City College of San Francisco Prepares for Possible Closure

January 23, 2013

In danger of losing its accreditation, City College of San Francisco recently outlined what it plans to do should the school have to close its doors next fall.

This past July, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges highlighted a number of issues that CCSF needed to address in order to keep its accreditation. Since then, the school has been working hard to make changes, but with just two months left until officials must present a final report to the commission, some are worried that there is too much that still needs to be done.

Earlier this month, the SF Examiner reported CCSF officials had asked for an extension on the March 15 deadline. Bob Agrella, the state-appointed trustee assisting the college, noted that some teachers and staff have been resistant to change, particularly after significant pay cuts and layoffs. Their resistance has caused problems and slowed down the process.

?Change is difficult for any institution, and we?re talking some major changes across an institution,? Agrella explained in the SF Examiner. ?It would be nice to take a year to do some of these changes, but we don?t have the luxury of time.?

It is unclear whether an extension has been granted.

According to another article from the SF Examiner, CCSF recently released a draft report outlining what officials have done so far to address the issues. The report showed that the school has already done things such as approve a new mission statement, create a new administrative structure and close campus locations. The draft report also included a plan for if the school lost its accreditation and was forced to shut down.

As SF Gate reported, CCSF could face three scenarios?closure, probation or full accreditation.

?The closure report is contingency planning,? said Larry Kamer, spokesperson for City College Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman, to SF Gate. ?We?re talking things we hope never come to fruition, but which we?re required to think through.?

If CCSF does close, the college has said it would help its more than 40,000 students who are currently earning college credit or vocational certificates. If the commission grants permission, students who have finished three semesters?or 75 percent of their program?could complete their work at City College. Otherwise, the school would help those students find another program elsewhere. The 40,000 CCSF students who are taking free, noncredit classes would not receive any assistance.

Neighboring colleges will be notified if CCSF has to shut down so that they can assist students. SF Gate noted, however, that some of these colleges are also questionable as they are either on warning from the accreditation commission or on probation.

The commission is currently scheduled to meet in June to discuss the future of CCSF.

---

Compiled by Heidi M. Agustin

Sources:

?CCSF officials to ask for extended deadline to meet accreditation requirements,? sfexaminer.com, January 9, 2013, Andrea Koskey

?CCSF outlines what would happen if it were to close,? sfexaminer.com, January 21, 2013, Andrea Koskey

?CCSF would still help students if closed,? sfgate.com, January 22, 2013, Nanette Asimov

Source: http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/articles/city-college-of-san-francisco-prepares-for-possible-closure-13012303

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Israeli voters punish Netanyahu but keep him in power

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly won an election in which disgruntled voters catapulted a new centrist challenger into second place and he now faces the daunting task of building a coalition.

Tuesday's vote crystallized demands for attention to bread-and-butter issues over the ambitions of religiously fired hardliners and largely sidelined foreign policy issues such as thwarting Iran's nuclear plans and Palestinian aspirations.

The right-wing prime minister claimed victory after his Likud party and its ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu ally took 31 of parliament's 120 seats, according to a near-final tally.

That made it the biggest single bloc, despite losing 11 of its previous seats. Overall, right-wing and religious parties emerged with roughly half the total, an erosion of the dominance Netanyahu had enjoyed during almost four years of deadlock in peacemaking with the Palestinians and jitters over Iran.

"A blow for Netanyahu," was the headline in the biggest-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, echoing other Israeli media homing in on the surprise surge of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, runner-up with 19 projected seats.

Yesh Atid and the centre-left Labour party, which came third with 15 seats, tapped into secular middle-class resentment that tax-payers must shoulder what they see as the burden of welfare-dependent ultra-Orthodox Jews exempt from military conscription.

Netanyahu, who in two terms as premier has enjoyed core religious backing, quickly made overtures to his opponents by saying he wanted to form as broad a coalition as possible, a process that is likely to take several weeks.

A senior member of Yesh Atid, led by former television presenter Yair Lapid, said the issue of ending exemption from military service was central to the party's platform, as was reviving peace talks with the Palestinians.

"Whoever wants Yesh Atid in the coalition will need to bring these things," Ofer Shelah told Army Radio.

"COSMETIC DECORATION"

Palestinians reacted warily to the outcome of the poll, voicing doubts it would produce a government more willing to compromise for peace, even if it included centrist parties.

An editorial in the Ramallah-based Al-Quds daily said such parties would provide a "cosmetic decoration" for a Netanyahu-led government that would mislead world public opinion without halting a drive to expand Jewish settlement on occupied land.

"We're not seeking to make peace with this or that party in Israel," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, adding that peace required creation of a Palestinian state to live alongside Israel based on the lines that existed before the 1967 war.

Netanyahu, with his scarcely veiled threats of military action against Iran and his tough approach to the Palestinians, has had a fractious relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama, who himself embarked on a new term this week.

"The first challenge was and remains preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said, claiming election victory at Likud campaign headquarters after midnight.

Iran denies it is planning to build an atomic bomb, and says Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, is the biggest threat to the region.

Netanyahu views Tehran's nuclear program as a threat to Israel's existence and has stoked international concern by hinting at possible Israeli military action to thwart it.

He has shunted Palestinian peacemaking well down the agenda despite Western concern to keep the quest for a solution alive.

Now weakened by the verdict of voters, he is almost certain to need centrist partners for a stable coalition and may perhaps offer more flexibility toward the Palestinians, although few expect any breakthrough in the coming months.

Israeli shares traded higher after the election, with the blue-chip Tel Aviv index up 1.5 percent at 1030 GMT, while the shekel held steady against the dollar, showing markets were unfazed by fears of prolonged coalition talks.

"DREAM GOVERNMENT"

Amram Mitzna, a senior member of former Prime Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Hatnua party, told Army Radio the election had "arrested the rightward drift of Israeli society" and urged Netanyahu to heed to message delivered by voters.

He even mooted an unlikely "dream government" in which Likud would forge a strong coalition with leftist and centrist parties, excluding far-right and religious factions.

Lapid won support amongst middle-class, secular voters by promising to resolve a growing housing shortage, abolish military draft exemptions for Jewish seminary students and seek an overhaul of the much-criticized education system.

He urged Netanyahu "to build as broad a government as possible so that we can bring about real change in Israel".

Naftali Bennett, high-tech millionaire son of American immigrants who leads the hard-right, pro-settler Jewish Home party, remained a likely coalition partner despite making a poorer election showing than opinion polls had predicted.

Bennett, who advocates annexing West Bank land to Israel, told cheering supporters: "There is only one truth and it is simple. The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel."

U.S.-brokered peace talks broke down in 2010 amid mutual acrimony. Since then Israel has accelerated construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem - land the Palestinians want for their future state - much to the anger of Western partners.

Aaron David Miller, once a senior U.S. adviser on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, said a weakening of the right might improve Netanyahu's relations with Obama.

"The fact is, if (Netanyahu) goes with Lapid and he reaches out to the centre, you're going to end up with an American-Israeli rapprochement to a certain degree," Miller told CNN.

Tuesday's vote was the first in Israel since Arab uprisings swept the region two years ago, reshaping the Middle East.

Netanyahu has said the turbulence, which has brought Islamists to power in neighboring Egypt and elsewhere, shows the importance of strengthening national security.

Foreign policy issues barely registered during the election campaign. The next government, which is unlikely to take power for weeks, will have to tackle the stuttering economy and a budget deficit that presages spending cuts and tax hikes.

(Reporting by Jerusalem bureau; Editing by Alastair Macdonald, David Brunnstrom and Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-turns-iran-narrow-election-win-000524166.html

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Tissue Boxes, Quiet Ringtones, and Secret iPhone Emoticons

Readers offer their best tips for fixing tissue box annoyances, making your ringtone louder, and unveiling a secret iPhone keyboard full of emoticons.

Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons?maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in?the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, email it to tips at lifehacker.com, or share it on our tips and expert pages.

Stop Tissues from Falling to the Bottom of the Box

YeEun June Sung fixes the ever-failing tissue box. When the box starts getting low, you can cut out part of the bottom of the box, then fold it down as shown above. From then on, the tissues won't fall to the bottom of the box when it starts getting empty; they'll just fall on top of the little "loft" you've created. Click here to see the full trick with step-by-step images

Use Sound Recorders to Fix Quiet Ringtones

MsCassLopez makes her ringtone more audible:

No matter what cell phone I have, everyone else's ringtone seems to be louder. I can hear my neighbor's over the fence and around the corner of her house but I miss all my calls when mine is in my pocket book on the swing right next to me. So I decided to take action! I used Cool Edit, courtesy of nineties legend Peter Quistgard, but any simple and free sound editor will do. Try Total Recorder or MP3Gain among many. I just plugged in my phone to the computer with a USB cable?Android has to be rooted to be able to access the file but you can also just choose any sound file or ringtone?navigated to the mp3/ogg in my sound editor of choice, and pumped up the volume. I then saved the file back in the same place with a new name; selected it as my ringtone and instantly became one with those who never miss a call.

Seriously, if you wish your chosen ringtone was louder then just do the above to increase the volume. If you get some kind of scale in your chosen sound editor then an increase of 10dB seems to work well without causing any distortion.

Enable the Secret Japanese Emoticon Keyboard in iOS 6

Benjamin Guise finds a wealth of emoticons hidden inside the iPhone:

I was just messing around with my iPhone keyboards and found this. It's not an app, it is part of the stock keyboards.

To enable it, go to Settings > General > Keyboards and add the "Japanese - kana" keyboard. There is a little key on the bottom left that looks like a face. When you tap this key, you can drag the top up and there are hundreds of different faces and other interesting combinations of characters.

Add Curved Edges to Your Business Cards Without the Premium Price

Timgray shows us a cheap trick for business cards:

If you want a fancy curved edge on your business cards but cant afford the premium, you can buy the die cutters to do that at a hobby store for less than the price of paying the premium for your business cards to have that special cut. you can cut the edges of a box of 250 cards in less than an hour of vegging in front of the TV.

Photo by Connor Turner.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/pB4q9IoP2Mw/tissue-boxes-quiet-ringtones-and-secret-iphone-emoticons

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Suicides in military rise, even as combat lessens

WASHINGTON (AP) ? For U.S. troops, less combat is not translating to less stress. Members of the military committed suicide at a record pace in 2012 ? almost one per day ? and some experts think the trend will grow worse this year.

Pentagon figures obtained Monday by The Associated Press show 349 suicides among active-duty troops last year, up from 301 the year before and exceeding the Pentagon's own internal projection of 325.

Last year's total is the highest since the Pentagon began closely tracking suicides in 2001. It exceeds the 295 Americans who died in Afghanistan last year, by the AP's count.

The Pentagon has struggled to deal with suicides, which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others have called an epidemic. The problem reflects severe strains on military personnel burdened with more than a decade of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is increasingly complicated by anxiety over the prospect of being forced out of uniform as defense budgets are cut.

"Now that we're decreasing our troops and they're coming back home, that's when they're really in the danger zone, when they're transitioning back to their families, back to their communities and really finding a sense of purpose for themselves," said Kim Ruocco, whose husband, Marine Maj. John Ruocco, killed himself in 2005. She directs a suicide prevention program for a support group, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS.

One such case was Army Spc. Christopher Nguyen, 29, who killed himself in August at an off-post residence he shared with another member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., according to his sister, Shawna Nguyen.

"He was practically begging for help, and nothing was done," she said in an interview.

She said he had been diagnosed with an "adjustment disorder" ? a problem of coping with the uncertainties of returning home after three deployments in war zones. She believes the Army failed her brother by not doing more to ensure that he received the help he needed before he became suicidal.

"It's the responsibility of the military to help these men and women," she said. "They sent them over there (to war); they should be helping them when they come back."

David Rudd, a military suicide researcher and dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Utah, said he sees two main categories of troops who are committing suicide at an accelerating pace: Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress or substance abuse and those who have not gone to war but face troubled personal relationships, money problems or legal woes.

He is not optimistic about a decline soon.

"Actually, we may continue to see increases," he said, since the military is headed for major personnel cuts as budgets shrink. Fear of being compelled to return to civilian society is especially stressful for people whose identity and self-esteem is closely tied to their role in the military, Rudd said.

Military suicides began rising in 2006 and soared to a then-record 310 in 2009 before leveling off for two years.

The Pentagon says that although the military suicide rate has been rising, it remains below that of the civilian population. It says the civilian suicide rate for males ages 17-60 was 25 per 100,000 in 2010, the latest year for which such statistics are available. That compares with the military's rate in 2012 of 17.5 per 100,000.

Officials say they are committed to pursuing ways of finding help for service members in trouble.

"Our most valuable resource within the department is our people. We are committed to taking care of our people and that includes doing everything possible to prevent suicides in the military," Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said Monday.

The Army, by far the largest of the military services, had the highest number of suicides among active-duty troops last year at 182, but the Marine Corps, whose suicide numbers had declined for two years, had the largest percentage increase ? a 50 percent jump to 48. The Marines' worst year was 2009's 52 suicides.

The Air Force recorded 59 suicides, up 16 percent from the previous year, and the Navy had 60, up 15 percent.

All the numbers are tentative, pending the completion later this year of formal pathology reports on each case.

Suicide prevention has become a high Pentagon priority, yet the problem persists.

"If you have a perfect storm of events on the day with somebody who has high risk factors, it's very difficult to be there every moment, fill every crack, and we just have to continue to be aware of what the risk factors are," Ruocco said.

Two retired Army generals, Peter W. Chiarelli and Dennis J. Reimer, have spoken out about the urgency of reversing the trend.

"One of the things we learned during our careers," they wrote in The Washington Post last month, "is that stress, guns and alcohol constitute a dangerous mixture. In the wrong proportions, they tend to blow out the lamp of the mind and cause irrational acts."

Each year the Pentagon performs an in-depth study of the circumstances of each suicide. The most recent year for which that analysis is available is 2011, and among the findings was that those who took their own lives tended to be white men under the age of 25, in the junior enlisted ranks, with less than a college education.

The analysis of 2011's 301 military suicides determined that 60 percent of military suicides were committed with the use of firearms ? and in most cases the guns were personal weapons, not military-issued.

That study also found that most service members who attempted suicide ? about 65 percent ? had a known behavior disorder such as depression, whereas 45 percent of those who actually completed the act and killed themselves had such a history.

The Defense Department provides veterans in crisis with a toll-free number, 800-273-8255, for assistance.

___

Associated Press writer Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors: http://www.taps.org

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicides-military-rise-even-combat-lessens-080600461--politics.html

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Venezuela opposition furious over likely Chavez inauguration delay

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition has accused the government of violating the constitution by proposing to delay cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez's inauguration Thursday for a new term amid growing uncertainty over the polarized OPEC nation's political future.

The socialist leader's allies say the January 10 inauguration date laid out in the constitution is just a "formality." They insist Chavez, who has not been heard from for almost a month after complex cancer surgery in Cuba, can take office when his health allows.

His adversaries say that would be running roughshod over the constitution as the former soldier remains in Havana and appears too weak to return to Venezuela after winning re-election in October for a third six-year term.

"If the president of the republic does not take office (on January 10), the country cannot be left in a power vacuum," said Tomas Guanipa of the opposition Justice First party, insisting that the head of Congress, Diosdado Cabello, should be sworn in temporarily.

The dispute centers on an article of the constitution that says a president-elect should be sworn in on January 10, but does not say what happens if the inauguration does not take place that date.

A fierce debate over the issue has deflected attention from the president's absence from the political scene and apparent inability to speak in a live broadcast.

The government, which has refused to discuss having Chavez temporarily step aside as he recovers, is providing only terse statements with bare-bones details of his condition.

On Monday, the information minister said Chavez's condition was "stationary" with respect to the last medical bulletin, released on Thursday, which described a "severe" pulmonary infection that has hindered the president's breathing.

The official position is that Chavez is still fulfilling his duties as head of state, despite his weak health.

For days, television networks have aired contrasting interpretations of the constitutional articles in question, with the opinions of constitutional lawyers and ad-hoc experts now filling social networks.

A Justice First leader has said the opposition could file complaints against the government with international agencies over the potential violation of constitutional protocol.

A popular political cartoonist depicted what appeared to be a wolf running with a copy of the constitution in its mouth, leaving a trail of pages behind it.

The opposition's Democratic Unity coalition has been holding meetings to hash out a unified stance on the issue.

One Chavez critic who called for a national strike via Twitter to protest the situation was ridiculed by the opposition as an extremist but quickly cited by the government as a sign that Chavez's critics want to destabilize the country.

ALLIES ADAMANT

"There is nothing here that would create a power vacuum and nothing that should give (the opposition) hope that Chavez will leave (office) on January 10," said Cabello, a top Chavez ally and a leader of the ruling Socialist Party, at a press conference.

He called on supporters to hold street rallies in support of Chavez on Thursday but would neither confirm nor deny the president would be in Venezuela by then. He said several Latin American presidents would be present.

In Argentina, a government spokesman said President Cristina Fernandez would travel to Cuba late this week, as part of a trip that includes stops in the Middle East and Asia, and would seek to visit Chavez.

An aide to Brazil's president, consulted on the situation in Venezuela, said he thought the process was being carried out according to the constitution.

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the October election, said the obsession over Chavez's health had left government frozen and unable to take action.

"The truth is that we have a government that doesn't govern, completely paralyzed!" Capriles said via his Twitter account. "These pseudo-leaders are not interested in the problems that Venezuelans face."

Twitter is alight with rumors that the president is nearly at death's door and that the government has not released pictures of him to avoid revealing his physical deterioration.

If he died or had to step aside, new elections would be called within 30 days with Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's heir apparent, running as the Socialist Party candidate.

Maduro for the last month has stepped in to fill the void left by Chavez, mimicking his style of bombastic speeches and televised appearances for ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

On Monday, he marked the start of the school year by reading children's books at a public school in a stilted imitation of Chavez's frequent informal visits to social programs or state-run factories.

(Additional reporting by Ana Flor in Brasilia; Editing by Kieran Murray and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-opposition-furious-over-likely-chavez-inauguration-delay-002445240.html

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16 Things Singles Need To Stop Saying | YourTango

There's no need for a pity party!

As told by GIFs, of course.

You've heard them from friends, your favorite TV characters and you've probably even said them at one point or another. Single people cliches are everywhere.

From "Boys are dumb" to "I'm going to die alone", these negative sayings really aren't getting us anywhere.

More from YourTango: How To Keep The Romance Hot When The Temperature's Cold

Our friends at The Frisky are kicking off the new year by putting an end to these useless phrases in the best way possible: GIFs!

See the banned sayings at The Frisky:?16 Things Single People Need To Stop Saying As Told In GIFs

More from The Frisky:

Source: http://www.yourtango.com/2013170210/16-things-singles-need-stop-saying

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Counting the cost of mercury pollution

Monday, January 7, 2013

Cleaning up mercury pollution and reducing prenatal exposure to the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg) could save the European Union ?10,000 million per year, finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health. New estimates suggest that between 1.5 and 2 million children in the EU are born each year with MeHg exposures above the safe limit of 0.58?g/g and 200,000 above the WHO recommended maximum of 2.5?g/g.

While some mercury occurs naturally in the environment for example from volcanic eruptions or forest fires, most is generated by burning fossil fuels. Marine and fresh water species bioconcentrate MeHg; consequently the main source of exposure for humans is from eating fish.

A team of researchers from across Europe used the DEMOCOPHES study of exposure to environmental chemicals to assess the impact of MeHg on humans. Hair samples of child-mother pairs, collected from 17 European countries, demonstrated that, as a lower estimate, 1,866,000 children are born in Europe exposed to toxic levels of MeHg. 232,000 of these are exposed to hazardous levels, five times higher. But not every child in Europe is equally at risk. When analysed per country, children born in Portugal and Spain were the most exposed to MeHg, and Hungary the least.

Exposure to MeHg in humans affects brain development, resulting in a lower IQ, and consequently a lower earning potential. The long term cost to society can be calculated as lifetime earning loss per person, although this estimate does not take into account other aspects of brain toxicity or risks of cardiovascular disease in adults.

Prof Philippe Grandjean explained, "If we convert the effects of MeHg on developing brains into IQ points then the benefits of controlling MeHg pollution equates to 700,000 IQ points per year and monetary benefits of ?8,000 to ?9,000 million per year for the whole of the EU. Exposure abatement would mainly benefit southern Europe ."

Once MeHg is formed, it cycles though the environment for thousands of years, exposing humans and other species to potentially toxic levels for generations. Commenting on the research Dr Elsie Sunderland said, "Mitigating the harm caused by methylmercury requires global-scale cooperation on policies and source reductions. Negotiations by the United Nations Environment Program are currently underway to address mercury emission levels."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 47 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126158/Counting_the_cost_of_mercury_pollution

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A tale of two units: How Sagamore and Yawkey were opened for fat ...

I first fell in love with mountain biking when, out of curiosity, I attended the grand opening of the the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails in the summer of 2011. Within two weeks, I bought a mountain bike, started a blog (Mountain Bike Geezer), joined IMBA, and became addicted to the sport.

??

My love affair with Cuyuna further intensified when I first rode (and raced) a borrowed fat bike in the snow at the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout back in March. The Sunday after the race, participants were allowed to ride their fat bikes ? one day only? in the Yawkey Unit, my #1 favorite section of the trail system. Heaven!? But only one day?? I couldn?t complain too loudly because I didn?t own a fat bike.

So when I heard earlier this fall that the Yawkey Unit would be open to fat bike riding all winter, I contacted Aaron Hautala, president of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew and asked him for details on how the new policy came to be.? He fed me bits and pieces of the year-long process and I decided to pull it all together into a blog post because it?s a story of perseverance and collaboration among private and public interests, all for the good of the sport, the natural environment, and the local economy.

In late summer of 2011, one of the key people behind the creation of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails, QBP Director of Advocacy Gary Sjoquist, suggested to DNR staff at the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area (CCSRA) that the trail system would be a good place to pilot winter fat biking, given the rapid growth of the activity around the country.

In the fall of 2011, Jenny Smith, owner of Cycle Path and Paddle in Crosby,? sent a letter to the DNR asking that Cuyuna?s trails be opened in the winter to allow snowshoeing in the park. While her letter didn?t specifically ask for winter fat bike access, she made the economic argument that the successful introduction of mountain biking in the warm months could be extended into the cold months with other winter activities besides cross country skiing.

On October 25, the CCSRA Advisory Council unanimously passed the following motion:

To explore funding opportunities to pilot a ?Winter Tourism Package? for the CCSRA to allow winter biking, snow shoeing, skiing, and access to parking beginning in December 2011 in order to provide an economic boost to an area negatively impacted by the recession. Motion was made by Representative John Ward and seconded by John Schaubach.

Steve Weber, DNR Manager of the CCSRA, began exploring the options for a winter trail program with his DNR colleagues. In an email to them, he wrote:

It became apparent early on that the majority of our existing mountain bike trails are too narrow and steep for winter mechanized grooming. However, I do believe there are some winter riding possibilities on the existing mountain bike trail but that is going to require a lot more research and testing before we can offer it to the public. Time permitting, perhaps we can do some testing on that this winter? After some research, I discovered the perfect area for a winter bike trail and conceptually designed a trail in the Sagamore Unit.

Steve showed the Sagamore Unit trails to local Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew (CLMTBC) members who were gung ho about the plan and offered club assistance.? His plan for a pilot project to see if there was desire and ability to open this unit up to winter riding in the future was approved by Courtland Nelson, Director of the Division of Parks and Trails. Plans were then made to brush the trails immediately and to secure the equipment necessary for grooming the trails in the winter. A group of CLMTBC riders began regular riding of the entire trail system to identify which trails and units would be best suited?experience and safety?for winter biking.

?

As the winter of 2011-12 set in,?CLMTB club members began talking up the idea of a winter cycling event, and the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout was born. The race for the event was held in the Sagamore Unit and the Yawkey Unit was opened up for a one-day winter pass which?CLMTBC promoted with this video:

CLMTBC riders had identified the Yawkey Unit very early on as ideal for year round riding because its:

• Trail footprint is manageable to maintain, groom.
• Trails provide a great experience for riders: scenery, range of difficulty and elevation
• Trails provide a challenge on a fat bike all within feet of each other.

In April of 2012, CLMTB proposed to the MN DNR and the CCSRA Advisory Council that the Yawkey Unit be open year-round. In November, the plan was approved: the Yawkey and Sagamore units would be open all winter, with Sagamore to be groomed by the MN DNR and Yawkey to be groomed by CLMTBC and area snowshoers.

?

On Dec. 28, the Brainerd Dispatch featured a front-page photo of CLMTB members Aaron Hautala and John Schaubach riding in Yawkey, along with a brief paragraph explaining the winter riding rules.

So props, kudos, and high-fives all around to CLMTB, the MN DNR, and the CCSRA Advisory Council for making this happen.? I expect to be riding Yawkey and Sagamore next weekend and I?m all signed up for the Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout coming up in March.

Here are some recent CLMTB videos of riding fat bikes this winter in Yawkey and Sagamore:

Source: http://cuyunalakesmtb.com/posts/a-tale-of-two-units-how-sagamore-and-yawkey-were-opened-for-fat-biking-in-winter/

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Jordana Brewster Is ?Enamored? with the Idea of Having Twins

"My dad was a twin, so it runs in the family," she explains. "Fingers crossed. We're thinking about having kids but I don't know when it'll happen. I feel very ready now."

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/OSYTjgFasw8/

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Need players for male characters!!!!!

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High School Educators Resolve to Do Better in the New Year

Educators across the country are wrapping up their winter breaks and returning to school with a fresh list of New Year's resolutions. For high school teachers and administrators, 2013 will be about improving their craft and helping students meet their goals.

"My main resolution is to continue to show my students a positive learning environment while fostering the nurturing relationships I have with them," Jenny Michael, a language arts and ACT prep teacher at Seckman High School in Missouri, said via E-mail. "My students show me something new every day and it is one of the best parts of my job, which encourages me to continue educating."

[Find out what 2013 will have in store for high schoolers.]

But to truly succeed, sometimes students need to fail. Mark Westlake, a physics teacher at Saint Thomas Academy in Minnesota, plans to give his students more room to fail in the year ahead.

"I know it sounds terrible, but I believe the greatest student successes are born[e] out of trial and tribulation," Westlake said via E-mail. "I intend to wait longer before answering their questions, I won't handout 'participation ribbons,' and I will refuse to lower my standards. The greatest discoveries were born[e] out of hard work."

Strong teachers can push students past their limits and inspire them to achieve, but even the best teachers need the support of their principal and district administrators. Officials at the Burton School District in California resolved to continue that support in 2013.

"The district governing board, as the community's voice, will continue to provide the professional training, programs and instructional resources necessary to reach our goals," Gary Mekeel, the district's superintendent, told the Porterville Recorder, a local newspaper. "Every teacher and support staff can influence the future. We are committed to each member of our team, and will continue to maintain our staffing to [e]nsure that all of our talent remains in support of every child in our care."

[Learn how teachers put professional development to work.]

To succeed, teachers also need the support of their community. Julie Conlon, a literacy coach at Melbourne High School in Florida, plans to make that her mission for the coming year.

"Instead of just trying to make myself a better teacher by grading papers sooner, I resolve to improve the image of my profession by bragging more," Conlon wrote in a blog post for Education Week. "Focusing on the positives, I will share my stories with family, friends, and strangers. I challenge you to do the same."

Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-school-educators-resolve-better-152031613.html

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Egypt: Foreign reserves good for 3 months' imports

An Egyptian street vendor sits at the back of a pickup truck along with vegetables displayed for sale, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian street vendor sits at the back of a pickup truck along with vegetables displayed for sale, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian street vendor displays vegetables that are loaded on a cart for sale, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian shouts anti-Mohammed Morsi slogans as she waves an Egyptian flag during a protest at Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) ? The Central Bank of Egypt says the country's foreign currency reserves stand at $15.014 billion, enough to cover just three months' worth of imports.

The central bank said last month that current reserve levels represent a "critical minimum." Reserves were down slightly, $26 million, from November, according to the bank's website on Sunday.

The nation's foreign currency reserves have dropped by more than half from $36 billion before the January 2011 uprising. The main factors are significant cuts in foreign investments and tourism.

On Sunday, 10 new ministers were sworn-in in a Cabinet shake-up aimed at improving the government's handling of the country's struggling economy and a rush on dollars by worried residents, spurring a devaluation of the Egyptian pound.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-06-Egypt/id-1f12f6f4260b4d72afd82d44f19c3801

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Forbes 2013 Career List Flamed By University Professors

An anonymous reader writes "The Forbes list of 'least stressful jobs' for 2013 is headlined by... university professors. This comes at a time in which the academic community has been featured on controversies about 100-hour week work journeys, doctors live on food stamps, tenured staff is laid off large science institutions, and the National Science Foundation suffers severe budget cuts, besides the well known (and sometimes publicized) politics of publish or perish. The Forbes reporter has received abundant feedback and published a shy, foot-note 'addendum'; however, the cited source, CareerCast (which does not map to any recognizable career journalist, but rather to a Sports writer), does not seem to have had the same luck. The comments of the Forbes reporter on the existence of a Summer break for graduates ('I am curious whether professors work that hard over the summer') are particularly noteworthy." Here is the CareerCast report the article is based on, and a list of the "stress factors" they considered. The author of the Forbes article passed on a very detailed explanation of how tough a university professor's job can be.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/Pywcz347ZJk/story01.htm

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM blasts Arab donors

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Fayyad is blaming Arab countries that haven?t delivered promised financial aid for an escalating financial crisis in the Palestinian territories. In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Fayyad is blaming Arab countries that haven?t delivered promised financial aid for an escalating financial crisis in the Palestinian territories. In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pauses during an interview with the Associated Press in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Fayyad is blaming Arab countries that haven?t delivered promised financial aid for an escalating financial crisis in the Palestinian territories. In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty.(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gestures during an interview with the Associated Press in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Fayyad is blaming Arab countries that haven?t delivered promised financial aid for an escalating financial crisis in the Palestinian territories. In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? The Palestinian self-rule government is close to being "completely incapacitated," largely because Arab countries haven't delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said in an interview Sunday.

If allowed to continue, the Palestinian Authority's unprecedented financial crisis will quickly double the number of Palestinian poor to 50 percent of a population of roughly 4 million, Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press.

Fayyad said the malaise is further boosting the political appeal of the Islamic militant Hamas while discrediting him and other proponents of a nonviolent path to statehood in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Hamas seized Gaza from Fayyad's boss, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a 2007 takeover, leaving Abbas with only the West Bank.

The failure of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to deliver on many of its promises, coupled with recent Israeli concessions to Hamas, "has produced a reality of a doctrinal win for what Hamas stands for, and correspondingly a doctrinal defeat for the Palestinian Authority," Fayyad said.

The Palestinian Authority was established nearly two decades ago, as part of interim peace deals with Israel, and was meant to make way after five years for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. However, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations repeatedly broke down, at times amid bursts of violence, and failed to produce a final deal.

After the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, which resulted in harsh Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, the Palestinian Authority became heavily dependent on foreign aid. It has received hundreds of millions of dollars each year since then, but has struggled to wean itself off foreign support.

Fayyad said his budget deficit has widened in recent years, blaming Arab states that broke aid promises.

"The financing problem that we've had ... in the last few years is solely due to some Arab donors not fulfilling their pledge of support in accordance with Arab League resolutions," Fayyad said. European countries kept all their aid commitments and the U.S. honored most, with the exception of $200 million held up by Congress last year, he added.

The crisis worsened sharply after the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in late November, at the request of Abbas, to recognize a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in 1967. Israel objected to the U.N. upgrade, accusing Abbas of trying to bypass negotiations.

Starting in December, Israel halted the monthly transfers of about $100 million in tax rebates it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. That sum amounts to about one-third of the monthly operating costs of the Palestinian Authority. Fayyad said he now only takes in about $50 million a month in revenues.

On Sunday, Abbas declared that his Palestinian Authority would be known as the State of Palestine from now on, in keeping with U.N. recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state in November.

Fayyad's heftiest monthly budget item is the government payroll. The Palestinian Authority employs some 150,000 people, including civil servants and members of the security forces. About 60,000 live in Gaza and served under Abbas before the Hamas takeover, but they continue to draw salaries even though they've since been replaced by Hamas loyalists.

In recent months, the government has paid salaries in installments.

Fayyad said he managed to pay half the November salaries by getting another bank loan, using as collateral a promise by the Arab League to cover whatever money Israel might withhold in retaliation for the U.N. bid. The money from the Arab states never came, and Fayyad said he can't pay the rest of the November salaries, let alone December wages.

The Palestinian Authority already owes local banks more than $1.3 billion and can't get more loans. It also owes hundreds of millions of dollars to private suppliers, and some have stopped doing business with the government.

Fayyad said his government is on "the verge of being completely incapacitated." About 1 million Palestinians who depend on government salaries "are at a very serious threat of being pushed into a circle of poverty," he said. This would double the poverty rate, which currently stands at 25 percent in the West Bank and Gaza, he said.

Fayyad said these dire consequences would happen in "short order," but he would not give specifics.

The deputy chairman of the 22-nation Arab League, Mohammed Sbeih, acknowledged Sunday that the Palestinian Authority is in a "critical situation." He said the head of the league has written to member states urging them "to pay the pledged $100 million."

The growing hardships have sparked repeated protests in the West Bank. Civil servants have held several warning strikes. On Sunday, the union decided to step up protests, calling for four days of strikes over the next two weeks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-06-Palestinians/id-d41857b431b443239ae43faaeda135e7

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US teen Shiffrin wins WCup slalom, leads standings

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

CORRECTS NAME OF SWEDISH ATHLETE FROM MARIA PIETILAE-HOLMNER TO FRIDA HANSDOTTER Mikaela Shiffrin from the U.S. center, Sweden's Frida Hansdotter, left and Canada's Erin Mielzynski celebrate on the podium after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Shiffrin won the race, Hansdotter was second and Mielzynski third. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, sprays champagne as she celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, back to camera, celebrates with her teammate Resi Stiegler after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, right, celebrates with her teammate Resi Stiegler after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Marco Tacca)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) ? Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin is living up to her billing as American skiing's next big star.

She earned her second World Cup title Friday by winning the slalom by a massive 1.19-second margin to regain the lead in the discipline standings.

The 17-year-old Shiffrin had the fastest time in both runs to finish in a combined 2 minutes, 1.73 seconds. She won her first career World Cup event last month in Are, Sweden.

"I skied solid. It went really smooth," Shiffrin said. "I was just letting my skis taking me to the bottom and that is what I am looking for."

Shiffrin was helped by mistakes from her closest challengers after the opening leg, Slovenia's Tina Maze and Sweden's Maria Pietilae-Holmner, who both failed to finish their final run.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden was second, and Erin Mielzynski of Canada was 1.76 behind in third. The rest of the field finished more than two seconds off Shiffrin's winning time.

"Everything went really well today," Shiffrin said. "I said it in Are and I say it again now: I have no idea how I feel. Maybe you should ask me again in a couple of years."

Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn, who returned to training Thursday after a monthlong break from the circuit, skipped the race. Slalom world champion Marlies Schild of Austria had been ruled out for three months after knee surgery in December.

Maze, who straddled a gate to end her run Friday, lost her lead in the slalom standings to Shiffrin but remained atop the overall World Cup standings.

Shiffrin has 336 points, followed by Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia with 312 and Maze with 310. The next slalom is another night event on Jan. 15 in Flachau, Austria.

"It's definitely one of my goals to win the slalom title," Shiffrin said. "And then the GS title, and sometime the overall. Right now, I am taking it day by day and race by race."

Velez Zuzulova won the last two races in Semmering and Munich but finished only 24th after a mistake in her second run brought her to a standstill.

Shiffrin said she was back to full strength after fighting a persistent cold in December.

"I was a little bit sick, I think I have my energy back now," she said.

Shiffrin's teammate Resi Stiegler finished ninth for her best result since recovering from knee surgery following her crash at last year's World Cup finals.

The course was in excellent condition despite rising temperatures in the last few days.

A men's slalom on the same course is scheduled for Sunday. The women's circuit travels to St. Anton, Austria, for speed races next week.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-04-WCup-Women's%20Slalom/id-18a5629a1cd843f4b1d8144658005b26

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The Church of England Still Won't Let Its Gay Bishops Have Sex

An image alleged to be of?Samsung?s (005930) upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone was published on Friday by SamMobile. If authentic, the image reveals that Samsung will finally ditch its traditional?home and navigational buttons for on-screen keys. The bezel around the device is thinner, giving the upcoming Galaxy smartphone a near edge-to-edge display, similar to Motorola?s DROID RAZR M. The Galaxy S IV is rumored to feature a 4.99-inch Super AMOLED full HD 1920 X 1080 display, and include a 2GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera. It should be noted, however, that SamMobile could not 100% confirm that the image is authentic. The most recent rumors suggest the Galaxy S IV will be released in

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/church-england-still-wont-let-gay-bishops-sex-181859326.html

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2013-01-04 After 5 Happy Hour @ Park Hyatt | HCMCLife, Nightlife ...

EVENT:
DATE:	Friday 04 Jan,2013
LOCATION:	Park Hyatt 2 Lam Son Square St, District 1,HCMC
TIME:	7PM-10PM
	Reward yourself after a hard day of work with 51% off your food and drink bill at 2 Lam Son. Select a drink from the spectrum of signature martinis, local and imported beers, premium wines and spirits and complement it with Mini Cheese Burgers, Home-made pizza or other savoury snack from the food menu. This special offer is available everyday from 5 pm to 8pm, so share this reward with friends and schedule your next happy hour rendezvous. Discount does not apply to bottle purchases of wine or spirits.

'); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); } }); $.post('http://hcmclife.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', { action: 'fbc_ping', post_id: '21525', nonce: '7c59f19179' }); })(jQuery);

Source: http://hcmclife.com/2013-01-04-after-5-happy-hour-park-hyatt/

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Groups seek halt to Arctic offshore drilling

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. A Coast Guard C-130 plane and a helicopter were used to fly over the grounded vessel on Tuesday morning. The severe weather did not permit putting the marine experts on board the drilling rig, which is near shore and being pounded by stormy seas. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. A Coast Guard C-130 plane and a helicopter were used to fly over the grounded vessel on Tuesday morning. The severe weather did not permit putting the marine experts on board the drilling rig, which is near shore and being pounded by stormy seas. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Incident Management Team commander, observing the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground during an overflight off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said Wednesday, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Sara Francis)

This aerial image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. No leak has been seen from the drilling ship that grounded off the island during a storm, officials said, as opponents criticized the growing race to explore the Arctic for energy resources. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island Wednesday Jan. 2, 2013. There's no indication of a fuel leak from Kulluk, the Coast Guard said Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2013, of a maritime accident that has refueled debate over oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? Two national environmental groups are calling for a halt to federal permits for Arctic offshore petroleum drilling after the grounding of a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill ship off Alaska's coast.

Representatives of the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Wilderness Society say Shell has demonstrated it's not ready to drill in Arctic waters. They say the risks are too large to make mistakes in one of the most fragile places on earth.

The drill ship Kulluk performed preliminary work on a well during the open water season in the Beaufort (BOE-fort) Sea. It was being towed to Seattle last week for upgrades when it became separated from tow lines.

Efforts to maintain reattached lines failed and the barge ran aground Monday night on Sitkalidak (sit-ka-LEE'-dack) Island near Kodiak.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-01-03-Shell%20Arctic%20Drill%20Ship/id-579d1aade2eb4b1a9f5295d902223d7d

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Cold-Water Fish Break The Ice With Antifreeze

Cold-water fish, snow-dwelling bugs and some grasses have evolved natural antifreeze proteins to avoid turning to ice cubes. Peter Davies, a biologist at Queen's University in Ontario, discusses how these antifreeze substances work, and their applications for human problems?like keeping the ice out of ice cream.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/04/168613131/cold-water-fish-break-the-ice-with-antifreeze?ft=1&f=1007

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Westinghouse set to launch 'Roku ready' CES lineup of HD, 4K models

Westinghouse is already jockeying for CES 2013 position in the crowded connected-TV arena, saying it'll announce a bevy of MHL-compliant models at the show that'll work with Roku's HDMI Streaming Stick. That would presumably give the panel maker Smart TV options without having to bake the circuitry into the new models, letting Roku take the load in providing WiFi connectivity along with 400 channels like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus -- all accessible with the TV's remote. Westinghouse teased LED side-lit models ranging from 27- to 60-inches that'll have the option, along with UHDTV sets like the 110-incher it trumpeted earlier. Pricing and availability are still in the air until at least CES, of course, but considering the company's lack of a premium reputation and the fact that you'd also need to purchase the $99 Roku stick, we don't see them looking at the haut de gamme set.

Continue reading Westinghouse set to launch 'Roku ready' CES lineup of HD, 4K models

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/04/westinghouse-set-to-launch-roku-ready-ces-models/

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Stocks soar on budget deal, but problems lurk

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The ?fiscal cliff? compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The ?fiscal cliff? compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The ?fiscal cliff? compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The ?fiscal cliff? compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The ?fiscal cliff? compromise, for all its chaos and controversy, was enough to send the stock market shooting higher Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The "fiscal cliff" compromise, even with all its chaos, controversy and unresolved questions, was enough to ignite the stock market on Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year.

The Dow Jones industrial average careened more than 300 points higher, its biggest gain since December 2011. It's now just 5 percent below its record high close reached in October 2007. The Russell 2000, an index that tracks smaller companies, shot up to the highest close in its history.

The reverie multiplied across the globe, with stock indexes throughout Europe and Asia leaping higher. A leading British index, the FTSE 100, closed above 6,000 for the first time since July 2011.

In the U.S., the rally was extraordinarily broad. For every stock that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, roughly 10 rose. Technology stocks rose the most. U.S. government bond prices fell sharply as investors pulled money out of safe-harbor investments. And the VIX, an index that measures investors' expectations of future market volatility, plunged more than 18 percent to 14.68, the lowest close since October.

The very last week of each year and the first two days of the new year usually average out to a gain for U.S. stocks. But this year stood out. From 2008 to 2012, the Dow rose an average of 93 points on the first trading day of the year, less than a third of Wednesday's gain of 308.41. During that period the Dow fell on the first trading day of the year only once, in 2008.

Despite the euphoria, many investors remained cautious. The deal that politicians hammered out merely postpones the country's budget reckoning, they said, rather than averting it.

"Washington negotiations remind me of the Beach Boys song, 'We'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the T-Bird away," Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Private Bank in Chicago, wrote in a note to clients.

"Nothing got solved," added T. Doug Dale, chief investment officer for Security Ballew Wealth Management in Jackson, Miss.

According to these and other market watchers, investors were celebrating Wednesday not because they love the budget deal that was cobbled together, but because they were grateful there was any deal at all.

"Most people think that no deal would have been worse than a bad deal," said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities in San Francisco.

The House passed the budget bill late Tuesday night, a contentious exercise because many Republicans had wanted a deal that did more to cut government spending. The Senate had already approved the bill.

The late-night haggling was a product of lawmakers wanting to avert a sweeping set of government spending cuts and tax increases that kicked in Tuesday, the start of the new year, because there was no budget deal ready. The scenario came to be known as the fiscal cliff, because of the threat it posed to the fragile U.S. economic recovery.

The bill passed Tuesday night ended the stalemate for now, but it leaves many questions unanswered.

The deal doesn't include any significant deficit-cutting agreement, meaning the country still doesn't have a long-term plan or even an agreement in principle on how to rein in spending. Big cuts to defense and domestic programs, which were slated to kick in with the new year, weren't worked out but instead were just delayed for two months. And the U.S. is still bumping up against its borrowing limit, or "debt ceiling."

"There's definitely another drama coming down the road," said Lehmann. "That's the March cliff."

The political bickering that's almost certain to persist could have another unwelcome effect: influencing ratings agencies to cut the U.S. government's credit score. That happened before, when Standard & Poor's cut its rating on U.S. government debt in August 2011, and the stock market plunged.

Even so, Wednesday's performance gave no hint of the dark clouds on the horizon.

The Dow enjoyed big gains throughout the day, up by more than 200 points within minutes of the opening bell. It swelled even bigger in the final half hour of trading, and closed up 2.4 percent to 13,412.55.

The Standard & Poor's 500 jumped 36.23, or 2.5 percent, to 1,462.42. The Nasdaq rose 92.75, or 3.1 percent, to 3,112.26.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose sharply, to 1.84 percent from 1.75 percent. Prices for oil and key metals were up. The price of copper, which can be a gauge of how investors feel about manufacturing, rose 2.3 percent.

The gains persisted despite small reminders that there are still serious problems punctuating the world economy, like middling growth in the U.S. and the still-unsolved European debt crisis. The government reported that U.S. builders spent less on construction projects in November, the first decline in eight months. And the president of debt-wracked Cyprus said he'd refuse to sell government-owned companies, a provision that the country's bailout deal says it must at least consider.

Among stocks making big moves, Zipcar shot up 48 percent, rising $3.94 to $12.18, after the company said it would sell itself to Avis. Avis rose 95 cents to $20.77, or 5 percent.

Marriott rose 4 percent, up $1.52 to $38.79, after SunTrust analysts upgraded the stock to "buy." Headphone maker Skullcandy dropped 13 percent, losing 99 cents to $6.80, after Jefferies analysts downgraded it to "underperform."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-02-Wall%20Street/id-b0ceb88c0d374b6ab6437093c276d9c5

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