tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65089387024607216162024-02-07T12:43:51.564-08:00Current EventsFoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-70431431684236919062011-12-14T13:22:00.000-08:002011-12-14T13:23:10.654-08:00Welcome Home Troops!President Barack Obama on Wednesday welcomed home returning troops from Iraq, hailing their service to help a people they didn't know as an example of what makes America great. <br />
"As your commander in chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words, and I know your families agree -- welcome home. Welcome home," Obama told cheering troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.<br />
"Welcome home," he repeated again, to enthusiastic applause. "Welcome home."<br />
The U.S. military mission that began in 2003 is ending this month, and Obama used the speech to mark the fulfillment of a campaign pledge he made in 2008 to end the war.<br />
Noting the almost 4,500 Americans killed and more than 30,000 injured, Obama spoke of the heavy sacrifice and hard work in the Iraq mission.<br />
"Because of you -- because you sacrificed so much for a people that you had never met, Iraqis have a chance to forge their own destiny," Obama said. "That's part of what makes us special as Americans. Unlike the empires of old, we did so not for territory or for resources. We do it because it's right.<br />
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"There can be no fuller expression of America's support for self-determination than our leaving Iraq to its people. That says something about who we are."<br />
Obama also paid tribute to the military families back home, noting their struggles to make ends meet during the years of the Iraqi campaign.<br />
"So today, as we mark the end of the war, let us acknowledge, let us give a heartfelt round of applause for every military family that has carried that load over the last nine years," the president said. "You too have the thanks of a grateful nation."<br />
Conservative critics have opposed Obama's decision to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq, arguing that some American forces should remain to help the Iraqis maintain order.<br />
On Wednesday, Obama's opponent for the presidency in 2008 -- Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- noted the president had opposed the troop surge ordered by former President George W. Bush that some credit with helping secure stability.<br />
"For three years, the president has been harvesting the successes of the very strategy that he consistently dismissed as a failure," McCain said on the Senate floor.<br />
Sharply criticizing the decision for a full withdrawal, McCain said history would judge Obama's leadership "with the disdain and scorn it deserves."<br />
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In his speech, Obama said the Iraq war was "a source of great controversy here at home, with patriots on both sides of the debate."<br />
"It is harder to end a war than to begin one," the president continued in an apparent response to critics such as McCain.<br />
Noting that Iraq today is not a "perfect place" and faces challenges, Obama said, "We are leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people."<br />
He said, "We are building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle but with a final march toward home."<br />
He credited the efforts of the 1.5 million Americans in Iraq during the war, and said those who served would be honored in perpetuity.<br />
"The war in Iraq will soon belong to history," Obama said. "Your service belongs to the ages."<br />
Obama also pledged continued government support for the military, and for troops and their families after they return to civilian life, even in the face of deficit reduction efforts that threaten deep cuts in the military budget.<br />
"Make no mistake, as we go forward as a nation, we are going to keep America's armed forces the strongest fighting force the world has ever seen. That will not stop," Obama said to cheers and applause, repeating: "That will not stop."<br />
In Washington, a group of conservative Republican senators said Wednesday they intend to propose legislation that would prevent mandated reductions in military spending after a special congressional committee failed to reach a deficit reduction deal last month.<br />
The so-called sequestration trigger under the debt ceiling agreement in August required an additional $600 billion in military cuts because of the special committee's failure to forge a comprehensive deficit deal.<br />
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Obama has said he would reject any effort by Congress to avoid the impact of the sequestration trigger, which was included in the debt ceiling deal to motivate legislators to reach agreement on a broader deficit reduction plan.<br />
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, challenged Obama to rescind his veto threat, saying deficits can be reduced without "gutting" the military.<br />
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/14/politics/obama-iraq-troops/index.html?hpt=hp_c1Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-77743410999344591752011-12-09T16:56:00.000-08:002011-12-09T17:01:01.490-08:00Luxury sports car pile-up in Japan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNf26jzzfbHk7bw8gSaUm1hbB1jLTBFdRZAV__rV9kihs5VOgF80ODW7qV7vHp8B9QDuIiLyO_-P1GvlMNapUe6QaBJOLyB2DrtEsbjW5BK9wQJjk4YTRu29BGKqN7mnnsON5DydjM8xQ/s1600/Police-officers-investiga-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNf26jzzfbHk7bw8gSaUm1hbB1jLTBFdRZAV__rV9kihs5VOgF80ODW7qV7vHp8B9QDuIiLyO_-P1GvlMNapUe6QaBJOLyB2DrtEsbjW5BK9wQJjk4YTRu29BGKqN7mnnsON5DydjM8xQ/s320/Police-officers-investiga-002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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TOKYO — A botched lane change led to a spectacular traffic pileup in Japan<a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" title="More news and information about Japan."></a> over the weekend that left a highway strewn with the smashed wreckage of eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and three Mercedes sports cars.<br />
The crash<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Ps3PmyVVE" title="Video of the wreckage"></a> drew international attention not only for its stunning price — the vehicles collectively cost more than $1 million — but also for the rare glimpse of Japan’s superrich, who tend to avoid ostentatious public displays of wealth. Local police officials were quoted as saying that they had never seen so many expensive cars in one place, much less involved in a single accident. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtWaDDcm15Zh5dS3DVOV-yqaR4eC9mA2nuWy6vgFmOsSCuyAmSgMRhgfzrv2ogUX3FVotyagoCAQ2onUcg5oWDTsKSd7pmvWoXQDPdjHlddAbol3P6Rn-qOvdZqxDwSMZqCSIf7j_kJvU/s1600/Police-officers-investiga-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtWaDDcm15Zh5dS3DVOV-yqaR4eC9mA2nuWy6vgFmOsSCuyAmSgMRhgfzrv2ogUX3FVotyagoCAQ2onUcg5oWDTsKSd7pmvWoXQDPdjHlddAbol3P6Rn-qOvdZqxDwSMZqCSIf7j_kJvU/s320/Police-officers-investiga-003.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>The cars appeared to be part of an outing of luxury automobile enthusiasts, traveling north together from the island of Kyushu to a festival in the city of Hiroshima, on the southern end of the main island of Honshu. As the convoy sped through rain in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, one of the Ferrari drivers, trying to change lanes, struck the median and spun out of control. Evasive maneuvers by other cars, which also included two Toyotas, sent them smashing into each other. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmfBDC8ZutciybH1oAfqhb1GTtZ5K3qU4ltRhl3GpGMaPJsHc_ZIHWV7OcLDQ8f-cjGLM3TQOAfyPbBbM34nrKg-mxEELHXLUrybDfKbr61oPk_zSBNI2Uhb0I7V1TItKcHTV-RcyjxRx/s1600/The-damaged-Ferrari-sport-004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmfBDC8ZutciybH1oAfqhb1GTtZ5K3qU4ltRhl3GpGMaPJsHc_ZIHWV7OcLDQ8f-cjGLM3TQOAfyPbBbM34nrKg-mxEELHXLUrybDfKbr61oPk_zSBNI2Uhb0I7V1TItKcHTV-RcyjxRx/s320/The-damaged-Ferrari-sport-004.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>According to The Associated Press, 10 of the people involved in the wreck received treatment for minor injuries. <br />
News reports quoted eyewitnesses as saying that at the time of the accident, the procession appeared to be traveling at 85 to 100 miles per hour, well over the speed limit of 60. <br />
Bloomberg News quoted a traffic official, Mitsuyoshi Isejima, as saying that the driver suspected of causing the pileup, a 60-year-old self-employed man, could face up to three months in prison or a fine of 100,000 yen, about $1,300. <br />
The police closed the highway for six hours as they cleared away the ruined vehicles. Television footage showed several red Ferraris with bumpers or engine hoods torn off, bodies crumpled. One had plowed nose-first into a guardrail. <br />
Mr. Isejima, for one, had little sympathy.<br />
“It was a gathering of narcissists,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.<br />
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/world/asia/traffic-accident-wrecks-a-dozen-luxury-cars-in-japan.html<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2YY8ha3_KpOPs4mwXurRldglGUgGtsBX1SEb6GHdEZZ_OQkqMpv7kloSGVm0fkyBzYRmMZMJ5kFLg2cko04JSdOcAVBhoDYl66O1NMhIJy6EGdVeL9qm-d5kDQfuH47s1_AJfwDMaOe4/s1600/Police-officers-inspect-t-005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2YY8ha3_KpOPs4mwXurRldglGUgGtsBX1SEb6GHdEZZ_OQkqMpv7kloSGVm0fkyBzYRmMZMJ5kFLg2cko04JSdOcAVBhoDYl66O1NMhIJy6EGdVeL9qm-d5kDQfuH47s1_AJfwDMaOe4/s320/Police-officers-inspect-t-005.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-29580728135944457852011-12-06T10:48:00.000-08:002011-12-06T10:48:17.296-08:00NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1NmjNN_yLx5fax2ta-JLVUxLUxRuZ1Elhc2KqAIjLggeJJzewf534TEnu7QtvoLmBghIniYklC804EI18Knu55A0xYv6hFOUDeJExYb0cSJfTG3o-odfyh0KUOW-ReoYk5V2I1eZeAKX/s1600/95b05e0a4b19721b000f6a7067001350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1NmjNN_yLx5fax2ta-JLVUxLUxRuZ1Elhc2KqAIjLggeJJzewf534TEnu7QtvoLmBghIniYklC804EI18Knu55A0xYv6hFOUDeJExYb0cSJfTG3o-odfyh0KUOW-ReoYk5V2I1eZeAKX/s400/95b05e0a4b19721b000f6a7067001350.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5).<br />
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The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.<br />
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The potentially habitable alien world, a first for Kepler, orbits a star very much like our own sun. The discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding a planet like our own — one which could conceivably harbor life, scientists said.<br />
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"We're getting closer and closer to discovering the so-called 'Goldilocks planet,'" Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said during a press conference today. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]<br />
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The newfound planet in the habitable zone is called Kepler-22b. It is located about 600 light-years away, orbiting a sun-like star.<br />
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Kepler-22b's radius is 2.4 times that of Earth, and the two planets have roughly similar temperatures. If the greenhouse effect operates there similarly to how it does on Earth, the average surface temperature on Kepler-22b would be 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius). <br />
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Hunting down alien planets<br />
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The $600 million Kepler observatory launched in March 2009 to hunt for Earth-size alien planets in the habitable zone of their parent stars, where liquid water, and perhaps even life, might be able to exist.<br />
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Kepler detects alien planets using what's called the "transit method." It searches for tiny, telltale dips in a star's brightness caused when a planet transits — or crosses in front of — the star from Earth's perspective, blocking a fraction of the star's light.<br />
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The finds graduate from "candidates" to full-fledged planets after follow-up observations confirm that they're not false alarms. This process, which is usually done with large, ground-based telescopes, can take about a year.<br />
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The Kepler team released data from its first 13 months of operation back in February, announcing that the instrument had detected 1,235 planet candidates, including 54 in the habitable zone and 68 that are roughly Earth-size.<br />
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Of the total 2,326 candidate planets that Kepler has found to date, 207 are approximately Earth-size. More of them, 680, are a bit larger than our planet, falling into the "super-Earth" category. The total number of candidate planets in the habitable zones of their stars is now 48.<br />
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To date, just over two dozen of these potential exoplanets have been confirmed, but Kepler scientists have estimated that at least 80 percent of the instrument's discoveries should end up being the real deal.<br />
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More discoveries to come<br />
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The newfound 1,094 planet candidates are the fruit of Kepler's labors during its first 16 months of science work, from May 2009 to September 2010. And they won't be the last of the prolific instrument's discoveries.<br />
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"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.<br />
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Mission scientists still need to analyze data from the last two years and on into the future. Kepler will be making observations for a while yet to come; its nominal mission is set to end in November 2012, but the Kepler team is preparing a proposal to extend the instrument's operations for another year or more.<br />
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Kepler's finds should only get more exciting as time goes on, researchers say.<br />
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"We're pushing down to smaller planets and longer orbital periods," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at Ames.<br />
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To flag a potential planet, the instrument generally needs to witness three transits. Planets that make three transits in just a few months must be pretty close to their parent stars; as a result, many of the alien worlds Kepler spotted early on have been blisteringly hot places that aren't great candidates for harboring life as we know it.<br />
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Given more time, however, a wealth of more distantly orbiting — and perhaps more Earth-like — exoplanets should open up to Kepler. If intelligent aliens were studying our solar system with their own version of Kepler, after all, it would take them three years to detect our home planet.<br />
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"We are getting very close," Batalha said. "We are homing in on the truly Earth-size, habitable planets."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IoiPV0AZOKR3HKvqk5fbqY9eIXYqoareq1CQmbbH6XSg7ZWu-A8tI9qKmSXl486MTOkQeojf8F1TPKLrUi2WSXEiXuIOXk7Bh8O6PW_hMS03jm110gojE3LrqYf7UA1twkx-a8OfVT_v/s1600/000_Nic417686.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IoiPV0AZOKR3HKvqk5fbqY9eIXYqoareq1CQmbbH6XSg7ZWu-A8tI9qKmSXl486MTOkQeojf8F1TPKLrUi2WSXEiXuIOXk7Bh8O6PW_hMS03jm110gojE3LrqYf7UA1twkx-a8OfVT_v/s400/000_Nic417686.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This image taken by the Kepler telescope and released by NASA in 2009 shows small portion of Kepler's full field of view. In another step toward finding Earth-like planets that may hold life, NASA said Monday the Kepler space telescope has confirmed its first-ever planet in a habitable zone outside our solar system.<br />
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/nasa-confirms-new-planet-could-hold-life-1323116424-slideshow/Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-88419818323863484832011-12-04T22:55:00.000-08:002011-12-04T22:55:14.980-08:00Madonna Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Madonna will take center stage at halftime of Super Bowl XLVI, flanked by Cirque du Soleil performers in what traditionally is one of the year's most watched shows.<br />
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The NFL announced Sunday night, in a press release, that the Michigan-born singer would headline the halftime show on February 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.<br />
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She follows other high-profile acts in recent years, including the Black Eyed Peas and Usher during the most recent edition of pro football's championship game at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.<br />
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Other past performers including Bruce Springsteen, Prince, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. The halftime show has also been the subject of controversy, specifically in 2004 during Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" while singing alongside Justin Timberlake.<br />
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The league calls the show "the most-watched musical event of the year," with more than 162 million people tuning in last year in the United States alone.<br />
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A 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Madonna is ranked by the Guinness Book of World Records as the top-selling female recording artist of all time.<br />
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She erupted on the scene in the '80s, selling 60 million records that decade and scoring several No. 1 hits including "Like a Virgin," "Papa Don't Preach" and "Crazy for You."<br />
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She continued her momentum in the 1990s with her Blonde Ambition Tour and also made headlines as a provocateur for her album "Erotica" and X-rated picture book "Sex."<br />
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Even with a growing family, Madonna has continued working -- including releasing several more albums and books. She has also acted in several films over the course of her career such as "Evita," "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "Dick Tracy."<br />
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/04/showbiz/madonna-super-bowl-show/index.html?hpt=hp_c1Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-82209822784887954372011-12-02T23:21:00.001-08:002011-12-03T08:53:25.163-08:005 biggest myths (and lies) about the AT&T/T-Mobile deal.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83GGkPMollg2HjQhnfFzlLbvHB8Fe1pykludAmzD0a-OiE9f2HQ-2cdk_w4WM24BlQ_XCROsMlLtNjaVxxFAA0JIx8C6ohsawdJ8U2ga20x4egWUBnqBijxLHU053eIFslAFFhvfDCt1G/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83GGkPMollg2HjQhnfFzlLbvHB8Fe1pykludAmzD0a-OiE9f2HQ-2cdk_w4WM24BlQ_XCROsMlLtNjaVxxFAA0JIx8C6ohsawdJ8U2ga20x4egWUBnqBijxLHU053eIFslAFFhvfDCt1G/s1600/index.jpg" /></a></div><b><u>Prices would fall</u></b><br />
In its public statement<a href="http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021240421"></a> about its merger proposal with T-Mobile, AT&T said prices would fall as a result of the companies combining. The combined company would have more capacity for customers' wireless needs, and could therefore charge lower prices, AT&T suggested.<br />
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AT&T also claimed that T-Mobile customers would be forever protected from price increases, because AT&T would agree to honor their current contracts for an unlimited time.<br />
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<b></b>The FCC said it in its staff report<a href="http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1955A2.pdf"></a> that its analysis suggests prices would instead rise if the merger were completed, since AT&T would eat the cheapest national carrier.<br />
Eliminating T-Mobile's competitive price points would also give Verizon and Sprint incentive to raise prices, causing pain in the wallet for the majority of cell phone customers. The FCC called T-Mobile a "disruptive force" in the mobile marketplace that keeps competitors' prices in check.<br />
The regulator also say that it's unlikely T-Mobile customers will remain on their current contracts forever. When they want a new phone, or if they want to upgrade their plan, they'd eventually have to switch. And since everyone else's plans would become more expensive, current T-Mobile customers would have to make the unhappy choice of sticking with old technology or paying a higher price to upgrade than they would have if the merger had never taken place.<br />
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<b><u>Next it would create jobs</u></b><br />
AT&T says that the merger would create "many thousands of indirect jobs," because the deal would allow for an expansion of the combined company's network infrastructure. <br />
Additionally, AT&T said T-Mobile's redundant, non-management employees would be offered another position in the new company. It said it wouldn't fire any U.S-based call center employees of either carrier as a result of the merger, and added that it would bring 5,000 outsourced call center jobs back to the United States.<br />
The FCC said that even if AT&T made good on all its proposals, the merger would still result in a net loss of jobs -- both direct and indirect.<br />
Internal AT&T documents show that the company plans on mass layoffs at both carriers, including almost the entirety of T-Mobile's customer service staff, according to the FCC's report. AT&T also noted that "jobs serving redundant functions would be eliminated to reduce costs."<br />
The FCC said AT&T's proposals for current T-Mobile employees are disingenuous, because call center turnover is extraordinarily high, and AT&T is unlikely to replace those that leave. The regulator also noted that it's unlikely that those employees offered new jobs would be offered attractive positions for the same pay or hours. Many would be given only temporary jobs, and many would likely choose not to accept the new job, the FCC said.<br />
AT&T has also said that it plans to spend far less capital as a result of the merger. That reduced investment is why the FCC concluded that the deal would lead to a "significant reduction of indirect jobs" than if the companies both spent capital on building out infrastructure separately as competitors.<br />
The FCC noted that there's no historical precedent for a merger creating jobs. In fact, there were 70,000 employees at AT&T Mobility in 2002. Since then, AT&T merged with Cingular, Dobson and Centennial, and there are now 67,000 employees at AT&T Mobility.<br />
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<b><u>4G would grow</u></b><br />
AT&T plans to build out its 4G-LTE network to cover 80% of the American population by 2013, and the company has said publicly that it is "very unlikely" that it will expand beyond that -- unless it can get hold of T-Mobile. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oPeXe6FOiXAUrFt751HMXJrwrm_xMQcfxA0WXbsaSiuP29LnQfTIXKXZ87Lj5zLLwdbEp3HP2jSWyA5iCgrQMa6S3PgzJP_mY5Dgzw41ZIZO7T8aPYtYUaM1VDWHSVBhCjboNJ4jNG4m/s1600/4g-speed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8oPeXe6FOiXAUrFt751HMXJrwrm_xMQcfxA0WXbsaSiuP29LnQfTIXKXZ87Lj5zLLwdbEp3HP2jSWyA5iCgrQMa6S3PgzJP_mY5Dgzw41ZIZO7T8aPYtYUaM1VDWHSVBhCjboNJ4jNG4m/s320/4g-speed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> The FCC noted that the basis for AT&T's public characterization of its decision to stop at an 80% deployment is a Jan. 3, 2011, internal e-mail from John Stankey, AT&T's business operations chief. In that e-mail Stankey described a meeting with CEO Randall Stephenson in which the company agreed to its 2013 roll-out plan but postponed a decision on its future roll-out for a later date.<br />
"A decision not to say 'yes' at a particular moment is not the same as saying 'no' forever," the FCC said in its report. "We cannot agree that Mr. Stankey's e-mail suggests further consideration of LTE deployment had been ruled out, as opposed to left undecided. The record does not support AT&T's claim that ... future consideration of an expanded LTE deployment was a 'slim possibility.'"<br />
Furthermore, the FCC said it's very unlikely that AT&T would hold tight to its 2013 deployment decision if the merger wasn't to go through, considering competitors' 4G roll-out plans. For instance, Verizon plans to cover 95% of Americans with its 4G-LTE network by the end of 2013. AT&T wouldn't just sit on its hands and let its biggest competitor maintain a much faster network.<br />
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<div class="slidehed"><b><u>Competition would increase</u></b></div><div class="slidehed">AT&T said that its merger would increase competition, since regional carriers like MetroPCS and Leap Wireless would add subscribers, essentially filling the void left by T-Mobile. AT&T also says that merging with T-Mobile would not limit competition for its own customers, since the companies don't actually compete.</div><div class="slidehed"> The FCC said that its analysis of data provided by the wireless carriers suggests that AT&T and T-Mobile are, in fact, competitors. Many AT&T customers switch to T-Mobile and vice versa, viewing one another as a clear second choice.The companies themselves also acknowledge that by launching ad campaigns directly targeted at one another, the FCC said. Most recently, T-Mobile launched a campaign earlier this year that portrays AT&T's network as a burden to customers.<br />
"Our review of the evidence indicates that T-Mobile is a substitute for AT&T," the FCC said in its report.<br />
That's not the case for small, fringe carriers, the regulator argued. <br />
"We are skeptical of the applicants' position that the regional providers -- firms with considerably less spectrum, much smaller footprints ... -- would and could expand and compete effectively in the space now occupied by T-Mobile."</div><div class="slidehed"> </div><div class="slidehed"><u><b> Expanding the network would be free</b></u></div><div class="slidehed">AT&T also stretched the truth about many smaller points. One of note: The company said its merger with T-Mobile would allow the combined company to make its network more efficient and expand capacity at no additional cost.Another notable claim: AT&T said its data shows that 40% of customers that cancel service due to higher prices will not purchase another cell phone. AT&T said that means the combined company is unlikely to raise prices for fear of losing customers permanently.<br />
The FCC had trouble believing either claim, arguing that AT&T is purposefully inflating statistics to make the proposed merger appear better than it actually would be.<br />
For the network efficiency argument, the regulator said that AT&T neglected to include the costs of integrating the two networks and phones in its cost assessment. That ommission made AT&T's claims of the merger's cost-saving benefits appear far greater than they actually would be.<br />
As for the claim that droves of customers would drop their service and never buy a cell phone again if AT&T raised prices, the FCC called it both "implausible" and "unsupported." AT&T derived that number from its own studies of customers that leave its network, but the FCC said the company's choice in parameters for its calculation were unreasonable.</div><div class="slidehed">money.cnn.com</div>Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-31932486004177791092011-12-02T18:10:00.000-08:002011-12-02T18:10:55.372-08:00Muhammad Ali is ‘home, well, happy’<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OVkQm_5Fsj4vkurhiMrGv7ZbLLL9M4SrS9JuI70U1YE95AXgPqkLsFwxZSziQ4kNe2amnDNfLSZZevaqIbqHL2AUO3BiNW4TPuHSfBr412WPEFplZnyTMrMa53KEWg2vzkIxubLpaE4o/s1600/111202030839-muhammad-ali-02-story-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OVkQm_5Fsj4vkurhiMrGv7ZbLLL9M4SrS9JuI70U1YE95AXgPqkLsFwxZSziQ4kNe2amnDNfLSZZevaqIbqHL2AUO3BiNW4TPuHSfBr412WPEFplZnyTMrMa53KEWg2vzkIxubLpaE4o/s320/111202030839-muhammad-ali-02-story-top.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Muhammad Ali</b> is home and doing as well as can be expected after he was hospitalized in Arizona, the Louisville Courier-Journal<a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20111202/NEWS01/312020066/Muhammad-Ali-home-and-doing-well-after-being-hospitalized-friend-says?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE" target="_blank"><i></i></a> reports.<br />
The newspaper spoke with longtime Ali friend and Louisville radio personality John Ramsey<b></b>, after Ramsey was quoted in the <i>Star</i> magazine saying the boxing legend had been hospitalized "after slipping out of consciousness at his Phoenix-area home."<br />
Ramsey said he spoke by telephone with Ali's wife, Lonnie<b></b>, last night and was told Ali is "home and well, for a person who has had Parkison's since the 1980s. He may not be going in the direction you or I like, but no one is on alert. That's the truth."<br />
Ramsey said the Alis still plan to be in Louisville in mid-January for a celebration of the three-time heavyweight champion's 70th birthday, Jan. 19.<br />
Ramsey said he didn't have any details of Ali's hospital treatment but that he believed, "I don't think he stayed very long," Ramsey said.<br />
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The Star<i></i> reported that it had been told by multiple sources that Ali was rushed from the couple's home in Paradise Valley to the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center on Nov. 19. The <i>Star</i> also said it confirmed a 911 call from the residence, and that Ali was unconscious at the time.<br />
The Star quoted Alan Laitsich<b></b>, a spokesperson for Paradise Valley Police, saying: "The victim started to pass out in the car and when they got him into the house he fell unconscious."<br />
The magazine said it didn't have details of Ali's treatment or his length of stay at the hospital.<br />
The Nov. 19 rush to the hospital came just five days after Ali attended the funeral of his greatest rival, Joe Frazier<b></b>. Another boxer who fought Ali for the heavyweight title, Ron Lyle<b></b>, died Saturday<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/sports/ron-lyle-who-met-ali-for-title-dies-at-70.html" target="_blank"></a> at the age of 70.<br />
I gotta a lot of respect for Ali. A true role model and cultural icon. A real life super hero the likes shall never be seen again.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5IWMzrnAZc9txEh-qzvf6wssDEzladpnKtpJuYkMHvYWVRm4KIF7kV2SnK6wUALvhZwmbjXZhNQzuTDUkSf6tWtVhEL3Hyfn_vjYpxSUKJVqvSn5cfKIE0AgtNQxL0KKr49AM9Rg00Ha/s1600/frazier-1981-ali-cosellx-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5IWMzrnAZc9txEh-qzvf6wssDEzladpnKtpJuYkMHvYWVRm4KIF7kV2SnK6wUALvhZwmbjXZhNQzuTDUkSf6tWtVhEL3Hyfn_vjYpxSUKJVqvSn5cfKIE0AgtNQxL0KKr49AM9Rg00Ha/s320/frazier-1981-ali-cosellx-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span id="captionText">Former world heavyweight champions Muhammad Ali, left, and Joe Frazier, second from right, chat during a dinner at a New York hotel on April 13, 1981, as Ali''s wife Veronica, right, and legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell, second from right, listen in. The dinner celebrated the 20th anniversary of ABC''s "Wide World of Sports."</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaImNPQ2HqqW9wD7qa-YIdRfwyrZQdTPj7oXXGcvTJAv_gzoK_IiRXzMNS7DBIwnoZcxvCcbFMX1SlP4I91gx2tOCPAWko40jexp8ysfePMdkOUk5IbN1KR9KE60Xsb7pQfvz1ALgrTFn/s1600/frazier-1974-alix-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaImNPQ2HqqW9wD7qa-YIdRfwyrZQdTPj7oXXGcvTJAv_gzoK_IiRXzMNS7DBIwnoZcxvCcbFMX1SlP4I91gx2tOCPAWko40jexp8ysfePMdkOUk5IbN1KR9KE60Xsb7pQfvz1ALgrTFn/s320/frazier-1974-alix-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span id="captionText"> </span><span id="captionText">The first and third fights beween Muhammad Ali, left, and Joe Frazier are more noteworthy, but the second fight, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 28, 1974, gave Ali his first victory over Frazier, a 12-round unanimous decision. Frazier fell to 30-2 with the loss.</span><br />
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<span id="captionText">www.usatoday.com</span><br />
<span id="captionText">www.cnn.news.com</span>Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6508938702460721616.post-90301680786390737372011-12-02T15:30:00.000-08:002011-12-02T15:32:19.893-08:008.6% unemployment rate won't help Obama (much)The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in November, the lowest since March 2009 and a sharp improvement from 9.0% in October.<br />
That part of the report is great news for the White House. The unemployment rate plays an important role in campaign rhetoric, and the closer the rate drops to 7.8% -- that was the rate when Obama took office -- the better it is for the White House.<br />
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And even that might not be enough to save the president's job. Just consider this stat: No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has won re-election with an unemployment rate over 7.2%.<br />
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But it would be a mistake to put too much emphasis on the unemployment rate. A more useful predictor of electoral success is the actual number of jobs created, and beyond that, how Americans feel about he economy.<br />
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And there, the news isn't so good for the White House.<br />
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The labor market still has a long way to go to recover from the financial crisis. Less than a third of all the 8.8 million jobs shed have since been recovered. A whopping 13.3 million people remain unemployed and 43% of those have been out of work for more than six months.<br />
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And there are some important caveats to note when looking at Friday's report.<br />
For example, about half of the rate decrease is attributable to discouraged workers giving up entirely on their job search -- not new job creation.<br />
And employers added only 120,000 jobs in October -- well off the number that economists say is needed just to keep pace with population growth.<br />
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According to a CNN/ORC International poll released last week, only 15% say economic conditions are good, while six out of seven say conditions are poor, with a majority saying they are "very poor."<br />
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The truth: Nonfarm payroll employment added 140,000 private sector jobs last month. This means we've added 1.9 million private sector jobs over the past year — an average of 157,000 a month.<br />
"The policies this administration has pursued are adding jobs back into the economy, and our recovery is picking up steam.<br />
-from Dept. of Labor site. <br />
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The bottom line: Job growth is still relatively anemic, the housing market is a mess and the festering European debt crisis threatens to drag down economic growth worldwide.<br />
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www.money.cnn.comFoxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132101494583916453noreply@blogger.com2