Small Business Energy Savings Kit- CO, MN, NM

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Their company thrives on doing what they do best -- and growing by finding ways to do it even better. They are committed to operational excellence and providing their customers reliable energy at a great value. They are dedicated to improving the environment and providing the leadership to make a difference in the communities they serve.

If your business is in Colorado, Minnesota or New Mexico, sign up to receive a complimentary Small Business Energy Savings Kit.

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Source: http://www.topsavings.com/index.asp?ID=46948&ref=rss

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David Lee Roth to Reunite with Van Halen & Hit the Road

Some thought it would never happen (again), but it looks like David Lee Roth is honestly and truly back with Van Halen for a special 2012 reunion tour.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/david-lee-roth-reunite-van-halen-and-hit-road/1-a-414045?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Adavid-lee-roth-reunite-van-halen-and-hit-road-414045

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PFT: T.O tweets he wants back with 49ers

Getty Images

On the surface, it?s easy to shrug at Sunday?s slate of games, given the sense that only a few postseason loose ends remain.? But as our good friend Ricky Diamond, producer extraordinaire at NBC Sports, points out, all but three of the games have meaning.

Unfortunately for FOX, all three of the meaningless games ? Redskins-Eagles, Bears-Vikings, Seahawks-Cardinals ? will be televised on its network.

Here are the implications of each of the other games.

Bills at Patriots:? New England clinches the top seed in the AFC with a win.? A loss combined with a win by the Steelers or Ravens would push the Pats to No. 2.

Jets at Dolphins:? New York remains alive for the second wild-card berth in the AFC.

Titans at Texans:? Ditto for the Titans.

Colts at Jaguars:? The Colts secure the No. 1 pick if they lose; if they win (and if the Rams lose to the 49ers), the pick goes to St. Louis.

Ravens at Bengals:? The Ravens need a win to clinch the AFC North and the No. 2 seed.? The Bengals must win to secure the second wild-card berth in the AFC.

Steelers at Browns:? A Steelers win plus a Ravens loss gives Pittsburgh the AFC North title and the No. 2 seed.? Throw in a Patriots loss, and the Steelers emerge with the No. 1 seed.

Chiefs at Broncos:? Denver clinches the AFC West with a victory.

Chargers at Raiders:? Oakland takes the AFC West with a victory and a loss by the Broncos.? The Raiders with a win also have a shot at the second AFC wild-card berth.

Panthers at Saints:? The Saints can capture the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a win and a 49ers loss.

Buccaneers at Falcons:? With a Falcons win and a Lions loss, Atlanta secures the No. 5 seed in the NFC, avoiding a potential return trip to New Orleans.

Lions at Packers:? With a win, the Lions clinch the fifth seed, avoiding the Saints in the wild-card round.

49ers at Rams:? A win by San Fran nails down the No. 2 seed; a loss by the Rams could deliver the top pick in the draft, if the Colts beat the Jaguars.

Cowboys at Giants:? A true playoff play-in game, the winner takes the NFC East.? The loser goes home.

And so be sure to ring in the New Year by keeping your eyes on every NFL game on Sunday.? (Except the three that don?t matter.) We?ll be watching them all ? including the three that don?t matter ? and bringing you all the pertinent information right here.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/28/t-o-stumps-for-san-fran-return/related/

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Chavez: Did US give us cancer?

No matter what the problem, you can always count on Hugo Chavez to find a way to blame the "Yankee Empire."?

Venezuela's president said he was thinking aloud when he suggested that the US might be plotting against Latin American leaders, after it was announced Tuesday night that Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.?

Kirchner has a good chance of recovery.?

But she joins a long list of leaders in the region who have been diagnosed with cancer. Chavez, of course, made his struggle public, making announcements when he traveled back and forth to Cuba for treatment.?

Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have also all been diagnosed with cancer.?

Which led Chavez to muse aloud whether the US might be plotting something nefarious.

Per the Telegraph:

"It would not be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now ... I don't know. I'm just reflecting," he said in a televised speech to troops at a military base.

"But this is very, very, very strange ... it's a bit difficult to explain this, to reason it, including using the law of probabilities."

Chavez said he's been talking with Fidel Castro, Cuba's former leader, which is probably why he's feeling a little paranoid. Castro was always on alert for assassination plots. But that's also because the CIA for a long time was actively trying ? and failing ? to kill him.?

"Fidel always told me, 'Chavez take care. These people have developed technology. You are very careless. Take care what you eat, what they give you to eat ... a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what,'" he said.

Chavez also warned other leaders, like Evo Morales, the firebrand president of Bolivia who has recently clashed with the US over drug policy and other issues.?

"We'll have to take good care of Evo. Take care Evo!" he said.

It's absurd to think that the US might be plotting the deaths of leaders it considers allies, such as Rousseff and Kirchner. But we can't really blame Chavez for at least thinking it, even partly in jest. The US has caused a lot of havoc in Latin America in the past. That was then, of course, and this is now. But sometimes old wounds take a long time to heal.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/chavez-us-may-have-given-latam-leaders-cancer

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/chavez-us-may-have-given-latam-leaders-cancer

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Gary McCormick and Mayor Tim Shadbolt

• Events
• All Events
• Performing Arts
• Comedy
• Gary McCormick and Mayor Tim Shadbolt

When:

Monday 2 January 2012, 8:00pm

Ticket Information:

GA:$30.00

Buy Tickets ? 06 761 8687 or 06 761 8192

Website:

www.opunakenz.co.nz

Stand-up comedy at its best! Come for an evening of laughs and giggles with two of New Zealand's funniest men. Proceeds go to the theatre restoration fund.

Tickets available from Opunake Post and Lotto or email: northmeetswest@xtra.co.nz

? eventfinder.co.nz

People who liked this event also checked out

Source: http://events.stuff.co.nz/2012/gary-mccormack-and-mayor-tim-shadbolt/opunake/south-taranaki?utm_medium=rss

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Restaurant Assisted ILLEGALS in Stealing 91 American Jobs

San Diego restaurant owner fined over hiring
?

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? A judge fined the owner of a popular restaurant and bakery nearly $400,000 Thursday for employing illegal immigrants in a rare case of federal prosecutors charging an employer with illegal hiring.

Michel Malecot, 59, was spared prison time and his fines and penalties were below the $650,000 sought by federal prosecutors.

Malecot, a naturalized U.S. citizen from France and a major donor to local charities, appeared to hire illegal immigrants at The French Gourmet out of compassion rather than to take advantage of them, said U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan, who also ordered five years of probation.

The case has drawn attention from restaurant owners because criminal prosecutions of employers are fairly rare. Federal prosecutors face high burdens of proof to show that employers knowing hired illegal immigrants.

Rebecca Kanter, an assistant U.S. attorney, urged a higher fine against Malecot to deter other employers from illegal hiring. The restaurant employed 91 illegal immigrants over several years.

?This is the type of cost that can be absorbed,? she said of the nearly $400,000 fine.

Source: http://oneoldvet.com/?p=7183

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What Android gifts did you receive this year?

The gift-giving season is winding down to a close, and we're all enjoying the time with our loved ones, warm holiday comfort foods, and maybe some cool Android goodies.  Did you get a new Android phone?  Or a tablet?  Maybe you got a Google TV unit of some sort or another, or your stocking was full of accessories.  Sound off and share with us (we're like your extended Android family) to let everyone know what great stuff you got this year. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/6f8HSm--SDM/story01.htm

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Pros see stocks up in 2012, but big risks, too (AP)

NEW YORK ? The good news is that Wall Street experts think stock prices will rise more than 10 percent next year. The bad news is that they expected big gains in 2011 and got nearly zero instead.

It's forecasting time on Wall Street, and once again the pros are trying to predict the unpredictable. History suggests their target price for stocks by the end of 2012 will prove too high or too low. They might even get the direction wrong ? predicting a gain when there's a loss.

As Yogi Berra said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

In typical times, guessing where stocks will end up in a year is difficult. There are many assumptions about economic growth, inflation and consumer spending that go into the calculation.

Now, forecasting has become nearly impossible. Big unknowns hang over the market as rarely before. Will the euro break up? Will China slow too sharply? Will squabbling in Washington scuttle the economic recovery?

"Normally, you wonder, How will sales do? How are managements doing?" says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's, which puts out its own forecasts. "Now there are so many high-level issues that affect the market."

Silverblatt's firm says the S&P 500 index should rise to 1,400 by the end of 2012, up more than 10 percent from Friday's close of 1,265. That figure is an average of expectations from investment strategists, economists and other big thinkers. More bullish yet are stock analysts focused on individual companies. Add up their price targets for each stock in the index, and they see it rising to 1,457, up 15 percent.

There's plenty of reason to think stocks will rise fast in the coming year. U.S. companies are generating record profits. Americans are spending more than expected and factories are producing more. The job market finally appears to be healing, too.

The odds of the U.S. slipping into another recession have fallen since the summer, when the economy had slowed.

Stocks seem attractively priced, too. The S&P 500 is trading at 12 times its expected earnings per share for 2012. It typically trades at 15 times, meaning stocks appear cheaper now.

Binky Chadha, chief strategist at Deutsche Bank, says the S&P 500 could hit 1,500 by the end of 2012, a gain of more than 18 percent.

Still, there is worry amid the bullishness.

Michael Hartnett, chief global equity strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, expects the S&P to close next year at 1,350, up 6.7 percent from Friday's close. He thinks the U.S. will avoid recession and U.S. companies will generate decent profits.

What could wreck that prediction is a worse situation in Europe than he is expecting. If European leaders move too slowly to solve their government debt crisis, the region could fall into a deep recession and throw the U.S. into one, too. If Europe tanks, profits will drop sharply and push the S&P down to 1,000, he says. That would be a sharp drop of 21 percent from Friday's close.

The frightening part is that Hartnett gives this "bear" case four-in-10 odds.

Similarly, Barry Knapp, strategist at Barclays Capital, predicts the S&P will rise to 1,330 next year. But he expects Europe's struggles with its debt and Washington gridlock could lead investors to sell before they buy. He says the S&P could fall to 1,150 by the middle of the year before rising to his target.

It could drop sooner. In the first three months next year, Italy needs to sell national bonds to raise money to pay holders of $172 billion worth of old ones coming due. The risk is that investors will demand high interest rates to buy the new bonds, and that will spread fears of a possible default. After Italy was forced to pay unexpectedly high rates in a bond auction earlier this month, stocks fell hard around the world.

"The crisis could become systemic," says Athanasios Vamvakidis, head European currency strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. "That would threaten not only Europe, but the whole global recovery."

One solution is to invest in companies selling goods that people need in both good times and bad, such as drugs and food. If the economy falls into recession, profits of these companies are less likely to collapse.

In 2011, these so-called defensive companies bucked the flat market. Stocks of utility companies have risen almost 15 percent through Friday. Healthcare and consumer staples were each up 10. Standouts include insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc., which has risen 42 percent, and Kraft Foods, up almost 20 percent.

Then again, you might do better investing in the opposite kind of companies, like makers of toys and other consumer discretionary goods. Their profits tend to zoom up and down with the economy.

A report from S&P Capital IQ notes that stocks of cyclical companies such as these tend to gain the most after market drops like the one in October, when stocks fell nearly 20 percent.

In the five times that the S&P 500 has fallen between 15 percent and 25 percent since 1978, consumer discretionary stocks have risen an average 30 percent in the next six months, according to S&P. Those stocks are up 16 percent since their Oct. 3 lows.

One reason it's difficult to guess future stock prices is that figuring out where the economy is heading isn't so easy either.

In December 2007, economists expected the economy to grow an average 2.4 percent in 2008, according to a survey of three dozen of them by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. It shrank 0.3 percent instead. For 2009, they forecast the economy would shrink 0.8 percent. It shrank 3.5 percent.

Economists were more accurate the next two years, though not by much. Now they say the economy will grow 2.2 percent next year.

A few mutual fund managers say people aren't skeptical enough about forecasts. In a recent letter to their investors, the folks who run Castle Focus, a $43 million fund, say hopes of big profits may be dashed given all the economic uncertainty. The fund had 28 percent of its assets in cash in September, its latest report.

Most funds are doing the opposite and investing cash. The average stock mutual fund had just 3.5 percent of its assets in cash in October, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute. That is the nearly the lowest level since the firm started keeping records 25 years ago.

Maybe fund managers have been listening too much to bullish stock analysts. For the record, the same analysts surveyed by S&P who expect a 16 percent stock jump next year were optimistic about 2011, too. A year ago, they called for the S&P to rise 9 percent.

It still may, but the odds are long and time is running out. As of Friday, the index was up 0.6 percent for the year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111225/ap_on_bi_ge/us_ye_wall_street2012

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Chris Paul, Clips beat Warriors 105-86 in opener

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? Chris Paul could nitpick everything the Clippers didn't do in his much-hyped debut ? and he boldly referred to the rebounding as "horrendous."

Los Angeles' prize acquisition would rather envision how special his team might be once everybody's clicking and has more than 10 days together.

Paul had 20 points and nine assists, Blake Griffin added 22 points and seven rebounds and Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors 105-86 on Sunday night to spoil Mark Jackson's opener as a first-time coach.

"While we try to figure each other out and learn guys' hot spots and stuff like that, we want to win at the same time," Paul said. "We just keep talking about 'We've just got to find a way to win, regardless of how it looks, how ugly the game is, we've got to find ways to win.'"

Monta Ellis had 15 points and eight assists after his grandmother's death earlier in the day in Mississippi, and David Lee added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who cut the Clippers' lead to a point at 78-77 with 9:35 left on Brandon Rush's 3-pointer before Los Angeles pulled away.

It was hardly a spectacular opener for CP3 and Co., though coach Vinny Del Negro certainly will take methodical any day. These new-look Clippers hope to shine as Los Angeles' other NBA team, perhaps no longer the Lakers' stepchild.

"We grinded it out defensively when we needed to," Del Negro said. "We controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter. I just know we can play better."

Paul ? who nearly wound up with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers before the NBA nixed the trade ? teamed with Chauncey Billups and Griffin for the first time since joining the Clippers in a Dec. 14 trade from New Orleans.

Billups scored 21 points and hit a key 3-pointer late for Los Angeles, which plays at San Antonio on Wednesday night before returning for four in a row and seven of eight at Staples Center.

Paul had a quiet first half: seven points on 1-for-6 shooting in 19 minutes. But he came on with several clutch baskets in the waning minutes to finish 7 for 12.

"Just try to manage the game. It's not my first rodeo, it's seven years," Paul said. "This is the first year I think I've had as many options as I do."

Each time the Warriors got close, Los Angeles found an answer.

Andris Biedrins scored on a running hook with 6:51 left to cut the Clippers' lead to a point again at 82-81, then Mo Williams came through moments later. Caron Butler's 3-pointer with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter gave the Clippers the first double-digit lead at 63-53.

Many fans among the sellout crowd of 19,596 at revamped Oracle Arena wore Warriors Santa hats, while the Clippers got into the holiday spirit with bright green socks to go with their bright red uniforms. Billups added matching green shoes to his game ensemble.

Jackson, who hadn't coached at any level after a successful playing career, appreciated longtime friends Chris Mullin, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen handling the broadcast for the final opener on Christmas.

Van Gundy and Breen pulled off a remarkable double dip after beginning their day in Dallas calling the Heat's 105-94 win over the Mavericks before hopping a charter flight to the Bay Area for the nightcap.

Jackson, with his defense-focused approach, guaranteed the Warriors will be a playoff team after making the postseason just once since 1994. Golden State has been building around the theme "Big Things are Coming," and turned that to "Big Things are Here" for the long-awaited, lockout-delayed opener.

"We are a team right now that plays in spurts. The great teams don't do that, it gets you in trouble," Jackson said. "There are times we look like we really understand what we're trying to accomplish and then there are times ... we look like a lost basketball team."

Jackson's Warriors face a quick turnaround with Chicago in town Monday night.

Point guard Stephen Curry started for Golden State despite being questionable after he sprained his surgically repaired right ankle in an exhibition game at Sacramento last Tuesday night. Curry ? who warmed up extensively on the ankle and wore a special padded sleeve and brace ? was 2 for 12 for four points.

"We understand this is the night when the lights turned on, it didn't feel like we were unprepared or anything, we just didn't have our best performance in the fourth quarter," Curry said.

Biedrins, bulked up by 15 pounds to 256 and determined for a comeback season, had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots as the Warriors held a 48-43 advantage on the boards.

"I think the biggest thing that killed us was our rebounding," Paul said. "Our rebounding was horrendous. Our defense wasn't as nice as we'd have liked it to be. We were good in spurts. It's a tough environment."

Klay Thompson, the Warriors' rookie first-round pick, scored seven points in 19 minutes off the bench in his first game with Golden State. Owner Joe Lacob predicted Thompson will be in the running for Rookie of the Year.

Dorell Wright's 3-pointer 4:36 before halftime pulled Golden State within 36-35, then Ellis scored on a driving fast-break layin the next time down to give his team the lead and cap a 9-0 run. The Warriors led 43-41 at halftime after closing with a 15-5 run. They went 2 for 10 from long range to the Clippers' 3 for 12.

"A win like that, we'll take it, especially the first one," Griffin said. "We've had practice for about a week now together. It's going to take some time."

Notes: The Warriors paid tribute before tipoff to Ellis' grandmother, Mary Cole, who died Christmas morning at age 89. Last week, a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against Ellis by a former Warriors employee. The team has said their relationship was consensual. ... Clippers C DeAndre Jordan might have wound up with the Warriors had Los Angeles not matched Golden State's four-year, $42.7 million offer earlier this month. "It would've been great to play with Monta and Stephen and those guys but the Clippers matched and I'm happy I'm here and I'll be grateful to those guys (Warriors front office) the rest of my career," said Jordan, who scored in the first quarter on a pretty alley-oop dunk off a pass from Butler. Jordan had eight blocks, six points and five rebounds. He was 4 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-26-Clippers-Warriors/id-633c7ba6572a42ccbcb80d9b31683b9b

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4 personal finance technology trends for 2012 (AP)

NEW YORK ? If you're one of the holdouts still paying bills with checks, tracking your accounts with pen and paper or clipping coupons from the newspaper, 2012 could be the year you take the digital plunge.

A host of budding personal finance services and applications are poised to go mainstream in the new year, and together, they will likely have a big impact on the way Americans bank, shop, and track their finances. Some of the services are web-based, but many take advantage of the proliferation of smartphones, which are now carried by one-third of U.S. adults ? with more likely to join that crowd in the next few days after receiving the gadgets as holiday gifts.

Whether online or mobile, here are some personal finance technologies to watch in 2012:

? Mobile money

The September launch of Google Wallet was just one high-profile move toward the use of smartphones for payments, replacing credit or debit cards. The technology allows users to wave their phones in front of payment terminals and have transactions deducted from linked bank accounts or credit cards. Expect more options for electronic payments from mobile service providers and card networks next year, and wider adoption of the terminals by retailers, mass transit systems and more.

Another innovation that is already being heavily promoted is person-to-person payments. American Express Co., MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc. and PayPal all offer ways for their customers to send and receive money using links to various accounts and cards. As the TV commercials depict, if this technology takes off there will be no more fumbling for cash when it's time to split the check at a restaurant, and sending money across town or across borders will be easier, faster and less expensive.

? Non-bank money management

Mint.com, the popular personal finance site, was only the beginning. A raft of new money management tools are now available that can help users keep track of bills, investments and other aspects of their financial lives.

Among the standouts is Manilla.com, which not only pulls together household bills and financial accounts, but also helps users keep track of details like travel rewards points and magazine subscriptions. The service provides reminders for when bills are due and has features that make it easy to pay bills or set up auto payments. Since the company's goal is to help its customers eliminate paper clutter, there's even a way to store electronic account statements. And it has a smartphone app for accessing all these functions on the go.

Other non-bank options include Pageonce, an app that automatically tracks bills and enables users to make payments on their phone; savvymoney.com, a site that offers debt-management help; and Betterment.com, a site designed to simplify investing.

? Targeted deals

The combination of geo-location technology that can track your movements when you're carrying your smartphone, and QR codes, those weird squares appearing more and more often in advertising, is enabling companies to offer personalized discounts and on-the-spot deals to customers willing to opt into their programs.

Mall shoppers have already started getting texts and emails designed to lure them into certain stores, and the technology can also be used to encourage customers to enter contests, demonstrate new apps or products and even contact customer service.

? Social commerce

Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services research firm, is using this term to identify the trend toward the combination of commerce and social networking on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

While these sites are moving toward making it easier to shop without navigating toward a link, that's just one step toward social commerce.

The concept of financial social networking is also being expanded by companies like Weemba.com, whose site allows individuals to search for a loan by posting nontraditional details like a description of the need for the money ? debt consolidation, a mortgage refinance, or a kitchen makeover complete with the designer's plans, for instance. The details posted add depth to the usual credit score and financial information that banks and other funders may review, and the site opens the lending request to a wider audience.

Other examples of the use or concept of social networking include Kickstarter.com, where creative types can seek funding for their artistic endeavors and those willing to provide seed money can choose to provide all or part of the needed funds to get the project off the ground.

Saveup.com is a game aimed at helping individuals pay down debt and build savings, and Bundle.com uses data tracking and spending information to produce lists of popular restaurants and stores in selected cities, helping users find the right spot at the right price.

Banks are also experimenting with ways to make use of social networking to interact with customers, with some success. Even Bank of America Corp., a recurring target for gripes large and small about the financial system this year, has nearly 365,000 "likes" on its official Facebook page, which it uses for efforts like supporting community causes and advertising opportunities like its Student Leader program, which offers paid internships to high schoolers who work at charitable organizations.

Customers can expect more on these fronts from startups and big financial institutions in the next 12 months.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_hi_te/us_personal_finance_tech_trends

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Daily Tip: How to track Santa on your iPhone or iPad

Little ones trying to figure out just how exactly they can track Santa on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad this year? Well, Google Maps and NORAD to the rescue! They’ve got Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen — and Rudolf! — of...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/EGtAE6G3ln8/story01.htm

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SC voter ID law rejected by Justice Department (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The Justice Department on Friday rejected South Carolina's law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, saying it makes it harder for minorities to cast ballots. It was the first voter ID law to be refused by the federal agency in nearly 20 years.

The Obama administration said South Carolina's law didn't meet the burden under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory practices preventing blacks from voting. Tens of thousands of minorities in South Carolina might not be able to cast ballots under South Carolina's law because they don't have the right photo ID, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said.

South Carolina's law was passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Nikki Haley. The state's attorney general vowed to fight the federal agency in court.

"Nothing in this act stops people from voting," said Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is also a Republican.

South Carolina's new voter ID law requires voters to show poll workers a state-issued driver's license or several other alternative forms of photo identification.

"The U.S. Department of Justice today blocked implementation of a new law that would require South Carolina voters to present a photo ID in order to vote," the state Election Commission said in a statement late Friday. "Therefore, ID requirements for voting will not change at this time.'

South Carolina is among five states that passed laws this year requiring some form of ID at the polls, while such laws were already on the books in Indiana and Georgia, whose law received approval from President George W. Bush's Justice Department. Indiana's law, passed in 2005, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008.

Those new laws also allow voters without the required photo ID to cast provisional ballots, but the voters must return to a specific location with that ID within a certain time limit for their ballots to count.

Most of the laws have been promoted and approved by Republicans, who argue they are needed to avert voter fraud. Democrats say the measures are actually aimed at reducing minority votes for their candidates.

The Justice Department must approve changes to South Carolina's election laws under the federal Voting Rights Act because of the state's past failure to protect the voting rights of blacks. It is one of nine states that require the agency's approval.

The last time the Justice Department rejected a voter ID law was in 1994 when Louisiana passed a measure requiring a picture ID. After changes were made, it was approved by the agency.

Justice officials are reviewing Texas' new law. Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin also passed laws this year, but they are not under the agency's review.

South Carolina's law also required the state to determine how many voters lack state-issued IDs so that the Election Commission can work to make sure they know of law changes. The Department of Motor Vehicles will issue free state photo identification cards to those voters.

"Minority registered voters were nearly 20 percent more likely to lack DMV-issued ID than white registered voters, and thus to be effectively disenfranchised," Perez wrote, noting that the numbers could be even higher since the data submitted by the state doesn't include inactive voters.

The number of active and inactive voters that should be used to determine how many people would be affected by the law has been in dispute. Department of Motor Vehicles executive director Kevin Shwedo said the state Election Commission knew it was using inaccurate data when it released reports showing nearly 240,000 active and inactive voters lacked driver's licenses or ID cards.

Shwedo sent the state's attorney general an analysis showing that 207,000 of those voters live in other states, allowed their ID cards to expire, probably have licenses with names that didn't match voter records or were dead. He said the commission created "artificially high numbers to excite the masses."

Earlier in the week, commission officials said the agency will eliminate nearly 60,000 deceased people and individuals whose names didn't match DMV records.

Haley said the decision was more proof President Barack Obama is fighting conservative ideas like voter ID laws or immigration reform.

"The president and his bullish administration are fighting us every step of the way. It is outrageous, and we plan to look at every possible option to get this terrible, clearly political decision overturned so we can protect the integrity of our electoral process and our 10th amendment rights," Haley said in a statement.

South Carolina ACLU executive director Victoria Middleton applauded the Justice Department's decision, saying the "misguided" law represented "a dramatic setback to voting rights in our state and we are pleased to see it stopped in its tracks."

The decision also was welcomed by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who planned to talk about how voter ID laws are an effort by conservatives to keep blacks from voting in his hometown of Greenville, S.C., next week. He said the laws are like modern day poll taxes, targeting elderly people that can't afford to get IDs and students.

"We're fighting wars for democracy overseas and we're fighting democracy at home," Jackson said. "What a contradiction."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Davenport and Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_us/us_voter_id_south_carolina

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Fantasy baseball players in the news

By KFFL Staff

First Baseman

1B | Prince Fielder | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
The Seattle Mariners reportedly have indicated to free-agent 1B Prince Fielder (Brewers) what they are willing to spend to sign him to a contract.

1B | Jeff Clement | Pittsburgh Pirates | Transaction
The Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed 1B Jeff Clement to a minor league deal Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Second Baseman

2B | Eric Young Jr. | Colorado Rockies | Fantasy
The Colorado Rockies nearly dealt 2B Eric Young Jr. to the Seattle Mariners during the winter meetings earlier this month. Young is likely to be traded before spring training.

2B | Justin Turner | New York Mets | Fantasy,
The New York Mets are interested in trading for Colorado Rockies 2B Eric Young Jr., according to a major league source. 2B Justin Turner could be sent to Colorado in exchange. The Mets are still willing to trade SP Jonathon Niese, too.

Shortstop

SS | Yuniesky Betancourt | Kansas City Royals | Fantasy
Kansas City Royals SS Yuniesky Betancourt's one-year deal is worth $2 million, and he can earn as much as $2.5 million based on playing time.

SS | Alcides Escobar | Kansas City Royals | Fantasy
Updating a previous item, Kansas City Royals SS Yuniesky Betancourt agreed to a one-year deal Tuesday, Dec. 20. He will back up SS Alcides Escobar at shortstop and serve as depth off the bench. He could also spell 3B Mike Moustakas at third base.

Third Baseman

3B | Andy LaRoche | Cleveland Indians | Transaction, Free Agents
The Cleveland Indians signed free-agent 3B Andy LaRoche (Athletics) to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

3B | Casey Blake | Colorado Rockies | Fantasy
Updating a previous item, the Colorado Rockies agreed to a one-year, non-guaranteed $2 million deal with 3B Casey Blake Tuesday, Dec. 20. The deal includes a possible $1 million in incentives.

Catcher

C | Mike Napoli | Texas Rangers | Free Agents
The Texas Rangers have had talks with C Mike Napoli about a long-term deal. Napoli will be a free agent after the 2012 season.

C | Toby Hall | Retired Players | Transaction
Free-agent C Toby Hall (Rangers) announced his retirement Tuesday, Dec. 20.

C | Carlos Maldonado | Washington Nationals | Transaction,
The Washington Nationals have re-signed RP Rafael Martin, C Sandy Leon, C Carlos Maldonado and OF Corey Brown to minor league deals with spring training invites.

Outfielder

OF | Reed Johnson | Chicago Cubs | Transaction, Free Agents
The Chicago Cubs re-signed free-agent OF Reed Johnson to a one-year deal, pending a physical.

OF | Carlos Beltran | free agent | Free Agents
Free-agent OF Carlos Beltran (Giants) has offers from five different teams and is expected to make a decision this week.

OF | Andruw Jones | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
The New York Yankees have stayed in touch with free-agent OF Andruw Jones to try and re-sign him, but a source said the two sides have not made much progress despite the mutual desire for a reunion. The source added that "several" other teams have expressed interest in the 34-year-old outfielder ? one of which is believed to be the Boston Red Sox.

OF | Michael Cuddyer | Colorado Rockies | Fantasy
Colorado Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer will make $10.5 million each year of his three-year deal, but the base value of the contract can go up by $1.5 million in the 2014 season if Cuddyer meets unspecified incentives.

OF | Carlos Gonzalez | Colorado Rockies | Fantasy
Colorado Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer will start in right field next year, which will move OF Carlos Gonzalez over to left field.

OF | Yoenis Cespedes | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
The Chicago White Sox could be interested in making a run at Cuban OF Yoenis Cespedes when he becomes a free agent. The Miami Marlins are believed to be the favorites.

OF | Jonny Gomes | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said the team will probably not sign free-agent OF Jonny Gomes (Nationals).

OF | Coco Crisp | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
Free-agent OF Coco Crisp (Athletics) isn't locked into signing with a team on the West Coast, and the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals remain involved.

OF | Endy Chavez | Baltimore Orioles | Fantasy
The Baltimore Orioles finalized their one-year deal with OF Endy Chavez Tuesday, Dec. 20.

OF | Chris Heisey | Cincinnati Reds | Fantasy
Cincinnati Reds OF Chris Heisey could be the team's best current option to start in left field next season. The other options are OFs Todd Frazier and Dave Sappelt. OF Denis Phipps could be the wild card in this situation, but he's likely to start the year at Triple-A Louisville.

OF | Ryan Braun | Milwaukee Brewers | Fantasy
Milwaukee Brewers OF Ryan Braun is unlikely to avoid a 50-game suspension for testing positive for high levels of testosterone, despite recent reports suggesting that he tested positive because of medication and not performance-enhancing drugs.

OF | Jason Kubel | Arizona Diamondbacks | Fantasy
Arizona Diamondbacks OF Jason Kubel passed his physical Tuesday, Dec. 20, and his two-year deal has been finalized.

OF | Austin Kearns | Cleveland Indians | Transaction, Fantasy
The Cleveland Indians re-signed OF Austin Kearns to a one-year deal Tuesday, Dec. 20. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Starting Pitcher

SP | Jeff Francis | free agent | Free Agents
The Chicago Cubs have talked to free-agent SP Jeff Francis (Royals) about a deal to be their No. 5 starter.

SP | Carlos Torres | free agent | Transaction, Free Agents, Fantasy
The Colorado Rockies signed SP Carlos Torres (White Sox) to a minor-league contract. Torres, who spent 2011 with the Yomiuri Giants organization of NPB, last appeared in the Major Leagues with the White Sox in 2010.

SP | Joel Pineiro | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
The Minnesota Twins are looking at several free-agent pitching options to fill their rotation. Among the names mentioned are Jeff Francis (Royals), Joel Pineiro (Angels), Jon Garland (Dodgers) and Paul Maholm (Pirates).

SP | Yu Darvish | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
Japanese League SP Yu Darvish may ask for up to a five-year, $75 million contract from the Texas Rangers, according to baseball executives familiar with the situation. This would be on top of the $51.7 million posting fee, which the team would not have to pay unless it signed Darvish.

SP | Cole Hamels | Philadelphia Phillies | Fantasy
Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters he was very happy with the offseason acquisitions he has made, and about the only worry he has now is the looming free agency for SP Cole Hamels at the end of 2012. "We're keeping our minds and our eyes open, but I'm very comfortable with the team we have going into Spring Training," Amaro said. "We think we're going to be healthy other than, perhaps, a delay on [first baseman Ryan Howard, recovering from a torn Achilles tendon]."

SP | Roy Oswalt | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy,
The New York Yankees are not interested in free-agent SP Roy Oswalt (Phillies) despite his willingness to accept a one-year contract.

SP | Gio Gonzalez | Oakland Athletics | Fantasy,
The Washington Nationals are making a push for Oakland Athletics SP Gio Gonzalez. The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays remain in the mix as well.

Relief Pitcher

RP | Eric Hacker | San Francisco Giants | Transaction, Free Agents, Fantasy
The San Francisco Giants have signed RP Eric Hacker to a minor-league contract. Hacker spent 2011 in the Twins organization, starting 25 games with Triple-A Rochester and making two relief appearances with Minnesota. No financial terms were disclosed, nor was it announced if the deal included an invitation to spring training.

RP | Ronald Belisario | Los Angeles Dodgers | Transaction, Fantasy
Los Angeles Dodgers RP Ronald Belisario has been handed a 25-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy, according to a source. During the 2010 season, Belisario left the Dodgers for over a month to receive treatment in a substance-abuse program. It is not known what the latest offense was that landed Belisario in suspension.

RP | Francisco Cordero | free agent | Free Agents, Fantasy
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are still interested in free-agent RP Francisco Cordero (Reds).

RP | Sean Marshall | Chicago Cubs | Fantasy
The Cincinnati Reds are in conversations with the Chicago Cubs about Cubs RP Sean Marshall. Marshall has been one of the top set-up pitchers in baseball over the last two seasons, finishing 2011 with a 2.26 ERA in 78 appearances. In exchange, the Cubs are interested in SP Travis Wood.

RP | Joel Peralta | Tampa Bay Rays | Fantasy,
Tampa Bay Rays RP Joel Peralta's one-year deal is worth $2.175 million and doesn't include performance incentives.

RP | Jim Hoey | Toronto Blue Jays | Transaction,
The Toronto Blue Jays outrighted RP Jim Hoey to the minors Monday, Dec. 19.

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Source: http://www.kffl.com/a.php/129376/89/fantasy-baseball/Fantasy%20baseball%20players%20in%20the%20news?source=campaign-rss

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Budget crisis averted yet again as California suddenly finds more money

By Bob Morris, on Dec 21, 2011, 9:30 am

greatergood.berkeley.edu

Pardon my cynicism, but California has been here before. Balancing the budget seems insoluble. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, money drops from the heavens. Entire new sources of revenue are discovered! Sacramento rejoices. The budget will be balanced after all and there is much festivity. But then the Grinch sneaks in. The expected revenue vanishes or is way under expectations. Lamentations are heard among the land. The budget crisis yet again seems insoluble.

The coming $1 billion in mandated budgets cuts are due to precisely this phenomenon. Earlier this year, Sacramento predicted that $4 billion in new revenue would be arriving. It didn?t. This means deeply unpleasant mandated cuts will occur. Last month, the Legislative Analyst?s Office (LAO) said most of the $4 billion looks to be a phantom that never existed. But even in such dark times, Sacramento had an ace in the hole. Under the terms of the mandated cuts, California could take the cheeriest and most optimistic revenue estimate from either the LAO or the Department of Finance.

Hold on for this stunner. The Department of Finance released a much rosier estimate than the LAO. Apparently, unexpected new sources of revenue have been found and thus things are better than predicted. Who could have predicted such a miracle? Well, maybe it?s not so much a miracle as it is staving off a truly calamitous crisis. After all, the state is still $2.2 billion short. The governor says maybe $6 billion in further cuts are coming on top on the mandated cuts. He also wants voters to approve $7 billion in tax increases in November 2012. This will be tricky if he keeps insisting that the California economy is recovering. I?m guessing voters will be in such a foul mood they will vote down most everything, which will certainly complicate budget matters.

The $1 billion in cuts start Jan. 1 and will impact higher education, social services, home care for the infirm and elder care, local libraries, and even prisons. Rather astonishingly, $248 million of the $980 million in cuts are for K-12 bus service. That?s over 25% of the total. Worse, the bus service is federally mandated. School districts will have to find the money elsewhere rather than telling the kids to hitchhike or asking Mom to drive them. Their budgets are already beyond lean. John Deasy, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, says they have no money for transportation and will sue to block the cuts.

Home care for the sick and elderly will take a $100 million hit. A federal judge has already filed a temporary order blocking this. Doubtless many other lawsuits will be filed too.

This bipolar lurching from giddy expectations of higher revenue to depression when the revenue doesn?t appear is no way to run the financial affairs of the most populous state. The budget needs to be done based on solid and sane estimates of revenue. I propose that each year a team of outside, independent auditors, economists, and other such experts make the estimates. Further, they should be paid by an outside entity and not work for the State of California in any capacity. Businesses routinely have outside audits. California needs the same. It has shown it cannot come up with credible numbers on its own.

(crossposted from IVN)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PoliticsInTheZeros/~3/VJLE5AaLTvI/

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Walgreen 1Q profit drops on Express Scripts fight (AP)

NEW YORK ? Drugstore operator Walgreen Co.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings fell more than 4 percent due in part to a slow flu season and its decision to leave the Express Scripts Inc. pharmacy network next month.

Walgreen said it would consider a reasonable offer from Express Scripts but reported no progress in negotiations. A three-year contract between the companies ends Dec. 31, and since June, Walgreen and Express Scripts have said they were preparing to stop doing business, jeopardizing billions of dollars in sales for Walgreen.

Shares of Walgreen fell $2.05, or 6.1 percent, to $31.45 in premarket trading.

The nation's largest drugstore chain said the decision to stop doing business with Express Scripts cost a penny per share in sales at pharmacies open at least a year and a penny per share in expenses during the quarter.

The drugstore chain also said a delay in the cough, cold and flu season hurt earnings by another penny per share. The company administered 5 million flu shots through Nov. 30 compared with 5.6 million a year ago.

Walgreen said Wednesday net income fell to $554 million, or 63 cents per share, from $580 million, or 62 cents per share, a year ago, when it had more shares outstanding. Revenue grew 4.7 percent to $18.16 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of 67 cents per share and $18.24 billion in revenue.

The Deerfield, Ill., company gets $5.3 billion in annual revenue from Express Scripts, which pays Walgreen and other drugstores to fill prescriptions. But it said it would rather give up that revenue than continue filling unprofitable prescriptions.

"While we remain open to any fair and competitive offer from Express Scripts, we firmly believe that accepting their proposal was not in the best long-term interests of our shareholders," Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson said in a statement.

Walgreen is trying to keep as many of those prescriptions as possible by making its own arrangements with companies and health plans. The company says it expects to keep 97 to 99 percent of its fiscal 2011 prescription volume in the new fiscal year, but analysts say Walgreen will lose most of the Express Scripts prescriptions.

Express Scripts also is trying to buy Medco Health Solutions Inc., another large pharmacy benefits manager. If that deal goes through, Walgreen may lose Medco's clients over time.

Walgreen's selling, general and administrative expenses also climbed 5 percent to $4.2 billion because of its acquisition of drugstore.com and other items.

Earlier this month, Walgreen said sales at stores open at least a year grew 2.5 percent during the quarter. However the Express Scripts fight reduced those sales by 1.1 percent. Sales at stores open at least a year are considered a key measurement of retailer health because they exclude results from stores that have opened or closed in the last year.

The company operates 7,812 drugstores nationwide.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_walgreen

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Christina Ricci returns to NY stage in 'Midsummer' (AP)

NEW YORK ? Christina Ricci's stage debut last year apparently didn't scare her off ? she's going back.

Producers said Tuesday the "Pan Am" star will join two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth in a Classic Stage Company production of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The off-Broadway show will begin performances March 28 and play through May 6. Neuwirth will play the role of Titania. Ricci will have the role of Hermia.

Ricci made her Broadway debut last season in Donald Margulies' "Time Stands Still," replacing Alicia Silverstone and starring opposite Laura Linney, Brian d'Arcy James and Eric Bogosian.

Ricci burst onto the scene in 1990 as Cher's daughter in "Mermaids" and has built a long list of film credits, including "The Addams Family," "The Ice Storm," "Speed Racer" and "Penelope."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_en_ot/us_theater_christina_ricci

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Aetna Reveals It Acquired Healthagen, Developer Of The #1 Mobile Health App iTriage

At an investor conference yesterday, health insurance and tech giant Aetna revealed that it acquired Healthagen, the developer of mobile app iTriage, though it did not disclose the price. Aetna's Chairmen, CEO, and President Mark Bertolini told investors "About a month and a half ago we bought at little company called iTriage...the fastest growing consumer application in healthcare today." iTriage lets users check symptoms, find doctors, make appointments, and do medical shopping. It will be augmented with new features and become part of Aetna's accountable care organization. Bertolini said?"We're going to begin to change the health care industry by giving people tools they can put in the palm of their hand."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vkG1zxHlxBM/

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NBC Buys Melodrama to be Executive Produced by Mariska Hargitay (omg!)

NBC has bought a script to be executive produced by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, Deadline reports.

American Dream, from playwright Paul Kolsby, is an hour-long melodrama set behind the scenes of a reality show about the relationship between the network executives and the show's stars.

See photos of Mariska Hargitay

Kolsby has worked on his share of reality shows including Jersey Shore and Bridezillas. He developed the concept along with film producers Andrew Lazar and Steve Shainberg. Hargitay later came on board after reading the script.

Do you think you'll watch it?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_nbc_buys_melodrama_executive_produced_mariska_hargitay154400128/43936590/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/nbc-buys-melodrama-executive-produced-mariska-hargitay-154400128.html

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U.S. says Arizona sheriff violated civil rights laws (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Obama administration accused a firebrand Arizona sheriff on Thursday of engaging in racial profiling of Latinos and making unlawful arrests in a crack down on illegal immigrants.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office -- led by Joe Arpaio, a sheriff famous for making inmates wear pink underwear -- regularly violated U.S. civil rights laws and the Constitution, the U.S. Justice Department said in a scathing report.

The Obama administration successfully blocked Arizona's anti-immigration law, passed in 2010, which empowered police officers to check the immigration status of those they stop. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to hear the state's appeal.

The Justice report released on Thursday also revealed evidence that deputies used excessive force, failed to protect the Hispanic community adequately and tried to harass or intimidate activists who protested their tactics.

The Justice Department said Arpaio's deputies regularly targeted dark-skinned people for traffic stops or for speaking Spanish at a local business. Additionally, they conducted raids aimed at sweeping up illegal immigrants.

"We found discriminatory policing that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department," Thomas Perez, head of the civil rights division at Justice, told reporters. He cited a "penchant for retaliation for people who speak out against them."

Among the reforms sought, U.S. officials want the sheriff to institute new training, to develop a complaint and disciplinary system, and to engage in outreach to the Latino community.

Perez said a criminal investigation into the sheriff's office was ongoing and declined to elaborate.

The Justice Department report also went directly after Arpaio, saying his "own actions have helped nurture MCSO's culture of bias."

Arpaio has denied charges by Hispanic and civil rights activists that his department engages in racial profiling. The state has been particularly affected by an influx at the border of illegal immigrants from Mexico and beyond.

The sheriff's Deputy Chief Jack MacIntyre said the Justice Department announcement smacked of politics with Perez holding a news conference in Arizona shortly after meeting attorneys. Arpaio is due to hold a news conference later on Thursday.

JAN. 4 DEADLINE

The Justice Department gave Maricopa County a January 4 deadline to agree to negotiations to address the problems and warned that if it balked, the government would go to court to try to compel compliance.

Perez said a criminal investigation into the sheriff's office was ongoing and declined to elaborate.

The Justice Department said officials discovered that Latino drivers were four times to nine times more likely to be stopped than non-Latinos. Over a three-year period one-fifth of traffic stops violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment protecting against unreasonable seizures, it said.

Political divisions run deep over the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, especially in states such as Arizona that border Mexico.

Perez said the actions by the police force had created a "wall of distrust" between them and the community which made it harder for residents to come forward to report crimes or raise concerns.

The federal government is also examining allegations that Arpaio's deputies failed to adequately investigate sexual assaults - a concern raised last week by the state's two U.S. senators.

Arpaio's office has admitted that more than 400 cases of sexual assault and child molestation were not properly investigated between 2005 and 2007.

(Additional reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix, Editing by Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/us_nm/us_usa_immigration_arizona

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Ajamu Stewart And Clifton Sanders, San Francisco Health Inspectors, Charged With Bribery

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two former health inspectors have been accused of accepting bribes in exchange for passing hundreds of restaurants on food safety exams in a city known for its culinary scene, officials said Wednesday.

In addition to bribery charges, Ajamu Stewart and Clifton Sanders face felony counts for falsifying public records, said District Attorney George Gascon and City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Stewart pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, and Sanders was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday.

City officials said Stewart, 54, and Sanders, 41, allegedly pocketed thousands of dollars by selling safety certifications to nearly 350 restaurants in San Francisco dating as far back as 2007.

Gascon said the former inspectors' scheme showed total disregard for state laws and violated the public's trust.

"We take public corruption very seriously," Gascon said. "We want to send a very clear message to people who work for our government that they are held to a very high standard and if they violate that standard and trust, there will be consequences."

Officials say the former inspectors for the health department's Food Safety Program worked in tandem over an 18-month period and accepted bribes of between $100 and $200 from several hundred restaurant owners and employees to give passing grades on written food safety exams. The restaurants range from well-known chains to popular eateries offering ethnic fare.

Sometimes, the inspectors would administer the tests verbally and fill in the answers themselves. The exam included questions on the temperatures of hot or cold foods and the sanitization of food preparation areas, said Richard Lee, the department's director of environmental health regulatory programs.

About 80 percent pass the test, Lee said.

The scheme surfaced after a restaurant employee told the city's public health department in late 2008, officials said, leading to a probe by the city attorney's office.

"It is of paramount importance that the public have confidence that the employees that are investigating and regulating food safety issues are carrying out their responsibilities with the highest degree of professionalism," said Herrera, adding that most of the restaurants have since been recertified.

Gascon said prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against the restaurant employees because it would be a difficult criminal case to prove since some of them did not know the exam process.

"We believe the greater culpability here goes to the public employees," Gascon said. "They violated the law and that's why they are being prosecuted."

Both Stewart and Sanders face at least up to eight years in prison and fines up to $10,000 if convicted.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/ajamu-stewart-and-clifton_n_1149665.html

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Shared flavor compounds show up on US menus, rare in Asian cuisines

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2011) ? North Americans and Western Europeans love a good mix of alpha-terpineol, 4-methylpentanoic acid and ethyl propionate for dinner, flavor compounds shared in popular ingredients like tomatoes, parmesan cheese and white wine. Authentic East Asian recipes, on the other hand, tend to avoid mixing ingredients with many shared flavor compounds, according to new complex networks research from Indiana, Harvard, Cambridge and Northeastern universities.

In a search to uncover the patterns and principles people use in choosing ingredient combinations beyond individual taste and recipes, a team that included Indiana University Bloomington School of Informatics and Computing Assistant Professor Yong-Yeol Ahn looked at the key ingredients of 56,498 online recipes and then analyzed those ingredients for shared flavor compounds. The recipes came from three online recipe repositories: epicurious.com and allrecipes.com from the U.S. and the Korean menupan.com.

Over the past decades, some food scientists and chefs have developed a food pairing hypothesis which states that ingredients sharing flavor compounds are more likely to taste good together than ingredients that do not. Some application of this can be found at contemporary restaurants that successfully pair white chocolate and caviar, ingredients that both contain trimethylamine and other flavor compounds, or chocolate and blue cheese, which share at least 73 flavor compounds.

Ahn, who is also affiliated with the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research operated by SOIC and IU's Pervasive Technology Institute, said that by creating a flavor network that captures the flavor compounds shared by culinary ingredients, the team could reformulate the food pairing hypothesis into a hypothesis on the graph-topological properties of recipes in the flavor network. Statistical tests can then be used to unveil the connectedness, or the lack thereof, of ingredients and flavor compounds.

In this case, they took 381 ingredients from the group of recipes, along with an associated 1,021 flavor compounds that contributed flavor to those ingredients, and created a flavor network where ingredients are connected if they share at least one flavor compound.

"What we showed was that the recipes in North American cuisine tend to share more flavor compounds than expected. The most authentic ingredient pairs and triplets in North American cuisine also tend to share multiple flavor compounds, while compound-sharing links are rare among the most authentic combinations in East Asian cuisine," Ahn said.

Their analysis also referenced that the number of actual recipes in use, on the order of about 106, was tiny when compared to the large number of potential recipes (over 1,015).

"We identified frequently used ingredients that contributed positively to the food pairing effect in North American cuisine, like milk, butter, cocoa, vanilla, cream and eggs," Ahn said. "These played a disproportionate role, as 13 key ingredients that contributed to a shared compound effect were found in 74.4 percent of North American recipes."

There were also ingredients in East Asian cuisine -- beef, ginger, pork, cayenne, chicken and onion -- that were the top contributors to an overall negative shared compound effect on food pairing.

One future goal of the research would be to build an accessible infrastructure using more detailed datasets that incorporate the quantity information of flavor compounds, again advancing the use of data-driven network analysis methods that have transformed biology and the social sciences to yield new insights into food science.

Another interesting venue of research is studying the evolution of recipes. A recently published recipe-evolution model suggested that the staple ingredients consist of old ingredients (founders) and highly "fit" ingredients.

"Among highly prevalent ingredients, we can see old ingredients that have been used in the same geographic region for thousands of years," Ahn said. "Yet there are also relatively new ingredients like tomatoes, potatoes and peppers that were introduced to Europe and Asia just a few hundred years ago. Though new, they are now staple ingredients."

Co-authors on the paper with Ahn were Sebastian E. Ahnert of Northeastern and Cambridge, and James P. Bagrow and Albert-L?szl? Barab?si, both of Northeastern and Harvard. Like the other authors, Ahn is also affiliated with the Northeastern Department of Physics' Center for Complex Network Research, and like Ahnert and Barab?si, with Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Systems Biology.

Published Dec. 15, in Scientific Reports as "Flavor network and the principles of food pairing," the research was supported by the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Initiative in Studying Complex Systems.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Indiana University, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Yong-Yeol Ahn, Sebastian E. Ahnert, James P. Bagrow, Albert-L?szl? Barab?si. Flavor network and the principles of food pairing. Scientific Reports, 2011; 1 DOI: 10.1038/srep00196

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215141625.htm

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Oil near $96 amid Europe debt, economy concerns (AP)

SINGAPORE ? Oil prices rose to near $96 a barrel Thursday in Asia after plunging the previous session on investor pessimism that Europe's debt crisis will trigger a recession on the continent next year.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 59 cents to $95.54 a barrel in midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $5.19, or 5.2 percent, to settle at $94.95 on Wednesday.

In London, Brent crude was up 15 cents at $105.17 on the ICE futures exchange.

Crude dropped Wednesday amid growing concerns about slowing global oil demand. The International Energy Agency and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have recently forecast fuel consumption will grow slightly next year, but some analysts say even those modest expectations may be too optimistic.

Before Wednesday, crude had traded near $100 for the last month after jumping from $75 in October amid signs the U.S. economy is slowly improving.

"The latest demand forecasts from both OPEC and the IEA still look too high and oil prices have further to fall," Capital Economics said in a report. The consultancy expects Brent crude to fall to near $85 by the end of next year.

Investor fears that European leaders may not be able to contain the region's debt woes helped pull the euro down to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in 11 months Wednesday. A stronger dollar makes crude more expensive for investors with other currencies.

In other energy trading on the Nymex, natural gas rose 0.4 cents at $3.14 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil gained 2.5 cents to $2.86 a gallon and gasoline futures added 2.6 cents to $2.53 a gallon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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