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DETROIT ? Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit was thrilled after he found out his team would be playing in a bowl close to home.

The Broncos don?t even have to leave the state to play in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Tuesday against Purdue at Detroit?s Ford Field.

?It?s a perfect situation for us as a university,? Cubit said. ?Our alumni can get to the game. Our student body can get to the game. Our fans will be able to travel, a lot more families can be at the game than if we went somewhere else.?

If last weekend was any indication, Cubit can expect a friendly reception. A contingent from Purdue?s team was shown taking in Saturday?s Lions-Chargers game at Ford Field and greeted with plenty of boos. Then a group from Western Michigan was introduced to loud cheers.

Still, the Broncos (7-5) will need more than supportive fans to beat Purdue. Western Michigan hasn?t beaten a Big Ten team since 2008, although the Broncos did play Illinois tough in a 23-20 defeat in September.

Purdue is returning to a bowl for the first time since 2007, when the Boilermakers beat Central Michigan 51-48 in this same bowl. Another shootout is certainly possible. Western Michigan has scored at least 38 points seven times this season, including a 66-63 loss to Toledo last month.

?Looking at Western Michigan on film, they can score some points,? Purdue coach Danny Hope said. ?They?re obviously on the cutting edge of the spread offense. It?s very similar to what we ran at Purdue when I coached there before, and we had Drew Brees. ? It?s very similar in a lot of ways ? the play calling, the styles, the protections. They?re a high-scoring football team, so we?d better be ready to score some points.?

Hope is in his third season at the helm for the Boilermakers (6-6) and is taking them to a bowl for the first time. He was rewarded recently with a two-year contract extension through the end of 2016.

Purdue won two of its last three regular-season games, including a victory over Ohio State, to become bowl eligible.

(Page 2 of 2)

?I think it?s a great opportunity for our football team to take another step in our development,? Hope said earlier this month. ?I hope and anticipate we?ll play the best game we?ve played all year.?

Western Michigan is led by wide receiver Jordan White, a third-team All-American who has 127 catches for 1,646 yards and 16 touchdowns on the season. Although he?s played in relative obscurity in the Mid-American Conference, this will be a chance for White to shine on a bigger stage.

?We played Michigan and we played Illinois, and we really should have won down there at Illinois. Unfortunately, we came up short down there,? White said. ?Everybody?s happy with where we?re at. When we have that kind of confidence, we can take down big-time teams.?

Purdue, however, will look at this matchup as a challenge. Cornerback Ricardo Allen and the rest of the defensive backfield will try to stop White. Hope said defensive backs Taylor Richards and Landon Feichter could play more than usual because of Western Michigan?s offensive style.

On offense, Caleb TerBush has handled most of the passing this season for the Boilermakers. Third on the depth chart at the beginning of the season, he earned Hope?s confidence as the two players ahead of him recovered from injuries.

?He has done a fantastic job,? Hope said. ?He?s really grown and developed through the course of the season.?

Source: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20111226/NJSPORTS/312260027/1095/RSS05?source=rss_teams_Rutgers_Scarlet_Knights

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Click here to read How To Peel A Whole Head of Garlic In Less Than Ten Seconds

If you are cooking this holidays (or ever) you will love this MAGIC tip: how to peel a whole head of garlic in less than ten seconds. It just requires two bowls and some shaking. Aaaah-mazing. [Thanks Joe!] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fOENUvA-BmU/how-to-peel-a-whole-head-of-garlic-in-less-than-ten-seconds

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SALT LAKE CITY ? When winter comes to Utah and atmospheric conditions trap a soup of pollutants close to the ground, doctors say it turns every resident in the Salt Lake basin into the equivalent of a cigarette smoker.

For days or weeks at a time, an inversion layer in which high pressure systems can trap a roughly 1,300-foot-thick layer of cold air ? and the pollutants that build up inside it ? settles over the basin, leaving some people coughing and wheezing.

"There's no safe level of particulate matter you can breathe," said Salt Lake City anesthesiologist Cris Cowley, who is among a number of Utah doctors raising the alarm over some of the nation's worst wintertime air.

The doctors and a lobby group of Utah mothers are blaming a company that mines nearly a mile deep in the largest open pit in the world for contributing one-third of Salt Lake County's pollution. The rest is from tailpipe and other emissions.

They have filed a lawsuit against Kennecott Utah Copper, accusing it of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act. The company operates with the consent of state regulators who enforce the federal law.

The company is the No. 1 industrial air polluter along Utah's heavily populated 120-mile Wasatch Front and operates heavy trucks and power and smelter plants. It says the claims are "without merit."

Kennecott cites the blessing of Utah regulators for expanded operations and new controls that hold emissions steady.

Utah's chief air regulator, however, acknowledged Kennecott is technically violating a 1994 plan adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that limited the company to hauling 150 million tons of ore a year out of the Bingham Canyon Mine.

Utah has twice allowed the company to exceed that limit, most recently to 260 million tons, as the company moves to expand a mine in the mountains west of Salt Lake City. In each case, Utah sought EPA's consent, but the EPA didn't take any action.

The lawsuit could force EPA's hand, said Bryce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality.

Bird said the old limit would defeat changes Kennecott made to curb dust and emissions since 1994.

The EPA rules that set production instead of emissions limits puts many companies in a similarly "awkward position" and undermines confidence in Utah's air pollution permits, Bird said.

Kennecott disputes the doctors' figure and says it contributes about 16 percent of Salt Lake County's overall emissions.

An examination by The Associated Press of emissions figures provided by Kennecott to state regulators shows the company's share of pollutants ranges from 65 percent of Salt Lake County's sulfur dioxide emissions to 18 percent of its particulates.

Particulates are tiny flecks of dust that doctors say can attract heavy metals. The particulates are ingested through the nose and lungs and can become lodged in brain tissue. They are especially damaging to the development of children.

Medical research has found that the first few minutes of exposure to air pollution does the most damage, with many people's bodies able to react and fight off longer bouts of exposure, the doctors said.

Yet exposure to dust, soot and gaseous chemicals constricts vessels and send blood pressure soaring, making some people's hearts flutter and spiking emergency hospital visits while putting fetuses in the womb at risk, the doctors say.

"Rio Tinto is making our blood vessels act as if they were seven years older," said Dr. Claron Alldredge, an opthamologist at LDS Hospital. "One year after returning to Utah after practicing elsewhere, I began to have high blood pressure myself."

Kennecott is a subsidiary of the international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, which posts billions of dollars of profit a year and can afford to clean up its act, said Cherise Udell, founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air.

"This is not an attempt to shut down their mine," she said.

Kennecott said its takes improving air quality seriously, and Bird noted that while Kennecott is Salt Lake County's largest industrial source of air pollution, it has accomplished the largest reductions through better emissions controls.

"Kennecott has and continues to operate within the parameters of its air permits and is consistently in compliance with U.S. EPA and Utah Division of Air Quality regulations, which are based on strict standards for protecting human health," the company said.

The doctors are members of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which joined Udell's group in the lawsuit filed at Salt Lake City's federal court last week by lawyers for WildEarth Guardians of Santa Fe, N.M.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_he_me/us_air_quality_utah

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"Ball Tribe is a community for sports fans and bloggers to discover, share, and vote on the best sports news of the day from anywhere on the web. Meet other sports fans and bloggers, help eachother out through voting and linking to eachothers submissions, and work together to ensure that only the best of the best gets promoted to the Ball Tribe front page daily."

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We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.

Please note: We provide our story commenting feature in order to solicit feedback, debate and discussion on topics of local interest. Please keep in mind that civility is a necessary component of productive conversation. All blatantly inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate comments (i.e. vulgarity, marketing, etc.) are subject to rejection and/or removal. Comments will appear if and when they are approved. Thanks for reading, and thanks for participating.

Source: http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2011/12/24/sports/doc4ef5127f833e3880046991.txt

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - A Bible found in the wreckage of the Alabama tornadoes is finally going home.

Dorothy Scarborough found the Bible in June when she pulled over her car near Cedar Crest to photograph damage from the April 27 twister.

She tried to find the owner, writing a letter to the Tuscaloosa News asking for help and listing some of the names that had been inside.

She eventually tracked down Shikeidra Abrams, who had moved to Atlanta after her home in Holt was destroyed in the tornado. They failed to connect. But on Thursday, Scarborough tried again and reached Abrams.

Abrams told her it had been her late father's Bible and she would love to have it back. Scarborough said reuniting the Bible with its owner closes a chapter of the tornado

Source: http://www.waff.com/story/16386366/bible-found-in-tornado-wreckage-heading-home

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The housing bust came late to Boise, Idaho. While home prices in other cities around the U.S. began their drastic descent in 2007, Bosie?s home prices didn?t start feeling a price pinch until the end of 2008. Housing in Idaho?s capital wasn?t hit particularly hard by the subprime mortgage crisis, but it certainly was affected by the economic downturn. High unemployment and a wave of job loss-related foreclosures have caused home prices in the City of Trees and its surrounding suburbs to plunge.

This year alone Boise homes suffered a drastic 13.4 percent loss in value. Next year won?t offer relief either, with prices projected to slip another 2.5 percent. These drops landed Idaho?s capital city on our watch list of Cities Where Home Prices Are Falling Dangerously.

?Prices in Boise proper specifically haven?t come down quite as much as people expect but in other areas around the city, prices have come down as much as 50 percent from where they were a few years ago,? says Cristina Pescaru, a Realtor with Gold Key Real Estate in Boise. ?I think we absolutely haven?t seen the bottom of the market here.?

Forbes.com slideshow: See where home prices are falling dangerously

The folks at Local Market Monitor, a Cary, N.C.-based real-estate research company, compiled a list of the cities that suffered relatively big home price hits this year with more projected through the next 12 months. LMM sifted through market data for more than 300 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions (MSADs), as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The company, which releases quarterly housing market reports, crunched home prices from October 2010 through September 2011 and calculated price projections through September of next year. For its projections, LMM took into account job growth and unemployment rates, population growth, sales and rental prices, and something called ?Equilibrium Home Price,? which is a gauge of where the average home price should realistically lie based on economic data versus where it actually is.

Every one of the 13 markets that made our list suffers from a glut of foreclosures. ?Foreclosures are continuing to weigh down home prices in hard-hit foreclosure markets as the average sales prices of foreclosure-related sales drop,? explains Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing site. Cities that made our list like Arizona?s Phoenix and California?s hard-up hubs Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield also rank among RealtyTrac?s top 20 metro foreclosure rates. Fifty percent or more of all completed home sales this year in these cities were distressed (either preforeclosure or bank-owned) ? a factor that pulls the prices of non-distressed homes both in terms of appraisals and home seller efforts to compete for buyers.

Not surprisingly, the nation?s foreclosure capital, Las Vegas, experienced the worst price drops of any major metro this year. The Sin City?s home values slid 15.2 percent versus last year and Local Market Monitor expects another 5 percent drop during the next 12 months. More than half of all completed sales were distressed.

Another foreclosure?studded state where home prices continue to get hammered is Florida. Orlando and Jacksonville lost 11 percent and 9 percent of their home values this year, with 9.4 percent and 7.7 percent losses predicted in months to come. The Metropolitan Division that includes West Palm Beach also landed on our list. Despite close proximity to posh Miami Beach and Palm Beach where higher-end sales have been frequent this year, the less expensive West Pam Beach area continues to struggle.

Ingo Winzer, founder and president of Local Market Monitor, says two things are driving the dive in Sunshine State markets: too much inventory and not enough jobs. Construction backstopped a sizeable chunk of Florida?s local economies, as developers built spec homes for an anticipated deluge of Baby Boomer snowbirds that, thanks to the current economy, have yet to retire. ?First, a lot of homes were built, maybe more than should have been built, and second, while population growth in Florida will eventually sop up those properties, right now there?s no work so we have large numbers of homes sitting empty ? causing prices to fall,? he says.

There is some hope to be had by owners located in other cities across the country: the home price hemorrhages nearly every market experienced in the past several years are subsiding. Nationally, prices dropped only about 4.5 percent this year. Compared to the roughly 35 percent loss the U.S. housing market as a whole has taken since the economic downturn, this year?s drop, while agonizing, means the freefall is over. ?A lot of markets are still going to have some problems economically, but overall I think in most of the country?s cities, we are seeing a bottom in home prices,? says Winzer. He cautions that a bottom in no way translates to a speedy price recovery. Rather he expects prices to hover at these lower levels for years.

More from Forbes.com

? 2011 Forbes.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45699069/ns/business-forbes_com/

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JAMA commentary contends vitamin therapy can still reduce stroke

Public release date: 21-Dec-2011
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Contact: Kathy Wallis
kwallis3@uwo.ca
519-661-2111 x81136
University of Western Ontario

A commentary by Dr. David Spence of The University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that vitamin therapy still has a role to play in reducing stroke.

Vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels. Too much of this amino acid in the bloodstream was linked to increased risk of stroke and heart attack. But several randomized trials found lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins did not result in a cardiovascular benefit. And a study by Dr. Spence, a scientist with the Robarts Research Institute at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, found Vitamin B therapy actually increased cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Dr. Spence says this commentary provides insights that overturn the widespread belief that "homocysteine is dead." He says two key issues have been overlooked in the interpretation of the clinical trials: the key role of vitamin B12, and the newly recognized role of renal failure.

"It is now clear that the large trials showing no benefit of vitamin therapy obscured the benefit of vitamin therapy because they lumped together patients with renal failure and those with good renal function. The vitamins are harmful in renal failure, and beneficial in patients with good renal function, and they cancel each other out," says Dr. Spence, the author of "How to Prevent Your Stroke." The authors also contend most of the trials did not use a high enough dose of vitamin B12.

###

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

JAMA commentary contends vitamin therapy can still reduce stroke Public release date: 21-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kathy Wallis
kwallis3@uwo.ca
519-661-2111 x81136
University of Western Ontario

A commentary by Dr. David Spence of The University of Western Ontario and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) argues that vitamin therapy still has a role to play in reducing stroke.

Vitamin B therapy was once widely used to lower homocysteine levels. Too much of this amino acid in the bloodstream was linked to increased risk of stroke and heart attack. But several randomized trials found lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins did not result in a cardiovascular benefit. And a study by Dr. Spence, a scientist with the Robarts Research Institute at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, found Vitamin B therapy actually increased cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Dr. Spence says this commentary provides insights that overturn the widespread belief that "homocysteine is dead." He says two key issues have been overlooked in the interpretation of the clinical trials: the key role of vitamin B12, and the newly recognized role of renal failure.

"It is now clear that the large trials showing no benefit of vitamin therapy obscured the benefit of vitamin therapy because they lumped together patients with renal failure and those with good renal function. The vitamins are harmful in renal failure, and beneficial in patients with good renal function, and they cancel each other out," says Dr. Spence, the author of "How to Prevent Your Stroke." The authors also contend most of the trials did not use a high enough dose of vitamin B12.

###

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uowo-jcc122111.php
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Hoda's 'imaginary boyfriend' gets the 'SNL' treatment

Some say imitation is the highest form of flattery. If that is actually true, then "Saturday Night Live" loves TODAY's Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. During last weekend's episode, the show poked fun at the ladies of the fourth hour and Hoda's "imaginary boyfriend" durring a reccuring sketch.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/45738383#45738383

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10 chilling super-nerdy snow sculptures

By Sean FallonNerd Approved? If there's one thing that I miss about living in an area that sees snowy, wintry weather, it's making snowmen. I mean, it just doesn't feel right to make a snowman out of dirt while wearing shorts.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45702883#45702883

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

Source: http://www.autonews.com/article/20111216/-1%3Cmeta%20property=

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It's the Galaxy Nexus. It has LTE. It's the phone we've been waiting (and waiting) for. Sure, some of our more globe-trotting members of the staff were suitably sated by the HSPA+ version that shipped a few weeks ago, but the rest of us domestic types simply need more bandwidth. Or, at least, we like to think that we do, and this $300 (on-contract) Verizon release certainly has that in spades.

However, there's something missing: Google Wallet. That company's attempt at reinventing commerce isn't here and, while nobody's saying for sure, it surely has something to do with Verizon not wanting to kneecap the Isis payment service it has invested in. That leaves us wondering: with restrictions on what apps can be installed, and some rather prominent carrier branding on the back, is this really a Nexus device at all? And, more importantly, is it a good phone? Those answers and more wait for you below.

Gallery: Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ vs. LTE

Continue reading Verizon Galaxy Nexus review

Verizon Galaxy Nexus review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/verizon-galaxy-nexus-review/

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A few months back, there was some concern that Intel's Ivy Bridge chipset wouldn't come with USB 3.0 certification -- planning to push its proprietary Thunderbolt standard instead. The company acted quickly to soothe the panic of gadget fans concerned they'd have to replace their new external HDDs, but the USB Implementers Forum didn't say much beyond the odd nasty snipe at the new technology. Fortunately, the crew at the USB-IF have now given their blessing toward the union 'twixt 22nm processor and super-speed universal serial bus. Since AMD jumped on this bandwagon back in April, we can pretty much guarantee that we'll be plugging flash drives in the wrong way for years to come.

Continue reading Intel not planning to run around and desert USB as Ivy Bridge gets 3.0 certification

Intel not planning to run around and desert USB as Ivy Bridge gets 3.0 certification originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tom's Hardware | source

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Acpe8V0phf4/

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WASHINGTON ? FBI Director Robert Mueller expressed concerns about what he called the "uncertainty" of requiring military custody for suspected terrorists, casting doubt on a massive defense bill that Congress raced to complete on Wednesday.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mueller said a coordinated effort by the military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement has weakened al-Qaida and captured or killed many of its leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Walaki. He suggested that the divisive provision in the bipartisan defense bill would deny that flexibility and prove impractical.

"The statute lacks clarity with regard to what happens at the time of arrest. It lacks clarity with regard to what happens if we had a case in Lackawanna, New York, and an arrest has to be made there and there's no military within several hundred miles," Mueller said. "What happens if we have ... a case that we're investigating on three individuals, two of whom are American citizens and would not go to military custody and the third is not an American citizen and could go to military custody?"

President Barack Obama had personally appealed for last-minute changes to the bill's provisions on terrorism suspects as have senior members of his national security team, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mueller. The White House had threatened a veto over issue.

The bill would require that the military take custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of al-Qaida or its affiliates and who is involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States. There is an exemption for U.S. citizens.

House and Senate negotiators who worked out a final version of the bill on Monday made some changes. They added language that says nothing in the bill will affect "existing criminal enforcement and national security authorities of the FBI or any other domestic law enforcement agency" with regard to a captured suspect, "regardless of whether such ... person is held in military custody."

The bill also says the president can waive the provision based on national security. It was unclear whether that mollified the White House, which has not said whether the veto threat still stands.

"My continuing concern is that that uncertainty will be there until it is resolved in some way by statute or otherwise," Mueller said.

On the other side of the Capitol, the House began debate on the legislation and was expected to pass it overwhelmingly. The bill would authorize $662 billion for military personnel, weapons, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and national security programs in the Energy Department for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

Reflecting a period of austerity and a winding down of decade-old conflicts, the bill is $27 billion less than Obama requested and $43 billion less than Congress gave the Pentagon.

House and Senate negotiators made several changes to appease the Obama administration during their weeklong, private sessions.

They abandoned a House effort to limit the president's ability to put in place a nuclear weapons treaty with Russia and decide on the size of the arsenal. They also dropped a reference to the Defense of Marriage Act that House conservatives, angered by the end of the ban on gays in the military, had tacked on.

They made changes sought by the Treasury Department to a provision imposing tough penalties on foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank.

The provisions on how to handle suspected terrorists had divided Obama's senior national security officials and Congress, as well as Democrats and Republicans. The test of wills reflects the dispute over whether to treat suspects as prisoners of war or criminals.

In an opinion piece in Tuesday's New York Times, retired Marine Corps Gens. Charles Krulak and Joseph Hoar urged Obama to veto the defense bill, arguing that the provisions undermine the nation's ideals in the name of fighting terrorism.

Citing the military custody provision, the former four-star generals wrote that it "would force on the military responsibilities it hasn't sought. This would violate not only the spirit of the post-Reconstruction act limiting the use of the armed forces for domestic law enforcement but also our trust with service members, who enlist believing that they will never be asked to turn their weapons on fellow Americans."

The legislation would deny suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subject them to indefinite detention.

The bill begins a reduction in defense spending, a reality the Pentagon hasn't faced in the decade since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pentagon spending has nearly doubled in that period, but the deficit-reduction plan that Obama and congressional Republicans backed this summer sets the Defense Department on a budget-cutting course.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and several other GOP defense hawks pledged to return to Washington next month with a plan to avoid automatic across-the-board cuts to defense required in 2013. The failure of the deficit supercommittee last month means $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years, with half from defense.

Defense hawks said the 10 percent cut would hollow out the Pentagon and devastate U.S. military readiness.

McCain and Sens Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., promised an alternative package of cuts, but offered no specifics about what they would be.

____

Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_defense

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The third and final episode in our NYC Trilogy is all about Food Porn. After watching chickens get slaughtered in Queens and vegetables grow in several boroughs, this Manhattan video is just a montage of our wonderful dinner at Prune Restaurant one evening in September. It was amazing to cook at such an incredible place and with such great company.

The menu for the evening was:

Crab on toast
Oyster and ceviche
Egg en cocotte with grilled mushrooms and watercress
Grilled Pig Heart with cucumber, pumpkin seed and green tomato salad
Deep fried porgy with tomatoes and bottarga
Poached peach with rooftop honey lassi

Enjoy the video!

For more videos and recipes visit www.theperennialplate.com

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Follow Daniel Klein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/perennialplate

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-klein/perennial-plate-food-porn_b_1144980.html

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President Barack Obama walks down the stairs of Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, prior to traveling to Fort Bragg, N.C.. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

First lady Michelle Obama is greeted at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, prior to her and President Barack Obama traveled to Fort Bragg, N.C. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave prior to boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (AP) ? President Barack Obama saluted troops returning from Iraq Wednesday, declaring that the nearly nine-year conflict is ending honorably, "not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home."

Marking the conclusion of the war at this military base that's seen more than 200 deaths over nearly nine years of fighting in Iraq, Obama never tried to declare victory. It was a war that he opposed from the start, inherited as president and is now bringing to a close, leaving behind an Iraq that is still struggling.

But he sought to declare a noble end to a fight that has cost nearly 4,500 American lives and left about 32,000 wounded.

"The war in Iraq will soon belong to history, and your service belongs to the ages," he said, applauding their "extraordinary achievement."

All U.S. troops are to be out of Iraq Dec. 31, though Obama has pledged the U.S. will continue civilian assistance for Iraq as it faces an uncertain future in a volatile region of the world. Even as majorities in the U.S. public favor ending the war, some Republicans have criticized Obama's withdrawal, arguing he's leaving behind an unstable Iraq that could hurt U.S. interests and fall subject to influence from neighboring Iran.

Obama, appearing with first lady Michelle Obama, highlighted the human side of the war, reflecting on the bravery and sacrifices of U.S. forces now on their way back home. He recalled the start of the war, a time when he was only an Illinois state senator and many of the warriors before him were in grade school.

He noted the early battles that defeated and deposed Saddam Hussein and what he called "the grind of insurgency" ? roadside bombs, snipers and suicide attacks.

"Your will proved stronger than the terror of those who tried to break it," he said.

Upon his arrival in Fort Bragg Wednesday, Obama met with five enlisted service members who had recently returned from combat. He also met with the family of a soldier killed overseas.

Obama has on several occasions addressed his reasons for ending the war, casting it as a promise kept after he ran for president as an anti-war candidate and speaking of the need to refocus U.S. attention on rebuilding the troubled economy at home.

Obama's approval rating on handling the situation in Iraq has been above 50 percent since last fall, and in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, has ticked up four points since October to 55 percent. Among independents, his approval rating tops 50 percent for the first time since this spring.

With the economy foremost on people's minds, fewer now consider the war a top issue. Fifty-one percent said it was extremely or very important to them personally, down from 58 percent in October, placing it behind 13 of 14 issues tested in the poll.

It was the president's first visit to Fort Bragg, which is home to Army Special Operations, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne, among others. Special Forces troops from Fort Bragg were among the first soldiers in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and its paratroopers helped lead the 2007 troop increase.

North Carolina, which Obama narrowly won in 2008, also is an important state for the 2012 presidential election and will host the Democratic convention.

In his speech, Obama said that Iraq "is not a perfect place."

But he added that "we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people. We are building a new partnership between our nations."

___

Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, North Carolina, and AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-14-Obama/id-ffe2ce00ef084c979b3612b65a523c61

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TIRANA, Albania ? The self-proclaimed heir to Albania's royal throne was buried on Saturday during a ceremony attended by the country's top leaders and broadcast live on national television.

Though a parliamentary republic, Albanian authorities held official ceremonies for the self-styled king ? who called himself Leka I Zogu ? at the Parliament building. They also declared Saturday a day of national mourning, with flags flying at and a minute of silence at noon.

Zogu, who returned home from exile to try to claim the throne himself, died Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 72.

He was the son of King Ahmet Zogu, a Muslim chieftain who proclaimed himself Albania's monarch in 1928 and ruled for 11 years during a time that many older Albanians now remember as prosperous and stable.

Albania's communist rulers abolished the monarchy in 1946, but, even in exile, the royal family insisted that Leka Zogu was Albania's legitimate ruler.

President Bamir Topi and Prime Minister Sali Berisha, joined hundreds of other officials and leaders in paying their respect during a ceremony that was broadcast live on public television and some other private channels. Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga also attended.

"We have come here today ... to honor, with full historic gratitude and national pride, the work of Leka Zogu, son of Ahmet Zogu, King of Albanians," said Tirana's Mayor Lulzim Basha

"Leka Zogu's commitment to the democracy in Albania was never separate from the extraordinary attention to Kosovo's fate," Basha said.

Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox prayers were read by religious leaders.

He was buried next to his wife's and mother's grave at the public Sharra cemetery in a Tirana suburb.

"I, Prince Leka II, swear in front of the body of my father that I will follow the road of King Zogu, of King Leka I to be at the service of the nation, the homeland," said Leka II, his only son.

No opposition leaders were present at the ceremony. Erion Brace, an opposition lawmaker, said that Leka Zogu was never the country's king.

Born just two days before Albania was occupied by Italian forces in 1939, Leka Zogu, the only son of King Ahmet Zogu, spent most of his life in exile in Europe and Africa while his country was ruled by Communists.

After Albania's Communist regime fell in 1990, Leka Zogu made two disastrous attempts to return home ? being thrown out during the first in 1993 and charged with leading an armed uprising during the second in 1997.

The six-foot, five-inch (2-meter) tall Leka Zogu finally settled in Albania in 2002, leading a quiet life with his Australian wife, who died in 2004, and son but never relinquishing his claim to the throne. The royal family's official website listed his interests as "arms, shooting, reading and history."

Leka Zogu's Hungarian mother, Queen Geraldina, died in 2002.

His family was given back some of its old royal properties and granted diplomatic passports. Leka Zogu's son has since served as an adviser to several Albanian governments. Today, a small royalist party is allied to the governing Democratic Party's coalition of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

The government has pledged to bring home from Paris the late king's remains, calling the monarch "one of the greatest, most distinguished personalities with a major contribution to the history of the Albanian nation."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_eu/eu_albania_leka_zogu

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LONDON ? Can you crack the code?

That's the question Britain's electronic listening agency, GCHQ, is asking in an online campaign to find the next generation of cyber specialists.

GCHQ quietly launched a cryptic website last month featuring a box of code made up of numbers and letters. There is no branding on the site, only the phrase "Can you crack it?"

The agency has now revealed it is behind the campaign, and said Friday it's trying to reach individuals with "a keen interest in code breaking and ethical hacking" for careers at GCHQ.

"It's to arouse interest in people who perhaps might not be caught by our normal recruitment campaigns," a GCHQ spokesman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

Cracking the code reveals a keyword, which when entered into a space on the website prompts the GCHQ job-recruitment website to appear.

The agency is currently recruiting for cyber security specialists ? at a pay grade of around 25,000 pounds ($39,000) ? and hopes to recruit around 35 people over the next few months, the spokesman said.

More than 50 people have successfully cracked the code so far ? of which 80 percent have submitted an application, the spokesman said.

GCHQ said the fast-moving pace of the digital arena and cybersecurity means it must find new ways to engage with prospective candidates, who typically have entered the agency as graduates.

"With the threats to information and computer technology constantly evolving, it is essential that GCHQ allows candidates who may be self taught, but have a keen interest in code breaking and ethical hacking, to enter the recruitment route too," it said in a statement.

But career hackers beware: "Anyone applying who has hacked illegally will not be eligible to continue in the recruitment process," GCHQ warned.

And gaming the website isn't a guarantee for joining GCHQ's ranks. The spokesman said that while anyone who cracks the code likely has an aptitude for GCHQ's type of work, it won't catapult code-crackers ahead of other job applicants automatically.

The agency said it has been using social media to get the word out and that the site has attracted about 8,000 hits.

___

Online:

http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/

_________

Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_hi_te/eu_britain_spy_games

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Joshua Lott / Reuters

People wait to be interviewed during a job fair in Phoenix, Ariz., held last month.

By msnbc.com news services

Employment growth picked up speed in November, pushing the nation?s unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent -- its lowest level since March 2009.

The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm U.S. payrolls increased by 120,000 last month, accelerating from October?s 80,000 gain and roughly matching analysts? expectations. The U.S. jobless rate fell sharply from the prior month?s 9 percent level.

Private employers added a net gain of 140,000 jobs in November, but governments shed 20,000 jobs, mostly at the local and state level. Governments at all levels have shed nearly a half-million jobs in the past year. The Labor Department revised up its job gains for September and October by 52,000 and 20,000, respectively.

?The labor market is gradually healing. It?s a glacial pace, but we are taking small steps in the right direction,? said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Penn.

More than half the jobs added last month were by retailers, restaurants and bars, a sign that holiday hiring has kicked in. Retailers added 50,000, the sector's biggest gain since April. Restaurants and bars hired 33,000 workers. The health care industry added 17,000.

Still, a worrisome drop in the size of the U.S. workforce means that even with a big decline in the unemployment rate in November, it's still not time to break out the champagne.

The fall in the jobless rate was aided by 315,000 people leaving the workforce. That pushed the participation rate, a ratio of the amount of the population in the labor force, down to 64.0 percent.

Those who exited the workforce, many of whom gave up on looking for work, outnumbered the 278,000 people who found jobs, according the Labor Department's household survey, which is separate from payrolls data.

Even with the recent gains, the economy isn't anywhere close to replacing the jobs lost in the recession. Employers began shedding workers in February 2008 and cut nearly 8.7 million jobs for the next 25 months. Since then, the economy has regained nearly 2.5 million of those jobs.

The jobs report is unlikely to take much pressure off President Barack Obama, whose economic stewardship will face the judgment of voters next November. The outlook for the U.S. economy is also being threatened by Europe's ongoing financial crisis.

Speaking at a Washington, D.C., press event to promote a $4 billion effort to increase the energy efficiency of government and private sector buildings, Obama noted Friday that, despite some ?strong headwinds,? the U.S. private sector has now added jobs for 21 months in a row.

?We need to keep that growth going,? he added.

The relative strength of the jobs report is in keeping with a recent trend, bolstered by upward revisions to the employment counts for September and October. But it is not seen as proving decisive for the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is weighing whether the recovery needs further monetary policy support.

Data ranging from manufacturing to retail sales suggest the pace of expansion could top 3 percent, in contrast to China, where growth is cooling and much of Europe, where growth has stalled.

While the economy's growth pace appears to have accelerated from the third quarter's 2 percent annual rate, Europe's festering debt crisis poses a big threat. At the same time, U.S. fiscal policy is set to tighten in the new year, even if lawmakers extend a payroll tax cut.

Taken together, some analysts believe the headwinds facing the U.S. economy will lead the Fed to ease monetary policy further by buying more bonds.

Though the economy emerged from recession two years ago, about 25 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed, a fact that is hurting Obama's chances of winning a second term.

Analysts say the economy needs to create at least 125,000 jobs every month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. So far this year, job growth has averaged 125,600 jobs a month. At that pace, it would take about 4-1/2 years for employment just to return to where it was when the recession started.

But there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.

While the government's survey of employers has shown a still tepid pace of job growth, its separate poll of households that is used to calculate the unemployment rate has suggested more-robust jobs gains.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Do you think the economy is improving?

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9164231-employment-growth-picked-up-speed-in-november-jobless-rate-falls-to-86-percent

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CARACAS, Venezuela ? South American independence hero Simon Bolivar once dreamed of unifying several nations as a counterweight to their powerful hemispheric neighbor, the United States.

Two centuries later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is tapping into that legacy at a two-day summit of the Americas starting Friday. Chavez describes the new regional bloc that excludes the U.S. as a tribute to his idol, saying the time has come to put an end to U.S. hegemony.

"This is the achievement after 200 years of battle," Chavez said Thursday. "The Monroe Doctrine was imposed here: America for Americans, the Yankees. They imposed their will during 200 years, but that's enough."

Chavez also sees the nascent Community of Latin American and Caribbean States as a tool to strengthen regional integration.

"We must march toward what Bolivar called a great political body," Chavez said.

The 33-nation bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, includes every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unlike the Washington-based Organization of American States, it will have Cuba as a full member and will exclude the U.S. and Canada.

Cuban President Raul Castro echoed Chavez's stance as he arrived Friday, saying the creation of the new bloc is "the biggest event in 200 years."

Many Latin American leaders, however, say they see CELAC as a forum to build closer economic and political relations across the region rather than a platform for challenging U.S. policies.

Visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also referred to Bolivar as an inspiration, but did not cast Washington as the region's unwelcome neighbor.

"Our countries are demonstrating this vocation for a common future," Rousseff said at a meeting with Chavez on Thursday. "Two hundred years ago, Caracas stood out like a light for the independence struggle. ... I believe in Bolivar's dream."

Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Chavez's closest allies, including Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Ecuador's Rafael Correa, share his hopes of a region increasingly free of U.S. influence.

"With the creation of CELAC, Chavez is realizing his Bolivarian vision and dream for the region. Other CELAC participants will recognize Chavez for that and give him due credit," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. "There is a strong strain of regionalism throughout Latin America and the Caribbean."

Chavez has long sought inspiration in the legacy of Bolivar, who in the early 1800s served as president of Gran Colombia, a republic made up of much of northern South America and modern-day Panama until it broke up into individual states following years of dissent and political upheaval.

Chavez calls his political movement the Bolivarian Revolution and has changed the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Last year, Chavez even oversaw the opening of Bolivar's coffin to re-examine the cause of his death, and the Venezuelan government is building a new mausoleum to house Bolivar's remains.

Bolivar was an admirer of the American Revolution, although he warned the unrivaled power of the United States could eventually pose a threat to the young nations of Latin America that had won independence from Spain.

___

Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

___

Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_summit

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