Friday, December 30, 2011

Former Microsoft Exec Scopes Windows Phone's Failure


Microsoft's Windows Phone OS hasn't made much of a splash in 2011. Although it's gotten relentlessly positive reviews and has phones available on all four major carriers, it managed to achieve just 1.5 percent market share in the third quarter of 2011, according to Gartner.

That's led to considerable hand-wringing among tech analysts, who are trying to figure out why a product that is pretty good, backed by a very powerful company, simply won't sell. In steps Charlie Kindel, a 21-year veteran of Microsoft who was Windows Phone's chief developer evangelist for the first year of its life.

In a blog post, Kindel said Windows Phone has failed because Microsoft has alienated both phone makers and wireless carriers, two groups that Google has done a good job courting with its Android OS. With its tight hardware spec and rigid upgrade policy, Microsoft is limiting carriers' and manufacturers' freedom.

"Thus both of those sides of the market are?reluctant. Especially the carriers, but also the device manufacturers. Remember that end users just do what they are told (by advertising and RSPs [salespeople]). Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year," he wrote.

The carriers and manufacturers will make and sell Windows phones, possibly because they're afraid of becoming too beholden to Google and Apple, but it seems they don't relish the devices or the platform much.

This jibes somewhat with our secret-shopper experiences last summer, where we found wireless carrier salespeople unenthusiastic about Windows Phone, and Windows Phones often turned off or relegated to the back of the store.

Apple also locks out manufacturers and alienates carriers, but it's taken over most of the roles they play, Kindel says. Apple has its own stores, its own ad campaigns, and its own tech support, reducing the carriers to dumb pipes that collect money. Microsoft hasn't gone nearly that far.

Kindel's blog post has attracted top-tier tech talent on its comment thread, and the major criticism (other than random anti-Microsoft blathering) seems to be that he's underplaying the role of software developers and apps.

"Android and iOS are 'safe' because that's where the apps are. Anything else? Not safe. Every conversation, every ad, and every Techcrunch post, er, Verge post, will remind them of where the apps are," blogger Robert Scoble said in response.

"I agree with you that the relatively weak app ecosystem in WP7 also plays an important part. I do not believe it is the most important reason," Kindel responded.

On Microsoft's part, the company has said it's making a major new push with Nokia; at the launch of the Nokia 710 with T-Mobile, T-Mobile senior vice president Andrew Sherrard said the carrier would make that phone a "hero device." But we've been hearing mixed things about the success of the Nokia 800 Windows phone in the first six countries it's appeared in, with Reuters most recently saying it's a bomb.

"Analysts said there was nothing particularly wrong with the sleek-looking handsets, other than a software glitch on some models affecting battery life, but consumers were just not biting," the Reuters report said.?

We'll have to see if the tight arrangement with Nokia will lead to greater success in 2012.

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2398070,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

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Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber Top 'Celebs Gone Good'1676499

DoSomething.org's annual list ranks the 20 most charity-friendly stars.
By Terri Schwartz


Lady Gaga
Photo: Scott Gries/ Picture Group

Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and George Clooney better have received something nice from Santa this year, because they certainly weren't on his naughty list. Those three toplined DoSomething.org's Top 20 Celebs Gone Good, the organization's annual roundup of the most charity-friendly stars in the business.

This is Gaga's second year in a row at the #1 spot. In 2011 she dedicated much of her time to putting an end to bullying and even started a new charitable organization called Born This Way. The "Marry The Night" singer did plenty more to help out those less fortunate in 2011, including auctioning off a nude sketch for charity and performing at the Bill Clinton Foundation fundraiser.

However, this was really Bieber's year to shine. He rocketed up DoSomething.org's list from #10 last year to #2 this year. It helps that Bieber donated some of his profits from his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe, and his self-named perfume to various charitable organizations. Bieber also kept up his work with Pencils of Promise, a group that has built 41 schools in Laos, Nicaragua and Guatemala and was founded by his manager's brother. Rounding out the top five were Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio. This was a year for celeb power couples, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie clocking at #8, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore at #12 and newlyweds Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert at #14. Other notable standouts this year were Demi Lovato and #10, Lea Michele making her charitable debut at #16, Daniel Radcliffe at #17, Miley Cyrus at #18 and Taylor Swift rounding out the list at #20. What do you think of DoSomething.org's list? Leave your comments below!

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676499/do-something-org-celebs-gone-good-justin-bieber-lady-gaga.jhtml

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Movie crowds dip to 16-year low as apathy lingers (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Hollywood has more tricks in its bag than ever with digital 3-D and other new film tools. Yet as the images on screen get bigger and better, movie crowds keep shrinking ? down to a 16-year low as 2011's film lineup fell well short of studios' record expectations.

Through New Year's Eve on Saturday, projected domestic revenues for the year stand at $10.2 billion, down 3.5 percent from 2010's, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. Taking higher ticket prices into account, movie attendance is off even more, with an estimated 1.28 billion tickets sold, a 4.4 percent decline and the smallest movie audience since 1995, when admissions totaled 1.26 billion.

Just what has put the movie business in the dumps is anyone's guess ? though safe bets include the tight economy, rising ticket prices, backlash against parades of sequels or remakes, and an almost-limitless inventory of portable and at-home gadgetry to occupy people's time.

The year got off to a dismal start with what could be called an "Avatar" hangover, when revenues lagged far behind 2010 receipts that had been inflated by the huge success of James Cameron's sci-fi sensation.

A solid summer lineup helped studios catch up to 2010, but ticket sales flattened again in the fall and have remained sluggish right into what was expected to be a terrific holiday season.

"There were a lot of high-profile movies that just ended up being a little less than were hoped for," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, whose sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" has been part of an under-achieving lineup of family films for the holidays. "The fall was pretty dismal. There just weren't any real breakaway, wide-appeal films."

Big franchises still are knocking it out of the park. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the finale to J.K. Rowling's fantasy epic, was the year's biggest earner and the top-grossing film in the series at $381 million domestically and $1.3 billion worldwide.

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" pulled in $352 million domestically and $1.1 billion worldwide, while "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1" has climbed to $271 million domestically and $650 million worldwide.

Other franchises did well in 2011 but came up short of their predecessors on the domestic front, among them "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "The Hangover Part II," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Cars 2" and "X-Men: First Class."

Strong overseas business has helped make up for shrinking domestic revenues and declining DVD sales. But 2011 was the second-straight year that domestic attendance declined sharply, and audiences generally have been shrinking since 2002, when admissions hit a modern high of 1.6 billion.

It could be a case of the same-old same-olds, with fans growing tired of over-familiar characters and stories. It could be overcrowded weekends such as Thanksgiving, when studios loaded up on family films that cannibalized one another's audiences. It could be the economy, with fans growing more selective on how often they spend their spare cash to catch a movie, particularly at a time when so many films play in 3-D with premium ticket prices.

And it could be the times we live in, when audiences have so many gadgets to play with that they don't need to go to the movies as much as they once did.

"It's not any one thing. It's a little bit of everything," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager at Warner Bros., whose Robert Downey Jr. sequel "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" has done solid business, yet is coming in well short of the first installment. "But consumers are being more specific with their choices on how to spend their money. The options are a little greater than they were a few years ago with gaming and social-networking opportunities."

The year's animated slate failed to produce a $200 million hit, the first time that's happened since 2005. Likewise, comic-book superheroes slipped in 2011, the genre unable to deliver a $200 million hit for only the second time in the last 10 years.

Even Adam Sandler, one of Hollywood's most-bankable stars, had a mixed year, managing a $100 million hit with "Just Go With It" but barely crossing $70 million with "Jack and Jill."

Studio executives typically blame slow business on "the product" ? weak movies that leave fans indifferent. But during the first few months of the year, when business lagged as much as 20 percent behind 2010's, studios were confident they had great product coming, with many executives predicting that 2011 would finish with record revenues, topping the all-time domestic high of $10.6 billion in 2009.

The movies themselves turned out fairly good, and surprise smashes such as "Bridesmaids," "The Help," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "The Smurfs" boosted business.

But the year was littered with duds ("Happy Feet Two," "Tower Heist," "Cowboys & Aliens"). And with only days left in 2011, Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol" is leading a batch of holiday releases that so far has done only so-so business, despite generally good reviews and high marks from the fans that are showing up.

Hollywood is left right where it was 12 months ago, finishing the year quietly and looking ahead to a promising lineup to turn its fortunes around next year.

Even more so than 2011's schedule once looked, the 2012 film list looks colossal. Among the highlights: the superhero tales "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Avengers"; the latest in the animated franchises "Ice Age" and "Madagascar," along with "Brave," the new adventure from animation master Pixar; Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' "Men in Black 3"; Daniel Craig's new James Bond thriller "Skyfall"; Johnny Depp's vampire story "Dark Shadows"; Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," a cousin to his sci-fi classic "Alien"; and Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," the first in a two-part prequel to his "Lord of the Rings" films.

That's just a small sampling of 2012's big-screen titles, which also include 3-D reissues of "Titanic," "Finding Nemo," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Star Wars: Episode I ? The Phantom Menace."

Looking ahead, there's good reason for optimism in Hollywood. Looking back, though, the past year spells caution.

"I'm not prepared to be Chicken Little yet, but if the films coming in 2012 can't reverse this trend, then I think we need to reevaluate our expectations," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We are living in a different world today than we did in the mid-'90s in terms of the technology available to deliver media. That may finally be having an impact."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_en_mo/us_film_hollywood_s_year

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Philippine President Aquino pardons British drug trafficker

By BNO News

MANILA (BNO NEWS) -- Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III has pardoned a British national who was arrested and convicted of drug trafficking in the early 1990s, the presidential palace confirmed on Monday. He will be deported back to England.

William Robert Burton was arrested in December 1992 while attempting to smuggle 5.6 kilograms (12.3 pounds) of marijuana through Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. He was sentenced in 1993 to life imprisonment by a local court.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters during a news conference on Monday that Aquino has decided to grant a conditional pardon to Burton. He did not explain why Burton deserves a pardon, but reports have indicated that his health is deteriorating quickly after being diagnosed with an illness.

The pardon includes several conditions which Burton must abide to after he has been released from prison and turned over to the Bureau of Immigration. He has been ordered to pay a fine of 20,000 Philippine pesos ($430), he will accept a voluntary deportation back to England and promise never to return to the Philippines and pay for all transportation expenses.

Burton lived in the northern English village of Rufforth in North Yorkshire before his arrest in 1992.

(Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 5:56 am | BNO News | Leave a Comment

Source: http://wireupdate.com/philippine-president-aquino-pardons-british-drug-trafficker.html

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gingrich sharpens attacks on Romney, Paul

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes a stop at the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, in Dyersville, Iowa. Gingrich also made stops in Dubuque and Decorah Tuesday afternoon and evening. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Nikole Hanna)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes a stop at the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, in Dyersville, Iowa. Gingrich also made stops in Dubuque and Decorah Tuesday afternoon and evening. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Nikole Hanna)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is accompanied by his wife Callista during a campaign stop at the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Repubilcan presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes a stop at the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa, on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, in Dyersville, Iowa. Gingrich's stop in Dyersville was standing room only, approximately minutes before his appearance. Gingrich also made stops in Dubuque and Decorah Tuesday afternoon and evening. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Nikole Hanna)

(AP) ? So much for staying positive.

In just the last 24 hours, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has blasted rival Mitt Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" who isn't "man enough" to take responsibility for the harsh attack ads being run on his behalf. And he lambasted Ron Paul's views as "totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American."

As his lead in Iowa polls has evaporated, Gingrich's rhetoric has grown ever sharper, even as he insists ? sometimes in the same breath ? that he's running a positive campaign.

"I am not going to go negative, period," Gingrich said Tuesday at a campaign stop in Dyersville, Iowa, to appreciative murmurs from the crowd that had crammed into the National Farm Toy Museum to hear him speak. That remark came after a CNN interview in which he said he wouldn't vote for Paul if the Texas congressman became the GOP nominee and he mocked Romney for not having the courage to face him in a one-on-one debate.

It is classic Gingrich, the bomb-throwing leader of the Republican revolution who even now seems to chafe at minding his manners. He acknowledged Tuesday that it has taken "discipline" not to counterpunch as the attacks have flooded in.

So he is trying to have it both ways.

In Dubuque, Iowa, at the first stop of a 22-city bus tour leading up to Jan. 3 caucuses, Gingrich offered Romney praise, then promptly opened fire.

"I don't want to be invidious about Gov. Romney, who I said I think is a very competent manager and a very smart guy," Gingrich said. "But to have somebody who is a Massachusetts moderate, who said he did not want to go back to the Reagan-Bush years, who voted as a Democrat for Paul Tsongas in '92, who campaigned to the left of Teddy Kennedy.... to have him run a commercial that questions my conservatism?"

In the evolving Gingrich playbook, statements which are factually accurate are not attacks.

"I was describing him accurately," he said in South Carolina last week after taking a jab at Romney.

For Gingrich, taking the high road may be a strategy born as much out of necessity as ideology.

His campaign nearly collapsed earlier this year, so he trails the other Republican frontrunners in fundraising, which limits his ability to launch a sustained negative campaign.

The former Georgia congressman also seems to have made the political calculation that to win over voters, he must soften some of the brash rough edges that defined his tenure as House speaker.

After all, he made his political reputation perfecting the art of using words as weapons.

A 1996 memo to Republican House candidates, which Gingrich endorsed in a cover letter, urged Republicans running for office to use words like "traitor," ''pathetic" and "sick" to define Democratic opponents, their proposals and their party. "Language matters,'" the memo said.

Campaigning for the White House, he has taken his own advice.

A favorite Gingrich technique in recent weeks has been to extol his campaign's positive tone while eviscerating nameless GOP opponents, using words like "disgusting" and "reprehensible."

"Shame on them for not caring enough about America to be positive," he said.

He has a receptive audience in Iowa voters, weary of being bombarded with nasty robocalls, mailers and television ads as the primary hurtles into the final days.

"I'm just sick of it all," said Bette Carlson, who showed up to hear Gingrich speak at Mabe's Pizza in Decorah, Iowa, Tuesday night. "Anyone who stays out of the mud improves their chances of getting my vote."

Still, the Gingrich camp maintains it is giving the pledge more than just lip service. They note an Iowa staffer had to resign after calling Mormonism ? Romney's religion ? a cult.

And Gingrich argues he has enough cash to run a negative ad war if he wanted to. He notes his campaign made the choice to run positive ads across Iowa beginning Wednesday.

Still, Gingrich might know better than most this election cycle that negative ads work.

He has seen his support slide as the airwaves in Iowa have filled with ads reminding voters of his ethics woes, a public service announcement he shot with Democrat Nancy Pelosi and his lucrative work for Freddie Mac.

The libertarian-leaning Paul has assailed Gingrich for "serial hypocrisy," painting him as a career politician who lined his pockets after leaving office by selling access.

In an interview, Romney called him "zany."

How long can Gingrich keep up the positive fa?ade? Asked if he would he would continue the commitment in a general election against Democrat Barack Obama, Gingrich dodged the question.

"Barack Obama's record is so terrible that if you just tell the truth it sounds negative," Gingrich said

______

Follow Shannon McCaffrey at www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-28-Gingrich-Positive%20No%20More/id-1db81eb3131541f89a513512f12e0b5a

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Globe-trotting turtle returns to sea after long rehab

A world-traveling sea turtle found stranded in the Netherlands is back home in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday after three long years of rest and rehabilitation.

The animal, an endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, was found frigid and near-dead off the coast of the Netherlands in 2008, thousands of miles from the Gulf waters these turtles call home. It was dubbed Johnny Vasco de Gama by its European rescuers.

Marine biologists suspect Johnny became caught in cold currents and was "cold-stunned," a condition that shuts down internal organs and can kill sea turtles. Staff members of the Rotterdam Zoo stabilized the ailing turtle and sent him to the Ocean?rio de Lisboa aquarium in Portugal the following summer.

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After rehabilitation there, Johnny flew in a specially adapted plane back across the Atlantic to Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida. Today scientists there released the well-traveled turtle back into the sea.

"He did just fine," Mote spokesman Hayley Rutger told LiveScience.

Johnny is fitted with a satellite tag that will help researchers keep an eye on his next amazing journey. Mote has tracked more than 120 sea turtles since 2005, according to Tony Tucker, the head of the laboratory's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program.

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"By tracking Johnny, we'll obtain a rare look at how rehabbed turtles reorient in the wild," Tucker said in a statement. "Fortunately, we can compare this turtle to other wild Kemp's ridleys being tracked currently by Mote and other institutions around the Gulf."

Those interested in following Johnny can visit seaturtle.org/tracking to keep up with him as well as a handful of other roaming sea turtles.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter@sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and onFacebook.

? 2011 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45799689/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Sun, December 25, 2011 - Coloring Outside the Lines Exhibit at City College

The best of the Bay Area for KQED fans: discover events hand-picked by our editors, sponsored listings, and more.

The event you are looking for cannot be found.

From here you can:

  1. Select a shaded day 17 from the mini-cal.
  2. Use the mini-cal to Navigate forward > or backward < a month.
  3. Click here to view this week's events.

Source: http://events.kqed.org/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=19800

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Tom Brokaw: Don???t count out Chris Christie in 2012 [VIDEO] (Daily Caller)

Even though Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has repeatedly said that he will not run for president in 2012 and has even endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the job, some are not counting him out of the race quite yet.

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, some are imagining a scenario that would propel Christie into the race. On NBC?s ?Meet the Press? Sunday, former ?Nightly News? anchor Tom Brokaw?explained that if the Republican race for the nomination culminates in a brokered convention, Christie could be goaded to get in.

?Yeah the other thing is [Romney] could draw this out,? Brokaw said. ?And we could get to a brokered convention. I mean, if this gets downstream in the current mode there are a lot of old establishment Republicans who are going to be going to the state house in New Jersey and saying to Gov. [Chris] Christie, you?ve got to get in on this. They?ve got to find somebody else who can be a player, or, I think, outside of that, you?re going to look at a lot of possibilities of third-party candidates jumping in.?

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman questioned how a brokered convention would play out in the modern world.

?David [Gregory], what?s interesting ? will it be brokered on Twitter, or a smoke-filled room?? Friedman asked.

Watch:

How would you change Logitech's Harmony Link?

Remote controls suck, but touchscreen phones and tablets aren't smart enough to replace them, yet. Logitech's Harmony Link is there to bridge the gap between your WiFi device and TV, but we found it inflexible, unreliable and unspectacular. Some of those issues might have been fixed in the recent update -- but what would you do differently to make it the must have gadget of 2012? Ladies and gentlemen, when you've finished your turkey dinners (happy holidays!), sound off in the comments.

How would you change Logitech's Harmony Link? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas pilgrims pray for peace in Bethlehem (Reuters)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) ? Thousands of foreign pilgrims and Palestinian Christians, some in Santa hats, gathered at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity Saturday to pray for peace at the place where Jesus was born.

Loudspeakers blared carols in Arabic and a Palestinian cleric in a festive purple robe pleaded for peace in the Holy Land and in the wider Middle East.

"We ask the baby of Bethlehem to give us the peace we really need, peace in all the countries of the Middle East. We demand peace in the Holy Land," said Latin Patriarch Fuad al-Tuwal.

The church leader, whose entourage included a man dressed as Santa Claus riding in a jeep, had arrived from Jerusalem earlier after crossing into Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, via an Israeli checkpoint through a towering concrete wall.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said at least 50,000 visitors had arrived in the steep hillside town, and many were expected to attend midnight mass at the church in Manger Square, the place where Christians believe Christ was born.

"It's really hectic, but everybody is happy so it's really nice to be here," said Emily, a tourist from Denmark. "And, well, it's just so nice to experience everything with people who believe in the same thing."

The number of foreign visitors to Bethlehem has risen steadily in the past few years, encouraged by a decline in the Israeli-Palestinian violence that often marred the occasion in the past.

Bethlehem, just a few minutes' drive from Jerusalem, is inside West Bank territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war, which Palestinians want for a future state.

Diplomacy toward reaching that goal stalled months ago in a dispute over Jewish settlement building.

"Obviously it's very special to be at this place where Jesus was born, as part of a tradition of the Christian church," said Ted Settle, an American pilgrim.

"It's very meaningful to be here with the people of Palestine who have endured so much hardship, to be here where Jesus was raised and taught about justice and peace."

Local Palestinian police with automatic weapons patrol the streets of Bethlehem, with Israeli troops controlling the nearby concrete wall and checkpoint on the road to Jerusalem.

In Manger Square, tourists mingled with locals, many of whom wore red and white Santa caps as an Arabic rendition of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" played over a sound system.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/wl_nm/us_palestinians_christmas

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Three U.S. citizens killed in Mexico attacks (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Three U.S. citizens were among those killed when gunmen attacked buses in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, said a U.S. State Department official said on Saturday.

The three were traveling for the holidays when they and several other passengers on the bus were killed by gunmen on Thursday, according to the U.S. official and local media.

The incident was one of several that day in which gunmen attacked busses in the eastern state, a major oil export hub that has lately become a flashpoint for drug gang violence.

On Friday, the tortured bodies of 10 people were found in northern Veracruz, local media reported, as attacks in the region intensify between the Zetas gang and Gulf drug cartels.

In September, 35 bodies were dumped along a downtown highway in the Veracruz city of Boca del Rio.

More than 45,000 people have been killed in cartel-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111224/us_nm/us_mexico_dead

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New ?American Crossroads? ad: A salute to the fourth-greatest president in American history

posted at 9:19 pm on December 22, 2011 by Allahpundit

C?mon. Fourth behind LBJ? The guy who set us on the road to fiscal ruin by passing America?s first unsustainable health-care entitlement and ended up sinking us deep into Vietnam? The One?s number three at least, with room to grow. What happens when unemployment falls to ?only? eight percent? Watch your back, Franklin Roosevelt.

Beneath that, via RCP, some yuletide fun tracking O as he does his Christmas shopping. The magic moment comes at around 2:35 when he goes to the register, whips out his credit card, and wonders aloud whether it?s still good anymore. Thanks for the free national debt/S&P downgrade attack ad, champ. Happy holidays.

Source: http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/22/new-american-crossroads-ad-a-salute-to-the-fourth-greatest-president-in-american-history/

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Nerf Guns Provide the Cutest Way to Pull Your Tooth [Video]

Videos of semi-terrified kids having their teeth yanked by others in crazy ways are a dime a dozen. That's why we love this fearless and adorable kid who yanks his own tooth with a Nerf bow. Nice technique, baller kid! [via Wimp] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JzXli85OHaA/nerf-guns-provide-the-cutest-way-to-pull-your-tooth

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NBA season finally set to tip off on Christmas (AP)

Finally, the conversation changes.

It's time for the NBA to ditch the dollars and nonsense of the lockout for the alleys and oops in Lob City, the new nickname for the suddenly exciting Los Angeles Clippers.

For months, all the talk was about lockouts, salary caps and mediation. Now there are games that count as a new season begins Christmas Day.

For all practical purposes, Clippers fans have been locked out of competitive basketball for the better part of three decades. Now they get entertainment of the highest order ? watching Blake Griffin throw down lob passes from Chris Paul.

The 2011-12 season, shortened to 66 games, debuts Sunday when five marquee games will be played from morning deep into the night. This marks a first step for the league as it looks to bury a damaging offseason marred by a five-month labor dispute and several stars trying to force their way out of town.

The day begins with Boston and New York and then goes to an NBA Finals rematch with Miami at Dallas. Next up is Chicago at the Lakers, followed by the small-market special ? Orlando at Oklahoma City ? before CP3 makes his regular-season debut as a Clipper at Golden State in the nightcap.

"The lockout was hectic for everybody," Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley said. "We were bored! Now we feel like we've got a purpose in life. We can do what we do best."

It's time.

It's time for Derek Fisher to be seen in Lakers gold, not Brooks Brothers gray.

It's time for postgame news conferences with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, not post-meeting sessions with David Stern and Adam Silver.

It's time for Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks to defend their title on the court, not for Jeffrey Kessler and the players' union to defend their decision to disband in the courts.

"I don't even want to talk about the lockout any more, man!" Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant said. "It was just so frustrating to go through that and everything that went on, us meeting and not meeting and not coming to an agreement and fans getting upset with us. It was tough. But I'm glad we got through it."

It didn't look so good for a while. Once the dispute was finally settled, a whole new drama broke out with Paul and Dwight Howard looking for trades out of New Orleans and Orlando.

Howard eventually softened his stance, but his future is still the focus in Orlando.

"I don't think our situation is going to go away," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But I think it'll be a lot more focused on the games than there has been (focus) on the lockout."

The Lakers thought they had a deal for Paul, but Stern, acting as the owner of the Hornets, nixed that, and another crisis was born. The Clippers swooped in at the end, seizing some of the spotlight from Kobe and the Lakers for the first time since, well, ever.

"Hey, that's got to be driving Kobe," Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson said. "That should drive (Pau) Gasol and (Andrew) Bynum and those guys and Derek Fisher to say, `Hey, no way I'm going to let them take over Los Angeles.'"

The two teams met twice in the preseason, and the rivalry quickly escalated. Bryant injured his wrist on a hard foul in the first game and Lakers agitator Matt Barnes shoved Griffin to the court in the second game.

That wasn't the only miniseries infused with more intensity and energy than any exhibition game in recent years.

The Timberwolves were buoyant after finishing their second game against the Bucks with a 12-0 run to finish the preseason 2-0. James and Quentin Richardson were seen trading shoulder blocks all the way down the floor in Miami's preseason finale against Orlando.

"That's our sanctuary. When we get out between the lines and we're playing, that's all that matters," Richardson said. "And that's definitely our escape from anything going on, or anything negative or anything like that."

The melodrama surrounding Paul's request to be traded from New Orleans could have ripple effects throughout the Western Conference. The Lakers have been grousing since losing out on Paul and sending Lamar Odom to Dallas, but they weren't the only team hurt by that decision.

The Rockets had agreed to send Kevin Martin and Luis Scola to the Hornets as part of a three-team deal that would have landed them Gasol. Instead, they had to abandon any designs on signing Nene, go with Sam Dalembert in the middle and do some serious damage control with Scola and Martin.

While all the drama was unfolding, the Thunder have been playing the role of the young, hungry contender, ferociously working while no one was watching and preparing to throw nothing but haymakers as soon as the bell rings.

The Heat are back for another run at the title. James, Wade and Chris Bosh had the whole league against them after a presumptuous welcome ceremony on South Beach. But the spotlight hasn't been quite as bright while everyone has been looking toward the Clippers and Magic, where Howard's wishes seem to change by the day.

"It's good to see other guys around the league get that attention," Wade said. "I think they got enough of us last year. It's good to see other teams, other franchises, get that spotlight for a while. Hope they enjoy it."

The fan hunger is there as well. The Clippers sold out their game against the Lakers, and the first in that series was the most viewed preseason game in NBATV history.

The Timberwolves had 15,000 people attend their home preseason game against the Bucks, and another 2,500 turned out for a free practice on a Monday afternoon just to get a glimpse of Ricky Rubio.

More than 10,000 fans watched a free practice with the New York Knicks, and the Thunder's rabid fan base packed the arena for Durant's return to the court.

"We had to sacrifice a little bit of time and there were some harsh words thrown our way, but at the end of the day, everybody got what they wanted, which was basketball," Durant said. "That's what we worked hard for, is to play the game of basketball. We had to work the business part out and now we're just back to basketball."

Let the games begin.

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami, Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Ore., Kyle Hightower in Orlando, Fla., and freelance writer Murray Evans in Oklahoma City contributed to this story.

___

Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http:http://www.twitter.com/APkrawczynski.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_nba_begins

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Tired of your face? Use Face Swap to try your friend's on for size

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find your face on somebody else's body, or vice versa? Microsoft Research has finally addressed that oh-so-critical need with a Windows Phone app called Face Swap. Essentially, the free app can take an image of multiple people and trade faces with the others in the group, and then let you share the new photo on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, we're not sure the person you swapped faces with will enjoy it as much as you did, but that's the downfall of social networks, right?

Tired of your face? Use Face Swap to try your friend's on for size originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GFlhtH1KksA/

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Why Oil Prices Are Killing The Economy

?Oh, that was easy,? says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.? ? Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy

Have rising oil prices just put the final coffin nail in the entire 2009-2011 economic recovery?

Given the slowdown in China, the new recession in Europe, and the rocky bottom in the US economy, it certainly seems that way.

Oil?s Relentless March Higher

Oil prices emerged from their spider hole over two and half years ago. Having fallen from the towering heights of $148 a barrel in the summer of 2008, the early months of 2009 saw a return to prices in the $30s. Interestingly, during that great oil crash, the price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTIC) spent only 20 trading sessions below $40. That is the exact price that most analysts only three years prior believed oil could never sustain as the world would pump ?like crazy? should prices ever reach such ?impossibly high levels.?

Given the enormous debt troubles the West is currently facing and the fact that oil has averaged over $100 during several months this year, it does seem reasonable to suggest that, once again, the economy has been pushed off a ledge by oil. Let?s take a look at oil prices over the past several years.

Although they won?t admit to it, many economists and older energy analysts have been simply blown away by the persistence of oil prices, especially in the weak economic environment post the 2008 crisis and financial market crash. How did oil prices manage to recover to $80 (let alone to $40 or $60), and make their way back all the way to $100? (And this is just a chart of WTIC oil. Brent oil has been even stronger the past year). Why, for example, has a 12% reduction in US demand and weak economies elsewhere in the OECD not translated to much cheaper oil prices? Why did oil not simply flatten out in price, post 2008? After all, many claimed oil was nothing but another in a series of ?Made in America? financial bubbles. With ?no shortage of global supply? (as many said), and with a market ?awash in oil? (as others said), why didn?t oil prices simply go to sleep at, say, $50 per barrel?

Do Higher Oil Prices Really Cause Recessions? (Answer: Yes)

Before we unpack some of the factors behind oil?s strength, I want to address the subject of oil prices and recessions. I think readers should be aware that some analysts reject any reflexive, easy causality between high oil prices and sharp contractions in the economy. There are a range of views on this topic, from those who embrace the idea of substitution to those who assert that oil prices and oil supply rise concurrently with movements in the economy.

Substitutionists tend to also be positive, or constructive, transitionists I might add. Many of these come from technical and engineering backgrounds, and often have very good exposure to economic theory. In their view, higher oil prices drive human innovation and spur entrepreneurs to create new technology. High oil prices for them are actually a positive. Understandably, they also want all subsidies and other externalities, which we pay as a society to the fossil fuel industry, to be phased out. And frankly, I sympathize with that view.

Meanwhile, analysts who see the relationship between energy supply and the economy as more equalized, more symbiotic if you will, tend to hold the view that if the economy demands more oil ? and is willing to pay the price ? then the earth will reliably ?give it up? to the resource extractors over time. You can see this view very much at play currently, in the excitement over natural gas and also oil extracted from shale. Indeed, the learning curve, in which the hydraulic fracturing technique moved from experimentation to perfection, conforms very much to theory.

If one expands on these two schools of thought ? human innovation that conquers limitations, and a symbiotic view of the economy and energy supply ? it becomes rather easy to imagine that high oil prices present a real but rather small problem for the economy.

Of course, I take a different view.

Writing with my friend and colleague Chris Nelder at the HBR Blog earlier this fall, we warned of not one but two risks associated with stubbornly high oil prices. First, we referred generally to the history of oil spikes and recessions, noting that in the post-war US economy, one generally followed another. For an economy that has been geared towards oil for many decades, this should come as no surprise, especially when energy expenditures rise over certain thresholds, as they did in the 1970s, and again more recently. But we also warned that an over-confidence had developed over the decades, especially in America, and that any pressure from energy prices was ultimately solvable. And we encouraged corporate management to be more skeptical of the idea that the global oil and gas industry would be able to continue bringing to market resources that most could afford.

One of the more thoughtful reactions to our essay came from Michael Levi at the Council on Foreign Relations. Levi called into question whether any reliable threshold existed, regarding energy expenditures to GDP, that would trigger recession once crossed. In a general sense, that strikes me as reasonable. And to clarify, the notion of proving a magical threshold ? say, when energy expenditures to GDP rise above 5% ? was not exactly our central point. Indeed, I would agree with Levi more specifically that the rate of change might be at least as damaging, if not more so, than any threshold. In Does Expensive Oil Inevitably Cause Recession?, Levi also makes an additional point worthy of attention:

There is, however, a possible back door explanation for why high petroleum expenditures relative to GDP seem to correlate with recessions even if they don?t do a good job explaining them: it is easier for petroleum expenditures to undergo big changes in short periods of time if they are starting from a high level. If, say, the price of oil rises 50% from a starting point where petroleum expenditures are 2% of GDP, the change in spending is 1% of GDP; in contrast, if the price of oil rises the same 50% from a starting point where petroleum expenditures are 6% of GDP, the change in spending is 3% of GDP. Whatever your transmission mechanism ? supply side contraction, demand destruction, shifts in consumer preferences for durable goods ? the 3% jump is going to be far more economically damaging than the 1% one. Indeed the years where oil spending was high but recession was absent generally come from a period where prices were fairly stable.

(Source)

As we look at the historical table from EIA Washington, showing expenditures to GDP from 1949-2010 (pdf), illustrative to Levi?s point are the levels from which we rose, starting in 2004. Because in 2003, the level was already sitting at 6.8%. But in 2005, it rose to 7.3%, and then reached the very high level of 9.8% in 2008. Today I am mainly concerned with the outlook to 2012, given that the global economy was granted only the most brief reprieve from high energy prices in 2009, before resuming in 2010 and this year, 2011. To provide the most to up-to-date data, let?s also look at the chart, also from EIA Washington:

Understanding Causality

It is difficult to satisfy a demand for precision ? when asserting that high energy prices, or fast rates of change in energy prices, or energy-prices-to-GDP thresholds ? has caused a recession. The most significant hurdle lies in the organic complexity of the economy itself. With all of its political and cultural variances, and the mercurial nature of social moods and trends, how does one make certain claims about such a large system?

Some have suggested therefore that high or rising oil prices cause changes in GDP ? and hence, recession. To try to put this in layman?s terms, Clive Granger attempts to assert causality within a more uncertain matrix, saying essentially that certain events follow others reliably, but in a sequence where causality is difficult to quantify. As has been pointed out by some, Granger is unfortunately paired with the word causality, when in fact it is really a test or a method by which to determine predictability. (For some of the best work on energy prices and recessions, and Granger Causality, I point readers to the work of James Hamilton, who also runs the popular macroeconomics blog, Econbrowser.)

A broader discussion of the economic impact of energy prices would also include the problem of energy transition. Or, if you like, the broader subject of adaptation. For example, perhaps oil-induced recessions historically were exacerbated or ultimately made possible by policy mistakes. It once was the habit of central banks to raise interest rates in the face of higher oil prices. But what if the economy had simply been left to handle higher prices on its own? More recently, Ben Bernanke has allowed that the central bank cannot control oil.

There?s not much the Fed can do about gas prices per se. After all, the Fed can?t create more oil. We don?t control emerging markets. ~ Ben Bernanke, 2011

This suggests an evolution in thinking over his predecessors. Could the economy adapt better to resource price pressures if policy mistakes were not a feature of the economy?

I?m not so convinced of that, either. After all, the volatility in free markets can have its own deleterious effect on new investment. One of the most vexing features of any reliance on high fossil fuel prices alone, as a trigger for investment in alternative energy, is the volatility of prices. If those with capital are to be encouraged to invest in new energy technologies, many of which capture more diffuse energy ? or which create energy, but at a higher cost ? then there must be some confidence that cheap fossil fuels will not re-enter the scene, making new investment uneconomic. Encouragingly, that particular issue now looks more resolved than ever because the price of the master commodity ? oil ? which is still the primary energy source of the world, is now structurally higher and is almost certain to stay that way.

Asking the Right Question

And so, to answer the question, Do high energy prices cause recessions? I would say with full respect to uncertainty and causality, yes. Eventually, however, the energy transition away from fossil fuels will gather enough momentum that we will interpret high-energy prices differently: We will say they (helpfully) forced a necessary transition. But as we are so early in any global transition to alternatives, it would be better for economists, policy makers, and business to consider the Douglas Adams quote that?s in the header of this essay. Trying to prove that black is white may be a noble effort, in the fullness of epistemology and causality, but in the short term it could get you run over in a crosswalk.

We face a more immediate question: Is the global economy headed back into recession in 2012? Almost certainly, I think.

Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/315656-why-oil-prices-are-killing-the-economy?source=feed

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

NPL models the extracellular matrix

NPL models the extracellular matrix [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 20-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Lewis
david@proofcommunication.com
084-568-01865
National Physical Laboratory

UK scientists create a functional model of the extracellular matrix which could lead to advances in regenerative medicine

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have created a functional model of the native extracellular matrix that provides structural support to cells to aid growth and proliferation. The model could lead to advances in regenerative medicine.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides the physical and chemical conditions that enable the development of all biological tissues. It is a complex nano-to-microscale structure made up of protein fibres and serves as a dynamic substrate that supports tissue repair and regeneration.

Man-made structures designed to mimic and replace the native matrix in damaged or diseased tissues are highly sought after to advance our understanding of tissue organisation and to make regenerative medicine a reality.

Self-assembling peptide fibres that have similar properties to those of the native matrices are of particular interest. However, these near-crystalline nanostructures fail to arrange themselves into interconnected meshes at the microscopic scale, which is critical for bringing cells together and supporting tissue development.

To solve this problem, a research team at NPL designed a small protein consisting of two complementary domains (structural units) that promote the formation of highly branched networks of fibres that span microscopic dimensions. The team showed that the created matrix is very efficient in supporting cell attachment, growth and proliferation.

Max Ryadnov, the lead researcher at NPL, said: "The extracellular matrix is a cellular "scaffolding", which provides necessary signalling environment for cell growth and development into tissues and can help to heal wounds and other damaged tissues. Therefore, extracellular mimetics such as one developed by NPL could be useful for the progress of regenerative medicine."

###

This research is part of the NPL-led international research project, 'Multiscale measurements in biophysical systems', which is jointly funded by NPL and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance.

The full research was published recently in Angewandte Chemie the premier and most authoritative venue for critical advances in chemical research. It is available here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201104647/abstract

Notes

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is one of the UK's leading science facilities and research centres. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate standards, science and technology available.

NPL occupies a unique position as the UK's National Measurement Institute and sits at the intersection between scientific discovery and real world application. Its expertise and original research have underpinned quality of life, innovation and competitiveness for UK citizens and business for more than a century.

http://www.npl.co.uk



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


NPL models the extracellular matrix [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 20-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Lewis
david@proofcommunication.com
084-568-01865
National Physical Laboratory

UK scientists create a functional model of the extracellular matrix which could lead to advances in regenerative medicine

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have created a functional model of the native extracellular matrix that provides structural support to cells to aid growth and proliferation. The model could lead to advances in regenerative medicine.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides the physical and chemical conditions that enable the development of all biological tissues. It is a complex nano-to-microscale structure made up of protein fibres and serves as a dynamic substrate that supports tissue repair and regeneration.

Man-made structures designed to mimic and replace the native matrix in damaged or diseased tissues are highly sought after to advance our understanding of tissue organisation and to make regenerative medicine a reality.

Self-assembling peptide fibres that have similar properties to those of the native matrices are of particular interest. However, these near-crystalline nanostructures fail to arrange themselves into interconnected meshes at the microscopic scale, which is critical for bringing cells together and supporting tissue development.

To solve this problem, a research team at NPL designed a small protein consisting of two complementary domains (structural units) that promote the formation of highly branched networks of fibres that span microscopic dimensions. The team showed that the created matrix is very efficient in supporting cell attachment, growth and proliferation.

Max Ryadnov, the lead researcher at NPL, said: "The extracellular matrix is a cellular "scaffolding", which provides necessary signalling environment for cell growth and development into tissues and can help to heal wounds and other damaged tissues. Therefore, extracellular mimetics such as one developed by NPL could be useful for the progress of regenerative medicine."

###

This research is part of the NPL-led international research project, 'Multiscale measurements in biophysical systems', which is jointly funded by NPL and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance.

The full research was published recently in Angewandte Chemie the premier and most authoritative venue for critical advances in chemical research. It is available here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201104647/abstract

Notes

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is one of the UK's leading science facilities and research centres. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate standards, science and technology available.

NPL occupies a unique position as the UK's National Measurement Institute and sits at the intersection between scientific discovery and real world application. Its expertise and original research have underpinned quality of life, innovation and competitiveness for UK citizens and business for more than a century.

http://www.npl.co.uk



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/npl-nmt122011.php

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EU banks grabbing up ECB loans (Americablog)

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

An insider's account of vote rigging for Putin (AP)

MOSCOW ? The election official had a problem. Workers at his polling station had been stuffing ballot boxes with votes for Vladimir Putin's party all day, he says, but when the votes were counted United Russia still didn't have enough.

So he huddled with the election commission he chaired at the Moscow precinct. The decision: Putin's party would get the desired 65 percent. One member objected, but relented when the others tossed his Communist Party a few dozen votes.

The commission chairman spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. He also said he could be punished for disobeying orders to report any contact with foreign observers or journalists to the FSB, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

His account closely matches reports by independent observers of rampant vote-rigging during Sunday's election, in which United Russia maintained its majority in parliament. Amateur videos posted on the Internet also appeared to show falsified ballots spilling out of boxes at polling stations.

Officially, United Russia got roughly 50 percent of the vote, a significant drop from the 64 percent the party won in the last election. But the reports of fraud indicate it may have lost even more support than those results suggest. Central Election Commission officials said they have received no reports of serious violations but would investigate any formal complaints.

This election was emerging as a watershed moment in a country where people have long seemed inured to vote manipulation, both before and after the fall of the Soviet Union. The fraud allegations have set off protests in the street and stirred broader public indignation, suggesting that the political system Putin built to solidify his control has begun to crack just three months ahead of a vote on his return to the presidency. The lackluster opposition has suddenly been energized.

Anger over the election drew more than 5,000 people Monday night, in one of the biggest anti-Putin protests in years. Police detained about 300 protesters to prevent them from marching to the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin. New protests on Tuesday night were thwarted by police, who were out in force after having been taken by surprise the night before.

Amateur videos claiming to show the vote being rigged have spread via social media networks, including one in which the chairman of an election commission is filling out a stack of ballots. The clip attracted so much attention that city election officials were forced to acknowledge that the chairman had been caught falsifying the vote and could face charges.

The commission chairman who spoke to the AP said that representatives of Russia's four main parties got together before the election to negotiate how many votes each would get in district precincts. United Russia initially wanted 68 to 70 percent, but conceded that was too high and settled for around 65.

On voting day, the chairman said, election workers quietly slipped ballots into the boxes, as many as 50 at a time, being careful to keep the papers from rustling and attracting the attention of observers.

He said workers were trained on how to stuff ballots, each a thin sheet roughly the size of standard letter paper. He demonstrated how a stack of up to 30 or even 50 ballots could be folded in half, hidden inside a jacket and slipped into the ballot box without making any noise.

The chairman said there was a limit to the amount of ballot stuffing his commission could do. So district election officials took a few hundred of the precincts ballot, filled them out for United Russia and gave them to migrant men not on the precinct's rolls. Fake voter lists were substituted for the real ones.

During a tour of the polling station, the commission chairman pointed to a spot along the far wall where he had put chairs for observers. He said one observer was particularly zealous, never leaving the room during the 12-hour voting period, even to use the toilet.

The chairman said he got the police to evict the observer 10 minutes before the polls closed, too late for a replacement to be sent. Election monitoring groups and political parties have complained that their observers were barred from many polling places.

When the votes were counted, United Russia got only about 50 percent, even with all the extra ballots; the chairman said its real support had been about 25 percent. Turnout also was low, another setback for the Putin camp.

But when the chairman reported the 50 percent result to the district election commission, he said, he was told to make it 65 percent in the official report, which needed to be signed by all 15 members of the commission. Turnout was also to be inflated.

Most of the commission members willingly went along with the change, he said, and the one holdout was appeased when a few dozen votes were taken from smaller parties and given to the Communists.

The director of Golos, an independent election watchdog, said chairmen of election commissions at polling stations are at the center of efforts to rig the vote and routinely come under heavy pressure.

"Most of the violations we see happen at the local level," Liliya Shibanova said.

Golos says many violations involved busing people with absentee ballots to multiple polling stations so they can vote, a system called "cruise" or "carousel" voting.

Putin, who served as president from 2000 to 2008 and then moved into the prime minister's office because of presidential term limits, is hoping to return to the presidency after the March election. He had been counting on a strong show of popular support for United Russia in the parliamentary election to add legitimacy to his campaign.

He has appeared shaken by the election results and by the overall lack of enthusiasm over his decision to reclaim the presidency from Dmitry Medvedev.

Many Russians are growing weary of his leadership, and of the pervasive corruption and great social inequality it has fostered.

Still, there is little doubt that Putin will win the presidential election. He remains more popular than his party and will likely face only tepid opposition, given his control over who is allowed to run.

Putin seems to realize that he needs to respond to the discontent, but gave no sign Tuesday that he knows how.

"As for the question of what exactly is worrying people and why they don't vote for United Russia but vote for other parties, of course we need to think about this," he said. "We need to analyze these problems and formulate further suggestions on solving them."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_fixing_the_vote

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