Paul leads Clippers past NBA-leading Thunder (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Blake Griffin's jaw-dropping one-handed jam over Kendrick Perkins sent Los Angeles Clippers fans into a frenzy, fired up his teammates, lit up the Twitterverse and burned the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Griffin had 22 points to go with Chris Paul's 26 points and 14 assists in a 112-100 victory Monday night that snapped the Thunder's four-game winning streak in a matchup of division leaders.

Griffin downplayed his monster move after the game, a sly smile only briefly breaking his serious expression.

"CP commands so much attention out there. He came off the pick-and-roll and he hit me in stride," Griffin said.

Paul added: "I told Blake after the game, `Thanks for letting me be part of that.'"

DeAndre Jordan grabbed Griffin from behind in a celebratory bear hug as the basket got replayed over and over in the third quarter.

Jordan, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, couldn't help himself.

"I was shocked. I didn't know what to do, so I just grabbed him. I hit him kind of hard," he said. "I'm going to go home and watch it again. It's probably going to be the screensaver on my phone."

Griffin said he knew he'd made an impression judging by the crowd's raucous response. Then he felt Jordan behind him.

"He armlocked me," Griffin said. "I couldn't breathe."

The reaction on Twitter came fast and furious.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald tweeted: "Blake Griffin just made one of the top dunks of the season. Maybe even his career. (hashtag) Beast."

Tracy McGrady of the Atlanta Hawks weighed in with "yo, crazy crazy dunk by the dude Blake Griffin."

Even Shaquille O'Neal's ex-wife was impressed.

Shaunie O'Neal tweeted: "OMG!!! Did y'all just see Blake Griffin dunk!!!!! Daaayyyummm!"

Paul had 26 points and 14 assists, Caron Butler also had 22 points, Chauncey Billups scored 13 and Mo Williams 12 as the Pacific-leading Clippers dunked with high-flying abandon against the team with the NBA's best record at 16-4. They won their third in a row to follow up a 109-105 victory at Denver a night earlier that began a stretch of five games in seven nights.

"We're not going to read too much into it," Paul said of the back-to-back wins. "It let us know what we're capable of. We can explode offensively."

Kevin Durant had 36 points and 13 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook added 31 for the Northwest-leading Thunder, whose league-best road record dropped to 8-3. They had won 11 of their previous 12.

"Chris Paul was running around, getting what he wanted to get on the floor and making passes to guys for wide-open dunks and 3s," Durant said. "It's tough to stop."

Griffin's monster mash had everyone talking and tweeting, but the Clippers put together a stunning sequence going into halftime.

They shocked the Thunder with four consecutive 3-pointers in less than a minute to lead 64-46. The flurry by Williams (two), Butler (one) and Billups (one) stopped the Thunder's 11-2 run that had drawn them within six points.

"I told Mo that might have been the greatest exchange I have been part of since I've been in the NBA," Paul said. "That got the crowd into it. Four 3s in under a minute is unbelievable."

Jordan said: "We were just hot. It really didn't look like it was real. We were on a high, but we knew we had to come out in the third and knock them out flat."

The Thunder bumbled their way into the half, with Westbrook and Durant combining on three straight turnovers that led to the Clippers' long-range fireworks. Williams and Butler had two steals in the run.

"That doesn't happen, and it probably won't happen again the rest of the year, that a team will make that many 3s in a minute," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "But they made the shots. They started the game with a lot of urgency and they had us back on our heels."

Los Angeles shot 71 percent from long range in a half that also featured a series of huge dunks by Jordan, Griffin, Durant and Westbrook, although both teams missed their share of dunks, too.

Daequan Cook was the only other Oklahoma City player in double figures with 12 points. Durant and Westbrook scored all but two of the Thunder's 25 points in the third quarter, which the Clippers ended on a 3-pointer by Paul to lead 90-70.

Durant and Westbrook began the fourth on the bench, although they both stood up when Cook hit his second 3-pointer of the period to get the Thunder to 95-81. Griffin then scored five in a row, capped by a two-handed jam that extended the Clippers' lead to 100-81.

The Thunder outscored Los Angeles 30-22 in the fourth, but never made a big run to get close.

The Clippers made 13 3-pointers ? just off their season high of 14 against Denver on Sunday.

They made 10 3s in the first half, led by four from Butler, who connected from his favorite spot in the left corner.

The Thunder's only lead was four points to start the game.

Notes: Butler reached the 10,000-point mark on his third 3-pointer in the first quarter. ... Durant and Westbrook have scored at least 25 points each 37 times in their four seasons together. ... The Clippers improved to 10-2 at home. ... It was the Clippers' 12th consecutive sellout this season and 24th in a row overall dating to last season. The crowd of 19,404 included Larry King and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Dan Haren.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_thunder_clippers

2012 sec football schedule medifast miami heat celtics sinead oconnor braylon edwards jimmer fredette

Pets Help Women Cope With HIV/AIDS (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Having a pet helps women with HIV/AIDS cope with their condition and may also help those with other chronic diseases, a new study says.

Researchers conducted 12 focus groups with 48 women with HIV/AIDS to find out how they stay healthy. The women, whose average age was 42, said that five social roles helped them manage their illness.

These roles included being: a pet owner; a mother/grandmother; faith believer; an advocate and an employee.

The study also found that being stigmatized had a negative impact because it prevented women from revealing their illness and seeking out appropriate supports, the Case Western Reserve University researchers said.

The finding about the benefits of being a pet owner was a surprise, said study author and nursing instructor Allison Webel.

"Pets -- primarily dogs -- gave these women a sense of support and pleasure," Webel said in a university news release.

Speaking about their pets, one cat owner said, "She's going to be right there when I'm hurting," while a dog owner said, "Dogs know when you're in a bad mood ... she knows that I'm sick, and everywhere I go, she goes. She wants to protect me."

Webel noted that the human and animal bond in healing and therapy is receiving increasing recognition and more animals are visiting nursing homes to connect to people with dementia, or visiting children going through long hospital stays.

The study appears online in the January-February issue of Women's Health Issues.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about living with HIV/AIDS.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120131/hl_hsn/petshelpwomencopewithhivaids

academy award nominees 2012 kyle williams florida debate rand paul mark kirk tracy morgan drew peterson

Don?t Fret Over Super PACs (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192959634?client_source=feed&format=rss

kuroda pineda gene hackman john edwards heart condition mena suvari pretty in pink joyful noise

US weapons for future include key relics of past (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The lineup of weapons the Pentagon has picked to fit President Barack Obama's new forward-looking defense strategy, called "Priorities for 21st Century Defense," features relics of the past.

They include the Air Force's venerable B-52 bomber, whose current model entered service shortly before Obama was born. There is the even older U-2 spy plane, which began flying in 1955 and burst into the spotlight in May 1960 when Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union.

When Obama went to the Pentagon on Jan. 5 to announce his new defense strategy he said that as the U.S. shifts from a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan it will "get rid of outdated Cold War-era systems." He was not specific. But when the first details of the Pentagon's 2013 budget plan were announced Thursday, it was clear that some prominent remaining Cold War-era "systems" will live on.

That includes not just the B-52 bomber and the U-2 spy plane, but also the foundation of U.S. nuclear deterrence strategy: a "triad" of nuclear weapons that can be launched from land, sea, and air. That concept, credited by many for preventing nuclear conflict throughout the Cold War, is now seen by some arms control experts as the kind of outdated structure that the United States can afford to get rid of.

Some think the U.S. should do away with at least one leg of that "triad," perhaps the bomber role. That would not just save money and clear the way for larger reductions in the number of U.S. nuclear weapons ? an Obama goal in line with his April 2009 pledge to seek the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said recently that maintaining the current structure of American nuclear forces was "not in keeping with the modern world." He and like-minded lawmakers argue that nuclear weapons play no role in deterring threats such as global terrorists.

The U.S. now has about 5,000 operational nuclear weapons, about half as many as a decade ago. They can be launched from ballistic missile submarines, from underground silos housing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and from B-52 and B-2 bombers at air bases in Louisiana, North Dakota and Missouri.

The Air Force, which provides the land and air legs of the triad, argues for preserving that Cold War-era configuration.

"It remains our conviction that as you go down (in numbers of nuclear weapons), the triad actually becomes more important," Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, told reporters Friday. "The diversity, the variety, the attributes associated with each leg of the triad reinforce each other to a greater degree."

Both the B-52 and the B-2 are capable of doing more than carrying nuclear weapons. The B-52 has been modernized many times and is now used in a variety of roles, including close-air support of troops in conflict and can carry missiles, bombs and mines. The first of the current H models entered service in May 1961.

The land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force dates to 1959. Ballistic missile subs, known as "boomers," were first launched in 1960; the current Ohio-class fleet dates to 1981.

The administration is nearing completion of an internal review of how many nuclear weapons are required to meet today's security needs; that process will lead to decisions on whether to reshape the nuclear arsenal. That effort is linked to consultations with NATO allies on whether to withdraw the remaining U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe, an arrangement that also is rooted in the Cold War. Also at play is how to set the stage for a new round of nuclear reduction talks with Russia.

The only move the Pentagon is making on the nuclear weapons front in the 2013 budget is a proposed two-year delay in development of a new generation of submarines to replace those how equipped with Trident nuclear missiles.

The Arms Control Association, which favors cutting nuclear weapons, estimates that the new fleet of ballistic missile submarines would cost $350 billion to build and would last for 50 years. It advocates shrinking the number of subs to eight, which is says would save $27 billion over 10 years.

Laicie Olson, senior policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said in an interview Friday that she was surprised, given Obama's commitment to reducing the number of nuclear weapons, that the administration is not using its 2013 defense budget to take substantial steps in that direction.

"All of these things are sticking around," she said, referring also to the U-2 spy plane, which was to have been retired in 2015 and replaced by a high-tech successor, the Global Hawk, which is flown without a pilot aboard.

Preserving such Cold War-era weapons "actually seems like the opposite of what the president set out to do," she said.

The Pentagon announced Thursday that the Global Hawk turned out to be a disappointment and no cheaper to use, so it is being canceled. As a result, the Air Force is extending the lifespan of the U-2, nicknamed "Angel" by Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed engineer who helped design the high-altitude spy plane.

Since 1994 the Air Force has spent $1.7 billion to modernize the U-2, whose claims to fame include the October 1962 flights over Cuba that confirmed the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles, touching off the Cuban missile crisis.

___

Online:

Pentagon: http://tinyurl.com/84ouz2u

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation: http://armscontrolcenter.org/

Arms Control Association: http://www.armscontrol.org

___

Robert Burns can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pentagon_in_with_the_old

the hobbit the hobbit an unexpected journey dark knight rises trailer dark knight rises trailer latkes how to make it in america how to make it in america

Video: Marine?s baby photo goes viral

A picture of a Marine?s son curled up near his father?s combat boots has been circulating on the Internet after the Marine died in Afghanistan. NBC?s Brian Williams reports.

>>> a photo circulating on the web this week is getting a lot of attention. we did some checking and found out the photo was taken a year ago, it's no less impactful and emotional when you consider the newborn infant's father was killed just a month earlier. he was killed in action in afghanistan.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46170000/

amy winehouse cause of death white witch white witch occupy san francisco occupy san francisco top chef just desserts jamarcus russell

College presidents wary of Obama cost-control plan (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Illinois State University President Al Bowman says President Barack Obama's proposal to tie federal support to tuition controls is a product of "fuzzy math." His counterpart at the University of Washington calls it little more than "political theater."

Obama's plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition or face losing federal dollars, spelled out Friday during a speech at the University of Michigan, concerned education leaders worried about the threat of government overreach. From presidents of public universities frustrated with ever-increasing state budget cuts affecting their schools' bottom line, it brought some particularly sharp words.

The reality, says Bowman, is that deficits in many public schools can't be easily overcome with simple modifications. He says he was happy to hear Obama call for state-level support of public universities, but given the decreases in state aid, tying federal support to tuition prices is a product of fuzzy math.

Illinois has decreased public support for higher education by about a third over the past decade when adjusted for inflation. Illinois State University, with 21,000 students, has raised tuition almost 47 percent since 2007 ? from $6,150 a year for an in-state undergraduate student to $9,030.

"Most people, including the president, assume if universities were simply more efficient they would be able to operate with much smaller state subsidies, and I believe there are certainly efficiency gains that can be realized," Bowman said. "But they pale in comparison to the loss in state support."

Bowman said the undergraduate experience can be made cheaper, but there are trade-offs.

"You could hire mostly part-time, adjunct faculty. You could teach in much larger lecture halls, but the things that would allow you achieve the greatest levels of efficiency would dilute the product and would make it something I wouldn't be willing to be part of," he said.

University of Washington President Mike Young said Obama showed he did not understand how the budgets of public universities work.

Young said the total cost to educate college students in Washington state, which is paid for by both tuition and state government dollars, has actually gone down because of efficiencies on campus. While universities are tightening costs, the state is cutting their subsidies and authorizing tuition increases to make up for the loss.

"They really should know better," Young said. "This really is political theater of the worst sort."

Obama's plan must be approved by Congress, where it could face a tough road to passage among gridlocked lawmakers.

Earlier in the week, during his State of the Union address, Obama described meeting with university presidents who told of ways some universities were curtailing costs through technology and redesigning courses to help students finish more quickly. He said more schools need to take such steps.

On Friday, Obama said higher education has become an imperative for success in America, but the cost has grown unrealistic for too many families and the debt burden unbearable. He said states should also properly fund colleges and universities.

"We are putting colleges on notice," Obama told an arena packed with cheering students. "You can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down."

Obama is targeting only a small part of the financial aid picture ? the $3 billion known as campus-based aid that flows through college administrators to students. He is proposing to increase that amount to $10 billion and change how it is distributed to reward schools that hold down costs and ensure that more poor students complete their education.

The bulk of the more than $140 billion in federal grants and loans goes directly to students and would not be affected.

The average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges this school year rose 8.3 percent and with room and board now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board.

Rising tuition costs have been attributed to a variety of factors, among them a decline in state dollars and competition for the best facilities and professors. Critics say some higher education institutions are attempting to wait out the economic downturn and have been too reluctant to make large-scale changes that would cut costs such as offering three-year degree programs.

Washington's leverage to take on the rising cost of college is limited because American higher education is decentralized, with most student aid following the student.

The response to Obama's plan wasn't all negative. Many university presidents said they welcome a conversation about making college more affordable and efficient.

In Missouri, where Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed a 12.5 percent funding cut for higher education in the coming fiscal year, Obama's proposal could put even more pressure on public colleges and universities to limit tuition increases. By state law, schools must limit such increases to the annual inflation rate unless they receive permission for larger hikes. Nixon has warned schools that he doesn't want to see a tuition increase of more than 3 percent, the latest Consumer Price Index increase.

"The president's message isn't inconsistent with the agenda that we've been pursuing here in Missouri," said Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Higher Education. "It's good to see him put the focus on the same things."

Obama also wants to create a "Race to the Top" competition in higher education similar to the one his administration used on lower grades. He wants to encourage states to make better use of higher education dollars in exchange for $1 billion in prize money.

Obama is also pushing for more tools to help students determine which colleges and universities have the best value.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Julie Pace in Washington, Jim Kuhnhenn and David Runk in Ann Arbor, Mich., David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., Alan Zagier in Columbia, Mo., Alex Dominguez in Baltimore, Dorie Turner in Atlanta, and Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_college_costs

prospect park no child left behind no child left behind byu skylab skylab all my children

British police arrest 5 in tabloid bribery probe

LONDON (AP) ? British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

The arrests spread the scandal over tabloid wrongdoing ? which has already caused the closure of one tabloid, the News of the World ? to a second Murdoch newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London. A 42-year-old man was detained later at a London police station.

Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

A fifth man, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Officers were searching the men's homes and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp.

News Corp. said it was cooperating with police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," it said in a statement.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson ? who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief ? and journalists from the News of the World and The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-EU-Britain-Phone-Hacking/id-8e576c3c5d304972be7da3b8ad43ec21

ted nugent dash diet how to make moonshine joel osteen emmy rossum moonshine jay z and beyonce

Your Logitech Revue is now a collector's item

The Logitech Revue never quite lived up to its potential as the first set-top box to sport Google TV. That much was made clear by Logitech in late 2011 when it was said to have "cost us dearly." And now the Revue has officially been put out to pasture.

Logitech posted its Q3 2012 (they're on a weird schedule) today and in doing so it repeated that sales figures were negatively impacted by the Revue -- and that it no longer has any units on hand. Here's the official word from Logitech:

A major factor in the 8 percent decline in the Americas sales compared to the prior year was Logitech Revue for GoogleTV. We began shipments of Logitech Revue in Q3 of the prior year and delivered sales of $22M that quarter. Sales of Logitech Revue this year were down by $15M due to the combination of a significant price reduction in Q2 of this fiscal year and our previously announced intention to exit the category. We are now sold out of all new Logitech Revue units.

So that's it, boys and girls. The Logitech Revue is done. Finished. Kaput. It is no more. But that's not entirely true, of course. A good many of us still have Revue units, and they still work relatively well, if a little underpowered, and they're actually running the latest version of the Google TV branch of Android. Treat them well. (Or at least try not to fear them too much.)

And as for Google TV, it's not done yet, either. We're already seeing the likes of Vizio coming out with new products, and we're willing to bet more are on the way. Sit back, relax, and get ready for Android to take over your TV.

Source: Logitech

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

the time machine cloverfield take shelter take shelter dressage byu football byu football

Google Maps will now warn you about emergency situations

By Rosa Golijan

Google

Whether you're unaware that an earthquake warning has been issued for the area you're visiting later or whether you desperately need more information about the hurricane headed your way, Google Maps should be able to help. Why? Because the popular mapping service now incorporates emergency alerts from several public safety organizations.

According to a post on Google's LatLong blog,?the Google Public Alerts platform was launched on Wednesday. It's "designed to bring you relevant emergency alerts when and where you?re searching for them."

This means that searches for places with active public alerts will trigger a message which offers related information. (If you'd rather see all active alerts in one spot instead, you can do so on the main Google Public Alerts page.)

Google

The information offered by Google Public Alerts will be initially be drawn from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the US Geological Survey (USGS), but Google intends to add data from other public safety organizations in the future.

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/26/10241717-google-maps-will-now-warn-you-about-emergency-situations

brenda song mountain west mountain west rickross rickross uganda rick ross

Cops: Fla. man arrested for gruesome Conn. slaying

In this arrest mug released by the Lynn Haven, Fla. Police Dept. shows Tyree Lincoln Smith on Monday, Jan. 23. 2012. Smith was arrested after arriving from Bridgeport, CT. where he allegedly killed and ate a homeless man in that city. Smith told family members that he killed Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez with a hatchet and ate pieces of Gonzalez' s brain and eye. (AP Photo/Lynn Haven Police Dept., HO)

In this arrest mug released by the Lynn Haven, Fla. Police Dept. shows Tyree Lincoln Smith on Monday, Jan. 23. 2012. Smith was arrested after arriving from Bridgeport, CT. where he allegedly killed and ate a homeless man in that city. Smith told family members that he killed Angel "Tun Tun" Gonzalez with a hatchet and ate pieces of Gonzalez' s brain and eye. (AP Photo/Lynn Haven Police Dept., HO)

LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (AP) ? A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly hacking to death a Connecticut man and eating the victim's eye and part of his brain, police said Wednesday.

Tyree Lincoln Smith, 35, was arrested Tuesday night on a Connecticut warrant for murder, according to police in Lynn Haven, Fla.

A property inspector discovered the body of Angel L. Gonzalez on Friday on the third floor of an abandoned home in Bridgeport, Conn., according to that city's police department. A medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt head trauma and ruled Gonzalez's death a homicide.

On Monday a cousin of Smith's in Connecticut contacted the Bridgeport police about Gonzalez's death. She told detectives that Smith had arrived at her house Dec. 15 and said he wanted to "get blood on his hands" before going to a park and then to the abandoned home, where he used to live, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The next day, Smith returned to the cousin's house with blood on his pants, hands and an axe, the affidavit said. Smith's cousin said he told her that he was sleeping on a porch at the abandoned home when we was awakened by a Hispanic man and invited inside. Then Smith described beating the man's face and head with the axe and collecting one of his eyes, a piece of his skull some of his brain matter, which he consumed in a nearby cemetery, the affidavit said.

The cousin told detectives she called Smith's mother, who notified police on Dec. 16 that they may want to check the abandoned home and that her son had "mental issues," the affidavit said.

Smith had left Connecticut for Florida on Friday on a Greyhound Bus, the cousin told detectives. Police and Smith's relatives reached Smith by telephone, and in a recorded call Smith admitted that he had been at the abandoned house and that he told a relative that he had killed the man, according to the affidavit.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers took Smith into custody at an apartment Tuesday night without incident, Lynn Haven police said.

It was not immediately clear whether Smith had an attorney.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-25-US-Brain-Eating-Fugitive/id-95cde9f898984b7c98374cc6ecbfe9be

dixville notch 2013 ford fusion lsu football lsu football bcs jay z glory alabama crimson tide

Scientists identify protein that contributes to symptoms of Parkinson's disease

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes, an independent and nonprofit biomedical-research organization, have identified a protein that exacerbates symptoms of Parkinson's disease -- a discovery that could one day lead to new treatments for people who suffer from this devastating neurodegenerative illness.

In a paper being published online in Neuron, Gladstone Investigator Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, and Talia Lerner, PhD, who worked at Gladstone while completing her graduate studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), describe how a protein called RGS4 normally helps regulate the activity of neurons in the striatum -- the part of the brain that controls movement. But in experimental models of Parkinson's disease, RGS4 does the opposite by actually contributing to problems with motor control. The result is a deterioration of movement and motor coordination, which are the hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's. More than 10 million people suffer from Parkinson's worldwide, including the boxer Muhammad Ali and the actor Michael J. Fox.

Scientists have long known that a drop in dopamine -- an important chemical in the brain -- is associated with Parkinson's. And for decades patients have taken a drug called Levodopa to boost the brain's dopamine levels. Unfortunately, however, Levodopa's efficacy begins to fade as the disease progresses. So scientists have begun looking for other targets for which they can develop new therapeutic strategies.

"About 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's annually, and dopamine-based therapies often do not provide a long-term solution," said Dr. Kreitzer, who is also an assistant professor of physiology and neurology at UCSF, with which Gladstone is affiliated. "Our discovery that RGS4 may play a role in the development of Parkinson's symptoms, helps us lay the groundwork for a new therapeutic strategy -- independent of dopamine."

Drs. Kreitzer and Lerner found that RGS4 is required for dopamine to regulate brain circuits during learning. But when dopamine levels drop dramatically, as in Parkinson's, RGS4 becomes overactive and disrupts these circuits -- thereby leading to Parkinson's symptoms. Therefore, they tested whether removing RGS4 could prevent these symptoms.

Drs. Kreitzer and Lerner treated mice lacking RGS4 with a chemical that lowers dopamine levels, mimicking the effects of Parkinson's. They then monitored the mice's motor skills -- including their ability to move freely in an open arena and traverse a balance beam -- and compared them to Parkinson's mice in which RGS4 remained intact.

As expected, Parkinson's mice with RGS4 intact exhibited major problems with movement. They lacked coordination and often remained frozen in place for long periods of time. When attempting to cross the balance beam, many had repeated slips and falls, while others could not even attempt the task.

But Parkinson's mice without RGS4 performed fluid, coordinated movements with no major problems, even though they also had lower dopamine levels. The vast majority crossed the balance beam without any missteps. Many of the physical traces of Parkinson's had disappeared.

"By discovering how the removal of RGS4 affects brain circuitry at the molecular level, we gained a deeper understanding of the protein's role -- both normally and in Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Lerner. "We've also shed light on a previously unknown mechanism by which the dopamine depletion causes the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. We are optimistic that our work could pave the way for a much-needed alternative to Levodopa -- such as a drug that has the ability to inactivate RGS4 in Parkinson's patients."

Funding for this research came from a variety of sources, including the National Institutes of Health, the Pew Biomedical Scholars Program, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the McKnight Foundation.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Gladstone Institutes.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Talia N. Lerner, Anatol C. Kreitzer. RGS4 Is Required for Dopaminergic Control of Striatal LTD and Susceptibility to Parkinsonian Motor Deficits. Neuron, 2012; 73 (2): 347-359 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.11.015

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125132603.htm

country music awards new earth light year light year michelle rounds michelle rounds cabin in the woods

Euro zone may yet escape recession as services jump: PMIs (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The euro zone may yet escape recession thanks to a surprise upturn in the service sector that outweighed the ongoing contraction in manufacturing this month, surveys showed on Tuesday.

Markit's Flash Eurozone Purchasing Managers' Composite Index (PMI), often seen as a growth indicator, jumped to 50.4 from December's 48.3, its highest reading in four months.

That easily beat the highest forecast of 49.5 in a Reuters poll, which gave a median prediction of 48.5.

"The index seems to have bottomed out in October and we've had three months of improvement. Three months we see as a turning point signal, and we are beginning to get a bit more confident," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at data provider Markit.

"So it may not be a recession in the euro zone but a very brief period of decline."

A Reuters poll last week predicted the euro zone would wallow in a mild recession until the second half of this year and shrink in 2012 by around 0.3 percent.

But some of the recent growth was spurred by reducing backlogs of work, with the composite sub-index remaining below 50 at 47.2, albeit up slightly from December's 46.4.

Firms were also forced to cut prices for the second month to drum up business, despite input costs rising.

In a worrying sign for policymakers, the big two economies of Germany and France supported growth in the bloc, the rest of which remained firmly in contraction territory, Markit said.

Earlier data from Germany, the backbone of the bloc, showed its service sector expanded at its fastest pace in seven months - far quicker than expected - while manufacturing activity increased for the first time in four months.

France's service sector grew at its fastest pace since August, but factory sector activity declined for the sixth straight month.

SERVICES BOOST

The service sector PMI rose to 50.5 this month from 48.8 in December, the first time it has been above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction since last August.

That beat both the median prediction of 49.0 and the highest forecast of 50.0 in a Reuters poll.

The manufacturing PMI came in at 48.7, above December's 46.9 and also beating both the top-end forecast and a median prediction for 47.3 in a Reuters poll.

Factory output held steady this month, with the index at 50.0, considerably higher than December's 47.1.

Despite the continued contraction, factories took on extra workers this month. The jobs sub-index rose to 50.5 from 49.9, but service sector firms reduced their workforce as they battled to rein in costs.

Official data showed the unemployment rate held steady at 10.3 percent in November but a Reuters poll predicts it will rise this year.

OPTIMISTIC

Services firms, ranging from banks to hotels, grew more optimistic about the future with the business expectations index jumping to 56.0 this month from December's 53.6, the highest reading since August.

"We saw companies more confident in the outlook that they think the euro zone's crisis may be coming to some sort of conclusion with some deal-making on Greek bonds in particular," Williamson said.

The bloc has struggled as the debt crisis that began in Greece over two years ago has raged on, threatening to rip the currency union apart, while it has also been hurt by a global economic slowdown.

But France and Germany said on Monday that a deal with private sector investors to reduce Greece's debt burden was "taking shape" although Athens needed to stick to its reform promises to secure a new EU/IMF program it needs to avoid default by March.

- Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a license.

To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: http://www/markit.com/information/register/reuters-pmi-subscriptions

For further information, please phone Markit on +44 20 7260 2454 or email economics@markit.com

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_eurozone_pmi

lord howe island lord howe island conficker conficker zach braff kevin federline amy smart

'Amazing' win over 49ers earns Giants title trip

N.Y. outlasts San Francisco 20-17 in overtime; sets up another Super Bowl vs. N.E.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Giants quarterback?Eli Manning celebrates a touchdown pass. Manning and the Giants beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship on Sunday.

By JANIE McCAULEY

updated 1:30 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO - The New York Giants have their own Super Bowl formula: in overtime and on the road.

And with Lawrence Tynes' foot.

Five plays after the 49ers' Kyle Williams fumbled a punt, Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in overtime, sending the Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on a rare mistake in San Francisco's resurgent season. Williams' blunder put the Giants in perfect position for another sensational finish in a season full of them.

"That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard that we got," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. "Defense was outstanding, special teams getting us two turnovers was huge. That led to 10 points."

The first three overtime series ended in punts before Williams fumbled. The Giants won it moments later and silenced - for good this time - the towel-waving, poncho-wearing sellout crowd at cold, rainy Candlestick Park.

"It was one of those situations where I tried to turn it upfield and it just didn't work out," Williams said.

Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis as 3 1/2-point underdogs. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.

Tynes had a hand, er, foot in getting the Giants to that one, too, kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime.

Devin Thomas put the Giants in position this time by recovering his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.

"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," Tynes said of his kick 7:54 into overtime. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I'm usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win."

Holder Steve Weatherford celebrated with a slip-and-slide on his back down the soggy field. Victor Cruz fell to his knees. Tynes quickly found his crying wife for a warm hug. Manning tossed his gloves into the temporary seats with a big smile, then received a surprise visit from big brother, Peyton, in the locker room.

Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns and overcame six sacks in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall.

Manning threw a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 8:34 remaining after Kyle Williams fumbled for the first time.

The Giants challenged that the ball touched Williams' right knee and Thomas recovered with 11:06 left and coach Tom Coughlin won, giving the Giants the ball back at the 29.

"That was a tremendous football game for those that really enjoy football at it's very basic element," said Coughlin, who matched former Cowboys coach Tom Landry for most road playoff wins with seven. "Just a classic football game that just seemed like no one was going to put themselves into position to win it. Fortunately we were able to do that."

A 12-point underdog in the 2008 title game, the Giants battered Brady and got a last-minute TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress to win their third Super Bowl. Five months ago, Manning declared he was in the same class as Tom Brady. Now, he'll get another chance to outdo him on the NFL's biggest stage.

During this playoff run, he's already outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Packers, and fellow former No. 1 pick Alex Smith.

Cruz set the tone Sunday with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards.

"It's just been a tremendous effort by all of us, man," Cruz said. "We understand that any one of us can get hot at any moment. As long as we're all on the same page and just playing together, man, we've got a great group of guys."

The Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing and Coughlin's job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

They were facing elimination the following week against the Jets and Rex Ryan, but the Giants won 29-14. They followed with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to win the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round, and then came another stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay.

Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards for the NFC West champions (14-4), who went from 6-10 a year ago to a contender and ended an eight-year playoff drought.

"It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over," Harbaugh said. "There were a lot of ways in which we played well enough to win. We just didn't come away with it."

Smith completed just 12 of 26 passes for 196 yards, connecting on only one short throw to a wide receiver. With no threats on the outside, San Francisco managed one third-down conversion, coming on the final play of regulation. The offense was unable to overcome Williams' blunders.

"We all know him. We know how committed he is to winning," Smith said. "It's not on him. I look at the 1-for-13 on third downs. I know he's going to feel bad, but he's still part of our team. We didn't lose the game there. We lost it across the board offensively. We just couldn't get it done."

The only other time these two franchises faced off in the conference championship the game finished in memorable fashion. On Jan. 20, 1991, Roger Craig fumbled with the 49ers leading 13-12 late in the fourth quarter and the Giants went on to win 15-13 to deny San Francisco a chance at a third straight Super Bowl title. New York then beat the Bills to capture its second Super Bowl.

This time, it was Williams who made the crucial mistake.

`You hate to be the last guy that had the ball, to give it away in that fashion and to lose a game of this magnitude," Williams said. "It is what it is. We're going to move forward as a team. Everyone has come to pat me on the back and the shoulder to say it's not me."

Notes: Davis joined Jerry Rice as the only 49ers with at least two touchdowns receiving in back-to-back playoff games. ... Cruz caught a 36-yard pass from Manning on the first play of the second quarter, then Manning hit Bear Pascoe for a 6-yard touchdown seven plays later. ... Giants C David Baas beat his former team. ... Manningham missed the potential game-tying TD in a 27-20 loss here on Nov. 13.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

More news

It's another Super matchup

Rosenthal: Tom Coughlin has gone from the hot seat to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have a chance to make history. This all seems familiar, doesn?t it?

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46095251/ns/sports-nfl/

sinead oconnor celtics braylon edwards jimmer fredette mall of america mennonite gordon hayward

Cooling semiconductors by laser light

ScienceDaily (Jan. 22, 2012) ? Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have combined two fields -- quantum physics and nano physics -- and this has led to the discovery of a new method for laser cooling semiconductor membranes. Semiconductors are vital components in solar cells, LEDs and many other electronics, and the efficient cooling of components is important for future quantum computers and ultrasensitive sensors. The new cooling method works quite paradoxically by heating the material! Using lasers, researchers cooled membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C.

The results are published in the journal Nature Physics.

"In experiments, we have succeeded in achieving a new and efficient cooling of a solid material by using lasers. We have produced a semiconductor membrane with a thickness of 160 nanometers and an unprecedented surface area of 1 by 1 millimeter. In the experiments, we let the membrane interact with the laser light in such a way that its mechanical movements affected the light that hit it. We carefully examined the physics and discovered that a certain oscillation mode of the membrane cooled from room temperature down to minus 269 degrees C, which was a result of the complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances," explains Koji Usami, associate professor at Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute.

From gas to solid

Laser cooling of atoms has been practiced for several years in experiments in the quantum optical laboratories of the Quantop research group at the Niels Bohr Institute. Here researchers have cooled gas clouds of cesium atoms down to near absolute zero, minus 273 degrees C, using focused lasers and have created entanglement between two atomic systems. The atomic spin becomes entangled and the two gas clouds have a kind of link, which is due to quantum mechanics. Using quantum optical techniques, they have measured the quantum fluctuations of the atomic spin.

"For some time we have wanted to examine how far you can extend the limits of quantum mechanics -- does it also apply to macroscopic materials? It would mean entirely new possibilities for what is called optomechanics, which is the interaction between optical radiation, i.e. light, and a mechanical motion," explains Professor Eugene Polzik, head of the Center of Excellence Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

But they had to find the right material to work with.

Lucky coincidence

In 2009, Peter Lodahl (who is today a professor and head of the Quantum Photonic research group at the Niels Bohr Institute) gave a lecture at the Niels Bohr Institute, where he showed a special photonic crystal membrane that was made of the semiconducting material gallium arsenide (GaAs). Eugene Polzik immediately thought that this nanomembrane had many advantageous electronic and optical properties and he suggested to Peter Lodahl's group that they use this kind of membrane for experiments with optomechanics. But this required quite specific dimensions and after a year of trying they managed to make a suitable one.

"We managed to produce a nanomembrane that is only 160 nanometers thick and with an area of more than 1 square millimetre. The size is enormous, which no one thought it was possible to produce," explains Assistant Professor S?ren Stobbe, who also works at the Niels Bohr Institute.

Basis for new research

Now a foundation had been created for being able to reconcile quantum mechanics with macroscopic materials to explore the optomechanical effects.

Koji Usami explains that in the experiment they shine the laser light onto the nanomembrane in a vacuum chamber. When the laser light hits the semiconductor membrane, some of the light is reflected and the light is reflected back again via a mirror in the experiment so that the light flies back and forth in this space and forms an optical resonator. Some of the light is absorbed by the membrane and releases free electrons. The electrons decay and thereby heat the membrane and this gives a thermal expansion. In this way the distance between the membrane and the mirror is constantly changed in the form of a fluctuation.

"Changing the distance between the membrane and the mirror leads to a complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances and you can control the system so as to cool the temperature of the membrane fluctuations. This is a new optomechanical mechanism, which is central to the new discovery. The paradox is that even though the membrane as a whole is getting a little bit warmer, the membrane is cooled at a certain oscillation and the cooling can be controlled with laser light. So it is cooling by warming! We managed to cool the membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C," Koji Usami explains.

"The potential of optomechanics could, for example, pave the way for cooling components in quantum computers. Efficient cooling of mechanical fluctuations of semiconducting nanomembranes by means of light could also lead to the development of new sensors for electric current and mechanical forces. Such cooling in some cases could replace expensive cryogenic cooling, which is used today and could result in extremely sensitive sensors that are only limited by quantum fluctuations," says Professor Eugene Polzik.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. K. Usami, A. Naesby, T. Bagci, B. Melholt Nielsen, J. Liu, S. Stobbe, P. Lodahl, E. S. Polzik. Optical cavity cooling of mechanical modes of a semiconductor nanomembrane. Nature Physics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nphys2196

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120122152546.htm

mirror mirror trailer bob knight bob knight lavar arrington hope solo dancing with the stars hope solo dancing with the stars jack wagner

Paterno's death met with grief in State College

Laura Scott, of State College, Pa., places a rose at the foot of a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in State College,Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Laura Scott, of State College, Pa., places a rose at the foot of a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in State College,Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

People gather around a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in State College,Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

People gather around a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 in State College,Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

People gather around a statue of Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State University campus after learning of his death Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Joe Paterno's death from lung cancer Sunday just two months after his firing left many Penn State students, alumni and community members numb with grief and a sense that the legendary coach deserved better from the university after such a distinguished career.

"His legacy is without question as far as I'm concerned," said 65-year-old Ed Hill of Altoona, a football season ticket-holder for 35 years. "The Board of Trustees threw him to the wolves. I think Joe was a scapegoat nationally. ... I'm heartbroken."

In death, Paterno received the praise that under normal circumstances might have been reserved for the retirement dinner he never received.

Gov. Tom Corbett said he had secured his place in Pennsylvania history and noted that "as both man and coach," Paterno had "confronted adversities, both past and present, with grace and forbearance."

Similar tributes were issued by politicians, university officials, former players and alumni. Some expressed hope that Paterno would be remembered more for his accomplishments than for his downfall. And some wondered whether his heartbreaking firing somehow hastened his death.

Paterno, who died at 85, was fired Nov. 9 by the Penn State trustees after he was criticized for not going to the police in 2002 when he was told that former assistant Jerry Sandusky had been seen molesting a boy in the showers at the football complex.

Paterno reported the allegations to university higher-ups, but it would be nearly a decade before Sandusky was arrested, and Paterno said he regretted having not done more. Pennsylvania's state police commissioner said the football coach may have met his legal duty but not his moral one.

On Sunday, Sandusky expressed sympathy to Paterno's family in a statement released by his lawyer as he awaits trial on charges of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period.

Sandusky said that no one did more for the university's academic reputation than Paterno, and that his former boss "had the courage to practice what he preached" about toughness, hard work and clean competition.

At an Iowa-Penn State wrestling match Sunday afternoon, a crowd of some 6,500 people gave a 30-second standing ovation as an image of Paterno appeared on two video boards. The screen flashed the words "Joseph Vincent Paterno 1926-2012" and a picture of a smiling Paterno in a blue tie and blue sweater vest.

At the university's Berkey Creamery, Ginger Colon, of Fairfax, Va., was picking up two half-gallons of Peachy Paterno ice cream when she heard the news. Colon, whose daughter attends Penn State, said it was sad that the scandal would be part of Paterno's legacy.

"But from a personal note, it makes you re-think when things are reported to you by employees: Have I taken enough steps?" Colon said.

Andrea Mastro, an immunology professor who lives in the same neighborhood where Paterno lived and raised a family ? with his address and number, famously, listed in the phone book ? said the rapid spread of the cancer and the shadow of the Sandusky investigation made "the whole situation very sad."

"I can't help but thinking that his death is somehow related" to the stress of the scandal, she said after Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, where Paterno sometimes attended services. "I think everybody is going to be extremely sad, and they're going to be sad in particular because he didn't get his say."

Mickey Shuler, who played for Penn State under Paterno in the mid-'70s, said the coach had been a father figure and expressed his disappointment about how he was fired.

"It's just sad, because I think he died from other things than lung cancer," Shuler said. "I don't think that the Penn State that he helped us to become and all the principles and values and things that he taught were carried out in the handling of his situation."

The trustees and school President Rodney Erickson issued a statement saying the university plans to honor Paterno but is still working on what form that will take, and when it will happen.

In recent weeks, the board has come under withering criticism for how it handled Paterno's dismissal, and there is a movement by alumni to change the board's composition.

At a women's basketball game Sunday, Penn State players wore a black strap on their shoulders in memory of Paterno.

"It's been the first time I've ever seen a man guilty and have to be proven innocent," said Jamie Bloom, a 1992 graduate from Williamsport. "I think they caved to the media pressure to do something."

Ed Peetz, 87, a Class of '49 alumnus whose daughter-in-law Karen Peetz was just elected president of the trustees, said the board had to dismiss Paterno.

"But then, and now, is a very sad day," Peetz said. "What does Paterno mean to me? He means Penn State. But I think he was too powerful."

Steve Wrath, a 1984 graduate, became emotional as he spoke outside the football stadium, in front of Paterno's statue, which was adorned with lit candles, flowers, T-shirts and blue-and-white pom-poms.

"The Sandusky situation is obviously horrible for the victims, and I don't want to little that situation, but Joe Paterno's legacy will overcome all of that," Wrath said.

___

AP writer Genaro Armas and freelancer Emily Kaplan in State College, and AP college football writer Ralph Russo in New York, contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-22-Paterno-State%20College/id-61422573860b4e3783ae7b7d0e2fa446

port of oakland grand theft auto 5 grand theft auto 5 kris jenner kris jenner livestand power ball

Video: ?JoePa was like our father?

>>> we learned today that one of the most legendary sports figures of the last half century has died. penn state football coach joe paterno whose legacy was forever stained by the scandal that cost him his job. he passed away early this morning after a short battle with lung cancer . and nbc's michelle franzen has reaction on the penn state campus tonight. michelle, good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, lester. here outside the stadium, a steady stream of people have been coming to pay tribute all day, laying flowers and candles at the base of joe paterno 's statue. this place and the man many say symbolizes the heart and soul of penn state . along with grief throughout the day, there was also a strong showing of pride for this legendary football coach.

>> joepa was our father, like everyone. he brought penn state together, really. so it was hard seeing him and terrible this has happened.

>> joe has done a tremendous amount for this university and i just hope that we can all remember him for the good that he did and not what happened this past november.

>> earlier today the paterno family released this statement following his death saying, quote, he died as he lived. he fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. back here at the stadium, people continue to come here tonight in quiet and somber reflection, a vigil is also planned back on campus in this community waiting for word from the family on funeral and memorial plans. lester?

>> reporter:

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46093903/

columbus day columbus day bank holidays bank holidays john galt john galt post office hours

Vanilla Ice Project returns for new TV season (AP)

MIAMI ? An unlikely home improvement show hosted by 1990s rapper Vanilla Ice is set to premiere its second season with the remodeling of another South Florida home.

During the 13-episode run of "The Vanilla Ice Project" on the DIY Network, the artist ? whose real name is Rob Van Winkle ? and his crew will take a dilapidated Palm Beach County mansion along the Intercostal Waterway and bring it into the 21st century with technology that isn't on the market yet.

Van Winkle's passion for real estate and renovation took hold in the early 1990s, after his hit "Ice Ice Baby" made him an international star with millions in the bank. He first bought a home on Miami Beach's exclusive Star Island. He later bought homes in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles, New York's Greenwich Village and Snowbird, Utah, a skiing and snowboarding destination.

"I went on tour for three years and never saw any of those houses," Van Winkle said.

Fearing they may have been a waste of money, he decided to sell them ? and a new career was born.

"I literally made millions of dollars on them," Van Winkle said. "I was like, you gotta be kidding me. It can't be that easy. Let's go buy some more."

After Van Winkle's early 1990s stardom faded, he became more heavily involved in real estate. While he acknowledges that the housing market is different than it was 15 years ago, Van Winkle said he's been able to make money over the years by educating himself, studying markets and taking advantage of short sales and foreclosures. The longtime Miami resident estimates that he's bought and sold more than a hundred homes, mainly in Florida.

"The Vanilla Ice Project" came together after a producer remembered Van Winkle talking about his real estate experience during an interview for another show.

Matt Levine, with Departure Films, said he had done a special on Vanilla Ice for the Biography Channel several years ago. So when the production company was looking to duplicate the success of "Flip This House," a hit on the A&E Network, Levine said he remembered Van Winkle talking about his real estate experience. When Levine called, he learned that Van Winkle was in the process of buying a large, completely gutted foreclosure in Palm Beach.

"I flew down with a camera, and we shot a little demo of him (Van Winkle) showing off the place and talking about his experience in real estate and what he wanted to do with this house," Levine said. "It was really very impressive, and it became this little teaser reel. And DIY was immediately interested in it."

That house became the project for the first season, which aired in the fall 2010. The show became an instant hit for the DIY Network, and the home sold a short time later.

Levine acknowledged that the oddness of the show's premise ? Vanilla Ice doing home improvement ? was probably the original draw for most viewers. They kept watching because of Van Winkle's charisma and expertise, Levine said.

"It was unexpected, his likeability and how much he knew," Levine said. "Once it became clear that he really knew his stuff, people started to look at him in a different way. Instead of seeing him as a one-hit wonder or a blast from the past, people started to appreciate him much more than they expected."

Although Van Winkle has been rebuilding his celebrity over the past decade with appearances on reality shows like "The Surreal Life," Van Winkle and Levine are both quick to point out that "The Vanilla Ice Project" isn't really a reality show.

"`The Surreal Life' is reality TV: no plot, not informative, not anything, just a bunch of celebrities running around, seeing how crazy they can get."

Levine describes "The Vanilla Ice Project" as more of a home renovation show, where the expert just happens to be Vanilla Ice.

"We're not manipulating the story line or coming up with ideas," Levine said. "We're crafting episodes so it's coherent. Beyond that, it's his deal."

Both houses featured on the show were purchased by Van Winkle.

"This is all my own money," Van Winkle said. "It's basically just them following me around, doing what I do."

Van Winkle acknowledges that having the film crew around has given him a chance to boost the scale of his renovations. In the past, the work he did to homes was generally limited to painting, minor repairs and landscaping.

"Since the cameras are on it, these are the best houses I've done," Van Winkle said.

The new season promises to be even bigger and better than the first.

"I'm showcasing a lot of modern, state-of-the-art home features that you can't even get until 2013," Van Winkle said.

Following the renovation, the mansion will have a helicopter pad, a pneumatic elevator, electronically controlled beds and a 3D movie theater. They're also tearing out an old swimming pool and replacing it with a lazy river and Tiki hut. The home will be wired so that everything from the televisions to the thermostat to the curtains can be controlled with a smartphone from anywhere in the world.

"Bill Gates wishes he had a house like this," Van Winkle said. "There's stuff he can't even get."

Most viewers might not have the inclination ? or the money ? to turn their home into a high-tech, rock-star pad, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy the show or learn from it.

"You don't have to put in the elevator; you don't have to put it the lazy river or the huge 3D cinema," Van Winkle said. "But you might like the flooring we used in the garage. It's just snap-in tiles. It's really simple. You can order them anywhere and make your garage a really cool man cave. There are a lot of cool little things that you're going to be inspired by and have ideas to do to your own home."

The second season of "The Vanilla Ice Project" begins Saturday on the DIY Network.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_en_tv/us_tv_vanilla_ice_project

ehlers danlos syndrome band of brothers the closer michael turner split pea soup land of the lost cleveland cavaliers

Learn Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Coffee and Coffee Gear [Coffee]

You might've noticed that the other Mat and I talk a lot about coffee and coffee gear, and occasionally we say some things that sound crazy, like the French Press is the most brutal "French" invention since the guillotine, or that we'd sooner drink water from a muddy elephant footprint pressed into a swamp fed by nightsoil runoff than anything that comes out of a Keurig. We're not trying to be jerks, really. Honest. Mostly. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XCvD32twJbA/learn-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-coffee

chester mcglockton chester mcglockton arsenic los angeles weather big ten acc challenge scott disick kourtney kardashian

Hospital chief: Brooks discussed $15 million gift (AP)

CLAREMORE, Okla. ? An Oklahoma hospital executive testified Thursday that country singer Garth Brooks considered donating as much as $15 million to the facility if it would rename itself after his late mother.

Brooks is suing the Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon, saying it would not name a women's center for Colleen Brooks after receiving $500,000 from him. Colleen Brooks died of cancer in 1999. The center never was built.

Hospital president and CEO James Moore testified Thursday that discussions initially involved a much larger gift, The Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/Avdi1z) reported.

An internal document from the hospital quotes Brooks as saying a $15 million gift for naming rights was "exactly" what he had in mind.

Moore denied ever making a verbal agreement with Brooks on naming the proposed women's health center after his mother in exchange for the $500,000 donation. Moore said that gift from Brooks was anonymous and "unrestricted," meaning Integris could use the money at its discretion.

Brooks donated the money anonymously in December 2005, and Integris confirmed it was from him shortly afterward.

Under cross examination, Moore acknowledged he did promise Brooks he would do something to honor his mother, but maintained there was no agreement about naming a center.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_en_mu/us_people_garth_brooks

tampa bay buccaneers meredith kercher meredith kercher waxahachie waxahachie erin burnett four loko