs, while critics say such claims are exaggerated and would cause pollution.

The GOP also sought to use the spotlight on Obama's speech to score points against congressional Democrats, saying the Senate has not approved a federal budget for 1,000 days.

"Unlike Democrats, House Republicans are fighting to strengthen our economy and allow small businesses to create jobs for hard working Americans," the chairman of the House GOP's campaign arm, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said in an email to supporters.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Republicans are using President Barack Obama's State of the Union address as an opportunity to grab the offensive and blame him for the country's economic woes.

As they awaited his election-year speech Tuesday night, Republicans in the Capitol and on the presidential campaign trail were blaming him for the weak economy and an 8.5 percent jobless rate that is too high.

They said his answers are more of the same: higher taxes, more spending and bigger government.

One of Obama's themes will be economic fairness, which will include protecting the middle class and making sure the wealthy pay a fair share of taxes.

The formal GOP response will be delivered by Mitch Daniels, the Indiana governor and former White House budget director under President George W. Bush.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_union_gop_reaction

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KIRKLAND, Wash. ? Bill Gates has a terse response to criticism that the high-tech solutions he advocates for world hunger are too expensive or bad for the environment: Countries can embrace modern seed technology and genetic modification or their citizens will starve.

When he was in high school in the 1960s, people worried there wouldn't be enough food to feed the world, Gates recalled in his fourth annual letter, which was published online Tuesday. But the "green revolution," which transformed agriculture with high-yield crop varieties and other innovations, warded off famine.

Gates is among those who believe another, similar revolution is needed now. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent about $2 billion in the past five years to fight poverty and hunger in Africa and Asia, and much of that money has gone toward improving agricultural productivity.

Gates doesn't apologize for his endorsement of modern agriculture or sidestep criticism of genetic modification. He told The Associated Press that he finds it ironic that most people who oppose genetic engineering in plant breeding live in rich nations that he believes are responsible for global climate change that will lead to more starvation and malnutrition for the poor.

Resistance to new technology is "again hurting the people who had nothing to do with climate change happening," Gates said.

Groups resistant to genetic modification and other hallmarks of modern agriculture, such as pesticides and petroleum-based fertilizers, generally object on two grounds ? concerns about the environment and the high cost of the seed and chemicals used in modern farming.

Bill Freese, a science policy analyst for the Washington-based Center for Food Safety, said everyone wants to see things get better for hungry people, but genetically modified plants are more likely to make their developers rich than feed the poor. The seed is too expensive and has a high failure rate, he said. Better ways to increase yields would be increasing the fertility of soil by adding organic matter or combining plants growing in the same field to combat pests, he said.

The biggest problem with those alternatives, Freese said, is the same one that Gates cited in high-tech research: A lack of money for development.

In his 24-page letter, the Microsoft Corp. chairman lamented that more money isn't spent on agriculture research and noted that of the $3 billion spent each year on work on the seven most important crops, only 10 percent focuses on problems in poor countries.

"Given the central role that food plays in human welfare and national stability, it is shocking ? not to mention short-sighted and potentially dangerous ? how little money is spent on agricultural research," he wrote in his letter, calling for wealthier nations to step up.

The Gates Foundation is heavily engaged in political advocacy to get governments to spend more money on agriculture and improve policies on issues such as trade and land ownership. Along with advocacy and seed research, it spends its money on buying and distributing fertilizer, educating farmers and improving their access to world markets.

Gates said most of the seed research paid for by his foundation involves conventional plant breeding. In those cases, DNA research allows scientists to pinpoint which genes are responsible for desirable traits. He compares the work to changes in modern libraries.

"We used to have to use the card catalogue and browse through the books to find the information we needed," he wrote in his letter. "Now, in the same way we know ... the precise page that contains the piece of information we need, we can find out precisely which plant contains what gene conferring a specific characteristic. This will make plant breeding happen at a much faster clip."

But in some cases, researchers have inserted foreign genes, such as with cassava, a plant that when processed makes tapioca. It is a stable in Africa, but has been stricken by two diseases, causing more widespread hunger. Scientists injected genes from the disease-causing viruses into the plant's DNA to create a vaccine-like effect.

While Gates is a strong supporter of such work, he said scientists and government need to proceed with caution.

"I think the right way to think about GMOs is the same way we think about drugs," Gates said in an interview. "Whenever someone creates a new drug, you have to have very smart people looking at lots of trial-based data to make sure the benefits far outweigh any of the dangers.

"You can't be against all drugs, but drugs in general are not safe."

Gates' letter also addressed the foundation's work on combating AIDS and eradicating polio. He noted India recently celebrated its first polio-free anniversary and expressed optimism during an interview that other countries will soon have similar celebrations.

He said good progress is being made toward developing an AIDS vaccine and on AIDS treatment, and he hopes the U.S. will fulfill its pledge to provide $4 billion over three years to The Global Fund for AIDS research. It paid only $1 billion of that pledge in the first year.

Gates expressed in his letter and in person concern that the U.S. and other rich nations continue to support foreign aid during the recession.

"If you ask people should we provide AIDS drugs to people who need them, you get an overwhelming yes. When you ask people, do you believe in foreign aid, you get a very skeptical view," he said. "But the fact is that the biggest single program in foreign aid is providing those AIDS drugs. People need to connect those things."

___

Online:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org

Center for Food Safety: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/

___

Associated Press writer Donna Blankinship can be reached at http://twitter.com/dgblankinship

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_food_and_farm_gates

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MONDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Using human embryonic stem cells to treat the eye disease macular degeneration appears to be safe and leads to some vision improvement, a small, early-stage study found.

The study included one elderly patient and one younger adult patient with different types of macular degeneration that had led to severe vision loss.

After four months, the embryonic stem cell transplants seemed safe and both patients had some improvement in vision, the U.S. researchers said.

But researchers cautioned that the research is preliminary and far more study is needed before the practice might become widespread.

The study, published online Jan. 23 in The Lancet, is the first report of the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) in humans for any purpose, the researchers said in a news release from the journal.

One patient was a woman in her 70s with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. The other patient was a woman in her 50s with Stargardt's macular dystrophy, the most common type of macular degeneration in younger patients. Both were legally blind.

Both patients received transplants of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) derived from human embryonic stem cells into what's called the subretinal space (under the retina of the eye) in one eye. The patients received low-dose immunosuppression therapy, which was gradually reduced after six weeks.

Follow-up exams showed that the transplanted cells had attached to a part of the retina called Bruch's membrane and survived throughout the study period. Four months after transplant, there were no signs of so-called teratoma formation -- which occurs when stem cells turn into multiple cell types and form "incompatible" tissues that can include teeth and hair -- or related problems. And there were no signs of rejection or abnormal cell growth, the researchers said.

"Our study is designed to test the safety and tolerability of hESC-RPE in patients with advanced-stage Stargardt's macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration. So far, the cells seem to have transplanted into both patients without abnormal proliferation, teratoma formation, graft rejection, or other untoward pathological reactions or safety signals. Continued follow-up and further study is needed. The ultimate therapeutic goal will be to treat patients earlier in the disease processes, potentially increasing the likelihood of photoreceptor and central visual rescue," wrote Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology in Marlborough, Mass., and his colleagues.

"It has been over a decade since the discovery of human embryonic stem cells. This is the first report of hESC-derived cells ever transplanted into patients, and the safety and engraftment data to date looks very encouraging," Lanza added in the journal news release.

"Although several new drugs are available for the treatment of the wet type of AMD, no proven treatments currently exist for either dry AMD or Stargardt's disease. Despite the progressive nature of these conditions, the vision of both patients appears to have improved after transplantation of the cells, even at the lowest dosage. This is particularly important, since the ultimate goal of this therapy will be to treat patients earlier in the course of the disease where more significant results might potentially be expected," he added.

Scientists believe that embryonic stem cells have the ability to "differentiate" -- or grow -- into most types of cells in the human body. But the use of such cells is controversial because it involves the destruction of a human embryo.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Anthony Atala, a professor and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, in North Carolina, wrote: "The potential to use human embryonic-derived cells with a therapeutic effect in patients is now finally realized ... The ultimate therapeutic goal for patients with visual loss would be to treat them earlier in the disease processes, hopefully increasing the likelihood of visual rescue. Much remains to be seen -- literally."

More information

The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about age-related macular degeneration.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120124/hl_hsn/smallstemcellstudyclaimsearlysuccessintreatingeyedisease

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that police cannot put a GPS device on a suspect's car to track his movements without a warrant, a test case that upholds basic privacy rights in the face of new surveillance technology.

The high court ruling was a defeat for the Obama administration, which had argued that a warrant was not required to use global positioning system devices to monitor a vehicle on public streets.

The justices unanimously upheld a precedent-setting ruling by a U.S. appeals court that the police must first obtain a warrant to use a GPS device for an extended period of time to covertly follow a suspect.

The high court ruled that placement of a device on a vehicle and using it to monitor the vehicle's movements was covered by U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures of evidence.

There are no precise statistics on how often police in the United States use GPS tracking in criminal investigations. But the Obama administration told the court last year it was used sparingly by federal law enforcement officials.

The American Civil Liberties Union rights group hailed the ruling as an important victory for privacy. "While this case turned on the fact that the government physically placed a GPS device on the defendant's car, the implications are much broader," Steven Shapiro of the ACLU said.

"A majority of the court acknowledged that advancing technology, like cell phone tracking, gives the government unprecedented ability to collect, store, and analyze an enormous amount of information about our private lives," he said.

SUSPECTED DRUG TRAFFICKER

The case began in 2005 when police officers went to a public parking lot in Maryland and secretly installed a GPS device on a Jeep Grand Cherokee used by a Washington, D.C. nightclub owner, Antoine Jones.

Jones was suspected of drug trafficking and the police tracked his movements for a month. The resulting evidence played a key role in his conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine.

The appeals court had thrown out Jones's conviction and his

life-in-prison sentence, and ruled prolonged electronic monitoring of the vehicle amounted to a search.

All nine justices agreed in upholding the appeals court decision, but at least four justices would have gone even further in finding fault not only with the attachment of the device, but also with the lengthy monitoring.

In summarizing the court's majority opinion from the bench, Justice Antonin Scalia said attachment of the device by the police was a trespass and an improper intrusion of the kind that would have been considered a search when the Constitution was adopted some 220 years ago.

The administration argued that even if it were a search, it was lawful and reasonable under the Constitution. Scalia said his opinion did not decide that issue and some more difficult problems that may emerge in a future case, such as a six-month monitoring of a suspected terrorist.

Joining Scalia's opinion were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor wrote separately to say the case raised difficult questions about individual privacy expectations in a digital age, but said the case could be decided on narrower grounds over the physical intrusion in attaching the device.

LONG-TERM MONITORING

Justice Samuel Alito wrote a separate opinion that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined. He wrote that he would have decided the case by holding that Jones's reasonable privacy expectations were violated by long-term monitoring of his vehicle's movements.

Alito said in recent years many new devices have emerged that track a person's movements, including video surveillance in some cities, automatic toll collection systems on roads, devices on cars that disclose their location, cell phones and other wireless devices.

"The availability and use of these and other new devices will continue to shape the average person's expectations about the privacy of his or her daily movements," he wrote.

One law professor said those four justices were clearly concerned about the potential impact of new technologies and believed extended monitoring likely required a warrant so law enforcement should "be on the safe side and get a warrant."

"This is an indication that there are justices who are recognizing that privacy norms are shifting but the fact that people's lives take place increasingly online does not mean that society has decided that there's no such thing as privacy anymore," said Joel Reidenberg, a law professor at Fordham University in New York.

The Supreme Court case is United States v. Antoine Jones, No. 10-1259.

(Reporting By James Vicini; Editing by Will Dunham)

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

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It held on as long as it could, but HDNet is following the path of INHD (which became Mojo before disappearing entirely) and Discovery HD Theater (now Velocity) by rebranding itself, and will see morph into AXS TV this summer. Of course, HDNet has always focused on "lifestyle programming" and from the looks of it the new channel (pronounced: access) will be very similar, at least for now. HDNet is bringing programming like HDNet Fights, Dan Rather Reports, its concerts and more to the joint venture, which will be combined with its partners AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest Media. If HDNet is currently on your programming lineup AXS TV will simply take its place when it launches, and Dish Network actually plans to increase the channel's distribution by adding it to the America's Top 120 package. If you're distressed over the future of Art Mann Presents, check out the press release after the break or a Q&A on the site for more information about what's happening to Mark Cuban's baby.

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A house burns just south of the Old 395 Gas Station Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Washoe Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Liz Margerum) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Firefighters battle a fast-moving brush fire burns in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire through a valley south of Reno on Thursday, burning several homes, threatening dozens more and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

The ruins of a home in Pleasant Valley, south of Reno, Nev. smolders as firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

Firefighters wait for water before attacking an outbuilding adjacent to a home Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Pleasant Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Tim Dunn) NEVADA APPEAL OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

RENO, Nev. (AP) ? Reno hasn't seen a winter this dry in more than 120 years. So residents welcomed a forecast that a storm was due to blow across the Sierra Nevada this week.

Instead, as many as 10,000 found themselves fleeing their homes while howling winds gusting to 82 mph pushed a fire toward them, destroying 26 homes and torching thousands of acres.

As the fire eased Friday, residents faced another threat: the storm was expected to bring high winds and a burst of rain and snow that could cause flash flooding on the charred land.

"The weather poses a significant threat," fire commander Paul Washam said. "We've got a lot of work to do and a short time to do it. If it rains, we'll have flood concerns."

Emergency crews, meanwhile, escorted evacuees in two separate burn areas to see their houses. Officials said evacuation orders would continue ? even in areas unaffected by the fire.

Connie Cryer went to the fire response command post on Friday with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Maddie Miramon, to find out if her house had survived the flames.

"We had to know so we could get some sleep," Cryer said, adding her house was spared but a neighbor's wasn't. She had seen wildfires before, but nothing on this scale.

"There was fire in front of me, fire beside me, fire behind me. It was everywhere," she said. "I don't know how more didn't burn up. It was terrible, all the wind and the smoke."

The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by the wind gusts, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno.

"The fire moved very, very fast," Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley said. "Firefighters did an enormously good job of holding the number of structures down to 26."

The fire's cause isn't known. It started in a valley along a highway, which was closed because the heat destroyed some of the guardrails. Those rails will need to be replaced, state officials said.

Three schools were closed Friday and about 200 customers were without electricity.

The fire held steady around 3,900 acres and was 50 percent contained. Of the roughly 10,000 people ordered to leave their homes, about 2,000 of them remained under evacuation orders.

The high, erratic winds caused major challenges for crews evacuating residents, Sierra Front spokesman Mark Regan said. "In a matter of seconds, the wind would shift," he said.

Fire officials said Thursday's fire was "almost a carbon copy" of a blaze that destroyed 30 homes in Reno during similar summer-like conditions in mid-November.

State Forester Pete Anderson said he has not seen such hazardous fire conditions in winter in his 57 years in Nevada. Reno had no precipitation in December ? the last time that happened was 1883.

An inch of snow Monday ended the longest recorded dry spell in Reno history, a 56-day stretch that prompted Anderson to issue an unusual warning about wildfire threats.

"We're usually pretty much done with the fire season by the first of November, but this year it's been nonstop," Anderson said.

Firefighters were taking advantage of a break in the weather Friday to make more progress against the fire. At least 700 people, including firefighters from California, were expected to fight the fire.

Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said there was one fatality in the fire area but declined to provide more details, saying an autopsy would be needed to determine the cause of death.

Kit Bailey, U.S. Forest Service fire chief at nearby Lake Tahoe, said conditions are so dry that even a forecast calling for rain and snow might not take the Reno-Tahoe area out of fire danger.

"The scary thing is a few days of drying after this storm cycle and we could be back into fire season again," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas and Sandra Chereb in Carson City, Nev., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-Reno%20Brush%20Fire/id-92549af17413406c8dec219f3a1bbaf3

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WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney is no natural when it comes to "common man" politics.

He bets a Republican rival $10,000 on an impulse. He dismisses $373,000 in speaking fees as "not very much." And he slow-walks the release of his income tax returns but then blurts out a key fact: He pays about 15 percent of his income in taxes because he lives mostly on investment income and not a paycheck.

Such commissions of candor suggest a presidential candidate who is far from an everyman ? and who may have a tin ear for how he sounds to those who are. That could pose a special challenge to Romney in hard-hit Florida, and beyond. In a general election, Romney, who had a privileged upbringing and made millions as a venture capitalist, would be fighting for the votes of average Americans against a president whose mother at times drew food stamps and who worked his way through Harvard Law School to the pinnacle of power.

"When Barack Obama talks about paying off student loans and struggling, people believe him and it resonates," said Barbara Perry, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Historically, "the common people have to believe that the president knows them and knows their situation and knows their lives."

Republicans hope that in 2012, American voters struggling to get jobs and pay bills are looking past the candidates' personal stories and to their proposals for stabilizing the economy and cutting the nation's staggering debt.

"Barack Obama had an incredible emotional connection with the American people in 2008," said South Carolina Republican consultant Jim Dyke. In the worst economy since the Great Depression, "that connection has dissipated," he added. "The American people may be more interested in a credible plan to address our problems."

The ranks of presidential candidates, and presidents, throughout history are full of American aristocrats, from George Washington to the Roosevelts, Rockefellers, Kennedys and Bushes. Some won by using policy and rhetoric to win support from lower-income voters, a practice that became known as the politics of the common man after Andrew Jackson's 1828 campaign. He won in part by portraying the nation's central bank as an institution that mostly made rich people richer.

So it's possible to run for president, and even win, while wealthy. Indeed, polls suggest that Americans don't begrudge Romney's family fortune or his own success in the private sector. In an AP-GfK survey last month, for example, about half of the respondents said Romney "understands the problems of ordinary Americans." Roughly the same percentage felt that way about Obama.

And efforts to portray Romney as a "vulture capitalist" fat cat at Bain Capital may have backfired against Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, the Republican rivals who launched them. Perry dropped out of the contest on Thursday.

There's evidence that Romney himself is learning to edit out offhand remarks that may be genuine yet jarring to average voters. In a debate Thursday night, Romney referred to having his tax returns "carefully managed," but mostly stayed clear of lifestyle details.

Instead, he equated his wealth with all-American achievement and upward mobility ? the opposite of coasting on his father's success as head of American Motor Corp., Michigan governor and federal housing secretary.

"What I have, I earned. I worked hard, the American way," Romney said to cheers and applause. "I'm not going to apologize for being successful."

It was a refinement of the way Romney has handled the central challenge of his campaign: winning over people struggling to keep their houses and find work when his own background is so far removed. Making it tougher is that the 2012 contest is happening against a backdrop of anger over income disparity, with "99 percenters" protesting policies that help the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans ? including Romney.

And where the Roosevelts and Kennedys won over ordinary people with social policies like the New Deal, Romney is campaigning on a plan to stabilize the economy through investments and tax breaks for "job creators," including the wealthiest individuals.

"Wealthy Democrats can get away with being wealthy so long as they espouse policies favorable to ordinary folks. Wealthy Republicans, by contrast, take a hit when their policies seem to favor the wealthy," said presidential historian H.W. Brands of the University of Texas. "It's the policies that really matter. The personal history is fluff."

Still, Romney has struggled to strike the right note with the masses.

In New Hampshire last month, he suggested that he's feared job setbacks at various points in his career.

"I know what it's like to worry about whether you're going to get fired. A couple of times I wondered if I was going to get a pink slip," Romney said during a campaign stop in Rochester, NH.

But it's highly unlikely he's ever felt the fear of being let go, or of being unable to find work, without a family fortune to fall back on.

Romney's refusal to release his tax forms put a fine point on the issue.

He grudgingly acknowledged that he might, for the first time, release them. But only one year's worth, and not until April, if he is the GOP's presidential nominee. He did reveal that he pays an effective tax rate of 15 percent, lower than what he would pay if he earned a regular pay check. He then disclosed that he earned speaking fees, "but not very much." The amount turned out to be $373,327.62 from 2010-2011.

In New Hampshire, a day after the pink slip remark, he spoke of the importance of having a choice of health insurance companies and declared, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

And in a heated debate last month, Romney bet Perry "10,000 bucks," apparently on impulse, when he could have wagered a symbolic dollar, or a beer.

Romney will soon get some practice honing his personal story in a state where he would need to be a master of it in the general election. After the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Romney and the GOP field move to Florida, a massive swing state familiar with the toxic cycle of high unemployment, unpaid bills, home foreclosures and despair.

It's no coincidence that Obama announced a new economic initiative there Thursday. The state suffers from 10 percent unemployment, and more than half of its homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth.

In Florida and beyond, Romney may find that sometimes it's best to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Don't try to stop the foreclosure process," he told the Las Vegas Review Journal in October, describing ways to improve the housing market. "Let it run its course and hit the bottom."

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

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FILE - In this April 3, 2011 file photo, singers Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood perform at the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Tyler and Carrie Underwood are teaming up for a special CMT Crossroads the night before the Super Bowl. "CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood Live from The Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam" will air Saturday, Feb. 4. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, file)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) ? Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood are teaming up for a special "CMT Crossroads" the night before the Super Bowl.

"CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood Live From the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam" will air Saturday, Feb. 4.

The Aerosmith frontman and "American Idol" judge teamed with the country music sensation and former "Idol" champion last year during the Academy of Country Music Awards. Their performance of "Undo It" and "Walk This Way" was one of the night's highlights and a viral video on the Web the next day.

They'll try to recreate that energy in Indianapolis.

This is the second year "CMT Crossroads," which pairs artists from different genres, will broadcast from the Super Bowl Fan Jam.

___

Online:

http://www.cmt.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-20-People-Tyler-Underwood/id-b8b0b79ac32a4288856a034ce278fda5

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SEATTLE ? Schools preemptively closed, crews salted down streets and more than two dozen flights into two Pacific Northwest cities were canceled as the region prepared for a potentially major snowstorm on Wednesday.

Forecasts called for about 3 to 5 inches of snow in the Seattle metropolitan area, with heavier amounts expected in communities along the Interstate 5 corridor south of the city. The city's schools canceled classes, as did their counterparts in other western Washington cities such as Tacoma, Olympia and Bellingham.

Alaska Airlines announced late Tuesday that it canceled 38 flights into and out of Seattle and Portland, Ore. The airline was waiving rebooking fees for passengers traveling Tuesday through Thursday in those cities.

Conditions on the roads were expected to be dangerous as the storm was forecast to begin dumping snow on the area just before the morning rush hour.

"Wednesday is going to be a good day to stay at home," said Brad Colman, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle. "The road is going to be treacherous."

Several inches of snow have the potential to paralyze the city of Seattle, which owns relatively few snowplows. Its drivers are mostly inexperienced with driving in snow or ice.

Several downtown hotels reported all their rooms were booked. Elsewhere, shoppers stocked up on groceries.

In Everett, north of Seattle, police reported a thief broke into an Everett School District parking lot early Tuesday and drove off in an old pickup equipped with a snow plow. The faded yellow truck had the snow plow in front and a full hopper of sand in the back, Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

Snow has been falling steadily in parts of western Washington and Oregon since the weekend, but Weather Service meteorologists said the biggest amounts could be on the way.

Bec Thomas, who lives on Camano Island north of Seattle, stocked up on bottled water and food. As her children built snowmen, made snow angels and sledded in nearly a foot of fresh snow on Tuesday, she made food that could be reheated on her wood stove.

The last snowstorm knocked out her power for a week.

"We take it very seriously," said Thomas, a fine arts photographer. "We'll probably be snowed in until Thursday."

Forecasters said 3 to 6 inches of new snow could fall in the Olympia area and 1 to 2 inches north of Seattle. The Cascade Mountains could see 1 to 3 feet of new snow through late Wednesday, and officials warned of high avalanche danger there.

In eastern Washington, forecasters predicted that about 6 inches of snow could fall on Spokane by late Wednesday with several more inches falling Thursday. The Pullman area could see as much as 12 inches of new snow by Wednesday night.

State troopers advised motorists to be prepared.

"The No. 1 thing is to drive for the road conditions," Trooper Keith Leary said. "People need to slow down, take their time. If they're not prepared, don't get out on the roadways."

John Lee, a Mill Creek graphic designer decided to work from home Tuesday rather than face a snowy commute into Seattle, said it was "a bit exciting" because it was the first snow of the season.

But he added: "I hope it doesn't escalate to something bigger."

___

AP Writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia and Donna Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_us/us_washington_snow

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Well, here's something we were not expecting to hear at today's NVIDIA CES press conference. The company just announced that its Tegra chips will power not just tablets, but in-car entertainment systems. For starters, this will include Tesla's model S, though it's also going to find a home in Ferrari and Audi (announcement to come, we're told). That's all we know for now -- nothing on availability, the mix of Tegra 2 / 3 chips or NVIDIA's roadmap -- but given how ubiquitous Tegra is, we think we have a handle on how well it handles multimedia content.

Billy Steele contributed to this report.

NVIDIA's Tegra chips coming to cars, starting with the Tesla S, as well as Audi and Ferrari originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/x27iJzom4hw/

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? Following fatal shootings in two New York pharmacy robberies, a U.S. senator is warning that a new batch of "super painkillers" now under review could force repeats of recent violent robberies that left six people dead.

"It's tremendously concerning that at the same time policymakers and law enforcement professionals are waging a war on the growing prescription drug crisis, new super-drugs could well be on their way, flooding the market," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "The FDA needs to grab the reins and slow down the stampede to introduce these powerful narcotics."

A message seeking comment from the Food and Drug Administration was not immediately returned Friday.

The Associated Press reported last month about addiction experts' fears over four drugs being tested that contain a more powerful version of one of the nation's most abused painkillers ? hydrocodone.

Schumer is particularly concerned about legalizing the drugs for prescriptions because they would be prized commodities in the black market.

Experts say painkiller addiction has been driven partly by a loophole in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that classified pure hydrocodone ? a super painkiller ? as a strictly controlled Schedule II drug. But the law put combination products, such as pills containing hydrocodone and acetaminophen, into the less strict Schedule III.

Because of the loophole, patients can refill a prescription for a hydrocodone-acetaminophen drug like Vicodin up to five times. A prescription for a similar oxycodone product, such as Percocet, can be filled only once. Critics say the loophole has flooded American medicine cabinets with hydrocodone.

In 1999, the Drug Enforcement Administration and FDA began reviewing whether they should reschedule hydrocodone combination products. But an AP review of regulatory documents and court filings shows the agencies have repeatedly passed the rescheduling study back and forth, with no final decision made.

A New Year's Eve robbery at a Long Island pharmacy netted prescription painkillers and cash and left the robber and a federal agent dead. In June, four died in another Long Island pharmacy robbery in which 11,000 hydrocodone pills were stolen.

If the pure hydrocodone drugs are approved, Schumer wants a "robust post-market surveillance" of the drugs as they are marketed, advertised and sold.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-08-Powerful%20Painkiller/id-d79779cb2fd249b08cb54d380470f93a

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DODSON, DOROTHY M.

Age 62, a resident of Albuquerque, died Tuesday, January 3, 2012. She is survived by sisters, Sharon L Arnaud of Albuquerque, NM, Rosemary L Lombardelli of Albuquerque, NM, Yvonne A (Ray Gillespie) Arnaud of Toston, MT and brother, Robert E Arnaud of Warren, OR. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Guy W. Dodson, parents Ernest and Leah Arnaud and brother, Charles V. Arnaud. Dorothy worked for Furrs, Inc. for 32 years and the last eight years for the Bernalillo County Assessor's Office. Dorothy was a 30 year blood bank donor. She was a creative person and enjoyed arts, crafts and creating things with her hands. She also loved to travel and vacation in various places in the United States. Services will be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 3:30 p.m.at French Mortuary-Lomas, with Rev. David W. Slaten, officiating. Interment will take place at the family plot in Montana.

Source: http://krqe.tributes.com/show/Dorothy-M.-Dodson-93055846

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PLYMOUTH, N.H. ? Republican Newt Gingrich fought on two fronts Thursday, branding Mitt Romney's policies as "timid" and accusing President Barack Obama of carrying out "an imperial presidency."

Gingrich is going all out to reinvigorate his bid for the Republican presidential nomination after a finishing fourth in Iowa's caucuses.

The former House speaker launched a TV ad Thursday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first in which he challenges Romney.

"Romney's economic plan? Timid," the spot says. "Parts of it virtually identical to Obama's failed policy. Timid won't create jobs and timid certainly won't defeat Barack Obama.

The ad highlights Gingrich's "bold leadership" and says: "The Gingrich jobs plan: A powerful plan for growing our economy and creating new jobs."

Appearing at senior citizen center in Plymouth, N.H., Gingrich criticized Obama for circumventing the Senate on Wednesday and appointing three people to the National Labor Relations Board. Gingrich called on Congress to strip the panel of its funding and blasted it as "a runaway, anti-jobs, anti-business, pro-labor union board."

Gingrich said Obama's action showed "a total willingness to violate the law and impose an imperial presidency."

The former Georgia congressman campaigned Thursday in the snowy, mountainous reaches of northern New Hampshire

At a town hall in Littleton, Sam Greenlaw, a 74-year-old retiree, told the thrice-married Gingrich that he knew more about Gingrich's personal life and his work for Freddie Mac, the federal mortgage agency, than he did about Gingrich's policy initiatives, which he said were impressive.

"You need to do more of this," he told Gingrich, referring to the policy-rich meeting Gingrich held.

Afterward, Greenlaw said that attacking Romney would backfire on Gingrich ? at least in his mind.

"I need to know how he's going to go about correcting the problems of our institutions. Not about what he thinks about other people," Greenlaw said.

Others thought highlighting Romney's record was long overdue.

"I do not think that Speaker Gingrich was out of line at all. He simply told the truth about the man," said John Anderson, a 65-year old retiree from Pittsburg, N.H. "I'm not a Romney hater, but I do not believe he can take on Obama and I do not believe he is real conservative

In Littleton, an audience member asked to hear from Gingrich's wife, Callista, who stands silently by his side at campaign stops.

She stepped forward and complied.

"I just want to say that I think Newt has been preparing for this challenge his whole life," Callista Gingrich said. "And I believe truly he is the best person to lead this country."

___

Follow Shannon McCaffrey: http://www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120105/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich

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Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia.

Los Angeles is a city in California with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621. It is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City, on a land area of 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km2), and is located in the southern region of the state. It is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area, which contains nearly 17.8 million people and which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties[8] in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself is recognized and regarded as the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States. Antonio Villaraigosa is the city's mayor.

[edit] The Good

Current and past budgets are posted.^[1]
Meeting dates, agendas, and reports are posted.^[2]^[3]
City Council members are listed with contact information. Each council member has an individual website with biographical and district information.^[4]
The Mayor's website has a contact form but phone number and direct email are not listed.^[5]
Names and phone numbers of city administrators are provided.^[6] Email addresses for departments are also provided.^[7]
Zoning information and building permits are available.^[8]^[9]
Audits are posted.^[10]
Contracts are available for viewing in a searchable database/^[11]
Bids and RFPs are posted.^[12]
Contact information is given for those interested in accessing city public records.^[13]
Business tax information is provided.^[14]
Registration information is available on those registered to lobby the city. ^[15]

[edit] The Bad

Information on fees and license costs is not provided.
Information on membership in any taxpayer funded lobbying associations, or the city's own lobbying activities, is not provided.

[edit] Budget

The city's FY 2010-2011 budget closed a $492 million gap in the general fund through a combination of revenue increases and spending cuts. 2,400 city positions were eliminated, and $54 million was cut from fire departments, and $100 million was cut from police departments. It totaled $6.7 billion. The city's financial policies require that at least 2.75% of the general fund budget be allocated to the Emergency Fund.^[16]^[17]

Los Angeles' fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. The budget system includes a process of budget formulation, budget adoption, budgetary control, and cost control.^[17]

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is postponing at least $100 million in personnel costs until after he leaves office. Villaraigosa has delayed paying for such obligations as police overtime, unused sick time, contractually agreed-upon wage hikes and an early retirement program that gave 2,400 employees full pensions five years ahead of schedule. The next mayor, and possibly the one after that, will inherit the tab. ^[18]

[edit] Audit

A recent audit revealed that former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo failed to investigate fraud or collect money the city was owed, cost the city $3 million.^[19]

[edit] Expensive water

Los Angeles Controller Laura Chick found in a March 2009 audit that the city spends $189,000/year on bottled water. In 2006, Villaraigosa told employees to buy their own; at that time, employees were spending $89,000/year.^[20]

[edit] Public employees

[edit] Elected officials

Los Angeles is governed by three elected city officers, including a mayor, and a city council. The Mayor, City Controller, and City Attorney are elected by voters every four years. The Mayor submits proposals and recommendations to the Council, enforces city ordinances, and approves or vetoes Council ordinances. ^[21]

Fifteen City Council members are elected to four year terms, for a maximum of two terms.^[21]

[edit] Administrative officials

A full city organizational chart can be found here. A contact list for administrative departments and officials can be found here.

[edit] Public employee salaries

Main article: Los Angeles employee salaries

A full list of city employee salaries is provided by the City Controller's Office, and can be found here.

Elected officials' salaries are as follows:^[22]

Position	Salary
Mayor	$232,425.72
City Controller	$196,667.94
City Attorney	$214,546.96
City Council Member	$178,789.18

[edit] Pensions

According to a recent report published at Northwestern University, Los Angeles is one of the ten municipalities with the largest amount of unfunded pension liabilities. Nationwide there is $574 billion in unfunded pension liabilities for local pension plans, and this is in addition to the $3 trillion in debt facing state-sponsored pension plans.^[23] The report states that the pension plans could be out of money as early at 2025.^[23]

Municipality (number of plans)	Liabilities, Stated Basis, June ?09 ($B)	Liabilities (ABO), Treasury Rate	Net Pension Assets ($B)	Unfunded Liability ($B)	Unfunded Liability / Revenue	Unfunded Liability per Household ($)
Los Angeles (3)	34.6	49.3	23.2	26.1	378%	18,193

[edit] Reform

In March, 2011, voters approved ballot Measure G, a pension reform plan that will reduce city costs from the pension and healthcare plans of newly hired Fire, Police, and Harbor employees. With the measure's passage, the average pension and health cost to the city for each new hire is expected to fall from $15,000 to $12,000 annually.^[24]

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: California taxpayer-funded lobbying

For 2007 and 2008, Los Angeles spent $2,397,335 on lobbying, while the city's attorney's office spent $192,041. Total, the city spent $2,589,376 in 2007 and 2008.^[25]

All businesses operating within the city must pay a city business tax. Information on the tax is provided by the Office of Finance.^[26] Tax rates for the period of 2009-2011 can be found here.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

? Budget
? City Events Calendar
? E-Packets
? City Council
? Ask the Mayor
? Phone Directory
? Contact Us
? Planning
? Building and Safety
? Audits and Reports
? City Contracts
? Bids and RFPs
? Records
? Finance
? Ethics Commission
? Wall Street Journal, L.A. Budget Deal Cuts Police, Fire, May 21, 2011
? ^17.0^17.12010-2011 Budget Summary
? LA Times, Villaraigosa delays payment of $100 million in personnel costs, Jan. 3, 2011
? Daily News, Audit: City lost $3M by mishandling workers' comp, Oct. 13, 2010
? Los Angeles Times, "L.A. County supervisors sip from customized water bottles", March 31, 2009
? ^21.0^21.1Your Government At a Glance
? Salaries
? ^23.0^23.1MacIver Institute, City of Milwaukee Pension a Ticking Time Bomb According to Northwestern Study, Oct. 12, 2010
? City of Los Angeles Pension Reform, Ballot Measure G, "Ballotpedia."
? State-Level Lobbying and Taxpayers: How Much Do We Really Know?, Pacific Research Institute
? Office of Finance

Source: http://sunshinereview.org/index.php?title=Los_Angeles,_California&diff=233735&oldid=prev

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ethancampbelll

Jason Derulo fractured his neck the other night.

While it's a serious injury the singer incurred, it looks like he'll be okay, fortunately, 'cause he later Tweeted this photo of himself chillin' at the hospital.

"I fractured my neck doing tumbling & acrobatics 4 tour!" he wrote, rocking a full neck brace and hospital gown while seemingly in a medical facility.

As it stands right now (though maybe not for much longer), the 22-year-old is due to kick off the U.K. leg of his tour in Glasgow on February 23.

There's no word yet on exactly what the "In My Head" singer was doing when he suffered the injury, or just how debilitating it may prove to be.

But if nothing else, like Adrian Peterson, he appears to be in good spirits:

"Always tryin 2 push boundaries 4 YOU! Like my new chain? ;)"

LOL, and yes. Get well soon man.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/jason-derulo-fractures-neck-tweets-pic/

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INDIANAPOLIS ? Democrats determined to keep Indiana from becoming the first state in more than a decade to enact right-to-work legislation stymied the beginning of the House session Wednesday and said they planned to stall work indefinitely.

Lawmakers from the state House had last year blocked the bill ? which would bar businesses and private unions from mandating that workers pay union fees for representation ? through a five-week boycott during which they left the state. That denied Republicans the two-thirds attendance needed to conduct business.

House Democratic Leader Patrick Bauer said Wednesday that Republicans were "railroading" the revived measure through the chamber and more public hearings should be held.

"What's the urgency?" said Bauer, who led last year's walkout. "They are ignoring the public input."

Most Indiana House Democrats were no-shows on the floor Wednesday when House Speaker Brian Bosma tried three times to gavel the House into order. He plans to try again Thursday, and said a Democratic boycott won't lead Republicans to back off on the bill.

"We will do our very best to encourage them to do what is right, which is to show up at work and do what they were elected to do," Bosma said. "Democracy is about participating, not going on strike."

He said a joint hearing of the House and Senate labor committees on the bill will take place as scheduled Friday, although the House committee might not be able to take a vote on the proposal.

Bosma and other Republicans contend that the measure got a thorough vetting during a series of hearings last summer.

If Indiana passes the measure, it would be the first state to enact such a law since Oklahoma in 2001, and the 23rd overall. Supporters say it would help attract new business to the state. Opponents call it an attempt to weaken organized labor.

Getting the law passed would be a major victory for national conservatives and business groups, after more than a dozen states considered such legislation last year but none adopted it. It would be another blow to unions, which have fought initiatives to curb labor rights that followed nationwide Republican legislative wins in 2010.

Bauer said his members would not leave Indianapolis this year but would "filibuster" until Bosma agrees to more public hearings. He did not specify how many, but said he wants to meet with Bosma to discuss what it will take for Democrats to return to their seats. Bosma said earlier in the day he had requested meetings with Bauer three times and had not heard back.

When asked how long the Democrats will stay out, Bauer said, "that time schedule is not in our hands."

Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, had called a walkout "the only way" to block the bill.

After Democrats walked out last year, the Republican-led legislature adopted new fines of $1,000-a-day on each lawmaker who boycotts their chamber for more than three days in a row. Concern about the 2012 elections and public response to another walkout may have made some lawmakers wary of another.

Some Democrats broke ranks throughout the day and joined Republicans in the House. Up to six Democrats could return to their seats and there would still not be enough lawmakers to conduct business.

Instead the vast majority of Democrats holed up inside a conference room just steps from the House chamber and spent more than three hours debating tactics on the first day of the 2012 session.

Union protesters packed the halls outside the room and cheered as Democrats entered the room. Others lined the sidewalks outside. The protest crowds were smaller than the largest ones seen during last year's session.

Bosma has said Democrats were bowing to pressure from union leaders, and complained that Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott spoke to Democrats at their closed-door meeting Wednesday.

However, Bosma and other Republicans pushing the measure have maintained similarly cozy relationships with the state's business lobbyists, keying them in on their plans well ahead of time.

The Indiana AFL-CIO has been airing TV and radio ads targeting Republicans who may be vulnerable in the 2012 elections if they vote in favor of the measure. Bosma and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels have been airing their own ads throughout the state in support of it, and the National Right to Work Committee has sent staffers to the state to build grass-roots support for the measure.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120105/ap_on_re_us/us_indiana_right_to_work

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ethancampbelll

The Jersey Shore gang is back in Seaside once again.

This Thursday, January 5, we pick up right where we last left Snooki, Pauly D, Vinny, Sitch, JWoww, Sammi and Ronnie. The flew out of Italy and directly to N.J. with no break.

Probably not the best idea (see Season 5 trailer) but hindsight is 20/20.

After a red eye flight, the guidos and guidettes decided to their GTL on pronto! This new sneak peek from Thursday's season premiere shows the guys at the barber shop.

Is Vin trying out for the UFC? Did The Situation just make a small hole in the ozone layer with the amount of hairspray he used? You decide after the jump ...

Jersey Shore Season 5 Clip - Lookin' Fabulous!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/jersey-shore-sneak-peek-lookin-fabulous/

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ethancampbelll

iOS hacker and jailbreak developer pod2G has confirmed that significant progress has been made on an untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, and expects to release the exploit as soon as next week. An untethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak is also in the works.

While an untethered jailbreak for all other devices was already released last week, the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 have yet to be jailbroken at all, untethered or not. As such, this should come as very welcome news to users of Apple?s new devices.

The jailbreak should also eventually support Apple?s forthcoming iOS 5.1 release, enabling users of Apple?s newest devices to perform an untethered jailbreak even on Apple?s latest firmware, even before it?s released. That?s pretty spectacular news all around!

While the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S jailbreak aren?t directly related (the iOS 5.1 jailbreak is expected to come at a later date), the fact that the jailbreak appears set to release is nevertheless exciting.

The untethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak has also been independently confirmed by Stefan Esser, better known to the community as ion1c, and has been backed up with separate tweets from ?iOS hackers and jailbreak devs @Veence and @pod2g.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mactrast/~3/KK2nhvblCfk/

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Ming Chan

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Jerry Battiste

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Wednesday 25 January 2012

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Monday 23 January 2012

Sunday 22 January 2012

Saturday 21 January 2012

Friday 20 January 2012

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Monday 9 January 2012

Saturday 7 January 2012

Friday 6 January 2012

[edit] The Good

[edit] The Bad

[edit] Budget

[edit] Audit

[edit] Expensive water

[edit] Public employees

[edit] Elected officials

[edit] Administrative officials

[edit] Public employee salaries

[edit] Pensions

[edit] Reform

[edit] Lobbying

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Thursday 5 January 2012

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Tuesday 3 January 2012

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Monday 2 January 2012

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