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Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane believes he did not deserve his red card in Sunday's win over Athletic Bilbao. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Madrid picked up a 4-2 win over Bilbao but the gloss was taken off the victory with Varane's late expulsion. The Frenchman received a yellow in the 16th minute and was handed a second for the first time in his professional career with seven minutes left to play. However, Varane believes neither of his challenges deserved to have been punished with a card. "I always want to play clean," he told Real Madrid TV. "I do not play to hurt people. "Neither of those two actions deserved yellow card. "I respect the referees, but it was not fair. I jumped to get the ball ahead of my opponent, I did not try to hit him with my elbows." Varane added: "The team responded well and showed character. That is the most important. "We needed that continuity. We want to fight until the end." Madrid is second in La Liga, with leader Barcelona and third-placed Atletico Madrid still to play on Sunday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones threw four interceptions and the Philadelphia Eagles capitalized. Nolan Carroll's 38-yard interception return for a score was the lone touchdown of the first half, helping the Eagles to a 17-0 victory Thursday night. The Eagles' defense has nine takeaways in six quarters. Pittsburgh, which suffered its previous preseason shutout in 2014, has one offensive touchdown in two games. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was held out for the second straight week along with running backs Le'Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams and wide receiver Antonio Brown. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, missed the game with fractured ribs, while wide receiver Jordan Matthews sat out with a knee injury. Sam Bradford led Philadelphia's offense to a field goal late in the first half, giving the Eagles a 10-0 lead at the break. He finished 14 of 19 for 115 yards. Jones had a dismal half for Pittsburgh, going 12 of 20 for 111 yards with four interceptions. The first was Carroll's 38-yarder for a score. Jones' second interception came in the first quarter after leading the Steelers to the Philadelphia 8. A fade for Cobi Hamilton was broken up by Leodis McKelvin and intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins. Jones threw his third interception late in the second quarter as a pass intended for Sammie Coates was picked off in the end zone by Aaron Grymes. Jaylen Watkins picked off Jones again in the final minute of the half. Chase Daniel opened the second half, leading the Eagles on a 15-play, 87-yard touchdown drive. A 23-yard pass to Paul Turner helped set up Kenjon Barner's 5-yard touchdown run, making it 17-0. Daniel finished 10 of 16 for 82 yards. ROOKIE WATCH Steelers: Second-round pick Sean Davis started his second straight game as the slot cornerback. He's been rotating at safety and first-team slot cornerback after an injury to 2015 second-round pick Senquez Golson. Eagles: Third-round pick Isaac Seumalo started at left guard. Allen Barbre started at right tackle for Lane Johnson, who is expected to be suspended the first 10 games of the season. That opened up a spot at left guard for Seumalo, who could be given an opportunity to earn the starting job. The rookie committed a costly holding penalty that wiped out a big gain late in the first half. POSITION BATTLES Steelers: Alejandro Villanueva and Ryan Harris, who are competing for the starting left tackle spot, both started along the offensive line. Marcus Gilbert missed the game and Harris, a nine-year veteran, who won a Super Bowl with Denver last season, started in his place at right tackle. Villanueva started at left tackle for the second straight week. Eagles: It's a crowded wide receiver group behind Matthews. Turner, an undrafted rookie, led the Eagles with three receptions for 44 yards, while Nelson Agholor, the team's 2015 first-round pick, had 30 yards on two receptions. Veteran Rueben Randle, a free agent acquisition from the New York Giants, caught two passes and Josh Huff, a 2014 third-round pick, finished with a reception. Newly acquired Dorial Green-Beckham was targeted in the red zone, and again later in the game, but the 6-foot-5 former second-round pick didn't finish with any catches. INJURY UPDATE Steelers: The Steelers sat linebackers Jarvis Jones, Bud Dupree and Anthony Chickillo and cornerback Artie Burns, the team's first-round pick. Eagles: Kicker Caleb Sturgis suffered a concussion when he was struck by a punt during warmups. The Eagles also sat RB Wendell Smallwood, DT Mike Martin, WR Hunter Sharp, LB Mychal Kendricks and cornerbacks JaCorey Shepherd and Jalen Mills. Grymes (shoulder), Joe Walker (knee), and Blake Countess (head) left the game with injuries. --- Online: AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that federal racketeering and extortion laws were improperly used to punish aggressive anti-abortion protesters, lifting a nationwide injunction that barred people from interfering with clinic business. The court's 8-1 ruling applies to protests of all sorts, not just at abortion clinics. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the majority, said that when protesters do not "obtain" property, they cannot be punished under federal extortion laws. The court's ruling is a victory for Operation Rescue, anti-abortion leader Joseph Scheidler and others who were ordered to pay damages to abortion clinics and were barred from interfering with their businesses for 10 years. The ruling ends that injunction. Rehnquist said their protest activity did not qualify as extortion. That outcome had been sought by activists like actor Martin Sheen, animal rights groups and even some organizations that support abortion rights. They argued that protesters of all types could face harsher penalties for demonstrating, if the court ruled otherwise. The demonstrators had been sued in 1986 by abortion clinics in Delaware and Wisconsin and the National Organization for Women, which contended that racketeering and extortion laws should protect businesses from violent protests that drive away clients. They accused the groups of blocking clinic entrances, menacing doctors, patients and clinic staff, and destroying equipment during a 15-year campaign to limit abortions. The demonstrators were ordered to pay about $258,000 in damages. Rehnquist said there is no dispute that abortion protesters interfered with clinic operations and in some cases committed crimes. "But even when their acts of interference and disruption achieved their ultimate goal of 'shutting down' a clinic that performed abortions, such acts did not constitute extortion," he wrote. The punishments were meted out under provisions of the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and the Hobbs Act, a 1946 law aimed at crushing organized crime. The Hobbs Act makes it a crime to take property from another with force. Justice John Paul Stevens filed the only dissent. He said the court was limiting the scope of the Hobbs Act and limiting protection of property owners in its "murky opinion." The Supreme Court has previously said that the Hobbs Act should be read broadly, he said. "The principal beneficiaries of the court's dramatic retreat from the position that federal prosecutors and federal courts have maintained throughout the history of this important statute will certainly be the class of professional criminals whose conduct persuaded Congress that the public needed federal protection from extortion," Stevens wrote. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote separately to say that the court was "rightly reluctant" to extend the reach of the RICO law, which allows prosecutors and private groups to seek hefty penalties. The issue dates back to the 1980s when large groups of anti-abortion demonstrators used aggressive tactics to disrupt clinics. In 1998, a jury in Illinois found demonstrators guilty of dozens of violations, including four acts involving physical violence or threats of violence. The court did not address a related issue in the case over whether the racketeering law gives individuals the right to ask a federal judge to stop a disputed activity. The law is most often used by federal prosecutors to go after organized crime figures, alleged conspirators and other criminals. The cases are Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 01-1118, and Operation Rescue v. National Organization for Women, 01-1119.

He’s a movie star and a pop culture icon, thanks to "The Passion of the Christ" (search) craze at the box office. And now Jesus is also a fashion statement. A slew of designers and boutiques have been jumping on the Jesus bandwagon, offering everything from T-shirts to belts paying homage to the Lord. And celebrities from Madonna (search) to Pamela Anderson (search) have been spotted sporting the Jesus chic wear. “It’s a fun, little Hollywood trend that was sparked by the success of the movie,” said E! Networks lifestyle director Elycia Rubin. “Obviously, fashion influences movies and movies influence fashion.” A Los Angeles company called Teenage Millionaire makes shirts that say “Jesus Is My Homeboy” and “Mary Is My Homegirl.” Madonna was seen wearing a Mary shirt; Pamela Anderson and Lara Flynn Boyle (search) have been running around in the Jesus Ts, and Ashton Kutcher (search) was photographed with a “Jesus Is My Homeboy” baseball cap on. “We looked at the popular icons of the 20th century and Jesus definitely topped the list,” said Chris Hoy, a partner at Teenage Millionaire. “This shirt has been in our line for about three years, but it’s just now getting all the popularity. The movie’s out; there’s just a big buzz.” Other shirts bear the Jesus fish symbol and the phrase “Go Fish.” One line by an L.A. company called Datomana (search) features frilly pink Ts with cats on them that say “jesus loves me” in tiny letters. And an Arkansas company called Kerusso (search) makes T-shirts with slogans like “My Savior is Tougher Than Nails!” There are also belts and buckle bracelets engraved with the Ten Commandments. The anti-pornography site XXXchurch.com sells Jesus action figures and action figure Ts that say “Don’t Make Me Kung-Fu You.” “The Christian items are such a hot trend right now,” said Jaye Hersh, owner of the L.A. boutique Intuition, which sells some of the Jesus chic items. “Madonna has been wearing ‘Jesus Is My Homeboy,’ so that kind of started the trend because she is such a fashionista and whatever she wears goes. Then it’s kind of trickled down to other celebrities.” Jesus wear has long been available in Christian apparel stores, but now it’s popping up in mainstream chains like Urban Outfitters. “It’s everywhere. It’s at all the stores,” said Craig Gross, founder of XXXchurch.com. “This is the latest thing. A lot of people are wearing them not because they want to display their relationship with God, but because it’s the cool thing to do.” The “Homeboy” shirts retail for about $25, and Hoy said they’re selling thousands of them a month. “This is definitely our most popular shirt that people know us for,” Hoy said. “Our little piece of Hollywood has gone worldwide, and it’s beyond my wildest dreams.” E! Networks’ Rubin called the Jesus chic style “kitschy” and “playful.” “It will probably be short-lived, but they’ll probably get bang for their buck,” she said of the fad. Inevitably, some are insulted by the Ts and accessories bearing Christ’s name and image. “A lot of people find it offensive and say you can’t put Jesus on a shirt,” Gross said. One of those people is Los Angeles attorney Michael Allan, who grew up Catholic. "I think these T-shirts are disrespectful," Allan said. "Mary and Jesus don't belong on T-shirts. There are other ways to show your devotion." But other Jesus followers are pleased as punch with the new fashion trend, and are going along with it as much as the artsy Hollywood set is. “The Christians like it, the hipsters like it,” said Hoy. “We had no idea it was going to be this big.” The icon status of Jesus Christ in the fashion and pop culture worlds doesn’t necessarily equal a renewed interest in church, prayer and religion, however. “I don’t think there’s much spiritual significance in the popularity of the Jesus junk,” Gross said. Fox News' Elka Worner contributed to this report.

While a majority remains nervous about the economy these days, the number of voters feeling confident is growing. That’s according to the latest Fox News poll released Wednesday. Over half of voters, 55 percent, are nervous about the economy. That’s down from 65 percent who felt that way in 2013 and a high of 70 percent in 2010. CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS At the same time, the poll finds 39 percent of voters are feeling confident, up significantly from 28 percent two years ago (March 2013). Since 2013, confidence is up among both men (+ 6 points) and women (+ 14 points), as well as independents (+14 points), Democrats (+ 13 points) and Republicans (+ 6 points). Yet most Republicans still continue to have the jitters: 75 percent say so vs. 83 percent in 2013. Independents, by a wide margin, are also more likely to feel nervous than confident (60-33 percent). Sixty-one percent of Democrats are confident about the economy, while 35 percent say they are nervous. Education is also a strong predictor of feelings on the economy. Voters with a college degree (48 percent) are more likely than those without a degree (33 percent) to feel confident about the economy. White voters without a degree are even less likely to feel confident (27 percent). Improved perceptions of the economy boost President Obama’s job ratings. Of the issues tested, he performs best on the economy: 45 percent of voters approve, while 52 percent disapprove. Last month it was 46-50 percent. His record low rating on the economy came in August 2011, when just 34 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved. Obama’s next best issue is health care: 42 percent approve vs. 54 percent disapprove. His worst issues include Iran (33-58 percent), foreign policy (36-55 percent) and immigration (37-58 percent). As for Obama’s overall performance, 45 percent of voters approve, while 50 percent disapprove. That’s still underwater, but hardly his hull-scraping low of 38 percent approval in September 2014. The Fox News poll is conducted by telephone with live interviewers under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). The 1,025 registered voters were reached via landline and cell phone numbers randomly selected for inclusion in this nationwide survey from March 29-31, 2015. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Pinterest, the visual-image social media-sharing site, has 176 million registered users and 100 million active users worldwide, according to DMR Stats. Those users -- 85 percent of whom are women -- use the site to pin images from online content they love and share them with their fans and followers. Related: 6 Strategies for Pinterest Buyable Pins From the perspective of small businesses, that demographic represents a lot of potential buying power for anyone looking to reach decision-makers and influencers for different products and services. Smart businesses will have already set up a business account on Pinterest and availed themselves of the site’s basic analytics. But if you’re ready to take things one step further still, you can set up a business account to launch a Pinterest advertising campaign. An existing personal account can be changed into a business account; just be sure to allow a few days for your account to be approved by the Pinterest team. How to advertise like a pro on Pinterest Pinterest offers two types of pins for small businesses: Buyable Pins are a shopping service on the Pinterest app. They work only on Android or iOS phones within the app itself, so you’re going to reach a smaller subsection of customers when you choose this option. People often pin their wish-list items. Buyable Pins take a wish list to the next step, providing customers with a secure, online checkout via Pinterest to actually purchase the item. Promoted Pins are pins that become display ads. These ads enable you to pay to have an existing pin shared or visible on related boards. Using keywords that you tag onto your pin, the site determines where to display them. You pay for your promoted pins by setting a budget, similar to a Google AdWords account or a checking account. The site then deducts the cost of each time the pin is displayed from the account. You can set specific goals for your campaigns, such as awareness, traffic or engagement, from the business dashboard on the site. Five tips for creating great pins for Pinterest advertising Once you’ve set up your business account, chosen the type of ad you’d like to run and set your budget, it’s time to create pins for your campaign. Related: How to Attract Customers Through Pinterest Choose images that are unique and eye-catching. Pinterest is all about eye candy. The more startling, unusual or engaging your image, the better. Double-check the licensing agreements for any stock photos you use, to make sure the agreement covers social media advertising use. Novel images with unusual perspectives get plenty of attention. Branded products are fine, as well, as long as the brand isn’t the only thing in the pin. Resize your images so that the layout is vertical, rather than horizontal. Pinterest recommends a height of 735 by 1102 pixels. Add text to your image. Pinterest does not allow "call to actions" like “Click this pin for more!” but you can add simple text to your image that describes what the pin and its related content are about. Make sure the description text under the pin includes keyword-rich phrases and is enticing enough to interest the casual Pinterest user. Good descriptions are very important for SEO, both inside and outside Pinterest, to have search engines find, index and share your pins. Pin your image to your board on Pinterest. This ensures that the ad will drive traffic to your company’s Pinterest boards. You can set up unique boards for a campaign or include advertising pins on an existing board, but it should be a board that your company manages, not a group board or shared board. Pinterest states in its free How to Make Great Pins Guide that pins are “ideas.” The best pins encapsulate one simple concept or idea that sparks interest in a viewer. Simple and bold images work best, because too much detail can get lost, especially on smaller mobile-device screens. In addition to bold, novel images, lists and how-to guides are popular. People like to learn from pins, and the more your pin can tell a story at a glance, the more likely people will be to click it and read through to the longer content on your website. Pins must be approved for advertising. All pins submitted for Pinterest advertising must be approved by the company before your campaign launches. While most pins are approved, some do get rejected. Reasons why that happens include: Lack of content on the pin’s landing page Hard-sell messages on the text overlay Too many hashtags or irrelevant hashtags Prohibited content that is shocking or sexually explicit content, etc. A (prohibited) call to action Prices or explicit promotional language Pinterest campaign success Successful Pinterest advertising campaigns draw users into longer content that answers the premise the original pin posed. If your pin promises to show someone how to do something, for instance, the link accompanying the pin should lead to an article on your website that shares step-by-step instructions on the topic. Related: What You Need to Know About Those New Blue Price Tags on Pinterest You don’t necessarily need fresh content for a Pinterest advertising campaign. Your most popular content can work well for the campaign. Review your site analytics to see where visitors prefer to enter your site. Build your campaign around what your customers want to know, and you’ll develop great Pinterest campaigns that achieve your goals.

Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Pilot Who Saved Burning British Airways Flight Was Set to Retire 2:53 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog The pilot credited with saving the lives of dozens of passengers on a burning British Airways plane said it was the first time in 42 years of flying that he'd ever faced a life-threatening emergency — and it happened on one of his last runs before retirement. "It's safe to say I'm finished flying," Chris Henkey told NBC News Wednesday by phone from a hotel in Las Vegas, where he was waiting to brief investigators. Henkey, 63, has been praised for his calm under pressure and has become an instant celebrity in his native England. Holed up in his hotel, he acknowledged having a sense of the acclaim he's drawn. He was cheered by his passengers after they made it back to the terminal, according to first-hand account in the Guardian newspaper. They credited Henkey for slamming the brakes and steering the Boeing 777 to safety after its left engine caught fire during takeoff from McCarran International Airport just after 4 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) for a 10-hour flight to London Gatwick. He can be heard on air traffic control recordings issuing a mayday call and asking for firefighters. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Questions Remain Over Cause of British Airways Engine Fire 1:02 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog But Henkey insisted that he wasn't the only one who helped save the 159 passengers aboard Flight 2276. "It's not just me," Henkey said. "It's the whole crew, really." Henkey was the plane's captain. He was joined in the cockpit by two senior first officers — one with 18 years of experience, the other with 10, British Airways said in a statement that did not name any of the crew. Henkey would not discuss details of the incident — he's saving that for British and American investigators. But he said that in 42 years of flying, he's never experienced such an emergency. "Not at all," he said. "It's ironic, really. Nothing like it at all." Related: British Airways Jet Incident: How To Survive a Plane Fire Henkey is from the small town of Padsworth in southeast England. He used to own a pub there, and is an active member of a rugby charity called Wooden Spoon. The organization has called him a "star supporter," and praised him on Twitter. Amazing story of Wooden Spoon member, Pilot Chris Henkey saving 157 passengers today http://t.co/7OmHb3gYEm pic.twitter.com/HlDqu1KUT8 — Wooden Spoon (@charityspoon) September 9, 2015 Flight 2276 was to be Henkey's second-to-last flight before he retired. His final run was to take him to Barbados, one of his favorite places in the world, where he planned to join his daughter on vacation. But that last flight probably won't happen, he said. "It's looking unlikely for the moment." Of the 159 passengers and 13 crew members, 27 suffered minor injuries, most while using inflatable slides to escape the burning craft, officials said. Henkey said he wasn't hurt, even though he did fall off the slide. "But we're all okay," he said.

Chloe Sevigny has apologized for blasting the latest season of her TV drama Big Love as "awful", insisting her comments were misinterpreted. The star, who plays a fundamentalist Mormon wife in the hit series, risked the wrath of TV bosses when she appeared to take aim at the show's writers. She was reported as saying, "It was awful this season, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not allowed to say that! ...I feel like it kind of got away from itself...I mean, I love the show, I love my character, I love the writing, but I felt like they were really pushing it this last season. And with nine episodes, I think they were just squishing too much in... But I hope the fans will stick with us and tune in next year. There's a lot of people who really love this season, surprisingly. God, I'm going to get in so much trouble." But Sevigny has moved quickly to play down her remarks, blaming the media for blowing the situation out of proportion. She tells Entertainment Weekly, "I feel pretty terrible. I feel like what I said was taken out of context." See more photos of Chloe here!

Sport National AFL News Breaking News Sport AAP Carlton star Chris Judd says a playing group that was unprofessional, undisciplined and lacking leadership when he arrived now has three good captaincy candidates. Judd, skipper for the past five seasons, confirmed on Monday he was stepping out of the AFL club's leadership group. It left Marc Murphy, Andrew Carrazzo and Kade Simpson seemingly in a three-way battle to take the reins, with a new captain expected to be named in February. Judd said that was a big change from when he arrived from West Coast at the end of 2007 - having captained the Eagles to a premiership a year earlier - to take over a dispirited Blues outfit. Advertisement He inherited Carlton's captaincy from Lance Whitnall at the tail-end of the Blues' darkest era. "I'm still proud of the fact that when I came here it was a pretty unprofessional playing group that probably lacked discipline. I think now we tick those boxes," Judd told Carlton's website. "The players front up, they're disciplined, they're professional, they do their work, they're self-motivated." The 29-year-old two-time Brownlow medallist was proud of his legacy in helping develop potential replacements. "Five years ago there weren't a whole host of players who made obvious leaders," he said. "To be able to step aside from the role and have probably three guys that could step into the role as captain and do a really good job ... it shows that our leadership stocks have come a long way." Judd said shedding the title should free him up for more family time and pursuits away from football, as well as enhancing his enjoyment of the game, but wouldn't stop him being a leader. "I certainly won't be pushing any less hard to bring success to this club," he said. The three-time Blues best and fairest, who also won that honour twice with West Coast, said as new coach Mick Malthouse started his reign it made sense to anoint a new captain with fresh ideas. He said Malthouse's influence was already apparent. "He's very clear in what he wants. I think the players have really taken to it," he said. "They've taken to the work, training's changed up quite a lot." Judd said the Blues also had an increased focus on minimising injuries at training this pre-season, which so far was paying off.

Police at Cologne Karneval. Photo: DPA The number of sexual offence complaints almost quadrupled at this year's carnival celebrations in Cologne, German police said Wednesday, despite heightened security aimed at preventing a repeat of the mass assaults that marred the city's New Year celebrations. A total of 66 complaints for sexual insults or aggression were lodged between last Thursday, when the carnival got underway and Wednesday morning. The previous year there were 18 such reports, police said. However part of the rise could be down to "a change in the attitude of victims and witnesses," the police added. Local authorities in the western German city had in recent weeks urged any victims to come forward and report crimes to the police. Women's associations also said that any woman who felt herself being inappropriately touched should make a complaint. Police in Cologne have been struggling to restore public confidence after hundreds of women said they were groped and robbed in a mob of mostly North African and Arab men in chaotic New Year festivities. Security fears had been heightened by concern that jihadists might take advantage of the massive influx of refugees into Europe to slip in undetected, with Germany particularly vulnerable after taking in 1.1 million asylum seekers last year alone. Story continues below… Cologne's police chief has been suspended for failing to stop the mob violence at New Year's Eve celebrations. With the increased policing for the Carnival events, the incidence of other non-sexual crimes were down compared to last year.

U.S Marines backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships battled insurgents in Fallujah (search) on Wednesday, killing 20, as a day-old attempt to bring peace to the besieged city faltered. Marine commanders said guerrillas were not abiding by a call to turn in heavy weapons that is central to an agreement on scaling back the confrontation. A number of weapons were turned in Wednesday, but 95 percent were already unusable, commanders said on condition of anonymity. Explosions were heard coming from the scene of the fighting, and Cobra helicopter gunships (search) were blasting from the air. Tanks moved into the Julan neighborhood from which Marines said insurgents their positions. Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said high-level commanders viewed the battle as a "major breach" of the agreement. "The implication of that I don't know yet," he said. In response to what the Marines called a disappointing disarmament showing, the Marines halted a key commitment on their side in the deal -- the return of Fallujah residents to the city. The Marine commanders would not say how many weapons had been turned in. About 10 families made it back into the city in the morning before Marines announced to some 600 Iraqis waiting at the checkpoint that no more would be allowed to enter. The crowds massed behind concertina wire, with women and crying children pressing forward, demanding to be let in. Nearby trucks were stacked high with families belongings and other goods. Some 70,000 people -- more than a third of Fallujah's population of 200,000 -- fled the city during the fighting since April 5, flooding Baghdad (search) and nearby areas. Wednesday's battle began with an ambush by 13 insurgents on Marines, who called in Cobra gunships that killed 10 of the attackers, Byrne said. Nearly three dozen insurgents then joined the fight with Marines in a running battle that lasted four hours. It ended when warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs. Ten more insurgents were killed, Byrne said. U.S. officials have said the deal's success hinges on whether the Fallujah negotiators -- a group of local civic leaders -- can convince the guerrillas to comply with the call to hand over their arsenals. The military has warned it may resume its assault on the city if the agreement falls through. Implementation of the deal reached by U.S. officials and Fallujah civic representatives began with a spirit of optimism on Tuesday. Several hundred Iraqi police and security forces moved back into the city, and a curfew was pushed back by two hours to 9 p.m. Announcements aired in the city detailed how residents should turn in to police and city officials any heavy weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, rockets and bomb-making material. By noon Wednesday, Byrne said no weapons had been turned in. "These may be early indications that the insurgents may not be living up to the requirements of the agreement," he said. Later, commanders said some weapons had been surrendered, but almost all were useless. Insurgents opened fire with small arms overnight and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Liaison Office where Iraqi security forces are suppposed to hand over to the U.S. military any weapons they collect. During the day, some 300 members of the police and security forces who had left the city were lined up to "re-enlist," said Capt. Steve Coast -- meaning they would receive new documents certifying they are members of the force. Fallujah's mayor was also working from the site. Several hundred other security forces moved into the city Tuesday. U.S. commanders have warned that they could launch an all-out attack on the city if the agreement -- announced Monday after negotiations between U.S. officials and Fallujah civil leaders -- falls through. So far, the U.S. response has been the halt to the return of families who fled Fallujah during the fighting -- a top concern of the Fallujans. A day earlier, U.S. officials allowed 50 families back into the city as provided for under the deal. From the start, the fragile agreement had depended on how much the city's guerrillas complied with a call by city officials for them to turn in heavy weapons.

Documents made public Tuesday show that former astronaut Lisa Nowak is pursuing an insanity defense on charges that she assaulted and tried to kidnap a romantic rival. Attorneys for Lisa Marie Nowak have filed a notice with the court that Nowak intends to use an insanity defense at trial. This notice does not challenge competence to stand trial, but only raises insanity at the time of the offense. The circuit court judge in the case unsealed Nowak's notice of intent to rely on a mental health defense Tuesday. Florida law requires such a notice before trial to let prosecutors prepare. Nowak, a 44-year-old mother of three who has been dismissed by NASA, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a February confrontation with fellow astronaut Colleen Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot. The case involves a strange love triangle between Nowak, another former astronaut Bill Oefelein and Shipman. She is free on $25,500 bail and wears a tracking anklet as a condition of her release. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The husband of Stacy Peterson did not show up to work on the night that the 23-year-old woman disappeared, FOX News confirmed Wednesday. Stacy Peterson, a mother of two and Drew Peterson's fourth wife, was reported missing Oct. 29 by her family after she failed to show up to a friend's house. Drew Peterson, who recently resigned as an officer from the Bolingbrook police department, was scheduled to work at 5 p.m. Oct. 28 but called in to take a personal or sick day, Bolingbrook police Lt. Ken Teppel told FOX News. "Peterson called in sick for Sunday night (Oct. 28)," Teppel said. "The call was taken by a dispatcher in the afternoon." A key witness has told a friend he might have helped transport the body of Peterson's wife, according to a Chicago Tribune report. That witness — a relative to Drew Peterson — allegedly helped move a barrel that was warm to the touch from Peterson's bedroom to an SUV. A source close to the investigation says that witness told a friend about his involvement. Two days later, the distressed relative, who has not been identified, was hospitalized after an alleged suicide attempt, the Tribune reported. • Click here to watch a report by FOX News' Jeff Goldblatt. • Click here to read the Chicago Tribune report. • Click here to watch a video report from myFOXChicago.com. • Click here for photos of Drew Peterson. • Click here for photos of Stacy Peterson. Volunteers searching for any signs of Stacy are looking for the barrel. Neighbors say Peterson had a blue barrel in his backyard. Peterson's neighbor told police last week that he saw Peterson and the man load a barrel "big enough to put someone in" into the former police officer's SUV, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. The Wednesday after Stacy disappeared, Drew Peterson asked his next-door neighbor to watch the kids after his step brother-in-law tried to commit suicide. Peterson told the neighbor, Sharon Bychowski to watch two of Peterson's kids for an hour. Bychowski, one of Stacy's best friends, told FOX News that Peterson had a lack of emotion and dismissive attitude when he returned from the hospital to pick up the kids. Bychowski asked Peterson if everything was okay and he responded, "What? Oh. He lost his job. Lost his family. Go figure." Peterson also asked Bychowski to move Stacy Peterson's Grand Prix, which has since been seized by investigators, to keep it away from the media. Peterson's attorney is denying reports about a family member helping the former police officer remove a blue barrel from his home after Stacy Peterson was reported missing. Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney, said the family member has a history of mental problems, alcoholism and suicide attempts. The family member might want attention or living in "a fantasy world," Brodsky said. Meanwhile, Will County prosecutors reopened the investigation into the death of Peterson's third ex-wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio, 40, died in a bathtub in March 2004. Prosecutors say the death appeared to be staged to conceal a homicide and recently exhumed her body for a second autopsy. Illinois State Police told FOX News on Sunday that "new information" prompted its appeal for more information about possible sightings of the cars that belong to Stacy Peterson or her husband, Drew, around the time that the woman vanished. Police have released photos of the vehicles: A dark Blue 2005 GMC Yukon Denali belonging to Drew and the second a purple 2002 Pontiac Grand Am, belonging to Stacy, and asked the public to call its tip line at 815-740-0678 or "America's Most Wanted" at 800-274-6388. Both vehicles were impounded by police on Nov. 1 and are still in police possession. FOX News' Jeff Goldblatt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A top official who led China's biggest petroleum company and later was assigned to oversee state-owned companies admitted in court Monday that he was guilty of corruption and abuse of power, the court said. "My family property went far beyond what my legal income could afford," said Jiang Jiemin, according to a statement posted on the microblog of the Hanjiang Intermediate People's Court in Hubei province. "I admit my crimes and express my regret." The hearing ended Monday afternoon and a date for sentencing was not announced. Jiang is a former chairman of the state-run China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, which has been the target of a sweeping graft investigation amid a larger anti-corruption campaign that has netted top officials and others. Jiang was charged with taking bribes, possessing a large number of assets from unidentified sources and abusing his position at a state-owned enterprise. The court said on its microblog that prosecutors had presented evidence including witness statements, confessions and confiscated items, without giving details, and posted a photo of a pale-faced Jiang in the dock flanked by two police officers. It quoted Jiang as saying he had caused "undeniable damage" to the country and hurt the public's trust in the Communist Party. "I sabotaged the management and development of state oil and gas fields," he said, according to the court, while also asking for lenient treatment. Jiang was chairman of CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil producer, before being appointed in 2013 to the Cabinet body that oversees China's biggest state-owned companies. He was fired from that post in September 2013 after he came under investigation. A series of senior figures from the state-owned oil industry have been detained in the crackdown led by President Xi Jinping that appears to be aimed at tightening central control over PetroChina and other powerful state companies. The energy industry was a power base for Zhou Yongkang, the ruling Communist Party's former security chief, who was arrested in December on charges including bribery and leaking state secrets. Control over state companies can provide political figures with jobs to reward supporters and money to promote their own careers. Jiang was believed to have links to Zhou, although prosecutors have not cited any link between the two cases.

This gamecock thinks it’s time that tea partier and other conservatives in the GOP started referring to ourselves as RINOs, and proudly so, unless and until the majority of elected Republicans in Congress use the means that the Constitution provides to try to achieve conservative ends. To label a fellow member of the GOP as a “Republican in name only” is to question their commitment to conservative policies. But doesn’t that epithet assume that the Party of Lincoln is primarily committed to replacing failed liberal policies with conservative solutions? Yet, maybe the association of the party with its grand old successful Presidents, of which there have been few, is misleading. Yes, the Great Emancipator, Silent Cal and The Gipper were conservatives that achieved conservative ends. But their tenures only cover 21 years of American history since its founding 159 years ago. And yes, nearly all other GOP Chief Executives have been more conservative than the Democratic Party alternatives. But no significant liberal Democrat program, except for slavery and Jim Crow laws, has ever been eliminated even when the GOP held the White House and Congress early this century. Pat Buchanan covers the history well in his recent Goldwater-Rockefeller redux description of last week’s betrayal of conservatives in both houses of Congress by a majority of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s U.S. Senate placeholders, who, by the way, ran and got elected as Republicans: Those that are content to merely tweak a gargantuan and growing Welfare State own the GOP today, and have for most of its history. They own the name Republican. The difference between liberal Democrats and Republicans as Democrat Lite, used to matter more before Big Government got Super Humongous big. But having crossed the Obamacare tipping point, American can’t be saved from economic despair as the New Obamanomics Normal by mere Democrat Lite tweakings. Therefore, this Republican since our Summer of 2001 “conservative epiphany” is officially declaring myself a RINO in a party designed for elephantine memories worthy of being conserved. Will more conservatives join us and use our sharp rhino horns to prod a majority of the party to use the power the Constitution gives us to save America from the ruin we have been on since the Housing Bust? Mike DeVine‘s Right.com “One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson

Breaking News National National NSW and Victoria are at risk of losing their triple-A ratings if the trends in rising state debt continue unabated, a think tank has warned. The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) says while the focus has been on the rapid increase in federal debt levels over the past six years, growth in state government debt has been just as a dramatic. In 2007, the states collectively had a negative net debt position of just under $30 billion - that is, they had a greater financial assets than debt. By 2013, this turned to a positive net debt position of $43 billion, or about a $70 billion debt increase in six years. Advertisement "Unless action is taken now, state governments will face rising deficits and debt in the long term, just like the federal government, and will be unable to deliver the services the public wants," CIS senior fellow Robert Carling says. Between 2007 and 2010, the global financial crisis was felt through sagging tax revenue and investment income, while infrastructure investment rose strongly. From 2010 to 2013, the states' operating surpluses dried up and cash deficits rose even further. In a study released on Thursday, Mr Carling said to curtail the growth in debt, states must achieve large increases in operating surpluses and greatly reduce capital expenditure, but conceded the latter would be inconsistent with demands for infrastructure investment. "States need to contain costs such as staff numbers and pay rates, and avoid costly new program commitments," he said, adding states should follow the Queensland Newman government in cutting operating expenses, as much as it has been criticised. "It is on the right track," he said. South Australia and Tasmania are in the weakest positions of the states, followed by Queensland and Western Australia. He said if the trends continued, NSW and Victoria risked joining the ranks of the others, which had lost their tripe-A credit ratings. "Financial strength is not just desirable for its own sake," Mr Carling said. "If the states were to return to running operating surpluses, it would mean more funds available for improved infrastructure."

Windows 7 has been a tightly controlled product from its first days on the drawing board. The last milestone is proving to be no exception: On July 22, at precisely 4:40 p.m. ET, Microsoft announced it had released to manufacturing Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. (What's up with the weird hand-off time? It seems to be designed to coincide with CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote address for Microsoft's 13,000 or so field sales folks who are in Atlanta this week for the MGX conference. Unfortunately, the MGX folks are running late and Ballmer wasn't yet speaking at 4:40... oh well.) The Windows builds that are being released to manufacturing today were compiled over a week ago, on Monday July 13, company officials confirmed. Specifically, it's build 7600.16385 that is the RTM version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. There's not much new left to say about either product. Very little has changed between the Release Candidate builds that went to the public in May and the RTM versions, testers who've been dabbling with leaked copies of the 16835 build say. (Check out all of ZDNet's Windows 7 coverage via our Special Report page. And if you are all about Windows Server, check out my colleague Jason Perlow's coverage of the RTM of Windows Server 2008 R2 here.) While Microsoft did a bunch of tuning and final testing in the last month-plus, the final Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 products won't be very different from the last build testers saw, officials said. Microsoft's intention was to keep the code base stable so that partners and customers could start testing on it months before the products went to manufacturing, officials said. While some testers welcomed that dependability, others were less-enamored of going to the trouble of testing with the feeling their input was going to make little difference. PC makers will get the official bits from Microsoft by the end of this week, as Microsoft officials said yesterday. Those who want to download the official builds from Microsoft won't be able to do so for another week plus (depending on whether you have an MSDN/TechNet, volume-license agreement or some other way of getting the bits earlier than the general availability date of October 22). Speaking of October 22, that is the date Microsoft is considering to be its worldwide consumer launch of Windows 7. There will be a bunch of new hardware that has yet to be seen from a variety of manufacturers that will be preloaded with Windows 7 available on that date, said Mike Angiulo, General Manager of Microsoft's Planning and PC Ecosystem team. (No word still on whether Microsoft will hold a single big launch, like it did with Vista in New York; I hear company officials are leaning away from going that route.) The "business launch" of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is slated for November 9, officials said. (Actually, it's going to be a triple-play launch of Win7/Win Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010, as Microsoft told its partners attending the Worldwide Partner Conference last week.) It sounds as if there will be a number of business launch events starting on that date and continuing for the next couple of months. "This will be our first ever launch of Windows client and server together," said Angiulo. (Microsoft came close a couple of times, but there was always some gap between the two.) And Microsoft is planning to emphasize the "better together" theme in its upcoming marketing and sales collateral. This is also the first time "we haven't doubled systems requirements for a new Windows release," Angiulo said. " We kept them the same, if not even a little better," in terms of power, graphics, hard drive and other requirements, he said. Angiulo characterized Windows 7 as a "learning release" for Microsoft, in terms of working more closely with its hardware and software partners. He gave the Windows team high marks for its processes with the newly minted client and server releases. "We set rigorous engineering milestones and hit them. we did what we said we were going to do," he said.

Ubuntu 13.04 goes on general release tomorrow – bringing with it improvements to support the open source OS' transformation into a platform that runs across phones, tablets, PCs and TVs . The release demonstrates consistently faster boot speeds than earlier versions — down to about 40 seconds on Intel and AMD-based Acer Veriton desktop machines — shrinks memory usage by as much as 50MB, reduces image size and cuts power consumption, according to Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. Read this Canonical's Ubuntu smartphone OS, in pictures Canonical has taken the wraps off its new Ubuntu OS platform for smartphones, ushering in a new generation of Ubuntu-powered devices and paving the way for the company's one-size-fits-all approach to platforms on different devices. Read More "We've been driving Ubuntu to be a coverged OS across different client form factors – tablet, phone, desktop. A lot of underlying work to make that happen has been happening in this development cycle," said Canonical CEO Jane Silber. "From the user perspective I think what people will notice is a real increase in speed and the visual smoothness of the experience. It's a polishing of the user experience." Canonical is working on bringing the OS to two reference phones and two tablets, including the Nexus 7. The Ubunutu community already has the OS in some sort of working order on about 40 devices, said Silber. At present there are code differences between the Ubuntu 13.04 release and Ubuntu Touch stack targeted at phones and tablets, but Silber says the two will converge with a future release, probably with the 13.10 Ubuntu release due out in October. 13.10 will see the X windows system used in 13.04 replaced with the MIR display server, which Silber said will make for a streamlined code base that can be more easily updated to support a range of devices. MIR is available as an option for developer testing of Ubuntu. While producing a unified OS for multiple devices and form factors is"a big challenge", according to Silber, she said the work is simplified by relying on a common core platform. "In some ways it's increasing the work, but probably less than you would imagine. We've been working on Unity as an environment for several years now. From the outset we've designed it as an environment that appears differently in different form factors," she said. Mark Baker, product manager for server at Canonical, said: "We're a relatively small company in comparison to the people operating in the spaces we're looking to push into: the tablet, phone and thin client space. We have to find a model that allows us to scale that development. "That means having the core Ubuntu platform - the kernel, libraries, APIs and other bits and pieces – that's common across the whole Ubuntu product set. What varies is the presentation layer. Therefore while it's more work than previously it's a lot less work compared to say Apple that has completely different platforms based on the form factor or device they have. We're at least compiling Ubuntu from that common platform." Other incremental changes to the UI in 13.04 include new preview animations in the Dash homescreen, a new fuzzy search algorithm in file search, revamps of system menus for Shutdown and Bluetooth. The Smart Scopes feature was left out of 13.04 because it was not felt to be ready. The feature would add the ability to search online sites and services like GitHub and Google Drive from the Dash. The release of 13.04 also sees Canonical halve the support period for the regular non-long term releases of Ubuntu to nine months — something that Silber said was driven by there was driven by a lack of demand for the longer support period and desire to be "as quick and agile as possible". "We're looking at how we can improve our planning process and move to essentially monthly iterations of planning and development, compared to our previous six monthly iterations. That doesn't mean a new release every month, but in terms of that planning and checkpointing we think we can increase velocity overall if we shorten that planning cycle from six months," said Silber. The Windows-based installer for Ubuntu Wubi has also been dropped with this release and Silber said she is not aware of "any plans for it to reappear". Parker said there was "some concern over the quality of Wubi as it hadn't been updated in a while" and over whether it would work with Windows 8. Ubuntu 13.04 also includes the Developer Preview SDK for developers to build native applications for Ubuntu devices. Using this SDK, developers can make a single application for all Ubuntu form factors and publish it in the Ubuntu Software Centre with a single upload. Developers have already started to create applications for Ubuntu across different devices. Ubuntu Server Also released today is Ubuntu Server 13.04. Ubuntu Server 13.04 is bundled, and has been tested, with the open source cloud management software suite OpenStack, the latest 'Grizzly' release . "OpenStack is installed in a high availability configuration where we have all the components set up in a failover or multi-master way, so if one of the pieces goes down the cloud as a whole is not affected," said Parker. The release includes the Ceph object, block and file storage system, integrated with its OpenStack implementation. A common use for Ceph's is enabling object storage clusters to be set up using commodity hardware. This release of Ubuntu brings substantial enhancements to the Juju, the GUI tool that Ubuntu provides for managing distributed and cloud environments, which provides a visual representation of the relationships between services running on clouds like Amazon EC2 or OpenStack. The release increases the number of Juju 'Charms', definition files for deploying services to cloud platforms, to more than 130 common cloud workloads. The collection of Charms includes major web development frameworks such as Node.js, Django and Ruby on Rails, enabling rapid orchestration of web applications using any of these frameworks on EC2 and OpenStack clouds. This delivers a flexible PaaS experience and freedom to choose the cloud that best meets enterprise needs. Charms are also available for the databases that underpin web applications, including MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Cassandra. Canonical's Landscape management tool now has OpenStack awareness built-in, and supports critical workflows for production cloud environments, such as live updating of host kernels and other components in a running cloud. This release of Ubuntu has been tested running on multiple hypervisors, including KVM, Microsoft's Hyper-V, VMWare's ESX and Citrix Xen — with VMWare ESX and Nicira NVP network virtualisation now part of Ubuntu's continuous integration testing. Canonical will provide commercial support for OpenStack and will collaborate with VMware on issues related to vSphere or NVP running with OpenStack.

Eyewitness Of Miami Beach Shooting Alleges Police Misconduct New video footage of the Miami Beach police shooting that left one man dead during Memorial Day weekend last week has surfaced. According to reports by CNN, eyewitness Narces Benoit saw and filmed the fatal shooting, and claims police tried to detain and prevent him from leaving with the footage. The CNN report reads: “When he noticed me recording, one of the officers jumped in the truck, put a pistol to my head,” he said. “My phone was smashed – he stepped on it, handcuffed me.” “They handled us like we were criminals,” she said. “The officer came over to the driver’s side, on my left, and just put the gun to my head.” “They took everyone’s phones and smashed them,” she said. Benoit says the only reason he still has the footage is because it was saved on a tiny memory card, which he removed and hid from the officers, despite being told to hand over his video. Watch the full CNN video report here: Narces Benoit’s cellphone video footage is posted on the following page. Email This Leave a Comment

Looking for a way to free up some cash? (Of course you are!) One option is to take out a second mortgage on your home, which entails using your house as collateral to obtain another loan in addition to your first mortgage. It allows you to access the equity in your home, which is the difference between the balance of your original mortgage and the current value of your home (e.g., if your home is worth $250,000 and your mortgage balance is $200,000, you have $50,000 in home equity). Most mortgage lenders will allow you to borrow up to 80% of your home's equity (which for the above example would total $40,000). Second mortgages are popular right now thanks to America's robust housing market, with median home prices hitting a record high of $239,700 in May -- up 4.7% year over year. So if you're one of those lucky ducks who's built up a large sum of equity in your home, getting a second mortgage is one way to boost your cash flow. But there are some things you should know first. You can spend the cash however you choose There are no limitations on how you use the money from a second mortgage. "Mortgage lenders aren't concerned by how you spend the cash," says Todd Sheinin, mortgage lender and chief operating officer at New America Financial in Gaithersburg, MD. "They're concerned about whether you'll be able to repay the debt on time." Using the cash to finish the basement, for example, or build that much-needed addition to your home can pay off in the long term. "If you're going to make improvements to the property that will increase its value, getting a second mortgage becomes a good investment," says Richard Redmond, mortgage broker at All California Mortgage in Larkspur and author of "Mortgages: The Insider's Guide." Some people use the cash to send their kids to college, cover living expenses during a period of unemployment, or pay off large credit card debts -- all valid reasons to get a second mortgage, says Sheinin. However, getting a second mortgage to fund discretionary spending -- like taking the family unit on a sweet Mediterranean cruise -- probably isn't the best financial decision. "Don't look at your equity as free money," says Redmond. "You're essentially spending your savings when you take out a second mortgage, so you need to think very carefully about how you're going to use the money." There are two types of second mortgages You can opt for either a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC). A home equity loan provides you with the cash upfront, and you pay monthly installments over the length of the loan (like you do on your first mortgage). Consequently, "you immediately start paying interest on the loan," says Redmond. One advantage to a home equity loan is that it has a fixed interest rate. A HELOC, meanwhile, has an adjustable interest rate -- meaning the rate can rise substantially if market indexes increase. But the key difference between a HELOC and a home equity loan is that you aren't provided the cash upfront. Instead, you have access to the full amount of the loan through a line of credit, but pay interest only on the cash that you borrow. "A [HELOC] is like having a big credit card attached to your home," Sheinin explains. Given that they offer greater flexibility, HELOCs are more commonly used than home equity loans, but which one you opt for depends on what you really need: a sizable chunk all at once, or small injections of cash on a regular basis? Second mortgages typically have higher interest rates and fees When you apply for a second mortgage, lenders look to see if you meet the necessary credit and income requirements. It's essentially the same application process you went through for your first home loan, but second mortgage interest rates and fees are usually higher because the second mortgage lender is assuming more risk. If you default on the home and the property goes into foreclosure, the first loan takes priority -- meaning the second lender may not receive any or all of the proceeds from the foreclosure sale. So before applying for a second mortgage, consider the costs of opening and maintaining the loan -- including application fees, home appraisal fees, closing costs (3% to 6% of the loan amount), and annual fees. Also keep in mind that these fees are sometimes negotiable, so it pays to ask the mortgage lender what kind of wiggle room they may have. You don't need to use your first mortgage lender You can choose a new lender for your second mortgage if you prefer. Therefore, you'll want to shop around to find the best interest rate. Obtain quotes from at least three lenders and make sure the loan terms are identical so you're getting an apples-to-apples comparison. Some lenders are more open to waiving certain nominal fees than others.

.The teenage son of a tribal chairman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a criminal charge for his role in shootings that left 10 people dead on an Indian reservation last March. Louis Jourdain, 17, pleaded guilty to threatening interstate communications, according to a docket released by a federal court in St. Paul. Two other charges — conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States — were dropped. The docket, some of which had been blacked out, gave few details of the charge, saying only that Jourdain used a computer to conduct interstate communications that "could be taken by an objective observer as threatening" sometime between Jan. 1, 2003 and March 2005. Most of the proceedings involving Jourdain have been closed to the public because of his age, and the release of the docket marked the first time the charges were even disclosed. Jourdain is the son of Floyd Jourdain Jr., the tribal chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. He was also a friend of 16-year-old Jeff Weise, who shot and killed nine people on the northern Minnesota reservation before killing himself. Floyd Jourdain said authorities examined about 400 pages of text messages from his son that covered everything "from girls to music to video games to movies." "Unfortunately, some of it might be perceived as threatening or inappropriate," he said. "And that is basically what he's decided that he is admitting to today." The rampage started when Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend, then went to Red Lake High School, where he killed seven people in the nation's worst school shooting since Columbine. Jourdain was arrested a week after the shooting and remained jailed Tuesday. His trial had been expected to begin in mid-December in federal juvenile court. Floyd Jourdain said his son "admits to his wrongheaded and inappropriate use of the Internet, but he does not accept responsibility for the 10 lives lost at Red Lake on March 21 because he is not responsible." Carol Stillday Spears, whose 15-year-old daughter, Thurlene, was killed, said she was frustrated to hear that the more serious charges against Jourdain were dropped. "I think he should be punished. I lost my baby over there," Spears said. Her two other teenage daughters do not attend the school because they are still scared. Red Lake Principal Chris Dunshee said he hopes the plea "will lend to the healing process and not be something that will cause more divisiveness." Messages left at the office of Jourdain's attorney, Jon Hopeman, were not immediately returned. No sentencing date was set. In most cases, juveniles who are tried in federal court can only be held until age 21. Karen Bailey, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, said the law requires sentencing within 20 business days. She said Heffelfinger did not have anything else to say about the case.

Trucks, helicopters and mules carried in vote tally sheets from remote areas Saturday as the ballot count for Haiti's legislative election runoff got under way, officials said. Officials were still calculating the turnout for Friday's vote to choose a new parliament, however, estimates ranged widely from 10 percent to 30 percent of Haiti's 3.5 million registered voters. The runoff was considered the last step in the long-delayed process to put Haiti back on the path to democracy two years after a violent uprising toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country's first democratically elected leader. Final results are expected within about a week. "Overall it was a good, peaceful and democratic election," said Damian Onses-Cardona, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission sent to restore order after Aristide's ouster. On Friday, the head of the European Union observer team, Johan Van Hecke, called the turnout "extremely weak," estimating it was closer to 15 percent. An EU spokeswoman said Saturday that Van Hecke made the comment about halfway through the vote and that the estimate could change. About 70 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in Feb. 7 presidential elections that restored former president Rene Preval to power, however, officials had predicted the turnout for the legislative race would be less. "The assessment of the day is positive and we ask the Haitian people to trust us so that the process can work in the long term," the president of Haiti's electoral council, Max Mathurin, told reporters on Friday. Preval's Lespwa party is likely to win most of the 127 legislative seats up for grabs, but the 63-year-old former president will have to form a coalition since no party has enough candidates to win a majority. Preval, a champion of Haiti's poor masses and a former Aristide ally, takes power May 14. The party or coalition with the most seats in parliament chooses the prime minister, who as head of government appoints the Cabinet and most administrative posts. Despite the lower turnout, election observers said the race was generally fair, well organized and mostly free of violence. An official for a small political party was shot to death in a polling dispute in a northern town, and there were isolated reports of voter fraud and intimidation at some polling stations. In the capital, voting went smoothly in most areas, although some people complained they showed up to cast ballots only to be told they weren't on the voter list. A Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force was guarding the transport of vote tally sheets to the capital of Port-au-Prince, using helicopters, trucks and 200 mules needed to retrieve ballots from mountainous hamlets. Only two candidates for deputy won outright in the Feb. 7 first round.

As I said last night, Chris Wallace simply did his job. He was tough, but respectful and asked legitimate questions about Al Qaeda in his interview with Bill Clinton. Anyone attacking Mr. Wallace is dishonest knows nothing about journalism. Now we expect smears from the fanatical far left individuals in a case like this. Predictably, political partisans like Howard Dean, James Carville, and Paul Begala attacked FOX News and Mr. Wallace, as did some of our competitors who get crushed nightly by this network. By the way, Carville and Begala, they're going to be here tomorrow night. Hide the children. But this story has now developed into much more than a contentious chat. Some Democrats believe it will mobilize the left to get tough on terror. You'll notice President Clinton didn't say he wanted to get Usama bin Laden. He said he wanted to kill bin Laden. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized the finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. (END VIDEO CLIP) O'REILLY: I think he wants to kill him. Three weeks ago, Democrats thought they had the November elections locked up. But now, gas prices are falling and terrorism is once again the big issue in the upcoming campaign. If not for one thing, I would have no doubt that Bill Clinton purposely lit into FOX News to energize the Democrat base. But the way Mr. Clinton acted after the interview was over gives me pause. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: He did not want to make up. I mean, he was angry. He got up and he left with his staff. He started yelling at his staff that they had put him in this situation. (END VIDEO CLIP) O'REILLY: Well, be that as it may, the president should not have been angry with Chris Wallace or FOX News. I can understand why he's serious about that ABC movie that suggested he was distracted from bin Laden for the Lewinsky episode. But Chris Wallace asking legitimate questions? Come on. So they're must be something else in play here. And that something I believe is politics. Democrats know Republicans are still perceived to be the stronger terror fighters. And that perception might be all important in November. Whether that was on Bill Clinton's mind when he stepped into Wallace's no spin zone, I don't know. But it's in play now. And that's "The Memo." The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day The predictable attacks on my new book "Culture Warrior" are pouring in. So far, they are more amusing than hateful. Writing in the Charlotte Observer, Kay McSpadden says I am responsible for the culture war. I'm responsible for dividing the country. Wow! Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, John Carroll says I'm a liar. So don't believe anything I say. Carol also asserts David Letterman kicked my butt. Now, Carroll is invited on this program tomorrow to chronicle — pardon the pun — my lies. Place a bets now on whether he'll show up. On the good news front, "Culture Warrior" this morning was No. 5 on the Barnes&Noble.com service, No. 6 on Books A Million and No. 6 on Amazon. We really thank you all very much. We know time is tight, money is tight. Very nice of to you go out and support the book on its first day. Also on BillOReilly.com we have signed books in a brand new auction, with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity. You can you some ties I've worn on "The Factor" and help a great organization. That's not at all ridiculous, and thanks again for your interest in "Culture Warrior." —You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com

A gay couple was granted a marriage license Monday within hours of filing a federal lawsuit against a county clerk in Texas who cited religious opposition when denying them a license last week. Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton filed the lawsuit against Hood County Clerk Katie Lang, saying they repeatedly were turned away when trying to obtain a license last week in Granbury, the county seat. The men were quickly granted a license and "are delighted" that they can get married in their home county, according to their attorney, Jan Soifer. "It's a shame that they needed to hire lawyers and file a lawsuit to make that happen," Soifer said in a statement. But the couple hasn't withdrawn the lawsuit just yet. Soifer said they are seeking an agreement from Lang that her office will issue licenses to same-sex couples without delay, along with attorneys' fees. The lawsuit alleges that Lang violated their right to equal protection under the law, among other charges. Lang posted a statement on the Hood County clerk's website saying others in her office would issue the licenses, but that "the religious doctrines to which I adhere compel me to personally refrain from issuing same-sex marriage licenses." Lang referred questions Monday to the Texas-based Liberty Institute, which litigates cases nationwide relating to religious liberty. The institute's senior counsel, Jeremy Dys, said that while the U.S. Supreme Court was split in legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide in its ruling last month, it was unanimous in recognizing legal protections for public officials and others who invoke religious objections. "The Supreme Court did not overrule the First Amendment on that day," Dys said. In a statement released earlier Monday, Soifer criticized Lang for issuing the license to Cato and Stapleton days after saying her office could not provide it because state forms were not updated with same-sex references. Dys said Lang was concerned that altering a license could result in an accusation of tampering with a government document. Lang received an opinion from the Hood County attorney over the weekend saying she could issue the license, Dys said. "The bottom line is somebody can walk in and get a marriage license if they're entitled to a marriage license," he said. "There's no controversy here." Hood County Attorney Lori Kaspar declined to provide details of her opinion to Lang, but noted that Lang took her advice and the license was issued. Public officials take an oath to follow the law, and if they're unable to complete that oath "due to personal conviction, then you need to get someone else to do it or to step aside," Lang said. "I think as long as people get licenses then it doesn't particularly matter who issues them."

- Former WCW star Marcus “Buff Bagwell” recently appeared on The Undisputed Wrestling Show to promote Heroes & Legends 3. The full interview is at this link. He talked about his role on Showtime’s Gigolos: “If you go on cowboys4angels.com it gives my price. I am now a gigolo on the “Gigolos” show. Basically what it is: Women, not men, not anybody else, just women can go on there for companionship. There is no sex. Showtime can’t have sex (on air). This is my job and I came up with this because wrestling seems to be over for me in the big world and I’m having to switch gears at the age of 44. So still being in shape to go to WWE tomorrow, ready to go to TNA tomorrow, it is just political (that I’m not there). So time to switch gears. This came up, I’m doing it, and I’m going on my debut and it was nuts. I was the second highest rated on the show (Gigolos). It is just blowing everyone’s minds how quick this thing took off. I’m just riding the ride and seeing what happens.” “This is so new, I haven’t even gone on my first date yet. So I don’t even know. This is something I thought I could do, I’ve always loved women and I’m married but at the same time this is something that is not sexual, this is something that I am a companion, I am a friend. I go on dates with girls for them to have me as a piece of candy to show her friends. There is no sex, it is simply my companionship for however much time you want to buy me. I’m a gigolo trying to make some money.” Hot New Photos of Former WWE Diva, Lots of New Diva GIFs, More

In Copenhagen this week, a small group of highly politicized scientists are gathering with the United nations and are trying to implement a plan to transfer wealth of the industrialized world to the many of the poorer countries, with the UN , of course, being the funnel through which all this money will flow. This was to be the grand culmination of a worldwide effort that has been ongoing for at least the last 25 years, to convince the Industrialized West (with emphasis on the United States)that their exponentially greater use of energy is a) unfair and b) destroying the earth through Man-made global warming (aka: anthropogenic global warming or AGW for short). Unfortunately for them, the records and emails of one of the leading AGW academic institutions (The University of East Anglia) were either leaked or hacked and, to sum things up succinctly, it became painfully obvious that the scientific process had become highly politicized in favor of promoting the concept of Global Warming and the professors in charge were manipulating data to fit their preconceived notions of global warming and were actively pursuing an agenda of blocking any scientist that wanted to submit studies that disagreed with their agenda (in effect, corrupting the Peer-to-Peer critique process). Here is a link to the PajamasMedia Climategate page, where you can actually read and download the actual data and emails that were obtained from East Anglia. (There is also at this site a plethora of links that challenge the concept of AGW). Of note, East Anglia is now claiming the “Raw Data” that they based their predictions on has been accidentally “destroyed“. The head of the East Anglia Climate Department has stepped down and the British government has launched a major investigation. And isn’t the Brits that have been hiding data, our own NASA has for at least two years resisted a “Freedom Of Information” request for their raw climate data. NASA is funded by us, the US taxpayer. They are a civilian agency and there is no reason or right for them to hide their data from the science community, unless of course, doing so would show that, like East Anglia, they have been manipulating data to fit their preconceived Global Warming Agenda. The UN’s Climate Change organization of choice is the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). In response to the leaking of the explosive information from East Anglia, it is telling that they don’t dispute the information and its damning information, but rather complain they were obtained illegally. This Organization was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Yes, the same Peace Prize given to Al Gore and just recently, to President Obama. In opposition to the IPCC is the ICSC (International Climate Science Coalition). They are also attending the Copenhagen Climate Conference and are presenting their own “peer-to peer” reviewed critiques that openly dispute much of the science that AGW proponents use. I urge everyone reading this post to go to the IPCC site, look in the upper right corner and start reading the section they have call “Climate for Laypeople“. There you will find information that is broken down and explained for the Non-scientist. It is in no way condescending. Indeed, their objective is to get the word out that anyone with an open mind and has common sense can see read about the science and understand that the “Man-Made Global Warming” alarmists are perverting science for specific, targeted leftist goals. People who subscribe to AGW do not like open and honest debate. Al Gore will only “lecture” in front of friendly audiences. He will not openly debate the issue with anyone. This should set off alarm bells. However. the skeptics of AGW will debate this issue with the other side any time, any place. For example: Lord Christopher Monckton is the AGW skeptics version of Al Gore. But unlike Al Gore, he is easily accessible to the press and is willing to openly debate all comers. He has personally challenged Al Gore to debate, but Mr. Gore refuses (again a warning sign). Indeed, when you listen to proponents of AGW, they will always emphasize that AGW is “Settled Science”. Sort of the same claim the Catholic Church Inquisition made against the Scientist Galileo. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and as the above links states: “On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and issued a declaration acknowledging the errors committed by the Church tribunal that judged the scientific positions of Galileo, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.” Galileo had been dead for 350 years by this time but better late than never. In one of my earlier posts, I have a YouTube video where one of the premier Scientists pushing AGW, Professor Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, is confronted by Phelim McAleer, an accredited journalist and authorized to attend the Copenhagen conference. Mr McAleer confronts Prof. Schneider with dilemma of the East Anglia debacle and as you can see, the good professor resorts to the “illegal” obtaining of the emails argument vice what is in them. After that, a UN Guard (eerily reminiscent of a SEIU Thug), uses a barely veiled threat of violence to shut down Mr. McAleer. This is not the type of behaviour we should expect from our scientists or at a conference being funded, to a great extent, by OUR tax dollars. In an interesting side note, if Professor Schneider’s name seems vaguely familiar, he was one of the early proponents of “Global Cooling” scare of the early 1970’s. Interestingly, the article goes on to say that Professor Schneider changed his mind by the late seventies on “Global Cooling” and that the “Cooling” scare was media generated. Sound familiar? Why is it important that we, Mr. And Mrs. Joe Citizen, be aware of the issue. It is not because of any agreement reached in Copenhagen. The Senate needs an actual 2/3’s majority to pass it and remember, the earlier Climate Treaty, The Kyoto Protocol, failed 95-0 when is was essentially voted on in the Senate. So anything Obama signs in Copenhagen is DOA once he returns to the U.S. What is dangerous is the EPA declaring “CO2” a greenhouse gas and subject to governmental regulation. That means if you get the bulk of your electricity from Coal (as I do in NW Florida), be prepared for the Government to slap duties and fines on Coal and hydrocarbon Energy plants and for that cost to be passed down to the consumer. All of this in support of a scientific theory that now lays in tatters. I have given you some links and sources to help you get up to speed. Feel free to post additional links on my site, Pro-AGW or Con-AGW. My little post is just a starting point to understanding an issue that the current Congress is going to use, if we allow them, to bilk trillions of dollars from the taxpayers of this nation. I can assure you, with a couple of evenings of reading and study, you can be as informed, indeed better informed than the vast majority of our Senators or Representatives in Congress. So when and if they ever hold another Townhall meeting, you will be ready to call him out when he or she starts talking carbon taxes and extra charges for your energy consumption. What is lacking in this country is a coherent energy policy that has two goals: 1. Making The United States Energy Independent 2. Making Energy Abundant and Cheap. That is for another post. But here is a taste of part of the solution .

In November 2008, Americans voted for Barack Obama because they thought he was the kind of leader who could bring Republicans and Democrats together and return America to battle-tested ideals that would stem our economic decline. Nearly four years later, it is clear America didn’t get that leader. This month, under President Obama’s leadership, the national debt broke the $16-trillion barrier, adding more than $5 trillion so far during his term. The sad truth is that In Obamaworld, there is no discussion of hard choices; of living “within our means.” There is just expansion of entitlement. President Obama talks of the wealthy paying their “fair share” but not how he will raise taxes on job creators and American manufacturers. The party of government really thinks “they” built it under President Obama. This is a key reason why unemployment remains above 8%. And with many more millions of Americans who are underemployed or have given up on work altogether, we are witnessing the slowest economic “recovery” in 70 years. Now, instead of building on the human dignity and economic lessons of successful and bipartisan welfare reform, President Obama wants to move “backwards” rather than “forward” and make work optional (and the skills development and opportunity that goes with it). America should be going in exactly the opposite direction with policymakers building on the innovations of welfare reform and eliminating wasteful duplication to other government programs like food stamps, job training programs, housing programs, and Medicaid. And states should be responsible for a fair share of the responsibility in this. Barack Obama promoted himself as the purple candidate, and promised hope and change and the need to work together to solve problems. Instead, he has overseen policies that encourage government dependency, kill job growth, and cultivate a debt and deficit that our children and grandchildren will inherit. To be fair, the problem didn’t start on this President’s watch. In Washington, politicians have nearly doubled their spending over the past 10 years — and by most accounts, they plan to burn through $3.7 trillion this fiscal year alone, spending around 40% more than we have. But President Obama made campaign promise after campaign promise that he’d fix the problem. He promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. However, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office just announced this year’s deficit at $1.1 trillion marking four straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits. Obama’s 2013 budget would add another $3.5 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years. Furthermore, his policies have increased the debt by $5 trillion, swelling our total debt to $16 trillion and lowering our once pristine credit rating for the first time ever. President Obama’s policies have come with a high price tag. Remember in 2010 when the President promised that Obamacare would be budget neutral? Now we find out that the health care overhaul law will add billions to the deficit. A recent study by the Mercatus Center shows that Obamacare will add $500 billion dollars to the deficit. Many of Obamacare’s opponents, myself included, predicted early on that the President’s health care law would devastate our economy. When it comes to gambling with taxpayer funds, Obama has proven to be quite the risk-taker. Case in point: Solyndra. A $527 million sham that cost taxpayers in a big way. Similarly, the President bailed out General Motors, which, as of this week, is expected to head into bankruptcy for a second time. But the biggest gamble of all was the President’s stimulus plan. At $850 billion, the “shovel ready” program has been a colossal failure, even by the President’s own standards. The Democrats have continued to play games and ignore the crisis. Congress is supposed to pass a budget each year that sets overall spending limits, and then pass the dozen spending bills that actually fund basic government operations by October 1, which is the start of the fiscal year. But Congress hasn’t passed a budget since 2009 because the Senate, which is controlled by the Democrats, has failed to pass a budget for more than three years. The United States faces its most serious financial crisis and the Senate Democrats could not be bothered to write a budget because budgets force people to make choices. This is leadership? It is not surprising that they don’t want a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution which would require the federal government to live within its means like states have to- when they don’t even want a budget. We really need to change the dynamic or we will fail future generations and the promise of America. Thankfully, a bipartisan effort in both the House and Senate looks to put our elected officials’ money where their mouths are and tracks a proposal I made on the campaign trail to hold people accountable to do their jobs called the “No Budget, No Pay Act” in their respective chambers. Under the bill, members of Congress would forgo pay for every day after October 1 that they didn’t adopt a budget and pass all of its spending bills. Once members approved a spending plan and appropriated the money, they would start receiving paychecks again but couldn’t collect any retroactive pay. The premise is simple: don’t do your job and you don’t get paid. I strongly support this legislation that looks to hold Congress accountable on performing one of its most important functions and forces them to work to get paid. I don’t believe in waiving the work requirement for welfare and I don’t believe in waiving it for Congress either. But this is only one piece of the puzzle in restoring our fiscal sanity. During my presidential run, I campaigned heavily on entitlement reform based on my work to reform welfare in the mid- nineties. With our government spending 40% more than it has, the time is overdue for strong fiscal leadership rather than kicking the can down the road. We need entitlement reform that provides compassion to those in need but unshackles beneficiaries from the federal government when they are ready. We must modernize our federal entitlement programs to meet the needs of current and future beneficiaries, and reduce the financial burden on our children and grandchildren. In many ways our entitlement programs have been successful at protecting millions of Americans from a life of poverty. And we can no longer be afraid of talking about Medicare in the public square. The facts are clear. Medicare is the fastest growing entitlement program and is the largest driver of future deficits. It accounts for 15 percent of federal spending and is projected to increase from $575 billion this year to $1.2 trillion in 2012. If we do not modernize and improve Medicare as it currently stands, seniors will lose access to quality healthcare. We need to instill the power of market competition, and empower Americans with choice and control. We need to reform Medicare with a premium-support program that offers beneficiaries choice and control over their healthcare options. This would transform Medicare from a program run by government to a program that empowers seniors. Finally, for America’s long term future we need to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution to help us to get out of this mess and to prevent us from getting into it again. True leadership requires serious solutions. Congressional Democrats are clearly not serious about addressing our nation’s financial problems, and President Obama lacks the leadership and pragmatism to turn the course. Americans understand the scope of this problem and they expect Washington, DC to produce a budget and policies that tackle our financial crisis. This makes this presidential election the most important in our lifetime. We cannot afford to fall off the fiscal cliff. We cannot afford four more years of President Obama. We need freedom and opportunity once again for families in America. Rick Santorum, a Republican, is a former Congressman and Senator from Pennsylvania, and co-founder of Patriot Voices.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) keeps totals of electronics production, and the latest numbers for January-November 2012 provide a reasonable idea of the importance of different product categories. According to a table compiled by Digitimes in Taiwan, China has made more than a billion mobile phones in the first 11 months of last year, along with 314.5 million PCs, 116.1 million monitors, and 114 million TV sets. There isn't a number for tablet production, but on December 5, IDC's analysts forecast global sales of 122.3 million for 2012. The figure for 11 months of Chinese tablet production would therefore come close to the production of TV sets, and roughly a third of the production of PCs. There may be some tablets made in countries other than China, but probably not enough to make a significant difference. On MIIT's numbers, China's mobile phone manufacturers saw production fall by 1.1 percent compared with last year. Printers declined by 0.6 percent, digital cameras by 4.6 percent, and fax machines by 5.7 percent. The production of CRT-based TV sets fell, not surprisingly, by 40.2 percent. On the good side, production of PCs of all types rose by 10.6 percent, with laptops up by 8.7 percent. Production of TV sets increased by 9.1 percent, thanks to the 11.2 percent increase in sales of LCD TVs. However, both of these categories can be expected to decline, as the number of businesses and consumers who want a new PC or a flat-screen TV declines. If anyone from MIIT happens to read this, please could you add tablets to your list? (You could add e-readers, games consoles and MP3 players as well.) Also, it would cause less brain-ache if all the numbers were given in millions to one decimal place. I realise there's a Chinese system where units increase by 10,000 (万 wàn) times, but in the west, we only increase them by 1,000 times (thousand, million, billion).

"I've never done commercials before, or anything like this," says Robyn, discussing her appearance in a new Volvo television spot while video-chatting from her kitchen in Stockholm. "I really wanted to make sure I could make something that didn't feel like an intrusion." Over the course of a music career that has stretched nearly two decades and has included a handful of critically adored pop hits, Robyn has never once used her music to soundtrack an advertisement, much less appeared in one. But earlier this year, the Swedish performer decided to join the new 'Made By Sweden' ad campaign from Volvo -- the multinational manufacturing corporation based in Gothenbeurg, Sweden -- and star in the commercial, which features her new song with Royksöpp, "Monument." Robyn is the third artist to appear in the 'Made By Sweden' campaign, following the company's collaboration with Swedish House Mafia in 2013 and with Swedish football superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic earlier this year. The 150-second ad features Robyn driving through a neon-infused Los Angeles, chatting on the phone with a friend from Sweden about feeling like "a tiny little drop in a huge bucket" while flashes of Swedish nature light up the night sky. "All we have is now," Robyn's voice echoes as she explores L.A., taking detours through arcades and karaoke rooms before driving toward a sunrise. "It's not a commercial about a car -- it's a commercial about a way of thinking," Robyn tells Billboard. Indeed, the sprawling advertisement is for Volvo's new Drive-E engines, low-emission alternatives that will be made available with all of the company's 2015 models. Directed by Robyn's boyfriend, Max Vitali, the commercial prods at environmental issues by juxtaposing the cityscape and serenity of nature, and offers Robyn -- a outspoken advocate of global warming awareness -- as a new proponent of their cause. "I think about it all the time," says Robyn of climate change. "The system we're in is so wrong, and you want to do something, but you can't, because you're relying on energy that's being produced in a way that's not good for the environment. You need to travel, but there's no reliable way to travel if you want to be kind to nature… With this commercial, I used my own doubts and anxiety about the environment." Robyn and Royksopp Release New 'Do It Again' Mini-Album Single: Listen Robyn first began talking with Volvo about joining their campaign in early March, while putting the finishing touches on "Do It Again," her five-song "mini-album" with Röyksopp due out on May 26. Per Carleö, the marketing manager of Volvo Cars Sweden, says that he was one of the first people to hear "Monument," which Robyn played for him on a drive through Stockholm. "Robyn is a world-famous pop star -- she's associated with Sweden, but she's got the whole world as her stage," says Carleö. "She takes that unique Swedish-ness and brings it out into the world, and we think we're doing the same thing at Volvo." Robyn says that Volvo was extremely open to her concept for the commercial, which she filmed in Los Angeles with Vitali over a three-week period of planning, writing and shooting. The natural shots were filmed near Robyn's own country house in Sweden, and the dialogue was written by the pop star. "I wanted it to be personal, and it was very, very challenging to make something that wasn't about pointing fingers or that was depressing," she says. "I wanted to express that the only thing we really have is each other. Maybe there's no real answer right now, but it's nice to know that other people are thinking about it as well." The international version of Robyn's 'Made By Sweden' commercial launched online and on television in Sweden on May 2, and Carleö says that the plan is to bring the ad to different markets slowly, starting in Europe and expanding to Asia and North America. Robyn recently recorded the vocals for the English version of the ad, which debuted online on May 21 and will likely be hitting U.S. television soon. "It's been hectic, but it's been exciting," says Robyn about starring in her first commercial while simultaneously prepping the release of "Do It Again." "I learned a lot about myself, and I spoke to a lot of people who do research on environmental issues. I had a lot of existential conversations with my friends about, 'How do you make a difference? How do you work in a commercial context as an artist?' It's been interesting."

A group of blind movie patrons filed a federal class action suit this week against AMC Theatres, one of the nation's largest movie theater chains, alleging that AMC discriminates against blind moviegoers. The lawsuit claims that AMC fails to provide working audio-description devices for visually impaired kids and adults, instead offering broken devices or ones with dead batteries, as well as frequently handing out devices meant for the hard of hearing instead. Audio-description devices for the visually impaired consist of a simple headset and audio track that relate key visual elements of the movie. "Without audio description," notes the lawsuit, "blind individuals watching a movie do not know what is happening in scenes without dialogue and may misunderstand the meaning of other scenes." Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed This Hiker Isn't Letting Blindness Slow Him Down 2:38 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog The proposed class action suit, filed by representative plaintiff Scott Blanks of San Francisco, claims that AMC, which owns and operates over 300 movie theaters across the country, "fails to adequately maintain the equipment for playing audio description, fails to adequately train its staff on maintenance, set-up, and use of the equipment, and fails to adequately keep equipment charged and properly programmed." AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In one example cited in the lawsuit, a blind woman who went to "The Imitation Game" was given multiple non-functioning audio devices. When she finally received one that worked, she discovered that it was playing the audio track for "Fifty Shades of Grey" instead. In another incident, a group of blind children being taken to a Spongebob movie could not enjoy the film due to issues with their devices. "We all want to have the same experience, the same escapism, the same access to entertainment," Blanks said. Additional plaintiffs include the California Council of the Blind, Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, plus several other blind individuals. Together, they are seeking a court declaration that AMC discriminates against blind and visually impaired movie patrons, an order that AMC ensures its equipment works properly, and attorney's fees and legal costs for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Kanye West has scrapped a planned concert in New York for the Today Show after a bitter fall out with TV bosses over his recent interview on the program. The rapper was due to perform in the Big Apple for the show on November 26th to promote his new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which is released the same week. However, West is now refusing to honor the commitment after an uncomfortable interview on the Today Show earlier this week, which the rapper claims, left him feeling "alone, used and tortured." The taped chat aired on Thursday, with host Matt Lauer ending the segment by stating West will return to the program later this month to perform - and the announcement has prompted a furious West to confirm he's axed the gig. In a series of angry posts on his Twitter.com page, he writes, "I'm not performing on the Today Show for obvious reasons... I blatantly said I'm not performing on a Tweet and to everyone around me and the next day they still announced a performance. Do you guys see what I'm saying now? This is just a small slice of the day-to-day bulls**t that goes on that helps to precipitate the idea that (I'm) such an a**hole. Cause when I don't perform 'Oh now I'm the one that's crazy or a jerk.' " He later adds, "I don't hate Matt Lauer... They made a mistake. They thought they could pull it (off) but they couldn't. That was just a small representation of a bigger media play that's been going on since the beginning of time... Much love to Matt and the whole Today Show. I accept ya'll future apology in advance." Click Here For More Kanye West Pictures

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, will on Thursday begin making commercial applications available to Ubuntu users directly through the desktop, in a step designed to simplify software installation. The company is making Parallels Workstation for Linux available to users via the operating system's built-in software update tool, using a feature called the Ubuntu Partner Repository. Parallels Workstation allows users to run multiple copies of Windows and Linux simultaneously on a single system. The deal marks the first time Canonical has distributed commercial software through the repository, which has in the past only distributed free and open-source software. Because of the inherent diversity in Linux distributions, software installation can be a serious stumbling block for inexperienced desktop users of the sort that Ubuntu is designed for. Free and open-source software can be tailored for a particular distribution and made available for automatic installation from online repositories, such as Linspire's CNR.com, but commercial software is often left out of the loop. To install Parallels Workstation, for instance, users previously needed to go through a command line-based installation process. Under the new arrangement, installation is a matter of selecting the software from a list, and takes under a minute, according to Canonical. "This is the first piece of software we have made available this way, which may make it look a bit odd," a Canonical spokesman told ZDNet.co.uk. "But, very quickly, we will make more commercial software available in that repository, and make buying through the store an option for users that want commercial software running on Ubuntu." The version of the software available through the Ubuntu Partner Repository is a trial version, a Canonical spokesman said; users can buy a permanent key via the online Canonical Store. The deal also gives Parallels direct access to users of the most widely used desktop Linux distribution. Parallels, formerly SWsoft, first became widely known for Parallels Desktop for Mac, which allows users to run Windows, Linux and OS X side by side on Intel-powered Macs. The company recently renamed itself after its best-known product. Last month OpenVZ and Ubuntu developers released pre-built Ubuntu virtual machines designed to allow system administrators to deploy a specialised Ubuntu system in about a minute. OpenVZ is an open-source project sponsored by Parallels, and forms the basis for the commercial virtualisation software Virtuozzo. Parallels and Canonical worked together on the virtualised templates, which are based on Ubuntu 7.10.

A couple of years ago, the decision on where and how to host your company's infrastructure was an easy one — the real decision was how many racks to rent and from whom you would be leasing. But those days are long gone, and now it is more a decision of maintaining and acquiring your own infrastructure versus the cost and flexibility of moving into the cloud. Which ever way you choose to go, this vendor list has options for you. This is not a paid listing, nor is it an exhaustive list; it's a glossary of vendors that provide datacentre or cloud solutions. Vendors listed below all have some form of presence in Australia. NextDC Company profile: NextDC titles itself as Australia's only independent, publicly listed datacentre company. It was established in 2010, and currently has locations in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth. Geographical region: Australia Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Managed hosting, OneDC management Contact: Level 4, 88 Creek Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4000; Phone: +61 7 3177 4777 Key Links: Locations, Ecosystem Macquarie Telecom/Ninefold Company profile: Macquarie Telecom provides managed hosting and business telecommunications. In 2011, the company started up Ninefold in order to move into cloud services. Geographical region: Australia Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Intellicentre, Ninefold Contact: Level 20, 2 Market Street, Sydney, NSW 2000; Phone: 1800 004 943/+800 789 999 99 Key Links: Why Macquarie Telecom, Ninefold FAQs Equinix Company profile: This American company currently operates over 90 datacentres across 14 countries. In Australia, the company is contained solely in Sydney. Geographical region: Global Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Colocation, AWS Direct Connect Contact: Unit B, 639 Gardeners Road, Mascot, NSW 2020; Phone: +61 2 8337 2000 Key Links: Insight centre Amazon Web Services Company profile: When Amazon moved beyond retailing physical goods, cloud and on-demand computing became more accessible and affordable for many developers. AWS is able to handle loads, from startup stage to "web scale" applications. Geographical region: Global Target market: Startups, enterprise Featured products: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Amazon Simple Storage Service Contact: Online Key Links: Case Studies, Whitepapers Microsoft Company profile: For organisations that have bought into the Microsoft ecosystem, Windows Azure and its tools provide a quick and easy alternative to co-location and even onsite code repositories. Geographical region: Global Target market: Startups, enterprise Featured products: Windows Azure Contact: Online Key Links: Pricing calculator, Case Studies, Code samples, FAQs RackSpace Company profile: The American managed hosting company is increasingly moving into cloud services. It recently opened an Australian datacentre and donated the original code for the OpenStack project. Geographical region: Australia, global Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Cloud, Managed hosting, Email hosting Contact: Suite 3, Level 7, 210 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000; Phone: +61 1800-722-577 Key Links: OpenStack, Hosting 101 Vocus Company profile: Although best known for operating a subsea cable between Australia and New Zealand, Vocus has also picked up a number of datacentres through acquisitions. Geographical region: Australia, New Zealand Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Co-Location Contact: Level 1, 189 Miller Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060; Phone: 1300 88 99 88 Key Links: Vocus network, Pacific IX Digital Realty Company profile: Another American-based datacentre company that has recently moved into Australia. Geographical region: Global Target market: Enterprise Featured products: Turn-Key Datacentre, Colocation Contact: Level 12, 2 Elizabeth Plaza, North Sydney, NSW 2060; Phone: +612 8035 7700 Key Links: Knowledge centre

As part of today's April 9 Patch Tuesday, Microsoft is rolling out more firmware updates to its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablet/PC hybrids. The April cumulative update for Surface RT focuses almost entirely on Wi-Fi, according to Microsoft's Surface RT Update History page. Fixes include: Certain “Limited” connectivity issues resolved Improves Wi-Fi to handle a wide range of access points Resolves system crashes caused by certain Wi-Fi issues The April firmware update is the fifth Surface RT cumulative update the company has made since Microsoft launched the Surface RT in the U.S. and Canada in late October 2012. A number of Surface RT users have been complaining for months that they've had problems connecting to Wi-Fi with their devices. (I, fortunately, have not been among them.) Four of the five firmware updates Microsoft has made to the Surface RT include Wi-Fi connectivity fixes. The April 9 cumulative update for Surface Pro includes other fixes and driver updates. The full list (from the Microsoft Update page for Pro): Resolves an issue with on screen touch navigation in the UEFI boot menu Resolves some Surface Type and Touch cover connectivity issues Support for 106/109 keyboards on North American Surface devices Resolves an issue where toggling airplane mode would disable the Wi-Fi driver (By the way, for those who were wondering about a Surface Pro update they got in late March, after last month's Patch Tuesday one, it was "a low level driver update to improve SSD performance during boot," according to the Microsoft history page.) Microsoft made the Surface Pro available in the U.S. and Canada in early February. Today's April updates are the second set of firmware patches for the devices. Microsoft auto-installs updates on Surface RT and Surface Pro via Windows Update. Updates are cumulative, so users will get all previous updates delivered. With Surface RTs, automatic updating is always on. With the Pros, Windows turns on automatic update during setup unless users decide to turn it off. (If you do so, you won't be notified when firmware updates are available.) Even if automatic updating is turned on, users can opt to proactively grab the firmware updates before they receive notification of their availability using Windows Update on their devices via these steps. The updates should be available for installation around 1 p.m. ET or so today. Microsoft officials previously told me that users of non-Surface Windows RT devices also can and should get updates (firmware and otherwise). A spokesperson told me a couple months ago: "OEMs can (and are) providing any needed firmware or driver updates using Windows Update. These updates are targeted to specific Windows RT models. Recommended OS updates are available to all Windows RT devices at the time they are published. End-user settings will determine whether they are installed automatically."

Your browser does not support iframes. The daughter of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man whose police-involved death in 2014 sparked protests across the nation, is speaking out against the New York Police Department once again. This time, Erica Garner is angry about charges the department announced last week against Sgt. Kizzy Adonis in connection with her father’s death, noting that a Staten Island grand jury did not indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was captured on a cell phone video wrestling Garner to the ground, according to SILive. As Pantaleo wrestled with Garner, the 43-year-old Staten Island, New York father of six – who died during the struggle – could be heard saying “I can’t breathe,” giving birth to a protest mantra. Garner said if Sgt. Adonis, a Black woman, could be charged in connection with her father’s death, so should Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner William Bratton. From SILive: “If Sgt. Adonis can be charged with failure to supervise, then I expect the other sergeant at the scene to be charged as well,” Erica Garner, who is mulling a run for Congress, said on her official website. “Charge the zone commander. Charge the borough commander. Charge the Police Commissioner. Charge the Mayor.” […] Garner’s daughter agreed with NYC Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins that Adonis shouldn’t have been put on modified duty and hit with internal NYPD charges. Garner said that “the charges against Adonis are ridiculous” in light of a Staten Island grand jury’s decision to not indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo who was captured on a cell phone video wrestling Garner to the ground before his death. Do you think Garner has a point about charges against the sergeant? Sound off in the comments… SOURCE: SILive | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty SEE ALSO: NYPD Sergeant In Eric Garner Death Hit With Internal Disciplinary Charges Mother Of Trayvon Martin Endorses Hillary Clinton For President In Passionate Essay Also On News One:

Streeter Lecka via Getty Images Wisconsin beat Kentucky, 71-64, in the Final Four on Saturday to advance to the NCAA championship game, ending the Wildcats perfect season. The Badgers and Wildcats were neck and neck throughout much of the game. However, Wisconsin went on a strong run at the beginning of the second half, leading by as much as 8 points. The teams squared off for the rest of the half, and Kentucky battled back to regain the lead, 58-56, with 7:40 left. Another basket from Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns extended the Wildcats to a 4-point lead, but it would be the last time Kentucky was ahead. The Badgers mounted a strong offense for the remaining minutes. At 2:41, Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes tied the game at 60-60, with what many considered a shot clock violation that wasn't called. Nevertheless, Hayes' 2 points continued the Badgers' momentum. Wisconsin maintained a slim lead over Kentucky. With just ten seconds left and the score 68-64, Kentucky coach John Calipari called a timeout, but the Badgers could not be shaken. Wisconsin went on to score three of four free throws for what would be the final points of the game. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan learned at the end of his game, that Duke won the earlier matchup against Michigan State and would be the Badger's opponent on Monday for the championship game. "It gives us another 40 minutes," Ryan said after his team's win. Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky led scorers on both sides with 20 points. The forward, who was just named AP Player of the Year, also had 11 rebounds in the game. Towns had 16 points and 9 rebounds for the Wildcats. Speaking after the game, Calipari said the loss "hurts." The Wildcats were aiming to become the first undefeated team since 1976 to win the NCAA Tournament. "It hurts, but I'm so proud of these kids," Calipari said to CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson, adding it was the first time in two years his team "didn't execute down the stretch...that we didn't do the stuff that we were supposed to do." "But, Wisconsin was outstanding...they just kept coming," he said. In fact, the Badgers' final appearance is not short of historic, either. It'll be the first time Wisconsin has been in the final since 1941. Calipari said he told his team in the locker room after the game that despite their loss, "'No one's ever going to do what you just did.'" "It hurts because we were really close to doing something even more historic than 38 in a row," Calipari said. Wisconsin will face off against Duke on Monday for the national championship title.

AMD has rehired two engineers who previously worked for the Sunnyvale, California-based chip maker before going on to work at Apple and Qualcomm, a move that suggests the company is serious about spreading its reach--and influence--beyond the PC. Reuters has reported that former Qualcomm engineer Charles Matar, with expertise in low-power and embedded chip design, is to join AMD as vice president of system-on-a-chip development. Also back at AMD is Wayne Meretsky, an engineer who once worked as a technical lead for OS X at Apple, this time returning as vice president of software IP development. An AMD spokesperson has confirmed that the hiring of the two engineers, and stated that they will help the company expand into new markets, but no further details as to their specific areas of responsibility was given. The return of Matar and Meretsky to the AMD fold follows the return of chip guru Jim Keller, who returned to the company last August as chief architect. Keller had previously worked at Apple on the A-series processors used in the iPhone and iPad. While it is clear that AMD is interested in diversifying, where these latest hires will take the company is unclear. There has been speculation that both Sony and Microsoft will turn to AMD for processors for their next generation of games consoles. Another possibility is that AMD is to get serious about low-power mobile processors, possibly in an attempt to position itself as a competitor to Nvidia and its Tegra family of mobile processors. AMD has been trimming its workforce as of late, laying off 15 percent of its workforce in October, the company's second round of job cuts in under a year.

New South Wales companies have dominated Deloitte's index of the top 50 tech companies in Australia, taking up half of the list, ahead of Victoria in second place. The Technology Fast 50 (PDF) measures the fastest-growing technology companies based on their revenue growth over the past three years. It examines the communications/networking, software, electronics, biotech/medical, internet and computer/peripherals industries. Of the top 50 companies, half were based in NSW and 19 were from Victoria. Three companies represented Queensland, two were in South Australia and only one represented Western Australia. In addition, although the list considers both public and private companies, only six were listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). NSW-based IT and telecommunications service provider Anittel took the top spot on the list having grown 1022.22 per cent over the past three years and also having integrated 10 other firms in the same industry into its business. The company is listed on the ASX. It was followed by NSW computer peripherals company Observatory Crest, which grew 869.93 per cent, online insurance marketplace provider BizCover, which grew 792.03 per cent, and Queensland-based online surf and fashion retailer SurfStitch, which grew 573.66 per cent. Rounding out the top five was Vocus Communications. It grew 505.79 per cent this year and was the winner of last year's Fast 50 having grown 11,306 per cent at that time. It is also listed on the ASX. Vocus was another company classified by Deloitte as being part of the internet sector. A total of 23 companies from this sector were on the list — the highest ever in the 11 years the Fast 50 has been indexed. The communications/networking sector followed with 12 companies, with software companies shortly behind with 11. Overall, the total revenue from the Fast 50 was about $2.2 billion, up from $1.8 billion last year. However, while tech companies might be bringing in more money, they aren't growing as fast as they were — the three-year growth rate for this year was down to 209 per cent from 425 per cent last year.

Ty Lawson believes sex with a Kardashian will get you an NBA championship. TyLawson3: I’ll take one for the team lol With some thinking that hard work and determination can easily lead to rewards in professional sports, one player believes that the Kardashian family is the way to nab a championship in sports. Ty Lawson, of the Denver Nuggets, has a theory and believes that having sex with a Kardashian leads to a player’s team getting the big win. Citing Lamar Odom and the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent win, along with Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saints taking the Superbowl championship, the skills of Kim and Khloe might have to be who people really need to be thanking. In an attempt to help his team out, Lawson stated that he is willing to “take one for the team” and engage in a few hot moments with either if it brings the Nuggets the ultimate prize. TyLawson3: I heard if u hit a kardashian u win a championship.. Kim k holla me!!! I neeed ya for 17 min The only way to see if his theory has any truth, it must be tested, and a rumored romance for Kim will show the validity of his idea once the NFL season starts up once again. TyLawson3: If miles Austin miles or wateva his name is win a chip next yr… Then thing is amazing Email This Leave a Comment

So Circuit City (OTC:CCTYQ) is in trouble, and the press is reporting that the company has days to either be purchased, or liquidated. We can’t predict what will happen. All we know is that we went into the Sarasota store today, and there were customers. Click to enlarge That might show where the value lies. Busiest places? The cellphone kiosk, with three staffers talking a handful of customers The Ipod accessories area The Firedog area, where folks were lined up waiting for computer help The question becomes. What if Circuit City could keep those businesses if most of the rest of the company disappeared. Is that possible? Is that practical? We raise a second question. We were looking at the Quantcast stats for the top 100 websites. And lo, between Typepad, and below FoxNews.com, is Circuit City. CircuitCity.com draws more Internet users than LinkedIn. Amazing. Certainly, the retail operation feeds the online operation, but we bet that many people who shop online at Circuit City do not intend to go into the store. An astounding 9.4 million uniques a month. Wow. Here are the top Internet sites, from 75 to 96:

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) has always been one of my more stable investments. As a BDC, the company pays out essentially all of its taxable income via dividends, which ensures a consistently high yield, but also limits the potential upside for the stock. However, some of the recent moves from the company have left me quite puzzled. As I noted in my previous articles, Prospect Capital has recently invested into both rental properties and auto lending. While neither of these investments are odd on an individual basis, the size of these investments does have me wondering if Prospect Capital may taking on elevated risk to maintain its NII, or net interest income, levels. However, what has me really concerned are Prospect Capital's loan originations for Q4 2013. During any given quarter, Prospect Capital has tons of capital coming in via its various portfolio companies. When loans get paid off or otherwise exited, the company needs to reinvest the proceeds into new income producing assets or risk hurting its cash flow. For Prospect Capital, this situation is exacerbated by its frequent ATM share issuances, which has increased its share count by about 60% over the past 12 months. Below is a breakdown of Prospect Capital's loan originations over the past 3 quarters ending September 30. Do note that I will be referring to calendar quarters rather than to Prospect Capital's fiscal quarters. Q1 2013 23 new and follow-on investments for $784.4 million Repayments of $102.5 million (sold four investments, received repayment on one) Investments net of repayments: $681.9 million Q2 2013 20 new and follow-on investments for $798.8 million Repayments of $321.6 million (sold four investments, received repayment on seven) Investments net of repayments: $477.1 million Q3 2013 18 new and follow-on investments for $556.8 million Repayments of $164.2 million (sold two investments, received repayment on seven) Investments net of repayments: $392.7 million As shown, the pace of Prospect Capital's loan originations really slowed down during Q3 2013. This slowdown may have been an attempt by the company to improve the credit quality of its portfolio companies. However, being too selective can cause trouble if it takes a bite out of NII per share. At the end of Q3, Prospect Capital still had quite bit of liquidity (or slack) available and thus saw its quarterly NII per share level fall, resulting in a payout ratio of above 100% for the quarter. Luckily for Prospect Capital, it still had a decent chunk of undistributed income from prior gains available and hence its NAV was not impacted much. Fortunately, Q4 2013 is likely to be very good for Prospect Capital's in terms of originations. I have gathered Prospect Capital's total loan originations and repayments for the entire quarter. This information can be found in several of the company's SEC filings (I, II). Below is a breakdown of my estimates for Prospect Capital's Q4 originations. Do note that this estimate includes Prospect Capital's $199 million buyout of Nicholas Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:NICK) and the earlier $144.5 million investment into multifamily residential properties. Q4 2013 34 new and follow-on investments for $834.4 million Repayments of $138.2 million Investments net of repayments: $696.2 million As can be seen, Prospect Capital is likely to post its strongest quarter in terms of total net investments since Q1 2013. I would however caution that many of these loans were short-term in nature, often being repaid during the same quarter. Also, the most important metric in terms of Prospect Capital and its profitability is clearly the yield on these new investments. Unfortunately, this metric will is not yet available for the new loans. As of September 30, Prospect Capital's portfolio annualized yield stood at 12.5% while its debt to equity ratio was about 53.7%. Final Thoughts and Conclusion Few stocks offer the combination of both high current yield and share price stability as Prospect Capital. While the company is engaged in a high-risk business, its level of loans on non-accrual status remains top-notch at 0.3% of total assets. Short-term, Prospect Capital's dividend seems to be safe. In fact, the company has already declared its monthly dividends through June 2014. However, investors should always keep a close eye on the pace of Prospect Capital's loan originations and the yield on new investments as these are often leading indicators to the sustainability of the dividend. Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell the stocks mentioned. Please do your own due diligence before making any investment decision. Disclosure: I am long PSEC, . I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - The UCLA Bruins will play in the Sweet 16 for the second straight year after beating the UAB Blazers 92-75 in an NCAA Tournament South Region battle. Tony Parker had 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked three shots for the 11th-seeded Bruins (22-13), who were coming off a controversial 60-59 victory over sixth-seeded SMU on Thursday on a much talked-about goaltending call. "They're proof that, if you're resilient and you persevere when tough times hit, good things can eventually happen," said UCLA head coach Steve Alford. "No team is more rewarding and deserving than this team. They proved it again tonight, and I'm very, very pleased." Parker only had three points in the win over the Mustangs. Bryce Alford added 22 points and five assists for UCLA, which lost to Florida in the Sweet 16 last year. Norman Powell and Isaac Hamilton tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively, while Kevon Looney contributed 10 points and 11 boards. The Bruins dominated points in the paint, 52-22, and will play either Gonzaga or Iowa in the Sweet 16 in Houston. "We tried man. We tried zone. We tried some different wrinkles. But at the end of the day, we were not able to guard," Blazers head coach Jerod Haase said. "I felt like offensively we did enough to be able to compete, but on the defensive end we did not have an answer." Robert Brown ended with 25 points for the 14th-seeded Blazers (20-16), who stunned third-seeded Iowa State, 60-59, in the second round. William Lee had 10 points and six rebounds. Trailing 21-15, the Bruins went on a 20-7 run to take control. Parker tallied 10 points during the surge to give UCLA a 35-28 edge with 5:12 left in the first half. "They were on Bryce a lot. He was able to get me the ball, and they didn't double. So I was getting easy looks and he kept getting it to me down the stretch," Parker said. "He attacked and I got good dishes from him, and he really passed the ball well today." The Bruins then ended the half on a 7-2 spurt that Bryce Alford capped with a 3-pointer for a 46-37 lead. Parker tallied 19 points over the first 20 minutes. Looney went on a personal 6-0 run early in the second half to make it a 54-40 contest. The Blazers, however, stayed within striking distance and got within six, 64-58, with 10:30 to play. But the Bruins scored the next six points to put the game away. Game Notes UCLA improved No. 11 seeds to a perfect 5-0 against 14 seeds in the NCAA Tournament ... The Bruins shot 60.3 percent from the field and went 17-of-25 from the foul line ... UAB went 12-of-26 from beyond the arc ... The Blazers haven't made the Sweet 16 since 2004.

Oil prices fell on Monday as warm winter weather curbed fuel demand in top consumer the United States, erasing gains made earlier after Russia halted some exports in a trade dispute. U.S. crude settled down 22 cents to $56.09 a barrel, after moving between $55.10 and $57.72. London Brent fell 4 cents to $55.60 a barrel. Oil futures are down more than 8 percent since the start of the year on weak demand for heating fuels and as big investment funds seek profits in other markets, worrying producer group OPEC as it attempts to buoy prices. Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Energy Center. A senior OPEC delegate said members were holding consultations on possible further action after the cartel agreed to cut output 1.2 million barrels from November, and another 500,000 barrels from February. "The fast and deep drop in the oil market in the last week is worrying oil producers," the delegate said. Heating demand in the United States was forecast to average about 24 percent below normal for this time of the year, extending an abnormally warm start to the heating season, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. The soft demand for heating oil and natural gas offset worries about Russian supply, after the world's second largest producer cut pipeline shipments to Belarus, impacting Poland and Germany. Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Monday it was forced to act because Minsk had been siphoning oil from the pipeline. The Belarussian foreign ministry denied taking the oil illegally. "Sentiment seems very bearish, especially among funds. We could be experiencing one of the warmest winters for many years and if that is the case it will have a sizeable impact on first quarter U.S. demand," said Frederic Lasserre, head of commodities research at SG CIB. Investors were also sceptical of compliance among OPEC members in enacting the current cuts. "Fundamentals are weak and the market is very wary about non-compliance from OPEC," said Christopher Bellew, an oil futures broker at Bache Financial in London. A Reuters survey showed on Friday that OPEC had made little further progress in December in lowering supply to bolster prices, as higher output from some members offset continuing cutbacks by Saudi Arabia and others. Supply from the 10 countries bound by output targets was 26.96 million bpd, up 60,000 bpd from November, the survey found on Friday. December supply was 680,000 bpd less than in October, just over half the cut OPEC pledged from Nov. 1. Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Energy Center.

A $469,000 payroll error has earned an Illinois man a date with police. Anthony Armatys of Palatine, Ill., was arrested Wednesday on theft charges after allegedly receiving electronic payroll bank deposits from a New Jersey company he never worked for, authorities said. Officials at Avaya Inc., a telecommunications provider located in Basking Ridge, discovered checks had been mistakenly direct deposited into his account for nearly five years, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office. Armatys, 34, had accepted a position with Avaya years ago, authorities said, but he rescinded the acceptance before he ever started working. However, a system error resulted in checks being deposited into Armatys' bank account from the fall of 2002 to March of 2007, when the company discovered the error, officials said. During that time, Armatys collected more than $469,000 in pay and even withdrew approximately $1,900 from his company retirement account administered by Fidelity Investments, authorities said. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said it took investigators 11 months to do a thorough investigation, which resulted in the time gap between the discovery of the error and Armatys' arrest. "The investigation had to be done, records had to be obtained, the list goes on," he said. Armatys, who was awaiting extradition to New Jersey on Wednesday, was charged with one count of theft by deception; his bail was set at $50,000. Forrest did not know when Armatys would be extradited, if he had made bail or if he had retained a lawyer. Authorities in Illinois did not immediately return calls seeking comment and there was no phone listing for Armatys in Palatine. Avaya spokeswoman Deb Kline said the company had no comment on the matter.

An Iowa teacher's aide was fired Tuesday after school officials recently learned she was the member of an Indianapolis family who tortured and killed a girl in the basement of their home in 1965. Paula Pace had worked for the BCLUW consolidated school district based in the central Iowa town of Conrad since 1998. She was a teacher's aide at the district's high school. Superintendent Ben Petty said the school board fired Pace for providing false information on her application. Petty said he could not comment further about the case. The board made the decision after meeting in special session to discuss the matter. The district was notified by Grundy County Sheriff Rick Penning, who said his office received an anonymous telephone call last Wednesday informing him that Pace was Paula Baniszewski, formerly of Indianapolis, who had been convicted of manslaughter for participating in the torture and murder of 16-year-old Sylvia Likens in 1965. "They wanted to make us aware of it because of the crime that was involved and because she was in the school system," Penning said. "We turned it over to the school and we're kind of out of it because there's no criminal offense per se." He said the caller indicated they had picked up on Pace's previous identity from a Facebook posting. "Whether it was somebody on a vendetta or somebody just in the public interest started putting it on Facebook, people just started picking up on it," the sheriff said. Penning said his officers investigated the case and found that Pace had completed her prison sentence and was released on parole. The case has been referred to as one of the most notorious crimes in Indianapolis. The story has generated fiction and nonfiction books, a play and movies, including the 2007 dramas "An American Crime" and "The Girl Next Door." The case begins when Sylvia Likens and her sister, Jenny, were left by their parents with Gertrude Baniszewski and her seven children in the summer of 1965. The Des Moines Register reports that a clash between Sylvia and Paula planted the seed for the abuse suffered by Sylvia in the following months. The 16-year-old girl was beaten, burned with cigarettes, branded with a hot needle, and suffered other abuse. Her malnourished body was found in the basement of the home Baniszewski rented on Oct. 26, 1965. The cause of death was brain swelling and internal bleeding of the brain. A trial later revealed the torture came at the hands of Gertrude Baniszewski; her daughter Paula, who was 17 at the time; her son Johnny, then 13; and other neighbor children who would watch and at times participate. In 1966, Gertrude Baniszewski was convicted of first-degree murder and Paula was found guilty of second-degree murder. Both were sentenced to life in prison in Indianapolis. Johnny Baniszewski and two other boys ages 16 and 15 were convicted of manslaughter. They were released on parole in 1968. In 1971, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the two women, saying jurors had been prejudiced by publicity and that the trials should have been held separately. The mother was convicted of first-degree murder again at a second trial. She was paroled in 1985, changed her name to Nadine Van Fossan and moved to Iowa. She died in 1990. Paula Baniszewski, however, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter to avoid another trial. The Indiana Department of Corrections records indicate she was sentenced in August 1971 to a sentence of two to 21 years. She escaped in 1971 but was recaptured. Her prison records show an escape charge was added in December 1971. Baniszewski, who is now 64, was released from prison on Dec. 6, 1972, and discharged from parole in March 1974. It is unclear when she moved to Iowa and when she changed her name to Paula Pace. She lives in Marshalltown, and telephone numbers listed in her name have been disconnected. She did not immediately respond to an email address listed for her. She began working for the BCLUW school district in 1998, said the district's attorney, Mike Smith. He said he could not discuss personnel issues and could only confirm she was employed by the district as a teacher's aide. It was not immediately clear if the district did a background check when she was hired. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Food Fanatic This paleo mug cake is full of chocolate chips and happiness. Seriously. You've got to try it! Being paleo is hard. I mean, for the most part, I enjoy it and it comes easy but sometimes you want something sweet and you don’t want it to be an apple. You know? So you want a paleo cookie because paleo cookies are delicious, but you don’t want to make an entire batch because hello! You can’t control yourself around an entire batch of paleo cookies. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything. I am the picture of willpower. I am never tempted by an entire batch of cookies or a whole pan of paleo cornbread or box of Larabars. Nope, never. Ahem. But anyway, I have the perfect solution for when you need a sweet treat! A paleo mug chocolate chip cookie... cake! I, on more than one occasion, have complained and complained about how much I hate all those mug cakes and brownies and such because they always turn out spongy and dense and just not good. But the cookie works! These totally have a cookie texture after microwaving and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I am so into the texture of paleo baked goods that are made with almond meal. Plus a tiny bit of coconut flavor comes through which is always a good thing, and you can’t go wrong with dark chocolate! I can’t even tell you how many times I have made this recipe over the past few months. It really came in handy during our stressful move. This is also super simple to make since it is made in the microwave. Plus, I always mix all the ingredients up in the mug so there’s really not much clean up either! This recipe does make two servings (I know, I am so sorry!) but that just means you can share it with your BFF! Or save half of it for an hour later if you’re having one of those days. Get the Paleo Mug Cake Recipe on Food Fanatic Now! -- About Amanda Amanda makes all kinds of recipes on Fake Ginger, and on more than one occasion, she'll post a super healthy paleo recipe followed by something stuffed with chocolate and covered in Funfetti frosting. We're excited to say we're getting all the healthy stuff, because Amanda's our Paleo Fanatic!

You are currently on page: 1 2 All Pages The Rambam begins hilchos talmud Torah with the following halacha: Women and slaves are exempt from talmud Torah. A man is obligated to teach his son Torah, as it says, “velimadetem osam es beneichem ledaber bam.” However, a woman is not obligated to teach her son Torah because whoever is obligated to learn is obligated to teach – and since a woman is not obligated to learn, she is not obligated to teach. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 47:14) says that women should recite birchas haTorah. There is a machlokes Rishonim whether women can recite a berachah on a mitzvah from which they are exempt from performing. According to the Rishonim who opine that they can recite a berachah, we understand that they can recite the berachah on Torah as well. But the Mechaber (of the Shulchan Aruch) rules in favor of those Rishonim who do not permit women to recite a berachah on a mitzvah from which they are exempt. How then can he rule that they should recite a berachah on the mitzvah of learning Torah, since they are exempt from it? The Magen Avraham quotes the Beis Yosef, in the name of the Agur, and explains that women are obligated to learn the halachos that pertain to them and are obligated to say korbanos, just as they are obligated to daven. Thus they may recite the berachah on Torah. The Magen Avraham also explains that it is for this reason that women can mention in the second berachah of bentching, “v’al Torasecha she’limaditanu,” since they are obligated to learn the halachos that pertain to them. The Vilna Gaon does not agree with the Magen Avraham’s suggested answer, since the Gemara derives from the pasuk, “velimadetem osam es beneichem” – v’lo benoseichem – that women are exempt from the mitzvah entirely. This even regards learning about the mitzvos that they are obligated to perform. Reb Shach, in his sefer on the Rambam, explains that there are two obligations to learn Torah. One is the general mitzvah to learn the entire Torah. This mitzvah is derived from the pasukim of “veshinantam” or “velimadetam.” It is from this obligation that women are exempt. However, there is another obligation to learn Torah that is a component of every mitzvah individually, demanding that one learn how to perform that particular mitzvah. Included in the commandment to perform each mitzvah is an obligation to learn how to properly perform that mitzvah. The obligation to learn how to perform the mitzvos is also a mitzvah of learning Torah. Women are only exempt from the general mitzvah of learning the entire Torah. But they are obligated to learn how to perform the mitzvos for which they are obligated to perform, and that too is a mitzvah of talmud Torah. Hence they can recite the berachah on the mitzvah of talmud Torah, even according to the opinion that women may not recite a berachah on a mitzvah for which they are exempt. Reb Shach brings a proof from a Tosafos in Avodah Zarah 3a that this obligation (to learn how to perform the mitzvos that you are obligated in) is a mitzvah of talmud Torah. The Gemara there says that a non-Jew who learns Torah is comparable to a kohen gadol, and he is rewarded just as one who is not obligated to perform the mitzvah (which is a lesser reward than one who performs a mitzvah that he was obligated to carry out). Tosafos explains that the Gemara is referring to a non-Jew who learns Torah that pertains to the seven obligatory mitzvos that non-Jews are required to perform. (A non-Jew is not allowed to learn any of the other parts of the Torah.) If learning the halachos of how to properly perform a mitzvah is not considered a mitzvah of talmud Torah, why does the Gemara make reference to a non-Jew who learns Torah? The Gemara should have said this: a non-Jew who is involved in preparing for a mitzvah that he is obligated to do (i.e. he kills an animal so that it is not eiver min ha’chai.) One can infer from this that there is an obligation to learn the halachos of each mitzvah, and that that is a mitzvah of talmud Torah. I have one question concerning this proof. Why does the Gemara say that a non-Jew who learns the halachos regarding the mitzvos for which he is obligated is rewarded just as one who is not obligated to perform a mitzvah? According to Reb Shach he should be obligated to learn those halachos and be rewarded accordingly – just as one who is obligated. The Brisker Rav, in his sefer on the Rambam (Hilchos Berachos), quotes his father, Reb Chaim Soloveitchik, who suggests an alternative p’shat. He explains that the berachah that is recited on the Torah is different than the berachos that are recited on all other mitzvos. By all other mitzvos the berachah is on the fulfillment of the mitzvah, while the berachah on the Torah is not recited on the fulfillment of the mitzvah but rather on the Torah itself. That is to say that the actual learning requires a berachah regardless of any mitzvah to learn. Therefore women who are not commanded to learn may recite a berachah, since when they learn it is Torah that is being learned – even though it is lacking the mitzvah. For questions or comments, e-mail RabbiRFuchs@gmail.com. Continue reading: 1 2 All Pages Rabbi Raphael Fuchs About the Author: For questions or comments, e-mail RabbiRFuchs@gmail.com. If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page. Our comments section is intended for meaningful responses and debates in a civilized manner. We ask that you respect the fact that we are a religious Jewish website and avoid inappropriate language at all cost. If you promote any foreign religions, gods or messiahs, lies about Israel, anti-Semitism, or advocate violence (except against terrorists), your permission to comment may be revoked. Imported and Older Comments:

Facing a mounting backlash that its social media platform is a forum for unchecked bigotry, Twitter just announced a new committee to handle "trolling" and abuse - and hopefully stem the decline of the 10-year-old company, whose stock has plunged 30 percent since October 2015. The new committee, named the Twitter Trust & Safety Council, intends to "strike the right balance between fighting abuse and speaking truth to power," and enable Twitter's 320 million users to "express themselves with confidence on Twitter," wrote Patricia Cartes, Head of Global Policy Outreach, in a blog post today. The newly formed council includes representatives from a number of groups whose causes range from civil rights to anti-defamation and cyber safety. In this Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 picture, a young man holds an iPhone displaying his Twitter account in Queens, New York. Frank Franklin II / AP Twitter has proven itself to be a remarkable outlet for global solidarity, launching the #JeSuisParis hashtag after the November attacks in Paris last year -- but the free, international, all-access platform has also been an attractive recruiting tool for terrorists, which promped Twitter to suspend 125,000 terrorist-related accounts last year. The new Twitter task force comes on the heels of safety policies implemented last year and the creation of the Twitter Safety Center that also aimed to address the extensive trolling that led many users - especially female celebrities whose accounts helped propel Twitter's growth -- to abandon the platform. The safety center's actions included freezing trolls' accounts and requiring a phone number before they could be reinstated. The microblogging site's new policies acknowledge former CEO Dick Costolo's mea culpa where he said, "We suck at handling trolls and abuse," and his promises to fix the problem. Read More: Top Twitter Executives to Leave Company in Reshuffle

A Florida jury awarded Hulk Hogan $25 million in punitive damages Monday in his sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media. The decision came just days after Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was awarded $115 million — $15 million more than he had even asked for. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Jury awards Hulk Hogan $115 million in sex-tape lawsuit 3:12 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog The lawsuit alleged that Gawker violated Hogan's privacy after publishing in 2012 a secretly recorded video of the 62-year-old ex-pro wrestler having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, radio "shock jock" Bubba the Love Sponge. Gawker's lawyers argued that Hogan made his sex life a public matter. In Monday's decision, the jury assessed Gawker $15 million in punitive damages, while its founder, Nick Denton, was responsible for $10 million. A.J. Daulerio, the editor who posted and edited the video, was on the hook for $100,000. "I feel great," Hogan said Monday outside the St. Petersburg courthouse. "I'm really happy about everything that's happened. We've protected a lot of people from going [through] what I went through." As with Friday's judgement, Denton said he is planning to appeal. Gawker attorney Michael Berry argued that punitive damages would be piling on to a verdict that already "could be debilitating for Gawker Media." The jury was told that Gawker Media is worth $83 million. Denton is worth about $121 million, most of which came from his share of a separate parent company that owns Gawker and holds its intellectual property, valued at $276 million. Daulerio had no assets and thousands of dollars in student loans, the attorneys said.

The only explanation I can think of for this is that Arnold is still nominally a Republican. His emergency budget plan for the state of California builds in an expectation of funds from the current and/or the next Federal stimpack. Standard & Poor’s observed, rationally enough, that there’s no guarantee that Obama will write over so much of your and my money to California, so they downgraded the state’s debt to A-, one of the lowest investment-grade ratings. That means California has to pay a lot more money in interest every time they borrow, and will have fewer investors available to lend to them. Which of course makes their fiscal crisis all the worse. Now you’d think California would be too big to fail, especially since they reliably give 55 electoral votes to every Democratic presidential candidate. Bill Clinton, as President, seemed to spend as much time in California as he did in Washington. But today, David Axelrod was quoted as saying that he recognizes California’s problems, but can’t solve them all from Washington. To recall a famous line from the Seventies: Drop dead! Maybe Obama figures he can count on California’s votes no matter what. Or maybe he wants to spite Schwarzenegger.

Barry has several such heels… but health care needs to be first on the list for a number of reasons. Aside from the deficit itself, which the health care debacle will make infinitely so much worse, the crushing, stifling effects of the regulations, strictures, and penalties of Obamacare’s monster 2,700 page tome, Republican legislative analysts are still finding hidden provisions and legislative booby-traps designed to make them difficult to remove. This week, Republicans take up the task of removing this plague on the American economy. Short story is that they cannot stop repeal in the House. Not so in the Senate. Democrat insiders confidently, if a bit blindly, decry that any such legislation would go down in flames, citing the continuing Democrat advantage in the Senate. I’m not so sure. There are 21 DeMarxist Senators running scared… that is, running for election in 2012. Many, if not all, of these people will be challenged by candidates from the oh-so-despised Tea Party on one level or another. Some come from virtually unassailable Democrat districts, such as Nancy Pelosi and the San Francisco Bay Area’s really nutty liberal base. But others… they aren’t nearly as fortunate and are already on the radar as having voted for the bill. A virtual political death sentence in some districts, so soured have the public become with the DeMarxists and their march to totalitarianism. Some might find that siding with Conservatives is safer than voting to uphold the legislation, the support of which is threatening to end their political lives. They know that despite the frantic covering fire of the now totally discredited LSM (lame stream media) and all the agitation propaganda the White House has thrown into it, Obama’s health care takeover is in America’s bullseye. No one is forgetting that Obamacare was forced upon us in the most nefarious circumstances possible. Close to 70% of America want that bill gone and it’s Congress’s job to take the lead. Make Obama veto that bill every week between here and 2012. Starve every provision before it can get started. Force votes whenever possible, to make darn sure Democrat voting records are illuminated in the conservative press and blogosphere. Let Obama’s own signature legislation be his swansong. Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis © Skip MacLure 2011

If the federal government isn’t prepared to tackle sodium reduction, the Ontario Medical Association is ready to take up the cause. The group, which represents doctors across the province, is hosting a two-day salt summit in Toronto that starts Thursday and brings together some of the key players involved in sodium-reduction efforts in Canada. The purpose is to drive change through public education and working with the food industry to implement lower sodium levels in processed and packaged foods. While the organization doesn’t have the power to legislate action or create regulations for the food industry, OMA president Stewart Kennedy says they and other medical professionals have the ability to take up the mantle of health promotion and co-operation with the food industry to achieve their goals. “This should not wait any longer,” Dr. Kennedy said in an interview. “We need to take aggressive action on salt.” The amount of sodium Canadians consume has long been contentious. The average person consumes more than double the recommended daily amount of 1,500 milligrams, which is also above the maximum threshold of 2,300 milligrams, over which the risk of health problems starts to rise. About 80 per cent of the sodium Canadians eat comes from packaged and processed foods, such as bread, sauces, soups and deli meats. High sodium intake is a serious concern because it is linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, kidney problems and other health conditions. The federal government assembled a panel to look at strategies to address this brewing public health issue. But after three years and a comprehensive report with recommendations for change, including placing maximum sodium targets on foods sold in Canada, the federal government disbanded the group. Officials in the office of federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq have said repeatedly they are still committed to finding ways to lower the dangerous amounts of salt Canadians eat. Rather than mandating maximum sodium targets for food, Ms. Aglukkaq’s office has indicated interest in ensuring lower-sodium options are available on the market. The food industry has made some strides in recent years to bulk up lower-sodium options for consumers. The Campbell Company of Canada has been visible in this regard, with high-profile commercials and other marketing efforts promoting their move to slash salt in a range of soups. In fact, lower-sodium versions of tomato sauce, salad dressings and snack foods have become increasingly common in Canadian grocery stores. But high-sodium food products continue to be the norm, contributing to excessive rates of sodium intake across the country. To many health professionals, the current approach isn’t good enough. Provincial health ministers have stated they want to pursue a rigorous sodium-reduction plan and public health experts are pushing for action. The Ontario Medical Association has also been vocal about the need to slash salt intake. The two-day summit will feature discussions about areas that could be targeted for change and how to achieve results. Participants will also work to create recommendations on ways to implement the report from the federal government’s sodium working group. Dr. Kennedy said the key to change is convincing the food industry to cut sodium in their products across the board. “I’m a true believer that true leadership in these organizations is the way we can effect change,” he said. But if that doesn’t happen, the OMA is prepared to launch a more aggressive campaign, which could include lobbying the government to create regulations that would require food companies to lower salt in their products. “Certainly, from my perspective, the government is concerned about patients’ health. They’re concerned about chronic disease management,” Dr. Kennedy said. “It’s the next step to put some words into action.” Report Typo/Error

Germany's biggest motoring association, ADAC, has had a car crash of a weekend. Photo: DPA ADAC, Germany's biggest motoring association, has admitted fixing its previously respected car of the year award by lying about how many people cast votes in the contest. It emerged on Sunday that communications head Michael Ramstetter had bumped up the number of votes cast by ten times to make the VW Golf 2014's car of the year. Bild am Sonntag reported Ramstetter claimed 34,299 were cast for the VW Golf. In reality it was 3,409. On Monday the Munich-based company admitted that this was just the start of the scandal. Ramstetter had, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported, lied about participant numbers in at least 2012 and 2013, in order to make the prize, and therefore the company – which has 19 million members – appear more important. It is unclear how many years the manipulation of the award has gone on for. Whether this meant Germany's top car award, the “Gelber Engel”, was a total fix is unclear, as the ballots were destroyed for “data protection reasons” the paper said. “I've messed up and cooked the numbers,” long-standing employee Ramstetter told the Süddeutsche Zeitung shortly after being sacked on Friday. His boss, head of ADAC Karl Obermair, has ordered a full investigation into his actions. “Credibility and trust are our key commodity,” Obermair told the newspaper, adding that ADAC would be apologizing to car manufacturers. The award was a respected gauge of cars on the market. ADAC management said it was unaware of the deception and pledged to conduct the ADAC Motorwelt readers' survey under the supervision of independent legal observers in future. At a televised press conference, managing director Karl Obermair said he would stay on in the post, saying that Ramstetter "is not a pawn sacrifice, but a high-ranking executive of the ADAC". Pledging a full investigation, he said ADAC staff were demoralized by the scandal and had reacted to the news with "an emotional mix of outrage, anger and disbelief". Ramstetter was also editor-in-chief of ADAC's car industry magazine Motorworld. He was photographed by the Bild newspaper heading off on holiday on Sunday following his dismissal. "It's a write-off," claimed the paper, after the 111-year-old association's admission. Speaking for many in a country where the car is sacred, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt demanded that ADAC "put the cards on the table" and provide full transparency over what went wrong. ADAC is best known in Germany for its "yellow angel" roadside assistance patrols which rush to the aid of stranded drivers, as well as for its rescue helicopters. But the Munich-based club is also a major lobby group and corporate operator which tests vehicle safety and sells commercial services from car rentals and insurance to holidays and long-distance bus services. Story continues below… It also came under fire in 2005 for fixing a test of the budget, Romanian-built Dacia. It put out a press release saying the vehicle was unsafe while later transpiring the company had purposefully damaged the wheels to make it perform badly, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung revealed. Green party parliamentary leader and transport expert Anton Hofreiter said that the ADAC or Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club "cannot afford a fraud on this scale", pointing to its "public responsibility". READ MORE: Buses - Germany's new favourite form of transport

It has been a common phenomenon for Chinese Internet companies to copy original ideas born abroad. Tencent's QQ instant messaging is based on Israel's ICQ. Baidu's search engine is a copy of Google's. Online retailer Alibaba mimics Amazon, while online video portal Youku was once known as China's YouTube, and Sina Weibo has been called China's Twitter. This phenomenon is referred to as C2C; namely, "COPY TO China". But these companies not only copy ideas originated by foreign counterparts; they at times borrow ideas from domestic firms. China's most utilized Internet services portal, Tencent, has the most charges to answer in this regard. Tencent is China's biggest Internet company by market value. This is attributed mainly to its chat tool QQ (a MSN messenger-like instant messaging software). As of December 31, 2011, Tencent QQ boasts 721 million active accounts, and its peak simultaneous online user accounts has reached 152.7 million. Though seldom being the first to enter the Internet market, Tencent often catches up from behind and even surpasses its front-runners by taking advantage of its huge Internet user base (the largest in China) and original ideas by industry pioneers. Backed by a huge market share, it succeeds in promoting new products by bundling them into its dominant QQ instant-messaging tool. But very recently, an outcry against Tencent has been echoing in the China's Internet industry. On April 12, one of China's four major portals--also the proxy operator of Blizzard Entertainment's popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft--NetEase Inc. said its key mobile news app was flagrantly plagiarized by Tencent in the latter's iPhone news app Version 2.0. In a statement published on its website, NetEase said Tencent's version of the news app directly copied its design ideas in overall layout, photo viewing and commenting. Indeed, screen grabs of the iPhone news app of NetEase and Tencent look very much the same. But Netease also seems to have something to clarify. Four days after it slammed Tencent, China's most popular Yelp-like local merchant recommendation platform Da Zhong Dian Pin accused Netease's mobile client named "Fan Fan" of plagiarizing huge amounts of contents from it and urged Netease to take "Fan Fan" off shelves, or it will take legal action. A succession of finger-pointing has evoked public reflections. On April 15, speaking at the opening ceremony of China's 14th National People's Congress Antimonopoly Law Forum, Zhou Hongyi, Chairman of NASDAQ listed company Qihoo 360 Technology Co., Ltd., said the copying-and-bundling model adopted by some big companies has a far-reaching negative impact on China's Internet industry. "Several firms have emerged as the leading Internet companies in China, but monopoly, especially copying and bundling, has robbed many other Internet companies of opportunities for innovation, and even the incentives to innovate, " said Zhou. Zhou's Qihoo 360 is in direct competition with Tencent in terms of Internet security products. Previously, China's Internet companies generally gave tacit approval to plagiarizing. Yet as the awareness of intellectual property rights grows and the number of companies with original designs increases, copying could gradually lose its momentum. When Tencent launched its open platform last year, CEO Ma Huateng in a high-profile announcement said "(Tencent) will not act as an umpire and an athlete at the same time, " suggesting Tencent will play fair with its partners. Hong Bo, a senior analyst of China's Internet, also noted, "At the early stage of Internet, many domestic Internet companies, probably due to their lack of knowledge in this field, could start their business by learning from their American counterparts. Now that China has become the world's biggest Internet market, under such circumstances, China's Internet companies should have more innovative pursuits. You have to make things of your own, things different from others. "

ISPs blocking and filtering internet traffic to prevent unauthorised downloads of software, music and films may be illegal, one of Europe's top legal advisers has said. The installation of that filtering and blocking system is a restriction on the right to respect for the privacy of communications and the right to protection of personal data. – Pedro Cruz Villalón, ECJ Belgian courts were wrong to force an ISP to block its users from sending copyright-infringing content, as doing so was incompatible with EU laws on privacy, data protection and freedom of information, advocate general Pedro Cruz Villalón told the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Thursday. "The installation of that filtering and blocking system is a restriction on the right to respect for the privacy of communications and the right to protection of personal data, both of which are rights protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights," an ECJ statement (PDF) outlining Cruz Villalón's opinion said. "By the same token, the deployment of such a system would restrict freedom of information, which is also protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights." Cruz Villalón criticised the interpretation of Belgian law that had led to that country's rights-holder organisation, Sabam, winning in court against an ISP involved in the case, Scarlet. 'Lasting effect' on users The Sabam vs Scarlet case dates back to 2004, when Sabam won a judicial declaration finding that people had used Scarlet's internet services to exchange copyrighted music, particularly via peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. In 2007, another judgement ordered Scarlet to stop its customers from infringing on copyright in this way. Scarlet, by then a subsidiary of Tiscali, took the case to the Belgian Court of Appeal, which in 2010 asked the ECJ for guidance. Advocates general give advice to the ECJ, so their opinions are not legally binding. Nonetheless, Cruz Villalón is of the opinion that all ISPs would ultimately be obliged to filter their users' content, were the Scarlet judgement to be upheld, and this would contravene European law. He also pointed out that the Scarlet judgement would impede communications not just for customers of that ISP, but also for those with whom they communicate. "The court order would have a lasting effect for an unspecified number of legal or natural persons irrespective of whether they have a contractual relationship with Scarlet and regardless of their state of residence," the ECJ statement read. "The system must be capable of blocking any file sent by an internet user who is one of Scarlet's customers to another internet user — who may or may not be one of Scarlet's customers and who may or may not live in Belgium — where that file is thought to infringe a copyright managed, collected or protected by Sabam." Cruz Villalón also noted that the Belgian judgement would force ISPs such as Scarlet to pay for these filtering systems to be installed, making internet providers financially responsible for a battle being fought by rights-holders. "According to the Advocate General, it cannot be held that the obligation on internet service providers to install the filtering and blocking system at issue, entirely at their own expense, was laid down expressly, and in clear, precise and predictable terms, in the Belgian statutory provision at issue," the statement read. "In fact, the obligation imposed on internet service providers is both special and 'new' (unexpected, even)." Cruz Villalón therefore urged the ECJ to rule that no national court in the EU should force an ISP to install systems to identify copyrighted content and block or filter it, on the basis of the Belgian court's ruling against Scarlet. Digital Economy Act review A similar case is currently going on in the UK, with BT and TalkTalk having launched a judicial review against the Digital Economy Act. The ISPs say the act would infringe on EU laws regarding privacy and the obligations of ISPs to spy on their customers. TalkTalk said on Friday that it would not comment on Cruz Villalón's opinion while that judicial review is ongoing, and BT had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing. The UK's ISP Association (ISPA) said it welcomed the Cruz Villalón's opinion. "ISPA has long maintained that technical measures are a disproportionate way to address online copyright infringement and whilst this is the not the final ruling, we are encouraged by the judgment," ISPA secretary-general Nicholas Lansman said in a statement.

Sigourney Weaver says Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar for Best Director because James Cameron “didn’t have breasts,” the NY Post reports. OK! NEWS: OSCARS 2010 — A LOOK BACK AT HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST NIGHT Sigourney reportedly thinks James lost to his ex-wife Kathryn because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences wanted to name the first ever female Best Director to make history, the NY Post reports. “Jim didn’t have breasts, and I think that was the reason,” the star of Avatar told Folha Online, a Brazilian news site, over the weekend. “He should have taken home that Oscar.” OK! NEWS: BEST DIRECTOR WINNER KATHRYN BIGELOW SAYS EX JAMES CAMERON IS “EXTRAORDINARY” Kathryn’s The Hurt Locker also beat Avatar for Best Picture. “In the past, Avatar would have won because they [Oscar voters] loved to hand out awards to big productions, like Ben-Hur,” Sigourney added. “Today it’s fashionable to give the Oscar to a small movie that nobody saw.” Ouch! According to BoxOfficeMojo, The Hurt Locker‘s box office numbers show it was the least popular Best Picture of all time pulling in $40 million worldwide compared to Avatar‘s $2.7 billion. OK! GALLERY: THE STARS LIGHT UP THE RED CARPET AT THE OSCARS! Siourney reportedly made her comments while in Brazil with James promoting Avatar and protesting the proposed Belo Monte dam in the Amazon. But at least Sigourney didn’t jump on the Oscar stage to make those comments!

As I expected last week, the December U.S. PMI was quite strong, pushing stock markets up to the new high of the last two years. The December PMI is 57 compared to the November PMI 56.6, showing the economy was growing well last month. Moreover, both the production index and the new orders index enjoyed strong growth. The December production index is 60.7 compared to 55 in November. The December new order index is 60.9 compared to the November 56.6. Also as expected, the ISM Prices Paid index also increased in December, 72.5 compared to 69.5 in November. While a few sectors reported decreasing production and new orders in December, such as Nonmetallic Mineral Products, Paper Products, and Printing & Related Support Activities, none of the 18 manufacturing industries reported paying lower prices on average during December. Then, when manufacturers saw demand growing fast, they were cautious and added fewer jobs than in November. The December employment index (55.7) shows that employment was still growing, but the speed was slower than November (57.5). This relative weakness in the December PMI Employment index could suggest a weak reading of the nonfarm payroll in December, which will be released this Friday. In 2010, the monthly correlation between the PMI Employment index and the nonfarm payroll number is 0.77. The PMI survey result has been quite accurate. Furthermore, on Wednesday, the December U.S. ISM Non-manufacturing Index will be released. Besides the usual important composite index and new order index, I would like to see the reading of the employment index in December, since it may further offer us a hint about Friday’s nonfarm employment payroll. The monthly nonfarm employment number is also strongly and positively correlated with the monthly ISM Non-manufacturing employment index in 2010, as the correlation is 0.73. Therefore, a clear reading in the December ISM Non-manufacturing employment index, combined with the PMI Employment index, should at least help investors get a better sense of employment before the release. Click to enlarge: Click to enlarge Lastly, ADP private employment change will also be released on Wednesday. This number is likely to help set the market expectation of the nonfarm payroll on Friday. Then, next week, the stock market is going to embrace the earnings season, when economy data is likely to take the back seat. Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Apple’s products already lack several features offered by its rivals. If the company loses its perception of security, sales could suffer. It is not clear how hackers were able to gain access to the accounts, which included several celebrities. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is under fire - and its ecosystem could be vulnerable. The popular company is investigating reports that its iCloud service was hacked. Celebrities were the target. Hackers published a series of nude celebrity photos and videos, including several from actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton, that were hacked from their private accounts. The security breach could have important implications for Apple's ecosystem. Apple's ecosystem pulls together all its devices and services with iCloud - a convenience and a security all in one that syncs everything from music and photos to documents and apps between devices for Apple users. It is one of the many reasons Apple iPhones are often called a gateway to its other devices. However, it appears Apple's ecosystem may not be as secure as many would hope and this could impact the company's bottom line. INVESTMENT THESIS The problem is that Apple's strategy is based on its ecosystem and iCloud is at its center. If this structure is perceived as vulnerable, that ecosystem loses its relative value. Already Apple's devices lack several features favored by its competitors - without the strength and security of its ecosystem and so many competitors now able to offer the same sort of interconnectivity, Apple may lose market share. APPLE PLAYS CATCH UP Apple will hold a media briefing on September 9 during which time the company is expected to debut products like iPhone 6, which is rumored to have a larger screen than previous models; the iWatch; and possibly an iPad with a larger screen. These developments seem intriguing but it is really a case of Apple playing catch up. Several of Apple's competitors already offer similar products. There are several companies offering larger screens and wearable smart technology. Samsung Technologies (OTC:SSNLF) has several larger smartphones, such as its Galaxy series, and a variety of smart watches (see the line here). Samsung has debuted several commercials which make fun of Apple not keeping up (such as this one). At the same time, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) recently launched an oversized tablet with a detachable keyboard called Surface Pro 3. Rather than matching the device against an iPad, the company released a series of commercials that compare the Surface Pro 3 to MacBook Air (see the commercial here). The commercials are funny and well-done, but they are also true. Apple used to be at the forefront of technology but the company has recently been behind the pace - and while the evidence of this is concrete when it comes to devices, it is even more apparent in the "cloud." APPLE iCLOUD Apple's iCloud service does a lot. It lets users stream and sync photos, videos, and music. It also provides a function for saving certain files, such as those from Apple's iWork - but it lacks many features that are widely available. Dropbox and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), (NASDAQ:GOOG) Drive also allow users to store and sync files but it doesn't preclude many file types - to back up documents and many other files on iCloud they have to be in one of Apple's file formats. Apple iCloud allows use of Apple's video chat service FaceTime, but that service is only available for Apple users - Skype and Google Hangouts are available regardless of the operating system you prefer. Apple's iTunes allows users to sync purchased music and movies, but so does Amazon, and Amazon doesn't charge for the storage of purchased media - and there are many people who prefer the use of Pandora (NYSE:P) or Spotify for music and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) for movies and shows. Further, in addition to the popular services named above, there are dozens if not hundreds more which provide the same or similar functions - so why Apple? A MATTER OF PERCEPTION Apple's interfaces are easy to use, it offers great customer service, and there is a convenience in having everything sync and update from a single log in - but Apple's biggest strength has been its security. In a survey conducted earlier this year, Intelligent Defense "surveyed 500 people and found that only 33 percent of respondents believed the statement 'Macs don't get computer viruses' was false. Meanwhile, 67 percent either agreed with this statement or didn't know whether this statement was true or false-and the distinction between ignorance and confusion makes little difference from a security perspective." This perception of security has translated into big gains for Apple, particularly in the corporate world. "Apple won about 8% of global business and government spending on computers and tablets in 2012, Forrester Research says, up from 1% in 2009," writes the Wall Street Journal. "By 2015, Forrester estimates that figure will climb to 11%." In addition, "More than 90% of all business apps were deployed on Apple's iOS mobile-operating system in the third quarter, according to Good Technology, which provides mobile-security software and tracks mobile-device use by more than 5,000 corporate customers." If public perception of Apple security shifts, the company could lose some of those gains. TAKEAWAY Apple is popular, easy to use, and sleek. There is a status to having the newest iPhone or using an iPad - but that doesn't mean that the company will always enjoy that status. There are other alternatives to Apple's ecosystem. If the system is perceived as vulnerable and this perception is combined with the fact that Apple products are lagging in innovation, there could be a rapid shift away from Apple products. Apple's share price Tuesday appeared unaffected by the news of the iCloud hack but that doesn't mean that the company's sales will weather the storm as effectively. Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The Wisconsin standoff over collective bargaining power may have ended a month ago, but the passion of that battle has shifted to an unprecedented recall fight targeting lawmakers in both parties and to a state high court race where conspiracy charges are flying. Sixteen lawmakers -- eight Democrats and eight Republicans -- in the recall crosshairs for either voting to limit collective bargaining or for fleeing the state to try and block it. Dan Baltes, executive director of American Recall Coalition, which is leading the signature-gathering efforts against Democrats, knocked down criticism that the recall fight is a sideshow. "I believe that anytime someone tries to hijack the political process and tries to take control of the political process, it endangers the process for the republic as a whole," he told Fox News. "And so I believe the recall statutes are there for a reason and ultimately it's going to be up to the voters of Wisconsin to decide whether to recall them or not." Both sides have been vague on the progress of their recall efforts, but many of the signature-gathering efforts are at the halfway point. The earliest recall would not happen until June. Elections officials are already seeking to push back that deadline. For a recall election to take place, organizers must first gather enough signatures -- the number varies depending on the turnout in the last regular election -- and then voters decide whether to keep the incumbent or pick someone new. Last week, Democrats filed their first petition to try to recall a GOP senator who supported Gov. Scott Walker's law, which stripped most public employees of their collective bargaining power. Sen. Dan Kapank represents a Democratic-leaning district in western Wisconsin. Two other Republican senators and three Democrats also face probable recall elections. Democrats pursuing the three Republicans have spent $160,000, far more than recall organizers in the GOP. While recall efforts initially took a backseat to the larger political battle unfolding, it has become clear that the process could dramatically affect Walker's agenda. If Republicans lose just three seats, they would give up their 19-14 majority and with it the power that allowed them to aggressively push the legislation through despite ear-splitting protests that drew tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol. Walker signed the measure March 11. It is being challenged in court. In an opinion article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday, Walker didn't mention the recall efforts but defended his budget-repair plan that he said was needed to balance the state's $3.6 billion deficit. "The budget plan I introduced last month makes the hard choices and in doing so makes a commitment to the future," he wrote. "We are finally carrying our fair share, so we don't leave a larger problem for our children and grandchildren." Meanwhile, fallout continues over the state Supreme Court race after a substantial vote-change count in Waukesha County last week gave the conservative incumbent, David Prosser, the lead over his little-known liberal challenger, JoAnne Kloppenberg. The outcome of the race could determine the fate of the new collective bargaining law, since the law will go to the state Supreme Court for review. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said it was "human error" that resulted in more than 14,000 votes from her predominantly GOP county not being reported on Tuesday. That gave Prosser about a 7,500-vote advantage. In a press conference on Thursday, she was backed by Ramona Kitzinger, an 80-year-old Democratic observer who told reporters that Nickolaus' numbers "jived" with what she saw. But Kitzinger is now saying she cannot vouch for the accuracy of Nickolaus' numbers. In a statement released Monday by the Waukesha Democratic Party, Kitzinger said she is "still very, very confused about why the canvass was finalized." "I am 80 years old and I don't understand anything about computers," Kitzinger said. "I don't know where the numbers Kathy was showing ultimately came from, but they seemed to add up." Kitzinger added that she wasn't told until the press conference that Nickolaus' mistake "could swing the whole election." The campaign manager for Prosser told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Saturday he was open to a recount of votes only in Waukesha Country. "If you need to do a recount in Waukesha and Waukesha alone to satisfy heightened interest, that's fine," Brian Neimor told the newspaper. "We believe it will only affirm the margin of victory we now enjoy." Kloppenburg is considering a recount. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A German Jewish leader criticized the pope Saturday for making what he called an unacceptable comparison between abortion and the Holocaust (search) in a new book. Paul Spiegel, the head of Germany's Central Council of Jews (search), told the Netzeitung daily that Pope John Paul II's (search) statements reflect similar "unacceptable" comments made by a Roman Catholic cardinal in Cologne. Spiegel was referring to a passage in "Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums," where the pope draws a broad comparison between abortion and the Holocaust, saying both came about when people decided to usurp "the law of God." The book is based on the pope's conversations in 1993 with two close friends from his native Poland. After noting that a legally elected parliament allowed Hitler's rise to power in Germany, which led to the Holocaust, the pope says: "We have to question the legal regulations that have been decided in the parliaments of present-day democracies. The most direct association which comes to mind is the abortion laws ... "Parliaments which create and promulgate such laws must be aware that they are transgressing their powers and remain in open conflict with the law of God and the law of nature." Spiegel told the daily that "such statements show that the Roman Catholic Church "has not understood or does not want to understand that there is a tremendous difference between factory-like genocide and what women do to their bodies." Criticism for the book also came from a Greens parliamentarian, Volker Beck. "For the pope to draw a comparison between abortion and the Holocaust shows a lack of moral and ethical direction," Beck said in Berlin. The book is to be published Feb. 23 in Italy by Rizzoli, which also plans an English version.

RIM announced the new BlackBerry 7100t exclusively for T-Mobile USA yesterday. This new BlackBerry device is different from all other BlackBerry devices because it does not sport the traditional thumb keyboard that is a trademark of the devices. Instead, it uses a QWERTY keyboard that has two letters assigned to each button. The OS will use predictive technology, so you will still only have to push each button once. I have to say that I think my wife would actually go for a smartphone device like this, and at US$200 after rebates it is priced reasonably. The 7100t includes phone, e-mail, instant messaging, Web browser, and PIM functions. Specifications include integrated Bluetooth, 32 MB flash memory and 4 MB SRAM, 240×260 color display, thumb-operated track wheel, vibrate functionality, removable battery, and quad-band service. This appears to be quite a good competitor to the Treo 600, and I look forward to seeing them in stores in October. Read the full press release for all the details. Thanks to engadget for the news.

For a while now, whenever you went to patch or update your copy of Windows you would be presented with a request to check if your copy was legitimate. Up until yesterday this was an optional check, but now Microsoft has decided to remove the option and make it mandatory. From now on everything except security updates will require that your copy of Windows is checked to see if it is legal. Both the Microsoft Update and Windows Update services will require a validation, and only upon confirmation of legal software will downloads be allowed. All downloads will have a small blue icon next to their name to signify that it is only available to genuine Windows customers. Validation requires an ActiveX control to be installed on your computer, and you should be prompted automatically to download that control the next time you try to get an update from Microsoft. Microsoft has introduced the mandatory check as part of the ongoing Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program (see our previous coverage). MS estimates that one-third of all copies of Windows are illegal, and WGA aims to curb the piracy and cut that figure down. Microsoft has admitted that it needs to make it clearer what the difference is between a legal and a pirated copy of its operating system, and this, coupled with what it called more “carrots” for genuine users, should help to make that difference. Read more at CNET. Thanks to SDammit and ryan for a heads-up. MATTHEW'S OPINION Microsoft has every right to do this, as it shouldn't have to keep pirated copies of its operating system up-to-date. A third of all copies being pirated is quite a substantial amount of money for Microsoft, even at the reduced rates it sells Windows to PC vendors. As the CNET article states, Microsoft has Windows installed on 90% of PCs, so curbing piracy is one of the few ways it can continue to grow the Windows market. I think Windows Vista (f.k.a. Longhorn–see our coverage) will be a totally different experience. For all we know Windows Vista could be a subscription service product, but you can guarantee the security will be a lot better. The Windows Genuine Advantage will be something done out of the box and probably forced to be done online, much like Valve has done with its Steam service. I doubt MS will ever stop you from getting security updates, but the features on offer will all come with a genuine copy prerequisite. Microsoft has spent a lot of time in court arguing about why it should be allowed to bundle software with its OS. The fact that it can't bundle so much (e.g. Media Player) could work to its advantage with Vista. I can see a copy of Vista being installed and having no additional software like Media Player, Calculator, Notepad, Wordpad, etc. In order to get them you just go online, have the validation check performed, and then download them all for free.

Good morning. Here are some of the headlines we're following this morning: 1. Who's on President Obama's Shortlist to Replace Scalia? Legal pundits and close followers of the Supreme Court have begun to speculate on whom President Barack Obama may nominate in the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia's death. Here are a few of the names that have floated to the top. 2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Scalia: 'We Were Best Buddies' Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Sunday that she and her unlikely friend Justice Antonin Scalia "disagreed now and then" but even so, "we were best buddies." Scalia and Ginsburg differed greatly in ideologies, but bonded over a shared love of the opera and "our reverence for the Constitution and the institution we serve," she said. Read more in NEWS. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Battle Begins Over Whether Obama Should Appoint Scalia's Successor 2:42 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 3. As Polar Vortex Moves Out, Snow Moves In Cold weather records across the Northeast were shattered on Valentine's Day after the polar jet stream shot a mass of Canadian arctic air south. Warmer temperatures are expected Monday — but so is more hazardous weather, with snow, freezing rain and some potential flooding on the way. Read more in NEWS. 4. McCain Threatens to Subpoena U.S. Sailors Held by Iran Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would subpoena 10 U.S. sailors to testify about their brief detention by Iran if the Obama administration doesn't hand over the findings of an investigation into the incident by the end of the month. Read more in NEWS. 5. Olmert Becomes First Israeli Prime Minister to Go to Prison Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert started serving a 19-month sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice Monday, making him first Israeli premier to be imprisoned. The 70-year-old's incarceration capped a years-long legal saga that forced him to resign in 2006 amid the last serious round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Read more in NEWS. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Ehud Olmert: 'I Accept the Sentence' 1:21 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 6. Disgraced Ex-N.Y. Gov. Spitzer Denies Choking Woman Authorities are investigating allegations that disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer assaulted a woman at a Manhattan hotel, sources told NBC News. A spokeswoman for Spitzer denied the report. Read more in NEWS. 7. Police Seize $900 Million in Meth Hidden in Bra Inserts Australian law enforcement agencies discovered 1.26 billion Australian dollars ($900 million) worth of methylamphetamine hidden in imported boxes of silicon bra inserts and art supplies in the country's largest haul of the illicit drug in its liquid form, officials said Monday. Read more in NEWS. 8. Kanye Asks Zuckerberg for Help, Says He's $53M in Debt It wouldn't be a typical week in the Kanye West hype machine without some head-scratching moments. Read more in POP CULTURE.

Minneapolis-based Google partner Agosto has logged plenty of success stories representing the cloud services giant's applications. Now, it is digging deeper into that relationship by building services leveraging the Google Compute Engine, an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) offering that competes with services from cloud infrastructure heavyweights Amazon and Rackspace. "We see this as a strategic platform that can be transformative to our clients," said Aric Bandy, CEO of Agosto and past chairman of the cloud giant's enterprise advisory council. Founded about 12 years ago, one thing that differentiates Agosto from its peers is its deep background in strategic business consulting: Its co-founders logged many professional services hours with IBM Global Services and Accenture. Its first project involved migrating a $100 million company completely off its on-premises technology onto a combination of NetSuite enterprise software and Google Apps, Bandy said. (Technically, Agosto doesn't handle NetSuite deployments, but it partnered with another solution provider to pull off that initial implementation.) By committing to the Google infrastructure service, rather than opting for another cloud infrastructure platform, Agosto can be more efficient about helping clients automate more — if not all — of their business processes in the cloud. Aside from its Google Apps management and provisioning services, the company handles custom application development. It has been investing in the Google Compute Engine for approximately one year, and is also building out services related to the Google Maps and geospatial technologies, Bandy said. While the middle parts of the United States and Canada (Agosto has a significant presence north of the US-Canada border) isn't necessarily known for taking risks on technology, Bandy said more regional businesses are warming up to the Google Enterprise proposition. Some of Agosto's clients include Tower Automotive, 2nd Wind Exercise, Famous Dave's, Goodwill Easter Seals, and Minnesota Wild. One customer, Brake Supply Co (a division of Koch Enterprises), used Agosto to move off a hosted Microsoft Exchange solution onto Google Apps: It will save approximately $1 million over the next five years as a result, according to Agosto. Technically speaking, Agosto is a Microsoft partner: It invests in that knowledge in order to be able to assess how or not a prospective client could benefit from Google Apps. "We know how much support Google Apps takes versus a similar size SharePoint or Exchange environment. We can walk in their shoes," Bandy said. That background definitely helped in the case of the Brake Supply, which considered sticking with Microsoft before going to Google. "They would have you believe that the easiest path is just to stay on their systems, but in all the whitepapers and case studies I read from their perspective, they didn't demonstrate a deficiency with Google — except it just wasn't Outlook. They didn't seem to be forward thinking, and did not show me efficiencies. Their whole pitch was about their enterprise agreement and licenses. They never let me know how it was going to help my business."

BT is to greatly increase the speeds its customers will get through fibre-to-the-cabinet connectivity, the telco said on Thursday as it announced a massive rise in profits. BT is to greatly increase the speeds its customers will get through fibre-to-the-cabinet connectivity, the telco has said. Photo credit: Ell Brown/Flickr The fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) service has a theoretical maximum speed of 40Mbps at present, so the boost should take that to around 80Mbps. Revealing a 71-percent year-on-year boost in reported profits, along with a 97-percent quarterly rise, BT chief executive Ian Livingston said the company had "delivered profits and free cash flow ahead of expectations for the year, while making significant investment in the business for the future". "Our rollout of super-fast broadband is one of the most rapid in the world, passing an average of 80,000 additional premises each week and we have plans to roughly double the speed of our fibre-to-the-cabinet based service in 2012," Livingston added. According to a spokesman for BT Openreach, the upgrade to 80Mbps will actually start in the fourth quarter of this year "subject to initial trials going satisfactorily". BT plans to then extend the speed boost to the whole of its FTTC footprint during 2012, he added. Our rollout of super-fast broadband is one of the most rapid in the world, passing an average of 80,000 additional premises each week. – Ian Livingston, BT The company is in the process of extending fibre-based, super-fast broadband to two-thirds of the country. Three-quarters of that rollout is FTTC, with the remaining quarter being fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) — a faster alternative that currently offers speeds of around 100Mbps, but is also more expensive to deploy. BT's spokesman said most customers in the FTTC footprint would get higher speeds due to the upgrade, with the exception being those whose lines to their local cabinet are already at the outer reaches of technical viability. The approximate doubling of the FTTC speeds will be possible because BT is increasing the amount of optical spectrum allocated within the fibre services from 7MHz to 17MHz, the spokesman said. "We don't need any new hardware — it's just tweaking the network," he noted, adding that this made the upgrade almost cost free. BT did not launch its FTTC services at the higher speed because it did not at the time have permission to do so from the NICC, the UK's network interoperability technical forum, BT's spokesman said. Nick Ireland, who heads up the NICC's testing working group and is also BT's UK industry liaison, told ZDNet UK on Thursday that this permission was granted about a week ago. BT financial results In BT's results statement (PDF), Livingston said the company had achieved its highest quarterly share of DSL broadband net additions for the last eight years — a 64-percent share of DSL and local-loop unbundling (LLU) net additions including 162,000 net additions gained over the year to 31 March. "BT Global Services order intake was up 10 percent at £7.3bn and it has turned cash flow positive a year ahead of plan," Livingston added. "Openreach saw growth in its copper line base in the year, reversing historic trends." Pre-tax reported profits were £1.72bn for the year, up 71 percent on the previous year, and £495m for the fourth quarter of the company's financial year, representing a quarterly increase of 97 percent. Revenues for the year totalled £20.1bn, a four-percent year-on-year decrease that the company blamed partly on "foreign exchange movements", and partly on a £214m reduction in low-margin transit revenue, including mobile termination rate reductions of £82m. However, total group operating costs decreased by £1.1bn, or six percent, over the same period.

Tim P. Whitby / Kevin Winter / Mark Davis, Getty Images After learning that Jessie J would be collaborating with Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande on the first single of her upcoming album, we’ve been waiting with bated breath to hear what these ladies had up their sleeves. Now the wait is finally over, and ‘Bang Bang’ is officially out. With pop’s heavy-hitting producers Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and Ilya behind the mixing board, this track could easily take over as the big song of the summer. Jessie doesn’t hold back, belting out over the continuous staccato beat filled with claps. There’s another belt fest given by Ariana and Nicki ties everything together not by hitting that high note but instead spitting her verse ever so sharply to the rhythm. “It’s me, Jessie, and Ari / If they test me they sorry / Ride us up like a Harley / Then pull off in this Ferrari / If he hanging we banging / Phone ranging, he slanging / It ain’t karaoke night but get the mic ‘cause he singing,” Nicki delivers on the mic. ‘Bang Bang’ is a declaration of sorts. The ladies are telling the guy they desire to leave his good girl and live a little bit dangerously with each one of them. The confidence in their voices as well as the lyrics are a reminder of the all-female power anthems of the past — En Vogue and Salt-n-Pepa’s ‘Whatta Man,’ ‘Ladies Night’ with Da Brat, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, Angie Martinez and the late Left Eye and ‘Lady Marmalade’ by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Mya and Lil Kim. While Ariana has been heating up the charts with ‘Problem’ featuring Iggy Azalea, it looks like this track might give it some competition on the charts. Listen to Jessie J’s ‘Bang Bang’ Feat. Nicki Minaj & Ariana Grande Subscribe to TheBoombox on

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from Gretchen Carlson's new book, "Getting Real." I’d been a working journalist, reporting the news and anchoring broadcasts for fifteen years when I came to Fox News in 2005. One thing I noticed right away was that Fox was the first place I’d worked where it was okay to talk openly about faith on the air. I was pleased, of course, but it also made sense to me. For me faith has never been an abstraction, but a real part of my life. I don’t think of faith as a political talking point or a matter of debate, as it is often portrayed. Faith is a meaningful part of the culture, and where our culture is headed is a pretty important topic. I think if you believe something, you should say something. That’s the code I live by. But the most important thing I have to say about faith is that it’s real, and being a person of faith makes me more real. I don’t mind that people call me a culture warrior for my stance on faith issues, even though it is often meant in a derogatory way. I think if you believe something, you should say something. That’s the code I live by. But the most important thing I have to say about faith is that it’s real, and being a person of faith makes me more real. I’ve written before about growing up in a family where faith was at the center. My mother’s father, Grandpa Hyllengren, was a prominent Lutheran minister in our town of Anoka, Minnesota, and our lives revolved around the church. Grandpa never preached politics from the pulpit. Instead, he talked about values and ordinary life, using homespun parables to demonstrate how faith could help us live more fully and more charitably. In this way I learned that faith had real meaning to the way I interacted with others. Grandpa taught me that you didn’t have to agree with someone to love them—a lesson we could use a lot more of today. My parents demonstrated that same practical Christianity. In our household, being a Christian was more than going to church on Sunday. We weren’t Bible thumpers. We practiced a daily Christianity that was grounded in action. My father always told me, “Gretchen, people will know you’re a Christian by the way you act.” My parents were perfect examples of that. Mom was a regular volunteer in the church and in the community, participating in Meals on Wheels and making Easter baskets for those in need. Dad belonged to the hospital board and the Kiwanis. That spirit of involvement is not as prevalent today. People say they’re too busy. But my parents were also busy, running a business and raising four kids. It comes down to priorities—and to caring. That’s the way I was raised, and that’s the way I’ve tried to raise my children. We have taken special care to see that Kaia and Christian are not swept up in the entitlement culture that is so prevalent today. Our life in the church gives us a way to practice charity. We are a family that volunteers—whether that’s Thanksgiving dinner at our church, or playing chess and participating in dance parties at homeless shelters. Whenever I think I’m too busy, I think of my parents and how they always found time to give just a little bit more. My grandfather has been gone for many years, but I always credit him with being the one who made faith personal for me. I remember going up to the altar for Communion and kneeling down. He would brush his hand softly across my cheek before giving me the bread and wine, as if to say, “You’re my girl.” In this way he gave me the gift of faith, which I carry in my heart to this day. In a world of uncertainty, which as a journalist I am often called upon to report, faith is the one oasis of certainty I can rely on.

Law enforcement heavyweight William Bratton confirmed on Monday that he will not remain head of the New York Police Department past the end of Mayor Bill de Blasio's first term in 2017. "I do not intend to stay into a second term," the police commissioner told reporters at an unrelated news conference with the mayor. The 68-year-old Bratton made the remarks in response to an interview with The New York Times where he talked about seeking new challenges beyond the NYPD after the end of next year. He offered no specific timetable on Monday for leaving the helm of the nation's largest police department. "When I find the right time, that's when there'll be a consultation with the mayor," he said. "I'm not worried about getting kicked out of the place, fortunately." With the city's crime rate mostly holding at historic lows and shootings down nearly 20 percent so far this year, Bratton has been credited with helping bolster the de Blasio administration's public safety record. The mayor downplayed news of Bratton's plans, calling it "very premature." He said that on his watch, Bratton could run the NYPD for as long as he wanted. Bratton's resume is unmatched in local law enforcement. A career that began as a patrolman in Boston in 1970 has seen stints as the head of departments in Boston, Los Angeles and New York. His current tenure at the NYPD is his second. In the first one under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the early 1990s, he was credited with driving down crime with a widely copied data-driven crime-fighting strategy before his brash style made him an annoyance to the mayor, who forced him out. Though de Blasio was elected as a sharp critic of the police tactic known as stop-and-frisk, he picked Bratton as a sign that he would balance reforming the police department while trying to further drive down crime. On Bratton's watch, the NYPD has drastically scaled back stop-and-frisk but stepped up enforcement against of so-called "quality of life" offenses — an approach critics say still unfairly targets minorities and came into play in the police chokehold death of Eric Garner during his arrest for allegedly selling loose cigarettes on a Staten Island block. As tensions between the police and minorities have grown, the mayor, were he to be re-elected next year, will likely be under pressure by his liberal allies to select a more progressive candidate, and likely a commissioner of color. Bratton hasn't directly addressed the question of a successor. But he's recently heaped praise on the commander he installed as the top chief of the NYPD, James O'Neill, who's white.

ZDNet's most recent Great Debate raised the question whether Apple needs to innovate more rapidly. The answer is a definite “yes” and here’s why. Apple has been one of the most innovative companies in the world. Based on the vision of Steve Jobs, it has created products that truly changed the world, such as the Macintosh, iPod, iPad, and App Store. Despite these accomplishments, Apple’s pace of innovation has slowed, causing the company to lose its edge as a market leader. Aside from creating products that delight consumers and starting an entire industry of app developers, Apple’s relentless and rapid drive for innovation has made investors wealthy. When the company released the iPod in 2001, Apple had less than $5.5 billion in revenue and its stock price hovered around $20; the company’s total market capitalization was $7 billion at that time. Today, Apple’s market capitalization is about $500 billion and its stock price is currently around $500. Apple’s poor record on innovation in recent years is also reflected in market share numbers. According to IDC, Android has 75% of the smartphone market, compared to Apple’s 17%. In addition, Samsung holds a much larger share of the world smartphone market than does Apple. For both consumers and the enterprise, mobility and the consumerization of IT have changed the game on how we work, play, and communicate. Apple was once the leader, innovating rapidly and bringing the most interesting products in the world to market. Today, the company lives on past success and future promises, without the innovation we expect. So, yes, the lack of new products has hit Apple hard. For proof, look no farther than Apple’s poor stock performance, which is truly a measure of confidence in the company. Although Apple’s growth has been incredible, the long-term numbers mask intense weakness over the last few years. Since Steve Jobs sad passing, Apple has released extensions to existing products rather than anything profoundly new. Product line extensions represent a natural evolution for established brands. For example, Apple has released new iPhones, faster laptops, and better screens on the iPad but nothing game changing since the original iPad. Although lack of innovation may be fine if your company sells detergents or other products that don’t change much over time, it's the kiss of death for a technology company that relies on innovation as the foundation for its existence. Both Google and Samsung now offer phones and tablets in various sizes, experimenting with various form factors, sizes, and operating system features. As an interesting point of comparison, look at this chart comparing the stock performance of Apple and Samsung. The blue line shows Samsung while the red indicates Apple. Note which stock is doing more poorly: In addition, Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia signals that company’s intention to be a major player in the smartphone market. As Apple sits still, competitors are extending the concept of mobile devices and releasing numerous products. Samsung even introduced a smart watch ahead of Apple’s anticipated offering. The ecosystem threat is equally significant. As Apple slides, the Android and Microsoft software environment will grow. Email, music, and other services tempt buyers to each platform and exciting hardware is an important part of that equation. It is sad and hard to acknowledge that Apple’s glory days of innovation are past. My worthy debate opponent argues that Apple’s products are so good that short-term product delays don’t matter in the larger scheme of Apple greatness. This tempting argument is wrong, however, because the company has run out of “insanely great” ideas. That the real problem and explains why the company once known as the world’s innovation king is now relegated to product line extensions and little more. We all miss Steve Jobs’ vision because he changed our technology world in many ways. Today, sadly, Jobs is gone and Apple is lost. Sure, the products are still great but they are not fundamentally new. The recent announcement of new iPhones just confirms the verdict: innovation at Apple is history and new products are nowhere to be found.

In New York especially, Fashion Week is such a vortex of energy consumption that it's sometimes hard to think of anything else. But the world keeps spinning, and new beauty products continue to launch. Sephora, the Mecca of beauty, is no exception; it introduced a flock of new products this month, including the luxury beauty brand for women of color, Black Up. We tried out a host of other new beauty buys and rounded up five that are worthy of your money. Read on for our suggestions, and consider this your Fashion Week moment of Zen. Photo: Courtesy of NARS 1. NARS Velvet Shadow Sticks, $28 Who wears eyeshadow in everyday life? Pretty much nobody. But these eyeshadow sticks are — simply put — really, really pretty. Each of these colors looks like the best version of shades you’ve seen before. The gold is a rich, molten metallic that a goblin from Gringotts might try to harvest. Glenan is a navy that looks like Parisian midnight. The champagne pink shade Goddess looks like Oprah’s aura in color form — the perfect dupe for Stila’s Kitten shadow. Since it’s in stick form, the shadow goes on easily and smoothly in one swipe, without creasing or getting chunky or oily. Photo: Courtesy of Living Proof 2. Living Proof Dry Shampoo, $22 Some in the beauty community have used words like “game changer” to describe the ability of Living Proof's dry shampoo to do what, really, all dry shampoo should do all the time: clean hair. Unlike other dry shampoos, which can leave your hair feeling gritty, this dry shampoo actually soaks up oil and makes your hair feel just-washed, run-your-hands-through-it clean. It does require a little blending with dark hair, but for that just-showered feeling, it can't be beat. Photo: Courtesy of Jin Soon 3. Jin Soon Operetta Collection, $18 Inspired by the rich colors of the costumes at the opera, manicurist Jin Soon Choi has created several gilded colors for fall. My favorites include Verismo, a copper glitter based in black, and Cantata, a gray that distinguishes itself from a typical fall greige with a subtle lavender shimmer. Photo: Courtesy of Bobbi Brown 4. Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Corrector, $40 Bobbi Brown’s corrector has worked miracles on the appearance of my panda eyes for many years. But this new hybrid serum/corrector is designed to actually treat my dark circles. Using a mix of fancy ingredients I have never heard of, like "cordyceps" and “peridot-infused water,” the corrector moisturizes the under-eye area and allegedly boosts collagen levels. I haven’t used it long enough to notice a dramatic difference in under-eye brightness, and I'm a general skeptic in any dark-eye-circle product, but I do like that this serum is more hydrating than the original, making it less likely to settle into fine lines. Photo: Courtesy of Farmacy 5. Farmacy Lip Bloom, $16.50 The scents for Farmacy's lip moisturizer, called Lip Bloom, read like a really good cocktail menu — think Apple Rosemary, Honey Ginger, and Strawberry Ginger. But besides smelling and tasting delicious, they moisturize my lips really well, too, thanks to a blend of oils and vitamin E. There's also echinacea in Lip Bloom, which is sourced from farms in upstate New York. Lip Bloom leaves a soft, clear sheen on my lips that almost looks like a gloss — something I'll keep in mind during my next attempt to nail the "no makeup" makeup look.

India now happens to be the fastest-growing large emerging market with a positive economic outlook; as indicated by the IMF, the economy is expected to grow at an impressive +7 percent for F2016 and F2017. We note that a number of key items such as labor market reforms, GST continue to face opposition, progress has been made on several key reforms since Prime Minister Modi took office. The economy is has benefited from the low oil prices (crude oil is one of Indian largest imports), strengthening domestic demand, and rising foreign investments. State Bank of India (OTC:SBKJY), Bank of Baroda (OTC:BBKQY), Punjab National Bank (OTC:PNJZY), are amongst the largest bank in India, in terms of assets, loans/advances and deposits, with levels which are significantly higher than their closest competitor. The business position for these banks is reflective of their undisputed market leadership which is supported by a strong domestic franchise and high customer confidence in the public-sector banks. These banks have an extensive branch network well distributed across India, and have a presence in major global financial centers across the world. Their presence in remote areas where in some, they are the sole bank, enables them to maintain a strong core retail deposit base and a high proportion of CASA deposits, driving their liquidity position and reducing reliance (if any) on wholesale funding. The bank cannot be placed in liquidation except by order of the state; in return for this relationship, the banks are rewarded in terms of periodic capital infusions and government business. The strong brand recognition of these banks enables them to raise deposits internationally from the Indian diaspora to fund foreign operations. We note that public-sector banks are currently facing issues with asset quality, earning and capital, following the Reserve Bank of India's stringent directives regarding recognition of bad loans and increased provisions; however the strength of the banks remains acceptable. It's important to keep in mind that the banks have an almost certain likelihood of receiving support from the government in the case a need arises. A majority of the impaired assets comprises of priority sector loans (such as Agricultural, Infrastructure, etcetera), which is mandated by the government; in return for this, these banks are rewarded by business and support from the government. Although State Bank of India is the only public-sector bank that has been classified as a Domestic -Systemically Important Bank by the Reserve Bank of India, we believe all of the three banks under consideration have an almost certain likelihood of receiving support in light of their majority government ownership, and high market share of system loans and deposits. The government intends to inject $10.5BN in capital into the state-owned banks between F2016 - F2019, of which $7.5BN has been earmarked to be injected over the first two years. This is expected to enable banks in meet Basel III capital requirements, as well as pursuing growth opportunities, albeit with a conservative risk appetite. Although the banks under consideration banks have reported a decline in profitability/ losses for the last nine-months ending Dec 2015, we note that top line income, i.e. net interest income and fees & commission income, has increased and the reported decline in net income is due to the banks shoring up provisions for bad loans as directed by the central bank. With the banks proactively recognizing non-performing loan and shoring up provisions, we will not be surprised if the Indian government expedites the capital infusion for the public-sector banks. In terms of equity prices, the public-sector banks are presently trading approximately 40% lower than the 52-week high; which makes it a good entry point. I believe these stocks offer good upside in the short-to-medium term, and have moderate risk-profile. The stocks are not recommended for investor looking for yield. Happy investing! References: Investor Relations - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Feb 2012 employment reports show the Establishment Survey higher by 227,000 and the Household Survey which includes the self-employed higher by 428,000. Chart 1: Auto Lt Truck Sales vs. Household Survey (Employment) shows the relationship between employment and light vehicle sales. Vehicle sales drive future employment! We should expect the Feb 2012 vehicle sales level of 15.1mil SAAR to drive future employment higher. Chart 2: Employment Indices Comparison shows the relative levels of each of the three monthly reports, ADP reports on corporate payrolls, Establishment Survey reports on corp. payrolls and government employees (Federal, State and municipalities) and the Household Survey seeks to capture total employment including corp. payrolls, government and self-employed. Each data series has accelerated higher from the 3yr trend in place from Jan 2009-Dec 2011. These reports together indicate a sharp acceleration in US economic activity. Historically market psychology turns positive and equity prices are driven much higher. We have witnessed a steadily improving economy and now are to benefit from our patience with weathering the volatility and pessimism of the past 3yrs. Remember, the market has risen more than100% from a SP500 low of ~670 in March 2009 to 1365 close yesterday. This has been in the face of horrendous global news and extraordinarily poor investor market psychology. The lesson to learn is that it is the economy which trumps sentiment!!

Now that Cars 2 has been released, Pixar is looking toward the future. A prequel to Monster, Inc., titled Monsters University is planned for June 21, 2013, an Incredibles sequel has been rumored, and earlier today Tom Hanks claimed that there will be a Toy Story 4. But while sequels are all well and good, Pixar has now gone two years without a new property. That will change next summer though, when it releases its next original film, Brave. Brave is the story of Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a skilled archer, and the daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Merida wants to make her own way in life, and in doing so she turns to an old witch (Julie Walters) who grants her a wish, which turns into a disastrous curse. She must then discover her own bravery to undo the curse while she can. Check out the teaser below, which debuted in front of Cars 2. Brave also stars the voices of Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane. It is set to hit theaters in 3D on June 22.

This is considered "plus-size?" This is considered "plus-size?" Though size 16 model Ashley Graham recently made headlines for starring in the first ever ad to feature a plus-size model in the pages of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue, model Robyn Lawley gets the honor of becoming the first ever plus-size model to actually be featured in an editorial spread. Lawley -- a 25-year-old Australian native -- is technically considered "plus-size" in the fashion industry, coming in at 6'2" and a U.S. size 12. VIDEO: Plus-Size Model Ashley Graham Rocks Tiny Bikini in 'Sports Illustrated' Swimsuit Ad But she's looking pretty slim to us, no? Lawley is featured in the issue's "Rookies" section, looking hot in a snakeprint bikini that's actually from her own swimwear line. "I don't know if I consider myself as a plus-size model or not," Lawley tells Time. "I just consider myself a model because I’m trying to help women in general accept their bodies." And she is definitely excited to bring that message to the pages of Sports Illustrated. "Ahhhhhhh I'm beyond ecstatic to join the amazing @si_swimsuit family!!!!," she wrote on Instagram. "If someone told me at the beginning of my career that this would happen I would of said "tell em his dreamin" haha! Thankyou @mj_day@jamesmacari @ja_neyney @darciebaum and the whole SI awesome peeps for embracing who I am in the 2015 issue!!!!!" Far out @si_swimsuit I love this shot!!!���������� @wilhelminamodels @bellamodelmanagement @milkmodelmanagement A photo posted by Robyn Lawley (@robynlawley1) on Feb 5, 2015 at 8:26am PST She has also been featured in Vogue Italia, Elle France, Australian Vogue as well as ad campaigns for Ralph Lauren and Mango. PHOTOS: Sexiest 'Sports Illustrated' Covers Ever Hannah Davis is the lucky model to snag the cover of the Sports Illustrated 2015 Swimsuit Issue this year, the 24-year-old also making headlines for the ridiculously racy shot. WATCH: Break Time: Hannah Davis nabs SI Swimsuit cover

When Wayne Rooney set alight the 2004 European Championship as an 18-year-old, becoming the youngest goal scorer in the tournament's history, no crystal ball could have foretold that the brilliant but flawed gem of English football would go on to become such a disappointment and liability for his country. Rooney's four goals in Portugal seven years ago were his last for England in the finals of a major championship. Since then, the 2006 World Cup, the 2008 Euros that England failed to even qualify for and the 2010 World Cup have been and gone, all without another goal from Rooney and with his country still waiting for his teenage promise to translate into a tournament performance to remember for good reasons, not bad. Truth is, that day might never come. As absurd as this would have seemed in 2004, Rooney's England career is now at risk of largely passing him by. With his speed, strength, rubber-ball energy levels and precocious ability for scoring, Rooney looked destined to be a much-loved England great and, with 28 goals in 73 appearances, a genuine threat to Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for the Three Lions. Instead, he is leaving a growing trail of regrets and "what ifs?" Rooney will ask himself that question if England manager Fabio Capello decides, as perhaps he should, that Rooney isn't worth taking to Euro 2012 because the Manchester United forward won't be able to play in the first three games. He is banned for losing his temper, yet again. Rooney, caged at home, watching the matches on television and boiling over with frustration at his own foolishness. It doesn't bear thinking about. But if Capello shows a hitherto well-hidden tender streak and takes England's best player anyway, as perhaps he should, then Rooney will still be asking himself that question if England performs poorly without him and is sent home early, before he has had a chance to play. Rooney, caged in the dugout, boiling over with frustration in the knowledge that his next and perhaps last chance to shine on the international stage won't come until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil — if England qualifies and if, at 28, he is still world-class then. That scenario doesn't bear thinking about, either. Fact is, Capello need not and should not determine now whether Rooney will be a waste of space or could still prove useful in Poland and Ukraine, co-hosts of next year's tournament. As much as that debate sells newspapers — British media obsessed about it on Friday, the day after UEFA's disciplinary panel delivered its verdict — it doesn't make a vast amount of sense 238 days before the opening match in Warsaw on June 8. An injury to Rooney between now and then, especially closer to the time, could render the whole issue moot. England won't learn who its opponents are until Dec. 2, when the draw is made. Only then, with a better idea of whether England has a realistic chance of surviving its group games, will it become clearer whether Rooney is worth taking for the knockout stages, after he's served his ban. So, at this moment, the question is not whether he should go but rather whether he shouldn't. Should Capello, a known disciplinarian, leave him out as punishment for his impetuous and nasty little kick at Montenegro defender Miodrag Dzudovic that deservedly drew the ban? The answer is no. Armchair psychologists can speculate all they like about whether abandoning Rooney might teach him a lesson, provide the kick to somehow transform the angry man into a maturer one. Moralists can also thunder that he has let England down once too often now and so shouldn't get the honor of a seat on its plane. But that would be hypocritical. No one should feign surprise. Be it by stomping on Ricardo Carvalho (2006 World Cup, red card) or by venting to pitch-side cameras (2010 World Cup; West Ham vs. Man United in April, two-match ban), Rooney has time and again shown the beast that lurks within him. As much as Rooney tries to control it, his hot temper is part of him and part of his game, perhaps even a necessary part of his game, a fuel for his football. Capello can't have one without the other. He can be disappointed but he cannot pretend he didn't know. He shares responsibility with Rooney for the ban because he fielded him — hoping for goals but also knowing that there's always the risk that he might see red. The Italian's job, the one he's paid so well for, between now and next summer is to judge how big that risk is. If Rooney is uninjured and playing as well as he has been this season for United, and if England's path to the knockout stages looks negotiable, then the risk of selecting him will seem smaller and the potential rewards greater. In that case, Capello will take him. Having crossed all fingers and toes that England get through the group games without him, a fresh Rooney could then do something special in the knockout stage. Or something stupid. All that promise that shone so brightly for England in 2004 could go unfulfilled once again. With Rooney, you never quite know. ___ John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at twitter.com/johnleicester

Rome, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Marco Parolo netted a pair of second-half goals on Saturday, leading Lazio to a comfortable 3-1 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico. The hosts came into the match hoping to get out on the front foot quickly in front of the home crowd, but it was Milan that jumped out to the quick lead as former PSG man Jeremy Menez found the back of the net after just four minutes. But Lazio seized firm control of proceedings in the second half as Parolo pulled his side level in the 47th minute and German World Cup legend Miroslav Klose doubled the lead in the 51st minute with an outstanding volleyed effort. Paolo then completed his double with nine minutes to play as he fired home from inside the box thanks to a cheeky square pass from Filip Djordjevic. Things became heated as the clock struck 90 minutes as Milan's Phillippe Mexes was shown a straight red card as a result of a reaction following a foul by Lazio's Stefano Mauri. The fourth official's board showed seven minutes of added time, but with the visitors playing down a man and two goals, they were unable to create any threatening offensive sequences to suffer their sixth defeat of the season. In Serie's other fixture, Luca Rossettini and Duje Cop found the back of the net to lift Cagliari to a 2-1 win over Sassuolo.

Sports fans will always root for different teams and athletes, for any number of reasons. Sadly, being enamored with one team or athlete is often paired with something resembling true, dark hatred for competing teams or athletes. That is, almost without exception, one of the more ridiculous phenomena in modern society. The ardent support of, cheering for, and emotional attachment we all have to athletes we don't know is a bit strange, but usually benign, because at least it is normally a happy, positive thing. Condemnation and enjoying the defeat and setbacks other, less-favored, athletes may suffer is stranger still, and not usually defensible. Enjoying successes of famous athletes is usually based on some sort of empathy and real or imagined sense that we know things about them -- things that we like and identify with. Reveling in the defeat of others, however, has to do with the exact opposite. Meaning, to enjoy seeing others in pain after defeat, we must completely ignore that they share anything in the human experience in common with us. Ronda Rousey is going through a bit of that right now, as all top athletes do when they lose. The former UFC bantamweight champion lost her crown this past weekend when she was knocked out by Holly Holm in Melbourne. Before losing, she was the "Rowdy" one -- undefeated, admired, leader of the #RouseyRevolution and an example to young kids everywhere, because of all that she'd overcome and accomplished. After losing, she's hounded and teased about her bruises by TMZ reporters, prompted to cover her face in shame, bashed by sportswriters who claim they always knew she was overrated, and the subject of mocking internet memes and videos created by folks reveling in the mighty being brought down. I would venture to guess that most of these critics who pile on aren't true-blue Holly Holm fans. After all, being thrilled that Holm won is in no way necessarily connected to taking actual joy in seeing her opponent hurt. It's a hurting game, but recognizing that fact isn't necessarily the same as being happy that it is. Other than the initial satisfying thud of connecting soundly with her finishing strikes -- like a baseball slugger crushing a ball out of the park -- Holm's subsequent celebration likely had much more to do with a sense of relief that all her decades of work, and sacrifice resulted in her becoming recognized as the best in the world, than it did with being aroused at seeing Rousey out cold on the mat. Celebrating defeat and pain, as some fans do, is strange in its sickness. To do it, we need to ignore all the things winners like Holm are likely celebrating -- their humanity. It is to ignore that someone has worked hard for years, perhaps most of their life, given up lots in pursuit of a dream, exposed themselves to the world and then had those dreams crushed publicly. In combat sports, that emotional pain is usually paired with lasting, physical damage as well. There is much more to athletes like Cris "Cyborg" Justino than what we see in the cage. Josh Hedges/Forza LLC Zuffa LLC As Ronda Rousey is dehumanized by many at a low point, it reminds me of how one of her most-talked about rivals as long had much of the same happen to her. For years, going back to their Strikeforce days, fans have called for a fight between Rousey and Cris "Cyborg" Justino, the longtime featherweight women's MMA world champion. For even longer than that, Justino has faced a host of ugly and misogynistic taunts and insults. What's worse is that insulting Justino along those lines has largely been considered acceptable. A lot of that acceptance probably has to do with the eagerness of those like UFC president Dana White and Rousey herself to hurl hateful words the Brazilian's way. As recently as this past weekend, White and UFC commentator Joe Rogan listened on without objection, as a comedian mockingly compared Justino to a man on Rogan's podcast. When we make athletes into heroes and monsters (and those aren't always mutually exclusive) through hyperbolic praise or insults, we forget that they are, first, people. To be sure, both "Cyborg" and Rousey are monstrous in their fighting abilities. That doesn't mean that they are unfeeling or can take more, psychologically and emotionally, than any of us, though. Because of her muscular physique and ability to terrorize opponents in the ring, Justino is usually described in dehumanizing ways, both negatively and positively. "She's a beast," in this case, has been used both to compliment and disparage. Visiting with the fighter, some of her loved ones and coaches a week ago for an 'MMA Bread 'n' Butter" video shoot, however showed me what should have always been obvious -- however much of a "Cyborg" she may be in the cage, the woman is Cris, outside of it. She works hard, cares what others think, desires to leave a legacy and has stresses. Justino also happens to be engaging, thoughtful, warm, generous, and funny. Justino also has a dog named Fedor who likes to give hugs, drink from water bottles, sit on laps, and, with her light red fall jacket and stylish yet functional bandana worn around the neck, is far better dressed than I. Recognizing someone is a person, doesn't mean ignoring faults or mistakes, of course. To that end, I'll never tell people to simply stop discussing Justino's previous failed drug test. By all means, talk about it. Test Justino as she has been multiple times, since. Pain is an inevitable part of sport fighting, but it isn't something to take joy in. Quinn Rooney Getty Images AsiaPac That all can be part of the discussion when we talk about the fighter. It certainly is for the scores of other fighters who have -- often repeatedly -- failed drug tests, yet who still fight and are celebrated in the UFC. There's lots to talk about, after UFC 193, and I've tried to touch on much of it. Yes, the UFC should have a women's featherweight division. No, Rousey and Holm should not rematch, immediately. There are also scores of far less important things to talk about -- how much Holm's manager made betting on her, or what boxing coach Freddie Roach thinks of Rousey. We can talk about it all. There is space for it. Amidst the crucial and frivolous, however, let's try to get better at remembering the elemental. Let's try to remember the humanity in it all.

New Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is attempting to take one of the nation's top prospects with him from Alabama, as Under Armour All-American linebacker Lyndell Wilson visited Athens over the weekend. Wilson is from Montgomery, AL., and is considered one of the top prospects remaining on both Georgia and Alabama's recruiting board. Wilson is a five-star prospect and currently rated as the No. 14 overall prospect in the nation according to 247Sports Composite ratings. Aside from both Alabama and Georgia, Wilson is also considering attending Florida. Man what a time. 🐶 Athens, GA pic.twitter.com/IWRPxZ6wFK — Feb The Month ✍ (@Iam__MW3) January 17, 2016 The high school All-American recapped his recent Georgia visit with Dawg Nation and reportedly came away very impressed, giving it a "10" rating: "I feel like it is a great place to be with me seeing everything with my own eyes," Wilson said. "I feel like it is a great football city and I feel like they will be very effective next year." "I was thinking to myself real hard about how I have to make a decision in a couple of days. It has just been real crazy. I was thinking to myself real hard about how I felt about Georgia." While it will likely be very difficult for Georgia to pull such a talented player out of Alabama, the weekend visit appears to have helped their chances significantly. Wilson's long-standing relationship with Smart could also play into his final decision. How comfortable he feels with nearly an entirely new defensive staff in Tuscaloosa could also help the Dawgs. Check out Wilson's highlight tape and see for yourself why he's rated as one of the nation's top prospect in 2016:

The leaders of the Sept. 11 commission (search) implored Congress to move quickly to reform the nation's intelligence structure, warning Friday that failure to act would leave America vulnerable to another devastating terrorist attack. A working group appointed by President Bush (search) also continued its meetings Friday, and a senior White House official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said it was close to presenting a package of reforms to Bush. Among the ideas prompting discussion is the establishment of a new national intelligence director, one of the key proposals from the 9/11 commission. The official said the administration's internal debate has centered on the scope of that person's authority and how the individual would work with the CIA (search). In an unusual Senate hearing during summer recess on Capitol Hill, the 9/11 commission's chairman, Thomas Kean, and vice chairman Lee Hamilton acknowledged institutional resistance to change will make reforms difficult, but said the status quo is not an option. Key senators on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (search) pledged to swiftly but thoughtfully consider the commission's proposals. The panel has recommended some 40 changes, but Friday's hearing focused mostly on two: creation of a new national counterterrorism center and a new national intelligence director to oversee the 15-agency intelligence community. "We have concluded the intelligence community is not going to get its job done unless somebody really is in charge," Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana, told the Senate committee. "That is just not the case now, and we have paid the price." Intelligence reform has become a key issue in the fall election, with Kean, Hamilton and other commissioners vowing to keep the pressure on Congress and the Bush administration to make changes. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has endorsed the commission findings. Bush has created a working group to study the recommendations and draft executive orders that could immediately implement some of the proposals. The senior White House official, speaking anonymously because policy proposals remain under discussion, laid out three principles to guide the group's debate: increase human intelligence capabilities, maintain the country's technical collection advantage over the enemy, and improve coordination among agencies in the intelligence community. Without providing specifics, the official said the working group is looking at options that could go beyond what the commission recommended, but indicated that one focus might be in the area of protecting privacy rights and civil liberties. "Reform is not easy," Bush said at a campaign stop in Springfield, Mo. "Achieving reform requires taking on the special interests, requires challenging the status quo." The commission's widely acclaimed report recounted numerous intelligence missteps in the months preceding the 2001 terror attacks against New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people. The 10 commissioners, traveling in pairs, are embarking on a nationwide tour next week to share their report with the public and to draw attention to the need for intelligence reforms. Kean said the commission is seeking private donations to continue the panel's work past Aug. 26, when it is scheduled to dissolve. Kean attributed pre-9/11 intelligence failures to a profound lack of coordination across intelligence agencies. "No one was the quarterback, no one was calling the plays," Kean said. In the proposed reorganization, he said, "each agency needs to give up some of their existing turf and some of their authority." During the hearing, Kean called it "unacceptable" that the recently departed CIA Director George Tenet asserted that the country is five years from an adequate clandestine service. However, Kean and Hamilton praised reforms already undertaken by FBI Director Robert Mueller, who has sought to transform the bureau's priority from criminal investigations to counterterrorism. Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged fellow lawmakers to "be bold but not reckless" in considering changes that will lead to what she described as a "fundamental overhaul of our intelligence structure and a sea change in our thinking." The committee's ranking Democrat, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, promised that, "We're going to get this job done and get it done with unprecedented thoughtfulness and speed." Collins and Lieberman support the proposed national intelligence director and national counterterrorism center. But both are still looking for more details on how it would work. For instance, Collins questioned whether the national intelligence director should be part of the Cabinet, which the commission did not recommend because Kean said the job would be an operational — and not policy — position. Congressional critics are surfacing as well. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., questioned whether the new national intelligence director would be too close to the White House to provide much-needed independent analysis. And he said he has reservations about what the counterterrorism center will mean for the command structure at the Defense Department. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said during a trip to Miami that the administration was open to additional changes. "I think right now, for our purposes, everything is out on the table," Ridge said. "If there's still gaps there, if we need to do it, then we need to work with Congress and we use the recommendations as a starting point for that conversation." The hearing was the first of at least 15 that will be held in the coming weeks by more than a half-dozen House and Senate committees.

A Northern California judge ruled Wednesday against a Silicon Valley billionaire who had shut down public access to a beach beloved by surfers and swimmers, ordering him to reopen his private road to the beach. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach ruled that venture capitalist Vinod Khosla would have to obtain permission from the California Coastal Commission if he wished to close off Martin's Beach, a secluded stretch of coast south of Half-Moon Bay. The case, brought by the surfer and environmental group Surfrider Foundation, had been seen as a test of 1970s laws ensuring public access to the state's 1,100 miles of coast. It also tweaked feelings of resentment at the privileged life enjoyed by the San Francisco Bay Area's growing cadres of tech and investment magnates. Mallach's finding "is an affirmation that the promise of public access to the citizens of California is not an empty promise. It's something that has real power and authority," said Eric Buescher, one of the attorneys for the surfer association. "There were lots of other wealthy landowners up and down the coast who were watching very closely, and hoping Mr. Khosla's argument was well-received," Buescher said. Wednesday's ruling "won't just impact this one beach. It will impact the whole coastline." An attorney for Khosla did not immediately return a call for comment. For more than a century, owners of the beach-front property had allowed beach-goers to use a private road to reach Martin's Beach, in exchange for parking fees. When Khosla bought the 89-acre beachfront property in 2008, his employees locked the gate on the road and occasionally posted security guards at the gate. They also painted over a billboard advertising the beach. Attorneys for the businessman argued the property was exempt from coastal access laws because the land had been in private hands since before California became a state. The closing of Martin's Beach had so angered state lawmakers that they approved a measure authorizing the state to negotiate to buy the private beach road, if necessary. The measure is now before Gov. Jerry Brown for his signing or rejection. Bill author Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, initially had sought legislation authorizing eminent domain to seize the road for public use.

Coffee breaks have gone out of fashion in some offices. Many employers, obsessed with productivity, don’t see the benefits of letting employees spend time not working during the day. In fact, the coffee break is vitally important for many employees. The benefits in morale, productivity and communication far outweigh the 15 minutes of work lost. Reducing stress. Stress in the workplace is an epidemic. Nearly half of all workers suffer from some degree of stress, and it’s estimated to cost employers up to $300 billion in lost productivity, health costs, errors and interpersonal conflicts. Stressed out employees are never going to deliver the same quality of work as those who work in a more relaxed, comfortable environment. Short coffee breaks make a big difference when it comes to dealing with stress. Even just the difference between taking a break at your desk and getting up to take a coffee break is significant, as the latter disconnects you from your tasks. Stepping away, even just for 15 minutes, helps your brain to relax and reduce stress. Related: 3 Quirky De-Stress Hacks to Keep Your Team Motivated and Happy Waking up. It’s no secret that coffee helps you wake up in the morning. Caffeine blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine, allowing for more norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain. Increasing the levels of these key hormones can improve mood, energy level, and overall cognitive performance. Too much consumption of caffeine can have harmful long-term health effects, but a cup or two a day can be very beneficial for work performance. This is especially true in mid-morning, which is often the most productive time of day. If you’ve had your fill of coffee for the day, there are a huge number of alternatives, from tea to coconut water or probiotic drinks. What really matters is giving employees time to recharge so they can be more focused overall. Creating conversations. Organizations thrive on communication. Unfortunately, many companies can develop a rigid chain of command, where employees only communicate with their direct supervisors while neglecting to share information with coworkers in other divisions or on other projects. The break room is a great place to facilitate these informal conversations. Many people underestimate the importance of these casual conversations, but many of the most successful businessmen of the modern era have recognized their value. Steve Jobs intentionally designed the headquarters of Pixar to include a massive central atrium where employees from different departments would run into each other and have unplanned interactions. Designs like this have heavily influenced the coworking and open-office plans that have become more popular in recent years. When people with different perspectives and viewpoints engage in unstructured conversations the possibility of collaborative efforts and developing improved processes increases. Related: Meetings Suck. Here Are 5 Ways to Make Them Suck Less. Building community. Even if conversations in the break room have nothing to do with work and don’t lead to any tangible collaboration, they can be extremely beneficial. There’s a huge amount of value in just letting people get to know each other better. Coffee breaks can help employees connect with one another and develop a community of trust and friendship. When employees trust each other, everything works smoother. Less time may be wasted on red tape or unnecessary supervision, as everyone may be more likely to trust that their coworkers will do their jobs well. People also may begin to think outside their own narrow roles and understand how their work affects the rest of the company, which typically makes them more focused and less error prone. Reducing health risk. Sitting all day is bad for your health. Even if you exercise, extended periods of sitting can lead to an increase of diabetes, poor circulation and bad joints. Staring at a screen can also be harmful, as it damages the brain and increases the risk of depression or anxiety. Taking short breaks throughout the day to stand up, walk around and get away from the computer can have big health benefits. That’s good for employees and it’s good for the company, which usually ends up sharing health care costs. Healthier employers are cheaper, more effective employees. Related: Sick of Sitting? Tired of Standing? Take a Load Off With This 'Leaning' Desk.

Learning is an amazing gift that we all have available to us. However, there is another side to learning that will prevent your success. It is quite common for entrepreneurs to seek out as much knowledge as possible to discover new strategies and tactics to take their business to the next level. Unfortunately, too much learning can also get in the way of your growth. Consider the following data: Facebook users share nearly 2.5 million pieces of content. Twitter users tweet nearly 300,000 times. Instagram users post nearly 220,000 new photos. Email users send over 200 million messages. With all this content and stuff to learn, it’s no wonder why you may feel confused and hesitate taking action required to move forward. Related: 8 Hugely Successful People Who Didn't Graduate College Here are five ways learning can hurt your success in business: 1. Learning can be information overload Learning is often perceived as noble and time well spent. While it can lead to something new, it can also be an overload. Learning for the sake of learning will have you seeking all kinds of information that you might need someday. The problem is the learning you take in for that someday keeps you from taking action today. The key to success is not in the learning -- it is in the implementation of select learning. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Gerber, the New York Times best selling author of The E-Myth Revisited. He makes the point that "the rate of business success has not changed with the Internet, because it is not the lack of information that is holding businesses back. It is the failure to take a good idea and put it into action." 2. Learning lacks context to who you are. We are unique. We come with our own talents and skills. But when someone creates information, they do not take into account your own uniqueness. The learning lacks context because it applies to the broad set of entrepreneurs, not just you and your talents. This causes even more confusion for you as the learner and what exactly your next action is. 3. Learning has no regard for sequence. Just as we are all unique, we are also in different stages of our businesses. Sequence of action to grow your business is rarely even thought about or taught. Let’s take learning to speak from the stage to grow your business as an example. There are tons of steps to using speaking and getting business from it. And the order in which you learn about these steps does matter: Getting the gig Preparing content Delivering content Selling from the stage Creating powerful graphics Developing your website Related: 3 Tips for Getting Speaking Gigs My point is that it is all important, but it has a sequence that must be understood. It’s up to you to decide which order is most important. This is usually overlooked when learning. Your business growth has a specific sequence too. Define your own sequence based on the stage you are in right now. Think critically. 4. Learning is not a silver bullet. Learning from all the available experts can give you different perspectives on any given topic. One expert may say, “grow your business by writing a book” and another may say, “start a podcast or focus on becoming a speaker.” All the so-called experts are giving you their perspective of what worked for them -- their silver bullets to success. The issue is there is no silver bullet that is right for everyone. You have to find your one area to focus on right now for your business. 5. Learning prevents action. Learning can be a powerful step in your journey to a new future. In fact, it is required. But if your focus on learning overwhelms you to the point that you rarely apply what you learn, you and your business will suffer. You must put learning into action and continuously fine tune your strategies. Too many entrepreneurs seek the sage advice of the pros and rarely do anything with it. This is something I personally know all too well! For many entrepreneurs, there is compulsive information consumption. This is usually related to the fear of not measuring up. This is a common fear among entrepreneurs and business owners as they seek out everything that they will need for that wayward someday. The information overload paralyzes their ability to create a new strategy and, most importantly, to take action to generate new successes. Don’t fall prey to learning what you will need someday. Focus yourself on what you need right now. Growth and success is not in the learning. It is in action and implementation. Related: Know Your Limits, Your Brain Can Only Take So Much

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton repeated on Tuesday her statement taking sole responsibility for security at all of America's diplomatic missions, an attempt to clear a political obstacle for her boss, President Barack Obama ahead of his second debate with Republican Mitt Romney. "I take responsibility," Clinton said in a written statement. "I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world (at) 275 posts." She would not answer questions on her statement. With only weeks before the presidential election, outrage has crystallized around Vice President Joe Biden's claim in last week's debate with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan that "we weren't told" about requests for extra security at the consulate where assailants killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Congressional hearings revealed that the State Department was aware of, and rejected, several requests for increased security in Benghazi. Spokesmen for both the State Department and the White House took pains Friday to make clear that Biden's "we" referred to the White House, where such requests would not go. Clinton backed up Biden's assertion. "The president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals," she said Monday. Three separate investigations into the attack are being conducted: an FBI probe into the deaths of the four Americans, an independent inquiry by a panel appointed by Clinton and the congressional hearings. Initial reports attributed the cause of the violent attack as one of a number of spontaneous demonstrations in several Muslim countries over a film produced in the U.S. that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, insisted on a number of talk shows in the days after the event that the investigation up to that point showed no indication of a planned attack. Within days, the White House reversed its position, saying new findings indicated the attack was intentional and coordinated. "Everyone who spoke tried to give the information they had," Clinton's statement said. "As time has gone on, the information has changed, we've gotten more detail, but that's not surprising. That always happens." She added, "What I want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha or blame game." Republican senators said Clinton's claim was "a laudable gesture," but they put the responsibility for the Benghazi attack and what they called "an escalating pattern of attacks this year in Benghazi" squarely on Obama and his national security team. "I think it's very laudable that she should throw herself under the bus," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday. "But first of all, responsibility for American security doesn't lie with the secretary of state. It lies with the president of the United States. "It's either willful deception or a degree of incompetence and failure to understand fundamental facts on the ground...either one of those is obviously totally unacceptable," he told FOX News. Obama ignored reporters' questions about Clinton's statement as he left Williamsburg, Va., for Tuesday night's debate with Romney in New York. Clinton agreed with the need to keep the Benghazi tragedy out of politics. "I know that we're very close to an election," Clinton told CNN. "I want to just take a step back here and say from my own experience, we are at our best as Americans when we pull together. I've done that with Democratic presidents and Republican presidents."

SAUL LOEB via Getty Images On March 7, many in the United States will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march in Selma for voting rights. President Obama, Congressman John Lewis, and 95 members of Congress will join community and faith leaders and ordinary citizens to march through Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, and Marion. Recently, however, it was reported that another individual would join the stage in Selma with President Obama: George W. Bush. To commemorate Selma is to honor all those who were beaten and terrorized by the police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on "Bloody Sunday." It is to appreciate those individuals, many of whom remain nameless and faceless, who sacrificed their careers, freedom, bodies, and indeed their lives, so that African Americans could cast their ballots free from discrimination or exclusionary measures. We commemorate Selma to celebrate the work of these activists and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But in 2005, President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. Six years later, the "Bush" Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts gutted the Voting Rights Act, paving the way for mostly southern states to establish measures that all but ensured a rise in black disenfranchisement. "Our country has changed," Roberts argued. The Chief Justice maintained that there was no longer a need for southern states to have to seek federal permission to alter their voting laws. Since that decision, we have seen a number of states including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi enact a bevy of laws clearly aimed at the black community and making it much more difficult to vote. In addition to Bush's picks for the U.S. Supreme Court, the former president's economic policies had devastating effects on the black community. As a result of Bush's refusal to break from trickle-down economics, deregulation, and privatization, we entered the "Great Recession." Moreover, Bush never believed in affirmative action, calling it "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Throughout his presidency, Bush claimed fighting poverty was at the top of his list, while only putting more African American children under the poverty line. The unemployment rate for African Americans reached over 10 percent during his tenure. And to pay for two wars, a prescription drug program for seniors, and massive tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent, Bush consistently proposed cutting numerous social programs that largely benefitted the black community. Those who defend Bush's record on race often point to his policies in Africa, which even win praise from progressives. However, one can argue that before the man-made Suez Canal, the Middle East was also part of Africa. How many lives were lost in Iraq? How many tortured? Did Bush's polices, not at least in part, create the environment that gave rise to terrorist groups that commit daily atrocities in various parts of Africa today? This August will mark the ten-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Almost ten years has passed since Katrina killed nearly 2,000 mostly poor African Americans. And as much as Bush has tried to explain away his decisions, we still remember that as Katrina blew two giant holes in the Superdome, pouring rain on thousands of individuals, George W. Bush flew to Arizona to have birthday cake with Senator John McCain. While Kanye West has since backtracked, I would argue he was right, when, in 2005 he announced, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." So as we get ready to commemorate Dr. King and so many others who marched to Selma, I would argue that George W. Bush has forfeited the right to march. He does not get to partake in such a solemn and sacred time in our history that moved us forward as a nation when all he did was set us back. We must never forget Selma. But we must also never forget Hurricane Katrina and the eight years of the Bush presidency.

Fired Yes frontman Jon Anderson is far from impressed with his former band's new music, insisting he was expecting more from the guys who replaced him with tribute band singer Benoit David. Anderson founded the progressive rock supergroup with bassist Chris Squire in the late 1960s and although he's still sore that he's no longer a part of the group, he was looking forward to hearing the music his old bandmates were making without him. Speaking to Rolling Stone, the "Owner of a Lonely Heart" singer, says, "The new singer is singing good, but it sounded a bit dated to me. Also, the production wasn't as good as I expected. They've got a great producer with Trevor Horn, so what the hell are you doing?" Horn was the producer at the controls for Yes' classic "90125" album. Anderson insists he's no longer bitter about the way he heard he'd been ousted from Yes as he was recovering from a long illness: "They didn't tell me anything. They were just off and running. But what can you do? I was p**sed off in the beginning, but then you say, 'Oh well, the boys want to go on tour and be rock and rollers. Let them to do it.'" The new Yes, without Anderson, have just released their first single in 10 years, We Can Fly.

Remember Jon Gosselin? He was the reality star from TLC's enormously popular "Jon & Kate Plus 8" featuring their adorable set of twins and sextuplets. So what is he doing now? According to "Entertainment Tonight," the former reality star is waiting tables at Black Dog restaurant in Beckersville, Penn., after finding it "impossible" to get work after the show ended. He admits he was a bit wary of taking the position, but it's been okay. "At first I was nervous because I was like, 'How are people going to react?'" he explained. "But then I'm thinking, 'Well it's fun and I get to talk to people.' And they technically already know me…they're like 'Are you the guy?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm the guy.'" He and his ex-wife Kate split up in 2009, and now he's laying low in a cabin in the woods without internet access. His eight kids visit him Tuesday nights for dinner and every other weekend. Jon told ET he has hit rock bottom several times but has no regrets. "You learn from your mistakes. That's what builds you to who you are today," he said. Kate talked to People magazine in August about how her family is coping in the aftermath of reality show success. She said she is living "very carefully these days," by "piecing and patching together" an income from various projects. Last month, Kate filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband, accusing him of hacking into her computer to get information for a tell-all memoir. She's suing for a reported seven-figures for invasion of privacy and identity theft. We're not sure how Jon's going to pay that on a waiter's salary.

Opponents of the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive are set to launch a last-minute intervention to try and prevent it being adopted by the European Council. The directive, which many claim will allow the widespread software patenting in Europe, is scheduled to appear on the agenda of a meeting of competition ministers on Monday 7 March. As an A-item, the directive had once again been expected to be approved without debate, but it emerged late on Friday that Denmark will attempt to have the directive listed as a B-item at a later meeting instead. This means the text of the directive could be renegotiated, according to Florian Mueller, an anti-patent campaigner. "If it works out like that this will be EU history. It is without precedent that anybody can specify that the EU council at the stage is unable to ratify a decision. But we have to understand that nothing is ever stable. We have to see what happens on Monday," said Mueller. Denmark's representative at the meeting of ministers is compelled to ask for the change because of a vote by the Danish Parliament's EU committee that came out in favour of seeking to reopen discussions. Denmark's government is legally bound to adopt any parliamentary decisions regarding the EU. Denmark's move could provoke a domino effect, encouraging other countries such as Poland and Spain -- who have concerns about the directive -- to also push for renegotiation. "This is like a chain reaction. Everyone has said 'We don’t to be the only ones who spoil the party'," said Mueller. "We are now seeing the dominoes collapsing all the way, but it looks like Denmark will be the first one to start the reaction." But other reports on Friday claimed that the directive will be adopted at Monday's meeting. A Luxemburg official told Reuters that competition ministers were expected to approve the directive as an A-item. "We have not seen any change of heart on the part of any EU member," said the official, whose country holds the European Union presidency.

Some suggest cloud services could become more costly when providers eventually decide to return a profit, but Aneel Bhusri, co-chief executive of enterprise cloud apps company Workday, thinks the opposite more likely. Software-as-a-service vendors are in fact banking on falling operational and infrastructure costs for their future profitability, according to Bhusri. "All of us are counting on technology getting cheaper to get to profitability. We're not thinking that we're going to need to raise prices 50 percent to get to profitability," he said. "All the [cloud] companies are now in high growth mode. As they get into slower growth mode where a lot of the customers are just renewing after their three-year contract is up and you don't apply any sales and marketing costs, those customers become a lot more profitable." In fact, Bhusri believes even now current accounting methods are disguising the true profitability of software-as-a-service companies. "The comparison between the cloud companies and the legacy companies is apples and oranges. So if you're SAP or Oracle, you sell the licence and you get to recognise that whole licence upfront. We'll sell a three-year subscription and we only get to recognise one year at a time," Bhusri said. "If we were treated the same from an accounting perspective, we'd already be a profitable company. As you saw this last quarter, we're not trying to be cashflow-positive but we were cashflow-positive." Read this Workday 19: Customized fields, Android app, financial additions The company's update to its core Workday features largely build on previous enhancements, but the broader picture is that Workday is putting its development horses on financial tools. Read More "The fairer measure for these companies in the long run is free cashflow. If you look at Salesforce, they're beginning to throw off a lot of free cashflow — they're generating cash. I'd argue with all the nuances in accounting: cash is king. That's how you really tell if a business is generating profits." On-premise versus subscription accounting An analysis of on-premise licences and cloud subscriptions would produce interesting results, according to Bhusri. "If people really did the exercise to convert Salesforce as an example — say, Salesforce was under the same accounting rules as SAP — I bet they'd be two times their size and revenues and wildly profitable. It's just really the artefact of subscription accounting being different to licence accounting," he said. Bhusri wants the company to sustain its focus on growth rather than profits for the foreseeable future. "My goal is push it out as long as possible. Once we get to profitability, we'll be measured on that profitability. Right now people are more focused on the revenue growth and we're investing for that growth," he said. Workday recently set out plans for UK and French payroll systems as part of a drive to secure more European subscriptions. Workday's global expansion plans Bhusri said there's still considerable scope for the firm to expand across the globe, with the point where there might be a dwindling supply of new customers still far in the future. "Our average new customer has 10,000 to 20,000 employees. By our definition of our market opportunity there are over 10,000 organisations like that in North America and double that around the globe — so maybe 20,000," Bhusri said. "We're at 450 so we're still tiny from a penetration perspective. When Oracle took over PeopleSoft, PeopleSoft had 8,000 customers, so there's a ton of market out in front of us." So the number of prospects will not be an issue for Workday for the next five years, according to Bhusri, but even after that period there is a natural progression for the company to move into industry-specific applications. "That would be a natural place for us to go. HR and finance are cross-industry, they work across all types of companies, but if you're going to go deeper into banking you need to think about banking and trading applications. If you're going to go deeper into retail, you need merchandise-management applications," Bhusri said. "There are also great opportunities to sell analytics. Those big-data analytics we announced , those are an early offering. If you get the core HR and accounting system [into an organisation] and become that true system of record, there are so many adjacent opportunities around it." Workday and professional services For the moment Workday's expansion remains impressive but Bhusri suggests it's worth looking at the growth figures in detail. " We grew 61 percent , but the more important number is actually the subscription number, which grew north of 80 percent. The two components of growth of our revenues are the subscription revenue, which is the software, and then the professional services revenue," Bhusri said. "We're trying to slow down the growth of professional services and let the Accentures, Deloittes, IBMs, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Capgeminis, take on more of the work." "We're really a software company. We did the professional services upfront because the service providers were in general slow to move to the cloud. They had great businesses on SAP and Oracle that they didn't want to jeopardise. But since the customers are going there, they've all jumped on the bandwagon." Nevertheless, Bhusri said Workday would retain a small group of professional services people who could be deployed for project where special expertise is required.

Photo: jaketaustin/Instagram The Rock. Harry Styles. Channing Tatum. Will commenting on their Instagram accounts ever help you find true love? We’ve all been there, dying of thirst in a sandy desert of lackluster options, but the end game of proudly yelling at Oscar Isaac that you’d love to have his children is mostly self-satisfaction. Oscar Isaac isn’t actually going to have your children. Right? Right? Twenty-two-year-old Danielle Caesar is now giving fangirls a modicum of hope that “marry me, daddy” actually works. For five years, she’s been sending Jake T. Austin, star of Wizards of Waverly Place and Hotel for Dogs, tweets like “You’re amazing; sorry just thought you should know that :)” and “I’m gonna deff try & meet youu this summer!!” After five years of tweeting and a meet-up at Planet Hollywood in 2011, the pair — if you can even believe it — are actually dating. In real life. Yes, I know. It’s wild! Austin shared a snap of the two kissing to his Instagram account, which bewilderingly has 1.4 million followers, with the caption “I’m crazy for her” followed by a suspicious blue-colored heart. Caesar then did the same, but has since made her Instagram account and Twitter private. Hate to be a mom but I don’t think this relationship is such a good idea!!

by In the news by Eric Shierman HB3409 stands out as the best piece of legislation that will come out of the 2013 Oregon legislative session. By exempting work as an African American hair stylist specializing in what is called “Natural Hair Care” from the ridiculous barriers to entry currently being imposed such as requiring these workers who are already skilled in the knowledge of how to manage people of African descent’s hair without the use of chemicals or scissors by continuous braiding to undergo 1,700 hours of expensive cosmetology instruction that they don’t need. This bill does not create jobs in one sector of the economy by transferring resources away from other sectors. HB3409 allows true net economic growth to take hold by removing government imposed friction on entrepreneurial activity. Better yet this bill is the epitome of bipartisanship. Sponsored by both Alissa Keny-Guyer D-Portland and Kim Thatcher R-Keizer, its origins come from a joint effort of the Cascade Policy Institute and the Urban League of Portland. The Oregonian has called it an “unlikely alliance” but a better understanding about what it is that Cascade actually does makes this kind of collaborative work more likely than you would think. Our state’s free market think tank is actually pro-market not pro-business. There is a difference. Actual business leaders do not naturally embrace the creative destruction of the marketplace. Indeed behind nearly every needless regulation stands a business interest using the coercive power of the state as an anticompetitive tool for its own profit. Labor market deregulation looms large as the most effective means of achieving growth in the developed world today. As a global sovereign debt crisis lingers, a false dichotomy has emerged between the pursuit of fiscal discipline or growth. Since government spending merely transfers existing wealth from one area of an economy to another, limiting it to the necessities does not necessarily stave off growth. Organic growth comes from new production, new entrepreneurship. When we lack aggregate demand in an economy, let’s not forget that demand is not just the desire to buy; it’s also the ability to buy. Supply comes first; demand comes second. We must first create things that people want to buy from us before we have the ability to buy from them. Supply creates its own demand. At the aggregate level of the macroeconomy, to increase demand we need to be freeing up the ability of people to create for themselves the means to buy. So as the sovereign debt bubble continues to implode, Europe is ahead of us and Greece is ahead of the rest of Europe. Greece leads in terms of its debt to GDP ratio, but it also leads in terms of labor market rigidity. Anyone who follows the crisis in Europe closely knows that labor market deregulation is right up there at the forefront of the structural reforms being taken by countries that have been effectively dealing with this crisis. Greece of course has not been one of them. A great example of this, which has lingered in my mind, comes from probably the best analyst of the Greek economy that I have been following over the years, Meagan Greene: While the political elite and public in Greece remain dedicated—for now—to the common currency, it is difficult to see how Greece will manage to restructure its economy and return to growth before either the troika or the Greeks themselves run out of patience. A number of contacts described their experiences trying to open a business or buy property, which involved high fees, several trips to different tax offices and months of navigating bureaucracy. This gets at the very heart of how Greece landed up in its current condition and why rapid change is unlikely. Entire professions such as notaries, lawyers, tax men, architects and inspectors have for years had automatic income in that they have formed the layers of bureaucracy involved in doing business in Greece. At least half of the MPs in Greek parliament hail from these industries, and consequently are incentivized to perpetuate the bureaucracy that impedes opening up, running or finding investment for businesses. This is best encapsulated in an anecdote from my visit to Athens. A friend and I met up at a new bookstore and café in the centre of town, which has only been open for a month. The establishment is in the center of an area filled with bars, and the owner decided the neighborhood could use a place for people to convene and talk without having to drink alcohol and listen to loud music. After we sat down, we asked the waitress for a coffee. She thanked us for our order and immediately turned and walked out the front door. My friend explained that the owner of the bookstore/café couldn’t get a license to provide coffee. She had tried to just buy a coffee machine and give the coffee away for free, thinking that lingering patrons would boost book sales. However, giving away coffee was illegal as well. Instead, the owner had to strike a deal with a bar across the street, whereby they make the coffee and the waitress spends all day shuttling between the bar and the bookstore/café. My friend also explained to me that books could not be purchased at the bookstore, as it was after 18h and it is illegal to sell books in Greece beyond that hour. I was in a bookstore/café that could neither sell books nor make coffee. Things aren’t that bad here, but it’s very important to remember that government spending is not all of Greece’s problems. Erecting barriers to entrepreneurial activity builds an economic structure that squelches growth, presenting as serious a problem as budgets and tax policy. We all know we don’t want to ever find ourselves in Greece’s fiscal shoes, but we need to be more wary of wearing its regulatory shoes as well. At both the national level and here in Oregon a commitment to fiscal discipline is starting to gel. Obama has now offered the first serious budget of his presidential career and Oregon Democrats seem to understand we face real fiscal trade-offs, though our Governor grasps this better than House Democrats do. Yet in terms of growth, more bills were passed to extend red tape in our state’s labor market than cut it. HB3409 stands as a very small reform for a very small market, but it’s also good news. I am always looking for good news to write about. It carried on the House floor last Tuesday with a unanimous vote and is now advancing in the Senate with broad bipartisan backing that does not have to be an unlikely alliance. A consistent and principled liberty agenda in general will likely continue to broaden the Republicans’ coalition of support long term, but a new focus on occupational licensing in particular shows promise to yield good results very quickly. Eric Shierman lives in southwest Portland and is the author of A Brief History of Political Cultural Change. He also writes for the Oregonian’s My Oregon blog.

VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) Q4 2012 Earnings Call January 28, 2013 5:00 p.m. ET Executives Pat Gelsinger - Chief Executive Officer Carl Eschenbach - President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Chadwick - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Paul Ziots - Investor Relations Analysts Adam Holt - Morgan Stanley John DiFucci - JPMorgan Walter Pritchard - Citigroup Emily Chan - Sanford Bernstein Sonya Banerjee – Goldman Sachs Kash Rangan – Merrill Lynch Stephen Patel - ISI Group Brent Thill – UBS Philip Winslow – Credit Suisse Operator Welcome, and thank you for standing by. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is also being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. And now I'll turn the call over to your host, Mr. Paul Ziots. Sir, you may begin. Paul Ziots Welcome to VMware's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Earnings Conference Call. On the call we have Pat Gelsinger; Carl Eschenbach and Jonathan Chadwick. Following their prepared remarks, we’ll take questions. Our press release was issued after close of market and is posted on our website, where this call is being simultaneously webcast. Statements made on this call include forward-looking statements such as those with the words will, believes, expects, continues and similar phrases that denote future expectation or intent regarding our financial outlook, product offerings, customer demand and other matters. These statements are based on the environment as we currently see it, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the press release and the risk factors and documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K for information on risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in such statements. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures, which are used as measures of VMware's performance, should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures exclude the effect of our GAAP results of stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, employer payroll tax and employee stock transactions, the net effect of amortization and capitalization of software and acquisition-related items. You can find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations with comparable GAAP measures in the press release and on the Investor Relations page of our website. The webcast replay of this call will be available for the next 60 days on our company website under the Investor Relations link. Our first quarter 2013 quiet period begins at the close of business On March 14, 2013. Unless otherwise stated, all financial comparisons in this call will be in reference to our results for the comparable period of 2011. With that, let me hand it over to Pat. Pat Gelsinger Thanks Paul and good afternoon everyone. 2012 was a strong year for VMware with solid Q4 results despite the tough economic environment. We do not take this momentum for granted and I would like to first thank all of the people of VMware, our partners and our customers for their passion, engagement and support throughout the year. Total revenue for 2012 increased 22% to $4.6 billion, with license revenue up 13% to $2.1 billion and non-GAAP operating margins up by 140 basis points. Unlike most vendors, VMware challenges the status quo. By finding new ways to solve complex IT problems, we have helped more than 400,000 customers save billions of dollars, dramatically increase the agility of their IT environments and significantly improve business outcomes. We see a tremendous market opportunity in 2013 and beyond as we focus on what our customers value most, VMware’s role as a pioneer of virtualization technologies that simplify IT infrastructure from the datacenter to the virtual workspace. In 2013, VMware will execute against three growth priorities in support of our unique role in the industry and the core opportunities we see ahead. The software-defined datacenter, hybrid cloud, and end-user computing. In the software-defined datacenter, we will continue to deliver innovations in networking, security, storage and management, as powerful as those we led and continue to lead in server and desktop virtualization, delivered simply through the vCloud Suite. For hybrid cloud, we will enhance our ability to deliver a compelling set of enterprise class cloud services that allow customers to run any application anywhere, on and off premise as they choose. And in end-user computing, the Horizon suite will deliver on our vision of a virtual workspace for both existing PC environments and emerging mobile devices in a secure enterprise environment. As we enter Q1 we are actively focusing our investments and resource to capitalize on these opportunities. And by definition, there are areas we plan to de-emphasize across the business to do this. One thing I have learned over the years is the importance of prioritization and execution. So I have been working with my leadership team to ensure we have the right level of resources in the proper places for 2013 and beyond. This focus on prioritization includes two-tiered realignment process. First, a portfolio rationalization in favor of our differentiated strengths and the products our customer base and prospects care about most. The decision to commit our cloud application platform efforts to the pivotal initiative is an example. And second, a realignment of resources as we scale back in some areas of the business and increase prioritized investments across geographies, product groups and operations. This includes shifting talents in new roles that support our core growth opportunities as well as some targeted headcount reductions. Focusing our talents and resources for realignment is a responsible and healthy course of business. That said, these are plans that impact our people and we make them with careful thought and respect. Jonathan will provide more detail on the realignment process in his section of this call. To be clear, VMware has invested considerably, having added over 6,700 people over the last three years to accelerate our growth opportunity. We will continue to grow, invest, and hire in 2013 in support of our focused growth priorities. For example, we expect to close fiscal year ’13 with headcount up by approximately 1000 people. You will also see us continue M&A activities and strengthen alliances, again, in support of our focused growth priorities of the software-defined datacenter, hybrid cloud, and end-user computing. Looking at 2013 in perspective, we are out to make our customers’ environments incrementally better. We will radically change them by solving the hardest infrastructure problems in elegant, simple and powerful ways. Our aspirational goal is to become the greatest infrastructure software company of this decade, $10 billion and beyond, by delivering software innovations that bring agility, efficiency and choice to our customers while simplifying everything about infrastructure and IT. To help give you a deeper understanding of our software innovations and strategies, it is my pleasure to invite you to join us for the EMC and VMware strategic forum on March 13th in New York, which we will host for analysts and investors. At this forum, my management team and I will discuss our strategies for the Software-Defined Datacenter, HyperCloud and end user computing strategies as well as providing more information about the pivotal initiative. With that, I’ll turn it over to Carl. Carl Eschenbach Thanks Pat. As an 11 year veteran, I have to say we’ve become more aligned than ever since Pat joined VMware a short five months ago. Both the CEO and CFO transitions have been seamless and we’re focused, motivated and ready to execute in 2013. I want to start by thanking all of the people at VMware, our partners and our customers for contributing to the strong financial results in 2012. Our financial performance was driven by our product performance and it was an outstanding year on many fronts, including the introduction of new products such as VMware View 5.1, which simplifies the delivery of a desktop with better total cost of ownership and the vCloud Suite which I’ll speak more about in a moment. Throughout the year, we made six acquisitions and welcomed employees from iTHC, Cetas, Wanova, DynamicOps, Pattern Insight and Nicira. We also continued to expand our international footprint in customer facing activities, particularly in key markets such as China, Japan, Eastern Europe, Russia and Latin America. All of this was accomplished while maintaining our high standards of product and service quality. In 2013, we will continue to be aggressive with investments in areas supporting our priorities of Software-Defined Datacenter, HyperCloud and end user computing. In Q4, we benefited from a full quarter of availability of the vCloud Suite, our first solution to deliver the Software-Defined Datacenter. The vCloud Suite integrates VMware’s leading virtualization, availability, networking, security and management portfolio into a single skew and simplifies customers’ adoption of Cloud Air technologies. We exceeded our bookings planning for vCloud Suite in Q4 and as expected, most vCloud Suite bookings were ELAs. The vCloud Suite comes in three flavors, standard, advanced and enterprise. Our enterprise version with a list price of $11,495 per CPU, had more bookings in Q4 than either the standard or advanced versions. vCloud Enterprise Suite now includes vCloud Automation Center, formerly DynamicOps, which allows customers to rapidly deploy and provision Cloud services across private and public clouds, physical infrastructures, Hypervisors and public Cloud providers. In addition, nearly 1,000 existing vSphere Enterprise Plus customers, took advantage of our free upgrade offer to vCloud Suite Standard and by doing so, acquired additional management and network virtualization capabilities. Customers are buying our vCloud Suite for three primary reasons. The first reason is because customers understand and buy into our vision of the Software-Defined Datacenter and they believe the vCloud Suite is the best way to participate in this vision. The second reason is that as our customers are deploying more mission critical in tier 1 applications, they require higher levels of SLAs. the vCloud Suite combines better management, automation, high availability and security functionality meeting these service levels all in a single solution. And the third reason is because of the significant return on investment and convenience customers enjoy when purchasing Cloud infrastructure and management capabilities in a single SKU with simplified entitlements at favorable prices. As expected, blended ASPs for vCloud Suite were more than three times the blended ASPs for vSphere in Q4. We were also pleased that blended vSphere ASPs were higher in Q4 as compared with Q3. In Q4, our management products and EUC products combined were once again greater than 20% of total license bookings. This figure does not include management products which are bundled into the vCloud Suite SKUs. Note that moving forward, we expect to sell more and more of our management products as part of the vCloud Suite, which will make this figure less relevant. We had continued success in the quarter with our vCenter Operations Management Suite and vCloud Automation Center, which are both sold as part of the vCloud Suite as well as outside the suite. The vCenter operations management suite is one of our fastest growing products, since vSphere and investments in our channel recruitment enablement and sales incentive during 2012 had been paying off. Sequential license bookings for vCloud Automation Center grew significantly in Q4, which was the first full quarter since closing our DynamicOps acquisition. vCloud Automation Center has been gaining traction particularly with our financial services customers and is now a standard component in vCloud suite enterprise which is our high-end suite offering. In 2013 we are also making large investments across the board in end-user computing go-to-market activities, including increased focus at verticals such as financial services, the public sectors and healthcare. While we were pleased with record U.S. revenues of $639 million in Q4 at a growth rate of 20% year-over-year, our Q4 U.S. bookings did not come in at the levels we expected for either our ELA or transactional businesses. Generally speaking, we saw weakness across the U.S. as a whole. As an example, despite our federal business performing better in Q3 than we had expected, for the full year 2012, federal bookings were down versus 2011. Our international revenues in Q4 also reached a record level of $654 million, which is an increase of 24% as compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. Strong demand in Japan in China once again led our growth in Asia Pacific region and we continue to see increased opportunities for larger deals in these countries and many others. Weakness in Australia was once again an exception in Asia Pacific due to a struggling economy. European bookings were slightly higher than expected in Q4. As we executed well on selling the vCloud Suite and we witnessed a small budget flush at the end of the year, we believe the budget flush occurred because throughout 2012, European companies were protecting their capital budgets and had pent-up technical demand. Bookings in Germany were strong while Russia bookings were lower than we had expected. Jonathan will speak to the revenue guidance in a few minutes but from a bookings perspective, we expect stronger growth in the second half of 2013 versus the first half of 2013 on year-over-year comparison basis. Enterprise license agreements were approximately 33% of total fourth quarter bookings, a record high. Although we did not close any ELAs greater than $10 million as we would normally expect to do in Q4 for the U.S. This is about nine percentage points above Q3 and slightly higher than 8 points sequential increase from Q3 to Q4 last year. We had a healthy mix of new ELAs as well as ELA renewals in the quarter, and we continue to see a very nice attach rate of non-vSphere solutions to our ELAs. As I indicated earlier, vCloud Suite is mostly sold via ELAs and in fact, 75% of vCloud suite bookings in Q4 were associated with ELAs. Given the ongoing tough market conditions and increased customer scrutiny around their IT investments, our continued strong ELA results reflect the confidence customers show in the VMware platform. Now, turning to our transactional business. Although we had solid bookings in both unit volume and dollar value in Q4, our transactional business did not grow at nearly the same rate as our ELA business. Over the next year, we are putting in place programs to help drive additional transactions via our channel partners. We are also working with our channel partners to increase uptake of our adjacent products. For the fourth consecutive quarter in 2012, we achieved an all time high in percentage of renewals within the quarter for our support business. This reflects a vote of confidence from our customers in our products, solutions, technical support and upcoming product enhancements. Our VMware service provider program once again tracked well in the quarter as public Cloud providers continue to leverage our Cloud infrastructure program for their service delivery. We believe this ecosystem of providers is second only to Amazon in public Cloud market share and this program is one of the faster growing parts of our business, with bookings growth of over 50% for the full year 2012 as compared to 2011. You heard Pat emphasize Hybrid Cloud as one of our priorities for 2013. With our partners, we will be expanding our capabilities aggressively in 2013, building on our private Cloud footprint with an ever richer set of complementary public Cloud service offerings. This is exactly what our customers tell us they desire, a compatible, high quality, secure and resilient hybrid Cloud platform. As Pat mentioned earlier, network virtualization is one of the next big steps for our customers on the path to the Software-Defined Datacenter and I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made expanding our portfolio in this area, most recently with the acquisition of Nicira in Q3. We also took important steps in the fourth quarter to best align our engineering and go to market efforts to take advantage of our early lead in this space. In addition, I’m happy to announce that we expanded our leadership strength with the appointment of Steve Mullaney, former CEO of Nicira as Vice President and General Manager of our network and security virtualization group. And most importantly, excited at the benefits we’re delivering to our customers. I’d like to share a couple of examples from two leading innovative customers. eBay, a long time VMware customer, is leveraging network virtualization to dramatically improve what they call speed to innovation by delivering self-service on-demand Clouds for their application developers. Provisioning of the network used to take one week or more and now that time has been reduced to 30 seconds. This means more productive developers turning out more innovative applications faster for the eBay marketplace. Network virtualization is transforming eBay’s business. Rackspace, the second largest public Cloud in the world, has been in production with their open-static Cloud running on Nicira since August of last year. They continue to grow their Cloud every month and this is a real testament to the scale and production quality of open-static and our network virtualization platform. Importantly, these types of customers will be critical to our efforts to accelerate adoption over the coming years. I’d like to remind you that though we are early in this market, we are excited that the proof of concepts customer interests, design wins and momentum is very similar to where we were in the early days of server virtualization. We’re particularly encouraged by the number of proof of concepts in trials started in Q4 with some of the largest enterprise end service provider customers in the world. We will continue to provide updates on our progress over the coming quarters. Now, over to Jonathan for the financials and guidance. Jonathan Chadwick Thanks Carl. I’m very proud to have joined the VMware team, especially at this point in time with such significant opportunity ahead. It’s been an incredible first three months and through Pat, Carl, the management team, the Board of Directors and the employees I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with, I think firsthand just to have the culture of VMware inspires people and enables great accomplishments. As Pat and Carl said, we completed a strong Q4 in 2012, accomplishing what we said we would do, despite a tough economic environment and achieving solid results for license revenue, total revenue and non-GAAP operating margin. We are very proud of these results. Total revenues for the fourth quarter were $1.29 billion, while total revenues for the full year 2012 were $4.61 billion. Revenues for both the fourth quarter and the full year increased 22% from a year ago or 23% on a constant currency basis. In 2012, U.S and international revenues each increased by 22%. License revenues rose 16% year-over-year in Q$ to $597 million and 13% for the full year to $2.09 billion. Software maintenance and support revenues increased to 28% in Q4 to $591 million and 31% for the full year to $2.15 billion. Customers continue to buy on average more than 24 months of support and maintenance with each new license purchased, which demonstrates a strong commitment to VMware as a core element of their Datacenter strategies. Professional services revenue were $105 million in Q4 and $365 million for the year, up 27% year-over-year and up 28% for the full year. I will now provide some details on our operating margins. Unless otherwise noted, all references to our expenses and operating results are on a non-GAAP basis and are reconciled to our GAAP results in the press release tables and posted on our investor relations website. Our Q4 operating profit measured on a non-GAAP basis was $424 million or 32.8% of revenue as compared to 32.2% in Q3 and 31.9% in Q4 2011. Year-over-year operating margins benefited 14 basis points from foreign exchange rates. Our non-GAAP operating margin exceeded our expectation in Q4 due to over achievement on revenue and good ongoing expense controls. Non-GAAP operating margin was 32.4% for the full year in fiscal 2012. We ended the year with approximately 13,800 employees, up roughly 2600 employees from the beginning of the year and nearly 500 from the beginning of the quarter. Our non-GAAP tax rate 18.3% for 2012 and our GAAP tax rate for the year was 16.5%. We saw a slight uptick in our Q4 2012 non-GAAP tax rate to 19% as our U.S. profitability improved slightly. Diluted non-GAAP EPS for Q4 was up 31% to $0.81 a share on 433 million shares. Diluted non-GAAP EPS for 2012 was also up 31% to $2.85 a share on 434 million shares. Now moving on to our balance sheet and cash flow metrics. Our balance sheet remains strong with cash and short term investments at year-end of $4.63 billion, up $236 million quarter-over-quarter. Our operating cash flows remain strong as well and were $493 million for Q4 and $1.9 billion for 2012. DSO was 60 days in Q4 compared to 53 days in Q3. The increase reflected the timing of billings during the quarter and the higher mix of ELAs that Carl mentioned. These tend to be larger deals, completed later in the quarter. Our total CapEx spending for 2012 was $234 million. We continue to work on our Palo Alto and Bangalore campus expansions, projects which will continue into 2013. Free cash flows were $412 million in Q4 and $1.66 billion for 2012 as a whole. As a reminder, last year our cash flow has benefitted from the collection of tax receivables of more than $300 million which covered both the 2010 and 2011 tax years. We expect to be in a net payment situation going forward. During the quarter we repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares of our stock for a total of $161 million under our share repurchase program at an average price of $87.83 per share. Over 2012 we repurchased approximately 5.1 million shares for a total cost of $468 million. Total unearned revenue ended the year of $3.46 billion, up 28% from the end of 2011 and an increase of 16% quarter-over-quarter. Long-term unearned revenue is now approximately $1.26 billion as customers continue to purchase multiple years of maintenance and as more unearned license revenue is recognized overtime. Nearly 80% of our unearned revenue is software maintenance and it will be recognized ratably. Approximately 13% of unearned revenue is software license revenue which is recognized either ratably or upon product delivery. At the end of Q4, over 50% of the total unearned license revenue balance is to be recognized ratably. And in addition approximately 7% of unearned revenue is the result of prepaid professional services, including training which is recognized as the serviced delivered. But considering all these elements, approximately 87% of our total deferred revenues are to be recognized ratably. Now turning to 2013. We are going to be making investments in our top priorities across product groups, certain geographies and in operations. We are very focused on the opportunities presented by the Software-Defined Datacenter, end user computing and the hybrid Cloud. We see these as being large, important markets for VMware and we are investing for the long term. At the same time, we continued to examine our investment portfolio and plan to reduce our investments in certain non-priority areas. Over time, these actions will allow us to accelerating top and bottom line growth. These actions fall into two main categories. First, as part of our pivotal initiative with EMC, we expect to commit key existing technology, people and programs from both companies focused on Big Data and Cloud application platforms under one organization. We’ll be providing a more comprehensive update on this at the EMC VMware strategic forum on March 13. We are not providing any guidance with respect to changes associated with Pivotal prior to that event. Our second set of plans involves realizing other investments across the portfolio. As we invest in our core opportunities, we plan to scale back resources in other areas of the business. This includes shipping talent to new roles that support our core growth opportunities, as well as targeted reductions of approximately 900 people. Some of these will be provisional eliminations associated with streamlining operations and some will result from targeted product actions. Products we will deemphasize include SlideRocket and other products which are not central to what our customers value the most from VMware. We expect to record a charge associated with this action of between $90 million and $110 million with the majority expected to be taken in Q1 2013. Despite these changes, we expect to be up approximately 1,000 heads over the course of 2013, excluding the effect of Pivotal. Now putting this in perspective, VMware has increased its workforce by over 6,700 people over the course of the last three years. While these choices are often tough, we know that this is healthy for our business and an important step as we plan for the long term. Now moving to specific guidance for the upcoming year. As we look at 2013, we see at least four factors impacting our business. The first is the macroeconomic environment. As Carl mentioned, we experienced general weakness across the U.S in Q4 2012 and our federal government bookings declined for the year overall. Europe’s roughly stronger performance in Q4 appears to have been the result of some pent up demand preceding customer expectations for a tough 2013. We remain concerned about the region overall. In addition, foreign exchanges rates are likely to be a revenue headwind, at least for the first quarter. The second factor impacting our business in early 2013 is a tough compare with large deals. In Q1 2012, we booked two deals for a total of approximately $40. Given the current spending environment and looking at our pipeline, we do not anticipate closing deals of this size in Q1. A third factor is associated with our ELA renewal opportunities. We expected tailwind opportunity due to ELA renewal opportunities in 2013. However, about two thirds of these opportunities become available in the second half of the year. And the fourth factor is related to our decision to reduce investments in certain non-core areas I mentioned earlier. This realignment of investments is good for our business in the medium and longer term. However, some of these actions will impact revenue in the short term and this is factored into our guidance for 2013. In addition, while we’re not providing any guidance with respect to the changes associated with Pivotal at this time, we did take into account potential impacts on customer engagements during the first half of the year. With this backdrop, we expect stronger growth in the second half of 2013 versus the first half of 2013 on a year-over-year comparison basis. For the full year, we expect total revenues to be within a range of $5.230 billion to $5.350 billion or a growth of between approximately 14% to 16% over 2012. Full year license revenues are anticipated to grow between 8% and 11%. Total revenues for Q1 are expected to range from $1.170 billion to $1.190 billion, a growth of approximately 11% to 13%. We currently anticipate Q1 license revenue to be between $480 million and $490 million. As Pat said, we see a tremendous market opportunity ahead and we will make continued investments throughout the year related to product development in global market expansion. Consequently and taking into account our adjustments to GAAP operating income that Paul disclosed at the start of the call, we expect the non-GAAP operating margin for 2013 to range from 31% to 32% and Q1 non-GAAP operating margin to be approximately 30%. GAAP operating margins for the first quarter are expected to be approximately 20 to 23 percentage points lower than the non-GAAP operating margins. And for 2013, GAAP operating margins are expected to be approximately 15 to 17 percentage points lower than the non-GAAP operating margins. For 2013, we expect the CapEx to be between $340 million and $380 million as we continue to build our Palo Alto and Bangalore campuses. We estimate our non-GAAP tax rate will be 18.5% for the full year and the GAAP tax rate to be approximately 5 to 7 percentage points lower than the non-GAAP rate. For Q1 we estimate our non-GAAP tax rate will also be 18.5% but because of the reenactment of the R&D credit for 2012, the GAAP tax rate will actually be a benefit of approximately 17%. And finally, we anticipate our first quarter 2013 fully diluted weighted average share count to be between 433 million to 435 million shares. And with that I will turn it back to Paul. Paul Ziots Thanks, Jonathan. Operator, we're going to begin the Q&A process. Let's begin. Question-and-Answer Session Operator (Operator Instructions). Our first question will come from Adam Holt of Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Adam Holt - Morgan Stanley I had a couple of questions about the guidance. The color on sort of the factors around Q1 is helpful but you are guiding to what looks like the quarter-on-quarter decline is bigger than we saw even in the first quarter of 2009. I wanted to clarify, one, so you are excluding any lost revenue from pivotal, even though you are not quantifying it. And two, as you look at the puts and takes and some of the other drivers for the conservatism, could you maybe quantify how you are thinking about the different elements? Jonathan Chadwick Yes, Adam this is Jonathan. Thanks for the question. Just taking them in two pieces. So just to be clear, we have not included any specific guidance with respect to pivotal so we will be updating you as Pat said, at VMware EMC analyst day on March 13. So you should see them sort of business as normal if you like for pivotal. That’s important to understand. The second thing is, yes, I mean as I have looked at the overall plan working with Pat and with Carl and the rest of the management team, you know the guidance takes into account the macroeconomic situation that we described and we have experienced. It also clearly takes into account the Q3, Q4 bookings performance. Obviously bookings is a leading indicator of how revenue tracks. We also see in Q1 in particular, some tougher compares. As I mentioned, we saw particularly strong performance in a couple of ELAs in Q1 ’12 totaling around $40 million which right now were not forecasting that sort of level of individual deal when we look at Q1. So I had figured or looked at those various things, we have certainly looked it in the context of first half, second half as well. And hopefully you saw this but we do anticipate an accelerating growth pattern over the quarter of the year, but the first half does take into account those various factors. And then finally, you know I think there is going to be some distraction as we work through the pivotal activities as we finalize that structure and as we also work through some of these realignment activities, as we set ourselves up well for not just the tail end of 2013 but also the longer term opportunity. So I guess if I would net all that out, it reflects my approach, certainly the management team’s approach. But when one appears open and as transparent as possible but I guess if I was to provide you an exact [number] I consider myself to be conservative but realistic. Adam Holt - Morgan Stanley If I can just ask a quick follow-up on margins. It looks like if you net out the 900 lost heads and then add 1000, you’re at best growing your headcount at 15% year-on-year in line with the midpoint of the revenue guidance. Can you walk us through why margins would be down in a year-on-year basis? That’s it. Jonathan Chadwick Adam, I’ll take that one as well. The first thing to bear in mind is we are going to be investing over the course of the year and you correctly picked up, we’re investing a net about 1,000 heads even taking into account this action we talked about today. However, we’ll also added 2,600 people over the course of 2012. So we got the full impact of that investment that we’ve made already going into 2013. Of course a little bit of pressure on operating margin, especially in the first half. We also anticipate to run to the full OpEx benefit of all of the headcount actions and the realignment activities probably until the second half as some of the realignment activities while planned won’t be completed in the first half. Most will, but we expect some of that to continue especially as we think about geographical activity over the course of the year. So, all of that is considered in the operating margin guidance as we thought about the profile for the first half and the second half. Operator Our next question comes from Heather Bellini of Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Sonya Banerjee – Goldman Sachs Thank you for taking our questions. This is Sonya Banerjee on for Heather. Just in terms of first quarter guidance, just to quickly touch on the maintenance in services component there. So just following onto Adam’s question. If you’re looking for a high teens sequential decline on the license fees, what if a puts and takes on the services line in times of maintenance and just the pro services piece there? And then just more on a high level for the full year, just given license guidance, it seems like – what are the specific milestones that we need to see you guys hit on your new more recent initiatives in order to just reaccelerate growth? Jonathan Chadwick Well, maybe I’ll start and I can let Pat or Carl add color. This is Jonathan again. Again, when we think about the year overall, I just want to make sure we’ve all heard this. I think the first half will be more challenging, but we do see activity towards the second half driving towards a stronger performance overall. You certainly heard the guidance with respect to license and remember the S&S or the Service and Support growth in revenues clearly reflect bookings that we took over the course of the latter part of 2012 as well. So we would anticipate again the second half to be stronger as we think about the overall profile of the quarter. License and overall bookings growth for Q1 does certainly reflect some of those year-over-year compares that I mentioned earlier on, Sonya. Carl, do you want to add anything to that? Carl Eschenbach Yeah. As far as metrics Sonya, I talked about in my prepared remarks the success we had around the vCloud Suite in Q4 which was our first full quarter of having that in the market and as I indicated, it was ahead of our booking expectations that we had internally which shows that demand and the customer’s confidence in VMware to deliver the Software-Defined Datacenter. The other metric I would look at is the attach rate of the Suite to enterprise license agreements and we continue to see a high attach rate to the ELAs with the Suite itself. And then the third metric, we’re starting to look at metrics that actually are outside of just pure revenue like things around the Nicira platform where we’re seeing customer adoption and proof of concepts take place around network virtualization as we look at the early stages of the adoption of network virtualization in the market. So we will continue to think about the metrics to share with you to ensure that you guys have a better understanding and view and perspective of how we are defining success internally as customers adopt our solutions. Operator Our next question will come from Kash Rangan of Merrill Lynch. Your line is open. Kash Rangan – Merrill Lynch Thank you very much. Just wanted to clarify your guidance for fiscal '13 does include Pivotal or does not include Pivotal? And I have a follow-up. Pat Gelsinger Kash, Pivotal is included in numbers we have shared. So in other words we have not updated any of these numbers assuming Pivotal to be taken out. These assume business is normal if you like and again we will provide more specific guidance as we work through with EMC the exact form of the pivotal arrangement going forward. That's one of the updates we will be giving on March 13th. Kash Rangan – Merrill Lynch Okay. And when I look at the seasonality of licenses revenues, if you were to grow 10%, if you’re going to be down sequentially more, it looks like the growth in second half is looking like 19%, 20% roughly in license growth rate. So can you walk me through if that assumption is broadly speaking correct when you talk about your second half acceleration? And what exactly are the dislocations we are working through in in Q1 and Q2 timeframe that shifts that growth rate to second half, barring the tough comparison to the two large deals in first quarter? I am struggling to understand what exactly is -- what else could be behind the conservative guidance for the first half besides the tough comparison? Carl Eschenbach Again, first of all, when we have developed the plan for the total year in the first half, second half, the first thing we obviously had to look at is how did bookings perform over the course of Q3, Q4, in particular when we think about license. The macroeconomic environment, the fact that the federal bookings performance overall for the entire year in FY '12 was basically down, the nature of strength in the European segment in particular in Q4 felt somewhat temporary in the second, more of a one-off budget flush for us. And then as we start to think about the second, so that gives some challenge to the first half. The second half I think reflects what we consider to be the opportunity around things like the ELA tailwind as we've I think well understood, given the fact that 2010 did see a heavy or a significant level of ELAs. Two-thirds of that opportunities, we've analyzed it further, becomes available in the second half. So that combined with what we are forecasting today to be an improved macroeconomic environment, gives us cause for optimism as we approach the second half. I think you are being a little bit aggressive on the overall or you are over interpreting on the license acceleration on a year-over-year basis. You look at the second half. Again, we guided, as I described to earlier on, to 8% to 11% for the total year, certainly starting off Q1 a little bit softer than that. And then the other thing I would just say, as we continue to work through some of these realignments and the pivotal activity, we think that's going to reflect some clarity more towards the second half as well. So there is three or four factors there, Kash, that I think are important to bear in mind as we approach the second half. Operator Our next question comes from John DiFucci of JPMorgan. Your line is open. John DiFucci - JPMorgan I have a quick question for Pat, and then a quick follow up for Jonathan, if I might. Pat, headcount reductions are typically dramatic measures for a company. But by the end of the year, I understand your headcount is going to be up a thousand. So it sounds like you're really getting the right people in the right places. But is that also something to do with the near term macro backdrop that you hope will improve throughout the year? Pat Gelsinger No, it's associated with getting the right people aligned with the priority areas that we have described. As we began the pivotal initiative, we clearly see that there is a set of things that we have underway that aren't clearly aligned with those priorities. So we're getting people aligned with those priorities. Clearly, having added, as we said on the call, 6,700 people over the last three years, we're refining where those headcounts are located vis-à-vis those key priority areas. So it is a great opportunity right for us to get the entire company aligned with the great growth opportunities that we see in these areas, SDDC, hybrid cloud, EUC, for 2013 as a really foundational year and then our long-term growth based on that. John DiFucci - JPMorgan Okay. Great. And if I might, for Jonathan or maybe Carl, the ELA renewals that you did close this quarter, was the size relative to the original deal about the same percentage greater than the original deal on average as it has been historically? Now there is a lot of ifs in there but typically I believe you have said in the past that you typically sign renewals and the size of that deal is typically a percentage greater than 100%. Were these deals this quarter because the ELA renewal is a big part of the conservation out there in the investment community anyway or is the percentage the same percentage greater than 100% than it has been in the past? Carl Eschenbach Yeah, thanks, John. This is Carl, I will take that question. Yes, we did not see any change to our ELA renewal rates in Q4. As I indicated in my remarks we had 33% of our total bookings come through ELAs and that included the renewals in the quarter. And of those renewals that we did have, it was still on average greater than the original dollar value of the ELA that we transacted. So we were pleased to see the customers continue to believe that VMware is the platform of choice to build out their Cloud infrastructure and we did not see any degradation in our ELA renewal rates or the dollar value associated with those ELA renewals. John DiFucci - JPMorgan But Carl, just to be clear, was it – let's say – I'm just going to throw out a number, 120% is what you usually see. Was it a 120% this quarter? Was it a 125%, 115%? Was it less or greater than what it normally is as a percentage of the original deal? Carl Eschenbach So, John, I think in the past in the Analysts Day I articulated that it was greater than 100% and it was again greater than 100%. We don't give details of the exact percentage. But as I said earlier, there was no change in our renewal rate or the dollar values associated with those renewal rates around ELAs. Operator Our next question is from Brian Marshall of the ISI Group. Your line is open. Stephen Patel - ISI Group Thanks. This is Stephen Patel calling in for Brian Marshall. Now that you are beyond the 50% penetration rate on server virtualization, can you discuss a little bit how the opportunity differs on the next 25% to 30% of the market? You alluded a little bit to a richer upsell opportunity for some of these customers, virtualizing tier one apps. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about that. Pat Gelsinger Sure. Thank you. So first, there is a range of estimates, 50%, 60% virtualized and workload stay. So our expectation is we can continue to drive that number and we do see that we can take it to 90% plus. So even in core virtualization, we believe we’re far from done. We do also see that this provides – I think of it as a springboard for these additional areas of the Software-Defined Data Center. We’re clearly in the good numbers that we saw, the management Suite this quarter where we really can grow these adjacencies based on the success of the core virtualization opportunity. And we see that being the case for management, network security, storage and availability. So overall we do see that opportunity to expand from that strong footprint. So Carl, anything to add to that? Carl Eschenbach The other thing I’d say Pat is, as customers look to virtualize their next set of applications, those applications are typically mission-critical and tier one applications which do require a much higher level of service and that is what customers can get through the vCloud Suite. So in a lot of our ELAs and the renewals of ELAs in Q4, customers were buying the Suite. In fact as I articulated, we saw more of the high-end Suite than anything else, because they wanted to truly build out a private or hybrid cloud and get the first generation if you will Software-Defined Data Center solution from VMware because those more mission-critical applications require higher levels of service. Operator Our next question is from Brent Thill of UBS. Your line is open. Brent Thill – UBS Thanks. Carl, just on the bookings for U.S, can you just drill on a little bit further? You mentioned starting was weak, but can you give us a sense what happened in some of the other areas like financial services? Did you see that same type of weakness fall through? And I had a quick follow-up. Carl Eschenbach Sure. Thanks Thill. So our U.S. business definitely experienced some macro headwinds within the quarter. The budget flush that we typically see in Q4 did not materialize and it certainly didn’t materialize to the extent we saw in Europe. And that was impacted across both our transactional business as well as our ELA business. So we definitely saw the headwind there. And specific to the Financial Services segment, for the most of the year, we had a very solid financial services business and in Q4 we did indeed see it come down on a year-over-year basis. And then the last thing I'd say is we have made significant changes in our U.S. go-to-market coverage model. The segments, our customers in a different way, gives us a better coverage and alignment to our customers based on their size. This was a transformation that took place in 2012 and we expect the full impact of these changes do ramp throughout 2013, and with this change in execution and coverage model, we hope to offset some of the softness in the macro we saw throughout Q4 and 2012. Operator Our next question is from Philip Winslow of Credit Suisse. Your line is open. Philip Winslow – Credit Suisse Hi guys. I just want to spend a moment on the transactional business. You mentioned strengthened ELAs, but then obviously the base of ELA is falling in the first half here. I wonder if you could just comment on the transactional position you saw in Q4 in terms of just your price and I guess as well as competition? And as you would look into the first half here, what are you embedding from a transactional business reflective to the ELAs? Thanks. Carl Eschenbach Yes, thanks. So I talked about the transactional business probably for the first time in quite some time on our call here because we did see some softness in the transactional business and we think that had more to do with the macro than anything else. And the reason I say that is because the transactional business is primarily driven by our channel so it's an indirect model for us. And when you see slowness in the transactional business, it typically calls out something going on more in the macro than from an execution or a coverage model perspective. With that as a backdrop, going forward we are putting in place a number of programs with our partners to help drive the transactional business in a new direction. This will include changes in how we price our products, the promotions we give to our channel, and I think certainly most importantly based on the success we've seen around the vCloud Suite in the Enterprise segment, we will be doing some creative packaging with our core vSphere product as well as other management solutions to drive a better attach rate, so we are not selling what we call naked vSphere into the market. So we are encouraged about some of the programs we will launch in 2013 and we do expect and anticipate them to have an impact on our transactional business with our partner community going forward. Operator Our next question comes from the line of Walter Pritchard of Citigroup. Your line is open. Walter Pritchard - Citigroup Just one question for Pat and one question for Jonathan. For Pat, just on the competitive side, I'm wondering, or maybe Carl, could you just talk about what you are seeing out at Microsoft. I know they are giving some qualitative metrics around their virtualization business here, nothing that we can really be able to use to understand their traction. But just wanted to understand what you're seeing from them in the market? Then just had a follow-up for Jonathan. Carl Eschenbach Sure. Actually, I'll take this and then if Pat has any color, he can chime in. So, first of all I would say, for Microsoft, as you all know, this is probably the third time in the last seven or eight years, we've now heard that Microsoft has a good enough hypervisor solution for the enterprise. If you look at VMware and our focus, it's really on driving an automated datacenter through our software defined datacenter solution. At this time, we have not seen any impact from Microsoft in the launch of their new product either in our ELA business or, if you will, in our transactional business, which was evident by us being able to get a 3x higher ASP from the vCloud Suite. And if you just look at the standalone vSphere business, on a sequential basis, quarter-over-quarter, our ASPs actually went up from Q3-to-Q3. And you would have thought that if we were seeing any significant impact from our competition that would not have occurred. So we're pleased with our ability to focus on bringing value to our customers where we're really focused on driving a different level of virtualization outside of just compute, and driving automated data center with our three pillar strategy around the software defined data center of compute storage network and automating that through the use of software. Pat Gelsinger And I'll just emphasize that, here we really deal with our highest level customer relationships. We don't see Microsoft as a competitor. Right. The conversations that we have are transformative, architectural, and about these new legs of the software defined data center. And that's what gives us great optimism for the multi-year future of VMware. Walter Pritchard - Citigroup And then Jonathan, just a question on cash flow you gave us, there is some puts and takes here. It sounds like some tax things we should be mindful of in 2013. Any tighter color you can give us around what we should expect for operating cash flow in 2013 or at least how it may relate to what we expect from a profitability perspective? Jonathan Chadwick Walter, we don't guide on cash flow as you know. So, what I would share is our trailing 12-month cash flows generally should be in line with our profitability growth. But as you know we have taken into account timing of orders and cash collections and one time impacts. Clearly in the first half, the cost of the realignment and re-bouncing actions is going to have an impact. We certainly want to treat any impact to the employees with the utmost respect and we want to make sure we're also dealing with M&A in an appropriate fashion. So that's going to have an impact on cash flows in particular in the first half. We haven't given much guidance beyond that specifically. I do think it's an important metric for the company, both free cash flows and operating cash flows, but I'd probably ask you to look at profitability as a good proxy over time for how that should grow. Operator Our next question comes from Mark Moerdler of Sanford Bernstein. Your line is open. Emily Chan - Sanford Bernstein This is Emily Chan for Mark. A question on desktop virtualization. Where do you think we are in the adoption curve and how is VMware doing in terms of the marketplace and in terms of how it's doing versus other vendors in the space? Carl Eschenbach Pat, why don't you start and then I'll follow up. Pat Gelsinger Sure, overall we're seeing that the space for desktop virtualization is actually a very right one as customers now have proven the technology in certain narrow segments and is now expanding to be a very broad category for them to deploy a much more efficient model for desktop and for a variety of reasons. And now it is a very cost effective, storage costs by maturity of the management tools, etcetera, right. And also I'd emphasize that for us, this space is one where it's about the entire end-user experience, including our soon to be announced Mobile Horizon Suite, which extends our value proposition from the PC through the entire set of end-user compute devices as well. So, we see this as a launching point for a broader strategy for VMware into the future. So, Carl, a few specifics behind that? Carl Eschenbach Thanks, Pat. So it's clear that as we look at the market, there is a transformation taking place in end-user computing, and we believe 2013 this will become more evident as a cost of that solution and platform in the datacenter continues to come down, especially around storage and networking as Pat indicated. As a company, we have decided to invest in a go-to-market strategy that will help VMware accelerate our solutions into the market and we believe with this investment in 2013 we can actually grow faster than the market and even take share from the competition. Paul Ziots Thank you, Emily. Before we conclude the call, Pat will be making some closing comments. Pat Gelsinger Thank you, Paul. As we close with a few final points. First, on behalf of the entire VMware leadership team, thank you all for being with us. I'm sure you get a real sense today that we're taking decisive action to focus our innovation and business operations around key high growth opportunities that VMware is uniquely positioned to lead across the IT sector. Our strategies are laser focused on what our customers and prospects value most from VMware. Helping them simplify the virtualization and cloud journey through our Software-Defined Datacenter strategy. Enabling enterprise hybrid cloud environments that provide flexibility and choice and helping to empower their people with a virtual workspace that service today's multi-device realities. We are very excited, and I personally am very excited about our future. Again, we look forward to sharing our vision, strategy, and innovation focus with you at our upcoming EMC-VMware Strategic Forum. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you all very soon. Thank you. Operator Thank you for your participation on the conference call. At this time all parties may disconnect. Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. (Until now investors have had to pay thousands of dollars in subscription fees for transcripts.) So our reproduction policy is as follows: You may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to Seeking Alpha and either link to the original transcript or to www.SeekingAlpha.com. All other use is prohibited. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HERE IS A TEXTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S CONFERENCE CALL, CONFERENCE PRESENTATION OR OTHER AUDIO PRESENTATION, AND WHILE EFFORTS ARE MADE TO PROVIDE AN ACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION, THERE MAY BE MATERIAL ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR INACCURACIES IN THE REPORTING OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE AUDIO PRESENTATIONS. IN NO WAY DOES SEEKING ALPHA ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INVESTMENT OR OTHER DECISIONS MADE BASED UPON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS WEB SITE OR IN ANY TRANSCRIPT. USERS ARE ADVISED TO REVIEW THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S AUDIO PRESENTATION ITSELF AND THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S SEC FILINGS BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT OR OTHER DECISIONS.

Click to enlarge By The Valuentum Team The underproduction of homes since 2008 has created pent-up demand, providing a material tailwind for homebuilders as of late. According to estimates from Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), the total estimated shortfall of housing starts from the period 2008-2014 was 5.7 million. That equates to an annual shortfall in production of ~818,000 new homes, providing significant opportunities for the homebuilding group as a whole moving forward. Pent-up housing demand has been accruing for years, and stronger general economic conditions, including lower unemployment, modest wage growth, and general consumer confidence continue to drive demand. While pent-up demand and strong general economic conditions drive demand higher, land and labor shortages and the mortgage market constraining potential home buyers' access to mortgages will continue to pressure supply. Recent performance at many of the major homebuilders also provides support for the dynamics outlined above, and backlog trends across the industry are pointing to continued growth for the group. D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) reported homes in backlog growth of 12% in the second quarter of fiscal 2016, ended March 31, on a year-over-year basis, and value of net homes in backlog growing slightly faster at 14%. However, multiple factors keep us from truly considering a position in D.R. Horton. We like the company's focus on cash flow and reducing debt, but the latter will have an impact on the growth potential of its dividend, as it is a competing use of cash. Shares of D.R. Horton appear to be fairly valued on a discounted cash flow basis. The firm currently registers a 6 on the Valuentum Buying Index. This isn't the worst rating but it isn't the best either. Investors in homebuilders are playing the cycle -- some can do it better than others. D. R. Horton's Investment Considerations Investment Highlights • D.R. Horton is one of the largest homebuilding companies in the US. Its homes generally range in size from 1,000 to 4,000 square feet and in price from $100,000 to $600,000. The firm also provides mortgage financing services through DHI Mortgage. It was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. • After a half-decade of uneven price retreats, declining interest rates, and a whole lot of litigation, the US housing market appears to finally be on solid footing. Consolidation may be heating up in the industry as well. • Pent up housing demand has been accruing for years, and new home inventory is limited, which makes for an environment conducive to driving housing price improvements (as a result of simple supply/demand dynamics). Though we acknowledge the concept of "shadow inventory" -- sellers currently without a 'for sale' sign in their front yard -- overall inventory trends continue to move in the right direction. • The last industry downturn has brought about change at D.R. Horton. The firm has been focusing on cash flow and reducing debt, and it has implemented restrictive land and lot inventory investment guidelines. Its home sales gross margin has expanded considerably since 2011, and its sales backlog stands at ~$4.1 billion. • Things are on the up and up at D.R. Horton. In its fiscal second quarter of 2016, for example, net sales orders in homes increased 10%, while net income advanced 32%. Solid performance in its three core brands is enabling the firm to expand its industry leading market share. • In fiscal 2016, D.R. Horton is expecting consolidated revenue to be between $12 and $12.5 billion, based on the closing of 39,500-41,500 homes. The firm is anticipating expanding margins and is projecting cash flow from operations to be in a range of $300-$500 million. Business Quality Economic Profit Analysis In our opinion, the best measure of a firm's ability to create value for shareholders is expressed by comparing its return on invested capital with its weighted average cost of capital. The gap or difference between ROIC and WACC is called the firm's economic profit spread. D. R. Horton's 3-year historical return on invested capital (without goodwill) is 8.5%, which is below the estimate of its cost of capital of 9.1%. As such, we assign the firm a ValueCreation™ rating of POOR. In the chart below, we show the probable path of ROIC in the years ahead based on the estimated volatility of key drivers behind the measure. The solid grey line reflects the most likely outcome, in our opinion, and represents the scenario that results in our fair value estimate. Companies that have strong economic profit spreads are often also solid free cash flow generators, which also lends itself to dividend strength. D.R. Horton's Dividend Cushion ratio, a forward-looking measure that takes into account our projections for future free cash flows along with net cash on the balance sheet and dividends expected to be paid, is -10.1 (anything above 1 is considered strong). Cash Flow Analysis Firms that generate a free cash flow margin (free cash flow divided by total revenue) above 5% are usually considered cash cows. D. R. Horton's free cash flow margin has averaged about -12.6% during the past 3 years. As such, we think the firm's cash flow generation is relatively WEAK. The free cash flow measure shown above is derived by taking cash flow from operations less capital expenditures and differs from enterprise free cash flow (FCFF), which we use in deriving our fair value estimate for the company. At D. R. Horton, cash flow from operations decreased about 122% from levels registered two years ago, while capital expenditures expanded about 198% over the same time period. In fiscal 2015, D.R. Horton reported cash from operations of $700 million and free cash flow of $56 million, resulting in free cash flow generation of ~$644 million. This represents a significant improvement over negative free cash flow generation of $762 million in the previous fiscal year. Valuation Analysis This is the most important portion of our analysis. Below we outline our valuation assumptions and derive a fair value estimate for shares. We think D. R. Horton is worth $26 per share with a fair value range of $20-$32. Shares are currently trading at ~$29, in the upper half of our fair value range. This indicates that we feel there is more downside risk than upside potential associated with shares at the moment. The margin of safety around our fair value estimate is derived from an evaluation of the historical volatility of key valuation drivers and a future assessment of them. Our near-term operating forecasts, including revenue and earnings, do not differ much from consensus estimates or management guidance. Looking ahead to the next few years, we are expecting double-digit top-line growth on the back of the strong backlog growth and favorable supply and demand dynamics currently in place in the housing market. We're projecting bottom-line growth to slightly outpace revenue growth as the firm continues to make margins a priority. We're expecting cash flows from operations and capital expenditures to normalize in the coming years as well, though our estimates are slightly below that of management's due to the firm's historical volatility in cash flow generation. Our model reflects a compound annual revenue growth rate of 16% during the next five years, a pace that is lower than the firm's 3-year historical compound annual growth rate of 30.2%. Our model reflects a 5-year projected average operating margin of 11.3%, which is above D.R. Horton's trailing 3-year average. For D. R. Horton, we use a 9.1% weighted average cost of capital to discount future free cash flows. Click to enlargeMargin of Safety Analysis Our discounted cash flow process values each firm on the basis of the present value of all future free cash flows. Although we estimate the firm's fair value at about $26 per share, every company has a range of probable fair values that's created by the uncertainty of key valuation drivers (like future revenue or earnings, for example). After all, if the future were known with certainty, we wouldn't see much volatility in the markets as stocks would trade precisely at their known fair values. Our ValueRisk™ rating sets the margin of safety or the fair value range we assign to each stock. In the graph above, we show this probable range of fair values for D. R. Horton. We think the firm is attractive below $20 per share (the green line), but quite expensive above $32 per share (the red line). The prices that fall along the yellow line, which includes our fair value estimate, represent a reasonable valuation for the firm, in our opinion. Future Path of Fair Value We estimate D.R. Horton's fair value at this point in time to be about $26 per share. As time passes, however, companies generate cash flow and pay out cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. The chart above compares the firm's current share price with the path of D.R. Horton's expected equity value per share over the next three years, assuming our long-term projections prove accurate. The range between the resulting downside fair value and upside fair value in Year 3 represents our best estimate of the value of the firm's shares three years hence. This range of potential outcomes is also subject to change over time, should our views on the firm's future cash flow potential change. The expected fair value of $34 per share in Year 3 represents our existing fair value per share of $26 increased at an annual rate of the firm's cost of equity less its dividend yield. The upside and downside ranges are derived in the same way, but from the upper and lower bounds of our fair value estimate range. This article or report and any links within are for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Valuentum is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of this article and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Assumptions, opinions, and estimates are based on our judgment as of the date of the article and are subject to change without notice.

UPDATED: This afternoon, the President will meet with Speaker Pelosi and House Committee Chairs in the Cabinet Room. This meeting is closed press. Expected attendees include: Speaker Nancy Pelosi Representative Henry Waxman, Energy and Commerce Chairman Representative Charlie Rangel, Ways and Means Chairman Representative George Miller, Education and Labor Chairman Representative Louise Slaughter, Rules Committee Chairman 2:25PM THE PRESIDENT meets with Speaker Pelosi and House Committee Chairs Cabinet Room Closed Press THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 5, 2010 DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2010 In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing and the Economic Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. Later, the President will meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office. These meetings are closed press. In the afternoon, the President will honor educators from across the country for awards received for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring in his second "Educate to Innovate" campaign event for excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education in the East Room. The President will also announce key new partnerships in his campaign to help reach the Administration's goal of moving American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade. The event will be webcast at www.WhiteHouse.gov/live <http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/live> and is open press. EST 9:45AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 10:15AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the Economic Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 11:30AM THE PRESIDENT meets with senior advisors Oval Office Closed Press 1:35PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks at event honoring educators for awards received for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring East Room Briefing Schedule 12:15PM Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs ##

Five Spanish U.N. peacekeepers were killed Sunday and three others wounded in an explosion targeting U.N. troops in southern Lebanon, a senior Lebanese military official said. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, confirmed the explosion and said there were casualties without giving a specific number or confirming if any peacekeepers were killed. UNIFIL said it suspected that the blast was caused by an explosive device, according to a statement. In Madrid, the Spanish Defense Ministry confirmed at least four Spanish peacekeepers were killed and three injured. UNIFIL medical teams were working in the area, and they had no additional information, a ministry spokesman said. The senior Lebanese official in Beirut said a mine may have caused the explosion. But another security official based in southern Lebanon said the explosion was caused by a bomb that was placed on the side of the main road between the towns of Marjayoun and Khiam, about six kilometers (four miles) north of the Israeli border town of Metulla. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. White smoke billowed from the armored personnel carrier, which was thrown by the force of the explosion to the side of the road. Fire engines rushed to the area to put out the flames. Witnesses reported hearing another explosion shortly afterward but it was believed to be either ammunition or the vehicle's fuel tank, which blew up, perhaps explaining the high casualty toll. Sunday's deadly explosion was the first time that UNIFIL has come under attack since it was reinforced last summer after the war between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces in Lebanon. The 13,000-member U.N. force from 30 countries along with 15,000 Lebanese troops patrols a zone along Lebanese-Israeli border. In a statement on its television station Al-Manar, Hezbollah denounced the attack, calling it a "suspicious act." The militant has had good relations with UNIFIL since the troops were first deployed in Lebanon in 1978. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud also "strongly denounced" the incident that he said aims at destabilizing Lebanon. There have been warnings that the peacekeepers could come under terror attacks, particularly from Al Qaeda and its sympathizers. Media reports earlier this month said interrogations by Lebanese authorities with captured militants revealed plots to attack the force. Those warnings became more serious after Fatah Islam, Al Qaeda-inspired militant group, began fighting Lebanese troops in a northern Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp five weeks ago. The militants have threatened to take their battle outside northern Lebanon and other militant groups have issued Internet statements supporting Fatah Islam. Earlier Sunday, the state-run National News Agency said the Spanish battalion had organized a celebration in its headquarters in Ibl el-Saqi near Marjayoun to mark the anniversary of St. John the Baptist — the patron saint of King Juan Carlos. Celebration was attended by UNIFIL commander, Gen. Claudio Graziano of Italy. Southern Lebanon has been largely quiet after the summer war that killed more than 1,200 people, most of them in Lebanon. Rockets were fired on Israel a week ago, causing damage but no casualties in an attack that was blamed on radical Palestinians or sympathizers with Fatah Islam. The attack on the peacekeepers comes amid a series of events that have caused instability across the country. Along with the northern fighting and the southern rocket attack, about a half dozen bombs have exploded in residential neighborhoods in the Beirut area since the Fatah Islam-army fighting erupted May 20. One of the Beirut bombs killed a prominent anti-Syrian member of the country's Parliament. Earlier, Lebanese troops raided an apartment complex suspected of housing Islamic militants in the northern port city of Tripoli early Sunday, sparking a gunbattle that left 10 people dead, including a soldier and six gunmen, security officials said. The fighting marked a new escalation in the army's battle with Islamic militants, as the fighting shifted from the bomb-ravaged, besieged Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared on Tripoli's outskirts back to the city itself, where violence first erupted May 20. A soldier, a policeman and two family members were killed in Sunday's confrontation, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They said six of the gunmen were also killed — three Saudis, an ethnic Chechen and two Lebanese who also held European citizenships. According to the officials, at least two of the militants had been living there for some time. Others took refuge there with them on Saturday. The slain policeman lived in the besieged, two-building complex. The gunmen first tried to take his family hostage, then killed him, his daughter and his uncle, the security officials said. Fayez Sayyed, a 43-year-old grocery store owner who lived in a fourth-floor apartment, said his wife briefly encountered the gunmen. "Two bearded men knocked on the door and asked her to open, but she didn't," Sayyed said. Before Sunday's gunbattle, Tripoli had not seen fighting since the first week of the conflict with Fatah Islam militants at Nahr el-Bared , Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr declared victory over the militants Thursday, and the army said the next day it had overrun Fatah Islam's main positions inside the camp. But sporadic fighting has continued, and two top Fatah Islam leaders, Shaker al-Absi and his deputy, Abu Hureira, are still at large, along with an unknown number of fighters. They are believed to be holed up among the several thousand Palestinian civilians still inside sections of Nahr el-Bared not under army control. Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Mideast Center.

The San Francisco Zoo director said Thursday that the wall surrounding the enclosure housing the tiger responsible for a teenager's Christmas day death was much lower than is recommended by the country's primary zoo accrediting agency. Two days after the cat escaped and attacked three young men, Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo acknowledged that the wall was 12 1/2 feet — well below the 16.4-foot minimum height suggested by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Mollinedo said safety inspectors had examined the wall and never raised red flags about its size. "When the AZA came out and inspected our zoo three years ago, they never noted that as a deficiency," Mollinedo said. "Obviously now that something's happened, we're going to be revisiting the actual height." Click here for more from KTVU FOX San Francisco. Click to read Adam Housley's on-the-scene blog. On Wednesday, Mollinedo said that the wall was 18 feet high, and that the moat around the tiger's pen was 20 feet wide. Investigators have yet to say how the tiger got out of the pen. But based on Mollinedo's initial estimate of the height of the wall, animal experts expressed disbelief that a tiger in captivity could make such a spectacular leap. Earlier Thursday, the father of the 17-year-old victim of the tiger attack broke down as he described the loving relationship he had with his son — and he said he wanted answers about how the animal got loose. "He's my only son. He's all I got," a weeping Carlos Sousa told reporters. "This is very difficult for me." Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, was one of three young men attacked by a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo near closing time on Dec. 25; he died on the scene. The other two were brothers who were severely mauled. Police were investigating whether one or more of the three may have taunted the animal before its deadly attack. "I need evidence; I need proof," Sousa said during the press conference outside his house. "My son wasn’t alone when this happened. ... I really would love to talk to them and get some information about what happened." The two injured men, 19- and 23-year-old brothers from San Jose, remained in stable condition at San Francisco General Hospital. They suffered deep bites and claw wounds on their heads, necks, arms and hands, said Dr. Rochelle Dicker, a surgeon. She said they were expected to recover fully. Dr. William Schecter of San Francisco General, who is overseeing the survivors' care, told a news conference Thursday that he had visited both young men that morning and they were doing well. "They're being held because of their wounds. They're not going to be released today," Schecter said. He said he expected that the brothers would be able to go home in "the next several days." "From a physical point of view, they're going to return to full function," Schecter said, declining to comment on their mental prognosis or on other details of their injuries. Sousa told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he didn't think his son would have provoked the tiger. "I don't think my son would do something like taunt animals," he said Thursday morning. "It's unbelievable, but only the evidence can prove that. And right now I can't say much." Police shot the 300-pound animal to death after it killed Carlos Sousa Jr. and seriously wounded the other two victims. Investigators found a shoe and blood in an area between the gate and the edge of the animal's moat, raising questions about whether one of the victims dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of the water, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Police on Thursday could not confirm the Chronicle's report to The Associated Press. Police Chief Heather Fong said Wednesday the department opened a criminal investigation to "determine if there was human involvement in the tiger getting out or if the tiger was able to get out on its own." The zoo remained closed Thursday. One zoo official insisted the tiger did not get out through an open door and must have climbed or leaped out. But Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo, said such a leap would be an unbelievable feat and "virtually impossible." Instead, he speculated that visitors might have taunted the animal and perhaps even helped it get out by putting a board in the moat. Ron Magill, a spokesman at the Miami Metro Zoo, also said that it was unlikely a zoo tiger could make such a leap, even with a running start. "Captive tigers aren't nearly in the kind of shape that wild tigers have to be in to survive," he said. Provoking the animal definitely can make it more aggressive, but "whether it makes it more likely to get out of an exhibit is purely speculative." The same tiger, a 4-year-old female named Tatiana, ripped the flesh off a zookeeper's arm just before Christmas a year ago while the woman was feeding the animal through the bars. A state investigation faulted the zoo, which installed better equipment at the Lion House, where the big cats are kept. Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo said Wednesday he gave no thought to destroying Tatiana after the 2006 incident, because "the tiger was acting as a normal tiger does." As for whether Tatiana showed any warning signs before Tuesday's attack, Mollinedo said: "She seemed to be very well-adjusted into that exhibit." It was unclear how long the tiger had been loose before it was killed on the 125-acre zoo grounds. Four officers hunted down and shot the animal after police received an emergency call from a zoo employee. The zoo has a response team that can shoot animals. But zoo officials and police described the initial moments after the escape as chaotic. The first attack on Carlos Sousa Jr. happened right outside the tiger's enclosure. Another was about 300 yards away, in front of the zoo cafe. The police chief said the animal was mauling one of the survivors, and when officers yelled at it to stop, it turned toward them and they opened fire. Only then did they see the third victim, police said. The victim's parents told the AP they did not know why their son went to the zoo Tuesday. Carlos Sousa said his son loved playing, recording and writing music, and he made friends wherever he went. "He's a fun person — he gets along with everybody," said Sousa, choking back tears. "He doesn't have enemies. Every time I see him, we hug and kiss. He always says he loves me; I always say I love him." He and the teen's mother, Marilza Sousa, said they learned of their son's death from the coroner, who called to tell them the news. Neither the police nor zoo officials contacted them, according to the Sousas. Said Marilza Sousa: "I wish I was sleeping and this was just a bad dream, but it's not." FOX News' Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The sudden gunfire rattled the morning routine outside the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison and soon inmates, many barefoot and shirtless, dashed frantically from the maximum-security facility, startling street vendors as they looted their wares and fled through the unpaved streets. One month after the prison break, only about 75 of the 329 escapees have been recaptured, some found across the border in the Dominican Republic, and at least three in the Bahamas. About 255 of the men, many accused of serious crimes such as kidnapping and rape, remain at large, leaving residents in the greater Port-au-Prince area worried and frustrated. "I feel fear in my heart when I'm walking," Bency Dorvil, 47, said as he trudged past cinderblock homes in Petionville, a hillside city that lies roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of the prison. "The guys have guns and I don't have any." Like many others, he said, he is leaving work early to avoid having to return home in the dark. While crime long has troubled Haiti, the Aug. 10 breakout exposed serious flaws in the country's justice system. Lax security, overcrowding and deep-seated corruption have made the prison system among the worst run in the Western Hemisphere. Repeated governments have lacked the resources or will to change it. Details about what led to the escape are still emerging. According to some reports, gunmen pulled up to the prison in two SUVs, opening fire and quickly overwhelming the poorly equipped guards. The official account, however, says the shooting erupted from within, with inmates using smuggled guns to overtake their captors. "We ran to save our lives," recalled Mimose St. Louis, a 32-year-old who sells rice and beans from a small wooden stall near the prison and recalled that inmates were brandishing weapons as they stole her money and food. At least 100 vendors sought cover in the yard of Marlene Renelus, 35, who said she sheltered the terrified people behind her gate: "I didn't want people to get killed." Some suspect the attack was designed to free Clifford Brandt, the son of a prominent businessman, who had been imprisoned since 2012 for allegedly kidnapping the adult children of a rival businessman. Brandt was captured two days later in the Dominican Republic border. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said United Nations officials and the U.S. Marshals Service are helping in the ongoing hunt for escaped prisoners. Haiti, a country of more than 10 million people, has only about 11,000 police officers. "We will not rest until all of them are back where they belong, which is jail," Lamothe told The Associated Press in a recent interview at his office in Port-au-Prince. Some Haitians wonder what additional steps police will take, if any, to protect them and their children. Luckson Jodesty, 34, said he worries for his two children, ages 7 and 10, especially since classes started Sept. 8. "Since school is opening, I want to know if they are taking any kind of security measures for the children," he said. Justice Minister Jean Renel Sanon told the AP he believes most of the escaped prisoners remain in Haiti, noting that police have found several of them walking on the streets. He stressed that people are not in danger. "We're always chasing after them," he said. "They don't have time to commit crimes." However, when pressed for details, he acknowledged that at least one prisoner was armed with a gun when caught. The Croix-des-Bouquet Civil Prison, built by Canada in 2012, held 899 inmates at the time of the break out, some 130 over its capacity. It was Haiti's largest prison escape since 2010, when more than 4,200 inmates fled the notorious National Penitentiary in downtown Port-au-Prince in the aftermath of an earthquake that devastated the capital. More than three-quarters of them remain at large, including alleged gang members and serious criminals. Sanon said he plans to demolish the National Penitentiary, which is the country's oldest and largest prison. Built to hold up to 1,000 inmates, it currently houses 4,338. Plans are for inmates to be sent to other prisons until three new ones are ready, including one planned for Haiti's central plateau. "We have to do this," Sanon said. "It is not a good idea to have the jail in the city so close to people. It's a matter of safety." At Croix-des-Bouquet, steps are being taken to improve security. Authorities suspended at least 18 officials, including several guards and the Croix-des-Bouquets police chief and its prosecutor. Workers have started to lay down wiring for security cameras at the prison, and officials say they soon will place ankle monitors on the most dangerous inmates there, a plan they say will be implemented in other prisons as well. Now with a new director and some new guards, the Croix-des-Bouquets prison appeared calm last week, when AP journalists were granted a rare, but restricted, tour. An official pointed out "Europe" block — each of the blocks is named for a continent — which had housed most of the escapees. Inmates called to the journalists, saying they wanted to be interviewed about what happened but the authorities would not allow it. Guards declined to speak. Jean Sala Augustave, in one of his first acts as the new director, recently posted notices warning guards that they are prohibited from switching shifts or transferring detainees to another cell without previous authorization, hoping to avoid the type of collusion that may have played a role in the Aug. 10 breakout. Inel Torchon, the new prosecutor for the district, told the AP that he plans to review the cases of all inmates to help ease overcrowding. Haiti's corrupt and overwhelmed justice system long has forced many suspects to linger in prison without charges. Often, inmates spend more time waiting for trial than what they would serve if sentenced for a crime. "I'm going to do my best to bring every prisoner to court, and they're going to know the status of their case," he said. ___ Danica Coto on Twitter: — https://twitter.com/danicacoto

The new IRS targeting program has been instituted at the behest of the angry atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). The IRS caved to the same FFRF that has tried, and notoriously failed, to strip “In God We Trust” from our currency, tear down World War II memorials, ban the National Day of Prayer, attack the Star of David in a Holocaust memorial, and even deny that Moses is depicted in the Supreme Court. FFRF filed a lawsuit against the IRS in 2012 demanding that the Obama Administration delve deep into preaching from the pulpit to ensure that pastors, priests, and parishioners don’t say anything within the four walls of a church that could be construed as political. Instead of refusing to impose a draconian monitoring program into the free speech of churches, the IRS caved, settling the case and agreeing with the angry atheist group that churches should be targets of federal IRS monitoring. The worst part? The IRS is keeping the details of its settlement, agreeing to target churches, a secret. As Fox News reported, this deal with the IRS not only violates the First Amendment but could lead to the IRS literally monitoring sermons on Sunday morning and challenging churches’ tax-exempt status if they take a religious position on issues such as abortion. FFRF responded that these concerns are nothing more than the “hysterical disinformation machine that is Fox News Network.” Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a real and direct threat to the religious freedom and free speech of churches. Churches have a constitutionally protected right to discuss issues of faith, even ones that might be considered political. They do not loose their right to free speech just because they are churches. In fact, the Supreme Court has made this very clear: “Indeed, in Anglo-American history, at least, government suppression of speech has so commonly been directed precisely at religious speech that a free-speech clause without religion would be Hamlet without the prince.” The Supreme Court could not have been more clear when it held: Adherents of particular faiths and individual churches frequently take strong positions on public issues, including . . . vigorous advocacy of legal or constitutional positions. Of course, churches, as much as secular bodies and private citizens, have that right. An intentional, targeted campaign to monitor churches would violate the Constitution. The constitutional protection outlined in the “Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses has prevented the kind of involvement that would tip the balance toward government control of churches or governmental restraint on religious practice.” That is precisely what IRS monitoring of churches would bring about. Targeting churches at the behest of religious opponents, angry atheists, is an abhorrent abuse of government power. One can only image how a Lois Lerner, the former senior IRS official at the center of the IRS targeting scandal who called conservatives “a**holes,” “TeRrorists” (capitalizing the “R” to emphasize the point), and “crazies,” would implement the targeting of churches and which churches she would choose to monitor. The IRS clearly hasn’t learned its lesson. It’s gone from targeting the Tea Party to directly targeting churches. This cannot stand. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Matthew Clark is Associate Counsel for Government Affairs and Media Advocacy with the ACLJ . A lifelong citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, he lives with his wife and three boys in Northern Virginia. Follow Matthew Clark: @_MatthewClark

Steinbrück having a laugh with his French counterpart. Photo: DPA After years of pressing for tighter financial regulation German politicians got a bad case of schadenfreude and "I told you so" last week as US financial system grappled with the biggest crisis since the Great Depression. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück was at the forefront, hitting out at the lack of oversight in the United States that he said was in large part to blame for the crisis. "The long term consequences of the crisis are not yet clear. But one thing seems likely to me: the USA will lose its superpower status in the global financial system. The world financial system is becoming multipolar," Steinbrück said in a speech to parliament. "Wall Street will never be the same again. A few days ago there were two Mohicans left remaining out of the investment banks. Now they no longer exist," Steinbrück said, referring to the change in status of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley into bank holding companies. He added that the entire global economy would be changed by the US crisis. "The whole world over we must adjust ourselves to lower rates of growth and - with a time lag - unfavourable developments on labour markets," the centre-left Social Democrat said. Steinbrück added that what was needed is "stronger international regulation agreed at international level" in order to "re-civilize" financial markets so that such a crisis was never repeated. Before that it was the turn of Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was recently selected by his Social Democrat party to run for chancellor in September 2009 against the popular conservative incumbent Angela Merkel. We told you so, was Steinmeier's message, made in a visit to the nerve centre of world finance, the New York Stock Exchange. "I must say that we, and the finance minister (Steinbrück) in particular, were right in the recommendations that we have been making for two years," he told reporters on Wall Street. "First of all, to ensure more transparency on international finance markets and secondly, to demonstrate more sensitivity to risk." "It is a discussion that we have had for a long time in Europe, that the completely unregulated parts of the international financial market must be more closely monitored and that we must try to reach an agreement on common regulations," he said. Germany headed the Group of Eight industrialized nations last year and advocated greater transparency in international financial transactions, especially in hedge funds. But it was thwarted by US and British resistance. Merkel, Germany's conservative premier since 2005, was at pains to remind listeners of this. "I criticise the perception that the financial markets have of themselves," she told the Münchner Merkur newspaper. "Alas, they have opposed for too long the introduction of rules with the backing of the British and American governments," she said. "On top of national rules, we need more international agreements to stem irresponsible financial speculation." Story continues below… The comments of course have to be taken in context -- Germany is warming up for elections when Merkel's conservative CDU and Steinmeier and Steinbrück's SPD want to end their fractious current "grand coalition" in place since 2005. And Germany's banks have also benefited from the huge banking boom in recent years, not least Deutsche Bank, the country's only bank with a meaningful investment banking presence on Wall Street. Germany is also as much part and parcel of the global economy as any other country. "One should not lose sight of the fact that regulation is not the answer to everything," said Manfred Weber, head of Germany's banking association. "The role of banks in financing growth should not be complicated by new rules and regulations."

Robert Griffin III's knee is fine. The same can't be said about any facet of the Washington Redskins' passing game. "Sometimes it may be a read, it may be an overthrow, it may be a protection issue, it may be a dropped ball," coach Mike Shanahan said Monday. That about covers it. Griffin has open receivers that he doesn't see. When he does throw it, he's not nearly as accurate as he was a year ago. When he does put the ball on the money, his receivers are dropping it far too often. And, of course, sometimes he under too much pressure, taking, for example, three sacks and 13 more hits in Sunday's 45-21 loss to the Denver Broncos. "Everything that works together gives you a chance," Shanahan said. "And that's what we're working for on offense. Same thing we did a year ago. But that consistency is the key to winning football games, and we're not there yet." The Redskins (2-5) blew a 14-point, second-half lead and managed only one good drive against the Broncos, relying on the defense to score or set up 14 points with takeaways. Griffin completed only 15 of 30 passes for 132 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions before he was knocked out of the game when his left knee was squished by 335-pound defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. Both Shanahan and Griffin said after the game that the quarterback could've returned if the score had been closer. The coach said Monday that the knee was "fine" and "a little bit sore" but that Griffin should practicing as scheduled Wednesday when the Redskins begin on-field preparations for the San Diego Chargers. Griffin tore ligaments in his right knee last season and has mostly struggled since he returned. He has nine touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 79.2 rating. The Redskins' best offensive performances this season have come when he's run the ball more than a handful of times, complementing the talents of tailbacks Alfred Morris and Roy Helu. Morris was having a solid afternoon Sunday (93 yards, 17 carries), but he nearly disappeared from the game plan at a crucial stage in the fourth quarter. With the Redskins needing to eat up the clock to keep Peyton Manning and the Broncos' offense off the field, Washington rushed the ball just once in nine plays over three series. That said, some of those pass plays had potential. Joshua Morgan was open deep over the middle, but he turned too late to adjust to a throw that was a little off-target. Aldrick Robinson dropped a third-and-10 pass over the middle. The Redskins' run-pass ratio was basically even until they started throwing every down with a big deficit in the final few minutes. From Week 1, hope for a successful Redskins season has featured the same recurring themes: Griffin will eventually get back to his old self, the NFC East is up for grabs because there's no dominant team, and early losses aren't reason for panic in the wake of last year's seven-game winning streak that won the division. None of that matters, though, if the Redskins don't start playing better. On Sunday they had a chance to steal a game few thought they could win. Even a mediocre passing game in the second half would've done the trick. "We can't keep saying we've got time," linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said. "Because as the weeks go by, if we keep losing, we won't have much more time. We've got to turn things around." ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org ___ Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Clemson, SC (SportsNetwork.com) - Kennedy Meeks had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help 19th-ranked North Carolina roll to a 74-50 victory over cold-shooting Clemson in the ACC opener for both teams. Justin Jackson added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Brice Johnson tallied 10 points and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (11-3, 1-0 ACC), but it was the defense that played the biggest role in North Carolina's fifth straight win. The Tar Heels built a lopsided 39-17 halftime lead by limiting the Tigers to a 5-of-28 performance from the field. Clemson (8-5, 0-1) shot a troubling 28.3 percent for the game and was outrebounded by a 49-30 margin. "We had trouble getting the ball inside, because they did a good job pressuring our passers and getting deflections early, which caused us to keep the ball out of the post," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. Jaron Blossomgame, the Tigers' leading scorer on the season, didn't record a point in the first half before finishing with 13 with the outcome already decided. Damarcus Harrison was the lone other Clemson player to finish in double figures with 11 points. Clemson struggled right from the outset, misfiring on 14 of its first 16 shot attempts as the Tar Heels jumped out to an early 16-7 lead. Donte Grantham hit a jumper to temporarily end the Tigers' drought, but Jackson accounted for the next six points as North Carolina built a 22-9 advantage with 6 1/2 minutes left in the opening half. The Tar Heels continued to pour it on as the Tigers kept missing chances. Meeks recorded the final six points of a 12-2 run that staked UNC to a commanding 39-14 lead before Harrison closed out the period with a 3-pointer. Clemson managed to improve upon its woeful 17.9 percent first-half shooting after the break, but still never seriously threatened the Tar Heels in a game North Carolina was ahead by as many as 30 points. The Tar Heels never owned a lead under 21 in the second half, with back-to- back layups from Marcus Paige and Johnson increasing the differential to 56-26 with under 11 1/2 minutes to play. "We'd lost our opening conference game two years in a row, and our team remained focused throughout and made sure that it didn't happen this time," UNC head coach Roy Williams said. Game Notes North Carolina improved to 51-11 all-time in ACC openers but had lost its conference lid-lifter in each of the previous two seasons, falling at Virginia in 2012-13 and Wake Forest in 2013-14 ... The Tar Heels have won 17 of their last 18 matchups with Clemson, which is 0-7 in the series under head coach Brad Brownell ... Paige went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points ... The Tar Heels' next two conference games will come at home against ranked teams, with Notre Dame visiting Chapel Hill on Monday and Louisville on tap for next Saturday.