DP World lifts 10 percent more cargo at its ports

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? DP World, the Dubai government-backed port operator, said Tuesday that business at its docks jumped 10 percent last year, helped by growth in emerging markets.

The world's third-largest port operator reported lifting the equivalent of 54.7 million standard 20-foot shipping containers last year. That's up from 49.6 million handled in 2010.

DP World's business is heavily concentrated in faster-growing emerging markets. It is those regions ? Africa, Asia and Latin America ? that the company said enjoyed some of the strongest growth. Trade also increased in its core market in the United Arab Emirates, the Arab world's second biggest economy.

CEO Mohammed Sharaf cautioned that the outlook for the world economy remains uncertain, though he is optimistic about DP World's prospects.

"We continue to remain confident about the long-term outlook for our industry," he told reporters.

DP World's broad geographic footprint gives it a window on trade flows around the world. The company manages more than 60 sea cargo terminals on six continents, including the Middle East's busiest in Dubai.

Its volume growth was helped by the addition of new ports in Pakistan, India and Suriname in 2011.

Trade volumes in the UAE rose 12 percent to the equivalent of 13 million shipping containers. The company is in the middle of a big expansion of Dubai's sprawling Jebel Ali port designed to meet expected future demand that will allow it to handle up to 19 million containers by 2014.

DP World is a division of Dubai's troubled Dubai World conglomerate, but was excluded from its parent's highly publicized debt restructuring. The port firm is seen as one of city-state's healthiest state-controlled companies.

It is in the process of building Britain's first deep-sea container port in more than a quarter century, which is scheduled to open outside London by the end of next year. The company last week sold its 34 percent stake in another southern British port for $75.5 million.

DP World posted a first-half profit of $740.9 million. It plans to report its full-year earnings in March.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-31-ML-Dubai-Ports/id-171d4034c3ff4d17a1375915ff53c2c1

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95% Pariah

"Pariah," from first-time writer/director Dee Rees, doesn't break much artistic ground. It tells the same gay/lesbian coming-out story that we've seen a million times. But it's told particularly well and from within a black urban context, which I don't believe has been done before. It also goes a bit deeper into the hearts and minds of the homophobic parents than typically is done, which was great. Unfortunately, it only scratches those surfaces. Kim Wayans, who of course has a long history in comedy, shows she has major dramatic talent, playing the homophobic mother of the main character. The cast is universally good, but Wayans is the stand-out. The main character is a black teenage girl in Brooklyn going through the coming-out process. She has fully come out to herself as a lesbian, and she has even found her way into a lesbian circle of friends. She even frequents a women's night club. But she hasn't told Mom or Dad about any of this, both of whom are homophobic. Mom is particularly venomous in her hatred of gays and lesbians. You can see that Dad, a detective in the NYPD, in his heart of hearts is not a bigot. Thrown into the mix to complicate things a little bit is a bisexual girl eager to have lesbian experiences to explore herself. But she tosses lesbians aside like useless candy wrappers after she's had her fun. If I were going to give Dee Rees advice, I would say this: Ms. Rees, in "Pariah" you started digging into the parent characters with some real psychological and artistic depth. I encourage you to go more deeply in that direction. I think your true gifts as an artist lie there. I would give anything to see a sequel where you explore what happened to that mother and what she's really fighting. You hint that her husband is beginning to stray, but I think there's more in there. Help us see it. Remember when that great schoolteacher tells Alike that she could "go deeper" with her poetry? You could go deeper with your films. I know you could.

January 1, 2012

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pariah_2011/

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Plummer, Spencer win SAG supporting-actor prizes (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Christopher Plummer of the father-son tale "Beginners" and Octavia Spencer of the Deep South drama "The Help" won supporting-acting honors at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, firming up their Academy Awards prospects next month.

Plummer, who won for his role as an elderly dad who comes out as gay after his wife's death, would become the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy when she won best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy."

Backstage, Plummer joked about whether he would like to win an Oscar, an honor so elusive during his esteemed 60-year career that he did not even receive his first Academy Award nomination until two years ago, for "The Last Station."

"No, I think it's frightfully boring," Plummer said. "That's an awful question. Listen, we don't go into this business preoccupied by awards. If we did, we wouldn't last five minutes."

Spencer, a veteran actress who had toiled in small TV and movie parts previously, had a breakout role in "The Help" as a brassy maid joining other black housekeepers to reveal uneasy truths about their white employers in 1960s Mississippi.

"I'm going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the under-served, the underprivileged, overtaxed ? whether emotionally, physically or financially," Spencer said.

On the television side, comedy series awards went to "Modern Family" for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for "30 Rock"; and Betty White as best actress for "Hot in Cleveland."

"You can't name me, without naming those other wonderful women on `Hot in Cleveland,'" White said. "This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it."

For TV movie or miniseries, Kate Winslet won as best actress for "Mildred Pierce," while Paul Giamatti was named best actor for "Too Big to Fail."

Before the official ceremony, the Screen Actors Guild presented its honor for best film stunt ensemble to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." The TV stunt award went to "Game of Thrones."

Nominees for the lead-acting honors, which were to come toward the end of the ceremony, include Globe winners George Clooney for the family drama "The Descendants," Meryl Streep for the Margaret Thatcher tale "The Iron Lady," Michelle Williams for the Marilyn Monroe story "My Week with Marilyn" and Jean Dujardin for the silent film "The Artist."

Spencer's "The Help" co-star Viola Davis also is in the running, along with Leonardo DiCaprio for the J. Edgar Hoover biography "J. Edgar," Brad Pitt for the baseball story "Moneyball" and Glenn Close for the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs."

The winners at the SAG ceremony typically go on to earn Oscars, whose ceremony is Feb. 26. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars ? Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

The same generally holds true for the weekend's other big Hollywood honors, the Directors Guild of America Awards, where Michel Hazanavicius won the feature-film prize Saturday for "The Artist." The Directors Guild winner has gone on to earn the best-director Oscar 57 times in the 63-year history of the union's awards show.

SAG also presents an award for overall cast performance, a prize that's loosely considered the ceremony's equivalent of a best-picture honor. However, the cast award has a spotty record at predicting what will win best picture at the Oscars.

While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG cast recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

Mary Tyler Moore received the guild's lifetime-achievement award, an honor presented to her by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

SAG President Ken Howard put in a plug during the show for the guild's planned merger with another Hollywood union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The boards of both groups have approved the merger, and ballots will be sent to members of each union.

"As one union, SAG-AFTRA will support a future of great entertainment for all of us," Howard said.

___

Associated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_en_mo/us_sag_awards

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Inside Man, Dog Day Afternoon, Bank Robbery Gone Bad!

Hostage Crisis at Grand Northern Bank!

What is your role? Robber, cop, negotiator, hostage, third party with a hidden agenda? Your choice!

I do have a general idea of the plot. I would like it to be very similar to Inside Man, but with a more realistic feel. This will be a literate RP and multiple paragraph writing abilities are a must

There will be at least four bank robbers and several NPCish police type figures. The hostage negotiator team might be played by me, with help from someone else. As this is a very important role.

If I see this getting quite a bit of interest I will expand everything. I want to make sure there are others interested in this idea first before doing lots more work.

Leave a post here or PM me! :)

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it. To become a spectator of one's own life is to escape the suffering of life. <---- I totally do this. =D

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/dbIGSqY0rWQ/viewtopic.php

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James, Heat escape with 97-93 win over Bulls

Miami Heat forward LeBron James holds his shoulder during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat forward LeBron James holds his shoulder during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh goes up for a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, second from right, looks for an opening past Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, left, guard Norris Cole, second from left, and forward Shane Battier (31) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) goes up for a shot against Chicago Bulls shooting guard Richard Hamilton during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat small forward LeBron James dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI (AP) ? LeBron James scored 35 points, while reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose wasted two chances in the final 23 seconds and the Miami Heat escaped with a 97-93 win Sunday over the Chicago Bulls.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds for the Heat, who never trailed ? but this win in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals was not easy. Dwyane Wade added 15 points for Miami.

Rose scored 34 points for Chicago, but missed a pair of foul shots that would have given Chicago the lead with 22.7 seconds left. He had made all 28 of his free throws in the fourth quarter this season.

And Rose had a shot to tie in the final seconds, but his short jumper bounced off the rim.

Bosh sealed it with two free throws with 0.1 seconds left for Miami, which has now won five straight over the Bulls ? counting the last four games of last season's East title series.

Both sides said this game was supposed to be just another regular-season matchup, one without extra meaning.

So not true.

The Bulls erased what was a 12-point deficit and tied the game at 84 on a brilliant layup by Rose with 6:55 left. The Heat answered with a 10-2 run, before Rose's three-point play with 49.1 seconds left cut the lead to 94-93.

Rose then lost the ball on a drive, but drew contact from Miami's Udonis Haslem and went to the line with Chicago down one with 22.7 seconds left. Rose's first hit the front of the rim and bounced away, and his second rimmed out. James grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Joakim Noah ? only to miss both free throws himself.

After the second miss, Bosh appeared to emerge with the rebound, but an inadvertent whistle led to a jump ball. James outleaped Taj Gibson, getting the ball to Mario Chalmers, who made one free throw for a two-point lead.

Chicago wound up getting one last chance with 9.9 seconds left, calling time-out. Naturally, it went to Rose, who weaved his way into the lane ? but came up short. Bosh got the rebound, and Miami began celebrating.

Rip Hamilton and Noah each scored 11 for Chicago, which got 10 apiece from Ronnie Brewer and Carlos Boozer.

The Bulls played without forward Luol Deng and guard C.J. Watson, both sidelined with wrist injuries. Watson may be back in Chicago's lineup as early as Monday, and Deng ? who has a torn ligament in his left, non-shooting, wrist ? is "very close" to a return, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Miami took an 11-point lead early in the fourth on back-to-back 3-pointers from Shane Battier and James. The Bulls roared back, as they did for most of the day whenever the Heat seemed on the cusp of taking control.

They just never got the lead, despite Rose's best efforts.

"Two sick moves by D-Rose," Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant tweeted as he watched the game, marveling at two layups by Rose that knotted the game at 84.

Insistence that this was "just another game" notwithstanding, Miami started quickly. Wade appeared a bit more emotionally charged than usual after joining his teammates in the pregame huddle, and the Heat ran out to a fast early edge.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say they "jumped" out to that lead.

Wade set James up for three dunks in the first 7 minutes, the last of which is probably going to be replayed for quite a while. James appeared to be forgotten as he hovered on the weak side of the floor, so he darted toward the basket. Wade tossed a lob his way ? and the two-time MVP leapfrogged the 5-foot-11 John Lucas for a dunk that put Miami up 16-7.

Even the NBA took notice of that one: Within minutes, replays of the James dunk were sent out on the league's Twitter feed.

Chicago quickly settled down, getting within 24-22 at the end of the first quarter. But Miami scored 11 straight early in the second, the last seven of those coming with Wade and James both on the bench, to open a 35-24 edge. Wade's first points came with 6:14 left in the half, two free throws that gave Miami what was its biggest lead at 42-30.

The Bulls chipped away again, and by halftime Miami's edge was only 56-51.

Wade missed eight of nine shots in the first half and an airball dropped him to 1 for 10 early in the third quarter.

Chicago had a chance for its first lead when Rose attacked the rim moments later. But his layup was blocked by Joel Anthony, and James threw about a 65-foot pass to Wade for a dunk. James found Wade again for another transition slam less than a minute later for a 63-58 advantage.

The lead was still five entering the fourth. James made a 20-footer over Brewer with 0.2 left in the third to push Miami's edge to 76-71.

Notes: James had a large icepack strapped to his right shoulder during a first-half stint of rest. He was grabbing at the shoulder in pain early in the first quarter after a collision, but did not appear to have a serious issue. ... Boozer said he needed more than 20 tickets for the game. He's been spending part of his offseasons in Miami for several years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-29-Bulls-Heat/id-dd57be4fb3ff4643b10dcf04a0890462

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Matthew Broderick Super Bowl Ad For Honda CR-V Pays Homage to Ferris Bueller

A new Super Bowl ad (first announced last week with this viral tease) for the Honda CR-V features Matthew Broderick in his iconic role as Ferris Bueller himself.

The just-released full-length version, featuring Broderick as a middle-aged Ferris and playing hooky from work instead of school, is certainly a fun homage.

Directed by Todd Philips (The Hangover), the CR-V campaign encourages people to do things they've always wanted to do ... as Ferris famously advocated.

Keep an eye out for various Ferris Bueller's Day Off tie-ins below:

Matthew Broderick's Day Off - Super Bowl Ad

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/matthew-broderick-super-bowl-ad-for-honda-cr-v-pays-homage-to-fe/

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What new hardware are you most looking forward to from Apple in 2012?

What new hardware do you most want from Apple in 2012?There are a thousand rumors floating around about new Apple hardware this year but we’re only interested in one

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/bm-Xlgd5i_E/story01.htm

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Gingrich says space exploration in US tradition (AP)

STUART, Fla. ? Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich says critics of his call to ramp up U.S. space exploration don't understand the power of science, technology and entrepreneurship to change the future.

Campaign rival Mitt Romney was referring to Gingrich earlier this week when he said that if any business executive recommended spending huge sums on colonizing the moon, he'd fire him.

But Gingrich said Abraham Lincoln recommended building a transcontinental railroad at a time necessary technology didn't exist, and a decade later the job was done. And that when President Kennedy started a program to put a man on the moon in the early 1960s the same thing happened.

Gingrich spoke on the 26th anniversary of the explosion that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger 73 seconds into flight, killing all seven aboard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_sc/us_gingrich_space

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Dolphins Might Want Broward Out Of Super Bowl Bid

As the Miami Dolphins pursue another Super Bowl for South Florida, Broward County might get left off the team.

Dolphins CEO Mike Dee raised the possibility of Miami-Dade going it alone in pursuit of the 2016 Super Bowl, citing Broward commissioners? 2011 vote against raising taxes to fund a $225 million renovation of SunLife Stadium.

Read the whole story

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/28/dolphins-might-want-browa_n_1238965.html

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[OOC] The Rotting Cage

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TheTreForce

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Tax Returns and Tithing: How Mitt Romney Gives Away 16% of His Income (Time.com)

When Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns on Tuesday, the one number that probably stood out to many Americans wasn't his 14% effective tax rate or his $20 million-plus annual income. It was the $7 million he gave to charity over the last two years, including some $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Where does that money go? In addition to donating to his family's Tyler Foundation, Romney does his duty as an active LDS member. The Mormon Church requires its members to tithe 10% of their income, and Romney's contributions match that responsibility. (PHOTOS: The Rich History of Mitt Romney)

Designed to follow the Biblical mandate to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, the Mormon tithing system supports a giant welfare infrastructure. In addition to financing temple construction and missionary programs, tithing supports more than 300 employment resource centers and 80 family services offices around the world. The church employs some 8,500 missionaries who teach English, give agricultural aid, provide medical practices and distribute clothing. It even stores a 3-6 month food supply so its members won't go hungry in the event of a disaster, and most families forgo two consecutive meals a month to give money as a "fast offering" for the poor. Local bishops -- a position Romney once held -- work with members of their local church wards to overcome economic hardships, and are even empowered to pay a family's mortgage in the hardest of times.

Structured or not, these donations set Romney apart from his political colleagues. In 2010, Romney gave away 16% of his income while Newt Gingrich's returns show he gave only 2.6%. The portion Gingrich donated to his Washington D.C. home church, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, was even smaller -- 0.3%, or $9,540. Because the Gingrichs' also reported an earned income of $5,918 from the National Shrine -- Callista sings as an alto in the church's professional choir, which pays $80 per mass and rehearsal -- so the net balance of their contributions sinks below $4,000. The rest of Gingrich's charitable donations went to unspecified cash contributions through the Gingrichs' businesses, some $68,500, and to miscellaneous donations, near $3,100. The Obamas, meanwhile, gave 14% of their income to a total of 36 different charities in 2010. Much of that went to the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that works with veterans, and smaller amounts went to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and the Boys and Girls Club of America. A religious body was not listed on their returns, but the Obamas have not become members of a church while living in Washington. (VIDEO: Explaining Mitt Romney's 14% Federal Tax Rate)

In Monday's debate, Romney said he is "proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes." Though he's at times reluctant to speak publicly about his Mormon faith, his charitable giving, half of which goes to the socially-active LDS church, is something to be proud of as well.

View this article on Time.com

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webOS Instapaper app makes leap to Android

Now that HP has open sourced webOS and announced their Enyo 2.0 framework plenty of webOS developers have been digging through the code. Given the nature of how Enyo works and it's compatibility with WebKit, we're quite certain plenty of webOS developers will be making their apps available in the Android Market as soon as possible.

One such app that has already made the leap is Paper Mache built by Ryan Watkins. The app allows for access to Instapaper provided you have an Instapaper paid account and it does so rather beautifully. With included features such as offline access, syncing across devices and configurable font, text size, spacing and margins, Paper Mache is a pretty no-brainer choice if you're looking for a great Instapaper app.

Designed to work on Android 2.2 and higher, Paper Mache is available now in the Android Market for free; you can jump past the break for the download link and let us know what you think in the comments.

Source: webOSNation

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/2RBQPyZtguE/story01.htm

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Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal In Australian Open 2012 Semifinal Against Conventional Wisdom

Wall Street Journal:

After swapping some mildly critical words at the start of the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will renew their on-court rivalry Thursday, in the first of two men?s semifinals. Nearly as cherished as this great rivalry are certain chestnuts of conventional wisdom about the contrasts between these two all-time greats: Federer is cast as the aggressive net-rusher against Nadal, the powerful yet defensive baseliner.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-mythbusters-australian-open_n_1232697.html

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How to Beat a K-Cup With Simple Coffee Gadgets [Video]

Friend-of-Gizmodo Tonx.org has a cute little comic today bemoaning Keurig K-Cups—the little coffee pods designed to brew single servings of coffee. They're convenient, but they're ridiculously overpriced, and don't make very good coffee. You can do better. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4qtuN_MWx_Q/how-to-beat-a-k+cup-with-simple-coffee-gadgets

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Bachmann Will Run for Re-Election (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Obama's insourcing jobs plan faces an uphill battle

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

President Barack Obama gives his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday.

By Eve Tahmincioglu

President Obama decried the outsourcing of jobs to foreign lands in the State of the Union last night while Steve Jobs' widow looked on. Clearly, the administration wanted Apple represented as an example of American ingenuity and success.?

One problem, though: Apple is a big American jobs outsourcer, with the bulk of its manufacturing now being done in China.?

This is Obama's insourcing conundrum. He has long talked about bringing jobs back to the United States, even reportedly sparring with the late Jobs about the issue. Globalization, however, has become a mainstay for U.S. companies, with many finding it profitable to pink-slip American workers in exchange for cheap labor abroad.?

Can Obama break corporate America?s outsourcing habit by removing tax incentives for companies who take jobs abroad, or rewarding those who bring jobs back home??

The president thinks so.?

?It?s time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America,? he said last night. ?Send me these tax reforms, and I?ll sign them right away.???

Whether there?s enough political will to get such legislation passed during an election year is unclear given ongoing congressional gridlock. What is clear, however, is that even if Obama wanted to put an end to tax breaks for offshoring employers, or upped incentives for U.S. job creators, the employment picture won?t brighten overnight.?

?I think that there is an embryonic trend here,? said Jared Bernstein,? the former chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, and a member of President Obama?s economic team. ?There are multinational firms that overdid it on outsourcing, so some producers might respond to tax incentives or disincentives, but I don?t expect anything big to happen quickly.?

Indeed, the impact of outsourcing on the U.S. job market took time to reverberate, starting first with manufacturing more than 30 years ago and extending in the last decade to service jobs.?

One study by The Hackett Group shows the loss of 1.35 million back-office jobs in corporate finance, IT, HR and procurement, thanks to offshoring of jobs, along with automation, since 2000. The company estimates that jobs will continue to be lost due to outsourcing at the rate of about 112,000 jobs per year from now through 2014.

"In total, these losses mean that by 2014 there will be only about half as many jobs in these areas in the U.S. as there were in 2000,? the research found.?

On the manufacturing side, outsourcing led to the loss of 406,000 jobs in 2004, compared with 204,000 in 2001, according to an extensive report conducted by labor researchers at Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2004, the most recent data available.?

?When manufacturing was devastated, workers were supposed to be saved by white-collar jobs,? explained Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and co-author of the study. ?But now those jobs are leaving. Then you?re left with unskilled, low-wage, retail and distribution jobs.??

Bronfenbrenner said Obama?s plan to curb outsourcing resonates with the American people, and she?s hopeful his policies will indeed bring back good-paying jobs. But, she added, ?I know it?s an uphill battle.??

Others believe the country should just let the globalization chips fall where they may.?

?You can?t fight it,? maintained Michel Janssen, The Hackett Group?s chief research officer.?

?Politicians can try to legislate business but they can?t, the law of economics is what rules in the end,? he said. ?Apple is a good example. They found the best manufacturing capability in China, while most of innovation comes from U.S. They are going to do what they need to do to be competitive.??

Even if Obama did provide tax incentives to employers to bring back jobs, he continued, the incentives would likely not be big enough to offset the savings companies now get from low-cost labor in places like China and India. ?A starting MBA in India makes $5,000 to $10,000 a year,? he pointed out.?

The end of the outsourcing game will come, he added, when the standard of living goes up in India and China, and wages continue to decline in the United States, to the point where it makes economic sense for employers to again employ American worker. ?Still another 20 years before that happens,? Janssen surmised.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10237006-obamas-insourcing-jobs-plan-faces-an-uphill-battle

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Vets' advocate has key role in whale rescue film (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Bonnie Carroll is well-known in veterans' circles as the founder of a vast organization that provides grief counseling and help for thousands of families of fallen military members.

But it was her involvement nearly 25 years ago in a high-seas effort to rescue three gray whales stranded off Alaska that is now receiving Hollywood treatment.

Carroll and her late husband Tom are prominent characters in the upcoming "Big Miracle," a film chronicling the Reagan administration's 1988 partnership with the Soviet Union, environmentalists and oil companies to free the whales ? an expensive and ultimately successful effort that drew international attention.

"What was extraordinary about this event was that it brought together the military, the Alaska Natives, Greenpeace, the oil companies and then finally the Soviets," Carroll said. "Those are entities that rarely work collaboratively and are often at odds and they all came together to save these whales."

The film, which stars Drew Barrymore and Ted Danson and opens Feb. 3, gives Carroll a chance to relive the dramatic rescue and her romance with her husband. But it's also a platform to draw attention to her group, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, whose work she says may become even more critical now that the Obama administration has declared an end to the Iraq war.

The movie has a premiere in Washington on Wednesday night.

The organization was formed two years after Carroll lost her husband, Alaska National Guard Brig. Gen. Tom Carroll, in a plane crash. She fell in love with him over the phone during the whale rescue effort and wed soon after. Their happiness was short-lived, though, as Tom Carroll and seven others were killed in a 1992 crash of an Army C-12 plane in Alaska.

Though she had worked closely with survivors of violent crime, she didn't find a comparable support network until bonding with the other widows of the crash.

"We really just had the same fears, the same concerns, the same questions," Carroll said. "It became very apparent that that was a strong source of comfort, to speak with another person who can validate and normalize your own feelings."

The epiphany led to the 1994 formation of TAPS, which today says it's helped about 30,000 bereaved family members and caregivers with everything from crisis intervention and grief counseling to navigating government bureaucracy. The organization says it has more than 1,000 survivors who are trained peer mentors and who work as volunteers helping other survivors.

But the film concerns itself with a different episode of her life, back when Bonnie Carroll was Bonnie Mersinger, a National Guard member and young Reagan administration aide pulling long hours in the White House.

The movie centers on the international spectacle that unfolded in October 1988, when three California gray whales became trapped during their migration south beneath ice near Barrow, Alaska.

Complex efforts to free the mammals ? Eskimos used chain saws to carve breathing holes in the ice and a National Guard helicopter towed a massive icebreaking barge ? failed to do the trick. One of the trapped whales disappeared and was presumed dead.

President Ronald Reagan, aware of Mersinger's National Guard service and out of easy options, sought her involvement.

Mersinger made contact with Col. Tom Carroll, an Alaska Army National Guard commander, who as other options failed suggested the Americans request the use of Soviet icebreakers to smash through the ice ridge. It was a gutsy call because of lingering Cold War tensions between the superpowers, but the icebreakers proved successful. The whales eventually broke free into the open sea.

Besides Barrymore and Danson, who play an environmental activist and oil company executive, respectively, the cast also features John Krasinski and Kristen Bell. Bonnie Carroll's character is played by Vinessa Shaw, while Dermot Mulroney plays the part of Tom ? albeit with different names.

It's directed by Ken Kwapis, who calls Bonnie Carroll a "soulful," can-do person as exemplified by the whale rescue and also the creation of TAPS.

"She strikes me as someone who doesn't suffer fools, who's very no-nonsense, gets things done. But at the same time, the way she does it is with a smile and a generosity that I think separates her from a lot of people," Kwapis said.

Carroll said she bonded over the phone with her future husband, a military man she refers to as "dashing," and decided she'd marry him before they even met. They wed in 1989.

Using insurance money from her husband's death, and her experience with the federal government and as a military reservist, Carroll channeled her grief into a peer-based support network for military families.

While the government generally assumes responsible for alerting the family, returning the body and recovering personal effects, TAPS offers a more emotional, softer-edged counterpart to the formal rituals that accompany a soldier's death.

It relies on small comforting touches ? an email on the anniversary of a soldier's death, for instance ? but also more substantial help, like grief counseling and peer mentoring.

The organization, which requires no dues or fees, holds camps for children who have lost a parent. It trains those who have lost relatives to comfort other bereaved families. Its network includes counselors and lawyers and staff social workers. The assistance extends to not only widows but anyone grieving the loss of a soldier.

Sometimes a mother needs someone to talk to at 3 a.m. or in the days leading up to the anniversary of her son's death. Sometimes a grieving relative needs help collecting benefits. But the needs are often unpredictable: The 2009 massacre at the Fort Hood military installation, for instance, triggered a barrage of calls from anxious relatives reliving the moment they were notified of a loved one's loss.

Among those helped by TAPS is Miranda Luke, of Greenwood, Ark., whose husband Samson, an Army captain, died two years ago of heart problems while home on a National Guard drill weekend.

She said the military denied her death benefits because her husband, who was twice deployed to Iraq, had died at home and not in the vicinity of the base. Luke said Carroll heard about her struggle, wrote letters on her behalf and helped her locate a pro bono attorney. Luke ultimately prevailed in her effort to get the benefits.

"She really just kept the fire burning on this issue. Every time it seemed to float out of people's minds, she would shove it back in there," Luke said. "She was really my biggest advocate."

Though the Iraq war has ended, Carroll said TAPS will be just as busy given the number of deaths from suicide, risky behavior and illness she expects to see.

"The next five years are going to be far more intense than the last five years, and we won't have really the public sentiment and the headlines we did, which helped get support for the organization," she said.

Carroll said her organization always seeks pictures and anecdotes from grieving families and encourages them to honor a soldier's life rather than dwell on the trauma of a death.

She recites by memory stories she's heard from grieving families, like the mother of one Marine who said she knew her son would be a daredevil from the day he built a ramp for his Big Wheel bike and drove off it. Carroll tries herself to focus on her husband's life, which is why participating in the film and reliving the joy of her own marriage means so much to her.

"To actually hear his voice and see his face is a precious gift," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_en_mo/us_film_big_miracle

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Kelly Rowland Brags About Relationships With Beyonce, Blue Ivy Carter

Kelly Rowland has been spending time with her BFF Beyonce and the most awesomest baby in the world (Blue Ivy Carter) and is making sure we know about it.

In a recent interview, Bey's former Destiny's Child collaborator gushed about just how beautiful Beyonce and Jay-Z's newborn is, as well as how perfect they are.

Gushed may be an understatement, actually.

"She is just…. more precious than a diamond. She is so stunning. So beautiful. I'm so happy for my sister and her husband. She's beautiful," said Kel of Blue.

They're not actually sisters, but we get the point. Kelly was asked if she's been visiting the baby often. She saod: "Absolutely! You have to be a good aunt!"

Again, not technically Blue's aunt. But point taken.

Kelly went on to say that basically, Jay and Bey are the best parents of ALL TIME (where's Kanye when you need him) and that Blue Ivy is the Messiah.

"She's in mommy-vile and her husband is in daddy-vile, and the baby is SO beautiful! Beyonce is an incredible mother. I'm so proud of her, so proud."

We have no doubt she's sincere, but one gets the sense she's trying to prove something as well. We get it, Kel. Bey rules. And you're friends. But ease up.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kelly-rowland-brags-about-relationships-with-beyonce-blue-ivy-ca/

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Video: Romney: Gingrich an ?influence peddler?

>> all right. let us begin this morning with breaking political news. the overnight release of mitt romney 's tax returns . nbc's peter alexander is in tampa. good morning to you.

>> reporter: matt, good morning. as you noted this morning governor romney has been facing increasing pressure to release his tax returns . he put out his 2010 tax returns and an estimate of the 2011 returns. we'll put that information now up on your screen. they reveal that he made a combined income in two years of nearly $43 million. he paid more to charity than he did to the irs paying out $6.2 million in taxes over two years. his charitable giving was $7 million. finally that adds up to a tax rate of 14%. the debate last night was a role reversal with mitt romney on the offensive against newt gingrich referring to him often as an influence peddler.

>> i think this is going to come down to a question of leadership.

>> reporter: with new aggressiveness mitt romney wasted little time attacking newt gingrich . the speaker was given an opportunity to be the leader of our party in 1994 . at the end of four years he had to resign in disgrace.

>> i'm not going to spend time chasing down governor romney .

>> i'm not going to get attacked day in day out without returning fire.

>> reporter: early monday romney rolled out his first negative ad of the campaign taking aim of gingrich 's relationship with freddie mac .

>> gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the group that created the crisis.

>> i was a historian.

>> reporter: gingrich released his before the debate.

>> mr. speaker, you were on this stage at a prior debate. you said you were paid $300,000 by freddie mac as an historian. they don't pay people $25,000 a month for six years as historians. we have congressmen who say you lobbied them in favor --

>> i didn't lobby them.

>> they say you lobbied them with regard to medicare part d .

>> whoa, whoa. you just jumped a long way over here, friend. i understand your technique which you used on mccain, huckabee. you have used it consistently. it's unfortunate and it won't work well because the american people see through it.

>> rick santorum stayed above the fray saying he draws the clearest contrast with president obama .

>> if you have learned anything about this election that any type of prediction is going to be wrong. the idea that this was a two-person race has been an idea that has been in fashion now for eight months and it's been wrong about eight times.

>> reporter: also trailing the front-runners here, ron paul said he has no plans to run as a third party candidate but gave a back-handed compliment to his surging rival.

>> would you support a newt gingrich for the gop?

>> he hints about attacking the fed, talks about gold. if i could change him on foreign policy we might be able to talk business.

>> reporter: a couple miglight moments on stage. tonight we'll hear the state of the union . today mitt romney is expected to speak about jobs and the economy right here in what was a factory where they produced drywall. this place has been shuttered for years.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46113347/

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Dozens of whales die on New Zealand beach

Project Jonah via AP

Stranded pilot whales are helped by volunteers at Farewell Spit on New Zealand's South Island.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

A mass-stranding of whales on a New Zealand beach has left 36 of the creatures dead.

John Mason, area manager of the country's Department of Conservation said 99 pilot whales stranded themselves Monday on Farewell Spit on the South Island. By Tuesday, 36 whales had died and another 40 remained stranded and were in danger.

---

Mason said conservation staff and volunteers had successfully refloated 17 whales, which had swum out to deeper water. Another six whales remained unaccounted for.

The 40 beached whales were briefly swimming in shallow water early Tuesday afternoon local time (late Monday ET) but became stranded again by the evening as the tide went out. Mason said volunteers would try to keep the whales cool and wet until dark. He said after that, all they could hope for was that the whales would swim away on the next high tide.

Pilot whales grow to about 20 feet, and large strandings are common during the New Zealand summer. Experts describe Farewell Spit as a whale trap due to the way its shallow waters seem to confuse whales and diminish their ability to navigate.

Department of Conservation Takaka ranger Nigel Mountfort told television station TVNZ the overnight conditions at the site were "pretty inhospitable".

Mountfort said rescuers in wetsuits would try to form a human wall and try to stop refloated whales coming back ashore.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10222791-dozens-of-whales-die-in-mass-stranding-on-new-zealand-beach

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Gunmen fire on fishermen in Philippines, kill 15

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? Gunmen in the restive southern Philippines opened fire on three boats and killed 15 fishermen in what officials said Tuesday was likely an attack by a rival group protecting its lucrative fishing grounds.

The fishermen were aboard three small, wooden-hulled vessels off Sibago Island in Basilan province when attackers in speedboats fired on them Monday morning and then sped away, military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cagangbang said.

There were about 10 attackers, police said. No arrests have been made yet as the news reached authorities late because of the remoteness of the area, senior police official Felicisimo Khu said.

Basilan Vice Gov. Al Rasheed Sakalahul was on his way to the area Tuesday, protected by a platoon of soldiers and police, to investigate the killings, Khu said.

Basilan is a stronghold of Muslim rebels who have been fighting for minority self-rule in the predominantly Christian nation for decades, as well as criminal and kidnap gangs. Law enforcement in the area is weak, and deadly clan feuds fueled by business and political rivalry are rampant. Businesses often pay protection money to armed groups and hire their own private guards.

Cabangbang told The Associated Press that the fishermen were probably attacked by a rival group of fishermen because they strayed into their fishing grounds. The victims came from Pagadian city in Zamboanga del Sur province, 100 miles (170 kilometers) northeast of Sibago.

"They were fishing in the turf of another group of fishermen from Basilan," Cabangbang said.

Seven fishermen died in one boat, five in another and three more in the third vessel, he said.

One of the survivors told police that their group had been warned to stay away from the fishing grounds where the attack took place, ABS-CBN TV reported.

Khu, the regional police official, said there was unconfirmed reports that the attacked fishermen were blamed by their rivals for destroying giant nets that they had set up worth about $3,500. Such nets are used for catching tuna, one of the Philippines' main exports.

In 2010, the Philippines exported 116,850 tons (106,450 metric tons) of tuna for a total value of $337.7 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-AS-Philippines-Fishermen-Attacked/id-4de09ebde36047bbb54ca40197708265

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Iran angry over EU unity on oil embargo (The Christian Science Monitor)

Istanbul, Turkey ? Iran reacted angrily today to a new European Union ban on oil imports and other sanctions that are the latest measures aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program.

While Iranian generals and politicians alike have put a brave face on the impact of the long-expected sanctions ?&nbsp;with some renewing vows today that Iran would cut off strategic oil shipping channels through the Strait of Hormuz ? Iran's currency continued its nosedive against the dollar on expectations of deepening crisis.

RELATED: Getting the Strait of Hormuz straight: FAQ

"The most telling sign is panic at the gold and foreign exchange markets," says an Iranian analyst in Tehran who closely follows the economy and asked not to be named.

The rial reached an all-time low today at 21,000 rials to the dollar; it has lost half its value in just under three months. Many Iranians are hoarding gold.

A US aircraft carrier group, joined by British and French warships, entered the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, defying a recent Iranian warning to keep out of the narrow waterway through which one-third of the global seaborne oil supply is shipped.

Iran shocked by EU unityIranian officials have been shocked by the display of European unity, considering that Iran accounts for 20 percent of oil imports to Europe. The oil measure will only fully take effect on July 1, to give key buyers ? especially Greece and Italy, which are facing debt crises ? time to find alternative sources.

The unprecedented EU measures are the latest to be imposed upon Iran, in addition to four rounds of sanctions from the United Nations Security Council and a raft of American measures.

Iran says it will not slow or suspend any part of its nuclear program when under pressure. Few expect sanctions alone to prompt Iran to capitulate on its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for producing nuclear energy, not bombs.

"There is a genuine fear here that once the West senses weakness, it won't stop at the nuclear dossier," says the Iranian analyst. "The threat of regime change is also increasing.... I think the Iranians think: 'Well, if I was in their [Western] shoes, why stop here?'"

Iranian official: Stop oil exports immediatelyAmerican and Israeli intelligence, along with inspectors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, conclude that Iran has conducted weapons-related work in the past, but say they have no evidence that Iran has decided to make a nuclear device.

Iran and world powers are considering resuming nuclear talks that broke off a year ago in Istanbul, but neither an agenda nor dates have been agreed.

"I want the pressure of these sanctions to result in negotiations," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. "I want to see Iran come back to the table and either pick up all the ideas that we left on the table ... last year ... or to come forward with its own ideas."

A senior Iranian politician said today that Iran should fight EU pressure by immediately closing off its oil taps to Europe, to disrupt European efforts to find alternatives.

"The best way is to stop exporting oil ourselves before the end of this six months and before the implementation of the plan," Ali Fallahian, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts and former intelligence minister, was quoted as saying by Fars news.

"If they increase pressure on our country, we can use the Strait of Hormuz as a tool to decrease the pressures and closing the strait is one of the options," Mr. Fallahian said today. Most analysts doubt Iran could keep the Strait closed for long, given the overwhelming military superiority of the US and allies who would view closing the sea lane as an act of war.

RELATED: Getting the Strait of Hormuz straight: FAQ

In recent weeks, other senior Iranian officials have warned that they would close the strait ? through which much of Iran's own oil exports flow ?&nbsp;if the EU embargoed Iranian oil.

First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, a loyalist of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has been embroiled in financial scandals, warned last month that Iran would not allow "even one drop of oil" to pass through Hormuz if oil sanctions were imposed.

The Revolutionary Guard backed away from that threat over the weekend. But Mohammad Kassari, deputy head of Iran's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said today the Strait of Hormuz "will definitely be closed" if there is "any disruption" to the sale of Iranian oil.

Upcoming electionUS and European officials have long said sanctions only target regime officials and entities linked to Iran's nuclear, missile, and other programs. But the most recent measures against Iran's central bank and oil deals are unprecedented in their scope, and will further complicate the lives of countless ordinary Iranians.

From freezing bank accounts abroad ?&nbsp;thereby making it more difficult to pay for foreign schooling for Iranian kids, for example ?&nbsp;to blocking refueling for Iran's national airline at some European airports, Iranians have been affected.&nbsp;

The potentially crippling sanctions for Iran come as conservative factions are locked in political battle ahead of a March 2 parliamentary vote ? the first nationwide election since June 2009, when Ahmadinejad's official reelection was challenged by millions of Iranians taking to the streets.

The president has made no comment on the fall of the currency, prompting media connected to the powerful Revolutionary Guard to say the divisive president was "hibernating."

"People are starting to blame Ahmadinejad, but they are also attributing part of the pressure on the sanctions," says the Iranian analyst, adding that his own efforts to buy a new laptop computer and refrigerator have been thwarted by daily price rises.

The president forced down interest rates at the end of last year. And liquidity in the economy ?&nbsp;due in part to reforms that have replaced some key subsidies with government payments into personal bank accounts ? is double what it was in before Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005, says the analyst.

"Mismanagement started the downward spiral; the sanctions are now fueling it ... even though they are trying to present a brave face," says the analyst.

Less maneuverabilityAs Iran's economic maneuverability has been curtailed, with US officials leading the charge to cut off banking, credit, and insurance lines worldwide, its defiant statements have become increasingly threadbare.

One measure of Iran's difficulties is evident in the request Iran made to India to use Japanese yen to pay for part of its $9.5 billion annual crude trade, according to a report today by Bloomberg.

India last week proposed to Iran, its second-biggest oil supplier, to pay in rupees. A Turkish bank which handled transactions until now has "told Indian refiners it may no longer be able to act as an intermediary," Bloomberg reported.

Follow Scott Peterson on Twitter.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20120123/wl_csm/454418

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