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Monday, November 14, 2011

2 more arrested in Ramos kidnapping in Venezuela

Venezuelan police said Monday that two more suspects have been arrested in the kidnapping of Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos and that authorities are searching for several others.

The men, a Colombian and a Venezuelan, were detained Sunday in a car with several other people in the town of Moron, not far from where Ramos was held captive, national investigative police chief Humberto Ramirez told reporters.

Police seized revolvers from the men as well as a cellular phone "directly linked" to the kidnapping, Ramirez said at a news conference in the central city of Valencia. He said police are searching for other suspects.

Ramos was seized at gunpoint outside his family's home in Valencia last week and was rescued by police commandos two days later at a remote hideout in the mountains of Carabobo state. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami has said four of the abductors escaped amid gunfire during the rescue.

Venezuelan authorities have now arrested eight suspects, including six men accused of direct involvement and a couple accused of providing the abductors with food.

Ramirez identified the Colombian arrested on Sunday as 26-year-old Alexander Moreno Bolanos, saying he is "linked with paramilitary groups." Ramirez didn't elaborate.

The other suspect, 32-year-old Venezuelan Arturo Francisco Rojas Yepez, is from the town of Tovar in the western state of Merida, Ramirez said.

He said authorities are searching for several other Colombians and have physical descriptions of some of the suspects as well as their nicknames.

"We're coordinating with Colombian authorities to acquire information" to help identify the men, Ramirez said.

The 24-year-old major leaguer recently returned to his homeland after his rookie year with the Nationals to play during the offseason for his Venezuelan team, the Aragua Tigers.

When he was abducted, Ramos was standing with his father and two brothers outside the front door of his family's home in their working-class neighborhood.

He said after his release that his kidnappers had carefully planned the abduction with the help of an informant who had studied his movements. Ramos said his abductors told him they were going to demand a large ransom.

It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela. Kidnappings have risen sharply in the country during the past decade, and relatives of several major leaguers have previously been kidnapped for ransom.
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Gang Member Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking

A Rollin 30's Harlem Crip gang member who was arrested in 2008 as part of a large ATF/DEA investigation dubbed "Operation Criptonite" was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute oxycotin by United States Federal District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez.

Shaunta Taylor, 39, who also received 36 months of supervised release, was a previously convicted felon in Calif., and also a member of the Rollin 30's Harlem Crip criminal street gang which claims territory in parts of south central Los Angeles.

"This 20 year sentence will serve as a reminder to gang members that engaged in acts that promote violence in the communities, that they will not be tolerated," said John A. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of ATF's Los Angeles Field Division. "This was a great investigation by all involved and capped off by a sentence that shows that crime does not pay. We will not see this character for a long time."

"Today's lengthy sentence sends a strong message to gang members everywhere that dealing in federally prescribed narcotics will be met with severe sanctions and will result in serious prison sentences," said United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr.

This investigation was part of a larger two year ATF, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Los Angeles Police Department, and the California Department of Corrections-Special Services Unit, that targeted the Rollin 30's gang. Approximately 65 gang members were arrested and prosecuted for firearms and narcotics related charges. The Rollin 30's have been known to engage in narcotics trafficking, home invasion robberies and firearms trafficking.
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Warren Buffett got special permission from SEC to keep secret his investment in IBM

Buffett disclosed that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, had bought a 5.5 per cent stake in International Business Machines Corp, his first big investment in a technology company ever. Investor Warren Buffett says his company bought about $10.7 billion of IBM stock this year, giving him a more than 5 percent stake in the technology company. MF Global Parent Sued by Former Employees Over Firings MF Global Holdings Ltd., parent of the bankrupt broker-dealer, was sued by former employees who said they were terminated without cause and seek to recover 60 days’ wages and benefits.

Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it’s too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.

But he said he recently changed his view of IBM based on what he read in the company’s annual reports and what he learned by talking to IT departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that the heart of IBM’s business is providing service and equipment to information technology departments.

“There’s a fair amount of presumption in many places that if you’re with IBM, you stay with them,” Buffett said.

So Berkshire bought about 64 million shares since March, or about 5.5 percent of IBM. Buffett says he believes IBM has a sound plan for the future. But Buffett didn't build his $10 billion-plus stake in IBM overnight. He started buying eight months ago, beginning in March. You wouldn't have known that if you had been studiously reading Berkshire Hathaway's filings - known as 13Fs - in which companies must disclose stock holdings. There was no mention of IBM in Berkshire's quarterly filing in April, nor in August. Instead, if you were looking carefully, you might have a found an odd footnote that said: "Confidential information has been omitted from the form 13F and filed separately with the commission."

Translation: Buffett received special permission from the SEC to keep secret his investment in IBM - and possibly keep secret stakes in other companies that he is building positions in that we have yet to learn about.

Buffett's special treatment from the SEC is not new - he has long taken advantage of an obscure rule to avoid disclosing his bets to the public before he is good and ready.

Buffett - and other billionaire investors like Carl Icahn, Bill Ackman and Nelson Peltz - essentially argue that the simple disclosure of an investment would cause the price to rise so much as to scuttle their strategy.

The rule says that the SEC "may prevent or delay public disclosure of form 13F information for public interest reasons or the protection of investors."

In this case, the rule is clearly meant to protect the investor - Buffett - not the public.

John Nestor, a spokesman for the SEC, said the agency tries "to balance the benefits of transparency of how large managers invest with the need to temporarily protect the legitimate confidentiality interests of managers in limited circumstances."

Buffett, in an interview, asked me, "How would you feel if you had to announce every story idea you had?"

He said he did not believe public investors should always be allowed to piggyback on investment ideas made by professional investors, especially before they are finished buying.

"There are only about three people I'd like to know what they are doing," he said. "But I don't feel entitled to know." He paused for a moment, "In fact, I think it would be unfair."

Still, at a time when investors are asking for more and more transparency, there is a sense that the playing field on Wall Street is tilted toward the wealthy. Under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, all big institutional investors - now defined as managing over $100 million - have

to disclose their holdings every quarter. Investors who buy up more than 5 per cent of a public company typically must file a separate 13D filing when they accumulate the shares.

One of the reasons for the rules is to prevent an investor from mounting a covert takeover effort; another is so average investors know where big wheels are moving their money.
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International Monetary Fund to release new rules for currency basket

The International Monetary Fund will release new criteria for currencies to enter its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket by the end of November, a possible step to including Brazil's real and China's yuan, Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Friday. Their inclusion would be important to Brazil and China because the SDRs are a basket of currencies most global trade is settled in -- U.S. dollars, euros, Japanese yen and sterling.
"There's already been a view for a while that the basket needs to be broadened at some point and that currencies from emerging markets would be the most logical candidates for inclusion," the newspaper quoted an unidentified, high-level IMF source as saying.

"The publication of the criteria won't automatically mean this or that currency is included or excluded, but will just clarify what requirements a currency will have to meet for inclusion," the source added.

A representative of the IMF was not immediately available for comment.

Brazil and China are part of the powerhouse BRICS group of emerging markets, also comprising Russia, India and South Africa.

As many developed economies have faltered -- the U.S. recovery remains fragile, and a two-year-old sovereign debt crisis could threaten the 17-nation euro zone's existence -- those emerging markets are assuming increasing prominence.

The largest economies in Latin America and Asia, respectively, both Brazil and China have made clear they want greater representation at the IMF to reflect their greater clout on the world stage.

The SDR is not a currency. It can be held and used by member countries, the IMF and certain designated entities called "prescribed holders."

SDRs can be traded for one of the "freely usable" currencies through voluntary trading arrangements among official SDR holders, and there is also a backstop system to ensure the liquidity of the SDR for countries with balance of payments needs.
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CHina: Help Europe, help thyself

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned in a Nov. 9 speech in Beijing that the global economy risks “a lost decade of low growth and high unemployment” unless countries work together to resolve debt crises.

And China’s monetary-policy makers, she said, have a key role to play. “When inflation pressures are high and monetary policy is accommodative, monetary tightening makes sense,” she said at the 2011 International Finance Forum. “But when inflation is under control and exposure to external dangers is high, countries can hold off on monetary tightening.”

Lagarde is an attorney who served in several French government posts before being named the first woman to head the IMF in July.

Lagarde pushed for financial regulatory reform in France during the 2008 global financial crisis. She also called for raising core-capital adequacy ratios at systematically important banks to 9%, at a time when other French and German leaders sought to delay stricter requirements.

In an interview, Caixin asked Lagarde to comment specifically on Europe’s current debt woes, the IMF’s role in fixing them, and what China can do to help. When asked about her economic philosophy, Lagarde described herself as “with Adam Smith — that is, liberal.”  Caixin: You said this morning China needs to loosen its monetary policy to help the world economy. Could you elaborate on that?

Christine Lagarde: This morning I was talking about Asia in general. In China, the policy that has been adopted so far has been aimed at lowering credit growth after the stimulus of last year, with a view to reducing inflation and credit-quality risks. As we see inflation go down currently, this trend is appropriate and should be maintained for now. Monetary tightening doesn’t have to be vigorous and aggressive, it can be tempered and prudential.

Have you gotten any reaction from the Chinese government?

There was no specific hostility or disagreement with my suggestion. But maybe he hadn’t had time to look at my remarks.

China has pledged to move to full yuan convertibility. Why is that important?

I suppose full convertibility coupled with the internationalization of the currency would certainly help China include its currency in the basket of currencies that underlie the Special Drawing Rights. I think that would be a good signal, because China is such a key player and a leader in the global economy. … It’s a little bit strange that such a large international player, such a leading country, does not participate in the currency grouping.
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China banks may nurse huge losses in extreme case: International Monetary Fund

China's biggest commercial banks face systemic risks if a combination of credit, property, currency and yield curve shocks that could be withstood in isolation were to occur together, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.
The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that China’s banks face growing risks that might hamper growth, adding to concern about the world’s second-largest economy amid Europe’s debt crisis.

The IMF’s comments add to warnings by industry analysts that state-owned banks face a possible rise in bad loans and other problems after a lending boom that helped China rebound quickly from the 2008 global crisis.
But China can contain these dangers by freeing up financial markets to give investors, commercial banks and the central bank greater autonomy from government control, the fund said in its first-ever review of the Chinese financial system.

While not predicting an imminent disaster, the IMF made clear China needs to act quickly because it is vulnerable to destabilising asset bubbles.

"The existing configuration of financial policies fosters high savings, structurally high levels of liquidity, and a high risk of capital misallocation and asset bubbles, particularly in real estate," the IMF said.

The 126-page report, completed in June but published only on Tuesday, contains 29 key recommendations. The fund said it ran a stress test on 17 banks that account for 83 percent of China's commercial banking system.

The test, done in collaboration with the Chinese central bank and bank regulator, showed banks' non-performing-loan ratios rose by at least one percentage point for each one-percentage-point drop in gross domestic product.

Under a severe scenario where banks suffer a confluence of shocks, capital adequacy ratios -- or credit safety nets -- of lenders accounting for about a fifth of China's total banking assets fell below the regulatory minimum of 8 percent.

The IMF said the severe scenario assumes annual economic growth of 4 percent; M2 (money supply) growth of around 10 percent; a property price tumble of nearly 26 percent, and a change in deposit and lending rates of 95 basis points.

However, the Chinese government's response on Tuesday to the report suggested Beijing is not rushing to heed the fund's advice.

"We have also noticed that the report contains several points of view that are not sufficiently comprehensive and objective," the People's Bank of China said in a statement published on its website.

"The government's sway over financial markets has already evolved from direct intervention to asserting influence through regulation of financial companies," the central bank said.

It added that China needs to do its own studies to gauge the feasibility of the IMF's recommendations. Banks “appear to be resilient to isolated shocks” such as a fall in real estate prices, exchange rate changes or deterioration in asset quality, the IMF said.

“If several of these risks were to occur at the same time, however, the banking system could be severely impacted,” it said.

The IMF said its ability to assess the full extent of risks was hampered by incomplete data, lack of a sufficiently long financial record and lack of access to confidential data.
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Kat Von D Claims Jesse James Cheated on Her With How Many Women?

After breaking up and then making up, we're guessing this is her public announcement that it's officially over.

Kat Von D vented on her Facebook page today with a very lengthy note about some inside dramz between her relationship with Jesse James. And the L.A Ink star pretty much caught our attention right from the start, when she shared, "Today I encountered the 19th girl to add to the list of people Jesse cheated on me with during this last year. The post, titled, "Thank you, Jesse James," begins with, "Never have I felt so strong about True Love, than I do today.  I believe in Love more than anything else, and more than ever before," and continues to discuss how she juggled with ideas on how best to "let go of any residual feelings remaining from that toxic relationship," and apparently Facebook was the answer. Isn't it always?!

Further down, we're graced with some remarks from the past, mainly the whole Sandra Bullock debacle.
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Obama girds Hawaii supporters for 2012 fight

US President Barack Obama told supporters in his home state of Hawaii that everything they fought for in his 2008 election triumph was in the balance in the 2012 race.

Obama took a day to raise money for his reelection campaign and to relax by playing golf after he hosted a regional summit on Sunday. On Tuesday the president's entourage heads off to Australia to continue an Asia-Pacific tour.

"Everything we fought for in the last election is now at stake in the next election," Obama told around 250 people who had paid from $1,000 to attend the campaign brunch at a Disney resort in Hawaii.

"The very core of what this country stands for is on the line. The basic promise that no matter who you are or where you come from, what you look like, that you can make it in America if you try -- that vision is on the line."

Obama also defended his landmark health care legislation on a day when the Supreme Court said it would consider the constitutionality of the law following a series of legal challenges by Republican state officials.

The president said the law passed last year will finally ensure that people cannot be bankrupted by high costs for medical care when they get sick.

"It provides everybody protection, so that if you get sick, if you have a preexisting condition, you can still afford to get health insurance -- you'll still have access to quality care," he said.

The Supreme Court agreed to consider a request by the Obama administration to declare the measure constitutional as well as two cases challenging it.

The president, who has endured a crisis-strewn tenure of nearly three years in the White House, said that he had predicted that bringing about change would be hard, but that his supporters should not give up hope.

And he accused his Republican opponents of using the need to compete with low-wage economies like China as an excuse to gut worker protections back home.

"The Republicans in Congress and these folks on the campaign trail, they think the best way for America to compete for new jobs and businesses is to follow other countries in a race to the bottom," Obama said.

"Since places like China allow companies to pay low wages, they want to roll back the minimum wage and the right to organize here at home.

"We're not going to win the competition in the Asia Pacific region by seeing if we can have the lowest wages and the worst pollution. We can't win that race."

Obama leaves for Australia on Tuesday for a visit which will highlight 60 years of strategic ties between the two nations.

He is expected to announce a significant escalation of military cooperation that is likely to see US Marines stationed in Darwin -- a geo-strategic shift that recognizes the emergence of regional superpower China.

Obama will hold talks with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and make an address to parliament in Canberra before heading to Darwin and becoming the first US president to visit the Northern Territory.

The president will then move onto Bali, Indonesia where he will become the first US leader to attend the East Asia summit next weekend.
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US ex-coach hits back at sex abuse charges

Jerry Sandusky, the former Pennsylvania State University football coach charged with child sex abuse, has admitted to showering with young boys, but says he did so without any intention of sexual contact.

In comments made to a US television news channel, Sandusky said he had "horsed around with kids", hugged them and "touched their legs without intent of sexual contact", but denied charges that he was a paedophile.

A former defensive co-ordinator for Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, Sandusky was charged earlier this month with 40 counts of sexually abusing eight boys, and is currently free on a $100,000 bond.

According to a grand jury report, Sandusky is accused of having sexual encounters with young boys in his home, at hotels and in the Penn State locker rooms. The allegations date back to 1994.

When pressed in the interview with NBC news to articulate what exactly he had done wrong, Sandusky said: "I shouldn't have showered with those kids." The scandal has rocked the university, and led to the departure of head coach Paterno and three other university officials.

Sandusky's lawyers, meanwhile, say that they have answers for every allegation levelled by prosecutors.

In a separate television appearance on Monday, Joe Amendola, who represents Sandusky, told CNN that the former coach's defence team was having trouble finding some of the alleged victims mentioned in the grand jury report.

Amendola also said that his client was "a big overgrown kid".
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Chelsea Clinton Hired as Correspondent for NBC News

NBC announced Monday that it has hired Chelsea Clinton to become a full-time special correspondent for NBC News. The appointment was immediate. Ms. Clinton will begin work on stories that NBC expects to use as part of its “Making a Difference” series, which runs on “NBC Nightly News,” said Steve Capus, president of NBC News.

Ms. Clinton has been a national figure since her father won the presidency in 1992, but she has remained — first by her parents’ request and then by her own choice — largely out of the public eye.

Mr. Capus said an intermediary contacted him in July with word that “she was kicking around what she wanted to do next.”

Mr. Capus said he had met with Ms. Clinton and had a long conversation that began with a simple question. “I asked her: ‘What are you interested in doing?’ ”

Ms. Clinton told him, he said, that during her mother’s campaign for president in 2008, she had been moved by stories of people making personal contributions.

“What we talked about was if she were to come on board that’s the kind of thing she would be interested in doing. We knew she wasn’t going to do the lead story. But having somebody who was going to do really captivating feature assignments for the ‘Making a Difference’ franchise really kind of synced up,” Mr. Capus said.

Those feature reports, which have become popular on NBC’s evening newscast — and which may be added to NBC’s new prime-time newsmagazine program, “Rock Center With Brian Williams” — spotlight people who are making volunteer commitments to improve the lives of others in their community.

Mr. Capus said Ms. Clinton had said to him, “That’s the kind of thing, if this were to happen, that I would really like to do.” He added, “It’s not about Chelsea Clinton saying, ‘Here I am; I want to be a TV star.’ ”

Ms. Clinton, who was not available for comment, said in a statement: “I hope telling stories through ‘Making a Difference’ — as in my academic work and nonprofit work — will help me to live my grandmother’s adage of ‘Life is not about what happens to you, but about what you do with what happens to you.’ ”

One person close to Ms. Clinton said she had been quietly raising her profile for some time, though the public had not been completely aware of it. That person, who asked not to be identified because of a reluctance to speak for her, said Ms. Clinton had been more active in causes backed by her family’s William J. Clinton Foundation, and that she had, in fact, spoken at more than 400 town halls in 2008 in support of her mother’s candidacy.

“Even after that people would say they didn’t know what her voice sounds like,” the person close to her said. “But she enjoyed doing it.”

Ms. Clinton will continue her work with the Clinton Foundation and her studies at Oxford as she pursues the new job with NBC.

The person also said that Ms. Clinton had said she intended to donate most of the money she earned from NBC to the Clinton Foundation and the George Washington University Hospital in the name of her grandmother, who died this month.

Ms. Clinton will become the second daughter of a president hired by NBC News, and the third daughter of a recent presidential candidate. Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of President George W. Bush, works as a correspondent for NBC’s “Today” show, and Meghan McCain, daughter of John McCain, is a contributor to MSNBC.

Mr. Capus said the issue of the other political daughters did not come up in his conversations with Ms. Clinton.

But Mr. Capus emphasized that this, and the others, are all serious hires by NBC News. He said Ms. Clinton had “made it very clear that this is not going to be a surface-deep relationship.” He added, “She wants to be in the field for the shoot and in the edit room for the edit.”

Might this be the start of a full-time television career for Ms. Clinton? Mr. Capus said, “We both want to see how this goes. It will be full time for the near-term future. But I hope it’s the beginning of a nice, long-term relationship.”
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Founder of (Diaspora) Open-Source Facebook Foe Dies at 22

Ilya Zhitomirskiy, one of the co-founders of Facebook-alternative Diaspora, died Saturday night at the age of 22. Ilya Zhitomirskiy, a co-founder of the startup social networking site Diaspora that put an emphasis on privacy and user-control, has died, a company spokesman said Monday. He was 22.

The cause of Zhitomirskiy’s death in San Francisco wasn’t immediately known, and neither the company nor the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office would release details. A spokesman for the San Francisco medical examiner's office confirmed the death of Zhitomirskiy to FoxNews.com, originally reported Sunday by popular tech news blog TechCrunch. He was unable to confirm reports that the young man committed suicide.

Confirmation of the final cause of death could take weeks, he said. The New York University graduate was struggling to launch his social network Diaspora -- an open-source social network Zhitomirskiy started building with classmates Dan Grippi, Maxwell Salzberg and Raphael Sofaer early last year. Their goal was to provide an idealistic Facebook alternative with an emphasis on user control and privacy.

The team struggled with money as it worked to release its website, despite quickly raising $200,000 in funding through venture capitalists and microfinance startup Kickstarter after being featured in The New York Times.

But a blog post from the company on Oct. 12 begged followers for more money; the company argued that PayPal had been "mysteriously and arbitrarily" freezing donations to the site. PayPal reportedly liberated the funds.

The site’s founders described Diaspora as a "distributed network, where totally separate computers connect to each other directly, will let us connect without surrendering our privacy." Last year, they released the first version of the site to a limited audience.

The team’s efforts even got the attention of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who donated money to the project. “I think it is cool people are trying to do it,” he told Wired. “I see a little of myself in them. It’s just their approach that the world could be better and saying, ‘We should try to do it’.”

Friends and fans came together on Twitter to mourn the young entrepreneur’s death.

“This is very #sad; I also wish the @joindiaspora team strength,” one fan said.

"Shocked and deeply sad for the world that my friend @zhitomirskiyi, co-founder of Diaspora, is dead... The world needed his voice," said Mozilla interface guru Aza Raskin

Diaspora has launched a site redesign in the wake of Zhitomirskiy’s passing.
The fledgling social network's home page at diasp.org on Monday featured a picture of a giant dandelion going to seed next to an image of Zhitomirskiy seated in a classroom. Beneath the image was his name and "1989-2011."

"We'll all miss Ilya more than we can say," Diaspora co-founder Peter Schurman said in a statement released late Monday.

"Ilya was a great friend and a brilliant person, a visionary whose work for a better future online brought hope to many people," he continued.

Public memorial services are being planned for Friday in San Francisco and two days later in Philadelphia, according to Schurman, who said details of the events would be released after arrangements are finalized.

"In life, Ilya brought people together," Schurman said. "In death, he would have wanted the same thing."

Zhitomirskiy and three fellow students at New York University built Diaspora as a "privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all, open source social network."

Diaspora opened to software developers in September of last year and a version of the online network went public two months later.
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David Nelson scores for Bills, gives ball to Cowboys cheerleader ‎

New York, NY, USA --- David Nelson did his best to avoid an awkward situation on Sunday.
Also a rumer of david nelson died... But we know the david nelson fantasy
After catching a three-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put the Buffalo Bills on the scoreboard, 21-7, Nelson first celebrated with his teammates in the end zone, then went to the sideline and handed the ball to his girlfriend -- who happens to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

"It was a special moment to share with her," Nelson said of Kelsi Reich, who is in her fourth season as a Cowboys cheerleader. "I didn't want it to be awkward."

Nelson's gesture thrilled Reich, who tweeted after the 44-7 Cowboys win: "What a special day today was! I feel so blessed & so proud of @DavidNelson86! Thanks for my game ball, I wont let go of it :) happiest girl!"

Some of Nelson's Twitter followers approve of the move as well, calling it "classy" and "adorable."

But Nelson also is receiving his share of backlash, with tweets such as "you embarassed Buffalo and its fans by celebrating down 21-7 w that ... skit ... act like you care about the game!" and "You can showboat when ur up 30 points, not down 2 td's on the road."

Nelson, who is from Wichita Falls, Texas, (about two hours from Cowboys Stadium) has been pretty low-key with his responses to the haters, saying things such as "I respectfully disagree" and "check the game film. I played my tail off. I wanted that win more than anything."

But just in case that didn't shut them up, he also retweeted this photo of a beaming Reich holding the game ball, which she captioned "Happiest girl in the world! :)" Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Nelson has sparked a considerable amount of controversy this week after he scored a touchdown for his team and then gave the football to his Dallas Cowboys cheerleader girlfriend who was at the game supporting his opponents.

After scoring a touchdown which put the Bills down by 21-7 last night, Nelson celebrated his victory first with his teammates then quickly made his way over to his girlfriend.

Kelsi Reich could not have been happier about her boyfriend’s decision to include her in his celebration, despite her efforts to cheer for his rivals, but some people didn’t exactly see the gesture in the flattering way Reich did.

One fan tweeted “you embarassed Buffalo and its fans by celebrating down 21-7 w that … skit … act like you care about the game!” while another said “You can showboat when ur up 30 points, not down 2 td’s on the road.”

Nelson didn’t seem too bothered by the comments and responded with things like “I respectfully disagree” and “I played my tail off.”

He also retweeted the photo (see above) posted by his girlfriend on her Twitter account where she’s proudly holding the game ball with the caption “Happiest girl in the world.”

We can see why!

Do you think David Nelson made a good call by giving his girlfriend the game ball after his touchdown? There isn’t a man in America who is a fan of David Nelson.

It’s not because he’s good looking, plays NFL football for a living or makes more money than 90% of us. (Or is it 99% of us? Memo to self: Must consult with Occupy Wall Street accountants.)

No, the reason men don’t like David Nelson is because he’s good-looking, plays football for a living, makes lots of green AND has a freakin’ Dallas Cowboys cheerleader for a girlfriend.

We haven’t hated a guy with this kind of fury since, well, Tom Brady.

On Sunday, Nelson said that if he managed to catch a TD pass vs. the Cowboys, he would “do something special.” Nelson did catch a TD and afterward dashed down the Bills sideline until he found girlfriend Kelsi Reich and gave her the ball along with a hug. (We’re dry-heaving here, just so you know). Turns out it was the lone Bills highlight in an otherwise forgettable day for Buffalo in its 44-7 shellacking in Big ‘D.'

But it still leaves us with two questions: How does a Bills receiver snag a Cowboys cheerleader? And does she have a sister who lusts for an underpaid sportswriter?
We’re not sure if David and Kelsi hooked up after the game before the Bills hightailed it home. But if he didn’t fit in a little, you know, conjugal time, well then we no longer hate David. We pity him.

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Boston: Tom Brady, Patriots showing limitations

Boston, MA, USA --- All along, the question has been whether the Tom Brady-led offense could carry the New England Patriots to their ultimate goal. It was understood that the defense was a work in progress, but the high-powered offense was supposed to be the least of the team's worries.
In Sunday's surprising 24-20 loss to the New York Giants, Pats quarterback Tom Brady didn't look like Tom Brady. His trademark decision-making and accuracy were nowhere to be found for long stretches of the action. Unexpectedly, the Patriots' much-maligned defense kept them in the game for the first three quarters until Brady finally found his groove. But then another leak sprung on the ship, with the D imploding in the fourth quarter.

The turn of events reflects how the Patriots -- who fell to 5-3 and into a three-way tie atop the AFC East standings -- are a disjointed team right now. They have flashes of excellence on offense and defense, but haven't put it all together in recent weeks. Not to be overlooked is their special-teams play, which continues to let them down.

The offensive struggles are most surprising. The Patriots, who had scored 30-plus points in 13 straight games (one shy of the NFL record), have now been held to 20 or fewer points in three straight games for the first time since 2003.

"We're not playing the way we're capable, so we'll try to figure out the reasons why," a dejected Brady said. "We keep practicing; we keep battling out there. There's a lot of fight in the guys. We just didn't finish the way we would have hoped that it would finish."

Much like Super Bowl XLII, Brady was pressured by the Giants' powerful defensive line and couldn't get into a rhythm until late in the fourth quarter. He finished 28-of-49 for 342 yards, with two touchdowns, two interceptions and one lost fumble, the high yardage not truly reflective of how much he struggled at times.

The turnovers obviously hurt, with Brady's first interception coming on a tipped ball in the second quarter. But it was his second pick that seems to better reflect why the offense has slipped in recent weeks.

On the third-quarter play, Brady had receiver Chad Ochocinco open in front of the Patriots' bench, but instead fired up the seam to tight end Rob Gronkowski. The throw was undercut by safety Deon Grant. By now, it's clear that Brady-to-Ochocinco isn't clicking, and this looked like a clear-cut example of it. Brady just doesn't trust Ochocinco enough at this point.

"We're working at it. We've only played together for eight games," Brady said. "We're just going to keep working at it. We've got no other choice but just to keep working at it."

Brady targeted Ochocinco five times Sunday, and the veteran receiver -- who, halfway through the season, has nine receptions and one big drop in Buffalo -- finished without a catch. Fox television cameras showed the two talking on the sideline after one series, the frustration evident on Brady's face.

With receiver Deion Branch's production fluctuating on a week-to-week basis, Ochocinco's failure to emerge has left Brady overly reliant on two players: receiver Wes Welker and Gronkowski. They were targeted on 25 of Brady's 49 pass attempts. Much like in Super Bowl XLII, the Patriots couldn't get a consistent running game going Sunday, which made them predictable.

The way Giants defenders saw it, they made Brady uncomfortable by disguising their intentions before the snap, which got him out of his comfort zone. In turn, that might have led to Brady locking in more on his top trusted targets, Welker and Gronkowski.

"He looked like he was a little bit uncomfortable with some of his reads," said Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck, who also had harassed Brady in Super Bowl XLII. "He took his time at the line of scrimmage, and that's when you know you've given him some things that maybe he hasn't done before, or he's confused a little bit about.

"He does a great job, maybe the best in the league, of looking at a defense and knowing what a weakness is and exploiting it. I think we did a good job of disguising. Obviously we're not going to be able to stop them, but I felt as if we slowed them down."

Welker didn't necessarily agree that the Giants did anything out of the ordinary. Instead, he looked within the Patriots' own locker room and said "it was just a matter of our execution and us turning the ball over."

In addition to the two interceptions and the lost Brady fumble, Julian Edelman lost a fumble on a punt return, making Sunday's the third game this season in which the team has had at least four giveaways. That's a first for the Patriots under Bill Belichick; the last time they had three games with at least four turnovers in a season was in 1999.

Brady attempted to put a positive spin on things, noting that effort isn't the issue and that there is no quit among his teammates, which is all true. Had Eli Manning not led a game-winning 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots' offense would have been lauded for its own late-game magic.

But that's not the way it unfolded.

"It's just our execution. We're going to keep battling, and we have half the season to go," Brady said. "We'll see what our team is made of this week."
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How Makana Become Famous?

Makana, sporting an "Occupy with Aloha" shirt, provided the musical entertainment to APEC leaders and the Obama family, as the intimate group gathered in Honolulu for the gala.

"I showed up and did my gig . . . it was an incredible experience to sing the words - those words - to that room of people. And I didn't belt it out. I started very subtly and subliminally," Makana explained to his fans in a recent YouTube video called "Occupy With Aloha."

The video, which documents Makana's APEC journey, has received more than 35,000 views since the weekend. The musician, whose real name is Matthew Swalinkavich, delivered "We Are The Many," a song inspired by the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements around the world.

At the APEC dinner, Obama was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, along with heads of 18 nations including Stephen Harper of Canada, Hu Jintao of China and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Despite lyrics like, "We'll occupy the streets / We'll occupy the courts / We'll occupy the offices of you / Till you do / The bidding of the many, not the few," none of the world leaders seemed to notice Makana's performance.

"Then I realized that wow, I didn't get in trouble. So I played it again, and I made a different version of it. And I ended up playing for about 45 minutes," Makana said of his possible trick. A popular Hawaiian singer used his performance at a dinner of world leaders hosted by President Barack Obama to voice his support for the 'Occupy' movement.

Makana was enlisted to play a luau, or Hawaiian feast, for members of the Pacific Rim who had gathered in Obama's birthplace Honolulu for an annual summit formulating plans for a Pacific free-trade pact.

During the meal on the resort strip Waikiki Beach, he proudly pulled open his jacket to reveal a T-shirt which read 'Occupy with Aloha' - using the Hawaiian word whose include love and peace.
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Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Obama Health Care Law

what is health care
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to President Obama's signature law on health care, it said Monday in an announcement that has nearly as much impact on partisan politics as the final decision has on the law itself.

The challenge in the case, brought by 26 states out of Florida, is based on the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Patient Accountability and Affordable Care Act, which requires that all Americans purchase health insurance.

The nine-member court will also look at severability, meaning if the mandate falls, could the rest of the law survive since it is primarily built on the revenues collected by forcing people to buy health care.

The court is also folding in an additional case on the tax implications of the law.

The case is one that all sides want heard. But hearing the case this session -- arguments could come in March -- means that a ruling will come in June -- in the heat of the 2012 election cycle.

Some argue that a defeat for Obama would be as beneficial as a victory since it would take away an economic and philosophical argument that Republicans have used to bash the law that will impact roughly 18 percent of the nation's annual gross domestic product.

If the mandate is wiped off the map but the law itself isn't, the president would also be able to promote aspects that most Americans say they accept, including leaving 26 year olds on their parents insurance and not allowing insurers to reject clients with pre-existing conditions. health law

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 1 million more young Americans have health insurance, women are getting mammograms and preventive services without paying an extra penny out of their own pocket and insurance companies have to spend more of your premiums on health care instead of advertising and bonuses," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement. health care

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican presidential candidate who has made repeal and replacement of the law the first plank of his economic plan, tweeted that he is "pleased" the court has agreed to hear the case. health care services
Supreme Court to Hear Case Challenging Health Law
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Mayor Nutter: City Reevaluating Relationship with Occupy Phill

Striking a tougher tone than he's used in the past when discussing the Occupy movement, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says the city is reevaluating its relationship with the Occupy Philadelphia campers. Citing health and safety concerns, the mayor says the protesters are in violation of their city-issued permit.
"Occupy Philly has changed," Mayor Nutter says. "We're seeing serious health and safety issues playing out on almost a daily basis."
Nutter told reporters at a press conference this afternoon that the Occupy group has not responded to the city's health and safety concerns, which include the suspected use of open-flame cooking stoves near combustible tents and the lack of a clear emergency exit lane.
The city has been working with the protesters to identify a new location for the camp, so that repairs can be made to City Hall and a planned major renovation to Dilworth Plaza can begin. The mayor says the city has received no response from the group and he says the group has refused to work with the city. "Occupy Philly is now purposefully standing in the way of nearly 1,000 jobs for Philadelphians at a time of high unemployment."
Protestor Seth Goldstein defended the group, "It's a group of people. There are going to be problems, but you cannot paint the whole group with the actions of a few people."
"We do not seek confrontation with Occupy Philly," Nutter says. But, with a change in the Occupy group's leadership and what the mayor sees as a change in its priorities, the mayor says the city must reevaluate its relationship with the protesters.
The mayor says there have been 15 emergency calls from Occupy, including an alleged sexual assault Saturday night. He says the police presence will be increased, but he didn't have specific plans beyond that.
There are those in the encampment on Dilworth Plaza that agree with the mayor's assessment. "The organization is getting divided," one demonstrator says. "They're being distracted and a lot of things that are going on are beginning to look like a problem and I can see the point of view of the people who are paying the money around here."
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Reveals of KFC’s Other Secret Recipes

The Internet is constantly stirring the pot when it comes to the hippest restaurants and food trends. There are food blogs, people tweeting about food, and even pictures of food. The latest food phenomenon being talked about in social media comes from chicken franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken. An employee recently uncovered a 50-year-old book from Colonel Harland Sanders himself in the KFC archives. Within the book is a secret manuscript from the  mid-1960s. In the first chapter, the colonel describes the nearly 200-page book as "the story of a man's life and the story of the food he's cooked and eaten." Also included are the colonel's recipes for casseroles, omelets, pancakes, and pies that reflect his love for "old-time country and farm cooking." KFC is looking into putting portions of the book online, as well as turning some of the new-found recipes into menu items for its stores. Do not get your hopes up though. Those famously secret 11 herbs and spices for Colonel Sanders's fried chicken will remain hidden. The manuscript is locked in the company's vault in Louisville, Kentucky.  However, people on social media are still captivated about the new find. One Tweeter even said, "My life is complete."

So the "Oops" heard 'round the world is quickly becoming the most watched video on YouTube.  In fact, the clip currently holds the top spot in the "Top 5 Hot Political Videos." In Wednesday night's GOP debate, presidential hopeful Rick Perry stumbled when asked what government agencies he would cut. He tried naming three, but could remember only two. Many people saw it as a blow to his campaign for the White House, and some people took the opportunity to make fun of Perry's gaffe. The customer review site Yelp.com posted an update to its iPhone app with the description as follows: "It fixed three bugs, bookmark bugs, IOS5 styling bugs, and Uh...What's the third one? Let's see bookmarks, IOS5 layout, and the um, third one we can't recall. Oops." Social media is loving Yelp's stunt.  People are calling it "glorious" and "the best thing Yelp has ever done." Even the Yellow Pages app applauded Yelp, tweeting, "they're our competition, but we like to commend clever people for clever things." In his own mea culpa, the Texas governor even poked fun at himself after the debate, tweeting, "Really glad I wore my boots 2nite because I stepped in it out there."
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Why Young Workers Like Facebook, Apple and Google

Young professionals want to work for Google, Apple and Facebook. Investment banks? Not so much. About one in five young workers in the U.S. picked Google Inc. as a most desirable place to work according to a survey by Universum, an employment data and consulting firm. Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., the U.S. State Department and Walt Disney Co. round out the top five.

Universum queried about 6,700 early-career professionals, defined as college graduates under the age of 40 with one to eight years of work experience, and asked them to pick as many as five ideal employers out of a list of about 200. Respondents could also write in candidates.

This is the second year that Universum has conducted the survey. Google topped the earlier survey as well.

Google has "established a very strong brand in what its culture is, in what it's like to work there," says Chris Cordery, Universum's director of Americas. Based on the responses to the survey, Mr. Cordery says, candidates "look at Google as compensating employees well and offering challenging work but at the same time it will be a fun and strong culture."

Meanwhile, many financial-services firms saw their popularity drop since last year, the survey found. Bank of America Merrill Lynch saw the steepest drop from number 48 last year to number 77 this year.

The survey didn't collect data as to why, but Mr. Cordery thinks that distrust of large financial institutions has grown among respondents, as a result of poor economic conditions, so "these organizations may not be as attractive as they once were."

Of course, getting a job in any of these companies is a tough feat, with the economy on rocky footing. Still, the unemployment rate for college graduates ages 25 and over is only 4.4%—much lower than the 9% unemployment rate of the population at large.

Meanwhile, many young professionals are interested in leaving their current jobs, the study found, with some 61% hoping to leave their jobs within the next two years. Given the rough economy, "they've hung onto jobs probably longer than they would have liked," says Mr. Cordery.

Nonetheless, 40% of respondents also said that among potential employers job stability was very important, especially in this layoff-prone environment.

"Stability is still very much a concern and people equate government jobs with stability," he says, noting that the State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations and Central Intelligence Agency were in the top 10 slots.

Accounting and management consulting firms dropped in popularity among young workers. But oil and gas companies grew significantly more attractive, owing to aggressive branding and marketing efforts as well as a robust employment market.
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Justin Timberlake Marine Corps ball Updates

justintimberlake corps
Remember when you lied awake at night in high school, dreaming that just one day before the prom, Nick Lachey would come to your school with a bouquet of flowers, sing “My Everything” and ask you to the dance? No? Just me? Is that why I keep watching The Sing-Off? Anyway, none of us were quite as lucky as Corporal Kelsey DeSantis, who asked Justin Timberlake to the 236th Marine Corps Ball earlier this year… and got a “yes.”

But Timberlake’s acceptance wasn’t all for show and good PR. Dude actually made good on his promise to attend the ball with DeSantis. That’s right: DeSantis became the envy of every TRL-loving guy and gal out there and was accompanied to the Ball by Mr. “Sexyback” himself. But looks like she wasn’t the only person who considered herself lucky. After partaking in festivities, Timberlake blogged about the experience, calling it “one of the most moving evenings I’ve ever had.” Wrote the singer/actor/dancer/MySpace reviver:

“I knew I would have an evening that I wouldn’t forget… Something I could tell my friends about. What I didn’t know was how moved I would be by the whole experience.

I’ve always been very vocal about my support of our Armed Forces. I’ve always felt like they offered us the opportunity to live our lives freely without the fear that so many other nations have to endure still to this day. And, they do it without asking for anything in return. I had this very feeling walking into this dinner. So, to say I was stoked to be there would be more than accurate.” Timberlake’s post also delved into the touching moments at the Ball. Addressing a tribute to the Marines that included footage from Pearl Harbor and 9/11, Timberlake wrote:

“It was a surreal moment to be in that room with so many of our great Marines who have such a different type of connection to those stories. One that we who don’t serve will NEVER understand. It was familial. It was like they were listening to their own blood brothers. I glanced around the room at young men and women, spouses and soldiers… At kids way beyond their years, really… All so deeply entwined. Not just by battle, even though we who have never endured anything remotely close to those experiences and have NO position to comment on… But, by having such life changing experiences through them and to not ever waver in their love and respect for our homeland. That’s what I saw. A faith in us that has been tested time and time again. And, through it all, NEVER a drop of doubt.”

The singer, of course, was thankful to his date, adorably ending his blog with the following: “Thank you Corporal Kelsey DeSantis. Thank you for inviting me. And, thank you for being my hero.” Good to see he never forgot why he was there. Justin Timberlake accepted an invitation in July to attend the Marine Corps Ball, and last night the star kept his word.

On Saturday, Timberlake escorted Cpl. Kelsey De Santis to the Marine gala at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia. He posed with several Marines at the event, and was nothing less than gracious.

On Sunday, he took to his blog to talk about “one of the most moving evenings I’ve ever had.”

Timberlake wrote about “the honor and privilege” he had attending the ball.

He said, “I’ve always been very vocal about my support of our Armed Forces. I’ve always felt like they offered us the opportunity to live our lives freely without the fear that so many other nations have to endure still to this day. And, they do it without asking for anything in return. I had this very feeling walking into this dinner.”

Of his date De Santis, Timberlake noted, “She seemed to me to be so humble and honest… Very cool. She also simultaneously seemed like she was nervous about the whole evening and if I was going to enjoy myself… It’s not every day that I meet a 23 year old girl and she’s more worried about if I’m having fun or if I’m comfortable! It hit me all of a sudden that these were the type of people that look after us and our freedom… Humble, concerned for others before themselves… This was the type of person our Marine Corps was building. I was really blown away.”

Timberlake said he “laughed and laughed” with the Marines at his table, but was mostly “moved” by the evening’s speeches and tributes.

He added, “To all of you that serve every day for us… Ensuring our freedom, I say: My deepest gratitude to you. I’ve met so many of my heroes… From Michael Jordan to Michael Jackson. And, nothing makes me feel more honor and pride than when I get to meet one of you. Last night changed my life and I will never forget it.”

Timberlake further asked, “To people like me who get to benefit from this type of person… One with character and courage. With strength and bravery. With humility and honor… I say: Send your thanks. Do it however you can. Write a letter, type an email… Hell, buy ‘em a beer next time you run into someone from our Armed Forces in a bar. When they say thank you for that drink that cost you 3 bucks, they’ll mean it. They won’t take it for granted and, they won’t forget it.”

“Thank you Corporal Kelsey De Santis,” concluded the superstar. “Thank you for inviting me. And, thank you for being my hero.”

Several months ago, De Santis posted a YouTube video in which she looked into a camera and told Timberlake that she wanted to “ask [him] to come to the Marine Corps ball with me… And if you can’t go, all I have to say is cry me a river.”
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