Friday, December 30, 2011

Canada downs Denmark

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EDMONTON -- In a game that had moths versus windshield written all over it, there wasn't enough wiper fluid in all of Edmonton to clean off the goo.

But despite all the guts, there wasn't much glory to be found for Team Canada in crushing hopelessly overmatched Denmark 10-2 at the world junior championship Thursday.

This was lambs being lead to slaughter and the Canadians simply went about their business with the cold and ruthless efficiency of an executioner.

"It's a hard game to play in when you're expected to win and expected to score a lot of goals," said head coach Don Hay. "It's not easy to do. But we got through the game with no injuries and we got the win."

They had the win after the first period, in which they outshot Denmark 19-3 and built a 4-0 lead, but there were, unfortunately, two more periods to play, which can best be described as a half-interested cat pawing at a half-dead mouse.

"Maybe not our toughest competition," understated Ryan Strome. "But we have to continually strive to be better. None of the games are getting easier from here on in so we have to keep getting better ourselves."

They'd have to play corpses for the next game to be any easier, but all you can do is play who they put in front of you and the Canadians are 3-0 so far, having beaten Finland 8-1 and the Czech Republic 5-0 for a 23-2 margin of victory so far.

Three straight blowouts might not be the best way to prepare for the biggest games of their lives, but what can you do?

"People can look at it however they want, but we've been tested," said Brett Connolly. "The Finns were a great team, the Czechs gave us a good battle, too. We're a good team."

After scoring more goals in the first (four) than Denmark had shots (three), Canada eased up in the second but still managed to score its fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the night.

And that was it, the other team was Dane like dinner.

"It was a tough one for Denmark, coming up from the B pool," said winger Boone Jenner. "But we just tried to keep playing our game, just play simple hockey."

"It's not like we were trying to run up the score," added forward Brendan Gallagher. "We've been on the other side of those, all of us have, and it's not a good feeling."

The Canadians spent the third period trying not to get injured and that was all the opening Denmark needed to strike back. Nicolai Meyer sniped one past Mark Visentin to break the shutout and eight minutes later Emil Kristensen added a second Danish goal.

At that point, Canada got serious again and scored its eighth and ninth and 10th.

"We knew on the bench that we had to get back to work," said Gallagher. "We were a little sluggish and they took advantage of us. They didn't stop working for the whole game. We just went back to the things that made us successful and were able to score some more goals."

So the Canadians are 3-0 so far, with one game left in the round robin -- a New Year's Eve date with the Americans that could either be for first place in the pool, or rendered entirely meaningless if the U.S. loses to the Czech Republic on Friday.

"We'll be ready to roll on New Year's Eve," said Jenner. "It should be a fun game to play in, and a competitive one."

For a change.

LATE HITS: Visentin posted the win for Canada, but a cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift would have won, too, so there wasn't much to be learned from his second appearance of the tournament. Hay says he will decide after Friday's practice who starts against the Americans on New Year's Eve.

robert.tychkowski@sunmedia.ca twitter.com/SUN_TYCHKOWSKI

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Follow along as Sun Media's Jason Hills takes you through Canada's game against Denmark.

Source: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/29/live-chat-canada-vs-denmark

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Phillies Shuffle Aging Baseball Cards: Fan Opinion (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

The Philadelphia Phillies were ousted by the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division series. Since then, they have added a top-rated closer and have modestly tweaked their roster.

Will the fans see World Series games this season at Citizens Bank Park?
Wikimedia Commons

Will a basic shuffling of their aging baseball cards help the Phillies to make progress in 2012?

Being realistic

The Phillies were widely picked as World Series favorites after signing Texas Rangers free agent pitcher, Cliff Lee to a long-term deal last December. On paper they looked invincible. Reality proved that they were beatable.

The game of baseball involves pitching, defense and hitting. Last season, the Phillies only offered two thirds of that pie on their table. Yes, their offense was good at times. But, it wasn't in the playoffs and that was the main reason why they went home early.

So, general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. looked at his aging baseball cards and knew that he had to do something before next spring arrived. He picked the option of reshuffling the deck.

Contractual limitations

As of late December, the Phillies had 16 players with guaranteed contracts that totaled $138.5 million. While Citizens Bank Park is a cash cow, it can only offer so much money milk each season.

With that in mind, there are only so many moves that Amaro could make without tearing apart the team. As a result, he completed one necessary acquisition, when he filled the closer's role, added some complimentary guys and re-signed Jimmy Rollins.

New expectations

Inking former Boston Red Sox reliever Jonathan Papelbon isn't a significant risk from a sabermetric standpoint, as he should continue to generate 30 to 40 saves per season. As far as his $50 million+ salary goes, $11 million of it is included in the $138.5 million tally noted above.

This time around, the Phillies didn't need to offer Jim Thome a monster deal to refit his old red pinstriped suit. His $1.25 million deal reincorporates a great baseball guy into a group that will benefit from his positive nature and will also hopefully yield some left-handed lightning in a pinch.

Ty Wigginton ($4 million), Laynce Nix ($1.15 million) and Dontrelle Willis ($850,000) all offer cost-effective roster support. Wigginton may play the role of a utility man around the field, particularly spelling Placido Polanco at third base.

John Mayberry, Jr. has shown promise, but isn't a proven commodity. His 2011 statistical spike may lead to continued growth in 2012, but the production sample size is small and thus Nix was signed as a left-handed compliment for their left-field slot.

In keeping with the theme of versatility, the Phillies now have retooled their bench so that a variety of players can perform at various locations around the field. The undated return of Ryan Howard to the first base area and to the cleanup slot will also allow some of the other names mentioned above to fill-in for him during his absence.

The bottom line

In the end, these moves represent a belief that the core of this team can produce stronger playoff results if it can avoid the injury problems that affected the roster last season.

The amount of currently guaranteed money doesn't include pending 2012 contracts for Cole Hamels and Hunter Pence. These previously created financial obligations have limited what Amaro could have done without moving someone like Victorino who is entering the final year of his contract.

Sean was born in the Philadelphia region and has written professionally for over two decades. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and follow him on Twitter @ SeanyOB

More from Sean O'Brien and the Yahoo Contributor Network:

When Baseball Cards were King

Rounding out the Phillies 2012 lineup

The story behind Mike Schmidt's 1980 baseball card

Jim Thome's impact on the Phillies now and then

When Phillies' legend Richie Ashburn played the game

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5668565204

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'Prometheus' Trailer's 'Alien' Mystery Is Intentional, Says Damon Lindelof

The "Prometheus" trailer didn't exactly clear up the question of whether or not this is an "Alien" prequel ? no direct sightings of the Xenomorph, no, but the Space Jockey is very clearly involved and the "Alien"-esque arrival of the "Prometheus" logo practically oozes acid for blood.
That continued confusion won't be going away anytime [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/27/prometheus-trailer-damon-lindelof/

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

The iPhone 4S Is Finally Cleared For Launch In Mainland China

iphone-4Here in the States we've been chatting it up with Siri on the iPhone 4S for months, but the folks over in mainland China — the biggest mobile market in the world, mind you — have yet to hear that 42 is the meaning of life. The 4S launched in Hong Kong just last month, and since then we've heard that it would show up on the mainland in December. People's Daily is now reporting that a phone with the model number A1431 has passed the final hurdle in its Chinese certification. That's the same model number that Apple used to get a network entry permit for the 4S from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on December 6, so all signs point to iPhone.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/MO38aglTI1s/

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Video: Where Will Grain Prices Be Next Year?

Analysis on why grain prices are up and where they are headed, with Jerry Gulke, The Linn Group.

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Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45806176/

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facebook message on chat wont send with wi fi keyboard

hi guys im new to the forum i got a wi fi keyboard for my ipad it all works ok eacept when i go on to facebook and i type with the keyboard on the ipad everything is fine it all works but as soon a i connect my wi fi keyboard and go to chat on facebook the send botton diserpears and when ive typed what i want to say and pushed enter it goes onto another line why is that.

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Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1297508&goto=newpost

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Video: Why a new GOP front-runner every week?

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45809007#45809007

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Why India pulled the welcome mat for Wal-Mart (The Christian Science Monitor)

New Delhi, India ? The Indian government's recent plans to open the retail sector to foreign big-box stores like Wal-Mart was met with such vehement pushback from people across India that the plans had to be shelved earlier this month.

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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5663697566

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dogsdoingthings: Dogs adjusting the picture-in-picture feature on a spacetime viewer until Santa appears at the Sack of Rome, and thinking, "Better."

Twitter / Dogs doing things: Dogs adjusting the picture ... Loader Dogs adjusting the picture-in-picture feature on a spacetime viewer until Santa appears at the Sack of Rome, and thinking, "Better."

Source: http://twitter.com/dogsdoingthings/statuses/150994283049132032

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Conn. house where 5 died in fire is torn down

Yellow tape stretches across the driveway, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011, at the house where a fire left five people dead Christmas Day, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Yellow tape stretches across the driveway, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011, at the house where a fire left five people dead Christmas Day, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Rubble left after the demolition of a house where a fire left five people dead Christmas Day lies on the ground, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Firefighters are seen on the roof of a house where an early morning fire left five people dead Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, in Stamford, Conn. Officials said the fire, which was reported shortly before 5 a.m., killed two adults and three children. Two others escaped. Their names have not been released. (AP Photo/Tina FIneberg)

Firefighters spray water on the roof of a house where an early morning fire left five people dead Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, in Stamford, Conn. Officials said the fire, which was reported shortly before 5 a.m., killed two adults and three children. Two others escaped. Their names have not been released. (AP Photo/Tina FIneberg)

FILE - In this Aug. 25, 1998 file photo, Madonna Badger, president and creative director of what was then called Badger Worldwide Advertising, now Badger and Winters Group, poses in her New York office. Badger is the owner of a tony Connecticut home that burned in a blaze that killed five people on Christmas morning Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Jim Cooper, File)

(AP) ? A house severely damaged in a Christmas morning fire that killed three children and two grandparents, one of whom worked as Santa Claus at Saks Fifth Avenue, has been torn down.

The building department determined that the $1.7 million house was unsafe and ordered it razed, Stamford fire chief Antonio Conte said.

The home's owner, advertising executive Madonna Badger, and her male acquaintance escaped from the fire. But Badger's three daughters ? a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins ? and her parents, who were visiting for the holiday, died, police said.

Neighbors said they awoke to the sound of screaming shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday and rushed outside to help, but could do nothing as flames devoured the large, turreted home.

Police said the male acquaintance who escaped the blaze with Badger was a contractor working on the home. He was also hospitalized but his condition was not released.

Interviews with them will be finished Monday, Conte said. He had no details on the investigation.

A spokeswoman for Saks Fifth Avenue confirmed in a statement that Badger's father, Lomer Johnson, had worked as a Santa this year at its flagship store in Manhattan.

"Mr. Johnson was Saks Fifth Avenue's beloved Santa, and we are heartbroken about this terrible tragedy," spokeswoman Julia Bently said.

Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of New York City-based Badger & Winters Group. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said she was treated and discharged by Sunday evening. Her whereabouts Monday was unknown.

Property records show Badger bought the five-bedroom, waterfront home for $1.7 million last year. The house was situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.

The lot where the house once stood was covered with charred debris and cordoned off by police with tape on Monday. Passers-by left bouquets, stuffed animals and candles nearby.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a former mayor of Stamford, offered his condolences to Badger and her family in a statement and said her loss "defies explanation."

The fire was Stamford's deadliest since a 1987 blaze that also killed five people, Conte said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-26-Fire-Five%20Dead/id-c08839727bdd49a2918399cefaeeb383

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Elderly can be as fast as young in some brain tasks, study shows

ScienceDaily (Dec. 27, 2011) ? Both children and the elderly have slower response times when they have to make quick decisions in some settings. But recent research suggests that much of that slower response is a conscious choice to emphasize accuracy over speed.

In fact, healthy older people can be trained to respond faster in some decision-making tasks without hurting their accuracy -- meaning their cognitive skills in this area aren't so different from younger adults.

"Many people think that it is just natural for older people's brains to slow down as they age, but we're finding that isn't always true," said Roger Ratcliff, professor of psychology at Ohio State University and co-author of the studies.

"At least in some situations, 70-year-olds may have response times similar to those of 25-year olds."

Ratcliff and his colleagues have been studying cognitive processes and aging in their lab for about a decade. In a new study published online this month in the journal Child Development, they extended their work to children.

Ratcliff said their results in children are what most scientists would have expected: very young children have slower response times and poorer accuracy compared to adults, and these improve as the children mature.

But the more interesting finding is that older adults don't necessarily have slower brain processing than younger people, said Gail McKoon, professor of psychology at Ohio State and co-author of the studies.

"Older people don't want to make any errors at all, and that causes them to slow down. We found that it is difficult to get them out of the habit, but they can with practice," McKoon said.

Researchers uncovered this surprising finding by using a model developed by Ratcliff that considers both the reaction time and the accuracy shown by participants in speeded tasks. Most models only consider one of these variables.

"If you look at aging research, you find some studies that show older people are not impaired in accuracy, but other studies that show that older people do suffer when it comes to speed. What this model does is look at both together to reconcile the results," Ratcliff said.

Ratcliff, McKoon and their colleagues have used several of the same experiments in children, young adults and the elderly.

In one experiment, participants are seated in front of a computer screen. Asterisks appear on the screen and the participants have to decide as quickly as possible whether there is a "small" number (31-50) or a "large" number (51-70) of asterisks. They press one of two keys on the keyboard, depending on their answer.

In another experiment, participants are again seated in front of a computer screen and are shown a string of letters. They have to decide whether those letters are a word in English or not. Some strings are easy (the nonwords are a random string of letters) and some are hard (the nonwords are pronounceable, such as "nerse").

In the Child Development study, the researchers used the asterisk test on second and third graders, fourth and fifth graders, ninth and tenth graders, and college-aged adults. Third graders and college-aged adults participated in the word/nonword test.

The results showed that there was a rise in accuracy and decrease in response time on both tasks from the second and third-graders to the college-age adults.

The younger children took longer than older children and adults to respond in the experiment, Ratcliff said. They, like the elderly, were taking longer to make up their mind. But the younger children were also less accurate than younger adults in this study.

"Younger children are not able to make as good of use of the information they are presented, so they are less accurate," Ratcliff said. "That improves as they mature."

Older adults show a different pattern. In a study published in the journal Cognitive Psychology, Ratcliff and colleagues compared college-age subjects, older adults aged 60-74, and older adults aged 75-90. They used the same asterisk and word/nonword tests that were in the Child Development study. They found that there was little difference in accuracy among the groups, even the oldest of participants.

However, the college students had faster response times than did the 60-74 year olds, who were faster than the 75-90 year olds.

But the slower response times are not all the result of a decline in skills among older adults. In a previous study, the researchers encouraged older adults to go faster on these same tests. When they did, the difference in their response times compared to college-age students decreased significantly.

"For these simple tasks, decision-making speed and accuracy is intact even up to 85 and 90 years old," McKoon said.

That doesn't mean there are no effects of aging on decision-making speed and accuracy, Ratcliff said. In a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Ratcliff, McKoon and another colleague found (like in studies from other laboratories) that accuracy for "associative memory" does decline as people age. For example, older people were much less likely to remember if they had studied a pair of words together than did younger adults.

But Ratcliff said that, overall, their research suggests there should be greater optimism about the cognitive skills of seniors.

"The older view was that all cognitive processes decline at the same rate as people age," Ratcliff said.

"We're finding that there isn't such a uniform decline. There are some things that older people do nearly as well as young people."

Ratcliff co-authored the Child Development paper with Jessica Love and John Opfer of Ohio State and Clarissa Thompson of the University of Oklahoma. Ratcliff and McKoon co-authored the Cognitive Psychology and Journal of Experimental Psychology: General papers with Anjali Thapar of Bryn Mawr College.

Some of the research was supported with grants from the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Mental Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Jeff Grabmeier.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Jeffrey J. Starns, Roger Ratcliff, Gail McKoon. Evaluating the unequal-variance and dual-process explanations of zROC slopes with response time data and the diffusion model. Cognitive Psychology, 2012; 64 (1-2): 1 DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2011.10.002

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227142535.htm

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U.N. passes leaner 2012-2013 budget amid economic turmoil (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The U.N. General Assembly on Saturday approved a 5 percent decrease in the United Nations' budget for 2012-2013 over the previous two-year period, only the second time in 50 years that the world body has slashed its spending.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the 193-nation General Assembly for reducing costs at a time when governments around the world are cutting expenditures and implementing austerity measures in response to the global financial crisis.

"I am here to thank you for solidifying, with me, our compact to make the most of our resources ... to cut fat ... and to continue fulfilling every one of the critical global mandates entrusted to the United Nations," Ban said in the written text of a speech distributed by his press department.

The deal for a $5.15 billion budget, which compares with $5.41 billion spent in 2010-2011, came after marathon negotiations that ran all night from Friday into Saturday. A deal was not clinched until Saturday morning.

As in past years, the biennial budget negotiations were marked by a tussle between poor countries seeking to raise U.N. development spending and major developed countries - the biggest budget contributors - trying to rein the figures in as they struggle to reduce expenditures in their own national budgets.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Joe Torsella, who focuses on U.N. management and reform at the U.S. mission, welcomed what he said was "a budget for a strengthened, more efficient, and more effective United Nations."

He said in a statement that the average increase in U.N. biennial budgets over the last two decades has been 5 percent. In 1998 the General Assembly cut the U.N. budget compared to the previous two years, the only other time it had done so in the past 50 years, Torsella said.

The so-called core U.N. budget voted through on Saturday does not include peacekeeping, currently running at over $7 billion a year and approved in separate negotiations, or the costs of several major U.N. agencies funded by voluntary contributions from member states.

Critics of the United Nations, especially in the United States, have long charged that it is a bloated and sometimes corrupt bureaucracy that wastes taxpayers' money.

Supporters of the world body say it is cheap at the price.

Torsella said the new budget would help create a "more effective United Nations that saves the American taxpayers millions of dollars and sets the United Nations on the path of real fiscal discipline and continued reform."

The United States, which pays 22 percent of the U.N. budget, is the biggest financial contributor to the United Nations.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/wl_nm/us_un_budget

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Coach Pop - Practice

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Monday, December 26, 2011

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Syria fighting kills 13 ahead of Arab monitor visit (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Thirteen people were killed as Syrian armored forces battled opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Homs on Monday, residents said, ahead of a planned visit by Arab League monitors to verify whether he is ending a violent crackdown on unrest.

A day before observers were to have their first look at the city at the heart of a nine-month-old uprising, there was no sign of Assad implementing a plan agreed with the League to halt military repression of protests and start talks with opponents.

With an armed insurgency increasingly eclipsing civilian protests, many fear Syria is drifting towards sectarian war pitting majority Sunni Muslims against Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, especially after a double suicide bombing in Damascus on Thursday that killed 44 people.

"The Baba Amr (district) (of Homs) is being exposed to fierce shelling from heavy machinegun fire, armored vehicles and mortars," the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Right said in a statement.

"The violence is definitely two-sided," said a Homs resident who named himself only as Mohammed to protect his safety. "I've been seeing ambulances filled with wounded soldiers passing by my window in the past days. They're getting shot somehow."

Parts of Homs are defended by the Free Syrian Army, made up of defectors from the regular armed forces, who say they have tried to establish no-go areas to protect civilians.

The Observatory documented names of those reported killed in Monday's clashes that began with raids and arrests by pro-Assad forces, which were also reported in Syria's second city of Aleppo, which had been spared from the upheaval until recently.

The initial 50 of 150 Arab League monitors were due to arrive in Syria on Monday, and some will go to Homs on Tuesday, a source at the organization's headquarters Cairo told Reuters. Their job will be to assess whether Assad is going to withdraw tanks and troops from Syria's third largest city as promised.

"The Arab monitoring team will visit Homs as it is the most turbulent place," the source said.

Syrian state television has regularly shown some areas of the city of one million looking peaceful. But activist video posted on the internet shows other parts looking like a war zone of empty streets, bodies and shattered house fronts.

Syria has barred most foreign journalists since the revolt began, making it hard to verify reports of events on the ground.

TEN-MAN TEAMS, SPLIT FIVE WAYS

The United Nations says at least 5,000 Syrians have been killed the revolt, inspired by other Arab uprisings this year that have toppled three dictators, broke out in March - and an estimated one-third of deaths have occurred in and around Homs.

Assad says his government is facing an insurgency by gangs of terrorists. Arab League states persuaded him, after six weeks of threats and cajoling, to let 150 observers in to witness what is really happening on the ground.

The first group of about 50 monitors, led by Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi, will be divided into five 10-man teams going to five locations.

"We're waiting. Let's see," said Homs resident Mohammed. "We hope they work the way they should. We hope they will be neutral ... If they are neutral they will be condemning everyone but most especially the (Syrian) authorities because they are the ones who should be responsible for protecting people."

He said some Homs districts were running out of food.

"My friends in Baba Amr, who have nothing to do with the troubles, say they don't have bread. They are under siege."

Arab League mission chief Dabi arrived in Damascus on Friday while the capital was reeling from twin suicide bombings last week that marked an ominous escalation of the violence.

Assad's opponents say they suspect his government carried out the Damascus bombings itself to prove to the world that Syria is facing indiscriminate violence by armed Islamists and to intimidate the work of the Arab League monitors.

Assad's opponents have voiced skepticism about the Arab mission to oversee a peace plan they say Assad will not honor, given the continuing fierce repression against demonstrators.

The Syrian authorities blame the violence on foreign-backed armed Islamists who they say have killed 2,000 members of the security forces since the unrest flared in March.

ONE WEEK ENOUGH TO ASSESS COMPLIANCE

Dabi said he had met Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby in Cairo before departing for Damascus, laying down a "road map" for the mission's work, which he promised would be transparent.

In remarks carried on the Egyptian state news agency, Dabi said the mission would meet different groups in Syria, including the armed forces and members of the opposition.

It was not known if Syrian authorities would give the monitors enough freedom of movement to do their job properly.

Syrian state media have not reported Dabi's arrival.

After six weeks of stalling, Syria signed a protocol this month to admit the monitors under the plan calling for an end to violence, the withdrawal of troops from the streets, the release of prisoners and a reform-minded dialogue with the opposition.

Elaraby said it would take only a week to find out if the authorities are respecting the terms of its peace plan.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National Council, said the League, which has imposed sanctions and suspended Syria's membership, should step up pressure on Assad's by asking the U.N. Security Council to adopt the Arab initiative.

"We want this regime to leave so that we can live in peace. The world should not stand watching over the bodies of men, women and children," the exiled opposition leader said in a Christmas video address to Syrians.

Assad, 46, succeeded his father in 2000 to carry on a dynasty that has ruled for 41 years. He has responded to popular calls to step down with a mixture of force and promises of reform, announcing an end to a state of emergency, giving citizenship to tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds, and promising a parliamentary election in February.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir in Cairo; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Gingrich Off Virginia GOP Primary Ballot: Is His Campaign Already Over?

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Not Enough Signatures

To qualify for the primary election ballot, candidates must present the 10,000 signatures, and must also have a total that includes at least 400 voters from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.

According to Voice of America, both the Gingrich and Perry campaigns claimed they collected well over 11,000 signatures in the days leading up to the deadline.

But officials at the Republican Party of Virginia say that when it came time to tally the signatures, both men had less than required.

'A Failed System'

"Despite aggressive efforts collecting thousands of Virginia signatures after Governor Perry's mid-August entry into the race, we were notified this evening of apparently falling short of the 10,000 voter signatures needed to qualify," Perry's campaign said in a statement.

At the same time, Perry's legal advisers are reportedly reviewing the Virginia ruling, considering whether or not to challenge the GOP decision.

Gingrich's campaign, meanwhile, slammed the Virginia primary setup in general, saying the process needed to qualify to run on the ballot was deeply flawed.

"Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates," Gingrich's campaign director Michael Krull said in a statement.

Krull claimed that "only a failed system" would eliminate a frontrunner and a longtime candidate from the race based on state signatures. He also said the campaign would attempt a write-in strategy if the decision wasn't altered.

"We will work with the Republican Party of Virginia to pursue an aggressive write-in campaign to make sure that all the voters of Virginia are able to vote for the candidate of their choice."

State law, however, prohibits write-in candidates in primaries.

"No write-in shall be permitted on ballots in primary elections," Virginia code reads, and Carl Tobias, a law professor at University of Richmond, agrees.

"Virginia code prohibits write-ins," Tobias told Fox News. "He can't do it."

The Importance of Virginia

News of the primary loss comes as a serious blow to both men, but especially to Newt Gingrich, who lives in a Virginia suburb.

Virginia is seen as an important "swing state," one whether neither the party dominates. Past presidential elections have seen the race suddenly shift based on whether the state goes blue or red. Virginia is also the twelfth-most populated state in the U.S., bringing with it significant electoral college numbers.

Even worse, it's one of the 12 swing states where President Obama leads in head-to-head match-ups. In a recent Public Policy Poll, Obama led top GOP candidate Romney by 48 to 42 percent, and beat Gingrich at 50 to 42 percent.

Obama will need to get about half the 151 electoral votes provided by the twelve swing states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia) if he wants to win the 2012 presidential election.

And if he has enough support to get Virginia, it's likely Barack Obama will be president again in 2012.

"If he wins Virginia, he's probably going to win the Electoral College," PPP said.

Both Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have qualified to run in the Virginia primary, and are already plotting out their state-focused campaign strategies.

The End of Rick Perry

For Rick Perry, Iowa's expected defeat and the loss of Virginia as a primary ground will be the end of his fitful presidential campaign.

A frontrunner in the Republican race, Perry's disastrous debate performances and PR goofs, including the infamous Texas ranch episode, have caused him to plummet to fourth place, getting in at around 6 percent of the GOP vote in recent polls and placing him behind Romney, Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul.

After Perry's "oops" moment, one of the most excruciating moments of the Republican primary, he tried to restart his campaign with a Christmas ad spot, but only ended up amusing or infuriating more viewers.

"Something is wrong with our country when gays can serve openly in the military but our children can't openly celebrate Christmas," Perry said in the infamous ad.

The TV spot launched numerous viral parodies even as commentators made it the most disliked video on YouTube (over 700,000 users have given the video a thumbs-down).

And despite Perry's fundraising (he'd netted $17 million by October, second only to Romney), many of those funds come from corporations, not donors like those who helped propel Ron Paul's campaign in Iowa.

Perry's fundraising, meanwhile, has been on a steady decline ever since the candidates truly took the national stage.

His positions are less well known than his gaffes, and his Texas swagger doesn't do much in a health care debate. Most of his appearances have only solidified the general impression that, as New York Magazine put it last month, "he's not the sharpest tool in the shed."

Rick Perry has been losing the Republican primary race for months. But this blow in Virginia, even if it ends up being overturned, is just one more campaign gaffe. His presidential campaign is over less than six months after it truly began.

The End of Newt Gingrich?

Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, is used to bouncing back from losses, not plummeting from fast and easy gains.

Unlike Perry, his campaign was declared dead-on-arrival before being re-invigorated this fall, and Gingrich's political career, including when he was Speaker of the House, has often been as much about recovery and spin as it has been about riding the wave of success.

Gingrich, however, also had far more to lose: unlike Rick Perry, he was preparing for a Virginia primary as one of the top candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. That lead was based in part of his assured grasp of political nuances in the recent debates and the impression that his campaign was becoming a well-oiled machine.

Gingrich had planned to use Virginia as a way to continue wooing reluctant Romney supporters over to his side, building on his fought-for advantage. Despite leading in Iowa, he needed more than one state to secure his position as nominee apparent, and the Southern swing state looked to be it.

"It's a demonstration that Gingrich is outrunning Romney in states beyond Iowa," press secretary told WLWT on Wednesday.

Now, however, reports indicate that Gingrich's loss was due to a combination of invalid signatures and poor campaign organization.

With both hints of something murky in the phrase "invalid signatures" and the impression that Gingrich's campaign staff didn't even know their own numbers, his political rivals smelled blood in the water.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, told The New York Times that the mistake was "cringe-worthy."

"It's a gut-check moment for Republicans," Mr. Fehrnstrom said. "Winning campaigns have to be able to execute on the fundamentals. This is like watching a hitter in the World Series failing to lay down a bunt."

Gingrich's failure to realize or admit that he lacked enough signatures, meanwhile, has everyone from political analysts to potential voters on Twitter scratching their heads as to how a man who had been leading in Virginia managed to let the all-important state slip through his fingers.

"It's a disaster for him," said Larry J. Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. "[The lack of organization] suggests you're not a serious candidate."

The Question of Super Tuesday

Gingrich's failure to get on the Virginia primary ballot could also spell trouble for his chances on Super Tuesday, where ten states will join Virginia on March 6 and eleven, including swing states like Colorado, Florida and Michigan, will have cast primary votes.

Newt Gingrich supporters, news sources speculate, might see a vote for Gingrich as a waste if they don't feel he can win without Virginia. Why vote for a Super Tuesday candidate who you already know has been ousted from one of the states in play?

Yet Super Tuesday, following the Virginia primary ballot debacle, could also end up being Gingrich's electoral salvation.

Newt Gingrich is ahead in Iowa, but he remains behind in the polls in New Hampshire, a crucial state. If he can manage to rise in the New Hampshire polls, a comeback which perhaps only a political chameleon like Gingrich can pull off, than other wins on Super Tuesday could still make him the anti-Romney for which the GOP seems desperately to be searching.

The 2012 GOP primary race is not a winner-take-all, but a day-by-day scramble for castoff votes as candidates (reliably neutral Romney aside) continue to rise and fall in the political battle.

Newt Gingrich has an almost guaranteed win in Georgia, which he represented in Congress, and despite the painful loss of Virginia could still net Tennessee or Oklahoma, as well as garnering votes in pre-Super Tuesday states like Florida (where he's at the top) and South Carolina.

If the Republican presidential primaries have taught American viewers (and voters) anything, it's that candidates are never safe at the top. But if Newt Gingrich's political history has taught us anything, it's that the former Speaker is often most dangerous when he's down.

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/272577/20111225/gingrich-virginia-primary-ballot-perry-campaign-over.htm

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Video: Problems in the system

October 30: Plouffe, roundtable

Nearly a year away from the 2012 election, we?ll talk to the president?s 2008 campaign manager, now White House Senior Adviser, David Plouffe. Then author of the definitive new biography on the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson; Author of the new book ?The Time of Our Lives,? NBC News Special Correspondent, Tom Brokaw; Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm; and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45787085#45787085

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African Bulldog takes on iPhone

African Bulldog takes on iPhone

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Gaza's thriving tunnel imports unleash building boom (Reuters)

GAZA (Reuters) ? At last, Nael Zeyara has a steady job in construction, thanks to the smuggling of cement through Gaza's network of tunnels to Egypt, an underground supply line that boosts the Israeli-blockaded enclave and creates jobs.

Zeyara, 30, has been out of work for four years.

"I lead a tough life with a wife and four children in a rented house," Zeyara told Reuters as he worked.

"Six or seven months ago I got my job back when supplies began to flow again," he said. Zeyara earns about $19 a day.

Thanks to hundreds of tunnels in the sandy soil of the border zone, a construction boom has buoyed Gaza's otherwise crippled economy, according to a United Nations report.

Israel only allows construction materials into Gaza for the use of international relief agencies, including the building of houses and schools. It has recently permitted the import of limited quantities to rebuild some factories destroyed in its largest military offensive in Gaza, in 2009.

The U.N. report said that in an economy severely depressed for most of the past decade developments in the first half of 2011 provided some marginal relief.

"Employment jumped by more than 47,000 jobs in first-half 2011, or 24.7 percent, to an estimated 237,475. The broad unemployment rate declined to 32.9 percent from 45.2 percent in second-half 2010," the report said.

TUNNELS OUTSTRIP OVERLAND SUPPLY

Gazans say the tunnels have enabled them to bring in all of their needs "from the needle to the rocket."

The underground business continues to flourish, undeterred by dozens of deaths from Israeli air strikes or cave-ins, and now far outstrips overland imports from Israel that enter Gaza via carefully supervised official crossing points.

"Despite the easing of restrictions on the Israeli-imposed blockade, tight controls of the crossings from Israel into Gaza are a significant factor behind the growth in the tunnel economy," said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians (UNRWA).

U.N. estimates for the import of building materials in September show that 46,500 tonnes of aggregate arrived via the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza, whereas 90,000 tonnes came through the tunnels.

Some 9,195 tonnes of cement came through Kerem Shalom, against 90,000 through the tunnels. For steel rods, 1,418 tonnes transited Kerem Shalom versus 15,000 via the underground route.

UNRWA says Gaza's jobless rate is still one of the most severe in the world and a "reversal of deepening poverty and aid dependency among ordinary people in Gaza is unlikely."

About 1.7 million Palestinians are estimated to live in the narrow coastal enclave, a strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea between southern Israel and Egypt's Sinai border.

It is controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the West.

The Hamas administration says many factories that had closed doors in 2007, when Israel tightened its blockade after Hamas seized Gaza from forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, have now re-opened and re-hired their employees.

"The more building increases, the bigger the number of people who will join the labor force," said contractor Majed Sabra, supervising at team of 10 at a construction site.

RESTRICTED EXPORTS

Israel restricts the import by Gaza of construction materials such as cement and steel, which it says could be used for military purposes by Gaza's armed factions.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have used the tunnels to import rockets which are fired sporadically into Israel.

Nevertheless, construction seems to be going on in every street. New roads have been paved, others are under construction and modest shopping malls have been inaugurated using private and Hamas money.

UNRWA acknowledges Gaza's "expanded activity due to the tunnel economy" but says the situation of about half a million Palestinian refugees in the territory remains a concern.

UN and Palestinian officials say Gaza will not see real progress without freedom to export. Israel allows limited exports from Gaza at the peak season for cut flowers and strawberries, shipped fresh to Europe.

The flow of building materials also has a social impact.

"I have built some houses for people whose marriages had been delayed because they could not build a house or expand the building at their family home," said Sabra, 42.

Hussam Breika, a businessman, he and his brothers were building a large home to unite them all under one roof, as Gazans traditionally live.

"Right now, each brother lives in a different area of Gaza. A family house is different. Family ties get stronger," said Breika, who imports food products and soft drinks via Israel.

(Reporting by Nidal Almughrabi; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111224/wl_nm/us_palestinians_gaza

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Disney Parks ?Disney Parks Christmas Parade? Broadcast Will Include Special Shazam Experience

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MousePlanet? is not associated in any official way with the Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates. The official Disney site is available at www.disney.com. This MousePlanet Web site provides independent news articles, commentary, editorials, reviews, and guides primarily about the theme park resorts of the Walt Disney Co. All information on this site is subject to change. Please call destinations in advance to confirm the most up-to-date information.

Source: http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?179092-?Disney-Parks-Christmas-Parade?-Broadcast-Will-Include-Special-Shazam-Experience&goto=newpost

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GMZ Energy Receives Fund to Develop Novel Renewable Technologies Using Thermoelectric Materials

By Cameron Chai

Since GMZ Energy sets out to produce a new category of renewable technologies, it will use this investment to augment its engineering and commercialization capabilities. The company produces superior-performance, affordable thermoelectric materials using its proprietary nanotechnology process. These materials convert primary heat sources like the sun and waste heat sources like car exhaust into useful energy and improve the utility and energy efficiency of the current and new products.

GMZ Energy, a specialist in direct heat-to-electricity conversion, is designing its maiden product for the industrial, commercial and residential solar thermal water market valued at $8 billion. The product, scheduled for launch in 2012, will couple directly its thermoelectric material with traditional solar hot water collectors, allowing electricity generation along with hot water and heat. This improves the value of each solar water system by lowering its cost, while ramping up the payback to customers. The company is also working on waste heat recovery applications for the industrial process and automotive industries.

Mitsui Ventures? Principal, Takahide Koda stated that the company?s investment in GMZ Energy is in line with its investment strategy of promoting developers of innovative technologies with a strong market potential. The company?s investment has turned out to be a smart deal thanks to the breakthrough nanotechnology process of GMZ Energy, he added.

Source: http://www.gmzenergy.com

Source: http://www.azom.com/news.aspx?newsID=31525

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Korean firm accused of illegal US military exports (AP)

CLEVELAND ? A South Korean company has been indicted in Cleveland on allegations it illegally exported infrared technology used by the U.S. military.

Federal authorities said Tuesday that EO System Co. Ltd. and three South Korean citizens are accused of exporting five telescopes from the U.S. to their country in 2005 without required U.S. government approval.

EO System's attorney Don Randolph says he has been in communication with the government about the matter for several years. The Santa Monica, Calif., lawyer says EO System intends to plead not guilty and press on with its defense.

The government says the case is related to that of a former NASA employee in Cleveland who was sentenced in November to 14 months in prison for illegally shipping night-vision rifle scope equipment to South Korean companies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_us/us_military_exports_charges

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Lincee Ray: Top Five Holiday Moments From the 2011 Television Season

Each year, there inevitably comes a time in late December when I'm in my car and I force myself to pause and really appreciate the merry moments from the current holiday season. This tradition typically creeps up on me when I am stuck in unexplainable traffic only to realize that I have absent-mindedly driven within 10 miles of the local mall and these crazy motorists won't take five seconds to let me legally merge so I can get across the highway. (I promise I'm not going to steal your parking space in front of Pottery Barn, Lady!) That coupled with the fact that every Lite FM station in the northern hemisphere chooses to play Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" at least twice an hour, and I'm struggling to keep the yuletide merriment in check. After switching off the radio (of course after the song is over because it completely sucks me in every time, because I love it so much) I sit at the intersection in silence, mentally creating a list of everything joyful and triumphant from the previous weeks, reminding myself that this is the season for remembering and giving to others.

It is without further adieu that I share my Top Five Holiday Moments From the 2011 Television Season. Grab some eggnog and enjoy.

1. Parks and Recreation "Citizen Knope"
Our friends at the Parks and Recreation Department feel that Leslie has outdone herself again by choosing the perfect Christmas gift for each employee. The group decides to make her a gingerbread replica of the office as a collective thank you.

Best Moment:
Ron: "I didn't do anything."
April: "That's okay. I took care of it. I made a marshmallow Ron Swanson. His arms are crossed because he's mad at all the other marshmallow workers for annoying him. Do you like it?"
Ron [teary]: "It's fine."

2. Community "Regional Holiday Music"
Everyone's favorite Glendale Community College study group agrees on one thing this holiday season: the Glee Club is obnoxious. As a former enthusiastic Gleek, (who feels the show is definitely on the fence this season) I enjoyed the blatant sarcastic parody and would buy the episode's soundtrack in a heart beat.

Best Moment:
Annie: "T-minus five seconds before the hip hop holiday mix."
Glee Club: "Re-re-re-remix! Re-re-re-remix! Fa-la-la-la-la, COME ON!"

3. New Girl "The 23rd"
I loved the ending of this episode when Nick takes Jess to see Candy Cane Lane in the middle of the night to cheer her up. The entire group chants, "Turn on your lights!" to give our new girl her Christmas wish. Believable? No. Charming? Quite. However, nothing can beat Schmidt's exchange with his boss regarding his annual holiday gig as Sexy Santa.

Best Moment:
Schmidt: I'm sorry Kim. No more Sexy Santa."
Kim: "Does that mean no more Sexy Easter Bunny?"
Schmidt: "No more Sexy Easter Bunny."
Kim: "No more Cinco de Sexy?"
Schmidt: "No more Cinco de Sexy."
Kim: "No more Sexy Martin Luther King?"
Schmidt: "I could never get the voice. I never felt I had the authority."


4. Modern Family "Express Christmas"
My favorite moments from Modern Family always seem to be when the ensemble splits into unlikely couples for the duration of the episode. In this case, Claire realizes that the family won't be together for the holidays and Phil issues an official "Express Christmas" mandate on the group. I thought each of the pairings was extremely entertaining, but this one stood out to me as the most laughable:

Best Moment:
Alex: "Wow, just because my uncle is clearly gay, doesn't mean he'd want to buy your tacky pink tree. And we'd rather throw Christmas lights all over our coat rack than to deal with knuckle draggers like you -- today, of all days -- December 16."
Mitchell: "First of all... amazing... second of all... "
Tree Farm Guy: "I was pointing to the truck. It's full of Douglas firs."
Lilly: "I have two Daddys."
Mitchell: "He gets it Lily."

5. Saturday Night LiveDecember 17, 2011
Sometimes it's best for readers to judge for themselves. Behold! "Michael Bubl? Duets!"

What do you guys think? Were there any holiday moments that I missed? Sound off in the comments section.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincee-ray/top-five-holiday-moments-_b_1165899.html

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Comparison of House, Senate payroll tax cut bills (Providence Journal)

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Census: Population slowing in large portions of US (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Many states that posted big population gains in the 2010 census are now seeing their decade-long growth fizzle, hurt by a prolonged economic slump that is stretching into larger portions of the South and West.

New 2011 estimates released Wednesday by the Census Bureau are the first state numbers since the 2010 count, which found the nation's population growth shifting to the Sun Belt.

As a whole, the U.S. population grew by 2.8 million, reaching 311.6 million people. That growth of 0.92 percent was the lowest since the mid-1940s, hurt by fewer births and less immigration following the recent recession. From 2000 to 2010, the government previously reported the nation grew 9.7 percent, the lowest since the Great Depression.

"The nation's overall growth rate is now at its lowest point since before the baby boom," said Census Bureau director Robert Groves.

Washington, D.C., grew faster than any state in the nation, climbing by 2.7 percent from April 2010 to July of this year. It was the first time the District led states in growth since the early 1940s. Texas was next-fastest growing, followed by Utah, Alaska, Colorado and North Dakota.

States that prospered during the real estate boom, such as Arizona, Nevada and Florida, were already beginning to show a drop in growth when their populations were officially counted a year ago. Since then, the slowdown has spread to other burgeoning areas whose populations had previously withstood much of the dampening effects of the sluggish economy.

They include Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Idaho, whose annual growth over the last two years is now the weakest than any time in the last decade.

Texas, the big 2010 winner owing to a diversified economy that attracted new residents during the recession, is seeing its growth slow as fewer people move there. In contrast, Democratic-leaning states such as California and New York are losing fewer residents to other states than before.

"Record low migration has continued to put a damper on what looked to be a Sun Belt growth explosion just five years ago," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, who reviewed the numbers. "States that seemed immune from the housing bust are now experiencing declining population growth as employment opportunities in a variety of industries contract, and as mortgages seem nearly impossible to obtain."

The Census Bureau released state population estimates as of July 1, 2011. The data show annual changes through births, deaths, and domestic and foreign migration.

In all, 38 states showed lower growth in 2010 and 2011 than in either of the previous two years during the recession. Twenty-three of these states are in South and West region. Moreover, 28 states showed either slower in-migration or greater out-migration than in either of the first two years of the recession. These include Nevada and Arizona, but also Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado and Utah.

Three states ? Rhode Island, Michigan and Maine ? have lost population since the 2010 census.

Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services, said if the 2010 count had been held this year, Minnesota would have lost a seat in the House of Representatives and North Carolina would have picked up one due to the shifting population figures. Based on continuing losses, Rhode Island is now closer to losing one of its seats with just 41,000 people to spare. "It's definitely not moving in Rhode Island's favor," he said.

California remained the most populous state, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.

The slowing U.S. growth comes as foreign immigration has declined since the recession, and fewer people are moving around within the nation's borders. In the last year, just 11.6 percent of the nation's population moved to a new home ? the lowest since the government began tracking information on movers in 1948.

A few bright spots include North Dakota and Alaska, whose thriving energy industries have helped attract residents and buoy employment rates. Both ranked among the top six fastest-growing states for the last two years, ranking higher than Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

"After years of population decline, it's welcomed news to see that our economic growth over the last decade continues to keep North Dakotans home," said Gov. Jack Dalrymple. State demographers attributed the turnaround to an oil boom. The state's population gain since the 2010 census is nearly one-third as great as that during the entire decade from 2000-2010.

Florida, which saw its growth drop off sharply at the end of the last decade, is now showing signs of a slow recovery.

From 2007 to 2009, Florida saw more people move out than move in for the first time since the early 1970s; the latest estimates are now showing some rebound in population growth, due to fewer people who are moving to other southern states and greater gains from the northeast.

"The worst may be over for Florida," said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer and sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.

As a whole, the South last year was the only U.S. region with a statistically significant increase in the poverty rate to 16.9 percent, higher than the national average of 15.1 percent. Some economists say huge swaths of the region could face a tough recovery after experiencing dramatic swings of housing boom and bust.

In contrast, the District of Columbia's population has reversed decades of decline in the 2000s as young professionals flocked to the region. It topped 600,000 last year for the first time in nearly 20 years as the relative stability of federal government jobs helped insulate the district from the nation's economic woes.

__

Associated Press writers James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., and Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_go_ot/us_census_state_estimates

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