Monday, October 31, 2011

NFL.com Blogs ? Blog Archive 'Strictly Business' for the Browns ?

This Cleveland team is a serious bunch.

Tired of played-out chest bumps, butt bumps, high fives and head butts, the Browns? fourth-ranked defense is choosing to celebrate big plays with a gentlemanly handshake.

It?s part of what linebackers Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong call the team?s ?strictly business? approach. Oh, and there?s a team-wide facial-hair push, too.

?Mustaches packed for our #StrictlyBusiness trip,? Fujita tweeted Friday, before the 3-3 Browns rolled west to play the 5-1 49ers.

As you can see below, T-shirts have been produced and it?s catching on in the Dawg Pound, with offensive lineman Tony Pashos asking Browns fans to send in their mustache pics via Twitter.

Without question, Cleveland?s young team hasn?t encountered anything like Frank Gore and the 49ers? offense in 2011. We?ll see how this business trip pans out.

? Marc Sessler

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Source: http://blogs.nfl.com/2011/10/29/strictly-business-for-clevelands-d/

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Attack near UN office kills 5 in Afghanistan (AP)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan ? Insurgents driving a suicide truck bomb and attacking on foot killed five people, including three United Nations employees, near the offices of the U.N.'s refugee agency in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, officials said. Afghan forces and the militants exchanged fire for nearly seven hours before the militants were killed.

One insurgent slammed an explosives-rigged pickup truck into a checkpoint near the UNHCR's offices at about 6:10 a.m., and immediately afterward, three insurgents rushed into area, which houses several international aid organizations, the Interior Ministry said.

The insurgents seized control of at least one building, and the ensuing gunbattle with Afghan and NATO forces lasted until 1 p.m., the ministry said.

The UNCHR said three of its staff were killed and two wounded in the combined assault and bombing. It did not say whether they were Afghans or foreigners.

"This is a tragedy for UNHCR and for the families of the dead and wounded," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "It also underscores the great risks for humanitarian workers in Afghanistan."

In recent days, the UNHCR said the number of refugees returning from Pakistan had dropped sharply because of the deteriorating security situation and lack of opportunities in Afghanistan.

The assault was the second major attack in three days to target foreigner workers or NATO troops in the country, spotlighting the insurgents' ability to continue to carry out major attacks, despite a 10-year NATO campaign against them. The U.S.-led coalition is gradually handing over security responsibilities to its Afghan counterparts and plans to withdraw its combat forces by the end of 2014.

"Despite the insurgency's failures this past year, it remains capable and, enabled by safe havens in Pakistan, continues to contest (Afghan and NATO) progress in some parts of the country," German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a coalition spokesman in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul.

Jacobson also said the coalition and its Afghan partners had made significant gains against the Taliban and that incidents like the bombing in Kandahar were not indicative of the insurgents gaining strength.

"It is not to gain a military victory. It is to gain media" attention, he said.

The blast caused extensive damage to the U.N. agency's building. Associated Press video showed large chunks of the building's outer walls and its windows blown out, and the interior was in shambles. The street around the building was strewn with rubble.

The Taliban, for whom Kandahar is a traditional stronghold, claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Qari Yousef said the insurgents were targeting what he claimed was a guest house affiliated with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The UNAMA does not operate a guest house in the area. The U.N. mission's mandate is to help the Afghan government with security, governance and economic development.

Following the bombing, five people ? four security guards and the district police chief ? were killed during the gunbattle with the insurgents, the Interior Ministry said. Six people, including a policeman, were wounded.

The ministry strongly condemned what it described as "an inhuman and un-Islamic terrorist attack against the Afghans."

UNAMA spokesman Dan McNortan said all of the agency's staff, both Afghan and foreign, was accounted for.

The attack comes two days after the Taliban launched a brazen midday suicide bombing in Kabul, striking a NATO convoy on Saturday and killing 17 people, including five NATO service members, one Canadian soldier and eight civilian contractors.

___

Associated Press writers Tarek El-Tablawy, Deb Riechmann and Amir Shah contributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111031/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Video: Inside the haunted prison: Part II

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45094072#45094072

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Dog survived gas chamber, up for adoption in NJ

(AP) ? A stray beagle mix that cheated death in an Alabama dog pound's gas chamber is up for adoption in New Jersey.

Volunteers began looking for a new home for the dog known as Daniel after the animal walked out unscathed from the carbon monoxide administered by the Animal Control Department in Florence, Ala., on Oct. 3.

The nonprofit Eleventh Hour Rescue group arranged to have the dog flown to New Jersey, where it is awaiting adoption at its shelter in Rockaway.

Volunteer Roger Keyser told The Star-Ledger of Newark the dog "has got to have some destiny."

Phil Stevenson, a Florence city spokesman, said Friday that no one is sure why Daniel was the lone survivor.

"It may be that his breathing was shallow because of a cold or something. Or maybe God just had a better plan for this one," Stevenson said.

Stevenson said the gas chamber is a stainless-steel box that's roughly the size of a pickup truck bed. A computer-controlled pump slowly feeds carbon monoxide into the chamber once it's sealed, and an operator presses a button.

"It sort of rocks them to sleep slowly. It's like the cases you hear about where people are overcome by carbon monoxide in their home and just never wake up," he said.

A new operator placed the dog into the chamber with other animals and started the machine, Stevenson said, although it's unclear how many animals were in the chamber in all, or what species.

Three animals have survived the gas chamber in the last 12 years or so, and every effort is made to find new homes for any that do survive, Stevenson said.

Alabama lawmakers passed a law in June to ban the use of gas chambers effective Dec. 31. At the time, Florence was one of only two places in the state using the chambers.

___

Associated Press writer Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., contributed to this report.

___

Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-28-Miracle%20Dog/id-e27f4534b04a4ba5b9b399ac4ba2624a

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

LA SALLE WINS 2011 ATLANTIC 10 CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP; SANTANA MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER, IRELAND COACH OF THE YEAR


CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The La Salle men?s cross country team won the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday, which was held at Frank Liske Park on the campus of Charlotte. Junior Alfredo Santana (Philadelphia, PA / Nueva Esperanza Academy) won the race to earn Most Outstanding Performer honors.



Santana crossed the finish line with a time of 24:18 and and is the third Explorer to receive this honor and the first since Sean Quigley, who the last Explorer honored in 2006. The junior is the third Explorer to win the individual title at the Atlantic 10 Championships. The other two Explorers to win the title were Quigley (twice, 2006 and 2005) and Todd Witzleben (twice, 2002 and 2001).

The title is the eighth Atlantic 10 Conference Championship for the program, the most by any school in the conference. La Salle's women's cross country team also captured the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday.

Head coach Dan Ireland also received honors from the Atlantic 10 Conference as he was voted Coach of the Year. This is the eighth time a coach from La Salle has been honored, following seven-time Coach of the Year Charles Torpey.

Before the races began, the Atlantic 10 had a moment of silence for Torpey, who passed away suddenly this summer. The Explorers continued to honor Torpey as they wore a patch on their uniforms as they had done all season for the former coach.

?It was a huge win coming in from the summer and what happened with Coach Torpey and being picked to be the preseason favorites," Ireland said. "The girls and guys both rose to the occasion."

"This win is something that Coach Torpey put together," Ireland continued. "He got them to this point. It was our job to finish the job."

Four other Explorers finished in the top fifteen, earning all-conference honors. Sophomore Nick Ross (East Greenwich, RI / East Greenwich) (5th, 24:36) and senior Nick Crits (Ambler, PA / Wissahickon) (6th, 24:38) were the other top ten finishers for the Explorers. Senior David Hausherr (Townsend, MA / North Middlesex) (24:59) and sophomore Luke Arbuckle ?(Elkton, MD / Eklton) (24:59), finished 13th and 14th respectively, rounded out the top fifteen.

All five Explorers that scored for the team earned All-Conference honors for the first time in their careers.

La Salle finished with 39 points, whereas the runner-up Duquesne finished with 72 points.

2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Cross Country Championship Awards

Champion
La Salle

Runner-up
Duquesne

Coach of the Year
Dan Ireland, La Salle

Most Outstanding Performer
Alfredo Santana, La Salle

Rookie of the Year
Paul Szulewski, Saint Joseph's

All-Conference Team
Alfredo Santana, La Salle
Kevin McDonnell, Saint Joseph's
Greg Roeth, Dayton
Julian Saad, Fordham
Nick Ross, La Salle
Nick Crits, La Salle
Jon Mazzio, Saint Joseph's
Sean Duncan, Massachusetts
Erik Anderson, Duquesne
Tom Ohlman, Xavier
Jim Spisak, Duquesne
Patrick McGowan, Massachusetts
David Hausherr, La Salle
Luke Arbuckle, La Salle
Keith Albrekston, Xavier

LA SALLE WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CAPTURES A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP; IRELAND NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The La Salle women?s cross country team won the 2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships held at Frank Liske Park on the campus of Charlotte on Saturday morning. The title is the seventh Atlantic 10 Conference Championship for the program, the most by any school in the conference. La Salle's men's cross country team also captured the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday.

Head coach Dan Ireland also received honors from the Atlantic 10 Conference as he was voted Coach of the Year. This is the eighth time a coach from La Salle has been honored, following seven-time Coach of the Year Charles Torpey.

Before the races began, the Atlantic 10 had a moment of silence for Torpey, who passed away suddenly this summer. The Explorers continued to honor Torpey as they wore a patch on their uniforms as they had done all season for the former coach.

?It was a huge win coming in from the summer and what happened with Coach Torpey and being picked to be the preseason favorites," Ireland said. "The girls and guys both rose to the occasion."

"This win is something that Coach Torpey put together," Ireland continued. "He got them to this point. It was our job to finish the job."

Senior Caitlin Storbeck (Eagleville, PA / Archbishop Carroll) led all Explorers to the finish line, with a sixth place and a time of 17:41. Junior Meghan McGlinchey (West Deptford, NJ / West Deptford) (7th, 17:47) and junior Stephanie Bearish (Coopersburg, PA / Southern Lehigh) (8th, 17:47) crossed the finish line only seconds after Storbeck.?

Junior Wendy Hutchinson (Dover, PA / Dover) was the next to cross the finish line with a time of 17:50 in 12th place. ?Rounding out the top five for the Explorers was a 36th place finish by junior Caroline Grant (Springfield, PA / Cardinal O'Hara), 18:38.

Storbeck, McGlinchey, Bearish and Hutchinson all earned All-Atlantic 10 honors. This the third consecutive all-conference honor for Storbeck. For Bearish, this is her second consecutive All-Conference honor while McGlinchey and Hutchinson both earned their first All-Conference honor.

"The women's team had a tremendous effort. Four girls ran amazing," Ireland said. "Caroline Grant had a tremendous run for us and sealed the victory for us."

La Salle finished with 69 points, whereas the runner-up Dayton finished with 84 points.

"It's good for the program for us to get back to the standards that we expect here at La Salle," Ireland said.

2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Cross Country Championship Awards

Champion
La Salle

Runner-up
Dayton

Coach of the Year
Dan Ireland, La Salle

Most Outstanding Performer
Jill Prentice, Richmond

Rookie of the Year
Danica Snyder, Duquesne

All-Conference Team
Jill Prentice, Richmond
Hilary Orf, Saint Louis
Amanda Goetschius, Charlotte
Elissa Mason, Dayton
Karen Roa, Massachusetts
Caitlin Storbeck, La Salle
Meghan McGlinchey, La Salle
Stephanie Bearish, La Salle
Meg Ecker, Duquesne
Margo Richardson, Saint Louis
Lizzie Gelason, Dayton
Wendy Hutchinson, La Salle
Stephanie Paradis, Richmond
Hana Sutchar, Charlotte
Hannah Fuller, Saint Joseph's

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clearysnotebook/~3/H_kfp7QUb8U/la-salle-wins-2011-atlantic-10-cross-country-championship-santana-most-outstanding-performer-ireland-coach-of-the-year.html

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Aye matey, pirates plundered 'Modern Warfare 3'

Activision

Pirates have reportedly made off with a partial copy of the highly anticipated game "Modern Warfare 3." If you happen to have a copy, Activision would like you to delete it ... pretty please.

By Winda Benedetti

Listen up ye scurvy dogs, if you're already playing the year's most anticipated game, then you might want to stop.

We're talking "Call of?Duty: Modern Warfare 3" here, which hasn't actually launched yet but apparently has been stolen and pirated.

VentureBeat reports that pirates have managed to get their hands on at least a partial copy of the PC version of the game?? which doesn't officially launch until Nov. 8.


According to their report, an employee at a shipping warehouse in Fresno stole a single disc, which then?? thanks to the powers of the Internets ? began spreading far and wide via torrent sites. That employee, however, only stole Disc 2 of a two-disc PC set.

Venture beat also reports that Activision is actively hunting down pirated copies of their highly anticipated game and is asking players to delete the illegal copies or potentially face fines.

Meanwhile, game site Kotaku posted a YouTube video that allegedly showed a PS3 copy of the game being played.

The video has since been pulled with only this message remaining: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Activision Games Inc."

This is hardly the first time this sort of thing has happened. In fact, the previous "Call of Duty: Black Ops" was pirated in advance of launch and was eventually named the most pirated game of 2010. Earlier this year, both "Crysis 2," "Killzone 3" and "Gears of War 3" were leaked ahead of their release dates.

"Modern Warfare 3," however, is perhaps the biggest of the big game launches this year. But seriously people, you only have to wait 11 more days before you get a legit and complete copy of?the game?... and then you won't have to fret about Activision's men in black knocking on your front door as you play it.

Until then, you could always kill some time by, oh, I dunno, playing "Battlefield 3" or something.

*Ducks ... runs for cover.*

For more game news, check out:

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+. ?And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.

Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/28/8523162-aye-matey-pirates-have-plundered-modern-warfare-3

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

GameStop to offer Android gaming tablets this holiday season (Appolicious)

Android?s open platform has incurred countless devices, all flooding the market. But the gaming industry is helping some manufacturers set themselves apart. With a lucrative gaming sector drawing in advertisers, in-app purchases and virtual goods, mobile gaming has created a sub-market all its own. There?s a growing number of gadget makers looking to put their stamp on Android devices. Video game retailer GameStop, for instance, will soon sell Android tablets as part of an effort to expand its device offerings.

Just in time for the holiday season, GameStop?s family of specialized tablets will come from manufacturers Asustek, Acer and Samsung. They?ll be pre-loaded with a handful of games, including EA titles like Madden NFL. The Android-powered game tablets will also become distribution channels for GameStop?s own mobile app store, Kongregate Arcade. The game store was an early initiative for GameStop as it felt its way into the mobile realm, and only gains potential with a concentrated effort around GameStop devices. The tablets will be priced around $400 to $500, which could be an issue for the retailer if it hopes to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire, also primped with a gaming marketplace.

Sony looks to Android for PlayStation distribution

Sony is another company anxious to cash in on Android?s gaming potential. In an effort to control more of its mobile offerings, Sony is paying Ericsson about $1.5 billion for its half of the Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications joint venture. Their devices have pretty much always been media-centric, but Sony really began to realize its mobile promise with the Xperia PLAY launch. The device was designed for true gamers, with familiar button placement and optimized graphics support. The Xperia PLAY has also become a distribution channel for the Sony PlayStation network, closing the loop for Sony?s mobile and gaming offerings.

Sony also hopes its PlayStation Suite will help sell more Android devices in the future, extending beyond the Xperia PLAY to include the Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P. But the company may be looking even further, as Sony executive deputy president Kazuo Hirai shares their plans beyond Sony devices.

?That?s the beauty of Android,? Hirai says. ?We?re in discussions with non-Sony companies to bring them on board. We?ll make those announcements when it?s time to go public with it. This is not just for Sony devices.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles10051_gamestop_to_offer_android_gaming_tablets_this_holiday_season/43420346/SIG=13d5joirl/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/10051-gamestop-to-offer-android-gaming-tablets-this-holiday-season

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Japan's digital divas take to the stage, wow fans (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's two newest stars have all the basics of being a pop idol down. Their dance moves are sharp, they sing without missing a beat, and their songs have made the top 10.

The only thing is, neither one of them exists.

The green-haired "Megpoid" and red-haired "Akikoloid" are both completely computer generated, the latest in a line of popular digital characters based on a voice-synthesizing program that allows users to create their own music.

They were the stars of a concert during the recent Digital Concept Expo in Tokyo.

Music made by "Vocaloid," the voice-synthesizing program, and its spin-off characters, has made it into the top 10 on Japan's weekly top hits list. But for those watching the concert, the performance was nothing more than thin air -- unless they looked at the screen showing the augmented reality (AR) scene with the 3D characters inserted into live video.

The software used at the concert used a complicated system of sensors and motion capture technology to create the two singers, with sensors around the venue and on the cameras and the hands of two human back dancers interacting to make a composite that was inserted into the concert in real time.

Nothing about the singers is real. Even their high, perky voices are digitally generated, but sound no different from those of many a live Japanese pop singer.

"Though there have been a few concerts with the characters before, this is the first time they could interact with others, including the audience, and appear to move around in a true 3D space," said Masaru Ishikawa, a Tokyo University researcher who helped create the system used for the concert.

"These sorts of concerts up to now have looked 3D but were actually using 2D technology. This is a world first in that the character is actually 3D and can sing and dance with others," he said.

Fans were able to get in on the action by using poles with markers that allowed them to be detected by the augmented reality system and interact with the characters by waving the poles around during the concert. Depending on the song, these movements produced stars, sparkles and flames in the video.

"Seeing the concert with augmented reality made it seem like they were really there, even though they weren't," 24-year-old fan Keisuke Shindo said after watching the hour-long concert.

"It was also interesting to see how they added the effects and allowed the audience to interact using the poles. I think it's pretty amazing."

In addition to the 150 fans at the actual concert, more than 65,000 people watched on Nico Nico Douga, a Japanese video-sharing site similar to YouTube.

(Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/music_nm/us_japan_divas_digital

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Exxon profit rises 41 percent, shares higher (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Exxon Mobil Corp's profit rose 41 percent in the third quarter, slightly ahead of Wall Street estimates, as gains in crude oil prices and higher refining margins boosted results.

Oil companies around the world benefited in the third quarter from a jump in oil prices. Crude futures traded in New York averaged about $90 per barrel in the third quarter, up 18 percent from a year-ago, and Brent crude rose soared 48 percent.

"Their oil and gas production mix was a tick higher to the gas side than I thought," said Phil Weiss, oil analyst at Argus. "The concern I have is that they are becoming gassier and gassier, which is less lucrative."

Exxon is spending heavily to increase its shale gas production, especially in North America. Last year, it closed a deal for gas producer XTO Energy, and the oil company has steadily been purchasing acreage in shale fields like the Marcellus in the Eastern United States.

In the first nine months of this year, Exxon spent a record $26.7 billion.

The company realized better prices for natural gas in the third quarter, but hefty supplies have kept natural gas markets in North America depressed and trading at a deep discount to crude and natural gas liquids.

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported a profit of $10.33 billion, or $2.13 per share, up from $7.35 billion, or $1.44 per share a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $2.12 per share, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Oil and natural gas production fell 4 percent to 4.28 million barrels oil equivalent (boe) per day in the quarter, even as the Irving.

Profit in the company's exploration and production business rose 54 percent to $8.39 billion, while Exxon's refining business saw profit rise 36 percent. Better refining margins increased Exxon's earnings by $1 billion, it said.

Shares of Exxon rose to $82.19 before the start of regular trading, up from a New York Stock Exchange close of $81.07.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/bs_nm/us_exxonmobil

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Matt Damon Launches Water.org Bottle Project

Matt Damon may look like a bad guy with the prison jumpsuit and fake neck tattoos while on set in Vancouver filming Elysium. But don?t be fooled. This week, Matt Damon and Water.org, the charity he co-founded, are launching a water bottle campaign to help some of the 884 million people who lack access to [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/matt-damon-launches-water-org-bottle-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=matt-damon-launches-water-org-bottle-project

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Peter Mehlman: Following the Evidence

At 7:10 a.m., evidence dotted three feet of a stone stoop. West to East were two nut-infested energy bars in their wrappers, five mini-Dove Bar dark chocolates (one half-eaten) a nearly polished-off bag of plain M&Ms and $9.50 in quarters huddled in a clump.

The quarters were what would make anyone in Los Angeles look around for hidden cameras. Maybe this is some UCLA quasi-psycho-socio-economic philosophy experiment: When adults find 38 quarters on their front stoop, what do they do?

But there were no cameras, no one watching from behind the bougainvillea. Now the mystery got interesting because, in LA, we think we know the sociology of the city so well that, through amateur detective work and blatant racial profiling, any mystery is solvable.

It's not true, but we believe that.

As for the Mystery of the Stoop Loot, the first conclusion bolstered that belief: In the dead of the night, someone from the underclass went car-to-car looking for doors left blithely unlocked by blithe upper middle class drivers. That someone opened three or four doors, boosted the stashes of parking meter money plus the bonus candies. Pleased with the haul, the thief took a snack break on the stoop until a private security car drifted up the block causing the perpetrator to flee without the loot.

Aha: What we have here, gentlemen, is an UNSUB well versed in the coin receptacles of multiple automotive makes and models. Chances are, we're looking for a valet parker or car wash employee... in short, a young Latino male.

After all, valet parkers and carwash employees are overwhelming Latino, right? And he must be male because a woman would have put the coins in her purse, right? And he must be poor because what kind of upper tax bracket guy commits such a scrounging crime, right? And he must be young because he took just one bite of a Dove Bar before turning to the M&Ms and people don't acquire a taste for dark chocolate until they hit forty, right?

That first flood of deductions took maybe fifteen minutes. The unraveling of them took almost a month.
At a West Side car wash that very same day, the woman in her late thirties with the shammy is Caucasian as the driven snow. Fine, the economy has taken a nip at this sociological detective work, but still, she could be an anomaly. No need to be rash and widen out the suspect pool, right?

Uh... eight days later at a downtown restaurant, the valet parker in the red blazer reading a graduate-level clinical psychology textbook between fetching cars is most definitely Asian. When one driver realizes he has no cash but swears he has a bunch of quarters somewhere in the car, the valet has no idea where to look.

The fraying investigation plods on.

Just over two weeks later, a klatch of uniformed Catholic High Schools girls invade a Santa Monica 7-11. Scanning a thousand varieties of pure uncut calories, one girl says, "Where's the Hershey's Dark?"

A second girl says, "Ugh, I hope they're out of it. I've been like, totally OD-ing on that."

The Mystery of the Stoop Loot drifted toward the cold case file.

Twenty-four days after the initial crime scene appraisal, a friend at the most pretentious coffee place in the history of the world recounts a story about how a friend of a friend's son, an elite private school kid, admitted to regularly rifling through parked cars in search of meter money. Apparently, this was how he could afford a Trek Mountain Bike.

At this point, there was no choice but to toss the composite sketch drawn altogether. How can so many perfectly wonderful stereotypes suddenly go so wrong?

But then, it's not so sudden: A neighbor tells a story of one night some twenty years ago when he got a call from the police telling him his car had been stolen.

"Don't worry. We caught the thief."

"How? Did he get in an accident or something?"

"No," the officer said, "we just pulled him over because Mexicans don't drive Volvos."

Amateur detective work in LA, professional detective work in LA... so much can go wrong where no one really knows anyone.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-mehlman/following-the-evidence_b_1033703.html

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Flat tax makes a comeback among GOP hopefuls, renewing dispute over 'trickle-down economics' (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/153800741?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Therapeutic Value of Pets For The Elderly | Pet Hooligans

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Most people LOVE their pets. They?ve been bringing joy to people?s lives for thousands of years. But for elderly people, pets often play a much more valuable role.

It has been well documented that pets provide an extra set of therapeutic benefits to the elderly population. For example, loneliness is widespread among the elderly and the presence of pets can significantly alleviate this feeling. Ownership of pets can even enhance opportunities for exercise and socialization, which are key elements to a healthy and enriching lifestyle. In addition, pets can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. These all contribute to a longer, more enjoyable life.

Pets are truly great for the soul because they offer unconditional love. They offer a real sense of worth and purpose and even provide security and protection to their owners. Studies have revealed that more than 95 percent of the elderly pet owners spent some time each day talking to their pets. The same study found that approximately 82 percent of the elderly felt that owning a pet lifted their spirits when they were sad.

Pets Encourage Exercise and Socialization

Two important components of a vigorously healthy lifestyle include exercise and socialization. Owning a pet can improve both areas for the elderly. Pets provide a reason for the elderly to get up early in the morning for a walk. It is a fact that dog owners spend more time walking than those who do not own pets. Walking outside can deter stress because people with pets are approached more frequently, increasing the odds of making new friends or even finding a new date along the way. This type of social interaction is very important. Being connected to others does wonders for our overall well-being.

They Lower Our Blood Pressure

Believe it or not, but pets control blood pressure more effectively than any medicine. In a famous study involving hypertensive New York stockbrokers, those stockbrokers who were given dogs or cats were found to have significantly lower blood pressure than those who did not get pets. The elderly too can enjoy lower blood pressure with the presence of a pet. Medical research has shown that elderly pet owners have lower cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels than non-pet owners. Elderly pet owners can expect 21 percent fewer visits to the doctor, which is truly remarkable.

Dogs Can Reduce Effects of Alzheimer?s

Alzheimer?s patients can also benefit greatly from pets. Research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing revealed that dogs can help Alzheimer?s patients obtain relief from sundown syndrome. This syndrome causes restlessness, confusion, and aggressive behavior.

Pet therapy allows the elderly to maintain a vigorously healthy life. Pets can alleviate loneliness and stress while enhancing opportunities for exercise and socialization, which are key to a healthy lifestyle. Pets are more effective than even drugs to keep blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood triglyceride levels in check. Alzheimer patients have been shown to benefit mightily with the presence of pets. So it is not just unconditional love that pets bring into our lives after-all.

Ripley Daniels writes for Without The Stress. The company specializes in nationwide travel document expediting with an emphasis on Same Day Passports, UK Student Visas and other time-sensitive travel documents.

Source: http://pethooligans.com/2011/10/25/the-therapeutic-value-of-pets-for-the-elderly/

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You are what you eat: Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells

You are what you eat: Low fat diet with fish oil slowed growth of human prostate cancer cells

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A low-fat diet with fish oil supplements eaten for four to six weeks prior to prostate removal slowed down the growth of prostate cancer cells -- the number of rapidly dividing cells -- in human prostate cancer tissue compared to a traditional, high-fat Western diet.

Done by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the short-term study also found that the men on the low-fat, fish oil supplement diet were able to change the composition of their cell membranes in both the healthy cells and the cancer cells in the prostate. They had increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil in the cell membranes, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study's first author and a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study also found that blood obtained from patients after the low-fat, fish oil diet program slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells in a test tube as compared to blood from men on the Western diet, which did not slow cancer growth.

"The finding that the low-fat, fish oil diet reduced the number of rapidly dividing cells in the prostate cancer tissue is important because the rate at which the cells are dividing can be predictive of future cancer progression," Aronson said. "The lower the rate of proliferation, the lesser the chances that the cancer will spread outside the prostate, where it is much harder to treat."

The study appeared Oct. 25, 2011 in Cancer Prevention Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study, which evaluated blood samples before and after the diet commenced and examined tissue from the removed prostate, validated previous studies by Aronson and others done on cell lines and in animal models. Aronson said the study using human blood and tissue also proved that the changes prompted by what the men were eating were clearly evident in their prostate tissue - the "treatment" was indeed reaching the targeted organ because of the changes in the prostate cell membrane's fatty acid composition.

"You truly are what you eat," said Aronson, a clinical professor of urology, who also serves as chief of urologic oncology at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "Based on our animal studies, we were hopeful that we would see the same effects in humans. We are extremely pleased about our findings, which suggest that by altering the diet, we may favorable affect the biology of prostate cancer."

Aronson measured proliferation, or the rate of prostate cancer cell division, by staining tissue obtained from the radical prostatectomy specimens with an antibody against Ki-67, a protein involved in the cell-cycle progression and growth.

"The percentage of prostate cancer cells that stained for Ki-67 was determined by the pathologist, and this gave us an objective measurement of the percentage of cells that were actively dividing and therefore more aggressive," said Aronson. "Previous studies found that patients with higher levels of Ki-67 in their prostate cancer tissue were more likely to have their prostate cancer progress to advanced stages, and were more likely to die from their prostate cancer. Thus, we are extremely encouraged by our findings that a low-fat diet with fish oil lowered Ki-67 levels and may have the potential to slow the progression of prostate cancer."

Diet studies often are difficult to evaluate because getting patients to comply with dietary changes can be challenging. However, the food eaten by men in both arms of this study was precisely controlled, Aronson said. The meals were prepared by chefs in the UCLA Clinical Translational Research Center and delivered in bulk to study participants several times a week. Participants also met with a dietician, kept food diaries and were required to return uneaten food.

"The key to this study was having the meals prepared and delivered to the study participants," Aronson said. "This resulted in a very high rate of compliance, making the study very well controlled."

The Western diet consisted of 40 percent of calories from fat, generally equivalent to what many Americans consume today. The fat sources also were typical of the American diet, and included high levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and low levels of fish oil that provide omega-3 fatty acids.

The low-fat diet consisted of 15 percent of calories from fat. Additionally, the men on this diet took five grams of fish oil per day in five capsules, three with breakfast and two with dinner, to provide fish oil omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to reduce the incidence of heart disease and fight inflammation, and inflammation has been associated with certain cancers.

"Preclinical studies suggest that lowering dietary omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil and increasing omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil decreases the risk of prostate cancer development and progression," the study states. "We found this diet intervention resulted in a decrease in omega-6 vs. omega-3 fatty acid ratios in benign and malignant prostate tissue and a decrease in malignant cell proliferation."

Aronson cautioned that he could not recommend dietary changes based on this study because of its short duration and small sample size. However, based on these results he is organizing a much larger study of 100 men with prostate cancers who have elected active surveillance, meaning they're not getting any treatment for their disease but are getting regular biopsies and check-ups.

The future study will randomly divide the men into a low-fat, fish oil supplement group and a traditional Western diet group and follow them for a year to evaluate the diet effects on prostate cancer proliferation.

###

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences: http://www.uclahealth.org/

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114606/You_are_what_you_eat__Low_fat_diet_with_fish_oil_slowed_growth_of_human_prostate_cancer_cells

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Watch: Obama Talks Gadhafi, GOP and Halloween With Leno (ABC News)

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Video: Obama offers help with student loans

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45039211#45039211

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Reed Hastings: ?Qwikster Became The Symbol Of Netflix Not Listening?

Hastings f8Netflix announced disappointing earnings today, and its expectations to go slide into unprofitability next year. The stock is trading at around $87 in after-hours, down from a close of $120. Following the blowback from his price change, CEO Reed Hastings says, "The focus for us is in rebuilding our reputation." Asked a question about the attempt to separate the DVD business from the streaming business and create a new in a new Qwikster brand (a plan now abandoned), Hastings admits now: "In hindsight, it is hard to justify. Having separate brands can in theory make sense. However after the price increase, Qwikster became the symbol of Netflix not listening." Below are my notes. You can listen to the entire Q&A in the audio embed below.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ycFZY46zUmI/

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Bachmann vs. Bachmann: No to Libyan 'Entanglement' but Wants to Keep Troops in Iraq (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | In the world of politicians, black and white -- for or against -- works better to show definitiveness and decisiveness. Not one Republican politician exhibits this better than Minnesota legislator and presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, who, unlike Mitt Romney, tends to pick a side and sticks with it. Sometimes she does so to her own detriment such as when she attempted to explain on CBS' "Face The Nation" why she was against involvement in Libya but for further involvement in Iraq.

"But I oppose the president putting us into war in Libya," Bachmann said. "One thing that we should have learned in the last 12 years is that once we are involved in a foreign involvement, in a foreign entanglement, it's very difficult to get out. And it's usually at a great price. Secretary Gates is the one who said that America had no vital interest in Libya."

At the same time, it could be argued America had no vital interest in Iraq when it invaded in 2003, just some flimsy contrived "evidence" that the regime of Saddam Hussein was harboring and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction used to justify invading the country. Nearly nine years later, President Barack Obama announced the rest of America's troops would leave Iraq before the year's end. Yet, unlike with Libya, Bachmann voiced opposition to ending America's involvement in that country.

"This decision seems to me that it -- it was more politically based than military based," she said. "If you look at every time we've deposed a dictator, the United States has always left troops behind to be able to enforce the fragile peace. In this case, once we're finished in Iraq, we'll have more troops in Honduras than we'll be leaving behind in Iraq. And, of course, the problem is there will be an Iran waiting in the wings until the United States is gone. And then Iran will exert its dominance and influence in this region. That's not good for anyone. And here the United States has expended forty-four hundred lives over eight hundred billion dollars in toil and blood and treasure. And while we're on the way out, we're being kicked out by the very people that we liberated."

What happened to the argument that once involved in a "foreign entanglement," the U. S. has historically had a difficult time getting disentangled as a reason to not be involved? After 8 1/2 years and the democratically elected government of Iraq's insistence the U.S. leave or sign an agreement that would allow American troops to be subject to the Iraqi legal system, the U.S. chose to leave. End of entanglement.

Shouldn't the argument be that Iraq is a case in point of why America should not have become involved in Libya's civil war troubles?

Still, as conflicts go, the two wars could not be more different. The "entanglement" in Libya lasted eight months, not eight years. There were no American troops on the ground, although U.S. military drones, missile attacks and fighter flyovers were part of the NATO operation. The Libya conflict cost the U.S. $1 billion. The Iraq War has cost more than $800 billion to date, more than it cost to fight World War II.

They were alike in that they saw a ruthless despot deposed.

Politicians like Bachmann who seem intent on always posting themselves as diametrically opposed to a political opponent or issue will sometimes contradict themselves.

In suggesting why the U.S. should not be involved in Libya, Bachmann made a good argument for the discontinuation of involvement for Iraq. She made the point the Obama administration's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq was more politically based than military.

Given her argument of why she opposed getting involved in Libya, it would appear Bachmann, in her fervor to attack headline-making facets of the president's foreign policies, could be hit with much the same accusation.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111025/us_ac/10281277_bachmann_vs_bachmann_no_to_libyan_entanglement_but_wants_to_keep_troops_in_iraq

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Start your week with the Greatest Android Podcast in the World!

Android Central PodcastDon't know about you, but we certainly can't get enough of last week's blockbusters double-billing of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. And if you haven't caught up with the Greatest Android Podcast in the World, well, time's a wasting! We break it all down in handy recorded form.

The Android Central Podcast is your weekly peek into the world of Android, where we break down the news that really matters, and explain what's just a bunch of hype. Plus, we answer your e-mails and voicemails. You don't want to miss it. Check out the Android Central Podcast.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ayNFHroPIZ8/android-podcast-reminder

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Rick Perry's tax plan panned by conservatives and liberals alike (Los Angeles Times)

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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Panetta: US at 'turning point' to refocus on Asia

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks to service members at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, west of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Panetta arrived in Japan Monday on the second leg of a weeklong Asia tour. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks to service members at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, west of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Panetta arrived in Japan Monday on the second leg of a weeklong Asia tour. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks to service members at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, west of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Panetta arrived in Japan Monday on the second leg of a weeklong Asia tour. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks to service members at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, west of Tokyo, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Panetta arrived in Japan Monday on the second leg of a weeklong Asia tour. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

(AP) ? The winding down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan marks a pivot point for the U.S. military, which must now focus on looming threats such as the rising military might of China, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday.

Panetta used his first visit to Japan as Pentagon chief to sound an emerging theme of the Obama administration: America will remain a global economic and military power despite coming budget reductions, and the Asia-Pacific region will be central to U.S. national security strategy.

In a question-and-answer session with U.S. and Japanese troops at Yokota Air Base, Panetta ticked off a list of threats that he said demand more U.S. attention as it completes its departure from Iraq this year and targets 2014 for the withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan. He mentioned cyberattacks, the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, Mideast turmoil and "rising powers" ? an allusion to China.

"Today we are at a turning point after a decade of war," Panetta said. Al-Qaida is among a range of concerns that will keep the military busy, but as a traditional Pacific power the United States needs to invest more effort in building a wider and deeper network of alliances and partnerships.in this region, he said.

"Most importantly, we have the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the Pacific ? and we will," he said.

He did not elaborate on whether that would mean adding ships or other forces, but he emphatically said budget cuts would not be a factor.

"We are not anticipating any cutbacks in this region," he said.

In an opinion piece published Monday in a Japanese newspaper, Panetta accused North Korea of "reckless and provocative" acts and criticized China for a secretive expansion of its military power.

He wrote that Washington and Japan share common challenges in Asia and the Pacific.

"China is rapidly modernizing its military," he wrote, "but with a troubling lack of transparency, coupled with increasingly assertive activity in the East and South China Seas."

China's military budget of $95 billion this year is the world's second-highest after Washington's planned $650 billion. Beijing is developing weapons such as the "carrier killer" DF 21D missile that analysts say might threaten U.S. warships and alter the regional balance of power.

Panetta wrote that Japan and the U.S. would work together to "encourage China to play a responsible role in the international community."

A day earlier, in Bali, Indonesia, Panetta offered more positive remarks about China. He told reporters that Beijing deserved praise for a relatively mild response to a $5.8 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan announced in September.

Panetta is not visiting China on this trip, but the Obama administration has worked to improve historically weak military ties with China. Panetta's predecessor, Robert Gates, argued that both sides needed to better understand one another's capabilities and motives, the better to prevent miscalculations or misunderstandings. U.S. Navy ships have had run-ins with Chinese ships in disputed waters, for example, but China insists its military rise is peaceful and poses no threat to the U.S.

Panetta is focusing more directly during this trip on the threat posed by North Korea, which he said in his opinion piece "continues to engage in reckless and provocative behavior and is developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, which pose a threat not just to Japan but to the entire region."

The problem of North Korea involves not only the historical weight of Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910 to the end of World War II, but also China's support for communist North Korea. China fought U.S. forces as a North Korean ally during the 1950-53 Korean War, which remains an unsettled issue.

Panetta's strong language coincided with the start of talks in Geneva between U.S. and North Korean officials in what Washington calls at effort to determine whether Pyongyang is serious about returning to nuclear disarmament talks. Japan also worries about North Korea and is one of five countries that have jointly tried to persuade the North Koreans to cap and reverse their nuclear arms program. The other four are the U.S., China, Russia and South Korea.

The U.S. has about 47,000 troops in Japan and about 28,000 in South Korea, and it is studying near-term possibilities for bolstering the U.S. position in Asia ? not necessarily by adding more troops but by increasing U.S. Navy port calls and doing more regular exercises with Asian and Pacific nations.

President Barack Obama plans to visit Indonesia in November to attend an East Asia summit meeting, following a visit to Australia. He also will host a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Hawaii in November.

Panetta arrived in Japan from Bali, where he met with defense ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On Tuesday, Panetta is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as well as Japan's defense and foreign ministers. On Wednesday he is to meet with U.S. sailors aboard a ship at nearby Yokosuka Naval Base and then travel to South Korea for annual security consultations.

___

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

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-10-24-Panetta-Asia/id-c56a732d0a2b40839b32351afe60062d

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Karzai: Afghanistan with Pakistan in US-Pak war (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that if the United States and Pakistan ever went to war, his country would back Pakistan ? a statement that contrasts with his harsh criticism of his eastern neighbor during U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent visit to Kabul.

Such a scenario is exceedingly unlikely, and Karzai's remarks appear to be less a serious statement of policy than an overture to Pakistan, whose cooperation is sorely needed if Afghanistan is to have a chance at stability after years of conflict and civil war.

Nonetheless, Karzai's comments during an interview with the private GEO television station in Pakistan broadcast on Saturday contrasted starkly from his show of alliance with Washington during Clinton's visit last week, during which the U.S. secretary ramped up the pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militants using its territory for attacks into Afghanistan.

"If fighting starts between Pakistan and the U.S., we are beside Pakistan," Karzai said. "If Pakistan is attacked and the people of Pakistan need Afghanistan's help, Afghanistan will be there with you."

The Afghan president said his country was indebted to Pakistan for taking in millions of Afghan refugees over the years and stressed that Afghanistan would not allow any nation ? be it the U.S., India, Russia, China or anyone else ? to dictate its policies.

"Anybody that attacks Pakistan, Afghanistan will stand with Pakistan," he said. "Afghanistan will never betray their brother."

Both the U.S. and Afghanistan have repeatedly said Pakistan is providing sanctuary to terrorist groups launching attacks in Afghanistan.

Clinton, joined by a bevy of top U.S. officials including CIA director David Petraeus, flew to Pakistan after her Kabul visit with the blunt message that if Islamabad was unwilling or unable to take the fight to the al-Qaida and Taliban-linked Haqqani network operating from its western border with Afghanistan, the U.S. "would show" Pakistan how to eliminate that militant group's safe havens.

Even so, she said the U.S. has no intention of deploying U.S. forces across the border in Pakistan. She suggested that the favored solution would be reconciliation and peace efforts and that Pakistan needs to cooperate.

The focus on reconciliation with the insurgents, while fighting those who refuse to embrace peace efforts, is pivotal in NATO's push to try to stabilize and secure Afghanistan as much as possible by the end of 2014, the date by when foreign troops will have been withdrawn or moved into support roles.

But the insurgents have remained intransigent and attacks and bombings plague Afghanistan, claiming the lives of civilians as well as those of Afghan and international forces.

Five villagers were killed while trying to remove a roadside mine planted by the Taliban in the Pashtun Zarghun district of the western province of Herat, the provincial governor's spokesman, Mohyaddin Noori, said Sunday.

The villagers had found six mines that were planted to target Afghan security forces in the area and, instead of notifying authorities, tried to move them themselves. They were able to safely remove five of the mines, said Noori. But the sixth device exploded as they were moving it, he said, adding that another three people were injured in the explosion on Saturday.

In the eastern part of the country, NATO said one of its service members was killed following an insurgent attack on Saturday.

The international coalition did not provide additional details, but the death raises to 472 the number of NATO service members killed so far this year.

NATO and Afghan forces have been expanding their operations in the east, targeting the Haqqani network that operates out of Pakistan's North Waziristan region. Pakistan has been reluctant to move more forcefully against the Haqqani, arguing such an act could spark a broader tribal war in the region with which it is militarily ill-equipped militarily to handle.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111023/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Dina Manzo Defends Teresa Giudice, Tells The Truth!


On part two of The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion special, Caroline Manzo went off on Teresa Giudice for a number of reasons. Among them: Caroline blames her castmate for the disintegrated relationship she has with her sister, Dina.

How does Dina feel about this publicized mess? In a new blog entry titled blog post labeled "The Truth!," this former Real Housewife writes that she wants to "put all this to rest," and starts by addressing critics:

"Just so you know I've been offered a SERIOUS amount of money to sell this to many outlets BUT I chose to do it for free here. So all of you who have something to say can shove it."

Kathy Wakile and Teresa Giudice

Alright then. Glad that's cleared up. But what about Dina's take on Teresa's recent behavior, which includes a diss of Caroline in her latest cookbook?

"Was it necessary for her to write that stuff in her book? Probably not, but I don't think it was written with malice either," Dina said. "So there you have it, Teresa had nothing to do with me staying away from everyone, I even stayed away from her too."

So why did Dina stay away from cast members?

"I really wanted to walk away from all of the toxic behavior," she writes. "I was not into ganging up on anyone... I guess some of the Housewives may have taken that as I think I'm better than them... that couldn't be further from the truth."

Finally, in relation to her feud with Caroline, Dina is vague: "Feelings did get hurt. I won't get into them because I have no desire to rehash the past that can only hurt my parents whom I adore... There is no side here, this is a private matter..."

Then, of course, Dina closed by plugging Dina's Party on HGTV.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/dina-manzo-defends-teresa-giudice-tells-the-truth/

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