Army widow asks for return of stolen wedding rings

Zachary and Beth Tomczak embrace just shortly after he returned home from his third tour of duty in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. Zachary Tomczak was killed during his fourth tour by sniper fire. This Christmas, Beth Tomczak said her husband's wedding and engagement rings were stolen from her home in Belle.

Beth Tomczak said she thought her husband's wedding and engagement rings were lost in Iraq after his death in 2007.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Beth Tomczak said she thought her husband's wedding and engagement rings were lost in Iraq after his death in 2007.

When a married soldier dies, his belongings are sent home to his wife in black boxes. Every piece of clothing is washed and folded, every picture is wrapped and small items are placed in plastic bags.

Army Staff Sgt. Zachary Tomczak's wedding rings were in his box when they were sent to Beth Tomczak in September 2007, but it came weeks after his body was sent for burial. Sgt. Tomczak was killed from sniper fire just inches above his bulletproof vest during his fourth tour of duty in Iraq.

"He wasn't wearing a ring when he was killed," Beth Tomczak said. "Diamonds sparkle clearly in the night and they don't let soldiers wear them."

Tomczak said she was relieved when the rings arrived in the mail a few weeks later.

She worried she had lost the rings -- the only jewelry her husband ever wore.

Beth Tomczak, 27, said she is now afraid the rings are gone for good after a burglar slipped into her mother's house in Belle three weeks before Christmas and stole her jewelry box.

Among the pieces in the box were her husband's two rings, her wedding ring and her grandmother's pearls.

She left her jewelry box with her mother in Witcher Creek while she was in the process of moving to Fayetteville, N.C.

Three weeks before Christmas, someone apparently slipped through an open window and took the box while her mother was on vacation.

When she and her mother returned to the house, everything seemed to be fine.

"There were no signs that anyone had broken in. I went to look for my digital camera and I thought it was just misplaced," she said. "That's when I went to get my jewelry and I realized it was gone."

"There were three other jewelry boxes in the house, but the one in my room was the only one touched," she said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Beth Tomczak said she thought her husband's wedding and engagement rings were lost in Iraq after his death in 2007.

When a married soldier dies, his belongings are sent home to his wife in black boxes. Every piece of clothing is washed and folded, every picture is wrapped and small items are placed in plastic bags.

Army Staff Sgt. Zachary Tomczak's wedding rings were in his box when they were sent to Beth Tomczak in September 2007, but it came weeks after his body was sent for burial. Sgt. Tomczak was killed from sniper fire just inches above his bulletproof vest during his fourth tour of duty in Iraq.

"He wasn't wearing a ring when he was killed," Beth Tomczak said. "Diamonds sparkle clearly in the night and they don't let soldiers wear them."

Tomczak said she was relieved when the rings arrived in the mail a few weeks later.

She worried she had lost the rings -- the only jewelry her husband ever wore.

Beth Tomczak, 27, said she is now afraid the rings are gone for good after a burglar slipped into her mother's house in Belle three weeks before Christmas and stole her jewelry box.

Among the pieces in the box were her husband's two rings, her wedding ring and her grandmother's pearls.

She left her jewelry box with her mother in Witcher Creek while she was in the process of moving to Fayetteville, N.C.

Three weeks before Christmas, someone apparently slipped through an open window and took the box while her mother was on vacation.

When she and her mother returned to the house, everything seemed to be fine.

"There were no signs that anyone had broken in. I went to look for my digital camera and I thought it was just misplaced," she said. "That's when I went to get my jewelry and I realized it was gone."

"There were three other jewelry boxes in the house, but the one in my room was the only one touched," she said.

She immediately called Kanawha County Sheriff's deputies to file a report.

"I'm from Witcher Creek and there is a lot of drug activity up there," she said. "The deputy told me it was probably stolen and traded for drugs."

Beth Tomczak said she believes whoever stole the rings knows her and her mother. Her mother often gives out free meals and money to those in need. She believes it is not a coincidence that the house was burglarized the first day her mother went on vacation.

"Whoever did it took their time and cleaned up," she said. "We just converted my room from an attic. To anybody that didn't know, the door would have looked just like an attic."

She does not expect to find her grandmother's pearls or her wedding ring, but she does hold out hope of finding her husband's rings.

"I'm assuming someone bought them so I'm willing to pay to get them back," she said. "I just really want them back."

The pair was engaged in 2004, just shortly after Sgt. Tomczak's first tour in Iraq. She said their relationship was "love at first sight."

"I met him in January and we were married by May," she said.

Her husband enlisted in the Army immediately after graduating from high school in South Dakota. He was about to return to Iraq for his second tour of duty when they decided to buy their engagement rings.

The decision to buy the rings came after Zachary Tomczak's sergeant asked why she wasn't wearing one.

"[Zachary] explained that we had just moved to the base and we didn't have a lot of money," she said. "The commander said he shouldn't let a pretty girl like me be on base without a ring."

After signing up for a credit card, Sgt. Tomczak took his fianc?e out to pick out rings for both her and him.

Reach Travis Crum at travis.c...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.

Source: http://wvgazette.com/rssFeeds/201112290164

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Former NFL Linebacker Chris Draft Inspires Thousands After Losing His Wife To Cancer

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It?s a modern day fairytale mixed with all the ingredients that make up one of the greatest love stories of 2011. In one day over 12,ooo people had been touched by the story of Chris and Keasha Draft

It wasn?t until after reading about the recent passing of Keasha Rutledge Draft, wife of former NFL Linebacker Chris Draft, that I realized that true love still exist. According to sources close to the couple, Keasha had been diagnosed with cancer yet Chris loved her throughout her illness and granted her wish to become his bride on November 27, 2011. Sadly, Keasha lost her fight with cancer on Tuesday December 27, 2011; ironically one month after marrying Chris.

For the full story visit Atlanta Tastemaker Magazine.

Source: http://downtown.11alive.com/news/96145-former-nfl-linebacker-chris-draft-inspires-thousands-after-losing-his-wife-cancer

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Election 101: How an Iowa GOP caucus works

Contrary to popular belief, the Iowa caucuses are not a part of the state populated by Georgians, Armenians, and Azerbaijanis. Sorry, bad pun. (See Caucasus, a region of Eurasia.) But there is some confusion about what the Iowa caucuses are, exactly. So in a few easy steps, let us explain what will happen in the Hawkeye State the evening of Jan. 3 ? the first presidential nominating contest of the season.

- Linda Feldmann,?Staff writer

1. What is a caucus?

Generally speaking, a caucus is a club or meeting of like-minded people. In the context of presidential politics, a caucus is a gathering of Republicans or Democrats for the purpose of stating a preference for their party?s presidential nomination. In Iowa, a caucus is held in each precinct, which means 1,774 meetings around the state. Republicans and Democrats caucus differently. Because the Republican caucuses are highly competitive this time around, while the Democratic ones aren?t ? we predict President Obama will win ? we?ll discuss just the Republicans.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/usa/~3/TSeY8w1X614/Election-101-How-an-Iowa-GOP-caucus-works

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Warren J. Blumenfeld: Girl Scout Organization Fulfills Its Promises and Laws

"I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."
--The Girl Scout Law

When Bobby Montoya, a 7-year-old transgender girl, wished to join the Girl Scouts of Denver, Colo., the troop's leader initially turned down her request by reportedly telling her mother and grandmother, "It doesn't matter how he looks, he has boy parts, he can't be in Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts don't allow that [and] I don't want to be in trouble by parents or my supervisor."

Bobby, upon hearing the news, felt devastated and depressed, and began to cry. Her mom, Felisha Archuleta, stated that Bobby has expressed her gender as a girl since about the age of 2 years old and has "loved girl stuff," so she permitted Bobby to dress and express gender how she wanted "as long as [Bobby's] happy."

Felisha objected to the troop's decision, and recently, the Girl Scouts of Colorado rescinded its earlier decision and released a statement that "Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout."

And by so doing, the Girl Scout leadership has fulfilled its own written laws "to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible."

Not all troops and troop leaders, however, welcomed the Colorado decision. Specifically, three Girl Scout leaders affiliated with the Northlake Christian School in Covington, La. resigned their posts and disbanded their troops. One of the leaders who resigned, Susan Bryant-Snure, who has three daughters among the approximately 25 scouts in her troop, reported to The Christian Post that the action taken by the Girl Scouts of Colorado is "extremely confusing" and an "almost dangerous situation" for children. "This goes against what we [Northlake Christian School] believe."

The three former Girl Scout leaders said they may now affiliate with American Heritage Girls (AHG), a Christian association founded in 1995 in reaction to an earlier decision by the Girl Scouts of America allowing scouts to use alternate words to "God" in their pledge. AHG proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord, teaches Christian doctrines, and restricts membership to those assigned "female" at birth.

The Baptist Press reported that Jeff Johnston, spokesperson for the ultra-conservative Focus on the Family, argued that permitting transgender youth to join the Girl Scouts would "lead to growing societal confusion about gender" and added that "[s]trong cultural campaigns are already underway to teach that gender doesn't matter, and to promote more than two genders." The Baptist Press wrote that Johnston also claimed that his organization had been contacted by mothers in Colorado afraid about their daughters "attending camping trips with boys pretending to be girls."

Well, Bobby and other people who live along the transgender spectrum are not "pretending" to be anyone or anything other than themselves, their true and authentic selves.

In her 1990 essay "Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions," critical theorist Judith Butler wrote, "Gender is ... a construction that regularly conceals its genesis; the tacit collective agreement to perform, produce, and sustain discrete and polar genders as cultural fictions is obscured by the credibility of those productions -- and the punishments that attend not agreeing to believe in them."

So with the reality that "gender" itself is socially constructed and socially determined, I refute Johnston's contention that the Scout's decision to admit Bobby "will lead to growing societal confusion about gender." Instead, this decision helps to underscore the artificiality and social manufacture or production of this thing, actually, these behaviors we call "gender."

In her 1990 essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution," Butler equates gender with actions that one performs as an actor performs a role upon a stage: "Hence, gender is an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again."

While living in a social environment -- one that mandates gender-role conformity while promoting misunderstanding, misinformation, bigotry, and, yes, persecution and violence --transgender people are attempting to live their lives with integrity and authenticity. I would even go so far as to assume that maybe even consciously or unconsciously, members of the transgender community are attempting to live according to the scout qualities enumerated in the Girl Scout laws, especially regarding making the world a better place.

I know that I am a better person and one who feels more optimistic and safer in the world knowing that there are young people like Bobby who refuse to adhere to the constraining, outmoded, and oppressive notions of gender, and mothers like Felisha who refuse to impose and reiterate gender-role conformity on their children.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-j-blumenfeld/girl-scouts-bobby-montoya_b_1168416.html

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Riot at the Mall of America (Powerlineblog)

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20k+ Stolen From Niagara County Church

PENDLETON, NY - "Someone was planning this. This wasn't a last minute thought," surmised Pastor Tom Kraft of the Pendleton Center United Methodist Church, regarding the theft of an estimated $20,000-$25,000 over the holiday weekend.

The amount reflected the entire Christmas offering from the congregation of about 2,500 at the church on Campbell Boulevard.

Kraft says the theft occurred sometime between 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon, when he and the rest of the staff left the church after Christmas services, and Monday morning when the crime was discovered.

Ordinarily, the money would have been counted and deposited at a nearby bank by a church staffer that afternoon. But it was Christmas.

"So we thought we'd let them enjoy Christmas and take care of it on Monday," Kraft said.

Stopping short of categorizing the theft as an "inside job", Kraft nonetheless believes the theft was committed by someone with knowledge of the church, and who perhaps guessed correctly that the Christmas offering would be significantly larger than the donations collected on a typical weekend.

"It may be a total stranger, but more than likely it's someone who's already been in the building and connected to some form of what we do," he said.

There was no forced entry on any part of the church exterior.

"They might have had a key, they might have left a door ajar somewhere in the back area of the church, they might have even hidden in the church, so it could be any of those possibilities We really don't know."

Kraft says the thief or thieves were able to not only gain access to the church, but also seemed to know just where to look for the money, adding that they somehow bypassed one locked interior door, before smashing through two other locked doors to get to where the money was being kept.

He says the congregation has been generous in responding to the theft, and so have others.

"I had a fellow pastor who said, 'well we're sending you a check to help out'," remarked Kraft, who also had a message for the person or persons responsible.

"This is going to hurt a lot of people, and we would hope you could find it in your heart to bring this back and make and make things right...we pray for the people who did this because Jesus says pray for those who persecute you."

The Niagara County Sheriff's Department is investigating the theft and anyone with information may call (716) 438-3327

Click on the video player to watch our story from 2 On Your Side Reporter Dave McKinley and Photojournalist Bob Mancuso.

Click?here to read Dave McKinley's latest blog.

Source: http://niagarafalls.wgrz.com/news/news/61937-20k-stolen-niagara-county-church

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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5666871786

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U.S. again says China not currency manipulator (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The U.S. Treasury again shied away from labeling China a currency manipulator on Tuesday, but it rapped the country for not moving quickly enough on exchange rate reforms.

Some U.S. politicians have argued that China has gained an unfair competitive edge in global markets by keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, and pressure has mounted in Congress for President Barack Obama to punish China.

But the administration prefers to tread softly and use diplomacy to effect change. The U.S. Treasury, in a semi-annual report, as usual said that statutes covering a designation of currency manipulator "have not been met with respect to China."

It repeated its standard line that appreciation in the yuan has been too slow, calling it "insufficient."

"Treasury will closely monitor the pace of appreciation and press for policy changes that yield greater exchange rate flexibility, a level playing field, and a sustained shift to domestic demand-led growth," it said in the report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.

The value of the yuan, which Beijing manages closely, has risen 4 percent against the dollar this year and 7.7 percent since China dropped a firm peg against the greenback in June 2010. The Peterson Institute for International Economics recently estimated the yuan was undervalued by 24 percent against the dollar, down from 28 percent earlier in the year. It attributed the change to both Beijing's policy of gradual currency appreciation and higher Chinese inflation.

At the heart of the friction between the two countries is a U.S. trade deficit with China that swelled in 2010 to a record $273.1 billion from about $226.9 billion in 2009. The cumulative Jan-Oct deficit with China is on track to top that this year, running at around $245.5 billion.

The U.S. Senate this year for the first time passed a bill that would require the administration to slap penalties on Chinese imports if it fails to adopt market-based exchange rates. While the measure has made no progress in the lower chamber and is unlikely to become law, it shows the mounting U.S. frustration with its vital trade partner.

President Obama at the November APEC meetings, in his toughest words yet, told President Hu Jintao that China must play by global trade rules and act like "a grown-up."

MORE OF THE SAME

But Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the law on the FX report, which requires the administration to determine whether U.S. trade partners are deliberately undervaluing their currencies, is a poor tool to push Beijing on the yuan.

Instead, the United States prefers to argue for change at its regular closed-door meetings with Chinese officials. It also uses international economic forums, such as the Group of 20 leading nations and the International Monetary Fund, to ramp up public pressure on Beijing to move more quickly to a more-flexible currency.

China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, with about $1.1 trillion, a position that gives it leverage in international economic negotiations. Foreign exchange traders had not expected a change of U.S. tactics.

"It's not very surprising. It's sort of sliding it in under the radar. They're (Treasury) really not in a position to make any major moves at this point," said Sean Incremona, an economist at 4Cast in New York.

The Treasury Department has not labeled a country a currency manipulator since July 1994, when it cited China. A designation would require the United States to step up negotiations with Beijing on the yuan's value.

The yuan slipped on Tuesday as strong dollar demand from corporations offset a record high mid-point fixed by the People's Bank of China. The central bank set an all-time high dollar/yuan mid-point in an apparent move to let the yuan rise a little more at the end of 2011 so as to make the yuan's full-year nominal appreciation look bigger, traders said.

Some U.S. manufacturers, which have been hit hardest by competition from China and other emerging economies, would still prefer the U.S. government to take a harder line.

"China's currency is still enormously undervalued," said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an industry lobby for hard-hit textile, steel and labor groups.

"I'm disappointed that President Obama has now formally refused six times to cite China for its currency manipulation, a practice which has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs."

(Additional reporting by Luciana Lopez and Doug Palmer; Editing by Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/bs_nm/us_usa_china_currency

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VIDEO: Get Ready for More Pretty Little Liars! Everyone Is Fighting! (omg!)

When Pretty Little Liars returns, the girls will not be the tight-knit foursome we're used to seeing.

"The girls have formed this schism, especially between Spencer and Emily," Troian Bellisario, who plays Spencer, told TVGuide.com. "They have two very different ideas of how to approach what A has done to them."

Pretty Little Liars First Look: Things don't look good for the couples

Emily, meanwhile, is no longer backing down and following Spencer's plans. "Emily has gained so much confidence," Shay Mitchell says."She's really on a mission to find out who A is and put a stop to everything."

In the video below, we catch up with Bellisario, Mitchell, Lucy Hale and Ashley Benson, who share some insight into the upcoming season, including Aria and Ezra's "coming out," the return of Maya, and three (yes, three!) big fight scenes.

Last Iraq combat troops back at Fort Hood

FORT HOOD, Texas?? 1st Sgt. Scott Dawson has spent several Christmases overseas during four deployments to Iraq, but he arrived home for this holiday Saturday ? and he and his family hope it's for good.

Dawson was among the very last U.S. combat soldiers to leave Iraq a week ago. Members of his brigade having been arriving Fort Hood in Texas over the past week, and he was in a group of nearly 200 that landed Saturday. Only about a dozen are still overseas, along with members of another brigade that was in the final convoy to cross the border into Kuwait.

The soldiers' families waited for two hours in drizzling rain and chilling wind on Christmas Eve morning, some wrapped in blankets and holding signs decorated with ornaments and candy canes. They screamed upon seeing the troops from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division arrive in buses and march onto a field at the Army post.

When the announcer yelled "Charge!" at the end of the brief welcome-home ceremony, wives, children and parents ran to the soldiers, hugging and kissing them.

Dawson's wife, Capt. Jessica Dawson, said his absence has been difficult even though she may have a better understanding than other spouses. She deployed with her husband in 2009.

"He's missed a lot of birthdays and holidays, but you don't dwell on what you missed, and they are little enough that they won't remember he wasn't here," Jessica Dawson said. "The biggest thing is that he made it (back). Like I told the kids, even if he doesn't get back in time, this will be the best Christmas ever because he's out of Iraq."

Dawson kissed his wife and scooped up his two young daughters as they ran into his arms. Like many soldiers, he said he just wanted to spend time with his family over the holidays and hadn't made elaborate plans.

"It's great ... but it's odd because usually I don't get to stay home for very long," said Dawson, who is staying in the Army and isn't sure if he will be deployed to Afghanistan or somewhere else.

The troops slipped out of Iraq a week ago in heavily armored personnel carriers that moved under cover of darkness and in strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks. Dawson said the significance of being among the last to leave hadn't yet sunk in.

"In the future I'm sure this will really hit me," he said.

Col. Douglas Crissman, the 3rd Brigade's commander, also just returned home and said it was a privilege that the brigade was the last to leave Iraq. Preparing for the final exit took a year, he said.

Video: Last troops leave Iraq (on this page)

"Fort Hood has given a lot ? blood, treasure, time and sacrifice ? like many Army installations, so being part of the closing days in Iraq is fitting," he said Saturday as he watched soldiers hug their families. "It's great to be part of the end. There's closure. We were the last vehicles to roll out, and that was a privilege."

Fort Hood has about 46,500 active-duty soldiers. Since 2003, more than 565 have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to officials at the Army post.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45783932/ns/us_news-life/

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S. Calif. VA hospitals brace for returning troops

LOMA LINDA, Calif. ? Veterans Affairs hospitals across Southern California are bracing for a flood of veterans with the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

VA hospitals in the region are expecting as many as 16,000 returning veterans. Officials at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center in Loma Linda expect to see an influx by March.

Program manager Jacqueline Taylor tells the San Bernardino Sun ( http://bit.ly/uwvG50 ) most will initially go to the VA medical centers in San Diego and Long Beach. Some will eventually head to the inland region.

To prepare for the increase, officials at the Loma Linda VA hospital are planning to build a new multistory medical office building.

---

Information from: The Sun, http://www.sbsun.com

The Associated Press

Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/25/s-calif-va-hospitals-brace-for-returning-troops/

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New Canadians know more about Canada than those born here: Survey

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var winloc = isIE ? document.URL.split('/') : document.documentURI.split('/') ,
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reg_removed_id = /^nav-/i;


for (var i=nav_item_list.length-1,n; n=nav_item_list[i]; i--) {

if ( channel_id === $(n).children('a').attr('id').replace(reg_removed_id,'') ) {
var list = $(n).children('ul').children('li');

if (sub_chanel_id.length > 0) {

for (var j=list.length-1,l; l=list[j]; j--) {

if (reg_sub_find_id.test($(l).children('a').attr('href'))) {
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$('.cw-header #header-search-form').attr('action','http://canadacom.yellowpages.ca/search/');
$('.cw-header #header-search-string').attr('name','what');
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if ($(event.relatedTarget).parents('.main-nav').length 0)?"" + value.substring(0,pos) + "" + value.substring(pos, term.length) + "" + value.substring(pos + term.length) + "":value.substring(0, term.length) + "" + value.substring(pos + term.length) + ""; }, scroll: false, selectFirst: false }); });

Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F56/~3/TXg6hwRo3WA/story.html

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Southern California soldier hospitalized after shooting at his homecoming party

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A decorated Army soldier recovering from injuries suffered in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan has been shot at his homecoming party, and family members say he's paralyzed and in critical condition.

Christopher Sullivan, 22, was shot late Friday while trying to break up a fight between his brother and another man at a San Bernardino, Calif., residence.

"My son didn't deserve this. He served his country," his mother, Suzanne Sullivan, told the San Bernardino Sun (http://bit.ly/sjycMA).

Suzanne Sullivan said her son suffered two gunshot wounds to his back, which shattered his spine. Family members told the newspaper that the shooting late Friday left Sullivan paralyzed and in critical condition.

Police said Sullivan's brother and a partygoer got into an argument over football. When Sullivan moved to intervene, the man pulled a gun and opened fire.

The gunman fled the scene before police arrived.

Sullivan was wounded in a suicide bombing attack last year in Kandahar while serving with the 101st Infantry Division. He suffered a cracked collar bone and brain damage in the attack and has been recovering in Kentucky where he is stationed. He was awarded a Purple Heart.

Sullivan was home on leave when the shooting occurred.

"To come home to this, it's so unfair," his aunt Theresa Marquez told the newspaper.

His enlistment would be complete in April, after which Sullivan had planned to come home to go to college.

Family members are calling on the shooter to surrender.

Police have not identified the suspect.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/nation/136206618.html

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Legal Schnauzer: Judge's Ruling on Montana Blogger's Case Has ...

A federal judge recently found that a Montana blogger?could not claim protections afforded mainstream journalists, and that ruling led to a $2.5-million defamation judgment against the blogger.

News outlets have reported that the ruling, by U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez of Oregon, has ?implications for bloggers across the country. In fact, the story hit close to home here recently when I had an e-conversation with a prominent figure in the progressive blogosphere. This was a gentleman I do not know well, but I have admired his work from afar for years, and he stated that his organization now might be at heightened risk because of the Montana blogger's case.

That's when I decided Legal Schnauzer needed to provide clarification on this issue. It's true that Judge Hernandez' ruling might set off a chain of events that someday could have broad implications for non-traditional journalists. But that process could take 10 years or more, and Hernandez' finding could be completely overturned along the way. For now, the ruling has implications for only one blogger--and that's Crystal L. Cox, the Montana woman who was on the wrong end of the $2.5-million judgment.

In fact, the outcome might not even have much impact on Cox. She has stated that she doesn't have the necessary funds to pay the judgment. And Kevin Padrick, the Oregon lawyer who sued Cox, acknowledges that he is not likely to receive much, if any, of the judgment.

So what should the public make of the Crystal L. Cox ruling? In my judgment, not a whole lot. Should people pay attention to Crystal L. Cox and her work as a citizen journalist? In my judgment, they should.

Cox, a feisty resident of Eureka, Montana, bills herself as an investigative blogger, real estate broker/owner, and real estate whistleblower, among other things. She blogs at a host of sites, including crystallcox.com, crystalcox.com, investigativeblogger.com, industrywhistleblower.com, and obsidianfinancesucks.com.

Reporting on Obsidian Finance Group landed Cox in legal hot water. Obsidian is based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and according to its Web site, the firm "is particularly adept at finding unique financial and structuring solutions to the most difficult problems." Kevin Padrick, a lawyer by training, is a senior principal and co-founder of Obsidian.

Padrick served as a trustee in a bankruptcy case involving Summit Accommodators, a company that "helped property owners conduct real estate transactions in a way to limit taxes." Summit apparently was not above board in its activities. Three executives face federal fraud and money laundering indictments.

Cox determined that Padrick was not above board either. In a post dated December 22, 2010, she referred to Padrick as a "corrupt thug, thief, and a dirty lawyer"--and that was just in the headline. This is from the body of the post:

Kevin Padrick of Obsidian Finance LLC is a Criminal, he has broken many laws in the last 2 years to do with the Summit 1031 case and regardless of the guilt of the Summit 1031 principals, Kevin Padrick is a THUG and a Thief hiding behind the Skirt tails of a corrupt un-monitored bankruptcy court system and protected by Corrupt Bend DA and Corrupt Bend Oregon Judges.

Was Cox' reporting on target? I'm not sure, but I've read enough public documents from bankruptcy court here in Birmingham to make me think these proceedings often are rife with corruption.

Did Cox get careless with her reporting? Did she come to sweeping conclusions that she could not back up? That's possible. Cox writes on so many different Web sites that it's difficult to make an assessment of her reporting. She appears to have some ability as a researcher, but she makes frequent use of inflammatory language and some of her work is written in a disjointed style, on a complicated topic, making it hard to determine what she has or has not proven.

This much is clear: Padrick and his colleagues at Obsidian did not appreciate Cox' reporting efforts. They claimed her posts were false and defamatory, that she had hurt their business. A federal jury in Oregon wound up agreeing with them.

What's my take? Cox might have made some missteps in her reporting, but I'm guessing she was poking around in some seriously dark corners. I'm also guessing that the jury verdict might not hold up if Cox is able to mount an appeal.

Why do I say that? Judge Hernandez made two key conclusions that appellate judges might not agree with--(1) That Cox was not protected by shield laws that keep mainstream reporters from having to reveal their sources; and (2) That Cox was not protected by an Oregon law that requires a party to demand a retraction before seeking damages for defamation in court.

How did the judge reach these conclusions? From a report at Raw Story:

U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez ruled that Cox was not protected by Oregon?s shield law, which allows journalists to protect their sources.

?Although the defendant is a self-proclaimed ?investigative blogger? and defines herself as ?media,? the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system,? he wrote in his decision. ?Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the law.?

Hernandez also argued there was no proof that Cox adhered to journalistic standards and noted that she had no professional qualifications as a journalist. He also noted that the shield law does not apply to defamation cases and that the bankruptcy case was not in the public interest.

The post was defamation, Hernandez said, because a reasonable person would be led to believe the blog post was factual. But Cox refused to reveal her source and could not back up her facts.

How is a bankruptcy case, conducted in a court that is financed with taxpayer dollars, not in the public interest? I have no idea where the judge came up with that one.

I intend to follow Crystal L. Cox' work. She appears to base much of her reporting on public documents, as we do here at Legal Schnauzer. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism and 30-plus years of professional experience in the field, and Cox does not have those sorts of credentials. But I think it's important to avoid "news elitism," to avoid assuming that people like Crystal Cox can't do serious journalism. Cox' experiences seem to have taught her that the real-estate industry has set up rules to protect its own interests, at the expense of the public interest. I have come to similar conclusions about the legal industry.

Ms. Cox probably could use the guidance of a seasoned editor. But she has stated that she does not intend to let the $2.5 million judgment stand in the way of her reporting. Is that a good thing for the cause of transparency? I suspect that it is.

As for the findings of the federal judge in Oregon, the public should keep this point in mind:

Marco Hernandez is a district judge, and his rulings have absolutely no precedential value. Legal precedent can only be set by appellate courts, and even then, different circuits do not always incorporate the findings in other circuits.

If Crystal Cox is able to appeal the jury verdict to the Ninth Circuit, which covers Oregon, it might be upheld or it might be overturned. Either way, there is no guarantee that other circuits will follow the Ninth's lead on similar cases. Issues raised in the Crystal Cox case might someday land before the U.S. Supreme Court. But who knows if any of us will live long enough to see that.

The Associated Press has reported that the Cox case has "implications" for bloggers around the country. But that is not true.?It has implications, as of now, for one blogger, in one case, in one federal district court.

And Crystal Cox, to her credit, does not plan to go away quietly.

Here is a video of Cox discussing the real-estate industry and some of the potential pitfalls of buying a house. To my ears, she makes a lot of sense--and her voice needs to be heard, not silenced:

Source: http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2011/12/judges-ruling-on-montana-bloggers-case.html

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Cuba says travel restrictions to remain in place (AP)

HAVANA ? President Raul Castro on Friday put on ice highly-anticipated plans to ease travel restrictions on Cubans, telling lawmakers the nation would not be pressured into moving too fast and citing continued aggression from the United States as the reason for his cautious approach.

Cuba has been awash in speculation the much-hated regulations, which prevent most Cubans from leaving the island, might be lifted during Friday's session of the National Assembly. But Castro said the time still wasn't right, despite a year of free-market reforms that has seen the Communist government legalize a real estate market and greatly increase private business ownership.

"Some have been pressuring us to take the step ... as if we were talking about something insignificant, and not the destiny of the revolution," Castro said, adding that those calling for an end to the travel restrictions "are forgetting the exceptional circumstances under which Cuba lives, encircled by the hostile policy ... of the U.S. government."

Castro criticized U.S. President Barack Obama, saying he was the 11th American president since the 1959 revolution led by his brother Fidel, and appeared "not to understand" the sacrifices Cuba had made in its struggle for independence and sovereignty, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as Washington's 49-year trade and travel embargo.

"Sometimes, he (Obama) gives the impression he has not even been informed of this reality," Castro said, repeating his willingness to normalize relations with the U.S. under the right conditions.

Castro also announced an amnesty for 2,900 prisoners ahead of next year's visit by Pope Benedict XVI, but a senior official told the Associated Press that jailed American subcontractor Alan Gross would not be among those freed.

The Cuban president told legislators he still hoped to enact the travel reforms, but did not say when. If hopes were high among islanders that Friday would be the big day, Castro had only himself to blame.

At parliament's last session, in August, he announced that the government was committed to ease the travel restrictions. He said the measures were originally adopted because many who left in the years after the revolution were a threat to the nascent government, including people backed by the United States who sought its overthrow.

Castro said in August that most of those who leave now do so for economic reasons and are not enemies. He said removing travel restrictions would help "increase the nation's ties to the community of emigrants, whose makeup has changed radically since the early decades of the revolution."

Cubans had been clamoring for the elimination of the "tarjeta blanca," or exit visa, which the government requires of all seeking to travel abroad, even for vacation. Many people are denied, particularly doctors, scientists and military officials whose departure would be considered a threat to the state.

"The need for permission to leave should never have been invented in the first place," Victor Salgado, a 73-year-old retiree, told the Associated Press ahead of Castro's speech. "They should have eliminated this long ago. Why should I have to ask permission if I want to leave my country?"

Another Havana resident, Yamila Baez, said she was hoping the restrictions would be scrapped as soon as possible.

"It isn't normal that one has to ask the government for its okay," she said. "If you have the money to buy a ticket you should be able to go."

Castro's speech was the highlight of an otherwise humdrum parliament session in which legislators approved a budget for 2012 and heard from senior officials on the state of the economy.

Economy Minister Adel Yzquierdo told lawmakers the government expected economic growth to come in at 3.4 percent in 2012, a bit better than the 2.7 percent expected to be registered this year. Finance Minister Lina Pedraza added that the government expects both revenue and costs to rise in 2012, with the government running a deficit of about 3.8 percent.

Cuban officials also used the session to criticize Washington for its trade and travel embargo, and to call on the U.S. to release four Cuban agents still imprisoned there. A fifth left jail earlier this year, but has been blocked from returning to Cuba until he completes parole.

Cuba is ending the first year of a drive by Castro to reform its state-dominated economy. The government has allowed citizens to get business licenses for nearly 200 approved jobs, and 355,000 have taken them up on the offer. The state has also legalized a real estate market for the first time in nearly half a century, begun extending bank credits to entrepreneurs and those wishing to fix up their homes, and removed restrictions on the sale of used cars.

A parallel effort to trim half a million workers from state payrolls largely foundered.

___

Paul Haven can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_parliament

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A year of outer-space farewells

Pierre Ducharme / Reuters

The space shuttle Atlantis lands at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, ending 30 years' worth of shuttle missions. Click on the image to see msnbc.com's "Year in Space" slideshow.

By Alan Boyle

During 2011, NASA said goodbye?to the Spirit Mars rover and the space shuttle program ? but there's hope that during 2012, new players will?strut their stuff?on the space effort's huge stage, stretching from Cape Canaveral to the Red Planet.

This is my 15th annual "Year in Space" roundup, and in all those years I can't think of a starker time of transition between the year that's past and the year to come. The space shuttles are being readied for museums, and work hasn't yet started on the big rocket that NASA says it will need for the next era of human space exploration. The space agency's plans for commercializing operations in low Earth orbit could well be tied up in budgetary knots, and there are questions about how much farther its robotic Mars exploration program can go.

---

Farewells and failures, including Russia's Soyuz glitch and Phobos-Grunt gremlins,?dominated the news from space over the past year.

But it's not all gloom and doom: One of NASA's Mars rovers may have given up the ghost, but the other one ? Opportunity ? has begin its most ambitious adventure yet, exploring the 14-mile-wide Endeavour Crater on Mars. Juno, GRAIL and Mars Science Laboratory?were launched toward Jupiter, the moon and Mars, respectively. Other planetary probes are purring along, all the way from Mercury to the solar system's edge.

One of the most promising frontiers for 2012 is being explored by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft: The past month has seen the unveiling of Earth-sized planets as well as?a Neptune-sized planet sitting in the habitable zone around its parent star. Those alien Earths are still too hot for life, but lots of folks are speculating that we could?hear about?the first Earth-sized planets?in an Earth-type orbit within a year or two.

Which outer-space tales?has intrigued you the most over the past year, and what sounds most intriguing for the year ahead? That's what this lineup is all about. I'll list five top stories for 2011, and five top trends for 2012. You can pick your favorite using the Live Vote ballots. Who knows? Your preferences may influence my?to-do list?for the coming year. Take a run through our "Year in Space Pictures" slideshow to refresh your memory, then cast your vote. We'll crown the winners in an update next week.

Top stories of 2011
It's always tough to limit the list to five, so I'm including an "other" category in this bunch. Please tell me in?your comments why you think I'm underplaying or missing your favorite outer-space story.

Live Poll

Top story of 2011?

• NASA ends space shuttle program: Policymakers decided years ago that the shuttle program would have to end once the International Space Station was complete, due to safety and cost concerns.?The end finally came in July. Grounding the shuttles theoretically frees up money for exploration programs that go beyond Earth orbit, but in the short term, thousands of jobs are lost. For the time being, NASA has to depend on?Russia and other countries for space transport.
• Spirit rover gives up the ghost: After months of trying to re-establish contact with the six-wheeled little trouper, NASA declared that Spirit was really most sincerely dead ? felled by stuck wheels and a winter freeze-up. It had a good run: Six years of operation on Mars as part of a mission that was expected to last only 90 days. The Opportunity rover soldiers on, reaching Endeavour Crater after?three years of trekking. And it recently made?a significant find: gypsum deposits that appear to confirm water once flowed on Mars.
• 'Hubble's successor' dodges a bullet: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope had been in danger of cancellation, but the White House and Congress worked out a deal to keep the project alive on an $8 billion budget. However, the budget negotiations dealt a heavy blow to the White House's request for commercial crew vehicle development, and there are continuing?worries about other space science programs, such as the?ExoMars?missions that?NASA is supposed to be working on with the Europeans.
• Earth-sized planets and super-Earths: As I mentioned above, the Kepler?science team has?been finding a bonanza of planets, including?super-hot super-Earths. A parallel effort led by European astronomers is also yielding scores of promising planets. All these discoveries are providing new target lists for colleagues who have been searching for signals from intelligent aliens.
• Downers in Earth orbit: Sometimes the sky seemed to be falling in 2011. In August,?an unmanned Soyuz rocket blew up after launch, sparking an investigation that might have led to the evacuation of the International Space Station. NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite fell to Earth in September, and the German-built ROSAT satellite followed in October. There was lots of hand-wringing over the?potential risk from falling debris, but nobody got hurt.?The?glitch that affected Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe in November will eventually lead to another fall in the new year (see below).
• Other top stories: China tests?orbital docking.?High-profile love story focuses on senator and astronaut. Alien bacterial claim causes a stir. Asteroid threat downgraded. NASA probes reach Mercury and Vesta. Other spacecraft head for Jupiter and the moon. Auroras put on spectacular shows.

Live Poll

Top trend for 2012

Top trends of 2012
As Yogi Berra supposedly said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." I'm signaling the speculative nature of the prediction business by sprinkling a few question marks here and there:

• Commercial flights to space station? SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft is currently scheduled to link up with the International Space Station for the first time in February, potentially marking the beginning of a new age in NASA's orbital operations. Orbital Sciences is due to follow later in the year. Meanwhile, commercial ventures will be working on designs for spacecraft capable of putting astronauts in orbit by 2017 or so. How far will NASA's funding get them?
• Monster rover reaches Mars: NASA's?November launch of the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory could justifiably rank as one of 2011's top stories, but?the real payoff comes in August, when a?rocket-powered sky crane is due to drop the?1-ton, car-sized Curiosity rover?onto Gale Crater's?scientifically intriguing terrain. The big question is: Will that thing really work? But?if the?rover sets down safely on the surface, we could be in for years of stunning imagery and scientific discovery.???
• Earth's twin detected at last? As the Kepler probe takes more observations,?Earth-size?candidates that lie in Earth-type orbits may well be added to the list of?potential planets.?Further confirmation would be required to make sure the candidates are truly alien Earths, but even hints that such worlds are on the list could cause a sensation of "Avatar" proportions.
• NASA works on future course: NASA wants to go to an asteroid in the mid-2020s, and send astronauts as far as Mars in the 2030s. But there are lots of blank spaces that still need to be filled in. For example, who'll help NASA build the multibillion-dollar heavy-lift rocket that Congress mandated? What will happen to space science priorities such as Mars sample return and? proposed missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn? In an era of tightening budgets, how much exploration can NASA afford? Will the presidential election lead to yet another change of vision?
• SpaceShipTwo actually in space? Virgin Galactic's founder, British billionaire Richard Branson, has said powered tests of the company's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane will begin in 2012, and he may well take a ride with his family as a Christmas present next year. If he sticks to that schedule, humans will ride into outer space on a privately developed rocket ship for the first time since SpaceShipOne's trips in 2004. But the tests to date have not been glitch-free, and a question mark is definitely in order.
• Other top stories: Phobos-Grunt plunges in January. Transit of Venus in June.?Total solar eclipse in November. Doomsday hype in December. Solar activity rises toward maximum.

There you have it: Click on the links to get? more?background,?weigh the field, and cast your vote. This could be more fun than the Iowa caucus, and I'm saying that as a former Hawkeye.?For even more end-of-the-year musings, check out these links:

---

For something completely different, check out my review of the year's top ancient mysteries.

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9618708-a-year-of-outer-space-farewells

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House and Senate Republicans Are Now Openly Trashing Each Other (The Atlantic Wire)

The payroll tax debate in Congress is tearing asunder Reagan's Eleventh Commandment:?Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

Related: The Remaining Sticking Points on a Payroll Tax Deal

In an unusual intra-party dispute, House Republicans rejected a bill supported by a majority of Senate Republicans to extend the payroll tax holiday for two months on Tuesday. Now that the votes are on the scoreboard, Republicans in both chambers are openly trashing each other's decision.?

Related: Obama Raises the Stakes on the Payroll Tax Impasse

"House Republicans? plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong," tweeted Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachussets.?"The refusal to compromise now threatens to increase taxes on hard-working Americans and stop unemployment benefits for those out of work," he elaborated in a remark to?The Hill.??Brown may have an excuse to trash-talk fellow Republicans, he faces a tough re-election bid against liberal hero Elizabeth Warren, but he wasn't the only one firing off barbs.?

Related: Government Shutdown Looms as Payroll Tax Talks Stall

Speaking out against Speaker Boehner, Republican Senator Dean Heller said the House's tactics were "about political leverage, not about what?s good for the American people. Congress can work out a solution without stopping the payroll tax-cut extension for the middle class,? reports?The Washington Post. On the House side, there were plenty of?searing?remarks.?

Related: Dems Cave on Millionaire Surtax

?I?ll be honest, I don?t know what the Senate was thinking,? said Republican Congressman Allen West of Florida on Tuesday. He called the deal brokered by fellow Republican and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell "crap." Laying on the criticism of McConnell, Republican Congressman Tom Latham of Iowa said "Mr. McConnell knew the position of our leadership was [we] wanted to do a year-long. I don?t know what happened.??

Related: Government Shutdown Averted

At the center of the disagreement is Boehner and McConnell but neither GOP leader is explaining how they wound up on opposite sides of the payroll tax debate. Most suspect Boehner failed to bring House Republicans onboard with the payroll tax deal after promising McConnell they would support it?but Boehner has said he supported a 1-year extension all along.?Roll Call?reports that House Republicans are actively trying to figure out what went wrong between Boehner and McConnell.?

"People didn?t quite understand how, when the Speaker left the meeting with Sen. McConnell and Sen. Reid, this abomination was what was sent back to us,? Republican Congressman Steven LaTourette tells the newspaper. He says Boehner seemed??befuddled. ... The question was asked directly of him. That question was asked, ?What?s the disconnect between you and Sen. McConnell?? And he said he doesn?t know.? When?Roll Call?asked him about the "now infamous high-five" celebrating the Senate deal, LaTourette said "It should have been a low-five." Follow Yahoo! News on , become a fan on Facebook

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20111220/pl_atlantic/houseandsenaterepublicansarenowopenlytrashingeachother46464

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UK #PPC Finance Insights - Economic Meltdown or Conversion ...

The last few months (or years) have felt, financially speaking, like one of Christian evangelist, Harold Camping?s claims that ?we are all doomed?.

Whilst we may do our best to ignore the increasingly disturbing financial news coming in from ? well, from everywhere ? for several months now, it's becoming harder to ignore, isn't it? It?s difficult to understand and every other news story seems to open with apocalyptic proclamations about the state of Europe?s finances, the global economy or our ever dwindling expendable cash. The bewilderment of the economics correspondents is frightening to watch.

It has probably never been less clear what normal individuals should do with their money and by the same token, what those in the finance sector should do to allay their fears. What is the best way to manage our search accounts in these difficult times?

Portfolio management

Whilst the recent banking crisis has highlighted some flaws in the practices on which the economy was built, we can still learn a few things from them in regard to the management of our search accounts.

In tough times, it is best practice to minimise your risk. Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is a theory of investment which attempts to maximise portfolio expected return or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return, by carefully choosing the proportions of investment of various assets.

In other words, you increase the chance of improved return on investment, while minimising your risks if you advertise your full portfolio of financial products, and optimising dependent on performance.

Green shoots in Search: Mortgage and Saving Accounts

Recent forecasting suggests that rates on savings are to remain depressed and property prices are forecast to fall. But that?s not to say that interest in those areas is dwindling.

Despite all the doom and gloom, there are some surprising areas of growth in Search advertising. The most financially astute action for individuals is to accelerate the repayment of their mortgages or move to a better deal. Economic turmoil has lead customers to think more about their savings options, with searches up 3% year on year.

Therefore, it makes sense to optimise your mortgage and Savings accounts to ensure that your ad copy has the latest and best rates advertised to capitalise on this traffic. Updating your creatives with your brands unique selling points, latest products and prices helps influence a searcher decision but building trust is also paramount. Ill feeling against the finance industry is at its highest since the great depression and using keyword like ?official? helps build an element of trust between you and your potential customer.

It?s not just lending and savings rates that are driving these queries but also additional fees. In the past British consumers were considered more likely to get divorced than to change their banks, but all this is changing too. We are looking for better deal and with many banks charging a fee for their services, they are searching a number of choices before making an informed decision.

?24% YOY increase in loan related traffic with payday loans showing the most significant rise?

Credit cards and loan accounts are seeing increased interests from a number of fronts. That?s not entirely surprising. "Stressed borrowing" is on the increase, "with more people having to borrow to help finance their spending as a consequence of the extended squeeze on their purchasing power from elevated inflation, low wage growth and tighter fiscal policy. In addition, job losses are rising".

33% of all financial searches are made for loans. Loan based products account for five out of ten of the most searched for personal finance products. On adCenter we have seen a 24% Year on year increase in loan related traffic, with payday loans seeing the most significant rise.

Conversely, there has also been an increase in loan related traffic from those looking to pay off their debt. The financial term is deleveradging, which relates to the fact that it makes more financial sense to pay off debt than to save, and loan and credit card providers advertising the best terms and conditions seeing the best conversions as a result.

January is also a peak month for Loan search traffic, after the expense of Christmas and therefore it is important that all Loan accounts are optimised before the traffic starts rolling in, taking into account those who are in financial difficulty, as well as those interested in paying off debts.

Insuring everything will be OK: home insurance searches on the rise

I?ve already spoken about minimising risk and in these tough times many are insuring themselves should the worst happen.

One sad statistic to come out during the recession is the 14% rise in burglary in England and Wales, with direct correlation between recession and spikes in burglary. In conjunction with the riots that took place all over the UK, and this year?s unpredictable weather, home insurance traffic increased 14% Year on year.

Spread your risk, increase your ROI.

Wait! Come back out of the nuclear bunker, take the tin foil hat off your head - all is not lost. Whilst the mainstream media may paint a very bleak picture of the current economic outlook, nearly all finance sub-verticals are seeing increased interest ? and in some cases for not so obvious reasons.

In order to minimise risk with your finance search accounts, you need to ensure that you are optimising all accounts to show the best rates and deals and if necessary move budget from accounts that aren?t performing well to those which are far more buoyant.

Mick Hucknell was right when he said that ?Money?s too tight to mention?, but it doesn?t mean that the public isn?t thinking about it every day and make the necessary changes to balance their budgets. They are searching for new deals and new products ? are your search accounts ready to turn them from a searcher into a converting customer?

Source: http://community.microsoftadvertising.com/blogs/advertiser/archive/2011/12/21/uk-ppc-finance-insights-economic-meltdown-or-conversion-opportunity.aspx

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Review: OnLive Mobilized: How cloud gaming works on cell carriers ...

This holiday season, mobile gamers will get a chance to do something they?ve never been able to do: play console games on smartphones and tablets.

Last week OnLive ? the cloud-gaming company which streams games rather than playing them natively ? released an app for Android (the iOS update is still pending approval from Apple) for use with smartphones and tablets. The mobile service functions much like how OnLive streams high-quality games-on-demand to desktop computers and laptops. But now the service has been tuned to work with Wi-Fi or 4G-connected mobile devices, which typically have much less capability and bandwidth to run a high-quality game.

Users can play a total 24 games with touch-controls alone, or the entire library of OnLive?s 186 games with a new Bluetooth-enabled controller, all on select Android smartphones or tablets. And at some point, users will be able to play on the iOS devices as well.

I?ve spent the last week testing the OnLive service across Los Angeles on all four major cell providers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, on each of their respective networks (Verizon on LTE/CDMA, AT&T on 4G and 3G, Sprint on 4G and CDMA, and T-Mobile on 4G and 2G). For the purposes of this article, 4G will signify HSDPA/HSPA+, and all 3G networks will be branded 3G. OnLive did not run on networks slower than 3G. Tests were also done on various Wi-Fi networks, since the now-ubiquitous nature of OnLive will allow users to enjoy free Wi-Fi gaming on their phones and tablets outside of the home.

I did the tests in two ways: while stationary and while driving (up to highway speeds). Stationary tests include using OnLive in different locations with different signal strengths, from one bar to the maximum number of bars (which differs between carriers and phone models). Phones and tablets tested includes the following:

• HTC Vivid (AT&T)
• HTC Rezound (Verizon)
• LG Marquee (Sprint, 3G)
• Motorola Droid Bionic (Verizon)
• Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T)
• Samsung Epic 4G Touch (Sprint)
• T-Mobile myTouch
• T-Mobile myTouch Q
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi (original, 7?)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Verizon LTE)

While OnLive only recommends select Android devices (and all iOS 5 devices once the app is available), in my tests the only requirement for any Android phone to work is a standard 4G antenna. Reports of certain phones not working have come up, but the app is available to all Android phone owners and works on the overwhelming majority of devices. According to OnLive CEO Steve Perlman, every phone handles decompression of the video signal differently, and only the recommended devices listed here have specific algorithms that OnLive has developed for optimal results.

?We use a different compression algorithm for different networks,? Perlman added, which results in slightly different results on all cell carriers. However, to ensure the best quality of game play, ?the compression algorithm changes every 4 milliseconds.? Every phone and every network acts differently, so this method stabilizes the signal across all phones and carriers. Finally, using the new Wireless Controller does not affect data speeds unless, according to Perlman, users connect multiple controllers to a single device.

I tested with three games specifically, though bounced on and off of others to make sure they worked just fine. The three were Mini Ninjas, Darksiders, and Unreal Tournament 3. Mini Ninjas and Darksiders are both titles that use virtual gamepads to play, and require no external controller. The former is a slow-paced arcade action game, while the latter is a medium-paced action/adventure title. UT3 is a fast-paced first person shooter that requires an external controller, and is the most difficult game to play through OnLive because of just how fast the game is, even using a wired connection.

A game like UT3 is extremely stressful for cloud gaming because milliseconds matter. A fast gamer will be able to tell when they click the mouse button if the trigger pulled immediately or not. Darksiders and Mini Ninjas are both easily playable over Wi-Fi with no perceptual slowdown whatsoever.

Here?s are the results of my testing per carrier:

Verizon ? Yes for LTE, No for CDMA

LTE networks are the fastest available today, with speeds ranging from 20 megabits per second (Mb/sec) to 60 megabits per second. OnLive requires only 1 Mb/sec to run, though recommends at least 5Mb/sec. On Verizon?s LTE network, average download and upload rates far surpassed OnLive?s requirement, and gaming quality over Verizon?s LTE network is superb. On the HTC Rezound, Motorola Droid Bionic, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and all other devices used with an LTE hotspot, the quality of games played was on par with high-speed home Wi-Fi.

With Verizon?s LTE, it didn?t matter if games were played while stationary or driving. Speeds while traveling had no noticeable impact on game play, though there were occasional stalls when driving. This is presumably due to jumping between cell towers, though Perlman told me that LTE networks are highly efficient, and there are many possible reasons for game play stalling abruptly, such as the signal bouncing around a building.

However, over Verizon?s LTE, OnLive was both playable and enjoyable, both with and without a controller. In my testing it never dropped a signal and only momentarily paused. The visual quality is excellent; video compression is smooth and almost impossible to see. Gameplay is extremely low-latency. Button presses are instantly read and, even with the occasional sputter, there is never any lag or a drop in quality. Even with a poor signal, LTE provides a high-quality gaming experience. I actually had more success over LTE in UT3 than over my home Wi-Fi, which seems absurd. Then again LTE in some areas locally is 5x as fast as my home internet.

Because Verizon?s LTE network is still fairly limited, when devices go out of range they switch over to the CDMA network, which is significantly slower. Using all of the Verizon handsets on CDMA is, except under perfect conditions (with a great connection and not moving), unplayable. CDMA doesn?t have the bandwidth capacity to really support streaming gameplay, mostly due to slow upload speeds. When in a good location with a strong connection, it?s possible to play games, but the video quality is very poor, and button presses can and often do lag.

Case in point, I played Darksiders while in the car driving on a freeway. The play experience was fine; smooth, quick, with only occasional sputters. But as soon as I lost the LTE signal, the game stalled for 5-10 seconds, and OnLive?s system kicked in and paused the game to wait for a better signal. Because Darksiders relies on checkpoints or saves, I lost some data, but was able to resume the game without concern later on.

AT&T ? Yes

Though AT&T?s LTE is not yet available in Los Angeles, 4G is. 4G is available on a small number of handsets, including all AT&T devices listed above, as well as the iPhone 4S. Most older US-based GSM phones do not support 4G, though utilizing the network does not require any new technology. European handsets have used the technology for over three years.

Over 4G OnLive is both playable and enjoyable. It doesn?t match the fluidity and visual acuity of LTE, but for game play that?s a moot point. Because 4G required only minimal change to AT&T?s current infrastructure, the network is universal nationwide: if you have a 3G connection, then you have 4G too. When Verizon phones when out of range of LTE, AT&T models continued playing without experiencing any lag or stalling.

Both stationary and when in motion, 4G on AT&T proved to have good to great quality for OnLive gaming. Video quality is very good, there is minimal lag, and the overall experience is low-latency. While it?s not quite as good as on Verizon?s LTE network, AT&T with 4G is the only carrier that I can recommend playing games through OnLive for car rides consistently, with a 4G-ready device. However, fast-paced games like UT3 showed some strain, mostly because of the amount of upstream bandwidth required for all of the button presses. Considering UT3 is one of just a handful of FPS titles currently available through OnLive, this slowness isn?t as big a concern as it may seem. Then again, pulling the trigger 50 times and only getting 45 shots is a problem, especially if you?re playing against friends online.

On 3G, just like with Verizon?s CDMA, the quality is exponentially worse, and it isn?t playable except with a good connection and not moving. AT&T is the only network where it was actually difficult to find areas with one or two bars, or generally poor reception. There are holes in the network, but they are generally very small and limited to canyons and rural roads, by the coast. In general, with poor reception OnLive will pause game play until the phone/tablet picks up a stronger signal.

AT&T, however, is also the only carrier that had could not connect to OnLive?s servers 25 percent of the time. This is likely due to data overloads at local cell towers, because it only occurred during high-peak times and only in certain locations. I found no evidence of this on any other service provider.

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Tags: apps, cellphones, cloud gaming, game review, OnLive, onlive gaming, review, smartphone gaming, smartphones, streaming games, tablet, tablet gaming

Companies: OnLive

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/16/review-onlive-mobilized-how-cloud-gaming-works-on-through-cell-carriers/

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