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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) ? Two robotic NASA probes are due to arrive at the moon this weekend to resolve a long-standing mystery of what is inside Earth's natural satellite and how it got there.
The 667-pound (303-kg) craft of the U.S. space agency's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission have been flying to the moon since their joint launch in September.
GRAIL A is due to begin a 40-minute braking maneuver to put itself into orbit around the moon at 4:21 p.m. ET on Saturday, with GRAIL B following suit 25 hours later. Both are needed for the intricate gravity-mapping mission scheduled to begin in March.
"We won't be celebrating a lot until after we get GRAIL B into orbit late afternoon on New Year's Day," said project manager David Lehman with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Once in position 34 miles above the moon's surface, the GRAIL probes will fly in a line, speeding up and slowing down in response to minute gravitational tugs.
By constantly measuring changes in the distance between the two craft, scientists can create a gravity map of the moon. The changes in speed will be as subtle as a fraction of a micron per second. A micron is about the width of a red blood cell.
The data will be used to model the moon's interior, a key piece of information still missing despite more than 100 previous missions to the moon.
Scientists believe the moon formed when an object about the size of Mars smashed into Earth shortly after the formation of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago.
"We understand little really of how this formation happened and how it cooled off after the violent event," said GRAIL lead scientist Maria Zuber with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One long-standing puzzle is why the far side of the moon is so different from the side that permanently faces Earth. The near side is filled with large, dark plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions but the far side is virtually all highlands.
"It seems that the answer is not on the surface," Zuber said. "We think the answer is locked in the interior."
Zuber and the team have 82 days to make their measurements. If the solar-powered probes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, survive beyond the next lunar eclipse in June, the $496 million mission could be extended for a detailed mapping survey from as close as 15.5 miles above the moon's surface.
(Editing by Tom Brown and John O'Callaghan)
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil prices fell on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia said it will offset any loss of oil from a threatened Iranian blockade of a crucial tanker route in the Middle East.
The U.S. Navy warned that any disruption of traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz "will not be tolerated."
In New York, benchmark crude fell $1.98, or about 2 percent, to finish at $99.36 a barrel.
Brent crude fell $1.71 to end at $107.56 a barrel in London.
On Tuesday Iran's vice president said that his country was ready to close the Strait of Hormuz ? a vital waterway through which a third of the world's tanker traffic flows ? if western nations embargo the country's oil because of Iran's ongoing nuclear program. The head of the country's navy added on Wednesday that his fleet can block the strait if need be. His comments came as Iran held a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic route, which is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point.
A Saudi oil ministry official told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue. He didn't specify other routes that could be used to transport oil, although they would likely be longer and more expensive for getting crude to the region's customers.
"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," said Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is responsible for naval operations in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
Some analysts think the Iranian threats are more rhetoric than reality. "We doubt political posturing will turn into action," energy consultant and trader Stephen Schork said in a report.
"Shutting down the strait ... is the last bullet that Iran has and therefore we have to express some doubt that they would do this and at the same time lose their support from China and Russia," said analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.
Iran is the fourth largest oil exporter in the world, according to the Energy Department. Most of its crude goes to Asia, with China its biggest customer. Oil provides half of Iran's revenue. Last year that amounted to about $73 billion.
Oil prices were also undercut on Wednesday by persistent worries about Europe and future demand for oil as the region's economy weakens. The European Central Bank said the continent's banks parked a record $590.72 billion overnight with the ECB, reflecting distrust in the European banking system.
In other energy futures trading, heating oil fell 2 cents to finish at $2.89 a gallon, gasoline fell 4 cents to end at $2.65 a gallon and natural gas fell 3 cents to finish the day at $3.08 per 1,000 cubic feet.
____
AP writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Teheran, Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo, Abdullah Shihri in Riyadh, Adam Schreck in Dubai and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.
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North Korea holds funeral for 'dear leader' Kim Jong-il: North Korea's military staged a huge funeral procession... iti.ms/rNHeiK 
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General Hassan Firouzabadi hailed the "forced departure" of the US and allied forces that he said "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The statements were made in messages Firouzabadi sent to his Iraqi counterpart, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, and to Iraq's acting defence minister, Saadun al-Dulaimi, IRNA said.
The departure of the US troops "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," he said.
"I hope the humiliating failure of the United States after nine years of occupying Iraq will serve as a lesson for them to never think of attacking another country," he said.
Firouzabadi added that Iran was now "ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq."
Zebari led a delegation of Iraqi military chiefs to Iran last month to explore greater cooperation between the two defence forces.
US analysts have expressed concern that Iran could exploit the vacuum left by the US withdrawal to bolster links with Iraq's Shiite-led government.
The United States frequently accused Iran of arming Iraqi militias that attacked US forces when they were deployed there.
US President Barack Obama said on December 14 that, while the situation left behind in Iraq was not perfect, "we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq."
His administration has warned Iran against trying to interfere in Iraq.
? Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/iran-iraq-military-links/2011/12/26/id/422120
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Forget the millions of iPods, iPads and iPhones sold around the world the past few years. For a true measure of Steve Jobs? life and legacy, consider this:
In a time when billionaires, businessmen, bankers and anyone else considered part of the 1% seemingly rank right behind terrorists in the American psyche, Jobs? death had mourners from all walks and income levels turning Apple storefronts from San Francisco to Sydney to Shanghai into sidewalk shrines to honor a billionaire businessman who was as ruthless and competitive as he was brilliant and innovative.
Though the cause of death was decidedly different, the mass outpouring of appreciation and affection for Apple?s co-founder, who died at 56 of pancreatic cancer, was eerily reminiscent of when John Lennon was killed.
Which is only fitting, considering Jobs wasn?t just a visionary entrepreneur behind the cutting-edge computers, music players, smartphones and tablets that changed the way the world works, plays and communicates.
He was a rock star in his own right, whose corporate events to announce The Next Big iThing were the business-world equivalent of a raucous concert ? complete with a devoted cult of groupies and fanboys.
He wasn?t a great statesman or philanthropist, nor was he a beloved entertainer or gifted, once-in-a-lifetime athlete. Yet Jobs was arguably the most influential person of the fledgling 21st century.
Don?t believe it? Take a look around your subway car, the street you?re on, your workplace, even your home. Chances are good you?ll see more than a few folks using one of Jobs? creations ? or using something a rival created to compete in vain with his handiwork. (Zune, anybody?)
Chances are even better that those folks couldn?t imagine life without one of Steve Jobs? hi-tech toys.
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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5660854064
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TEHRAN: Iran signed an agreement with Afghanistan on Monday to export one million tons per year of gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel to the neighbouring country starting next year, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The Islamic state, which was long dependent on imported gasoline for 30 to 40 percent of its consumption, said last year it had started exporting the fuel. The sales were confirmed to Reuters by trade sources, but they did not know at the time where the cargoes were being exported.
"Iran has exported gasoil to Afghanistan over the past years but the export of gasoline and jet fuel will begin next year," IRNA quoted Ali Reza Zeighami, managing director of the National Iranian Refining and Oil Products Distribution Company, as saying.
Zeighami said the price of the products will be determined based on International prices.
In April, trade sources said Iran had struck a deal to sell gasoline to Iraq but that the rare cargo did not mean the Islamic Republic had became a net exporter and free from its dependence on gasoline imports.
Shipping data obtained by Reuters in November showed Iran's October gasoline imports rose more than 21 percent to 63,279 barrels per day from 51,986 bpd in September.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday his country would become a major gasoline exporter by 2013, despite the West's toughest-ever sanctions on the Islamic state.
The sanctions have targeted a vulnerability caused by Iran's lack of refining capacity, and many foreign companies have been forced to withdraw from Iran's energy sector.
The United States, Britain and Canada announced new measures against Iran's energy and financial sectors last month and the European Union is considering a ban -- already in place in the United States -- on imports of Iranian oil.
The sanctions follow a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog in November linking Tehran to the development of a nuclear weapon. Iran denies this, insisting its nuclear programme is aimed at generating electricity.
Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil producer, has estimated its reserves at 150 billion barrels of oil and 33 trillion cubic meters of gas.
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DVDBack23 @ Dec 23, 2011 18:14 | 3 comments
Sony has revealed all of the PS Vita's launch titles for when it hits Canada and the U.S. on February 22nd.
The games will cost $10 to $50 although the company has not put specific price tags on each game, yet. PSN downloads are expected to be on the lower range, while games like uncharted are expected to be the very high end.
Sony's own titles include:
Escape Plan (PSN Only)
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Hustle Kings (PSN Only)
Little Deviants
ModNation Racers: Road Trip
Super StarDust Delta (PSN Only)
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
wipEout 2048
Titles from third-party developers:
Army Corps of Hell
Asphalt Injection
Ben 10 Galactic Racing
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend
Dungeon Hunter Alliance
Dynasty Warriors Next
F1 2011
EA Sports FIFA Soccer
Lumines Electronic Symphony
Michael Jackson: The Experience
Plants vs. Zombies (PSN Only)
Rayman Origins
Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
Tales of Space: Mutant Blobs (PSN Only)
Touch My Katamari
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
Additionally, the company has revealed their "release window" games, which will likely be available for the handheld console within 6 months:
Gravity Rush
MLB 12 The Show
Reality Fighters
Unit 13
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
Ninja Gaiden Plus
Ridge Racer
Silen Hill Book of Memories
Supremacy MM: Unrestricted
Finally, the company has officially confirmed the prices of its memory cards. The memory cards are required to save games or use PSN downloads:
4 GB Memory Card $19.99
8 GB Memory Card $29.99
16 GB Memory Card $59.99
32 GB Memory Card $99.99
Source: http://www.blasteroids.com/news/news_item.cfm/33441
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I've never seen a Head Coach "Talk" as much as Rex Ryan and win absolutely nothing. loved his father Buddy, but Rex Ryan is all talk! Source: http://twitter.com/Englishscope24/statuses/150577836141453312
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A Rome man faces several charges following an accident in Owego, N.Y. earlier this month.
On Dec. 17, 2011, the New York State Police at Owego arrested Michael S. Kelley, 33, Rome, for felony driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, Driving to Left of pavement markings, unlicensed operator, reckless driving and operating without headlamps during the hours of darkness. The arrest resulted from a two car personal injury motor vehicle accident on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Town of Owego. Kelley was arraigned before the Town of Owego court and was remanded to the Tioga County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash or $50,000.
On Dec. 22, 2011, the New York State Police at Owego, in cooperation with the Tioga County District Attorney's Office, completed the investigation into the two car personal injury motor vehicle accident that occurred on Dec. 17. As a result, Michael S. Kelley was additionally charged with one count aggravated vehicular assault in the 1st degree, a class C felony and one count of circumvention of an ignition interlock device, a class A misdemeanor.
The female victim in the motor vehicle accident is identified as Marjorie S. Fuller, age 64, of Rome. who was operating a 2004 Buick SUV southbound on Pennsylvania Avenue.
According to state police, Kelley was operating a 2003 Ford F-250 pick up truck traveling north on Pennsylvania Avenue when he crossed into the southbound lane, striking Fuller's Buick SUV. Fuller suffered extensive fractures to her left wrist, elbow, ankle and pelvis and in currently listed in stable condition at Robert Packer Hospital.
Kelley was arraigned on the additional charges before the Town of Owego court and remanded back to the Tioga County Jail pending action before the Tioga County Grand Jury.
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WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama on Thursday chided House Republicans he said are holding up an extension of expiring payroll tax cuts, saying the debate is "about the American people."
To make his point, Obama was flanked at the White House by people who said they would be stretched thin financially if Congress failed to extend the cuts before the end of the year. If no deal is reached, the White House says a person making $50,000 a year would see a loss of about $40 per paycheck.
"Now there may be some folks in the House who refuse to vote for this compromise because they don't think 40 bucks is a lot of money," Obama said. "But anyone who knows how to stretch a budget knows that at the end of the week or the end of the month, $40 can make all the difference in the world."
In seeking to ratchet up pressure on Republicans for a deal, Obama reiterated his call for a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts, a measure already agreed to by an overwhelming majority of Senators from both parties. He said the House GOP's refusal to sign on to the bipartisan deal was exactly why the American people have grown so frustrated with Washington.
"This is an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree," Obama said. "How can we not get that done? Has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things we can't do it? It doesn't make any sense. Enough is enough."
House Republicans say they oppose the two-month deal because it doesn't provide the public and businesses enough certainty. They've called on Obama and Senate Democrats to instead negotiate a full-year extension now.
Earlier Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner called Obama, their second conversation in as many days. The White House said Obama committed to immediately starting talks on a full-year deal if the House first passes the two-month extension. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has also urged the House to pass a short-term extension while starting work on the full-year deal.
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) ? The dangers facing Europe's financial system have continued to worsen, Europe's recently created super-watchdog, the European System Risk Board (ESRB), said on Thursday, as it urged the euro zone to get its new rescue fund up and running.
The body, designed to give early warnings and one of Europe's flagship responses to the financial crisis, said the trouble in the euro zone bond markets and the lack of confidence in Europe's banks had made the risks facing the region more acute.
"Overall conditions have worsened as a result of the intensification of negative interlinkages between sovereign risks and the uncertainty about the resilience of the financial system, and on account of deteriorating growth prospects," the ESRB said in a statement.
"Dependence on central banks has risen and signs are intensifying that stressed financial conditions are passing through to the real economy."
It added the resilience of the financial system needed to be improved and called for banks to bolster their balance sheets but without slamming the brakes on lending.
"Strict implementation of EBA criteria to avoid a disorderly or excessive deleveraging process could support the supply of credit and the provision of financial services to the real economy," Mervyn King, the ESRB's Vice Chairman said.
"The core Tier 1 capital ratio of 9 percent should mainly be achieved through an increase in capital levels, also by restricting payouts."
He went on to say the problems that have frozen interbank lending markets needed to be overcome and was something the ESRB would look at, and urged the euro zone to finalize agreements agreed earlier this month at a crisis summit in Brussels.
"The swift and coordinated implementation of those decisions is now of utmost importance."
"It is essential that the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) be fully equipped and operational."
END NOT NIGH
The ESRB is made up of mix of central bankers and financial industry bodies and is designed to take a bird's eye view of Europe's economy flag up any emerging problems for relevant authorities to act on.
Critics argue it has no formal teeth and is therefore likely to prove ineffective. The ESRB argues, however, that its ability to issue public warnings gives it the ability to harness the disciplinary forces of the market.
The ESRB's head Mario Draghi, unexpectedly and without explanation did not turn up to the post-meeting news conference. King, standing in for him, replied to a question about whether there was a danger the euro may not survive with an analogy about profocising doommongers.
"I remember as a student going to the centre of London and seeing on the main shopping street a man wearing a sandwich board and across it was written: The end of the world is nigh. The interesting thing was he was still there 20 years later."
Both King and Enria said it was vital that banks did not achieve their debt reduction targets by slashing lending to firms and consumers.
They also underscored the importance of the measures taken by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to provide banks with secure and cheap funding. The ECB on Wednesday pumped almost half a trillion euros to banks in its latest bid to bolster the system.
King also said that while the idea of a euro break up was absurd, in general, banks needed to be prepared for all circumstances.
"There was no discussion of that (country leaving the euro) at the ESRB and of course all financial institutions are advised to prepare for a wide range of contingencies. But the responsibility of selecting those is up to them," he said.
(Reporting By Marc Jones and Eva Kuehnen; editing by Ron Askew)
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TOKYO (AP) ? Director Yoshimitsu Morita, whose films depicted the absurdity and vulnerability of everyday life in conformist Japan, has died. He was 61.
Morita, who won international acclaim over his prolific 30-year career, died Tuesday of acute liver failure at a Tokyo hospital, said Yoko Ota, spokeswoman at Toei Co., the film company behind his latest work.
Morita's movies were distinctly Japanese, depicting the fragile beauty of the nation's human psyche and visual landscape while daringly poking fun at its ridiculous tendency for rigid bureaucracy and ritualistic hierarchy.
Morita made a splash among global film buffs with 1983's "Family Game," starring Yusaku Matsuda of "Black Rain" as an offbeat tutor who forms a heartwarming relationship with a young man in a stereotypical middle-class family.
Its striking cinematography, focusing on rows and rows of identical apartments and people dining solemnly sitting side by side, was an exhilarating parody of Japanese family values.
His works were shown at many international film festivals, including Berlin and Montreal.
They included "Tsubaki Sanjuro," a 2007 remake of the 1962 classic by Akira Kurosawa, as well as works based on novels such as Soseki Natsume's poetic "Sorekara" and Junichi Watanabe's "Shitsurakuen."
"Bokutachi Kyuko A Ressha de Iko," a comedy about train lovers starring Kenichi Matsuyama of Tran Anh Hung's "Norwegian Wood," will be released posthumously next year, Toei said Wednesday.
Funeral arrangements were still undecided. Morita is survived by his wife Misao.
___
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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Iggy Source: http://twitter.com/Iggy/statuses/149591246644592640
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A few comments on their ranking:
? Ryan Kalish is not eligible based on his having played so much in 2010.
? Of these 10 players, only Middlebrooks and Lavarnway played at Double A or above last season. The Red Sox don't completely lack major league-ready prospects, but it's close. This is a function of a change in their draft strategy several years ago to focus on high school players.
? Swihart, Barnes, and Bradley were 2011 draft picks.
? BA ranks on potential, not production. Even so, Lavarnway seems a little low given his prowess at the plate last season and in his career. He's no worse than fourth or fifth for me.
Or you can look at it like this, Jesus Montero is No. 1 for the Yankees and there are plenty of scouts who like Lavarnway nearly as much.
? Surprising not to see Jose Iglesias on the list. He hasn't hit in two years but in my mind he's still a better prospect than Cecchini, a solid hitter whose defense is shaky. Iglesias should be, at worst, a No. 9 hitter with an excellent glove. Not sure you can rank Cecchini ahead of him yet.
? My other quibble is RHP Alex Wilson. But if forced to choose, I'd take Barnes. So it's not that much of a quibble.
? This list included LHP Drake Britton (3), LHP Felix Doubront (5), RHP Stolmy Pimentel (6), and 2B Oscar Tejada (10) last season. For Doubront, 2012 is a crossroads season. He needs to start proving something.
Source: http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=146ea8dcc7a0ce5e764fad5f7cb45c7a
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WASHINGTON ? Michelle Obama is visiting a military base in Washington to deliver gifts the White House staff is donating to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign.
Obama plans to visit Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on Friday to meet Toys for Tots volunteers and other military personnel. The Marine group distributes toys as Christmas gifts to needy children across the country.
The first lady has made military families a focus of this year's White House holiday celebration, inviting them to have a first viewing of the decorations. Several of the decorations honor families that have lost a loved one in military service.
This is Obama's last holiday stop in Washington. Later Friday, she and daughters Malia and Sasha depart for their annual holiday trip to see family in Hawaii.
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The price of farmland has doubled over the past four to five years in the nation?s heartland. Are we headed for another bubble?
The Wall Street Journal just caught up with the boom in farmland story yesterday. The price of farmland has doubled over the past past 4-5 years in the nation?s heartland. While some question the rise in prices, rationalizations have appeared as is always the case.
Skip to next paragraph Mises Economics BlogThis is the institutional blog of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and many of its affiliated writers and scholars commenting on economic affairs of the day.
Less than 2% of the cropland in Iowa is sold each year, and 74% of it ends up in the hands of local farmers, who tend to buy for the long term and often buy with cash instead of debt.
Except that TIAA-CREF is not exactly your garden variety ?local farmer.? The retirement system for employees of nonprofits, has acquired 600,000 acres of cropland worth $2.5 billion, about half of which are in the U.S.
?If opportunities arose, we could double our portfolio,? said Jose Minaya, TIAA-CREF?s head of natural-resources investments tells the WSJ.
?Investors discount worries of a price bubble, if only because the rapid appreciation in land doesn?t seem to be fueled by easy credit. In states such as Nebraska, roughly half the land purchases are for cash,? Mark Peters and Scott Kilman write for the WSJ.
Well sure, but it now takes 6 years worth of a crop to equal an acre of land, when the historical metric is 4 years.
Also, while land prices keep lurching upward, crop prices are going the other way.
Whether leverage is used or not, land prices move up and down depending upon interest rates.
Sterling Liddell, an agribusiness analyst at Rabobank, said Midwest cropland prices could drop 12% to 15% sometime over the next three years to five years if interest rates climb back to more-normal levels, which would make alternative investments more attractive.
This isn?t the first boom in farmland prices and it won?t be the last. Nothing causes memory loss as surely as an investment mania. As I?wrote back in July, ?Every new bubble feels different.?
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on blog.mises.org.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/5GY_juexHkE/Is-a-farmland-bubble-looming
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If you come upon a file extension you don't know, the endlessly useful Wolfram Alpha has a tool built-in that will tell you what it is and what programs you'll need to open it.
While you could use something like previously mentioned Fileext.com, Wolfram Alpha is dead simple and probably something you already have in your custom search engines (and if you don't have it there, you should). Just head to Wolfram Alpha, type in the file extension you're looking for with a dot preceding it (e.g. .jpg), and search. It'll tell you what type of file it corresponds to, as well as give you some sample applications that you can use to open it. Hit the link to read more, including a trick on finding out how to open files that don't have an extension.
How to Open Files that have Unknown Extensions | Digital Inspiration
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(Reuters) ? Online games maker Zynga Inc is expected to make a strong debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday after it priced its initial public offering at the top end of a preliminary range but did not increase the size of the $1 billion deal.
Analysts and investors had expected Zynga to raise the price or boost the number of shares it was selling, since demand had seemed strong in recent weeks. The IPO, from the maker of "CityVille" and "FarmVille" games, has been highly anticipated because it is seen as a way for investors to get a slice of Facebook's growth before the social network goes public itself.
Zynga sold 100 million shares of Class A common stock at $10 per share in the IPO, the top end of the $8.50 to $10 indicative range.
In addition, certain of Zynga's stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15 million shares to cover over-allotments, Zynga said in a statement late on Thursday. Zynga will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.
Zynga publishes four of the top five games played on Facebook and has more than 200 million monthly users. Facebook, which takes a 30 percent cut of the revenue Zynga makes on its platform, is expected to go public next year.
"They could have easily raised the size and the price. I expect it to trade strongly when it opens," Scott Sweet, an analyst at IPO Boutique, said of Zynga.
The IPO, equivalent to about 11 percent of diluted shares, values Zynga at $8.9 billion. The company had been valued at roughly $14 billion in November, according to an internal estimate in a regulatory filing.
At $1 billion in proceeds, Zynga's IPO would still be the largest from a U.S. Internet company since Google Inc raised $1.9 billion in 2004.
Zynga and the lead underwriters on the deal, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, declined to comment.
Zynga, which is profitable, generates revenue from less than 3 percent of its players, who buy virtual items like trucks and poker chips in its free games.
Others said Zynga wanted to play it safe with the IPO given the volatile financial markets and what happened to another online game company, Nexon, whose shares fell on their first day of trade in Japan this week.
"The market's been pretty tough this past week, so they probably took a more conservative approach," said Dan Niles, chief investment officer of AlphaOne Capital Partners.
Groupon Inc, another closely watched Internet IPO this year, jumped on its first day of trading in November, but slumped below its $20 issue price about three weeks later.
But unlike Groupon, Zynga is profitable. It posted net income of $12 million during the third quarter and is on track to make $1 billion in revenue this year. But profit growth has been lumpy as the company invested in new games.
Greencrest Capital analyst Max Wolff said Zynga's shares on Friday "could easily go to $12 and change," before stabilizing.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
Zynga's near $9 billion valuation is less than videogame maker Activision Blizzard Inc's $13.6 billion market capitalization and higher than Electronic Arts Inc's $6.9 billion, even though they earn much more in revenue.
Zynga is valued at nine times its sales for the last 12 months, while Activision's multiple is three times its 12-month sales, reflecting the growth potential investors see in online social games.
While Zynga's exposure to Facebook could be enticing to some investors, it also poses a major risk. In the future, Zynga will have to show Wall Street that it can diversify and make money from mobile and other new ventures.
Zynga now generates 95 percent of its revenue from Mark Zuckerberg's social network. If Facebook's user growth slows, Zynga's growth is likely to lose momentum as well. Zynga's growth rate of bookings, which is the money it makes upfront when its users buy items, is also slowing, raising concerns among investors.
"It's not a trend that seems to be stabilizing yet. We believe investors will likely question Zynga's premium valuation," said Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia in a research note.
Another concern analysts have cited is Zynga CEO Mark Pincus' influence over the company. He owns a special class of C shares that carry 70 times more voting power than regular A shares. This is high compared to many other companies. LinkedIn Corp, for example, has a 10-1 voting ratio.
Still, Greencrest Capital's Wolff said investors may look past Pincus' controlling stake because of the company's dominance on Facebook.
"While there are a lot of reasons to be skeptical about the company, including Mr. Pincus' 70 (times) share class voting rights, the bottom line is they have five of the top six games (on Facebook)," he said.
(Reporting By Liana B. Baker in New York and Alistair Barr in San Francisco, Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/wr_nm/us_zynga
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Chart shows the percentage of people by ratio of Income and resources to poverty threshold
Chart shows the percentage of people by ratio of Income and resources to poverty threshold
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans ? nearly 1 in 2 ? have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
"Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too 'rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty.
"The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years."
Congressional Republicans and Democrats are sparring over legislation that would renew a Social Security payroll tax reduction, part of a year-end political showdown over economic priorities that could also trim unemployment benefits, freeze federal pay and reduce entitlement spending.
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, questioned whether some people classified as poor or low-income actually suffer material hardship. He said that while safety-net programs have helped many Americans, they have gone too far. He said some people described as poor live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.
"There's no doubt the recession has thrown a lot of people out of work and incomes have fallen," Rector said. "As we come out of recession, it will be important that these programs promote self-sufficiency rather than dependence and encourage people to look for work."
Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing emergency food assistance did not receive it. Many formerly middle-class Americans are dropping below the low-income threshold ? roughly $45,000 for a family of four ? because of pay cuts, a forced reduction of work hours or a spouse losing a job.
States in the South and West had the highest shares of low-income families, including Arizona, New Mexico and South Carolina, which have scaled back or eliminated aid programs for the needy. By raw numbers, such families were most numerous in California and Texas, each with more than 1 million.
The struggling Americans include Zenobia Bechtol, 18, in Austin, Texas, who earns minimum wage as a part-time pizza delivery driver. Bechtol and her 7-month-old baby were recently evicted from their bedbug-infested apartment after her boyfriend, an electrician, lost his job in the sluggish economy.
After an 18-month job search, Bechtol's boyfriend now works as a waiter and the family of three is temporarily living with her mother.
"We're paying my mom $200 a month for rent, and after diapers and formula and gas for work, we barely have enough money to spend," said Bechtol, a high school graduate who wants to go to college. "If it weren't for food stamps and other government money for families who need help, we wouldn't have been able to survive."
About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.
The new measure of poverty takes into account medical, commuting and other living costs as well as taxes. Doing that pushed the number of people below 200 percent of the poverty level up from the 104 million, or 1 in 3 Americans, that was officially reported in September.
Broken down by age, children were most likely to be poor or low-income ? about 57 percent ? followed by seniors 65 and over. By race and ethnicity, Hispanics topped the list at 73 percent, followed by blacks, Asians and non-Hispanic whites.
Even by traditional measures, many working families are hurting.
Following the recession that began in late 2007, the share of working families who are low income has risen for three straight years to 31.2 percent, or 10.2 million. That proportion is the highest in at least a decade, up from 27 percent in 2002, according to a new analysis by the Working Poor Families Project and the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit research group based in Washington.
Among low-income families, about one-third were considered poor while the remainder ? 6.9 million ? earned income just above the poverty line. Many states phase out eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, tax credit and other government aid programs for low-income Americans as they approach 200 percent of the poverty level.
The majority of low-income families ? 62 percent ? spent more than one-third of their earnings on housing, surpassing a common guideline for what is considered affordable. By some census surveys, child-care costs consume close to another one-fifth when a mother works.
Paychecks for low-income families are shrinking. The inflation-adjusted average earnings for the bottom 20 percent of families have fallen from $16,788 in 1979 to just under $15,000, and earnings for the next 20 percent have remained flat at $37,000. In contrast, higher-income brackets had significant wage growth since 1979, with earnings for the top 5 percent of families climbing 64 percent to more than $313,000.
A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.
Many mayors cited the challenges of meeting increased demands for food assistance, expressing particular concern about possible cuts to federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, which assists low-income pregnant women and mothers. Unemployment led the list of causes of hunger in cities, followed by poverty, low wages and high housing costs.
Across the 29 cities, about 27 percent of people needing emergency food aid did not receive it. Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville, Tenn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Trenton, N.J., were among the cities that pointed to increases in the cost of food and declining food donations. Mayor Michael McGinn in Seattle cited an unexpected spike in food requests from immigrants and refugees, particularly from Somalia, Burma and Bhutan.
Among those requesting emergency food assistance, 51 percent were in families, 26 percent were employed, 19 percent were elderly and 11 percent were homeless.
"People who never thought they would need food are in need of help," said Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Mo., who co-chairs a mayors' task force on hunger and homelessness.
___
Online:
Census Bureau: www.census.gov
U.S. Conference of Mayors: www.usmayors.org/
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Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/13/mission-impossible-tom-cruise-ghost-protocol/
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Public release date: 14-Dec-2011
Share ] Contact: Dr. Pivi Ojala
paivi.ojala@helsinki.fi
358-919-159-445
University of Helsinki
Human tumor viruses contribute to 15-20% of human cancers worldwide. Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and two other rare lymphoproliferative malignancies. KS is the most common cancer in HIV-infected untreated individuals and remains a primary cause of cancer deaths in many subequatorial African countries as a result of the AIDS pandemic. Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology and Research Programs Unit (Genome-Scale Biology) at the University of Helsinki have discovered a novel viral oncogenesis mechanism in which KSHV oncogenes co-opt cellular signaling pathways and modify the cellular microenvironment more permissive for viral replication.
The findings by the group of Research Professor Pivi Ojala (Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki) demonstrates the first lymphatic-specific endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) induced by a human tumor virus. The virus-induced EndMT can contribute to development of KS by giving rise to infected, invasive cells, and providing the virus a permissive cellular microenvironment for efficient spread of the virus.
"This information can be used for developing targeted therapies to prevent or at least slow down the progression of KS in immunosuppressed patients", Dr. Ojala says.
By developing a novel three-dimensional (3D) cell model to better mimic the in vivo microenvironment, the researchers show that KSHV induces transcriptional reprogramming of primary lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) to mesenchymal cells via EndMT, a process implicated in promoting tumor growth and cell invasiveness. Mesenchymal markers were found co-distributed in the same cells with KSHV in primary KS tumor samples, suggesting that the 3D culture in this work succeeds in recapitulating the known heterogeneity of the cell types in KS tumors.
The results also reveal a key enzyme in cancer cell invasion, MT1-MMP, as a previously unrecognized signaling molecule downstream of Notch to induce EndMT. Moreover, the 3D KSHV-LEC transcriptome showed significant up-regulation of invasion related genes, that were found co-regulated in 3D KSHV-LECs and KS biopsies and suggesting that virus-induced EndMT may contribute to development of KS. The results further demonstrate that the 3D culture provides a permissive microenvironment for continuous viral replication and persistence, indicating the importance of virus-cell interactions for viral spread and thereby for oncogenesis.
"The unraveled molecular mechanisms can lead to identification of novel cellular targets for pharmacological control in virus-associated cancers", Dr. Ojala says.
This work is a collaboration between the research teams headed by Kaisa Lehti, Kari Alitalo, Lauri Aaltonen, and Sampsa Hautaniemi (all from University of Helsinki), Chris Boshoff (UCL Cancer Institute, University College London) and Adam Grundhoff (Heinrich Pette Institute-Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology). The project involves scientists from two Academy of Finland National Centre of Excellence Programs, the Translational Genome-Scale Biology and Cancer Biology.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 14-Dec-2011 Share ] Contact: Dr. Pivi Ojala
paivi.ojala@helsinki.fi
358-919-159-445
University of Helsinki
Human tumor viruses contribute to 15-20% of human cancers worldwide. Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and two other rare lymphoproliferative malignancies. KS is the most common cancer in HIV-infected untreated individuals and remains a primary cause of cancer deaths in many subequatorial African countries as a result of the AIDS pandemic. Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology and Research Programs Unit (Genome-Scale Biology) at the University of Helsinki have discovered a novel viral oncogenesis mechanism in which KSHV oncogenes co-opt cellular signaling pathways and modify the cellular microenvironment more permissive for viral replication.
The findings by the group of Research Professor Pivi Ojala (Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki) demonstrates the first lymphatic-specific endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) induced by a human tumor virus. The virus-induced EndMT can contribute to development of KS by giving rise to infected, invasive cells, and providing the virus a permissive cellular microenvironment for efficient spread of the virus.
"This information can be used for developing targeted therapies to prevent or at least slow down the progression of KS in immunosuppressed patients", Dr. Ojala says.
By developing a novel three-dimensional (3D) cell model to better mimic the in vivo microenvironment, the researchers show that KSHV induces transcriptional reprogramming of primary lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) to mesenchymal cells via EndMT, a process implicated in promoting tumor growth and cell invasiveness. Mesenchymal markers were found co-distributed in the same cells with KSHV in primary KS tumor samples, suggesting that the 3D culture in this work succeeds in recapitulating the known heterogeneity of the cell types in KS tumors.
The results also reveal a key enzyme in cancer cell invasion, MT1-MMP, as a previously unrecognized signaling molecule downstream of Notch to induce EndMT. Moreover, the 3D KSHV-LEC transcriptome showed significant up-regulation of invasion related genes, that were found co-regulated in 3D KSHV-LECs and KS biopsies and suggesting that virus-induced EndMT may contribute to development of KS. The results further demonstrate that the 3D culture provides a permissive microenvironment for continuous viral replication and persistence, indicating the importance of virus-cell interactions for viral spread and thereby for oncogenesis.
"The unraveled molecular mechanisms can lead to identification of novel cellular targets for pharmacological control in virus-associated cancers", Dr. Ojala says.
This work is a collaboration between the research teams headed by Kaisa Lehti, Kari Alitalo, Lauri Aaltonen, and Sampsa Hautaniemi (all from University of Helsinki), Chris Boshoff (UCL Cancer Institute, University College London) and Adam Grundhoff (Heinrich Pette Institute-Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology). The project involves scientists from two Academy of Finland National Centre of Excellence Programs, the Translational Genome-Scale Biology and Cancer Biology.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uoh-kir121311.php
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MOSCOW ? Several thousand protesters took to the streets Monday night and accused Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party of rigging this weekend's parliamentary election in which it won the largest share of the seats.
It was perhaps the biggest opposition rally in years and ended with police detaining about 300 activists. A group of several hundred marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses.
Estimates of the number of protesters ranged from 5,000 to 10,000. They chanted "Russia without Putin" and accused his United Russia party of stealing votes.
In St. Petersburg, police detained about 120 protesters.
United Russia won about 50 percent of Sunday's vote, a result that opposition politicians and election monitors said was inflated because of ballot-box stuffing and other vote fraud. It was a significant drop from the last election, when the party took 64 percent.
Pragmatically, the loss of seats in the State Duma appears to mean little because two of the three other parties winning seats have been reliable supporters of government legislation.
Nevertheless, it was a substantial symbolic blow to a party that had become virtually indistinguishable from the state itself.
The result has also energized the opposition and poses a humbling challenge to Putin, the country's dominant figure, in his drive to return to the presidency.
Putin, who became prime minister in 2008 because of presidential term limits, will run for a third term in March, and some opposition leaders saw the parliamentary election as a game-changer for what had been presumed to be his easy stroll back to the Kremlin.
More than 400 Communist Party supporters also gathered Monday to express their indignation over the election, which some called the dirtiest in modern Russian history. The Communists finished second with about 20 percent of the vote.
"Even compared to the 2007 elections, violations by the authorities and the government bodies that actually control the work of all election organizations at all levels, from local to central, were so obvious and so brazen," said Yevgeny Dorovin, a member of the party's central committee.
Putin appeared subdued and glum even as he insisted at a Cabinet meeting Monday that the result "gives United Russia the possibility to work calmly and smoothly."
Although the sharp decline for United Russia could lead Putin and the party to try to portray the election as genuinely democratic, the wide reports of violations have undermined that attempt at spin.
Boris Nemtsov, a prominent figure among Russia's beleaguered liberal opposition, declared that the vote spelled the end of Putin's "honeymoon" with the nation and predicted that his rule will soon "collapse like a house of cards."
"He needs to hold an honest presidential election and allow opposition candidates to register for the race, if he doesn't want to be booed from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad," Nemtsov said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Many Russians have come to despise United Russia, seeing it as the engine of endemic corruption. The balloting showed voters that they have power despite what election monitors called a dishonest count.
"Yesterday, it was proven by these voters that not everything was fixed, that the result really matters," said Tiny Kox of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, part of an international election observer mission.
Other analysts suggested the vote was a wake-up call to Putin that he had lost touch with the country. In the early period of his presidency, Putin's appeal came largely from his man-of-the-people image: candid, decisive and without ostentatious tastes.
He seemed to lose some of the common touch, appearing in well-staged but increasingly preposterous heroic photo opportunities ? hunting a whale with a crossbow, fishing while bare-chested, and purportedly discovering ancient Greek artifacts while scuba diving. And Russians grew angry at his apparent disregard ? and even encouragement ? of the country's corruption and massive income gap.
"People want Putin to go back to what he was in his first term ? decisive, dynamic, tough on oligarchs and sensitive to the agenda formed by society," said Sergei Markov, a prominent United Russia Duma member.
The vote "was a normal reaction of the population to the worsening social situation," former Kremlin-connected political analyst Gleb Pavlovsky was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Only seven parties were allowed to field candidates for parliament this year, while the most vocal opposition groups were barred from the race. International monitors said the election administration lacked independence, most media were biased and state authorities interfered unduly at different levels.
"To me, this election was like a game in which only some players are allowed to compete," said Heidi Tagliavini, the head of the observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Of the 150 polling stations where the counting was observed, "34 were assessed to be very bad," Tagliavini said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington has "serious concerns" about the elections.
"Russian voters deserve a full investigation of all credible reports of electoral fraud and manipulation, and we hope in particular that the Russian authorities will take action" on reports that come forward, Clinton said.
Other than the Communist Party, the socialist Just Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party led by mercurial nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky are also expected to increase their representation in the Duma; both have generally voted with United Russia, and the Communists pose only token opposition.
Two liberal parties were in the running, but neither got the 7 percent of the national vote needed to win seats. Nemtsov's People's Freedom Party, one of the most prominent liberal parties, was denied participation for alleged violations in the required 45,000 signatures the party had submitted with its registration application.
About 60 percent of Russia's 110 million registered voters cast ballots, down from 64 percent four years ago.
Social media were flooded with messages reporting violations. Many people reported seeing buses deliver groups of people to polling stations, with some of the buses carrying young men who looked like football fans, who often are associated with violent nationalism.
Russia's only independent election monitoring group, Golos, which is funded by U.S. and European grants, has come under heavy official pressure in the past week. Golos' website was incapacitated Sunday by hackers, and its director Lilya Shibanova and her deputy had their cellphone numbers, email and social media accounts hacked.
___
Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.
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