fermentation technology: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Letter airs harassment claims against HP's ex-CEO

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd's efforts to impress an HP event hostess included showing her his checking-account balance holding over $1 million, according to a letter detailing the sexual harassment allegations that led to his ouster.

The letter was obtained late Thursday by The Associated Press after the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that Hurd's lawyers, who had attempted to keep it confidential, didn't show that disclosing it would violate California privacy rights. The ruling said information that is only "mildly embarrassing" is not protected from public disclosure.

The letter, it added, does not contain trade secrets about the Palo Alto-based technology company or non-public financial information. Some sentences concerning Hurd's family were ordered redacted.

Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred sent the letter last year on behalf of Jodie Fisher, who was hired as a contract employee to help with HP networking events and who later accused Hurd of sexual harassment.

Although an HP investigation did not find any evidence to support the harassment claim, it uncovered inaccurate expense reports for his outings with Fisher. Hurd was ultimately forced out in August 2010. He now works as co-president at rival Oracle Corp.

Allred alleged in the letter that, while Fisher was ostensibly hired an HP event hostess in late 2007, she was really brought on to accompany Hurd to HP events held out of town. Throughout 2008 and 2009, Hurd made it clear he expected to have a sexual relationship with Fisher, using his "status and authority as CEO of HP," Allred alleged.

Allred claimed that Hurd made several sexual advances toward Fisher, which Fisher rejected. In 2008, while walking with Fisher in Madrid, Hurd stopped at an ATM and showed her his checking-account balance "to impress her," according to the letter.

After Fisher rejected him a final time in October 2009, she was not hired for any future HP events, Allred alleged.

Allred also alleged that in March 2008, Hurd told Fisher that HP was likely to purchase technology services vendor EDS. HP announced the $13 billion acquisition in May of that year.

HP shareholder Ernesto Espinoza had sued to have the letter unsealed. Hurd's attorney, Amy Wintersheimer, said his lawyers had requested that the letter be kept confidential because "it is filled with inaccuracies."

"The truth is, there never was any sexual harassment, which HP's investigation confirmed, and there never was any sexual relationship, which Ms. Fisher has confirmed," Wintersheimer said in a statement.

Both Allred and Hewlett-Packard Co. had no comment on the letter's contents.

___

Ortutay reported from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-12-30-US-TEC-Mark-Hurd-Letter/id-9082e74489da4ca5857ee4fd726cab12

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The United States of Songs: New Mexico

Hey everybody, welcome back! Hope you had a great holiday; I spent too much of mine inside with what is turning out to be a terrible back injury, so that was cool. But I did enjoy a Hawaiian Christmas with my in-laws, and I got to snorkel with sea turtles so I can't really complain too much.?

I?got you a present, but it escaped on the plane.

Every week I try to find a new state song that names the state in its title AND sings of the state itself, not just one city or feature. It's been a hell of a lot tougher than I thought it might be, but this week our sonic roadtrip across America brings us to New Mexico:

The state: New Mexico
The song: "New Mexico Rain" by Michael Hearne

Ah, The Land of Enchantment! I've been through New Mexico a few times on Old Route 66, but I've always been on my way somewhere else so I haven't had a lot of time to really explore the place beyond the obligatory postcard from Albuquerque and a great diner in Moriarty that I can't remember the name of. But New Mexico's more than that! Hispanic culture, Native American heritage, nuclear research, and hey! Spaceport! New Mexico's the place where your dreams will come true because there aren't a whole lot of people around to stop you.

There's also a proud tradition of medical research.

As for the song, it's kind of standard state-themed folk tune-ish, but Michael Hearne does the job. It's a little twangy, but it's earnest enough that you can close your eyes and see Redondo Peak standing tall over the scrub grass and ranch land. It's a peaceful tune, kind of wistful, and I feel like that's the sort of vibe you'd pick up just hanging out on a hot New Mexico afternoon or snuggling in for a cold high desert night.

New Mexicans, I present your new state song. Let me know how it hits you!

Runner-Up: "Nebraska" by Johnny Cash
Most Laughable Suggestion: "Elf Tower New Mexico" by Coheed and Cambria

You know the drill! Let us know in the comments if you've got a better tune for New Mexico or want to suggest one for next week's state, New York!

Flickr photo Roswell NM?by Angela Schatz used under a Creative Commons License.

Source: http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=20896

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After many ups and downs, stocks end flat for 2011 (AP)

NEW YORK ? The stock market ended a tumultuous year right where it started.

In the final tally, despite big climbs and falls, unexpected blows and surprising triumphs, all the hullabaloo proved for naught. On Friday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at 1,257.60. That's exactly 0.04 point below where it started the year.

"If you fell asleep January 1 and woke up today, you'd think nothing had happened," says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank. "But it's been up and down all year. It's been crazy."

It was a year when U.S. companies were supposed to run out of ways to make big profits. But they didn't, and in fact generated more than ever. It was a year when the U.S. lost its prized triple-A credit rating, which should have spooked buyers of its bonds. Instead investors bought more of them and made Treasurys one of the best bets of 2011. It was a year when stocks caught fire, then collapsed to near bear-market lows.

Among stocks, there were some surprising winners. Scaredy-cat investors who bought the most conservative and dullest of stocks ? utilities ? gained 15 percent this year, the biggest price rise of the ten industry sectors in the S&P 500. Other winning groups were consumer staples, up 11 percent, and health care companies, 10 percent.

Other market curiosities:

? Bad year, great quarter. Despite disappointing returns in 2011, the last three months of the year were impressive, which could bode well for the new year. The S&P 500 rose 11 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average, comprising 30 big stocks, climbed 1,344 points, or 12 percent. That was the largest quarterly point gain in its history. The Dow closed up 5.5 percent for the year.

? Best of the bad. U.S. stocks delivered little this year, but other markets did even worse, including ones in fast-growing economies. Brazil's Bovespa index fell 18 percent in 2011. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 20 percent. In Europe, many of the biggest markets ended down in 2011. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 5.6 percent, Germany's DAX 14.7 percent.

? Buy American is back. A broad index of the Treasury market gained 9.6 percent, despite the fact that the U.S. government is now slightly less likely to repay its debt, at least according to Standard & Poor's. In August, the rating agency stripped the U.S. of its triple-A rating, citing mounting U.S. debt and political squabbling over what to do about it.

For stock investors, 2011 wasn't supposed to end this way.

At the start of the year, the Great Recession was officially 1 1/2 years behind us and the recovery was finally gaining momentum. The economy added an average of more than 200,000 jobs a month in February, March and April. And U.S. companies kept reporting big jumps in profits, defying naysayers.

The stock market roared in approval. On April 29, the S&P closed at 1,363, double its recessionary low of March 2009.

Then manufacturing slowed, companies stopped hiring and consumer confidence plummeted, taking with it those hopes of big stock gains for the year. Adding to the misery, Japan was rocked by an earthquake and tsunami. That shut down factories run by crucial parts suppliers to U.S. firms, in particular auto makers.

Gridlock in Washington didn't help. After much squabbling, politicians eventually decided to raise the cap on how much the federal government can borrow in early August. But the heated debate took its toll. The Dow Jones industrial average swung more than 400 points four days in a row ? down and up and down and up.

Overhanging it all was fear that the debt crisis in Greece had spread to Italy and Spain, countries too large for other European nations to bail out.

Talk of another blockbuster year for stocks turned to dark musings about the possibility of another U.S. recession. And so stocks kept falling. On Oct. 3, stocks had dropped 19 percent from their April high. That was just one point short of an official bear market.

Since then, U.S. housing starts have increased, factories are producing more, unemployment claims fell and U.S. economic growth rose. And companies are still generating impressive profits. Those in the S&P 500 have increased profits by double-digits percentages for nine quarters in a row.

The good news pushed stocks up in the closing months of the year.

The biggest winner in the Dow was McDonald's Corp, up 31 percent for the year. Bank of America Corp. was the worst performing stock, down 58 percent.

The outlook for stocks in the new year is either great or grim, depending on your focus.

Italy has to repay holders of $172 billion worth of it national bonds in the first three months of 2012. It will do so by selling new bonds. The question is how much interest they will demand to be paid to compensate for the risk they're taking on. If they demand too much, fear could spread that the country will default. That could sink stocks.

After Italy was forced to pay unexpectedly high rates in a bond auction earlier this month, stocks fell hard around the world.

There are also questions about whether China's economy is slowing too much and whether the U.S. politicians will agree to raise the debt ceiling again in 2012 or extend Bush-era tax cuts.

On the bright side, stocks seem to be well-priced.

The S&P 500 is trading at 12 times its expected earnings per share for 2012 versus a more typical 15 times. In other words, they appear cheaper now. Partly based on that many strategists, stock analysts and economists expect the index to end next year at 1,400 or more, up 10 percent or so.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.42 points, or 0.4 percent on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 69.48 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,217.60. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,605.15 The Nasdaq is down 1.8 percent for the year.

Trading has been quiet this week with many investors away on vacation. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange has been about half of its daily average. Markets will be closed Monday in observance of New Year's Day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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MyNews_CJ: MyNews.in Cancer cases found in women with French brand implants: Paris, Dec 31 Health authorities in... http://t.co/OBML3PDq MyNews.in

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Nintendo 3DS news roundup: early 2012 lineup revealed, DLC coming, sales exceed 4 million in Japan (Digital Trends)

Nintendo-3DS We?ve been a little light on Nintendo 3DS news lately, but things continue to look up for the once struggling handheld. Sources report that Nintendo will offer downloadable content (DLC) for the first time in 2012, hardware sales have eclipsed 4 million units in Japan, and Satoru Iwata has revealed Nintendo?s upcoming game lineup for early 2012.

DLC coming to Fire Emblem:?Nintendo added support for DLC within games in a system update earlier this year, but no games have been released that take advantage of the new functionality. That will soon change. According to Nikkei (via 1UP), Fire Emblem for 3DS will have some form of downloadable content in March. Third parties are expected to begin bringing paid DLC content to 3DS titles by summer. Wii U will also have paid DLC support.

3DS sales exceed 4 million in Japan: Enterbrain (via Famitsu) reports that Nintendo 3DS sales in Japan have exceeded 4 million units in only 10 months. The Nintendo DS, by comparison, reached 5 million units in its first 13 months, but it had two holiday seasons to boost those sales. Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have each sold more than 1 million copies.?

3DS 2012 Japan lineup: Nintendo President Satoru Iwata gave a direct broadcast over UStream the other day, where he revealed a few details about upcoming games, like Fire Emblem. Below is a list of games coming to the 3DS (in Japan) in the next few months.?

Ghost Camera ? Jan. 12
Ace Combat 3D ? Jan. 12
Rhythm Thief R ? Jan. 19
Beyond the Labyrinth ? Jan. 19
Resident Evil Revelations ? Jan. 26
Tekken 3D Prime Edition ? Feb. 16
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy ? Feb. 16
Harvest Moon: Hajimari no Daichi ? Feb. 23
New Love Plus ? Feb 24
Mario & Sonic at London Olympics ? March 1
Metal Gear Solid 3D ? March 8
Hatsune Miku and Future Stars Project Mirai ? March 8
Girl?s RPG (by Level-5) ? March 8
Dynasty Warriors VS ? March 15
Kid Icarus Uprising ? March 22
Fire Emblem: Awakening ? April 19

Not a bad lineup. Let?s hope the US release list is as robust. Do any of these games look good? I?m intrigued by a new Harvest Moon, though the series has been getting repetitive in recent years.?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Legal History Blog: Heen on Engendering Life Insurance

Mary L. Heen, University of Richmond School of Law, has posted From Coverture to Contract: Engendering Insurance on Lives, which appeared in the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism 23 (2011):335.? Here is the abstract:

In the 1840s, state legislatures began modifying the law of marital status to ease the economic distress of widows and children at the family breadwinner's death. Insurance-related exceptions to the common law doctrine of "marital unity" under coverture permitted married women to enter into insurance contracts and protected life insurance proceeds from their husbands' creditors.
These early insurance-related statutory exceptions to coverture introduced an important theoretical question that persisted for the rest of the nineteenth century - and into the next - as broader legal and social reforms took hold. How could equality of contract for married women be reconciled with the traditional dependencies of the home? Equality of contract also introduced the practical economic problem of how the lives of women could be valued apart from their husbands when the law otherwise enforced their economic dependency.
The theoretical and practical issues were resolved for life insurance and annuity contracts, the Article argues, by an increased emphasis on "natural" differences between men and women when those differences comported with traditional gender status hierarchies and dependencies. Gender-distinct mortality tables and higher rates for coverage of women first appeared in annuity contracts used to fund lifetime financial support independent of or as a substitute for marital rights. Gender-merged tables and unisex rates generally prevailed, however, in life insurance contracts used to protect wives and children from the family breadwinner's death, a more traditional pattern of household dependency. Gender-distinct rates thus tempered, in both symbolic and practical/economic terms, the equality of contract recognized by the statutory exceptions to coverture. The selective adoption of gender-distinct insurance rates during the first wave of woman's rights activism illustrates the role played by marketplace contracts in reinforcing the traditional status relationships and dependencies of the home.

Source: http://legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/heen-on-engendering-life-insurance.html

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Letter airs harassment claims against HP's ex-CEO

SAN FRANCISCO?? Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd's efforts to impress an HP event hostess included showing her his checking-account balance holding over $1 million, according to a letter detailing the sexual harassment allegations that led to his ouster.

The letter, it added, does not contain trade secrets about the Palo Alto-based technology company or non-public financial information. Some sentences concerning Hurd's family were ordered redacted.

After Fisher rejected him a final time in October 2009, she was not hired for any future HP events, Allred alleged.

Aldred also alleged that in March 2008, Hurd told Fisher that HP was likely to purchase technology services vendor EDS. HP announced the $13 billion acquisition in May of that year.

Both Allred and Hewlett-Packard Co. had no comment on the letter's contents.

___

Ortutay reported from New York.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45817277/ns/business-us_business/

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Girl Killed After Running On Freeway To Collect Lost Clothes

MIRA LOMA, Calif. -- Authorities say a 12-year-old girl was struck and killed on a Southern California freeway as she ran through traffic while attempting to retrieve clothing from the roadway.

The patrol says suitcases had fallen from the roof rack of the car that Flores was traveling in, scattering the clothes.

John Sullivan was driving about 70 mph when he saw the girl, but it was too late to avoid the collision. The 74-year-old wasn't injured or arrested.

Flores was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/27/girl-killed-running-on-freeway_n_1170831.html

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Lawsuit Could Put Monetary Value on Twitter Followers

A multisource video news analysis service that highlights nuances in reporting from media outlets around the world.

(Image Source: Twitter)

BY LAUREN ZIMA

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

What?s your worth on Twitter? A new lawsuit could have an answer.

Meet 38-year-old Noah Kravitz -- who in October 2010 uploaded his final video for his former employer, PhoneDog.com. Kravitz says he left the company on a good note.

NOAH KRAVITZ: ?I?m going on to do some other things, but I will remain a fan of PhoneDog just like I hope all of you are and will remain. ...?You can follow me online. On Twitter -- my new Twitter handle is just my name, NoahKravitz.?

Kravitz removed ?PhoneDog? from his handle -- but kept the 17,000 followers he had built up in his four years at the company. Now, that good note seems long gone. PhoneDog has filed a lawsuit in California -- saying Kravitz?s followers belong to the site, not him. The company wants $2.50 per follower a month for eight months. That makes $340,000.

Kravitz told the New York Times PhoneDog said he could keep the followers if he kept Tweeting about the company, and that he thinks the suit was filed in retaliation to his request for 15 percent of the site?s advertising revenue because of his position as a partner. But the case is bringing up bigger issues -- should people be able to keep their followers when they leave a position -- and -- what are those followers worth??The Times spoke with a lawyer who handles intellectual property disputes. He says:

??It all hinges on why the account was opened ? If it was to communicate with PhoneDog?s customers or build up new customers ? then the account was opened on behalf of PhoneDog, not Mr. Kravitz. An added complexity is that PhoneDog contends Mr. Kravitz was just a contractor in the related partnership/employment case, thus weakening their trade secrets case, unless they can show he was contracted to create the feed.??

And when it comes to that $2.50 a head -- The Atlantic Wire says -- hold the phone, PhoneDog. The writer says followers might have been following Kravitz for his writing, not the PhoneDog info -- and that lots of followers are spambots anyway.

? ? an absurd valuation. ? Anyone who has used Twitter for any length of time knows that there are numerous tricks to inflating follower accounts and that the vast, vast majority of users are highly disengaged.?

PhoneDog won?t release how it arrived at that number, and media outlets agree cases like this one will probably become all too common in years ahead.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newsy-allvideos/~3/EpdcxzLtmpk/lawsuit-could-put-monetary-value-on-twitter-followers

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Ipad camera on .net web form

You can take a help from PhoneGap - A open source native apps support for Web development for smart devices. PhoneGap helps to embed native support for mobile / tablet web development like accelerometer, Camera, Geolocation, Capture, Media , notification etc with HTML 5...

Take a look on the sample code:

http://docs.phonegap.com/en/1.0.0/phonegap_camera_camera.md.html?

You need to download the PhoneGap.js (API) from http://phonegap.com/

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Source: http://forums.asp.net/p/1751973/4743500.aspx/1?Ipad+camera+on+net+web+form

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TheWilsonTimes: Wilson, Edgecombe, Wayne and Sampson counties are under a tornado watch until 7 p.m.

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Wilson, Edgecombe, Wayne and Sampson counties are under a tornado watch until 7 p.m. Il y a environ 15 heures via web Retweeted by 3 people

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

goal_intl: Official: Anzhi Makhachkala appoint Yuri Krasnozhan as coach: The big-spending club have picke... http://t.co/3eSkGXn5 #soccer #football

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Lady Gaga?s Former Assistant Is Suing Her Touring Company

Lady Gaga’s former assistant is suing the pop superstar’s touring company over allegations she’s owed money for unpaid overtime. Jennifer O’Neill was employed as Gaga’s aide for 13 months while the singer toured, and claims she was required to be at the star’s beck and call at her “earliest waking hour”. In her legal papers, [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/44943/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=44943

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The Best Songs Ever Written About A Robot Friend [Video]

Click here to read The Best Songs Ever Written About A Robot Friend

Grandaddy's magnificent album from the year 2000, The Sophtware Slump, features a recurring character, a humanoid robot called Jed. After his creators tire of him, Jed gets drunk, and his system crashes. But first, he writes some poems. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/viz-Wpq3JRA/the-best-songs-ever-written-about-a-robot-friend

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Suicide bomber kills 7 outside Iraq ministry (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? At least seven people were killed when a suicide car bomber hit Iraq's interior ministry on Monday in the latest attack since a crisis erupted between the Shi'ite-led government and Sunni leaders a week ago.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought the arrest of the Sunni vice president last Monday and asked parliament to fire his own Sunni deputy, triggering turmoil that threatens new sectarian strife just after the last U.S. troops withdrew.

The blast occurred when the bomber drove his vehicle into a security cordon outside the ministry in central Baghdad, detonating an explosion that left dead and wounded on the ground and set fire to nearby vehicles, police said.

A senior police source said authorities believed insurgents were targeting the interior ministry because of the announcement of the arrest warrant for Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, charged with running death squads.

Taped confessions of suspects the ministry said were Hashemi's bodyguards were aired on state-run Iraqiya television and other local media on Monday and linked the vice president to killings and attacks on Iraqi government and security officials.

"This is a direct message to us because we are the ones who arrested Tareq al-Hashemi's network and we are the ones who should preserve security in the country," said Ali al-Quraishi, a police lieutenant who monitors checkpoints around Baghdad.

The attack on Bab al-Sharji street followed a wave of explosions on Thursday, including one suicide car bomb and multiple roadside bombs, in mainly Shi'ite areas across the capital in which at least 72 people were killed.

Seven people, including five policemen, were killed and 34 others, including seven policemen, were wounded in the attack on the interior ministry, police and hospital sources said.

"When I went outside I found my colleagues, some of them were killed, others were on the ground, many cars were burned, the policeman on the watchtower looked like he was killed when he was hit in the head," Zaid Raheem, a police guard, said.

The ministry said in a statement that a suicide car bomber had attacked the entrance to its headquarters and killed 3 people and wounded 33.

Hashemi has left Baghdad for semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, where he is unlikely to be handed over to central government officials immediately.

The turmoil threatens to scuttle an uneasy power-sharing government that splits posts among the Shi'ite National Alliance coalition, the mostly Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc and the Kurdish political movement.

CABINET MEETING

A weekly cabinet meeting, expected on Tuesday, is seen as the key test for how the crisis develops, and tensions could rise further if government ministers from Iraqiya decide to boycott the meeting.

Iraqiya lawmakers have already suspended their participation in parliament, which is in recess, though a statement from the party on Sunday said it was willing to take part in talks to try to solve the crisis.

Maliki has warned Hashemi's Iraqiya bloc they face exclusion from power if they walk out on his ruling coalition.

The Sunni minority have felt marginalized since the rise of the Shi'ite majority after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, and many Sunnis feel the political deal has pushed them aside.

Turmoil in Iraq would have a wider impact in a region where a crisis in neighboring Syria is taking on a more sectarian tone and Shi'ite Iran, Turkey and Sunni Arab Gulf states are jockeying for influence.

U.S. officials, diplomats and Iraqi politicians have been in talks to end the dispute that threatens to push Iraq back into the kind of sectarian violence that took the OPEC member to the edge of civil war a few years ago.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Maliki and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani about the spat, urging dialogue among leaders, and expressing condolences over violence in Baghdad.

Biden played a diplomatic role during the U.S. military's departure from Iraq, travelling to the country and discussing signs of rising sectarian tension with Iraqi leaders.

U.S. forces withdrew fully from Iraq after almost nine years on December 18.

(Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy and Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/wl_nm/us_iraq_violence

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jmartpolitico: RT @newtgingrich: Back at it and getting ready for the Jobs and Growth Tour across Iowa starting Tues. Join us. http://t.co/In9ZUSna htt ...

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Back at it and getting ready for the Jobs and Growth Tour across Iowa starting Tues. Join us. Il y a environ 11 heures via web

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Monday, December 26, 2011

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Christmas Day Blast: Knocks For President Jonathan Over His Insensitive Comment

May we use this medium to apologize to our numerous readers that sent us links and update about the senseless bomb blast that ravaged Nigeria on Christmas day. We are so saddened about the occurrence, and we chose to not spoil your day with the bad news.

Ten hours after the unfortunate incident, Nigeria?s president Goodluck Jonathan summoned the courage to speak about the situation and here is what he has to say:

?The issue of bombing is one of the burdens we must live with until it fizzles out.? (So it has to fizzle out and not tackled?)

Many prominent Nigerians have condemned the incident and here is one that really touched us the most:

Dear Mr. President,

We should say Merry Christmas but we are not your government, we are not in the business of deception. After almost ten hours of gathering your thoughts to speak on the bomb blasts that rocked the nation yesterday, you still fell short of your own very low standards.

What did you intend to say when you said Bomb Blasts are a burden we must live with? Why do you bother to budget over a trillion for security if we must live with the burden of insecurity? How come you are still a president? We do not blame you, we blame our older ones who were stupid enough to think that where you come from and your religion was all you needed to be a competent president.

They are crying now. We all cried yesterday on the darkest Christmas day of our short lives.

While we cried and left Christmas postponed for another year, we watched as you danced your life away like there was no tomorrow. Is it true that all you care about is the fact that you are the president so whatever can happen should happen. Last night we prayed for you. We prayed that the white men should be able to make common sense so that we can budget for it and then you will have it in abundance. As it is, it is obvious sir that you are grossly lacking in common sense.

If you weren?t, you would never come out to tell a mourning nation that it should get ready to live with the burden of destruction and insecurity. That was utterly insensitive and even the dumbest of our mates, fellow Nigerian children would never descend that low to an unprecedented level of cluelessness.

We understand this is not a sane country, if this was a sane country, your ilk will not be in a job. Your security chiefs, yourself and your cabinet would have been throwing resignation letters left right and centre. But then, here is a place where people are satisfied with just being in positions that they are clueless about what to do in such positions does not matter.

Mr. President, Boko Haram defeated you in 2011. What plans are you making for 2012? Do you realise they have since improved while your security tactics remain stop and search? Do you realise they are far more coordinated than ever before? Have you thought of engaging more intelligence in curbing this menace instead of just mere brute? Yes, you have issues with concentrating for long, why not budget for a concentrator? That way you are conditioned to at least focus on being the president of Nigeria instead of our national chief chef? You are wondering where that came from? It came from cassava bread sir. You chose the menu for 2012 but we hope you realise that Boko Haram certainly has a menu.

Please Mr. President, they will look to attack again in the New Year, do what you have never done before, get your security chiefs to prevent that by all means. Contrary to your assertion, we are not prepared to live with the burden of bomb blasts. Get yourself to work and stop excusing your inability to deal with Boko Haram on the premise that they are a necessity. What is that? If you cannot lead and be a president, help yourself and resign. Please take your vice-president along. You are a twin set of incompetence.

This letter has been written with kind words, not because we are in the mood to be nice to you but because we are children and respect is a value we want to live with but our lack of it sometimes is a burden you must live with as long as you force us to live with your Boko Haram burden.

We wrote you a letter on subsidy yesterday but we figured it would be better to send this before you get our other letter. As long as your cluelessness reigns supreme in this country, we will always remind you of our angst and stake in this nation. It is not by force to live in Aso Rock. So if you must, do the right things, say the right things and learn to get the basic things right.

The Bomb Blasts darkened our Christmas but your response dampened our mood even further. This is not the way to lead a people. If you need help, we will nominate one of us to offer you words of wisdom for free. As it is, you look overwhelmed by the mere job of providing security for Nigeria let alone the other duties you swore to carry out for Nigeria.

Action point: Sack yourself sir, and take Arc. Namadi Sambo along. It is a good place to start.

We are sure this letter is not written by children, but whosoever wrote it conveys the mind of many hurting Nigerians home and abroad.

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Source: http://www.gistexpress.com/2011/12/26/christmas-day-blast-knocks-for-president-jonathan-over-his-insensitive-comment/

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Audi CEO: Auto industry faces tougher year in 2012 (Reuters)

Ingolstadt, GERMANY (Reuters) ? The automotive industry faces a tougher year in 2012 than it has done this year, Audi (NSUG.DE) Chief Executive Rupert Stadler told Reuters in an interview for release on Sunday.

"But this should not be a reason to fall into pessimism," he said, adding that the automotive industry will continue to grow over the next 10 years thanks to the enormous appetite for mobility among people in developing economies.

Stadler also denied speculation in the German media that he might be a successor for Audi parent Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) CEO, Martin Winterkorn, when he steps down at the end of 2016.

He said he expects China's automotive market to grow 8 to 9 percent, with its premium segment expanding 20 percent or even 30 percent, though he did not give a timeframe.

Audi is the market leader in the luxury segment in China, well ahead of German rivals BMW (BMWG.DE) and Daimler AG's (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes.

Stadler, who has set a goal of making Audi the world's top premium car maker by 2015, told Reuters carmakers have a better chance of growing in the premium segment because emerging markets like China will produce a crop of millionaires in dollar terms.

Audi is aiming for the top position in the United States, which has the world's biggest premium segment at nearly 2 million cars, he said. The company currently runs behind both BMW and Mercedes in that market.

He said a new production plant there would help, but it was still unclear where the facility would be based.

He noted that wages in Mexico were cheaper than in the United States, where parent Volkswagen already has a factory. But he said if Audi were to join the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, "the investments would certainly be somewhat less," although exporting cars out of the United States would have high customs fees.

NO VW PLANS

Asked if he would like to be the successor to VW's Winterkorn, Stadler replied: "No," adding he wanted to remain at Audi.

"I have many things to do here," he said.

Like Ferdinand Piech, the current supervisory board chairman of Volkswagen, Winterkorn was Audi Chief Executive before becoming head of the executive board of Europe's biggest carmaker.

Stadler has been Audi CEO since 2007 and last year became a Volkswagen board member. Unlike Piech and Winterkorn, who both studied to become engineers, Stadler graduated with a business management degree.

Volkswagen works council head Bernd Osterloh told a German newspaper the company could miss its internal outlook for vehicle sales in 2012, without saying how much growth the company expects.

"The reason would be weakness in southern European markets," he told Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.

"But in exchange, we have good chances of selling more cars than before in Latin America, North America and Russia," he said.

(Writing By Marilyn Gerlach; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mike Nesbit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/bs_nm/us_audi_ceo

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Job growth is lifting hopes for consumer spending (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Consumer spending and incomes barely rose last month. Business investment has slowed. New-home sales remain dismal.

Despite all that, some economists say a brightening job market is lifting their hopes for 2012. More aggressive hiring, the thinking goes, would fuel enough spending to boost the economy.

Economists point to another drop reported this week in applications for unemployment benefits, the third straight decline. Applications are now at their lowest level since April 2008. The trend is signaling that layoffs have all but stalled and that employers may be ready to step up hiring.

Unemployment, after hovering around 9 percent for more than two years, dropped in November to 8.6 percent. Employers have added at least 100,000 jobs each month from July through November. It's the best such streak since 2006.

Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said he expects the economy to grow at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the current October-December quarter. That would be the best performance in a year.

More jobs would mean more income. More pay tends to raise consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of the economy. Companies then have reason to increase hiring to meet stronger demand.

"We are hopeful that the plunge in jobless claims signals exactly that," Shepherdson said in a research note Friday.

Chris G. Christopher Jr., senior economist at IHS Global Insight, noted that many households are still struggling with slight or no pay increases.

"But gasoline prices have been falling, and that is giving them more money to spend on other items," he said.

The government said Friday that consumer spending rose just 0.1 percent in November, matching the increase in October. Incomes also rose a scant 0.1 percent.

Modest as they were, economists said the figures at least signaled that incomes and spending aren't stalling.

Healthier economic data in recent weeks have helped make the prospect of another U.S. recession seem more remote ? as long as Europe's debt crisis doesn't trigger a catastrophe that infects the global economy.

Some economists trimmed their forecasts for growth based on the weaker-than-expected consumer spending data for November. But they said they still expected the economy to expand at a solid annual rate of 3 percent in the current October-December quarter. It would be the best showing since the spring of 2010.

"We are seeing some momentum going into the new year," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial. "At least we are not in a tight spot where we are still worried about relapsing into recession."

Hoffman said that a major source of uncertainty for 2012 was removed this week with Congress' agreement to extend a Social Security tax cut for 160 million workers ? for two months, anyway.

As part of the deal, Congress also renewed benefits for the long-term unemployed. If that hadn't happened, millions of unemployed people would have begun to lose weekly checks averaging about $300 ? the main source of income for most of them.

And if the payroll tax cut and the long-term unemployment benefits hadn't been renewed for 2012, economists said the modest growth of around 2.5 percent they expect next year would have been a full percentage point lower.

On Friday, the government also released a cautionary report on U.S. manufacturing. Companies' demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose by the most in four months in November. But so-called core capital goods, a gauge of business investment spending, dropped for a second straight month.

Still, analysts said that with demand for items such as autos still strong, they expect further gains in factory orders and production.

In a third report, sales of new homes rose 1.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000. Even with that small gain, 2011 is likely to end up as the worst year for new-home sales on records dating to 1963.

More significant for the economy was Friday's report on incomes and spending in November. The scant income gain reflected a decline in wages and salaries. They are the biggest component of incomes.

The sluggish rise in spending was held back by a 0.3 percent drop in spending on non-durable goods such as food, clothing and gasoline. Spending on durable goods rose 0.8 percent. The gain reflected solid auto sales in November.

Spending on services rose a modest 0.1 percent. This category includes such items as medical treatments and rent, The consumer spending report covers all items that households buy, including services, which make up about two-thirds of spending.

After-tax incomes showed no growth in November. The savings rate dipped to 3.5 percent of after-tax incomes, the lowest rate since late 2007. That shows consumers are having to tap their savings to finance their spending because of the weak income growth.

The best antidote for that would be an increase in hiring now that fewer people are being laid off.

"The jobless claims data point to stronger jobs growth emerging," said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.

___

AP Economics Writer Derek Kravitz contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_us/us_economy

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Distro Issue 19: Peter Rojas plays 20 questions and Zach Honig boards Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

If you caught our release of Distro for Android tablets, you know we're in the mood for giving. In keeping with that sentiment, issue 19 ushers in two new weekly (and exclusive) features: "Recommended Reading," a guide to the best writing happening outside of our fine publication(s), and "Q&A," our take on the Proust questionnaire, answered this week by Engadget founder Peter Rojas. Of course no issue of Distro would be complete without a generous collection of reviews, and this one's packed full: Zach Honig takes a ride on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Richard Lai covers Meizu's MX, Dana Wollman puts Samsung's Series 7 Slate PC through its paces, Tim Stevens tackles the Motorola Xyboard 8.2 and last, but most definitely not least, we examine Verizon's LTE Galaxy Nexus. It may not be your own private Watson, but it might just give you something to do between swigs of eggnog. So hit the appropriate download link and enjoy.

Distro Issue 19 PDF
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Distro Issue 19: Peter Rojas plays 20 questions and Zach Honig boards Boeing's 787 Dreamliner originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/distro-issue-19-peter-rojas-plays-20-questions-and-zach-honig-b/

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sony promises Android 4.0 for Tablet S, timing 'soon'

FREE Software! For the holidays MacNN has teamed up with MacX to offer you a FREE copy of MacX DVD Ripper Pro. Rip DVD content to iPhone, iPod, iPad, USB or your hard drive. Click here to get your copy and license key, but hurry, this offer is only available until December 26th, 2011! ?????

Source: http://feeds.electronista.com/click.phdo?i=ea64adb3096d07a49659e13a0a2466ec

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus visits us again, unboxing and UI showcase imminent [...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150452752209422&id=189627474421

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01/14/2012 - Tet -Lunar New Year Festival By Vietnamese community

Source: http://calendar.gazette.net/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=54698

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"X Factor" finale jumps 31 percent giving Fox big win (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? The season finale of "The X Factor" enjoyed a sizable boost over last week to hand Fox an easy win Thursday night, according to preliminary numbers.

On a night that was marked by repeats from the competing networks, "The X Factor" from 8 to 10 p.m. jumped 31 percent over last week's performance, taking a 3.8 rating/11 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, and grew 25 percent in total viewership with 12.4 million total viewers. The strong showing gave Fox a win for the night in both the demographic and total viewership.

NBC ran "Who's Still Standing?" at 8, which received a 1.5/5 and 5.2 million total viewers, followed by repeats until "Prime Suspect" at 10, which drew a 1.0/3 and 4.4 million total viewers.

At ABC, the night began with the holiday special "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice" at 8, which posted a 1.1/3 and 3.8 million total viewers, followed by an episode of "Prep & Landing" at 8:30, which also received a 1.1/3 and 3.6 million total viewers. "Charlie Brown: I Want a Dog for Christmas" at 9 also posted a 1.1/3 and 3.6 million total viewers. The network's evening closed with a "Grey's Anatomy" repeat.

CBS ran repeats throughout the night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/media_nm/us_tvratings

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Obamas spending low-key Christmas Eve in Hawaii

President Barack Obama walks with Donna Willard, wife of Admiral Robert Willard, to greet people waiting for him on the tarmac as he arrives on Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama salutes as he steps off of Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama, right, is greeted by from left, Admiral Robert Willard, Commander U.S. Pacific Command, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schata after arriving at Hickam Air Force Base for his holiday vacation in Honolulu, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

President Barack Obama shakes hands with people waiting to greet him on the tarmac as he steps off of Air Force One at Hickam Air Force Base in Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

HONOLULU (AP) ? President Barack Obama and his family are easing into vacation mode, spending a low-key Christmas Eve out of the spotlight.

The president spent his first morning in Hawaii at a multimillion-dollar vacation home his family rents in the Kailua Beach area, near Honolulu. He skipped his standard early morning gym workout, and headed to the golf course later Saturday.

First lady Michelle Obama, meanwhile, got into the Christmas spirit by helping track Santa for NORAD. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955.

The White House said Mrs. Obama answered several calls from children around the country who wanted to know how close Santa was to their homes.

The Obamas were to spend Christmas Eve at home with a close circle of family and friends that typically joins the president for his annual Hawaiian vacation. They include Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives in the state with her family, and several friends the president has known since high school.

The president's annual December trip to the state where he was born and mostly raised almost didn't happen. He had planned to arrive in Hawaii on Dec. 17, but delayed his departure while Congress worked its way through a stalemate over extending payroll tax cuts.

A deal was finalized Friday morning. Hours later, the president boarded Air Force One for Hawaii to meet his wife and daughters, who traveled ahead of him.

Obama's first order of business when he arrived was taking his wife out to dinner. The couple joined a few friends at Morimoto restaurant, one of their favorite dining spots on the island of Oahu.

The president has no public events planned in Hawaii. A small group of advisers accompanied him to brief him on domestic and international developments.

The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year's Day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-24-Obama-Hawaii/id-1576e2b0794b40e78edc152dbf254642

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PFT: If Giants beat Jets, Eagles-'Boys means nothing

Getty Images

Still nine games back with 43 to go, I need a minor miracle to catch Rosenthal.? But I?m not going to start pulling out Hail Mary-type maneuvers by doing something like Picking the Chiefs to beat the Packers.

I mean, that would be kooky.

Rosenthal and I emerged from that crazy, upside-down Week 15 at 9-7 each.? For the year, he?s 151-73.? I?m 142-82.

Texans at Colts

Florio?s take:? Not long ago, it was presumed that the Colts would beat the Texans.? That was before the Colts lost Peyton Manning ? and before the Texans found their defense.? The ongoing absence of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips makes this one less of a sure thing for Houston, but the Colts surely won?t be looking to risk losing the Andrew Luck pick.

Florio?s pick:? Texans 28, Colts 13.

Rosenthal?s take: The Texans were reminded last week that their margin for error isn?t huge with T.J. Yates at quarterback. But that won?t be a problem this week. Houston?s defense will want to make amends after getting manhandled against Carolina. Expect 35 rushing attempts by the Texans.

Rosenthal?s pick: Texans 26, Colts 10.

Browns at Ravens

Florio?s take:? The Browns are one of the few inferior teams the Ravens managed to beat on the road.? This time, the Browns come to Baltimore, where the team that used to play in Cleveland has lost once in the last two seasons.? With the division title only two wins away, the Ravens won?t be blowing their chance to play a postseason game at home for the first time in the John Harbaugh/Joe Flacco tenure.

Florio?s pick:? Ravens 31, Browns 17.

Rosenthal?s take: Seneca Wallace looked like a slight upgrade from Colt McCoy.? Peyton Hillis is slightly healthier and more effective than he was earlier in the season.? So I?ll predict the Browns will make this slightly more interesting than the last time these two teams played.

Rosenthal?s pick: Ravens 27, Browns 17.

Broncos at Bills

Florio?s take:? Tebowmania takes Buffalo, where the Bills have seen a 4-1 start disintegrate, via seven straight losses.? With a trip to New England looming, this one gives the Bills their last, best shot at winning another game.? Though a playoff berth seems inevitable for the Broncos, it?ll have to wait until Week 17.

Florio?s pick:? Bills 24, Broncos 20.

Rosenthal?s take: Timing is everything. If the Bills started the season at 0-7, losing by an average of 18 points per week, Chan Gailey would be on the hot seat. But the Bills started fast before the bottom fell out, so no one has noticed that Buffalo is arguably the worst team in football at the moment.

Rosenthal?s pick: Broncos 23, Bills 16.

Buccaneers at Panthers

Florio?s take:? The Panthers have gotten better on the fly.? The Bucs have fallen apart, with eight straight losses.? Though anything can happen when teams from the same division square off, the Bucs haven?t made much of anything happen this year.? The Panthers won?t need to annex Puerto Rico or any other U.S. territories to win this one on Saturday.

Florio?s pick:? Panthers 34, Buccaneers 23.

Rosenthal?s take: The Bucs also have an argument for the worst team of the second half.? They?ve lost eight straight, with the last three by 21 points per game. Tampa is no longer even the up-and-coming ?Youngry? team in the division with the cool franchise quarterback; that?s now Carolina.

Rosenthal?s pick: Panthers 36, Buccaneers 23.

Cardinals at Bengals

Florio?s take:? One of the best games of the weekend will unfold before another way-less-than-capacity crowd in Cincinnati.? The Cardinals have won six of seven, and the Bengals still find themselves in the thick of things in the AFC wild-card chase.? But the Bengals have lost some of their punch in recent weeks, barely beating a pair of bad teams and losing four games to playoff contenders.? The Cardinals may not make it to the postseason, but it won?t be because they failed to handle their business.

Florio?s pick:? Cardinals 20, Bengals 17.

Rosenthal?s take: A legitimate quarterback controversy between Kevin Kolb and John Skelton is a surprising development. Arizona winning six of seven games in insane final possession fashion is even more surprising. The streak of luck ends against a Bengals team that was the surprise of the early season.

Rosenthal?s pick: Bengals 28, Cardinals 24.

Raiders at Chiefs

Florio?s take:? Chiefs players want to win for interim coach Romeo Crennel.? If they?d wanted to win as badly for former head coach Todd Haley, Crennel wouldn?t have the job he currently holds.? Kyle Orton and company keep making an unlikely push to the playoffs, as the Raiders continue to wonder how good they could have been if Darren McFadden hadn?t injured his foot the last time they played the team from Kansas City.

Florio?s pick:? Chiefs 24, Raiders 17.

Rosenthal?s take: Suddenly this game means a great deal. Both teams are trying to stay alive in the AFC West race. Romeo Crennel is trying to win a job. Hue Jackson is trying to justify his trade for Carson Palmer. Unfortunately, I fear that all the drama in the AFC West race will be over after this week.

Rosenthal?s pick: Chiefs 30, Raiders 20.

Dolphins at Patriots

Florio?s take:? Yes, the Dolphins aren?t as bad as they were when they lost seven straight games.? Yes, the Dolphins played the Patriots tough in Week One.? But the Patriots are two home wins away from the No. 1 seed for the second straight year.? Defensive warts and all, the Pats won?t be choking ? at least until they host the Jets or the Ravens in January.

Florio?s pick:? Patriots 35, Dolphins 23.

Rosenthal?s take: The Dolphins are 5-2 in their last seven games. The defense that got strafed in Week One by Tom Brady has improved greatly. Karlos Dansby, Kevin Burnett, and Vontae Davis are all playing much better for Miami. This is a dangerous game for the Patriots as they try to lock up the No. 1 seed.

Rosenthal?s pick: Patriots 26, Dolphins 24.

Giants at Jets

Florio?s take:? I?ve said for days that, if there were a way for both teams to lose this one, that?s what would happen.? (Maybe that means a tie is coming.)? The Giants have the better team on paper, but on paper the Giants shouldn?t have lost five of six games.? Recent trends have the Jets pulling things together and getting to the playoffs and the Giants completing a slide out of postseason contention.? Though all reason and common sense points to a Giants win, neither team?s performance this year has meshed with reason and common sense.

Florio?s pick:? Jets 17, Giants 14.

Rosenthal?s take: The Giants don?t have much if they don?t have a pass rush. And they don?t have much of a pass rush right now. At least the Jets have one reliable strength: Their pass defense. That should be enough to stop a Giants team that relies too much on Eli Manning.

Rosenthal?s pick: Jets 22, Giants 17.

Rams at Steelers

Florio?s take:? Against any other team, the question of whether the Steelers would use Ben Roethlisberger or Charlie Batch at quarterback would matter.? But these are the Rams.? The 2-12 Rams.? The hopelessly hapless Rams.? The Steelers would be likely to win this one even with one of the St. Louis backup quarterbacks taking the snaps for the home team.

Florio?s pick:? Steelers 20, Rams 3.

Rosenthal?s take: Charlie Batch is 37 years old. He was once teammates with Barry Sanders. At some point, the Steelers are going to roll him out there, and he just won?t be able to play the position anymore. Batch looked rough in his brief appearance two weeks ago. On the plus side: The Rams look rough every week.

Rosenthal?s pick: Steelers 16, Rams 6.

Jaguars at Titans

Florio?s take:? Though the Titans lost to the winless Colts last week, the Jaguars have been looking even worse in recent weeks, notwithstanding the contributions of Maurice Jones-Drew.? So with Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Locker, or even Vince Young at quarterback, the Titans should be able to take care of business ? despite the fact that the Jaguars pulled off the win the last time around.

Florio?s pick:? Titans 27, Jaguars 14.

Rosenthal?s take: Analysts have crushed Blaine Gabbert for his weak pocket presence all year. So interim coach Mel Tucker overcompensated by calling Gabbert ?courageous? and ?super-tough? this week. The Jaguars might be better off with a coach that recognizes Gabbert?s faults and tries to improve upon them.

Rosenthal?s pick: Titans 27, Jaguars 17.

Vikings at Redskins

Florio?s take:? Last year, the Vikings played their butts off against the Redskins in D.C., hopeful of helping Leslie Frazier lose the ?interim? tag.? This year, most Vikings don?t seem to care about Frazier or anyone else.? On a weekly basis, it shows.? It?s likely to show again on Saturday.

Florio?s pick:? Redskins 23, Vikings 10.

Rosenthal?s take: The Vikings feel like a 3-13 team, but their last win is more likely to come next week against the Bears. The Redskins feel exactly like a 6-10 type of team. They will hit their magic number on Sunday. This ?analysis? made more sense in my head.

Rosenthal?s pick: Redskins 26, Vikings 17.

Chargers at Lions

Florio?s take:? Norv Turner?s team has launched another impressive late-season run.? But the Lions have rediscovered their explosiveness on offense.? It?s time for Detroit to nail down its first playoff berth in more than a decade ? and to do so not by the skin of their teeth but by flexing some Motown muscle.

Florio?s pick:? Lions 35, Chargers 17.

Rosenthal?s take: Both quarterbacks in this game are playing very well.? Matthew Stafford saves his best stuff for the fourth quarter, while Philip Rivers has simply been on fire for three weeks. The Lions are 4-5 since beating the Bears on Monday Night Football. I?m not convinced they can beat good teams. The Chargers finally are a good team.

Rosenthal?s pick: Chargers 33, Lions 30.

Eagles at Cowboys

Florio?s take:? Jerry Jones fears the Eagles.? And for good reason.? Philly has found its groove, perhaps too late.? But not late enough for the Dream Team to complete a sweep of America?s Team.

Florio?s pick:? Eagles 33, Cowboys 27.

Rosenthal?s take: I predicted the Eagles would miss the playoffs at the beginning of the year. Despite a 6-8 record, they are somehow still alive and look like the best team in the division. I?m trying not to fall for it. It?s all part of an elaborate plan for Andy Reid to torture Eagles fans in the most painful way possible.

Rosenthal?s pick: Cowboys 30, Eagles 27.

49ers at Seahawks

Florio?s take:? The Jim Harbaugh-Pete Carroll rivalry is renewed, weeks after we?d all forgotten about it.? But even if the Seahawks can?t get the help they need to make it to the playoffs, they can throw a wrench into the Niners? plans for an easier path to Indy by killing Harbaugh?s shot at a bye.

Florio?s pick:? Seahawks 23, 49ers 17.

Rosenthal?s take: This is a dangerous game for the 49ers on a short week. Seattle?s defense continues to improve, while Tarvaris Jackson is playing his football of the season. (Without both his starting wideouts.) Both teams play a style designed to keep the game close. That favors the home team.

Rosenthal?s pick: Seahawks 17, 49ers 13.

Bears at Packers

Florio?s take:? Not long ago, this looked like it could be one of the best games of the year.? Now, it?ll mainly be an opportunity for the Packers to get the bad taste out of their mouths that came from losing to the Chiefs.

Florio?s pick:? Packers 35, Bears 13.

Rosenthal?s take: Josh McCown was coaching high school football four weeks ago. On Christmas night, he?ll show that he?s better than Caleb Hanie, and that it doesn?t really make a difference. The Packers have solved bigger injury problems than a few missing tackles.

Rosenthal?s pick: Packers 31, Bears 14.

Falcons at Saints

Florio?s take:? The Falcons beat the Saints in New Orleans last year.? Somehow.? This year, the Saints are unstoppable in the Superdome, thanks to a record-smashing season from Drew Brees.? But the Falcons have the firepower to keep it interesting.? Get your popcorn ready.? And your abacus.

Florio?s pick:? Saints 45, Falcons 38.

Rosenthal?s take: Exactly three points decided the last four games in this series. Atlanta will do enough to remind everyone the Saints? defense really hasn?t improved much. But the Falcons won?t do enough to hand New Orleans their first home loss of the year.

Rosenthal?s pick: Saints 34, Falcons 31.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/22/if-giants-beat-jets-eagles-cowboys-becomes-meaningless/related/

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