innovator origami: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Amazon 4Q results disappoint, stock tumbles

This Jan. 26, 2012 photo, shows a webpage on Amazon.com featuring Kindle e-book readers on a computer screen in Miami. Amazon.com Inc., reports quarterly financial results Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, after the market close.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Amazon's fourth-quarter net income dropped sharply, weighed down by higher operating expenses even as revenue grew. Investors clobbered the online retailer's stock in after-hours trading, as the company also gave a disappointing forecast for the current period.

Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that its net income was $177 million, or 38 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's down from $416 million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 35 percent to $17.4 billion, below the $18.3 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had expected.

Amazon's operating expenses, meanwhile, grew 38 percent to $17.2 billion. The company has been investing heavily in new sales-fulfillment centers so it can grow its business. That has cut into profits all of last year.

For the current quarter, Amazon is forecasting $12 billion to $13.4 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting $13.42 billion. The company also said it may record an operating loss for the quarter. Its outlook was in the range of a loss of $200 million to a profit of $100 million for the three months ending in March.

Amazon said sales of its Kindle tablet computers and e-reader gadgets nearly tripled compared with the final quarter of 2010. As its custom, though, the company did not give exact sales numbers for the devices.

Amazon's stock dropped nearly $16.71, or 8.6 percent, to $177.73 in after-hours trading following the earnings announcement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-31-Earns-Amazon/id-e428e3588a6f4304b2e11b32fa92ecda

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China to make Shanghai the world's yuan centre by 2015 (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China will make Shanghai the global centre of yuan trading, clearing and pricing by 2015, according to a specific state plan laying out the city's future as an international financial centre.

The detailed plan, published jointly by the country's economic planning agency and the Shanghai government, shows the scale of China's ambition in creating its own version of New York, London or Hong Kong.

The National Development and Reform Commission envisions a trading hub with annual non-forex financial market volume of 1,000 trillion yuan ($158.3 trillion) by 2015 from less than 400 trillion in 2010.

The plan said the daily mid-point price published by the central bank in the onshore yuan market would be the benchmark for both domestic and foreign yuan trading markets, and the government-backed Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate, or Shibor, would be the benchmark for yuan credit everywhere.

China would also encourage overseas companies to sell yuan-denominated shares in its domestic stock markets, but the plan did not give a detailed timetable.

(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Nick Edwards; Editing by Ken Wills)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/bs_nm/us_china_economy_shanghai

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Pardoned by Haley Barbour, a 'free man' is on the run

Convicted for killing a convenience store clerk in 1994, Joseph Ozment walked out of the Governor's Mansion after being pardoned by Gov. Haley Barbour on Jan. 8 and hasn't been seen since.

Declaring Joseph Ozment ?rehabilitated,? Gov. Haley Barbour included the convicted killer among over 200 pardons he issued in his last days as governor of Mississippi.

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Mr. Ozment was last seen leaving the Governor's Mansion, where he was a convict ?trusty,? on Jan. 8 when he got into a car driven by his grandmother.

Ozment, whom Barbour described Friday as a ?free man,? is now being sought by Mississippi authorities investigating the constitutionality of Barbour's mass pardons, which shocked many Mississippians, including victims and law enforcement. The list included over 40 murderers, rapists and others convicted of violent crimes.

OPINION:?Congress must allow ex-prisoners to vote

The unusual manhunt is the latest twist in a peculiar tale of Southern patriarchy and redemption that has dogged Mr. Barbour since he left office earlier this month. The governor has defended his actions, saying the state pardon board had already freed most of the people, and that the clemency was mainly designed to give worthy ex-convicts the right to vote and hunt.

But national scrutiny has revealed that those pardoned were both disproportionately white and many had access to powerful interests in the state. In the aftermath, the state ended its mansion ?trusty? program, a judge is deciding the constitutionality of the majority, and the legislature is weighing several bills to curtail the pardon process.

At the same time, the pardons also touched on deeper issues around the nature of redemption and mercy for a country that has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.

?While his timing and transparency are in question, he has at least reopened a needed national discussion on how justice must be tempered by mercy,? wrote the Monitor's editorial board last week.

But in Mississippi, that debate has taken backseat to concerns about Ozment's whereabouts. While four other former mansion ?trusties? that were released have checked back in with the judge, and vowed to maintain daily contact, Ozment has disappeared.

Attorney General Jim Hood, who called Barbour's mass pardons ?a slap to the face? of victims and the judicial system, said Ozment was last seen in northwest Mississippi, from where he hails.

A CNN crew trying to track him down also traveled to Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., where Ozment has family, but have so far come up short. On Jan. 17, the network carried an interview with Anthony McCray, one of the five former mansion ?trusties? pardoned by Barbour. Mr. McCray called Ozment and the other trusties ?nice guys,? and suggested that ?God touched Haley Barbour's heart? as the reason why Barbour signed the pardons.

The search has raised unprecedented issues, including the extent to which the state can legally force Ozment, who's not wanted for any crime and now has a clean criminal record, to report to a judge.

The issue became only murkier on Friday when Attorney General Jim Hood hinted that there could be a financial reward for information on his whereabouts. Mr. Hood has said he may begin a criminal investigation if Ozment continues to refuse to surface.

The fact that Ozment hasn't abided by a judge's order to report for a hearing suggests to Hood that he may be a threat to public safety.

?He doesn't have a lot to lose if he thinks he's going back to prison for life," Hood said Friday. "That's what concerns me about the public safety."

OPINION:?Congress must allow ex-prisoners to vote

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Dfm7_jf_H-Y/Pardoned-by-Haley-Barbour-a-free-man-is-on-the-run

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Democrats spend big in Ore. special election (AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. ? Determined not to lose another friendly district because of a sex scandal, Democrats and their allies have pumped more than $1 million into an Oregon special election race that has turned into a vicious exchange of attacks over the airwaves.

Voters are deciding who should replace former Rep. David Wu, a seven-term Democrat who resigned last year following a string of bizarre news stories that began with photos of the congressman wearing a tiger costume and ended with a young woman's accusation that he made an unwanted sexual advance.

Voters have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return their ballots in the all-mail election.

Republican Rob Cornilles, a sports business consultant, has tried hard to extend the scandal that brought down Wu to the Democrat who wants to take his place, former state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici. She says the race is about the future, not about Wu.

Bonamici and independent groups that support her have gone after Cornilles for missing tax payments for his business and for inconsistent statements about the number of jobs his company has created.

Oregon's 1st Congressional District is the state's economic engine, encompassing downtown Portland and the fast-growing western suburbs that are home to the Silicon Forest high-tech hub and the global headquarters for athletic-wear giants Nike Inc. and Columbia Sportswear Company. It stretches across agricultural communities to the Pacific coast. Democrats have represented the district since 1975, and its voters overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama.

But Democrats do not want to see a repeat of what happened last year in a heavily Democratic New York district, when a Republican won a special election after Rep. Anthony Weiner acknowledged sending provocative text messages and resigned.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $1.3 million to boost Bonamici. Political committees for a union, abortion-rights groups and a super PAC allied with Democrats have also chipped in with their own mail or television ads.

Democrats insist they're not scared. They've likened their investment to an insurance policy to avoid any doubts about the party's strength that would inevitably follow a loss in a liberal state like Oregon. The National Republican Congressional Committee has spent just $85,000 on the race.

Cornilles, 47, is making his second bid for the seat after losing to Wu in 2010. He's centered his pitch on his experience running a sports-marketing firm, hoping to swing an upset with a relentless focus on jobs and a run toward the center. Unemployment in the Portland area dropped to 7.8 percent in November 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bonamici, 57, is mixing traditional Democratic themes of protecting Social Security and Medicare with a pledge to tackle the national debt by getting Washington's priorities in order.

Without reliable public polling it's anyone's guess how close the race will be.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_el_ho/us_oregon_congressional_election

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Russia backs Assad, last friend in Arab world (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russia's defiance of international efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests is rooted in a calculation that it can keep a Mideast presence by propping up its last remaining ally in the region ? and has nothing to lose if it fails.

The Kremlin has put itself in conflict with the West as it shields Assad's regime from United Nations sanctions and continues to provide it with weapons even as others impose arms embargoes.

But Moscow's relations with Washington are already strained amid controversy over U.S. missile defense plans and other disputes. And Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seems eager to defy the U.S. as he campaigns to reclaim the presidency in March elections.

"It would make no sense for Russia to drop its support for Assad," said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the independent Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "He is Russia's last remaining ally in the Middle East, allowing it to preserve some influence in the region."

Moscow may also hope that Assad can hang on to power with its help and repay Moscow with more weapons contracts and other lucrative deals.

And observers note that even as it has nothing to lose from backing Assad, it has nothing to gain from switching course and supporting the opposition.

"Russia has crossed the Rubicon," said Igor Korotchenko, head of the Center for Analysis of Global Weapons Trade.

He said Russia will always be marked as the patron of the Assad regime regardless of the conflict's outcome, so there's little incentive to build bridges with the protesters.

"Russia will be seen as the dictator's ally. If Assad's regime is driven from power, it will mean an end to Russia's presence," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.

Syria has been Moscow's top ally in the Middle East since Soviet times, when it was led by the incumbent's father, Hafez Assad. The Kremlin saw it as a bulwark for countering U.S. influence in the region and heavily armed Syria against Israel.

While Russia's relations with Israel have improved greatly since the Soviet collapse, ties with Damascus helped Russia retain its clout as a member of the Quartet of international mediators trying to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

After Bashar Assad succeeded his father in 2000, Russia sought to boost ties by agreeing to annul 73 percent of Syria's Soviet-era debt. In the mid-2000s, Putin said Russia would re-establish its place in the Mideast via "the Syria route."

Syria's port of Tartus is now the only naval base Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. A Russian navy squadron made a call there this month in what was seen by many as a show of support for Assad.

For decades, Syria has been a major customer for the Russian arms industries, buying billions of dollars' worth of combat jets, missiles, tanks and other heavy weapons. And unlike some other nations, such as Venezuela, which obtained Russian weapons on Kremlin loans, Assad's regime paid cash.

The respected newspaper Kommersant reported this week that Syria has ordered 36 Yak-130 combat jets worth $550 million. The deal, which officials wouldn't confirm or deny, may signal preparations for even bigger purchases of combat planes.

Korotchenko said Syria needs the jets to train its pilots to fly the advanced MiG-29M or MiG-35 fighter jets it wants to purchase: "It's a precursor of future deals."

Korotchenko said Syria's importance as a leading importer of Russian weapons in the region grew after the loss of the lucrative Iraqi and Libyan markets.

Russia, whose abstention in a U.N. vote cleared the way for military intervention in Libya, later voiced frustration with what it described as a disproportional use of force by NATO.

The Kremlin has vowed not to allow a replay of the Libyan strategy in Syria, warning that it would block any U.N. resolution on Syria lacking a clear ban on any foreign military interference.

Moscow accuses the West of turning a blind eye to shipments of weapons to the Syrian opposition and warns it won't be bound by Western sanctions.

Earlier this month, a Syria-bound Russian ship allegedly carrying tons of munitions was stopped by officials in Cyprus, an EU member, who said it was violating an EU arms embargo. The ship's captain promised to head to Turkey but then made a dash to Syria.

Asked about the ship, Russia's foreign minister bluntly responded that Moscow owes neither explanation nor apology to anyone because it has broken no international rules.

Nonetheless, Moscow has shown restraint in its arms trade with Damascus, avoiding the sales of weapons that could significantly tilt the military balance in the region.

In one example, the Kremlin has turned down Damascus' requests for truck-mounted Iskander missiles that can hit ground targets 280 kilometers (175 miles) away with deadly precision. While the sale of such missiles wouldn't be banned under any international agreements, Moscow has apparently heeded strong U.S. and Israeli objections to such a deal.

Moscow also has stonewalled Damascus' request for the advanced S-300 air defense missile system, only agreeing to sell short-range ground-to-air missiles.

"Russia has taken a very careful and cautious stance on contracts with Syria," Korotchenko said.

The most powerful Russian weapon reportedly delivered to Syria is the Bastion anti-ship missile complex intended to protect its coast. The Bastion is armed with supersonic Yakhont cruise missiles that can sink any warship at a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and are extremely difficult to intercept, providing a strong deterrent against any attack from the sea.

Observers in Moscow said that Russia can do little else to help Assad. The chief of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, Mikhail Margelov, openly acknowledged that this week, saying that Russia has "exhausted its arsenal" of means to support Syria by protecting it from the U.N. sanctions.

Lukyanov said Russia has made it clear it would block any attempts to give U.N. cover to any foreign military intervention in Syria, but wouldn't be able to prevent Syria's neighbors from mounting such action.

"Russia realizes that it has limited opportunities and can't play a decisive role," he said.

Pukhov also predicted that Russia wouldn't take any stronger moves in support for Damascus.

"Going further would mean an open confrontation with the West, and Russia doesn't need that," he said.

____

Elizabeth A. Kennedy contributed from Beirut.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_syrian_game

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Chief tech officer to leave W.H. (Politico)

Aneesh Chopra, who as the first U.S. chief technology officer has been the face of Obama's tech policy, is leaving the White House, an administration official confirmed to POLITICO.

The White House confirmed Friday that Chopra?s last day will be Feb. 8.

In his role, Chopra has been an advocate for integrating government and technology to create new products and services. He was a frequent visitor to Silicon Valley, where he promoted the Obama administration?s tech policies.

Most recently, Chopra was one of three authors of the White House blog post critical of controversial copyright legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Senate?s PROTECT IP Act.

Chopra joined the administration in May 2009 with experience moving between government and technology as Virginia?s secretary of technology. He previously had been managing director at The Advisory Board Co., a publicly traded health care think tank.

He appeared Zelig-like wherever the tech industry gathered, promoting the idea that the federal government is changing and it needs innovators to work on the nation?s biggest policy problems.

It was unclear Friday morning where Chopra is headed after the White House, but sources said he has been rumored to be mulling a political career.

President Barack Obama thanked Chopra for his service in a statement Friday. ?As the federal government?s first chief technology officer, Aneesh Chopra did groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century. Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records,? Obama said. ?His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come, and I thank him for his outstanding service.?

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 11:13 a.m. on January 27, 2012.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_72080_html/44328162/SIG=11mjs5m4e/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/72080.html

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

[OOC] the midnight assassins

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Caterpillar continues strong run (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) reported a 58 percent rise in quarterly earnings on Thursday that blew away Wall Street expectations and it projected strong growth for 2012 despite global economic uncertainly.

Caterpillar's results cap a record 2011 in terms of sales and profits. Acquisitions, increased demand for mining equipment, favorable commodity prices and growth in construction machinery and parts sales supported the company during the year.

Investors reacted positively to the report, with shares up 2.7 percent in premarket activity.

Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar said it would continue to break records in 2012, with profit expected to rise 25 percent to $9.25 a share, and revenue projected to increase between 30 percent and 19 percent.

"We're expecting 2012 to be another year of good growth," Caterpillar Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman said in a press release. "We have to be prepared for recovery in the developed world beyond 2012 and continued growth in emerging markets."

The world's largest heavy machinery maker said net income for the fourth quarter was $1.55 billion, or $2.32 per share, compared with $968 million, or $1.47 per share, a year ago. That result was 59 cents above the analysts' average estimate of $1.73 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 35 percent to $17.24 billion, above Wall Street estimates of $16.05 billion.

Caterpillar's forecast for 2012 is above current Wall Street estimates.

Caterpillar warned that costs will rise to meet production needs, and the company is facing production capacity constraints. Oberhelman said construction markets in the United States and Europe will remain "depressed."

Caterpillar will invest about $4 billion on capital expenditures in 2012, compared with $2.6 billion in 2011.

Still, the company is enjoying solid growth in its resource-equipment sector due to solid demand and favorable prices in the commodities markets. It also is seeing steady demand for after-market parts needed for equipment already in use.

(Reporting By John Stoll; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/bs_nm/us_caterpillar

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Kenny Chesney leads Academy of Country Music nominees (Reuters)

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) ? Kenny Chesney grabbed the lead with nine award nominations on Thursday from the Academy of Country Music, which hands out its prizes on April 1 in Las Vegas.

Jason Aldean was the runner-up with six nods and trio Lady Antebellum had five.

Chesney will have plenty of competition for the fan-voted Entertainer of the Year trophy from nominees Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and last year's winner Taylor Swift.

Fans can vote for entertainer of the year and new artist of the year beginning on March 19. Voting for the top prize continues through the third hour of the live broadcast of the 47th edition of the awards show.

One of the veteran performers on the list of nominees, Chesney also received his 10th nomination for top male vocalist.

Aldean, whose career has taken off in the past few years, received his second nominations for entertainer of the year and top male vocalist.

The trio of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, collectively known as Lady Antebellum, is up for vocal group of the year, an award they have won for two consecutive years.

Brad Paisley was nominated again for top male vocalist, which he has won every year since 2006.

Toby Keith's runaway hit "Red Solo Cup" brought him three nominations, including video and single of the year. He took home the top video award in 2003 for "Beer For My Horses," which featured Willie Nelson.

Swift received her third nomination for the top prize of entertainer of the year and for the fifth time for top female vocalist. She received her third nod for best video.

Newcomer Grace Potter will be up for three awards, based on her performance with Chesney on their hit, "You and Tequila."

A relatively new group, the Eli Young Band, was nominated in three categories including vocal group of the year and top single and song for "Crazy Girl."

YOUNGER GENERATION

Most of this year's nominees are from the crop of country performers who have come along in the past 10 to 15 years. Swift, 22, is the youngest nominee.

The band Alabama, nominated with Paisley for vocal event of the year, has not toured together since 2004.

Other veteran nominees include Vince Gill, who began his solo career in 1983; and Martina McBride, who worked behind the scenes for Garth Brooks until she signed her first label deal in 1991.

Reba McEntire, one of the most successful country singers of the 1980s and 1990s, acted as master of ceremonies for the announcement, with the nominations revealed for the first time via a digital format on the Academy of Country Music's Facebook page.

That gave fans a chance to lodge comments, including one bleat that Gill should not have been left off the list of nominees for top guitarist.

Fan voting will determine the finalists for new artist of the year, to be announced at the end of the month. Voting for the winner of that award will begin on March 19 and close before the show begins on April 1.

McEntire and Blake Shelton will co-host the live CBS broadcast for the second consecutive year from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Last Vegas.

(Reporting By Vernell Hackett; Editing by Andrew Stern and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/media_nm/us_country_nominees

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

AT&T unearths Jim Henson's 1963 Robot short for Bell

AT&T has released some real gems from its videos archives over the past year, but it's truly outdone itself this week. It's dug up a rarely-seen short film titled Robot that Jim Henson made for Bell in 1963, which was intended to explain computers and data communications to business owners at "elite seminars." It does so with phrases like "Correction: the machine does not have a soul. It has no bothersome emotions. While mere mortals wallow in a sea of emotionalism, the machine is busy digesting vast oceans of information in a single, all-encompassing gulp." Enjoy.

AT&T unearths Jim Henson's 1963 Robot short for Bell originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/atandt-unearths-jim-hensons-1963-robot-short-for-bell/

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Galaxy S III now rumored to be a no-show at MWC

But would that that really a bad thing?

Samsung, it is now rumored, will not be showing the Galaxy S III at Mobile World Congress. That's according to unconfirmed rumors from The Verge and Germany's Best Boyz. Of course, the Galaxy S III has yet to actually be announced or anything, nor has Samsung sent invites for any press event in Barcelona. But, yeah. It's entirely possible we won't see it there. Bummer, to be sure.

But here's the thing: We -- and most everybody else out there -- have been largely been assuming we'll see Samsung Next Big Thing™ in Spain. Perfectly reasonable assumption by all, since the Galaxy S II was announced there last year. But it's still an assumption, and it's still ignoring one thing.

Anybody remember when and where the Samsung Galaxy S was launched? That's right, boys and girls. The original Galaxy S was born in March 2010 at CTIA in Las Vegas, not at Mobile World Congress a month sooner. (We got Super AMOLED screens at MWC in 2010.) The Galaxy S still was released outside the United States first, and we got ours at an event in New York City that brought the four major U.S. carriers together. (Note we've not seen an event like that since; though last year's Galaxy S II event did manage appearances by AT&T and Sprint, and a half-assing from T-Mobile.)

Anyhoo. We're still a month out from MWC. Anything can happen. (Hell, we saw a complete redesign of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in a month.) And it's not like there won't be ample opportunities for the GSIII (or whatever's next) to be announced after that. We've got CTIA in May. Google IO in June. CTIA again in October. Countless events in between. And if indeed it's true that the Galaxy S III is being pushed back to eliminate lag time between release, let's all ask ourselves this:

Are we really going to complain about an unofficial phone's unannounced announcement possibly being pushed closer to the date that it'll actually be available for purchase? It's a mad, mad world.

Sources: The Verge; Best Boyz

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/9Qi-LWDs4MQ/story01.htm

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

In GOP response, Daniels blames Obama for economy (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama has resorted to "extremism" with stifling, anti-growth policies and has tried dividing Americans, not uniting them, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday in the formal Republican response to the president's State of the Union address.

Eight months after deciding not pursue a bid for his party's presidential nomination, Daniels used his nationally televised speech to lash out at Obama and cast the GOP as compassionate and eager to unchain the country's economic potential.

He took particular aim at Obama's efforts in recent months to raise taxes on the rich and castigate them for not contributing their fair share to the nation's burdens. He and other Republicans were hoping to both blunt and shift the focus away from Obama's theme of fairness, which includes protecting the middle class and making sure the rich pay an equitable share of taxes.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Daniels said, according to excerpts of his remarks released before he and Obama spoke. "As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat."

Daniels is a rarity in the GOP these days ? a uniting and widely respected figure, contrasting with the divisiveness emanating from the contest for the presidential nomination being waged among former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others.

Daniels, President George W. Bush's first budget chief and a two-term Indiana governor, portrays himself as an ardent foe of budget deficits, though critics note he served during the abrupt shift from fleeting federal surpluses to massive deficits early in Bush's term.

Obama's address, and Daniels' speech, come at the dawn of a presidential and congressional election year in which the defining issues are the faltering economy and weak job market and the parties' clashing prescriptions for restoring both. Obama and congressional Democrats have focused on the more populist pathway of financing federal initiatives by taxing millionaires, while Republicans preach the virtues of less regulation and smaller government.

Obama was ready to describe his vision of attaining "an economy built to last." Led by Daniels, Republicans were firing back that it was their party that understood the best way to trigger economic growth was to get the government out of the way.

"The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly sane pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy," Daniels said.

Obama has halted, for now, work on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast. Republicans say the project would create thousands of jobs, a claim opponents say is overstated. The administration has also pursued policies aimed at reducing pollution and global warming.

Daniels said Republicans prefer "a passionate pro-growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenues to pay our bills."

In a riff on Obama's own theme, Daniels said, "As Republicans our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume climb up life's ladder. We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots. We must always be a nation of haves and soon-to-haves."

Even before Obama spoke, Republicans in the Capitol and on the campaign trail accused him of three years of higher spending, bigger government and tax increases that have left the economy stuck in a ditch.

"This election is going to be a referendum on the president's economic policies," which have worsened the economy, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The politics of envy, the politics of dividing our country is not what America is all about."

To underscore Obama's decision on Keystone, Boehner invited three officials from companies he said would be hurt by the pipeline's rejection to watch the speech in the House chamber, along with a pro-pipeline legislator from Nebraska, through which the project would pass.

"If the president wants someone to blame for this economy, he should start with himself," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "The fact is, any CEO in America with a record like this after three years on the job would be graciously shown the door."

Obama was delivering his address during a rowdy battle for the GOP presidential nomination that has ended up providing ammunition for Obama's theme of fairness.

That fight has called attention to the wealth of one of the top contenders, Romney, and the low ? but legal ? effective federal income tax rate of around 15 percent that the multimillionaire has paid in the past two years. Romney, in Florida campaigning for that state's Jan. 31 primary, released his tax documents for the two-year period on Tuesday.

"The president's agenda sounds less like `built to last' and more like doomed to fail," Romney said in Tampa, Fla. "What he's proposing is more of the same: more taxes, more spending, and more regulation."

Romney's chief rival so far, Gingrich, said in a written statement that the top question about Obama's speech was whether he "will show a willingness to put aside the extremist ideology of the far left and call for a new set of policies that could lead to dramatic private sector job creation and economic growth."

The Republican National Committee was airing a television commercial in three states and Washington, D.C., that shows Obama discussing the faltering economy in 2009, saying, "If I don't have this done in three years, then this is going to be a one-term proposition," a reference to his presidency.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_union_gop_reaction

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Nigerian police say four Boko Haram members killed (Reuters)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) ? Nigerian police said on Monday they shot dead four members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram in the northeast city of Maiduguri and recovered explosive materials stored in a car, two days after the sect carried out its most deadly attacks.

Bomb attacks and fierce gun battles between the sect and police on Friday in Nigeria's second largest city Kano killed at least 178 people, according to hospital staff. Kano is hundreds of kilometers west of Maiduguri, Boko Haram's home town.

"Four members of Boko Haram sect involved in killings in Maiduguri and environs have been under surveillance of security agencies and have been shot dead in Pomomari area of Maiduguri yesterday (Sunday)," Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, an officer in the joint military task force, said in a statement.

"Various IED (improvised explosive device) materials prepared for detonation were recovered from their car."

Boko Haram, which was formed in Maiduguri in 2002, has killed hundreds of people in the last year, mostly in and around its home state of Borno, though its attacks have been spreading across the north of Africa's most populous nation.

Residents in Kano, a city of more than 10 million people, began to return to work on Monday amid a heavy military presence as soldiers searched vehicles at dozens of checkpoints set up on the city's wide, dusty streets.

President Goodluck Jonathan has been severely criticized for not getting a grip on Boko Haram, a group he says have infiltrated the police, military and all areas of government.

Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban.

The sect originally said it wanted sharia, Islamic law, to be applied more widely across Nigeria but its aims appear to have changed.

The sect focuses its attacks mostly on the police, military and government, but has attacked Christians more recently. It says it is fighting enemies who have wronged its members through violence, arrests or economic neglect and corruption.

(Reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja and Mike Oboh in Kano; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_nigeria_sect

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Somber farewell begins for Paterno

John Emigh, left, Darren Dixon, and Terrence Krumrine, back right, raise an American flag to half staff in honor of former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno in front of Old Main on the Penn State campus Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno, a sainted figure at Penn State for almost half a century but scarred forever by the scandal involving his one-time heir apparent, died Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 in State College. He was 85. .(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, center, visits while waiting in line for a public viewing for legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State University campus, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Samantha Maceil of Pittsburgh, places a Bear Bryant style hat on a statue of legendary former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday at age 85, less than three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A newspaper with the headline re-written, is left in remembrance around a statue of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, outside Beaver Stadium on the Penn State campus Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Frank and Sylvia Pasquerilla Spiritual Center stands on the Penn State University campus in State College, Pa., Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. The public viewing for legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will be held Tuesday and Wednesday in the Worship room of the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. Paterno died Sunday at age 85, less than three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Penn State football players past and present filed past the closed casket of Joe Paterno at the campus spiritual center Tuesday, mourning the coach who helped shape the university for more than a half century. Among those paying their respects was Mike McQueary, a key figure in the events that led to Paterno's firing.

The players wore dark suits and filed out of three blue Penn State buses ? the same buses that once carried Paterno and the team to games at Beaver Stadium on fall Saturdays. Son Scott Paterno was seen coming in and out of the center.

McQueary, then a graduate assistant for Penn State, went to Paterno in 2002 saying he had witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky assaulting a boy in the shower at the Penn State football building. Paterno relayed that to his bosses ? including the head of campus police ? but university trustees felt he should have done more, and it played into their decision to fire the longtime coach on Nov. 9. That came four days after Sandusky was arrested on multiple child sex-abuse counts.

Dressed in a blue coat and tie with a white shirt, the school colors, McQueary was among thousands of expected mourners at an event that was to stretch late into Tuesday night.

One current and one former team member will stand guard over the casket for the duration of the public viewing, athletic department spokesman Jeff Nelson said.

"He left us too early and I think about the impact he could have made once he retired from coaching," Nelson said.

The 85-year-old Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football, died Sunday. His lung cancer was disclosed in November, just days after he was fired.

Paterno's family gathered earlier Tuesday for a private viewing, Nelson said. The family was joined by current players and new Penn State coach Bill O'Brien, followed by former players.

A line of ex-players stretched around the corner and down the block. Among the mourners were former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris. Others there included NFL receivers Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, Norwood's father and Baylor assistant coach Brian Norwood and former quarterback Daryll Clark.

The event marked the start of three days of public mourning as the Penn State community in State College and beyond said goodbye to the man who led the Nittany Lions to 409 wins over 46 years.

Big crowds were expected to show their love for Paterno, starting with a 10-hour public viewing that begins in early afternoon at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. There is another public viewing Wednesday, and after that Paterno's family will hold a private funeral and procession through State College.

On Thursday, the school's basketball arena will be the site of a public service called "A Memorial for Joe." Penn State was expecting a huge demand for seats and set a two-per-person limit on tickets.

Former players began arriving shortly after members of Paterno's last team filed in. Some players hugged and O'Brien shook hands at the curb outside the center. By midmorning, with two busloads of players still paying respects, dozens more mourners showed up, lined up along the sidewalk.

With crowds spilling onto the curb, traffic slowed. A few people stared out windows from a classroom building across street.

Penn State linebacker Khairi Fortt recalled his coach's lessons.

"He said the most important thing for us was to keep the Penn State tradition going," the sophomore from Stamford, Conn., said after leaving the viewing.

Scott Paterno has said that despite the turmoil surrounding his termination from the school, Paterno remained peaceful and upbeat in his final days and still loved Penn State.

Bitterness over Paterno's firing has turned up in many forms, from online postings to a rewritten newspaper headline placed next to Paterno's statue at the football stadium blaming the trustees for his death. A headline that read "FIRED" was crossed out and made to read, "Killed by Trustees." Lanny Davis, lawyer for the school's board, said threats have been made against the trustees.

Scott Paterno, however, stressed his father did not die with a broken heart and did not harbor resentment toward Penn State.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Scolforo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-24-Penn%20State-Paterno/id-ceabcea8e2c94bed85ec2224b1472297

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Police seek suspect in Huckabee relative's death

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (AP) ? Authorities in Arkansas were searching Sunday for a suspect wanted in a homicide and kidnapping case involving a distant relative of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Donald Hux after investigators found the body of Sandy Carl Huckabee at his home in Arkadelphia, which is about 70 miles southwest of Little Rock.

Former Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris said Sandy Huckabee's father was the first cousin of former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee's father.

Authorities said Hux abducted his ex-wife, Amy Huckabee, and their three children in Arkadelphia before he drove to El Dorado, which is about 80 miles away. He dropped the children off somewhere in southern Arkansas' Union County, which is where El Dorado is located, the local sheriff's office said in a statement. Union County Sheriff's Capt. Clark Burton told The Associated Press the children were not hurt.

Meanwhile, police in Arkadelphia learned about the situation and went to the Huckabee home to do a welfare check. They found Sandy Huckabee's body inside, but they had yet to find his wife, Amy Huckabee, as of Sunday evening.

Hux is wanted on capital murder, kidnapping, burglary and firearms charges.

He was last seen driving a tan 2005 Chevrolet extended cab truck with the license plate 487-MDZ.

No one answered the phone at one number listed for Donald Hux in El Dorado. Another number for Donald Hux there was disconnected.

Harris, the spokesman when Huckabee was governor, said the former Republican governor was traveling Sunday but had learned of the distant relative's death.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-22-Huckabee%20Relative%20Killed/id-cbb3ca3d908b415099da9e4afe160f74

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Simon Cowell breaks off engagement

Simon Cowell's trip down the aisle is getting postponed.

In an interview with UK newspaper the Daily Mirror, the "X Factor" judge reveals that he and his fiancee, Mezhgan Hussainy, are taking a break from both their relationship and their wedding plans.

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"It's quite a complicated relationship. We have had a break from each other, and we are still incredibly close," the 52-year-old Brit explains in Sunday's Mirror . "I'm vulnerable. It's not on, it's not off, it's somewhere in the middle. I don't know if I will ever get married, but I am happy."

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Cowell and Hussainy met on the set of American Idol in 2003, where she was working as a makeup artist, and the couple got engaged in February 2010. At the time, Cowell, who's known for his emotionless demeanor, made it clear that he was very much over the moon.

"I'm smitten with Mezghan, I think she's the one," he gushed to the British TV host Piers Morgan. "She's very special...You know when you've found somebody very special."

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But in Sunday's Mirror, Cowell alludes that the spark has fizzled out and he's regretting his remarks from two years ago.

Addressing his heartfelt quip on "Piers Morgan," Cowell says, "I have been pretty good about not talking about my private stuff, but I got caught up in the moment."

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46095115/ns/today-entertainment/

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Beijing caves to public, releases pollution data

BEIJING?? Caving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is.

The initial measurements were low on a day where you could see blue sky. After a week of smothering smog, the skies over the city were being cleared by a north wind.

The readings of PM2.5 ? particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size or about 1/30th the average width of a human hair ? were being posted on Beijing's environmental monitoring center's website. Such small particulates can penetrate deep into the lungs, so measuring them is considered a more accurate reflection of air quality than other methods.

It is the first time Beijing has publicly revealed PM2.5 data and follows a clamor of calls by citizens on social networking sites tired of breathing in gray and yellow air. The U.S. Embassy measures PM2.5 from a device on its rooftop and releases the results, and some residents have even tested the air around their neighborhoods and posted the results online.

Beijing is releasing hourly readings of PM2.5 that are taken from one monitoring site about 4 miles west of Tiananmen Square, the monitoring center's website said Saturday. It said the data was for research purposes and the public should only use it as a reference.

The reading at noon Saturday was 0.015 mg/m3, which would be classed as "good" for a 24-hour exposure at that level, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. The U.S. Embassy reading taken from its site on the eastern edge of downtown Beijing said its noon reading was "moderate."

The U.S. Embassy began publishing its hourly readings on Twitter in 2008.

'Already a bit suspicious'
Steven Andrews, an environmental consultant who has studied Beijing's pollution data since 2006, said he was "already a bit suspicious" of Beijing's PM2.5 data. Within the 24-hour period to noon Saturday, Beijing reported seven hourly figures "at the very low level" of 0.003 milligrams per cubic meter.

"In all of 2010 and 2011, the U.S. Embassy reported values at or below that level only 18 times out of over 15,000 hourly values or about 0.1 percent of the time," said Andrews. "PM2.5 concentrations vary by area so a direct comparison between sites isn't possible, but the numbers being reported during some hours seem surpisingly low."

The Beijing center had promised to release PM2.5 data by the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year on Monday. It has six sites that can test for PM2.5 and 27 that can test for the larger, coarser PM10 particles that are considered less hazardous. The center is expected to buy equipment and build more monitoring sites to enable PM2.5 testing.

Beijing wasn't expected to include PM2.5 in its daily roundups of the air quality anytime soon. Those disclosures, for example "light" or "serious," are based on the amount of PM10, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air.

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Beijing interprets air quality using less stringent standards than the U.S. Embassy, so often when the government says pollution is "light," the embassy terms it "hazardous."

"There has been tremendous amounts of attention in the Chinese media ? whichever newspaper you pick up, whichever radio station you listen to, channel you watch ? they are all talking about PM2.5 and how levels are so high," said Andrews.

"What has been so powerful is that people are skeptical, and I think rightly skeptical," about the government's descriptions of data, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46080896/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Yemen's leader allowed to come to US

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 file photo, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks to reporters during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Sanaa, Yemen. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the U.S. regrets that Yemen's president has not complied with agreements to leave the country and allow elections for a successor. Her comments came as Yemen's foreign minister suggested next month's presidential vote could be delayed because of security concerns _ something that would violate the the U.S.-backed agreement that President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed recently. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hamoud, File)

Protestors react after receiving the news of the departure of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh from Sanaa to Oman in Sanaa, Yemen, Jan. 22, 2012. A spokesman for Yemen's embattled president says Ali Abdullah Saleh has left the country for the Persian Gulf country of Oman. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration will allow Yemen's outgoing president to come to the U.S. temporarily for medical treatment, a move aimed at easing the political transition in Yemen, a key counterterrorism partner.

A senior administration official said Ali Abdullah Saleh would travel to New York this week, and probably stay in the U.S. until no later than the end of February. U.S. officials believe Saleh's exit from Yemen could lower the risk of disruptions in the lead-up to presidential elections planned there on Feb. 21.

A presidential spokesman in Yemen said Saleh had left the capital of Sanaa earlier Sunday on a jet headed for the Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman. An official close to Saleh, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the trip, said the president would undergo medical exams in Oman before heading to the U.S.

The U.S. official did not say whether Saleh planned to return to Yemen, Oman or elsewhere after finishing his treatment in the U.S. The official was not authorized to discuss details about Saleh and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Yemeni embassy in Washington said Saleh planned to return home in February to attend a swearing-in ceremony for the country's newly elected president.

The mercurial Saleh, who ruled Yemen for more than three decades, agreed to transfer power to his vice president late last year in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He had faced months of protests calling for his ouster, to which the Yemeni government responded with a bloody crackdown, leaving hundreds of protesters dead and sparking wider violence in the capital with rival militia.

Even after agreeing to leave power, Saleh continued to wield his influence behind the scenes, and U.S. officials believed getting him out of Yemen was necessary in order to ensure the February elections took place. The U.S. also worried about instability in a nation grappling with growing extremism, including the dangerous al-Qaida branch known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Still, Saleh's request last month for a U.S. visa put the Obama administration in the awkward position of either having to bar a friendly president from U.S. soil or risking appearing to harbor an autocrat with blood on his hands.

As U.S. officials weighed Saleh's request, they sought assurances that he would not seek political asylum or any type of permanent relocation in the U.S.

"We wanted to make sure that there was an understanding that it would be for medical purposes and that's what it is for," John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, said Sunday.

Saleh was badly burned and wounded during a June rocket attack on his compound in Yemen. He sought medical treatment in neighboring Saudi Arabia for three months. American officials had hoped he would remain there, but the Yemeni leader returned and violence worsened anew.

Protesters and human rights groups have criticized Saleh's immunity clause and insisted he stand trial for his alleged role in protester deaths.

Brennan said there was a divide in Yemen over Saleh's future, with some Yemenis supporting Saleh's decision to seek medical treatment in the U.S. In the short-term, he said, it was imperative to ensure that the February elections take place.

"We thought it was important, given where Yemen is right now as far as moving forward with its political transition, to do what we can to support the government and the elections that are scheduled for the 21st of February, and that seems to be on track," he said.

Yemeni Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is expected to be rubber-stamped as the country's new leader in the elections, in which he is expected to be the only candidate.

Brennan spoke with Hadi on Sunday, and told him the U.S. was encouraged by his leadership during a difficult period of transition. With fresh demonstrations likely in the weeks leading up to the elections, Brennan urged Hadi to ensure that Yemeni security forces exercise restraint.

The Obama administration's approval of Saleh's visa brought back memories from three decades ago, when President Jimmy Carter allowed the exiled shah of Iran into the U.S. for medical treatment. The decision contributed to rapidly worsening relations between Washington and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's revolution in Tehran, with Iranian students occupying the U.S. Embassy in Iran a month later.

Fifty-two American hostages were held for 444 days in response to Carter's refusal to send the shah back to Iran for trial.

___

Associated Press writers Ahmed al-Haj and Ben Hubbard in Sanaa, Yemen, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-US-Yemen/id-1743a780c1c34396a4b26e5f4f438d9b

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