PFT: Tebow's fumbling is a growing problem

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As Bills receiver Stevie Johnson approaches the final 60 minutes of his rookie contract, the question of whether he?ll remain with the team soon will become an even hotter topic in one of the league?s coldest climates.

Joe Buscaglia of WGR radio in Buffalo reports that Johnson asked for a contract worth $7.5 million per year during negotiations with the team.? Per Buscaglia, the Bills have made no offers during the past month.

In September, Buscaglia reported that the two sides were more than $2 million apart annually.

If the Bills and Johnson can?t work out a contract by late February, the Bills will have to decide whether to use the franchise tag to limit his mobility.? But since that would entail giving Johnson a one-year, guaranteed salary of roughly $9.5 million, the Bills likely are reluctant to make that kind of a commitment, given their apparent reluctance to pay him $7.5 million per year on a long-term deal.

Agent C.J. Laboy commented on the situation with Sal Capaccio of WGR.? ?We were approached to do a deal prior to the season starting,? Laboy said.? ?When it became clear that the two sides were too far apart, we agreed that it would be best to shelve negotiations and allow Stevie to focus on the season.? Stevie never wanted his contract status to be a distraction to him or his teammates.? At that time, the Bills turned their focus on getting [Ryan Fitzpatrick's] contract done, which they ultimately did.? A week or so after Ryan?s deal was done, the Bills wanted to re-open negotiations, but when it quickly became apparent that we wouldn?t be able to get a deal done, Stevie decided that it was best to wait until the end of the year before talking about his contract again.?

And Laboy seemed to confirm the range of Johnson?s expectations.? ?Stevie was more than willing to do a discounted deal with the Bills because of his loyalty to the organization for giving him his chance in the NFL, his loyalty to his teammates, and his love for the city of Buffalo,? Laboy said.? ?Any reports of Stevie asking for 10, 9, or even 8 million dollars a year are completely false and misleading.?

Ultimately, Johnson may have to test the market in order to determine whether someone else will offer more than what the Bills have offered, and whether Johnson is willing to leave Buffalo.

Through 15 games, Johnson has 964 yard receiving, 109 yards short of his career high in 2010.? He also has 72 catches and six touchdowns; last year, he caught 82 passes and 10 touchdowns.

But untimely drops continue to plague Johnson.? Last year, he had a game-winning score in his hands against the Steelers, but somehow dropped it.? Earlier this season against the Jets, he dropped another pass that could have delivered a win over the Jets.

Still, Johnson possesses the kind of name recognition that could prompt a receiver-needy team to overpay for his services on the first day of free agency, in order to generate offseason excitement and headlines ? and to sell tickets and jerseys.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/29/tebows-fumbles-have-been-growing-problem/related/

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Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions (video)

Yes, the Verzo Kinzo is real! That Americano-Czech Android smartphone with mid-range specs that went on sale in November with a ludicrous $459 price tag only to be hastily relaunched earlier this month for a slightly more digestible $359 is not a giant farce. (Well, maybe it is.) It left the ethereal world of rendered computer graphics and landed in our mitts just in time for the holidays. To be specific, we received the pricier $384 Verzo Kinzo Plus GPS package, which includes a voucher for Sygic's off-line navigation app and a gaudy, Star Trek-inspired car holder. After spending a few days with the handset we are able to report that it isn't particularly impressive in this day and age but isn't completely horrible either -- not to mention the faux-Vertu packaging and branding which are rather, well... unique. So why not grab some leftover eggnog, and join us after the break for our unboxing and impressions?

Gallery: Verzo Kinzo overview

Continue reading Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions (video)

Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/verzo-kinzo-unboxing-and-impressions/

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Youth baseball, softball leagues reach Roscoe deal

ROSCOE ? Boys and girls will be back in action on Roscoe?s baseball diamonds this spring under Stateline Youth Athletics. The Roscoe Village Board and SYA representatives have reached a tentative four-year deal that will allow the youth baseball and softball league to use the village?s Porter, Leland and Thunder parks.

The village had threatened to sever ties completely with SYA if the league didn?t sign a proposed contract by Thursday. Representatives from both sides met early last week to clarify some of the provisions in the contract, such as when the concession stands would close each night and the procedure for selling advertising and signage space in the parks.
The SYA board of directors approved the proposed contract with a few minor language changes. The Village Board will be asked to approve the contract Thursday.

?Basically, we just needed to clarify some little things,? Village President Dave Krienke said.
Roscoe and SYA have been at odds since the Village Board began requiring organizations to sign written agreements before they use village property.

SYA officials refused to sign the agreement this spring to use Porter and Leland parks, saying it imposed unreasonable demands.

As a result, the youth league was not allowed to play ball in those parks this summer.

After months of back and forth and a series of give-and-take negotiations between Krienke and Trustee Chad DuBree and SYA President Jeff Schreck and representative Brad Lindmark, both sides thought they had a deal in the fall.

The Village Board sent the negotiated contract to SYA to ratify Nov. 14, but it instead received a counterproposal several weeks later.

On Dec. 15, the Village Board unanimously approved a proposed contract and said it would cut ties with SYA if the league didn?t approve it within one week.

The newest proposal will strictly limit the league to hosting youth baseball and softball games, which includes high school and college teams.

The league will not be allowed to host adult tournaments or other events, such as kickball tournaments.

If the Village Board approves the contract Thursday, boys and girls will start practice and games the first week of May, Schreck said.

Staff writer Greg Stanley can be reached at gstanley@rrstar.com or 815-987-1369.

Source: http://www.rrstar.com/news/x1569724900/Youth-baseball-softball-leagues-to-keep-playing-in-Roscoe

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Magnificent seven for De Lange but South Africa are skittled

It's been a year like no other for Test-match debutants. Yesterday in Durban, Marchant de Lange became the eighth bowler to return five wickets in his first taste of the game's highest form to join an eclectic collection ? three Australians, two South Africans, an Indian, a New Zealander and a Bangladeshi called Sunny ? in making 2011 the year of the rookie.

It is comfortably the most in the sport's history, bettering the five first-timers in 2003 and 1962, and De Lange's addition to the list will be of particular interest to Andy Flower with South Africa due in England next summer (their erratic batting ? yesterday they were dismissed for 168, and a first-innings deficit of 170, by Sri Lanka ? will also not have gone unnoticed). The 6ft 2in, 21-year-old's spectacular start ? he finished with 7 for 81 ? gives South Africa a potent seam attack when added to Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, the other South African among the 2011 debutants. Fast bowling has been a traditional strength of South African cricket but just months ago Allan Donald was voicing concerns. He isn't any more.

Like Steyn, De Lange comes from Limpopo province where cricketing facilities are scarce. They both played club games as teenagers in the small town of Tzaneen, where De Lange went to school. An all-round sportsman he was a promising javelin thrower ? his short run-up and speed have been in part put down to his athletic background.

In Melbourne, Sachin Tendulkar threatened to bring up his long-awaited 100th international century but was dismissed late on day two after helping put India in command of the first Test against Australia. Tendulkar was bowled by Peter Siddle for 73 from just 98 deliveries, three balls before stumps at the MCG. He and Rahul Dravid (68 not out) helped the tourists reach 214 for 3, in response to Australia's 333.

2011: Year of the rookie

Nathan Lyon (Australia) 5-34 v Sri Lanka

Elias Sunny (Bang) 6-94 v Zimbabwe

Doug Bracewell (NZ) 5-85 v Zimbabwe

Ravi Ashwin (Ind) 6-47 v West Indies

Vernon Philander (SA) 5-15 v Australia

Pat Cummins (Aus) 6-79 v South Africa

James Pattinson (Aus) 5-27 v New Zealand

Marchant de Lange (SA) 7-81 v Sri Lanka

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/266/f/3792/s/1b50d6c7/l/0L0Sindependent0O0Csport0Ccricket0Cmagnificent0Eseven0Efor0Ede0Elange0Ebut0Esouth0Eafrica0Eare0Eskittled0E62820A290Bhtml/story01.htm

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Evraz North America opens $650M credit line to refinance debt

Evraz in August announced plans to expand capacity at Evraz Oregon Steel in Portland, shown in this 2007 photo, to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Russian steel-maker Evraz on Wednesday said its North American subsidiary, formerly based in Portland, may borrow as much as $610 million to refinance its debt.

Evraz North America Inc., which relocated earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, has agreed to a new five-year revolving credit facility that will replace existing credit agreements of $225 million in U.S. currency and $300 million in Canadian currency.

The new credit agreement will also finance the company?s working capital needs.

GE Capital Markets, Inc., GE Capital Markets (Canada) Ltd., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and UBS Loan Finance LLC served as joint lead arranges and bookrunners in the transaction.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that Evraz, which had $7.2 billion in debt at the end of September, is refinancing in an attempt to expand while protecting its credit ratings.

The company earlier this month said it will increase rail production at its plant in Pueblo, Colo., Bloomberg reported.

And in August it announced plans to expand capacity at its steel tube manufacturing plant in Portland to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Formerly Oregon Steel Mills Inc.? ? Oregon Steel Mills Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Fallout from an NYSE-Deutsche B?rse merger Kitzhaber: Boost economic developmentEvraz nets M in incentives for move Follow this company , the North American subsidiary of Russian steel giant Evraz Group S.A. relocated its headquarters earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, though it still employs around 400 workers at its North Portland manufacturing op

Russian steel-maker Evraz on Wednesday said its North American subsidiary, formerly based in Portland, may borrow as much as $610 million to refinance its debt.

Evraz North America Inc., which relocated earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, has agreed to a new five-year revolving credit facility that will replace existing credit agreements of $225 million in U.S. currency and $300 million in Canadian currency.

The new credit agreement will also finance the company?s working capital needs.

GE Capital Markets, Inc., GE Capital Markets (Canada) Ltd., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and UBS Loan Finance LLC served as joint lead arranges and bookrunners in the transaction.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that Evraz, which had $7.2 billion in debt at the end of September, is refinancing in an attempt to expand while protecting its credit ratings.

The company earlier this month said it will increase rail production at its plant in Pueblo, Colo., Bloomberg reported.

And in August it announced plans to expand capacity at its steel tube manufacturing plant in Portland to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Formerly Oregon Steel Mills Inc.? ? Oregon Steel Mills Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Fallout from an NYSE-Deutsche B?rse merger Kitzhaber: Boost economic developmentEvraz nets M in incentives for move Follow this company , the North American subsidiary of Russian steel giant Evraz Group S.A. relocated its headquarters earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, though it still employs around 400 workers at its North Portland manufacturing operation.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_61/~3/iQuuQt6VduQ/evraz-north-america-opens-650m-credit.html

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arturbm: @Santander_br Vcs sabem informar se a nova agencia da Al dos Arapanes em Sao Paulo ja esta funcionando?

@ Vcs sabem informar se a nova agencia da Al dos Arapanes em Sao Paulo ja esta funcionando? Il y a environ 7 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/arturbm/statuses/152056139431948288

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California ranch transforms for 'Zoo'

An hour from the heart of Hollywood in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Greenfield Ranch has drawn dozens of film, TV and commercial productions over the years. Now the bucolic ranch is playing a starring role in the 20th Century Fox movie "We Bought a Zoo."

The 450-acre property, where Roy Rogers and Gary Cooper once shot westerns, was transformed over several months into a makeshift zoo that is the centerpiece of the Cameron Crowe-directed film.

The $50 million production, adapted from a memoir of the same name by former British journalist Benjamin Mee, stars Matt Damon as a widowed father who moves his family from Los Angeles to the countryside to renovate and reopen a dilapidated zoo.

The book was set at Dartmoor Zoological Park in England, but the movie takes place in the fictional Rosemoor Wildlife Park, a rundown animal sanctuary in an unnamed rural Southern California town.

Filmmakers had considered shooting in Georgia but settled on Ventura County, citing the mild weather, a state tax break and the unique properties of Greenfield Ranch.

Location scout Lori Balton discovered the property north of the Santa Monica Mountains while searching for locations for Universal Pictures' 2003 movie "Seabiscuit." With its low-lying buildings and 1920s horse stable, the ranch fit the architectural needs of the Depression-era horse-racing film.

When Balton began to seek locations for "We Bought a Zoo," the ranch instantly came to mind.

Production designer Clay Griffith, whose work with Crowe dates to the director's 1989 movie "Say Anything," was immediately sold on the ranch, with its barley fields and scenic rolling foothills dotted with oak trees.

"I knew it as soon as I saw it," Griffith said. "We were looking for a spot where we could build a zoo and a house for the family to live in."

In September 2010, construction began on a two-story farmhouse and the zoo. An existing structure once used as a bunkhouse for cowhands on the ranch was converted into a restaurant, a centerpiece in the movie as the gathering place for zoo workers at the end of the workday.

As for the zoo, which was constructed half a mile from the farmhouse, 20 animal enclosures had to be built for the zebras, camels, flamingos and dozens of other animals featured in the film. In all, the picture used 40 species, mainly obtained from California trainers.

Moats were constructed for more dangerous animals such as tigers, lions and bears. Roads leading to the zoo's entrance were paved. Griffith recalls that more than 400 laborers were building the sets at one point. Work on the ranch began in January, with 13 of the 15 weeks of production taking place at Greenfield.

Established in 1875, Greenfield is one of the oldest stables in Hidden Valley, an affluent ranch community. Robert Ash, who with his family has owned Greenfield since 1988, uses the property to grow oats and barley. He farms the land with the help of ranch manager Gary Robertson. These days Greenfield is used equally for filming and farming, with the cost to film on the ranch running $3,000 to $5,000 per day, Ash said.

Greenfield Ranch has a long Hollywood history. Rogers and Cooper, among others, filmed several westerns there in the 1930s and '40s, Ash said. The 1940s movie "Down Argentine Way," starring Betty Grable, also was filmed there.

Other productions shot on the property include the 1993 films "Heart and Souls" starring Robert Downey Jr. and "Bitter Harvest" starring Stephen Baldwin.

More recently, Greenfield has been home to many commercials and TV shows, among them "True Blood," "Monk," "Bones" and "Criminal Minds."

"We film on the ranch quite a lot, but having a production here for so long was special. From the time of the first scout to completion, it was over a year's time," Robertson said. "It was absolutely amazing. I watched my back yard transform into a zoo."

Source: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/136147653.html

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Video: Romney expects to win in New Hampshire

>>> there is the candidate who as former governor of massachusetts is the frontrunner in the next contest. in his part-time home state of new hampshire . nbc's chuck todd talked to mitt romney today one on one and is with us tonight from ashland, new hampshire. part of the news is you got to talk to mitt romney who had been pursuing a strategy of not talking to the media largely.

>> reporter: yeah. we were able to sit down with him a couple of times today. he's been the off and on frontrunner all year long but there is no state that's more make or break than new hampshire. this three-day bus trip is part of a strategy to make romney more available to voters and the press including two interviews with nbc news today. he's no less cautious and wouldn't take sides on the payroll tax cut. he was dismissive of its effect on the economy.

>> this is not going to turn the economy around. it's a very helpful feature for families.

>> reporter: romney struggled to persuade republican primary voters that he's conservative enough.

>> coming from massachusetts people begin with an assumption that perhaps you are not as conservative as they are. as they get to know me and look at my record they will recognize, no, i'm conservative.

>> reporter: there is a health care mandate in massachusetts is a conservative situation.

>> there were oh two options in my state. one was to continue to allow people without insurance to go to the homt and get free care. the alternative to that was to say people who can afford to buy insurance themselves should do so at personal responsibility. it's more conservative in my view than something given out for free by government.

>> reporter: he says his opponents are wrong when they accuse him of being a persistent flip-flopper.

>> obviously the change was most significant with regard to abortion. have i become more conservative in 20 years? absolutely.

>> reporter: he said republicans need to be clear about wall street reform.

>> we talk about deregulation. people assume we mean getting rid of all regulation. that's not the case.

>> reporter: when walking into romney 's part of the bus first you notice a campaign banner for his dad george.

>> my dad was a man of unquestioned integrity. he said exactly what he believed regardless of the consequences. i want that to with be my model.

>> reporter: he acknowledges the mormon faith he learned from his father could be a liability.

>> i don't know the reasons i lost iowa. for some my faith is an issue.

>> reporter: of course, brian, i did ask him about the gingrich complaints about all these negative ads and the super pacs. he said the heat from obama's kitchen will be hotter. gingrich responded harshly saying, quote, i'll tell you what, if he wants to test the heat i'll meet him in iowa next week, one on one, 90 minutes , no moderator. and so it goes.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45758450/

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Sprint ?Disabling Use? Of Carrier IQ On Affected Devices

Just a day after Minnesota Senator Al Franken published reports on how carriers and device vendors use Carrier IQ, Sprint seems to be taking steps to distance themselves the mobile monitoring company. According to MobileBurn, Sprint has confirmed that they will be disabling their use of Carrier IQ software on affected devices.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iqBU5h3Jww8/

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Last US soldiers leave Iraq, ending long military presence there

As troops leave Iraq, they cross the border into Kuwait for the final steps toward departure. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

The last American troops crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait early Sunday, ending?the U.S. military presence there after nearly nine years.

As?the last convoy left Iraq at daybreak Sunday, soldiers whooped, bumped fists and embraced each other in a burst of joy and relief, The Associated Press reported.

NBC News' Richard Engel tweeted from the border:?"The gate to #iraq is closed. Soldier just told me, 'that's it, the war is over.'"

---

?

The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armored vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled?through the night along an empty highway,?across the southern Iraq desert?to the Kuwaiti border.

"I just can't wait to call my wife and kids and let them know I am safe," Rodolfo Ruiz said as the border came into sight. Soon afterward, he told his men the mission was over: "Hey guys, you made it."

Follow Richard Engel's Twitter feed

The Iraq war began on March 20, 2003, at a time when national defense was a top priority for Americans still shocked by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. It continued with the invasion and ouster of Saddam Hussein, then ground through years of war against an insurgency that left tens of thousands dead.

Among those dead were?nearly 4,500 Americans, and the war cost $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The question of whether it was worth it all is yet unanswered.

"It's good to see this thing coming to a close. I was here when it started," Staff Sgt. Christian Schultz said just before leaving Contingency Operating Base Adder,?185 miles south of Baghdad, for the border. "I saw a lot of good changes, a lot of progress, and a lot of bad things too."

Maya Alleruzzo / AP

Army soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, inspect their body armor at Camp Adder during final preparations for the last American convoy to leave Iraq.

For President Barack Obama, the military pullout is the fulfilment of an election promise to bring troops home from a conflict inherited from his predecessor that tainted America's standing worldwide.

For Iraqis, it brings a sense of sovereignty but fuels worries their country may slide once again into the kind of sectarian violence that killed thousands of people at its peak in 2006-2007.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government still struggles with a delicate power-sharing arrangement between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni parties, leaving Iraq vulnerable to meddling by Sunni Arab nations and Shi'ite Iran.

PhotoBlog: Pulling out of Iraq

The intensity of violence and suicide bombings has subsided for now. But a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency and rival Shiite militias remain a threat, carrying out almost daily attacks.

Iraq says its forces can contain the violence but they lack capabilities in areas such as air defence and intelligence gathering. A deal for several thousand U.S. troops to stay on as trainers fell apart over the sensitive issue of legal immunity.

For many Iraqis security remains a worry -- but no more than jobs and getting access to power in a country whose national grid provides only a few hours of electricity a day.

"We don't think about America... We think about electricity, jobs, our oil, our daily problems," said Abbas Jaber, a government employee in Baghdad. "They left chaos."

Going home
After Obama announced in October that troops would come home by the end of the year as scheduled, the number of U.S. military bases was whittled down quickly as hundreds of troops and trucks carrying equipment headed south to the Kuwaiti border.

U.S. forces, which had ended combat missions in 2010, paid $100,000 a month to tribal sheikhs to secure different parts of highways leading south to reduce the risk of roadside bombings and attacks.

At the height of the war, more than 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq at more than 500 bases. By Saturday, there were fewer than 3,000 troops, and one base.

At COB Adder, as dusk fell before the departure of the last convoy, one group of soldiers slapped barbecue sauce on slabs of ribs brought in from Kuwait and laid them on grills alongside hotdogs and sausages.

The last troops flicked on the lights studding their MRAP vehicles and stacked flak jackets and helmets in neat piles, ready for the final departure for Kuwait and then home.

"A good chunk of me is happy to leave. I spent 31 months in this country," said Sgt. Steven Schirmer, 25, after three tours of Iraq since 2007. "It almost seems I can have a life now, though I know I am probably going to Afghanistan in 2013. Once these wars end I wonder what I will end up doing."

This article includes reporting from NBC News, msnbc.com staff, Reuters and?The Associated Press.

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Janna Less, center, 23, smiles as she sits on the last Air Force flight out of Ali Air Base near Nasiriyah, en route to Kuwait on Saturday.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/17/9528197-last-us-soldiers-leave-iraq-ending-long-military-presence-there

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Warpia to show ConnectHD device at CES, let you couch-Skype on your HDTV

Warpia will be showcasing its latest media multitasker, the ConnectHD, at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. The ConnectHD comes with a wide-angle wireless HD video camera and a multi-directional microphone, allowing users to make 720p video calls au naturel or otherwise from the living room via apps like Skype or MSN Messenger. It can also be used for playing PC webcam games and streaming media from your PC to an HDTV in 1080p. Although the ConnectHD won't come with extra appendages to help you do all that stuff at once, it does come with a wireless USB PC adapter, a wireless USB TV adapter, a HDMI cable and, naturally, the requisite software for the device. Pricing is pegged at a piggy bank-busting $199.99, placing it right alongside Biscotti's TV Phone.

Continue reading Warpia to show ConnectHD device at CES, let you couch-Skype on your HDTV

Warpia to show ConnectHD device at CES, let you couch-Skype on your HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US factory output declined sharply in November (AP)

WASHINGTON ? U.S. industrial production fell for the first time in seven months as factories made fewer cars, electronics and appliances.

The Federal Reserve says that output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines fell 0.2 percent last month.

Factory output, the biggest component of industrial production, decreased 0.4 percent, mainly because of steep decline in the production of motor vehicles and parts. Production of home electronics, business equipment and supplies and apparel also fell.

Factory output and overall industrial output last decreased in April. Supply chains had been disrupted by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and factories couldn't obtain needed parts. Auto production fell sharply, then recovered strongly this summer and fall.

Without the volatile automotive category, factory output decreased 0.2 percent last month.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_industrial_production

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Kate Middleton, Prince William Headed to the Far East! (omg!)

West isn't always best!

Duchess Kate and Prince William are embarking on another world tour. This time, the royals, both 29, are visiting the tiny country of Tuvalu to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee.?

PHOTOS: Kate's ravishing North American royal tour looks

According to London's Standard, Kate and William will also visit Malaysia, Singapore and the Solomon Islands, while Prince Harry, 27, will head to the Caribbean and Central America to visit the Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize in his first major solo tour.?

PHOTOS:? Harry's hottest moments

Iftikhar Ayaz, Tuvalu's consul in the UK, told the Standard his country was "very excited the royal family have chosen such a small and faraway state".?

"It's great news for Tuvalu, and it will raise important issues related to climate change," Ayaz said in a statement.

PHOTOS: Will and Kate meet Hollywood's royals

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla will travel to Australia, New Zealand and Canada; Queen Elizabeth, 85, and Prince Philip, 90, will "travel wildly" across the four home nations.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee marks Elizabeth's 60-year-reign in the U.K.

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_kate_middleton_prince_william_headed_far_east225220289/43909066/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/kate-middleton-prince-william-headed-far-east-225220289.html

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Microsoft Updates Azure Cloud Platform (NewsFactor)

Microsoft is updating its Azure cloud computing platform to increase its appeal to developers. The updates include SQL Azure database enhancements, a streamlined billing and management experience, Apache Hadoop-based data service, better pricing, and the launch of a new Azure software development kit.

On Monday, Microsoft Vice President Bob Kelly posted on the official Windows Azure blog that the updates will "improve ease of use, interoperability, and overall value" for the platform. Among the highlights: access to Azure libraries for .NET, Java, and Node.js under the Apache 2 open source license, an Azure SDK for Node.js, and a limited preview of an Apache Hadoop-based service, which, he said, allows Hadoop apps to be deployed within hours rather than days through a new set of installers.

'Big Data' Strategy

Previously, Azure customers could deploy a Hadoop cluster but it had to be done manually. The preview will be available to customers this week, based on unspecified "usage scenarios." The Hadoop upgrade is part of Microsoft's announced "big data" strategy, a roadmap for managing and analyzing data of any size, either on-site or via public or private clouds.

In announcing the Big Data strategy in October, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Ted Kummer noted that businesses are asking themselves questions like "What can data from social media sites tell me about the sentiment of my brands and products?" He also said that end-users need to be able to gain critical business insights, "no matter where they are" or what device is being used.

The upgrades also include additional content and tutorials for revised Dev Centers, a simplified sign-up process, and real-time usage and billing details that can be seen directly from the Azure Management Portal.

The Management Portal has a new user interface that resembles the Metro interface of the coming Windows 8. It includes new workspaces to more easily keep track of databases, drill-downs into schemas, query plans, spatial data, query performance statistics, and support for SQL Azure Federation.

'More Pragmatic Approach'

Federation allows for databases to be scaled out and more easily managed, with repartitioning based on application workloads virtually without limit. The maximum database size in SQL Azure has been increased from 50 GB to 150 GB.

A new pricing cap for the biggest databases can reduce the price per gigabyte by 67 percent, according to Microsoft. Data transfer prices in North America and Europe are now one-quarter less, and Service Bus usage is free through March of next year.

Al Hilwa, program director for application development at industry research firm IDC, said the upgrades were "a more pragmatic approach by Microsoft to appeal to developers," by leveraging support for what he described as "new age apps." This includes backends for applications for social networking, mobile devices, and content delivery.

Hilwa noted that Azure had previously been focused on more traditional, mostly enterprise apps, but that, "if you want to make money these days with a cloud application platform, you have to be more supportive of a Web-based ecosystem."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20111213/tc_nf/81349

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Gadgets Week in Review: Advance

Here are some of the past week’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: Gibson Buys Stanton DJ Equipment, Proving Korn Was On To Something Curly Cables, Where Have You Been All My Life? Quadcopter Art Project: The Robots Are Building Forts The Little Printer Puts Your Customized Digital Content On A Slip Of Paper Japanese Company Shows Robot Co-Working With Humans (Video)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_1Ig5sGIp5E/

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Activists invade nuclear plant site in France (AP)

PARIS ? Greenpeace activists invaded a French nuclear power plant site before dawn Monday ? a media stunt that deeply embarrassed the government as it was carrying out a safety review of France's crucial atomic energy sites.

In one of at least four near-simultaneous attempts to invade nuclear sites across France, nine activists sneaked into one plant in Nogent-sur-Seine southeast of Paris. Some scaled a domed containment building above a nuclear reactor to hoist a banner that read "safe nuclear doesn't exist" and paint an exclamation point, evoking danger, on the rooftop.

President Nicolas Sarkozy derided the "rather irresponsible" risks to lives, yet the guerilla-style tactics immediately stoked concerns about the vulnerability of France's nuclear facilities to terrorists or any other would-be invaders.

France is a big supporter of nuclear power and gets about three-quarters of its electricity from it, more than any other nation. It regularly faces protests from environmental activists over shipments of nuclear waste, but activist incursions into atomic plants are unusual.

Greenpeace said its break-in aimed to show that a review of safety measures ? ordered by French authorities after a tsunami ravaged Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March ? was focused too narrowly on possible natural disasters and not human factors.

Sarkozy promised full "transparency" about the safety of nuclear facilities in France in the final report.

Activists who tried to enter three other French nuclear sites Monday were prevented from doing so, but Greenpeace said other invaders were still holed up inside other, unspecified, nuclear sites. The environmental group even posted a video on its website of one whispering activist said to be speaking from inside a nuclear site under what looked like a white tent.

That prompted French authorities to immediately launch a "thorough sweep" of all of France's 20 nuclear power plants, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said by phone, adding that Interior Minister Claude Gueant scheduled an emergency meeting this week to review the security breach.

The French power company Electricite de France, which operates the site, denounced the "illegal" break-in at Nogent-sur-Seine.

After Greenpeace alerted authorities that its activists were behind the incursion, police and security teams held their fire and allowed the activists to continue scaling a containment building that houses the reactor to put a banner on top, Brandet said. The activists didn't penetrate the reactor and all nine were arrested within hours.

EDF said activists' banners were also hung on the outside of two other nuclear sites ? Chinon in northwestern France and Blayais in the southwest ? before they were removed. Three other activists were driven off by security forces while trying to enter yet another plant, in southeastern Cadarache.

"We have to understand what's behind this malfunction ? notably in Nogent," Brandet said, adding that "in the other sites security worked ... the intrusions were thwarted."

EDF said it had no indication of intrusions at other sites in France.

"With this nonviolent action, Greenpeace has shown how vulnerable French nuclear plants are," said Sophia Majnoni d'Intignano, a Greenpeace activist. "Simple activists, with peaceful intentions and of few means, were able to reach the heart of a nuclear plant."

French TV showed pictures of activists in miner's helmets rummaging through the dark and crawling in what appeared to be a tunnel with banners that read "Coucou" (Hey) and "Facile" (Easy) on them.

Majnoni d'Intignano predicted the government was going to conclude in the review that "our nuclear plants are very, very safe, because it's believed that they could withstand a flood or an earthquake," she told i-Tele television.

"But those aren't the real risks for our nuclear industry," Majnoni d'Intignano said. "It's the risk of external, non-natural attack ? like the risk of terrorism."

Speaking by phone with The Associated Press, she urged the government to consider other risks in its review like an airplane crash, a computer virus, or a chemical explosion at a nuclear site.

"It's a very limited review ? they have badly understood the signal sent from the Fukushima incident," she said. "For us, the real risks are human and technological."

Nuclear officials sought to play down the incursion's impact.

"A nuclear plant is a bit like a Russian doll: they got through one layer, then a second layer of security, but they didn't get to the sanctuary layer," Francis Sorin, a spokesman at the French Nuclear Energy Society, told BFM television.

Sarkozy said last month it would be madness for France to reduce its reliance on nuclear power, despite worldwide wariness after the Fukushima disaster and recent European protests over the dangers of nuclear waste.

Nuclear power has also increasingly divided the French left, with six months left before France's next presidential election.

The nominee of the main opposition Socialist party, Francois Hollande, has pledged to shut down more than 20 reactors ? the boldest proposal for any mainstream French party in the nuclear era. Still, his Green party allies are pushing for more concessions.

But even French officials were acknowledging the incursions had an impact.

"It still makes you think about the security of access to nuclear plants ... I think we'll have to learn some lessons," Henri Guaino, a special adviser to Sarkozy, told BFM.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_france_nuclear_intrusion

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Two elderly women object to security search at JFK

In this undated family photo provided by Bruce Zimmerman, Lenore Zimmerman is shown. Zimmerman, 85, who arrived in a wheelchair for a flight at New York?s Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, said that she was required to go through a strip search after she asked to be patted down instead. She was concerned that passing through the airport?s body scanner would interfere with her defibrillator. (AP Photo/Zimmerman Family Photo)

In this undated family photo provided by Bruce Zimmerman, Lenore Zimmerman is shown. Zimmerman, 85, who arrived in a wheelchair for a flight at New York?s Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, said that she was required to go through a strip search after she asked to be patted down instead. She was concerned that passing through the airport?s body scanner would interfere with her defibrillator. (AP Photo/Zimmerman Family Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) ? With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old ? having to drop your pants and show these things to a complete stranger.

Two women in their 80s put the Transportation Security Administration on the defensive this week by going public about their embarrassment during screenings in a private room at Kennedy Airport. One claimed she was forced to lower her pants and underwear in front of an agent so that her back brace could be inspected. Another said agents made her pull down her waistband to show her colostomy bag.

While not confirming some of the details, the TSA said a preliminary review shows officers followed the agency's procedures in both cases. But experts said the potential for such searches will increase as the U.S. population ages and receives prosthetics and other medical devices, some of which cannot go through screening machines.

"You have pacemakers, you have artificial hips, you have artificial knees," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "As we get older and we keep ourselves together, it's going to take more and more surgery. There's going to be more and more medical improvements, but that can create what appears to be a security issue."

Prosthetic devices can set off metal detectors, and certain devices such as catheters and bags are visible on body scanners, making those passengers candidates for more thorough inspections. Metal detectors and wands can disrupt some devices such as implanted defibrillators, so those passengers must ask for pat-downs instead.

Ruth Sherman, 88, of Sunrise, Fla., said she was mortified when inspectors pulled her aside and asked about the bulge in her pants as she arrived for a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 28.

"I said, 'I have a bag here,'" she said on Monday, pointing to the bulge, which is bigger or smaller depending on what she eats. "They didn't understand."

She said they escorted her to another room where two female agents "made me lower my sweatpants, and I was really very humiliated." She said she stood with her arms and legs outstretched, warning the agents not to touch her colostomy bag. Touching the bag can cause pain, she said.

"It's degrading. It's like someone raped you," Sherman said. "They didn't know how to handle a human being."

The next day, agents took 85-year-old Lenore Zimmerman, of Long Beach, N.Y., into a private room to remove her back brace for screening after she decided against going through a scanning machine because of her heart defibrillator. Zimmerman said she had to raise her blouse and lower her pants and underwear for a female TSA agent.

Bruce Zimmerman, her son, said the agents "should've patted her down."

"To have her pants and underpants pulled down is just beyond humiliating," he said Monday. "This is my mother we are talking about."

The TSA said Monday that it is still investigating the cases.

"Our officers are committed to treating every passenger with dignity and respect," the agency said in a statement.

The agency insists that security concerns come first, even if it means getting into passengers' drawers. In 2009, a Nigerian man tried to blow up a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day with explosives in his underpants.

"Terrorists and their targets may also range in age," the agency argued in a blog post after Zimmerman went public. It cited the November arrest of four Georgia men, ages 65 to 73, on charges of plotting an attack with the poison ricin. Prosecutors said the men were part of a fringe militia group.

Last June, the daughter of a 95-year-old woman said TSA agents wouldn't let her mother board a flight from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to Detroit because her wet adult diaper set off alarms.

A TSA screener said Lena Reppert had a suspicious spot on her adult diaper, according to her daughter, Jean Weber. Weber ultimately took off the wet diaper so Reppert could be cleared in time for their flight.

The TSA said its inspectors handled the situation correctly and didn't ask Reppert to remove her diaper.

Such cases raise serious privacy questions, said Chris Calabrese, a legislative expert with the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It's a pretty fundamental invasion of privacy when you have to take your clothes off," Calabrese said.

Even lawmakers have complained about their treatment. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who has an artificial knee, told fellow members of a congressional committee that she dreads running into a certain TSA agent when it comes time for a pat-down at the St. Louis airport.

"I see her coming ... I like, you know, just tense up, because I know it's going to be ugly in terms of the way she conducts her pat-downs," McCaskill said.

The TSA says it has been trying to tailor its screening procedures for different types of passengers. In September it eliminated pat-downs for most children under 12 because of complaints from parents. In October it began testing an express screening program for frequent fliers at four airports.

The agency has formed an advisory committee of 70 disability groups to help adapt its screening techniques.

TSA chief John Pistole has said the agency is trying to train screeners to more quickly identify medical devices, such as catheters, to save passengers from embarrassment. He also said the agency might give preference to senior citizens going through the screening lines.

"We are looking at ways that we can recognize those of a certain age ... I don't want terrorists to game the system ? but of a certain age that would be given an expedited screening," Pistole told a Senate committee last month.

___

Kelli Kennedy reported from Sunrise, Fla. Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York also contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-05-US-Elderly-Woman-Search/id-f92577528dbe466d9e0d2a7680179e92

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If a fat tax is coming, here's how to make it efficient, effective

Friday, December 2, 2011

A 'sin tax' applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to Iowa State University research.

With a national debate taking shape about the possibility of a national tax on foods with high sweetener content, ISU economists have examined how such a tax would best be applied.

Rather than assessing a tax on these sugary goods as they are taken through the grocery store checkout lines, the research shows that a better way is to tax the food processers on the amount of caloric sweeteners, such as corn syrup and sugar added in processing before the product hits the shelves.

The economists, John Beghin and Helen Jensen, both professors in the Department of Economics, are quick to point out that they are not advocating for or against any tax, but simply researching how and where a possible sweetener tax would be most effective.

"We are not saying. 'To resolve obesity, here is what you should do,'" said Beghin. "In that sense, we are not advocating anything. We are saying, 'Given that you are considering a panoply of tax instruments, and there is a possibility of a soda tax, is there a better way to use that idea?'"

"This is motivated," added Jensen, "by a lot of ideas out there that say we could tax sweetened products. We wanted to see what the effect of such a tax would be and, alternatively, if you imposed a tax on ingredients, what would be the effect of that."

The research, published in the journal Contemporary Economic Policy, shows that if the goal of a sin tax on sweeteners is to reduce calories consumed, lawmakers should consider taxing the inputs instead of the final product.

Assessing the tax at the processing stage allows food processors to reduce the amount of sweeteners they put into their products. Processors will also have incentives to use more of the lesser-taxed artificial sweeteners, and less of the higher-taxed sweeteners that are heavy in sugary products.

These solutions would also raise the price at the store less than a direct tax on the end product, while reducing the calories attributable to the sweetener, according to the study.

"Taxing the processing ingredients makes more sense when compared with taxing the end product," said Beghin. "You can abate the same number of calories without having consumers face such high prices."

Any new tax on sweeteners, even the tax on food inputs proposed by the study, will cause prices to go up. One drawback of any tax on sweetened goods is the regressive nature of that tax.

In economic terms, regressive taxes are those that impact poorer economic groups more than higher ones.

"Since much of these (sweeter) goods are consumed by poorer economic groups," said Beghin, "you may be increasing the cost of calories for poor people."

The study looks only at calories in food. The research does not make any claims about lowering obesity.

The United States' obesity rate has many factors, and the amount of calories consumed is only one, say the economists.

"We are not looking at health aspects," said Jensen. "Just the consumption of calories from sweetened goods and the disruption to the consumer."

The findings of the study fit generally accepted economic principles that say if you want to change a given behavior or economic decision, you should try to find a policy instrument that is closest to the behavior or decision, according to Beghin.

As part of the study, the two collected data from both government and private sources on industrial food inputs.

"We spent quite a bit of time assembling a data set based on published data on what inputs the food industry uses," said Jensen. "So we know that for all the different food sectors, how much sugar and corn syrup go into that industry group's food processing. You'd be amazed to see how much sweetener goes into food processing."

###

Iowa State University: http://www.iastate.edu

Thanks to Iowa State University 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/115684/If_a_fat_tax_is_coming__here_s_how_to_make_it_efficient__effective

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David Lynch supports teaching veterans to meditate

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2010 file photo, director David Lynch attends the 2nd annual "Change Begins Within" benefit celebration, hosted by the David Lynch Foundation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lynch wants soldiers and veterans to experience the stress-reducing benefits of Transcendental Meditation. Lynch?s namesake foundation is giving $1 million in grants to teach the meditation technique to active-duty military personnel and veterans and their families suffering from post-traumatic stress. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2010 file photo, director David Lynch attends the 2nd annual "Change Begins Within" benefit celebration, hosted by the David Lynch Foundation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lynch wants soldiers and veterans to experience the stress-reducing benefits of Transcendental Meditation. Lynch?s namesake foundation is giving $1 million in grants to teach the meditation technique to active-duty military personnel and veterans and their families suffering from post-traumatic stress. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? David Lynch wants soldiers and veterans to experience the stress-reducing benefits of Transcendental Meditation.

Lynch's namesake foundation is giving $1 million in grants to teach the meditation technique to active-duty military personnel and veterans and their families suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The filmmaker said Friday that the grants are from the Operation Warrior Wellness division of his foundation, which funds meditation instruction for various populations, including inner-city students and jail inmates.

Recipients of Operation Warrior Wellness grants include Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Wounded Warrior Project and UCLA's Operation Mend.

Lynch's credits include TV's "Twin Peaks" and the films "Mulholland Drive," ''Blue Velvet" and "Wild At Heart."

___

Online:

http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-02-People-David%20Lynch/id-df39f3eff82f4142b4c010b87ac35f9a

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Shame It?s Not a Better Movie

As we meet Brandon for the first time, he?s naked in bed?a state we?ll find him in throughout this NC-17-rated movie, usually with company. But in the opening scene, Brandon is alone: He wakes up, looks out for a minute at the bleak view (gazing at bleak views being his second-favorite hobby), then heads for the subway. A normal enough morning, one might think?but it?s soon clear there?s nothing normal about Brandon. At work, he clogs his work computer with porn, half-convincing his boss (James Badge Dale) that it?s the result of a spam virus. He masturbates in the office men?s room, then compulsively seeks out women for sex: in bars and clubs, yes, but also through escort services, at work, and, in a recurring motif, on the subway. (Maybe I live in a different New York than this movie is set in, but are there really that many beautiful, nicely dressed, apparently sane women willing to risk their lives by going home with a random dude from the subway, even if he does look like Michael Fassbender?)

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Hachette says France ready for digital books (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? Regulation and a devoted book culture look set to cushion the impact on French publishers and booksellers of the impending digital revolution that has so transformed markets in the United States and Britain.

Arnaud Nourry, the CEO of Hachette Books Group, predicted that e-books would take off in France this year and that the market would benefit from the relatively late adoption of digital reading because it would benefit from lessons learned elsewhere.

Strict rules that prevent booksellers from cutting prices, and a love of books amongst the French, have convinced Nourry that the shift to digital sales will be much less traumatic than otherwise feared.

"My bet is that in the first half of next year we're going to see the first signs of the e-book market taking off in France," he said at the Reuters Global Media Summit on Thursday.

"I don't see why the French readers would not want to read in digital form, (but) I also believe it will go slower and perhaps not to the same point as other markets."

Sales of digital books have grown rapidly in the U.S. and Britain in recent years to around 20 percent of total book sales in the former and almost 10 percent in the latter.

In France, such sales remain almost zero, hampered by the fact that few e-reading devices have been available and few titles offered for sale.

That is soon to change. In October, Amazon Launched a French-language digital book store and Kindle e-reader and France's number one book seller Fnac partnered with the Kobo e-reader to push digital sales.

In France the transition will be slower than in the United States or the UK, said Nourry, predicting that e-book sales could be 3-5 percent of the market next year and reach 15 percent in the next three years.

E-books are also set to get a boost in France when the value-added tax rate applied to them is brought down from the current 19.6 percent to 7 percent in line with conventional books.

The book market is also more diversified in France, with less emphasis on commercial fiction books such as those written by Dan Brown and Michael Connelly, and a wider range of offerings on niche subjects like history and non-fiction essays.

(Additional reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic and Marie Mawad; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/media_nm/us_digitalbooks_france

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Senate OK's sanctions on Iran central bank (reuters)

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