President Obama calls on Congress to protect tax cuts for the middle class

Echoing Friday's challenge to Congress to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff, President Obama uses this week's radio address to call on them to protect middle class tax cuts:

But we?re now at the point where, in just a couple days, the law says that every American?s tax rates are going up. Every American?s paycheck will get a lot smaller. And that would be the wrong thing to do for our economy. It would hurt middle-class families, and it would hurt the businesses that depend on your spending.

And Congress can prevent it from happening, if they act now.

And the president again dared House and Senate Republicans to continue their hostage taking of the economy and American paychecks:

But if an agreement isn?t reached in time, then I?ll urge the Senate to hold an up-or-down vote on a basic package that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends vital unemployment insurance for Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction.

I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities ? as long as these leaders allow it to come to a vote. If they still want to vote no, and let this tax hike hit the middle class, that?s their prerogative ? but they should let everyone vote. That?s the way this is supposed to work.

Make a deal or have an up or down vote ... or be the Party solely responsible for a tax hike for every American. ?

Complete transcript below the fold.

Hello Everybody. For the past couple months, I?ve been working with people in both parties ? with the help of business leaders and ordinary Americans ? to come together around a plan to grow the economy and shrink our deficits.

It?s a balanced plan ? one that would protect the middle class, cut spending in a responsible way, and ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more. And I?ll keep working with anybody who?s serious about getting a comprehensive plan like this done ? because it?s the right thing to do for our economic growth.

But we?re now at the point where, in just a couple days, the law says that every American?s tax rates are going up. Every American?s paycheck will get a lot smaller. And that would be the wrong thing to do for our economy. It would hurt middle-class families, and it would hurt the businesses that depend on your spending.

And Congress can prevent it from happening, if they act now. Leaders in Congress are working on a way to prevent this tax hike on the middle class, and I believe we may be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time.

But if an agreement isn?t reached in time, then I?ll urge the Senate to hold an up-or-down vote on a basic package that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends vital unemployment insurance for Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction.

I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities ? as long as these leaders allow it to come to a vote. If they still want to vote no, and let this tax hike hit the middle class, that?s their prerogative ? but they should let everyone vote. That?s the way this is supposed to work.

We just can?t afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. The economy is growing, but keeping it that way means that the folks you sent to Washington have to do their jobs. The housing market is healing, but that could stall if folks are seeing smaller paychecks. The unemployment rate is the lowest it?s been since 2008, but already, families and businesses are starting to hold back because of the dysfunction they see in Washington.

You meet your deadlines and your responsibilities every day. The folks you sent here to serve should do the same. We cannot let Washington politics get in the way of America?s progress. We?ve got to do what it takes to protect the middle class, grow this economy, and move our country forward.

Thanks, everybody.

Source: http://rss.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/Nw0zwhcFymc/-President-Obama-calls-on-Congress-to-protect-tax-cuts-for-the-middle-class

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Budget struggle raising anxiety for health care

President Barack Obama speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington after meeting with Congressional leaders regarding the fiscal cliff, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington after meeting with Congressional leaders regarding the fiscal cliff, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Rarely has the government sent so many conflicting signals in so short a time about the bottom line for the health care industry.

Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama's health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage.

"Imagine a person being told they are going to get a raise, but their taxes are also going to go up and they are going to be paying more for gas," said Thornton Kirby, president of the South Carolina Hospital Association. "They don't know if they are going to be taking home more or less. That's the uncertainty when there are so many variables in play."

Real money is at stake for big hospitals and small medical practices alike. Government at all levels pays nearly half the nation's health care tab, with federal funds accounting for most of that.

It's widely assumed that a budget deal will mean cuts for Medicare service providers. But which ones? How much? And will Medicaid and subsidies to help people get coverage under the health care law also be cut?

As House Speaker John Boehner famously said: "God only knows." The Ohio Republican was referring to the overall chances of getting a budget deal, but the same can be said of how health care ? one-sixth of the economy ? will fare.

"There is no political consensus to do anything significant," said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. "There is a collective walking away from things that matter. All the stuff on the lists of options becomes impossible, because there is no give-and-take."

As if things weren't complicated enough, doctors keep facing their own recurring fiscal cliff, separate from the bigger budget battle but embroiled in it nonetheless.

Come Jan. 1, doctors and certain other medical professionals face a 26.5 percent cut in their Medicare payments, the consequence of a 1990s deficit-reduction law gone awry. Lawmakers failed to repeal or replace that law even after it became obvious that it wasn't working. Instead, Congress usually passes a "doc fix" each year to waive the cuts.

This year, the fix got hung up in larger budget politics. Although a reprieve is expected sooner or later, doctors don't like being told to sit in the congressional waiting room.

"It seems like there is a presumption that physicians and patients can basically tolerate this kind of uncertainty while the Congress goes through whatever political machinations they are going through," said Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the American Medical Association. "Our concern is that physician uncertainty and anxiety about being able to pay the bills will have an impact on taking care of patients."

A recent government survey indicates that Medicare beneficiaries are having more problems when trying to find a new primary care doctor, and Lazarus said that will only get worse.

Adding to their unease, doctors also face an additional reduction if automatic spending cuts go through. Those would be triggered if Obama and congressional leaders are unable to bridge partisan differences and strike a deal. They are part of the combination of tax increases and spending cuts dubbed the "fiscal cliff."

Medicare service providers would get hit with a 2 percent across-the-board cut, but Medicaid and subsidies for the uninsured under Obama's health care overhaul would be spared. The Medicare cut adds up to about $120 billion over ten years, with 40 percent falling on hospitals, according to Avalare's analysis. Nursing homes, Medicare Advantage plans and home health agencies also get hit.

The American Hospital Association says that would lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of hospital jobs in a labor intensive industry that also generates employment for other businesses in local communities.

"It's very difficult to believe hospitals can absorb the kinds of numbers they are talking about without reducing service or workforce," said Kirby, the hospital association head. "You may decide that a service a hospital provides is not affordable ? for example, obstetrics in a rural community ? if you're making a little bit of money or losing a little bit of money by continuing to deliver babies in a rural community."

Independent analysts like Mendelson doubt that a 2 percent Medicare cut to hospitals would be catastrophic, but say it will cost jobs somewhere.

Even if there is a budget deal, the squeeze will be on.

The administration has proposed $400 billion in health care cuts so far in the budget talks, coming mainly from Medicare spending. That's only a starting point as far as Republicans are concerned. They also want to pare back Medicaid and Obama's health care law, and have also sought an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-29-Fiscal%20Cliff-Health%20Care/id-7e658fd32b404ad4ad4e1f27a4ef044d

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Medication Related Incontinence | Natural Holistic Health Blog

There are many illnesses and conditions which can cause a person to suffer from incontinence, varying from severe to mild cases. However, there is also medication related incontinence where certain medications can cause difficulties as well. Some of these medications act in a way that affects how the body produces and eliminates urine, in turn causing many people to suffer from issues with incontinence.

There are common drug classes which are associated with incontinence including, but not limited to, diuretics, certain hypertension drugs, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. There are others as well which can cause some people to suffer from incontinence, which will be discussed below.

Diuretics Perhaps the most common drug that causes issues for most people are diuretics, such as Lasix. These drugs are commonly referred to as water pills because they actually work to elevate the rate of urination (diuresis). Since they are working to increase the excretion of water from the body, they often can cause incontinence, especially in older people who have weaker muscles and others who already have impaired continence.

Sedatives (sleeping pills), Hypnotic CNS Depressants, and Benzodiazepines (especially ones such as flurazepam and diazepam (Valium)) ? These drugs can build up in the bloodstream of older people leading to confusion altering their ability to recognize when they need to void, leading to urinary tract infections and incontinence.

Anticholinergic agents: Antihistamines, Antidepressants (TCA), Phenothiazines,
Disopyramides, Opiates, Antispasmodics, Parkinson drugs, Alpha-adrenergic agents People suffering from insomnia, pruritus (itchy skin), vertigo (dizziness) as well as other conditions, often take prescription or over-the-counter drugs with anticholinergic properties. One of the common side effects is urinary retention with increased urinary frequency and overflow incontinence.

Calcium channel blockers (Heart and blood pressure medications) These drugs can cause the smooth muscle contractility in the bladder to weaken sometimes leading to urinary retention and overflow incontinence.

Alpha-adrenergic agents (high blood pressure drugs) and Sympathomimetics (decongestants), Sympatholytics (e.g., prazosin, terazosin, and doxazosin) Alpha-agonists can cause symptoms of urinary retention in older men, while women prescribed alpha-antagonists for hypertension can suffer from symptoms of stress incontinence. Urinary retention and overflow incontinence may occur in older men with an enlarged prostate when they take multi-component cold capsules containing alpha-agonists and antichoinergic agents. This is especially a concern if a nasal decongestant and over-the-counter hypnotic antihistamine are taken as well.

Alcohol Although not a medication, it is important to recognize alcohol as a potential cause of urinary incontinence as well. Alcohol can alter memory, impair mobility, leading to increased urine output that can lead to incontinence. Not only that, it also acts as a sedative which can alter a persons ability to recognize when they have a need to void.

Many medications will have side effects which can lead indirectly to leakage or incontinence issues, so it is important to research any medication you are taking if you have concerns. Medication related incontinence is something that is not permanent, and can be dealt with either by changing medications or simply being aware of the potential for problems, and learning how to adapt your lifestyle to accommodate any incontinence concerns.

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About Dee Braun

Dee is an Adv. Certified Aromatherapist, Reiki Master, Adv. Color/Crystal Therapist, Herbalist, Dr. of Reflexology and single mom who is dedicated to helping others any way she can. One way she chooses to help is by offering information on the benefits and uses of natural health and healing methods for the well-being of both people and pets. Dee also teaches Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Color/Crystal Therapy at the Alternative Healing Academy

Source: http://www.natural-holistic-health.com/medication-related-incontinence/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=medication-related-incontinence

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Reducing Particle Size to Save Energy for Ore Power | Society for ...

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Source: http://spcastjohns.org/2011/reducing-particle-size-save-energy-ore-power/

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What Are Your Biggest Hopes for the Gadgets of 2013?

We're about to put a big year behind us, but there's also a big one ahead. We can expect the launch of next-gen game consoles, an inevitable onslaught of phablets, the death/rebirth of RIM, maybe a retina iPad Mini and who knows what else. What prospects have your hopes up? What is it you really want to see (or desperately want to not see) in the coming year? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MaqGtIfp_-g/what-are-your-biggest-hopes-for-the-gadgets-of-2013

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The Financial Aid Handbook: Getting the Education You Want for the ...

Dec 28, 2012

Nex Library ? Education & Reference ? Afford, Education, Financial, Getting, Handbook, Paperback, Price, Want ?

Carol Stack is the former Director of Admissions at Macalester College and Augsburg College. For the past 15 years, Stack has worked as a principal at Hardwick-Day, an enrollment consulting firm that works with the admissions and financial aid offices of private colleges and universities. Through Hardwick-Day, she has consulted on financial aid policy at dozens of colleges, including Whittier, Grinnell, Mills, Randolph-Macon, and Xavier University.Ruth Vedvik has held the position of Director of Admissions at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ball State University, and Agnes Scott College. For the past 9 years, Vedvik has worked as a principal at Hardwick-Day, an enrollment consulting firm that works with the admissions and financial aid offices of private colleges and universities. Through Hardwick-Day, she has consulted on financial aid policy at dozens of colleges, including Whittier, Grinnell, Mills, Randolph-Macon, and Xavier University.

(Continue Reading >>>)

Source: http://www.nexlibrary.org/the-financial-aid-handbook-getting-the-education-you-want-for-the-price-you-can-afford-paperback/

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Futures dip as US hurdles toward fiscal cliff

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stock futures are moving lower ahead of a last-ditch effort by the White House and GOP congressional leaders to hash out a budget deal before a year-end deadline strikes.

Dow Jones industrial futures are down 45 points to 12,958. The broader S&P futures have lost 5.2 points to 1,405.50. Nasdaq futures are down 10.75 points to 2,611.75.

Though many lawmakers say they are open to last-minute offers, few expect any offers of substance this late.

Top congressional leaders are meeting Friday afternoon for the first time since Nov. 16 and the House convenes Sunday evening, with one day remaining in 2012.

If no deal is reached, a slate of simultaneous tax hikes and spending cuts will automatically be set in motion and threaten to push the economy back into recession.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-dip-us-hurdles-toward-fiscal-cliff-124131228--finance.html

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Pakistani Taliban capture 22 soldiers after government rejects terms

Pakistan's interior minister dismissed today Pakistani Taliban conditions for a cease-fire, including changes to the constitution and a break with the US.

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmad,?Reuters / December 27, 2012

An Afghan border policeman feeds a detained suspected Taliban member near Walli Was in Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan in November.

Goran Tomasevic/Reuters/File

Enlarge

Era Ismail Khan, Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan

The Pakistani Taliban have seized at least 22 men from a paramilitary force in attacks on three checkpoints in northern Pakistan, a regional official said on Thursday, but Taliban and other Pakistani sources put the number even higher.

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At least 22 men were missing, two had been killed and one was injured after the overnight attacks, said Naveed Akbar, a regional official whose remit covers the paramilitary units.

Other Pakistani officials said at least 30 men had been taken, a figure confirmed by Taliban spokesmen.

This comes just after the Pakistani?Taliban?have outlined conditions for a cease-fire, including the adoption of Islamic law and a break with the?United States, a spokesman said Thursday, an offer dismissed out of hand by the interior minister.

The?Taliban, in a letter sent to the?Pakistan?daily The News, also demanded that?Pakistan?stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan insurgents against the?Kabul government?and refocus on a war of "revenge" against?India.

The letter from?Taliban?spokesman?Amir Muawiya?comes as the focus in?Afghanistan?shifts from a military push by NATO troops to potential peace talks, and amid speculation of a rift between top?Pakistan?Talibanleaders.

Military officials told Reuters last month that?Pakistan?Taliban?leader?Hakimullah Mehsud?had lost operational command to his deputy,?Wali ur-Rehman, considered to be more open to reconciliation with the?Pakistani government. The?Taliban?deny Mehsud has lost command.

The Pakistani?Taliban?are a separate entity allied to the Afghan?Taliban. Known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan?(TTP), they have launched devastating attacks against the Pakistani military and civilians.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QIqjaDqRCE4/Pakistani-Taliban-capture-22-soldiers-after-government-rejects-terms

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Using Your Brand Name On The Internet | billyelusiv.com | Premium ...

for more, go to billyelusiv.com If you are considering what domain names to use for your presence on the internet, do not think past your brand name. The reasons why you should use your brand name on the internet and for all your domain names would seem to be clear. Reasons include * Your brand awareness and brand value can translate onto the internet. * Customers and visitors will more likely trust and value your website. Do not think about making your website have a keyword domain name, or 'exact match domain' name. In my example in the video I talk about Thrifty car rentals. Thrifty were using the domain name www.carrental-tauranga.co.nz for their Tauranga branch. However this is not ideal for two reasons. The first is that Google is cracking down on exact match domains. In the past, having a domain name that was the same as the keywords being typed into the search engine would help with rankings. But today there are many other factors that go into search rankings. Google can tell how popular your website is, and how well known your brand is becoming on the internet. The other reason is that as a business you will be spending money developing your brand awareness and brand value in your market, so why would you not leverage off that investment when online? This makes sense to do. You are trying to create trust and relationships online, so you want people to be able to recognise your business and brand instantly. So use your brand name! for more, go to billyelusiv.com
Source: Using Your Brand Name On The Internet | billyelusiv.com (Youtube).

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Evidence contradicts idea that starvation caused saber-tooth cat extinction

Dec. 26, 2012 ? In the period just before they went extinct, the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene were living well off the fat of the land.

That is the conclusion of the latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth of these great cats recovered from the La Brea tar pits in southern California. Contrary to previous studies, the analysis did not find any indications that the giant carnivores were having increased trouble finding prey in the period before they went extinct 12,000 years ago.

The results, published on Dec. 26 in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, contradicts previous dental studies and presents a problem for the most popular explanations for the Megafaunal (or Quaternary) extinction when the great cats, mammoths and a number of the largest mammals that existed around the world disappeared.

"The popular theory for the Megafaunal extinction is that either the changing climate at the end of the last Ice Age or human activity -- or some combination of the two -- killed off most of the large mammals," said Larisa DeSantis, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt, who headed the study. "In the case of the great cats, we expect that it would have been increasingly difficult for them to find prey, especially if had to compete with humans. We know that when food becomes scarce, carnivores like the great cats tend to consume more of the carcasses they kill. If they spent more time chomping on bones, it should cause detectable changes in the wear patterns on their teeth."

In 1993, Blaire Van Valkenburgh at UCLA published a paper on tooth breakage in large carnivores in the late Pleistocene. Analyzing teeth of American lions, saber-tooth cats, dire wolves and coyotes from La Brea, she found that they had approximately three times the number of broken teeth of contemporary predators and concluded, ." ..these findings suggest that these species utilized carcasses more fully and likely competed more intensely for food than present-day large carnivores."

The latest study uses a new technique, called dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), developed by co-author Peter Ungar at the University of Arkansas. It uses a confocal microscope to produce a three-dimensional image of the surface of a tooth. The image is then analyzed for microscopic wear patterns. Chowing down on red meat produces small parallel scratches. Chomping on bones adds larger, deeper pits. Previous methods of dental wear analysis relied on researchers to identify and count these different types of features. DMTA relies on automated software and is considered more accurate because it reduces the possibility of observer bias.

DeSantis and Ungar, with the assistance of Blaine Schubert from East Tennessee State University and Jessica Scott from the University of Arkansas, applied DMTA to the fossil teeth of 15 American lions (Panthera atrox) and 15 saber-tooth cats (Smilodon fatalis) recovered from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles.

Their analysis revealed that the wear pattern on the teeth of the American lion most closely resembled those of the present-day cheetah, which actively avoids bones when it feeds. Similarly, the saber-tooth cat's wear pattern most closely resembled those of the present-day African lion, which indulges in some bone crushing when it eats. (This differs from a previous microwear study using a different technique that concluded saber-tooth cats avoided bone to a far greater extent.)

The researchers examined how these patterns changed over time by selecting specimens from tar pits of different ages, ranging from about 35,000 to 11,500 years ago. They did not find any evidence that the two carnivores increased their "utilization" of carcasses throughout this period. If anything, their analysis suggests that the proportion of the carcasses that both kinds of cats consumed actually declined toward the end.

The researchers acknowledge the high rate of tooth breakage reported in the previous study, but they argue that it is more likely the result of increased breakage when taking down prey instead of when feeding.

"Teeth can break from the stress of chewing bone but they can also break when the carnivores take down prey," DeSantis pointed out. Species like hyenas that regularly chew and crack bones of their kills are as likely to break the rear teeth they use for chewing as their front canines. Species like the cheetah, however, which avoid bones during feeding are twice as likely to break canines than rear teeth. This suggests that they are more likely to break canines when pulling down prey.

The researchers report that previous examinations of the jaws of the American lions and saber-tooth cats from this period found that they have more than three times as many broken canines and interpret this as additional evidence that supports their conclusion that most of the excess tooth breakage occurred during capture instead of feeding.

In addition, the researchers argue that the large size of the extinct carnivores and their prey can help explain the large number of broken teeth. The saber-toothed cats were about the size of today's African lion and the American lion was about 25 percent larger. The animals that they preyed upon likely included mammoths, four-ton giant ground sloths and 3,500-pound bison.

Larger teeth break more easily than smaller teeth. So larger carnivores are likely to break more canine teeth when attempting to take down larger prey, the researchers argue. They cite a study that modeled the strength of canine teeth that found the canines of a predator the size of fox can support more than seven times its weight before breaking while a predator the size of lion can only support about four times its weight and the curved teeth of the saber-toothed cats can only support about twice its weight.

"The net result of our study is to raise questions about the reigning hypothesis that "tough times" during the late Pleistocene contributed to the gradual extinction of large carnivores," DeSantis summarized. "While we can not determine the exact cause of their demise, it is unlikely that the extinction of these cats was a result of gradually declining prey (due either to changing climates or human competition) because their teeth tell us that these cats were not desperately consuming entire carcasses, as we had expected, and instead seemed to be living the 'good life' during the late Pleistocene, at least up until the very end."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Vanderbilt University, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Blaine W. Schubert, Jessica R. Scott, Peter S. Ungar. Implications of Diet for the Extinction of Saber-Toothed Cats and American Lions. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e52453 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052453

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/CRGv66wn-sA/121226222838.htm

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The Kindle Fire HD

The Kindle Fire HD delivers a tablet experience many folks will love, but is it the right choice for me? Have a read and see what a total Android nerd thinks of Amazon's latest offering.

Amazon’s new Kindle tablets don’t get the attention that other Android tablets get. Android purists tend to scoff at them, thinking that the operating system being used -- a true custom fork of Android 4.0 -- is entirely too basic, lacking many of the features and customization settings that stock Android or the more traditional OEM builds like Sense or TouchWiz have.

But simple -- and consistent -- software has a place. Amazon’s removal of some of the more advanced parts of the Android OS are also part of the reason not much talk goes on about the Kindle Fire HD -- it tends to just work, and users have few issues they need to sort out. Amazon has perfected the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy of smart devices.

I’ve had both Kindle Fire HD devices here for a while, and have spent a good bit of time playing with the hardware and Amazon’s operating system as shipped. It’s time I put down a few words about them.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/TpTiL3tqG64/story01.htm

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Are you in your league's fantasy football championship? Don't set your lineup wi...

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Watch a flying reverse triangle choke (VIDEO)

Canadian fighter Wolfgang Janssen doesn't have a nickname. Perhaps he doesn't have because his name is Wolfgang Janssen, and a nickname is not necessary. Perhaps it's because he can do stuff like this, and now will be known as the guy who won by a flying reverse triangle.

Janssen is an undefeated featherweight with all three wins by submission.

Thanks, MMA Fighting.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/watch-flying-reverse-triangle-choke-video-160653106--mma.html

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Texas Instruments to cut 517 jobs in France

PARIS (AP) ? Chipmaker Texas Instruments says will lay off more than 500 people at a research and development plant near Nice, France, in the coming months.

The Dallas-based company announced last month that it is eliminating 1,700 jobs worldwide as it cuts spending in its wireless business. As the company's biggest smartphone and tablet customers have begun developing their own chips, Texas Instruments is shifting the focus to industrial and automotive customers.

Its factory at Villeneuve-Loubet was primarily dedicated to developing OPAM microprocessors used in smartphones and tablets. Nearly all of the employees at the factory, mostly engineers, will lose their jobs. The company is working with the government to find a new owner for the site.

In all, 517 jobs will be cut. Texas Instruments employs 609 people in France.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-12-18-France-Texas%20Instruments/id-04e6c58531224043aa359cb17b1bba0a

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Jon Stewart on ?Good ole Slippery Sodomy Slope Scalia? and his bff Miss Lindsey Graham (Americablog)

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Rocket sirens pierce the Tel Aviv 'bubble'

Tel Aviv is a city that symbolizes efforts by Israelis to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the Arab-Israeli conflict. But now the new normal here includes the opening of municipal bomb shelters.

By Joshua Mitnick,?Correspondent / November 18, 2012

Israelis take cover as an air raid siren warns of incoming rockets from Gaza, next to an Iron Dome defense system in Tel Aviv, Saturday. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels.

Oded Balilty/AP

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Israel?s cosmopolitan capital has developed a reputation over the past decade for residents leading lives removed from the rest of Israel and the Middle East, but this weekend's rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip have burst the infamous Tel Aviv bubble.

Skip to next paragraph Joshua Mitnick

Correspondent

Joshua Mitnick has reported on Israel and the Palestinian territories for the Monitor since 2004. He lives in Tel Aviv.?

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Video footage showing bathers sprinting from a hotel beach on Saturday?with rocket intercepts overhead served as a jarring contrast to the city?s image as a destination for carefree pleasure seekers. On Sunday, Tel Aviv was targeted by two separate rocket salvos, though all of them were shot down.

Not only does Tel Aviv symbolize Israel?s capital city for business and culture, it?s also a city that symbolizes efforts by Israelis to maintain a sense of normalcy despite the daily feuding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. But now the new normal in Tel Aviv includes the opening of municipal bomb shelters to the public.

"People here hold up the banner of freedom," says Motti Haimovich, the owner of a French bakery in central Tel Aviv. "When there are rockets, then there isn't any freedom."

On the morning after the first siren last Thursday evening, weekend caf? goers at the Le Moulin bakery showed for their usual coffee and croissant to check in with one another, says owner Motti Haimovich. But when a siren sounded at the height of the midday rush on Friday, the caf? emptied quickly.

That type of blow to the daily routine is being held up by Palestinian militants as an achievement. For Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip the very success of placing Tel Aviv under attack ? even if there are no casualties ? is a symbolic milestone matched by no one else in the region since Saddam Hussein fired Scuds at the Jewish state in the first Gulf War in 1991. Because of that, many Israeli commentators say that the prime minister may want to prolong the fighting.

Israelis derisively refer to the city as "the State of Tel Aviv" to impugn it as a mecca for out of touch armchair liberals who still insist on pushing the peace process with the Palestinians. The plight of rocket attacks could remake the attitudes of Israelis who dismiss the city and its residents as na?ve peaceniks.

"Now maybe we are even," said Israeli author Etgar Keret, referring to the dividing lines between armchair liberals and mainstream Israelis.?"Now we can start talking." (The original version of this story misstated the source of the quote.)

Residents of Tel Aviv often are nostalgic about that period around the first Gulf War, which left the city virtually unscathed. They have more serious and pained memories of the second Palestinian intifada, which unleashed a wave of bombings around the city.

So far, rockets haven?t turned Tel Aviv into a ghost town like Israeli cities in southern Israel. Part of the reason is that none of the rockets have hit buildings so far, giving people more confidence to keep their daily routine.

"Has the world stopped?" asked Madaleine Koger, a retired shopowner, who was forced by a siren to interrupt a bike ride on the sea promenade to take cover in a hotel basement. "For this I should stop all of our life?"

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/xeGQJ1X63F4/Rocket-sirens-pierce-the-Tel-Aviv-bubble

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Why We Can't Wait for Tina & Amy to Host the Globes

Are you psyched for Amy Poehler and Tina Fey to host the Golden Globe Awards? Well, prepare to be even more psyched!

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'Fiscal cliff' talks vexing official Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Five weeks after President Barack Obama won re-election and gained more leverage to make GOP conservatives bend on taxes, the new balance of power is proving vexing for both sides.

Republicans still aren't budging on Obama's demands for higher tax rates on upper bracket earners, despite the president's convincing election victory and opinion polls showing support for the idea.

Democrats in turn are now resisting steps, such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare, that they were willing to consider just a year and a half ago, when Obama's chief Republican adversary, House Speaker John Boehner, was in a better tactical position.

With less than three weeks before the government could careen off a "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and sweeping spending cuts, Boehner, R-Ohio, said "serious differences" remain between him and Obama after an exchange of offers and a pair of conversations this week.

Neither side has given much ground, and Boehner's exchange of proposals with Obama seemed to generate hard feelings more than progress. The White House has slightly reduced its demands on taxes ? from $1.6 trillion over a decade to $1.4 trillion ? but isn't yielding on demands that rates rise for wealthier earners.

Boehner responded with an offer very much like one he gave the White House more than a week ago that proposed $800 billion in new revenue, half of Obama's demand. Boehner is also pressing for an increase in the Medicare eligibility age and a stingier cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the two men did not have any follow-up talks Wednesday.

"There were some offers that were exchanged back and forth (Tuesday), and the president and I had a pretty frank conversation about just how far apart we are," Boehner said after his meeting with fellow Republican lawmakers.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke weighed in as well. He said, "Clearly, the fiscal cliff is having effects on the economy," the uncertainty affecting consumer and business confidence and leading businesses to cut back on investment.

And on Thursday, Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican and leading conservative figure, predicted that Obama would prevail in the fight over taxes.

A leading conservative who's resigning from the Senate is predicting that President Barack Obama will win the battle over raising taxes.

"He's going to get his wish. I believe we're going to be raising taxes, and not just on the top earners," DeMint, who is leaving the Senate to become president of the Heritage Institution think tank, said in an appearance on "CBS This Morning."

DeMint said a tax increase would amount to a "political trophy" for Obama but said it would be bad for the country.

"The president's proposal is not a plan, it's not a solution," he said.

There is increasing concern about a Dec. 31 deadline to stop the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and the start of across-the-board spending cuts that are the result of Washington's failure to complete a deficit-reduction deal last year. Even if an agreement can be reached, the halting pace of negotiations is jeopardizing chances that it could be written into proper legislative form and passed through both House and Senate before the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.

Both sides accuse the other of slow-walking the talks. Democrats say Boehner is unwilling to crack on the key issue of raising tax rates on family income over $250,000 because he's afraid of a revolt on his right flank and from younger, ambitious members of his leadership team.

"I do have an increasing concern that the speaker ... is trying to string this out until Jan. 3 because that's when he would be re-elected as speaker," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "And I think he's nervous that if he can't get a majority of his House Republican members to support a reasonable agreement that that could put his speakership election in jeopardy. And so that might cause him to try and string these talks" along.

Republicans say it's Democrats who are dragging out the talks.

"In the past 48 hours, the president has not been negotiating in good faith in my opinion," said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, who said he was increasingly pessimistic that a deal could be reached.

"I believe we can get to a point on revenues that we can get something done, but the problem is the White House and the president refuse to get serious about spending," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said.

While Republicans are flummoxed on taxes, liberal Democrats are trying to pull Obama in the opposite direction on Medicare and Social Security. Eighteen months ago, Obama had all but agreed to an increase in the Medicare retirement age and a less generous inflation adjustment for calculating Social Security COLAs.

Now, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is warning against raising the Medicare eligibility age, saying such a move wouldn't contribute much savings toward an agreement in the short term.

Democrats are also pushing back against a GOP plan to reduce Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, another step back from where Obama and Boehner were just 18 months ago.

"Quite frankly, Social Security is off the table," Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., said.

The backtracking has Republicans fuming that Obama campaigned on a "balanced" fiscal solution but now is unwilling to pair tax increases with politically painful cuts to Medicare and other popular programs.

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Nyia Hawkins contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fiscal-cliff-talks-vexing-official-washington-081258394--finance.html

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Police: Ore. mall shooter used stolen rifle

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Gunfire rang out in the mall food court, instantly transforming a casual afternoon of holiday shopping into a nightmare. The shooter, armed with a rifle, was dressed in dark clothing and wore a hockey-style face mask.

As panicked shoppers fled for cover, workers ushered some into hiding places within stores, or helped them to the exits. The first officers to arrive formed groups and rushed into the chaos, rather than waiting for the more heavily armed SWAT team.

"If we would have run out, we would have ran right into it," said Kaelynn Keelin, who saw a window get shot out and, along with other Made In Oregon co-workers, pulled customers into the store for shelter.

The quick mobilization of mall workers and police reflects the reality that, while mass shootings are rare, they have forced authorities to rehearse for such outbreaks of violence as if they are the norm.

"This could have been much, much worse," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said.

Roughly 10,000 people were inside the Clackamas Town Center on Tuesday afternoon, when police say Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he stole from someone he knew, and went on a rampage that left two people dead.

The sheriff said the rifle jammed during the attack, but the shooter managed to get it working again. He later shot himself. The sheriff and Roberts are not related.

As authorities tried to determine a motive for a shooting they said had no specific targets, details emerged about Roberts from acquaintances and neighbors. They described him as relaxed, friendly and outgoing.

"Jake was never the violent type," Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, told ABC News. "His main goal was to make you laugh, smile, make you feel comfortable. You can't reconcile the differences. I hate him for what he did, but I can't hate the person I knew because it was nothing like the person who would go into a mall and go on a rampage."

Sansburn said Roberts had recently quit his job at a gyro shop in Portland and sold all of his belongings, telling her that he was moving to Hawaii. He was supposed to take a flight Saturday but told her he got drunk and missed it.

"And then this happens. ... It makes me think, was he even planning on going to Hawaii?" Sansburn said.

Sansburn did not return phone messages left by The Associated Press, and no one answered the door at her home Wednesday.

A former neighbor of Roberts said that he liked to play video games and never seemed troubled.

"He was like a rapper. He would rap all the time," said Samantha Bennett, who said she went to middle school with Roberts but wasn't close to him until he moved in with a girlfriend across the hall from her at an apartment complex in summer 2011.

His dining room was decorated like a jungle, Bennett said, with vines on the walls and a monkey. He once showed her a black handgun that she believed he purchased legally. He dropped out of sight earlier this year, and his phone was disconnected, she said.

On a Facebook page that a friend identified as Roberts', a few photos show Roberts hanging out with friends, while the cover photo is of a wall painted with the message "Follow Your Dreams" with the word "Canceled" stamped across the message.

In the public portion of his page, Roberts wrote, "I may be young but I have lived one crazy life so far."

"I'm the kind of person that is going to do what I want," he wrote. "There is no reason for another person to tell you what to do, I'm the conductor of my choo choo train."

He added he was "a bit of an adrenaline junkie" who is "just looking to meet new people and see the world."

Roberts rented a basement room in a modest, single-story Portland home and hadn't lived there long, said a neighbor, Bobbi Bates. She said she saw him leave at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday wearing a dark jacket and jeans, carrying a guitar case.

Roberts had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at the mall, the sheriff said. He parked his 1996 green Volkswagen Jetta in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy's and walked through the store into the mall and began firing randomly in the food court.

He fatally shot Steven Mathew Forsyth, 45, and Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, the sheriff said. Kristina Shevchenko, 15, was wounded and in serious condition Wednesday, police said.

On average, there are about 20 mass murders every year, and the trend has been steady since the 1970s, said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston and author of five books on mass murder.

The typical mass murderer is a socially isolated white man in his 30s or 40s. He has no criminal record, but his life has been marked by failure and frustration, and he decides that his family, boss or co-workers must pay with their lives, Fox said.

"The rarest form of mass murder is the completely random shooting," Fox said. "Those perpetrators tend to be younger (in their 20s). They are more likely to have profound mental health issues, as opposed to the older guy who is quite sane, knows exactly what he is doing, and just decides that life is miserable."

The random shooter, Fox said, feels "the whole world is unfair, someone has to pay, and it doesn't matter who."

Amid Tuesday's gunfire, employees helped shoppers get into backrooms.

"Basically, in a situation like this it's either stay right where you're at and lock yourself down, or get to the nearest exit," said Dennis Curtis, the mall's senior general manager.

"We've done drills with the sheriff's office," including one earlier this year, he said.

The first 911 call came at 3:29 p.m. Tuesday, and officers arrived a minute later. Instead of waiting for SWAT teams, police immediately entered the crowded mall.

Police told people inside to put their hands in the air, to make sure an armed person was not among them. Police spent hours clearing the 1.4-million-square-foot mall, as some workers and shoppers continued to hide in fear.

Roberts fled along a mall corridor and into a back hallway, down stairs and into a corner where police found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said.

Families of the victims released brief statements through the sheriff's office.

Relatives of Yuille described her as "everybody's friend" and a caring person. Forsyth was a loving husband, business owner and a youth sports coach, his family said.

As for Shevchenko, it was her second brush with death this year. In August, a man veered his car into the opposite lane and crashed head-on into a van she was in.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper, Nigel Duara, Anne M. Peterson, Tim Fought and Sarah Skidmore in Portland, Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., Michelle Price in Phoenix, Pete Yost in Washington and Manuel Valdes in Seattle, and researcher Rhonda Shafner.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-ore-mall-shooter-used-stolen-rifle-181931596.html

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Harry Styles Birthday Gift to Taylor Swift: Cupcakes!

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Former President George H.W. Bush expected home for Christmas

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush is expected to be home from the hospital in time to celebrate Christmas with his family, according to the Houston hospital where the 88-year-old was admitted for bronchitis on November 23.

"President Bush's condition has steadily improved to the point that, instead of battling the lingering effects of bronchitis, the focus of his treatment now centers on a physical therapy program designed to increase his strength in advance of his eventual discharge," George Kovacik, a spokesman for The Methodist Hospital, said in a statement.

"Given his current pace of progress, doctors expect that President Bush will be able to celebrate Christmas (December 25) at home with his family, though no release date has been set at this time," the statement added.

Bush, the 41st U.S. president and a Republican, took office in 1989 and served one term in the White House. The father of former President George W. Bush, he also served as a congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China, CIA director and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.

The Houston Chronicle reported in February that Bush had been diagnosed with lower body parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance.

(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-president-george-h-w-bush-expected-home-214344710.html

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Downsides of New Ecommerce Models | Rena Tom / retail strategy ...

Posted by Rena Tom ? Wednesday, December 12, 2012 ? 1 Comment?

It?s the peak of the holiday shopping period, and online retailers are having a great year. While it can be a huge boon for makers and sellers, there is often a downside to watch out for, especially in the wake of rapid innovation in the ecommerce space. It seems that everybody is out to invent a new ?platform? to make more sales. There are many, many benefits for buyers but at the expense of the folks you are buying from.

I am always on the side of the independent maker and retailer because it?s just so easy for them to get burned. These small business owners are spending a lot of time and money creating content ? not just the products themselves, but also the product descriptions, marketing copy, product photography, et cetera. Many applications are popping up that pull all of this data (or help their members pull this data) with great ease, and remix it into personal, curated catalogs or pages. Yes, Pinterest does this, and a slew of imitators. The latest sites, though, are going one step further, and trying to let members purchase what they like ? and this is where it gets interesting.

Some sites, like Svpply, seem to act as catalog only and funnel sales back to the original website. I?m not entirely sure what will happen now that they?ve been acquired by eBay, but they had developed a retailer-specific dashboard to help them better serve their customers. As such, we can call that a retailer-friendly approach. They?re presumably making money from the retailers by letting them access this data, but buyers would still ultimately go to the retailer website for the purchasing experience, and the retailer could collect, retain, and control their own information this way.

Next we come to The Fancy and Luvocracy, two newer sites with somewhat similar models which I am having a much harder time with?and it seems it?s not just me. I?m hearing from disgruntled sellers already, so I wanted to investigate.?Basically, a representative from those sites purchases the product from the retailer for you, the customer, then has it sent to you.?It appears that these companies are trying to employ something like a drop-ship model to get products to buyers ? but without asking the retailers if they want to enter that relationship.

Each site has a slightly different take to how they handle sales, but ultimately they are pushing a customer-friendly approach, which unfortunately places new burdens on the retailers. Not asking retailers if they want to participate is just insane. What is truly upsetting is that I feel they are representing that an approved relationship exists! If you look at Luvocracy?s Terms of Service, for example, the wording makes it sound (to me, at least) like the retailer is aware of, and wants to be on, their site. In actuality, I don?t believe the retailer knows anything until the first order is placed and emailed. Check out their phrasing, below, as they pass off responsibility.

8. MEMBER-RETAILER RELATIONSHIP. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the products that you have ordered through the Web Site, please contact the applicable retailer. Luvocracy has no obligation to respond to you regarding any requests regarding the use, operation, or features of any product you order through the Web Site. Note that the retailers on the Web Site are independent from Luvocracy and will be legally responsible individually and separately to you in respect of the items purchased.

9. DISCLAIMERS.

(a) NO WARRANTIES INDEMNIFICATION. (i) As retailers, and not Luvocracy, offer the products for sale, we do not give any warranty or guarantee of any kind that product descriptions or any other content of the Web Site is accurate, complete, reliable or error-free. Product guarantees will be provided to you by each individual retailer in respect of their products. We are not responsible for the products you ask us to purchase on your behalf from third-party retailers, manufacturers or suppliers using our Web Site.

Now for something different. The Fancy will let a retailer ?claim? the sales relationship, but actually anybody on the website can claim it, and benefit from the sale, even if they are not the retailer! This is from an Etsy seller, quoted in the Etsy Forums:

On The Fancy Anyone can ?fancy? and item on etsy (or any website for that matter), which then in this case links directly to your store item in etsy ? great marketing for your Etsy shop. If someone clicks ?I want to sell it? ? It doesn?t matter if they are the actual merchant/artist or not ? they have claimed this item as something they are going to have drop shipped (FM claimed my item and when people bought it off of TheFancy he/she would buy it off Etsy and have me ship to their address). The item no longer links to your shop ? instead it only sells directly off of TheFancy.

In this case, ?FM? is quite possibly The Fancy themselves; when you are on their site and add a product to cart, you can then add a note to ?FancyMerchant?. Coincidence with the initials? There?s a much longer story here from another Etsy seller, worth reading in its entirety. People are definitely getting pissed off:

I felt angry when i saw my items was being sold on some other website, because i want to keep my item exclusively being sold on my own place. There are a lot of people from all over the world asking me for wholesale / resell my item and i refuse them all. My item are all unique, i make every iPhone case with my both hands and i felt really bad if someone tries to sell them for some other purpose. Sending ?rouge? (sp) etsy user buying my items and resell it on thefancy? No!

For me, this evasiveness is the biggest problem, but there are many others. In traditional retail, a product vendor and a retailer would get together and negotiate the terms of their relationship. This can be a tedious process and certainly can be streamlined, but it is also what can make the product selection, customer service, and overall experience so great for the customer.?Retail under the new model becomes purely transactional and mechanical, even though they are often touting the fact that you can find goods from smaller brands, which is what makes it special.

You could argue that sales are sales, no matter where they come from, and ultimately that?s the goal. Well, yes and no. Attribution is so important, and these sites do not always link to the original website, or even list the seller name. Also, the seller does not receive the data about the customer. That means it?s nigh impossible to develop an ongoing relationship which is so necessary to create that feeling of connectedness to the brand. That relationship is half the reason for coming back, telling your friends, and making more sales. It also reduces the seller, basically, to a fulfillment house ? one that gets mad when they get asked about out of stock items or rush deliveries from a website they did not agree to be in a relationship with in the first place.

I would love for these companies to clarify what they are doing in the comments, if this is not fundamentally correct. The sites are invite only and do not have much information about or for the retailers at all.?What do you think about this? Should we acquiesce to these new retail models in hopes of greater sales and visibility, or demand that they respect the original intent of the content creators?

Source: http://renatom.net/2012/12/12/downsides-of-new-ecommerce-models/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=downsides-of-new-ecommerce-models

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Fed projects high unemployment for next 3 years

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Federal Reserve projects the unemployment rate will stay elevated until late 2015, suggesting it will keep short-term interest rates low for the next three years.

The latest economic forecasts released Wednesday after the Fed's final meeting of the year were little changed from September. But they coincided with a new communication strategy announced by the Fed that links future interest rate hikes with unemployment below 6.5 percent.

The unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in November.

The central bank said that it expects economic growth to improve next year but that it will be no stronger than 3 percent. Growth could increase to 3.5 percent in 2014 and 3.7 percent in 2015.

Unemployment will fall no lower than 7.4 percent next year and 6.8 percent by the end of 2014, the Fed projects. The earliest the Fed sees unemployment dropping below 6.5 percent is the end of 2015.

The Fed said it plans to keep its key short-term interest rate near zero as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and inflation is expected to stay below 2.5 percent.

The latest forecast projects inflation will stay at or below 2 percent for the next three years. That gives the Fed more leeway to pursue aggressive stimulus measures.

In an effort to drive the unemployment rate lower, the Fed said after its meeting that it will spend a total of $85 billion a month to sustain an aggressive drive to keep long-term interest rates low. The goal is to encourage more borrowing and spending, which drives economic growth.

The Fed said it will continue buying bonds until the job market shows substantial improvement.

The projections made no mention of the "fiscal cliff," the combination of tax increases and spending cuts that are set to kick next month and threaten to push the economy back into a recession. But the modest growth and gradually lower unemployment next year suggest the Fed is assuming President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers will reach a budget deal before then to avoid the cliff.

Bernanke has warned that the Fed does not have the tools to offset the damage to the economy if it goes over the cliff.

At the same time, Bernanke has said that if an agreement can be reached that addresses the nation's long-term budget challenges without slowing the recovery in the short term, next year could be "a very good one for the American economy."

Fear of higher taxes has yet to slow hiring. Employers added 146,000 jobs last month, the government said last week. That's about the same as the average monthly gain of 150,000 in the past year.

The unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.7 percent last month from 7.9 percent in October. But the decline was mostly because more people without jobs gave up looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching.

The economy grew at solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, more than double the 1.3 percent rate in the April-June quarter. But many analysts believe worries about the fiscal cliff are contributing to slower growth in the current October-December quarter below 2 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-12-Fed-Forecast/id-6bcbd583cab84c76a8c8364a289a8455

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