Monday, December 31, 2012

Police: Five dead, about 20 wounded in Oregon tour bus crash

LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) ? A tour bus careened through a guardrail on an icy Oregon highway and several hundred feet down an embankment Sunday, killing five people and injuring about 20 others, authorities said.

The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police.

Lt. Greg Hastings said the accident happened on the west end of the Blue Mountains, and west of an area called "Deadman Pass," where stretches of the highway tend to be icy in winter months.

I-84 is a major east-west highway through Oregon that follows the Columbia River Gorge.

Police did not say where the vehicle was traveling to or from, or information on the company that owns the bus.

Rescue workers were using ropes to help retrieve people from the crash scene.

The bus crash was the second fatal accident in Oregon on Sunday morning. A 69-year-old man died in a rollover accident

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-killed-oregon-tour-bus-crash-84-215107655.html

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What Megan's Making ? Top 10 Recipes of 2012

by megan on December 31, 2012

I have to say I?ve been looking forward to this post for awhile. I love looking back over the year and figuring out which recipes ended up being reader favorites! I have my own favorites (and Mike probably has a completely different list), but I really like knowing which recipes were the most popular with you ? the wonderful people who read this little blog. Mike is really good at this sort of thing, so I had him take a look at my google analytics account and figure out the top 10 most popular recipes over the past year. Did your favorites make the list? If not, I hope you?ll give some of these a try and let me know what you think! :)

? Number 10: Soft Pretzel Bites ? I really need to make these again. They are so good, and not that difficult to make. If you have some free time today, these would make a great New Year?s Eve snack :) Sometime soon I?m going to try this recipe as full sized pretzels.
Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies Number 9: Lofthouse Style Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies ? These cookies are about as good as they come. They are a copycat version of those soft sugar cookies you find in the grocery store with the colored frosting in sprinkles. Except I think the homemade version tastes even better.
?thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies Number 8: Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies ? This recipe is what ended my quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I cannot imagine a better cookie than this. If you like chewy chocolate chip cookies, you?ve got to try these.
? Number 7: Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce ? This recipe has revolutionized our homemade pizzas. This sauce is so simple to make, and it?s the best homemade sauce I?ve ever tasted. Best of all, it?s freezer friendly, so make a bunch at once.
? Number 6: Cookie Dough Truffles ? These are the most popular truffles I have posted on my blog, and for good reason. You can?t beat cookie dough covered in chocolate.
? Number 5: Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup ? This recipe truly tastes like stuffed peppers in soup form. It makes a ton, tastes great re-heated, and it?s a slow cooker recipe ? what more could you ask for?
? Number 4: Homemade Hostess Cupcakes ? Mike absolutely loves these! I don?t often make them because they?re fairly complicated for cupcakes, but the end result is so good that they?re definitely worth the work.
?Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites Number 3: Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites ? These might be the best thing to come out of last year?s 12 Days of Christmas Treats. I have to give credit to Pinterest for making these so popular, but it doesn?t hurt that they?re cute and delicious.
? Number 2: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip ? I?ve noticed that this dip seems to bring about strong reactions from people. Judging from the comments section, people either love it or think it tastes terrible. We loved it. :)
?S'mores Dip And finally, number 1: S?mores Dip! What is it about s?mores that makes people go crazy? ?I?m not a s?mores fan, but I do love this dip. Pretty much anytime melted chocolate is involved, it?s a guarantee I?m going to love it.

So there you have it ? the top 10 most popular recipes during 2012. If you?re interested, feel free to look back to last year?s top 10 ? it?s interesting to see which recipes are consistent favorites! Thanks so much for reading this year and making it so fun to write this blog. I love to hear from readers, and I truly appreciate all of you who take the time to stop in, leave a comment, write an email, etc. I can?t wait to see what next year holds!

Source: http://www.whatmegansmaking.com/2012/12/top-10-recipes-of-2012.html

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VIX and More: Portfolio Insurance for (Almost) Free

A lot of strange things happened in the financial markets late on Friday afternoon and a good deal of the craziness was in the VIX futures market, with impacts felt in the likes of VXX, which jumped 11.6% in less than an hour (the last 40 minutes of the regular session and the first 14 minutes of after-hours trading.)

The corresponding spike in the VIX futures prices pushed the front two months of the VIX futures term structure into backwardation (a downward sloping term structure curve in which front month futures contract is priced higher than the second month futures contract) for only the second day since November 2011, with the lone exception dating from May 18, 2012, when the front two month contracts were in backwardation by a mere 0.05 points.

The chart below shows how the VIX futures term structure changed over a ten-day period from December 18 to December 28. While all eight VIX futures contracts that were trading on both dates showed in increase, the magnitude of these increases were skewed dramatically toward the front months, where the January VIX futures contract jumped 38.4%, the February contract gained 28.4%, the March contract rose 21.2%, etc. Also of note, whereas the December 18th term structure was upward sloping in an almost perfect linear fashion, by December 28th the term structure had twisted so that the January contract is now trading at a higher level than the contracts for the February, March, April and May expirations. In fact, the market is now pricing in expectations that a VIX of about 22 will persist for the next five months.

[source(s): CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE)]

With the backwardation in the front two months of the VIX futures contracts, this also means that investors who are looking to hedge long equity exposure against an increase in volatility can now take advantage of what is essentially free portfolio insurance. Of course I am using the ?free? label loosely, but given that the short-term VIX futures (first and second month contracts) are in contango (front months less expensive than more distant months) more than 80% of the time and subject to the price decay associated with negative roll yield while in contango, I feel it is important to underscore that the short-term VIX futures roll yield is now positive, meaning that if the VIX January and February contracts do not change in price, the positive roll yield should provide a small lift to VXX, UVXY, TVIX and the other short-term VIX ETPs with a long volatility bias.

Now before anyone gets too excited about the possibility of free portfolio insurance, it is important to understand that the reason the VIX futures are in backwardation is that market participants anticipate that the VIX will decline going forward, making a long volatility hedge of limited value. So while long positions in VXX, UVXY, TVIX and their ilk are benefiting from positive roll yield at the moment, most investors consider that a decline in the VIX and VIX futures is likely to more than compensate for any gains due to roll yield, meaning that these hedges will probably be net losers when one accounts for the changes in the VIX futures and the roll yield.

[Since some of the subjects above have not come up for discussion in a fairly long time, today?s set of links is more comprehensive than usual. As always, these are not arranged in order of significance, but are grouped roughly by subject matter, with some of the more recent posts on the subject toward the top.]

Related posts:

Disclosure(s): short VXX and UVXY at time of writing

Source: http://vixandmore.blogspot.com/2012/12/portfolio-insurance-for-almost-free.html

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Little Progress as Senate Fiscal-Cliff Negotiations Stretch Late Sunday (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273967704?client_source=feed&format=rss

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'Arrested Development' New Season To Premiere On May 4

I think we all collectively just blue ourselves. If a recent here-one-moment-gone-the-next posting to a Fox publicity site is to be believe, the Bluths and the Fünkes will return on May 4 with 14 new episodes, all set to premiere on Netflix simultaneously. Oh No They Didn't took a screenshot of the post, which confirmed [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/12/31/arrested-development-premiere-may-4/

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Pinstripe Bowl Notebook: Will Syracuse coach Doug Marrone bolt to NFL?

Published on December 29, 2012 by Brad Bierman ????? No Comments
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NEW YORK ? Will he stay or will he go?

That?s the question: It?s understandable that the last item on Doug Marrone?s mind after guiding the Orange to two bowl wins in three years and an eight-victory season by winning six of the final seven games, is his immediate future employment opportunities.

Marrone?s name has come up time and again since November as a candidate to fill NFL head coaching vacancies this off-season, his job performance praised in turning around the Orange program, combined with his offensive coordinator experience with the New Orleans Saints.

pinstripebowl

Is Marrone leaving for the NFL?

We asked the fourth-year SU boss afterwards about his name being linked to expected openings and his smile quickly disappeared.

?I just want to enjoy this victory,? he said before departing back inside the victorious ?Cuse locker room.

? Related: Syracuse defeats West Virginia in Pinstripe Bowl

The Orange was blue away from home

The Big East was the home team in alternating years with the Big XIII, so Syracuse wore its home blue jersey in the Pinstripe Bowl win against West Virginia.

It was the second time this season (USC loss at MetLife Stadium in a SU home game) that the Orange wore blue outside of the Dome, and it?s the first season since the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl in 2010 when the ?Cuse edged Kansas State wearing blue.

In the Carrier Dome era Syracuse has rarely worn blue outside of the Teflon Top; only five other times:

  • 1988-Hall of Fame Bowl vs. LSU at Tampa (W)
  • 1990-Kickoff Classic vs. USC at N.J. Meadowlands (L)
  • 1996-Liberty Bowl vs. Houston at Memphis (W)
  • 1999-Orange Bowl vs. Florida at Miami (L)
  • 2001-Kickoff Classic vs. Georgia Tech at N.J. Meadowlands (L)

Record in blue including the WVU bowl game is now 4-4.

Speaking of uniforms, word is Syracuse will have an alternate look(s) to choose from designer Nike for next season?s ACC debut, beginning with the ?13 season opener Aug. 31 at MetLife Stadium against Penn State.

This is a three-game series; home (2021), away (2020), neutral site (2013). For next season?s neutral site matchup, don?t be surprised to see the Orange in orange tops and the Nittany Lions in blue jerseys.

? Related: Mountaineers said traveling was a factor in new conference

Cantor gives high marks to Gross, Marrone

The chancellor likes what she sees with Orange athletics: As she watched athletic director Daryl Gross and his WVU counterpart Oliver Luck (father of Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew) along with Yankee executives Randy Levine and Lon Trost meet the media prior to the game, Nancy Cantor couldn?t help but exude Orange spirit.

The New York native in her second-to-last year guiding the university, Cantor marveled at the turnaround of the football program under Doug Marrone, but more important to her is the 12th place standing of all of the university?s programs in the latest ranking of the Capital One Cup.

?You know what?s been so wonderful to watch is how across the board (Daryl) has hired extraordinary coaches and it?s really made a difference,? Cantor said approvingly. It really feels good to see a whole program rise in the Capital One Cup that way, it?s amazing.?

Syracuse finished with its highest ever point total in the Capital One Cup for the fall, finishing 12th nationally, and that will rise a little bit with the bowl win over West Virginia.

For more Syracuse coverage, Like our Facebook page and follow us @TheJuiceOnline.

Tags: Daryl Gross, Doug Marrone, Football, Nancy Cantor, Pinstripe Bowl, Syracuse, West Virginia

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Source: http://sujuiceonline.com/2012/12/29/pinstripe-bowl-notebook-will-syracuse-coach-doug-marrone-bolt-to-nfl/

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How Are the Cliff Talks Going? Not Well, It Seems

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The FBI is still searching for one of two convicted bank robbers who escaped last week from a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago by lowering themselves on a makeshift rope nearly 20 stories to the street. Kenneth Conley, 38, and his cellmate, Joseph Jose Banks, 37, escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center early on the morning of December 18. The pair apparently broke a window in the cell they shared, squeezed through the opening and lowered themselves to the street. They then hailed a cab to make their getaway. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cliff-talks-going-not-well-seems-234444162.html

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Donors spawn Connecticut gun buyback after mass shooting ...

One-gun-a-month law repealed

By David Ariosto and Ross Levitt

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (CNN) ? Tables filled with handguns, shotguns and rifles packed a police building in Connecticut?s most populous city, where a gun buyback program drew scores of gun owners ? many of whom said they were motivated to get rid of their weapons in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

But unlike other buyback events, the funding that allows these purchases in Bridgeport ? more than $130,000 ? is almost totally comprised of private donations, according to mayoral spokeswoman Elaine K. Ficarra.

City officials say they plan to hold the event every weekend until the money runs out, with more than 200 guns having been collected in the first two days.

?We?ve seen an outpouring from the community since Sandy Hook in all manners, from teddy bears to cash,? said police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr.

Officials say they have since paid out more than $22,000 in the exchanges, snagging powerful weapons such as the AR-15, the same kind of gun used to kill 26 adults and children on December 14 in the neighboring Newtown school.

?These guns could have created victims,? said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. ?We know if we can reduce the number of weapons that are available through breaking into people?s houses and grabbing guns, we are a safer society.?

Police say they are offering $75 for rifles, up to $200 for handguns and potentially as much as $400 for assault-style rifles.

Last year, a lack of funds prompted city officials to cancel the program, which was subsidized in 2010 by the Bridgeport Housing Authority. But this year?s turn to private money seems in line with other donation-based programs that have caught on elsewhere.

On December 15, an event in Oakland, California nabbed nearly 400 guns off the street after making use of a $100,000 donation from Keith Stephenson, owner of a local medical marijuana dispensary, according to police spokeswoman Johnna Watson.

On the same day in San Francisco, city officials said a private donor-based event proved so successful that police were forced to issue IOUs.

Still, many larger cities such as New York use government money, which authorities say also may be gaining traction.

In Los Angeles this week, officials moved up their annual Mother?s Day buyback program due to the Sandy Hook shooting, netting more than 2,000 weapons, including two rocket launchers.

And yet gun sales have surged nationally as enthusiasts rush to purchase weapons out of concern of possibly tighter regulations ahead.

The FBI has recorded 16.8 million instant background checks so far this year. In 2011 ? a record year ? the FBI conducted nearly 400,000 fewer.

CNN?s Ross Levitt reported from Bridgeport, Connecticut. David Ariosto reported from New York City.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)
? & ??2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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Source: http://wtvr.com/2012/12/30/donors-spawn-connecticut-gun-buyback-after-mass-shooting/

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/deltagsmnet/~3/U7Ae1G2rjkU/

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Petition the Debt Star on ObamaCare, Feinstein

Dec 30 2012

Why shouldn?t our rulers share in the blessings they bestow upon us? Just as Obama et al. should be protected by gun-free zones, the entire nomenklatura deserves to be graced with ObamaCare. If you agree, you can sign the petition:

Mandatory Inclusion of All Politicians and Their Families in the Affordable Health Care Act Provisions

Congress has exempted itself from provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act. If the provisions of this act were designed to benefit the American people and mandatory participation is required of the ordinary public, politicians in Congress should not be exempt.

Speaking of petitions, here?s another good one:

Try Senator Dianne Feinstein in a Federal Court for Treason to the Constitution

The Constitution was written to restrain the government. No amendment is more important for this purpose than the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment was written so the power could be kept with the citizenry in the face of a tyrannical government. It was well understood the Constitution acknowledged certain rights that could not be limited by government.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has made it clear she does not believe in the Constitution or the inalienable rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. She is actively working to destroy the 2nd amendment with her 2013 assault weapons ban. For this reason we the people of the United States petition for her to be tried in Federal Court for treason to the Constitution.

White House petitions won?t sway our rulers, but at least we can put it on the record that what liberals are doing to our country is being done against our will.

On tips from Steve A, IslandLifer, and G. Fox.




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THG Celebrity of the Year Finalist #3: Taylor Swift!

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Obama promises gun legislation, skeptical of NRA's guns in school idea

President Barack Obama addressed gun control in an interview Sunday, saying he would like to get legislation passed in the first year of his second term. The NRA has called for more guns in schools, but Obama said he isn't sure about that idea.

By Jeff Mason,?Reuters / December 30, 2012

A customer checks out a shotgun at Burdett & Son Outdoor Adventure Shop in College Station, Texas, Dec. 19. The divide between those who favor gun control and those who don't has existed for decades, separating America into hostile camps of conservative vs. liberal, rural vs. urban. As the nation responds to the massacre of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., the gulf has rarely felt wider than now.

Pat Sullivan/AP/File

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President?Barack Obama?said in an interview broadcast on Sunday he hopes to get new U.S. gun control measures passed during the first year of his second term and is skeptical of a proposal by the?National Rifle Association?(NRA) gun lobby to put armed guards in schools.

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Obama assigned Vice President?Joe Biden?to lead a task force to come up with proposals on guns at the beginning of 2013 after the massacre of 20 children and six adults by a gunman at an elementary school in Newtown,?Connecticut, this month.

"I'd like to get it done in the first year. I will put forward a very specific proposal based on the recommendations that?Joe Biden's task force?is putting together as we speak. And so this is not something that I will be putting off," Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" in an interview taped on Saturday.

"I am not going to prejudge the recommendations that are given to me. I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem," he said.

The influential NRA has said new gun laws are not a good answer and has called for some form of armed guards to be present in all U.S. schools.

Obama, who said the shooting was the worst day of his presidency, attended a memorial service for the Newtown victims and promised he would take swift action to prevent further massacres like that one from being repeated.

The president has faced criticism for failing to take on the gun lobby after other mass shootings that have occurred during his time in office. While bristling at the criticism, the president has indicated that this time something will get done.

"I'm going to be putting forward a package and I'm going to be putting my full weight behind it. And I'm going to be making an argument to the American people about why this is important and why we have to do everything we can to make sure that something like what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary does not happen again," he said in the interview.

"And the question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away. It certainly won't feel like that to me."

Gun control is a divisive issue in the?United States, where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution, and the NRA has significant political sway.

Proponents of tighter gun laws hope that not having to run for re-election again will give Obama a strengthened hand, but any legislative measures would have to pass the Republican-controlled?House of Representatives, which has been reluctant to support initiatives proposed by the Democratic president.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8s3YtzR_UnE/Obama-promises-gun-legislation-skeptical-of-NRA-s-guns-in-school-idea

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If cut, fiscal deal will pale against expectations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A year-end deadline looming, Senate negotiators remained short of an agreement Sunday to prevent across-the-board tax increases for millions. President Barack Obama blamed Republicans for putting the nation's shaky economy at risk.

Despite indications of progress in the negotiations, Democrats said Republicans were seeking to slow future cost of living increases for Social Security recipients as part of a compromise to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. Republicans declined to confirm the assertion ? and one GOP official disputed it ? but noted that Obama said in a television interview broadcast earlier in the day he had advanced such a proposal in earlier talks with Republicans.

The fate of the negotiations remained in doubt, with both the House and Senate meeting during the day, two days before the beginning of a new year that would trigger across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that leaders in both parties have said they want to avoid.

"We have been talking to the Republicans ever since the election was over," Obama said in the interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday. "They have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers."

Senate leaders Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., were hoping for a deal that would prevent higher taxes for most Americans while letting rates rise at higher income levels, although the precise point at which that would occur was a major sticking point.

Also at issue were the estate tax, taxes on investment income and dividends, continued benefits for the long-term unemployed and a pending 27.5 percent cut in payment levels for doctors who treat Medicare patients.

"I feel fine," McConnell said in response to questions from reporters about the status of negotiations.

Obama, in the NBC interview, said that while he had been "modestly optimistic" late last week, "we don't yet see an agreement."

As the Senate opened a rare Sunday session, Chaplain Barry Black offered a timely prayer for lawmakers.

"Lord show them the right thing to do and give them the courage to do it," Black said. "Look with favor on our nation and save us from self-inflicted wounds."

Senate negotiators were haggling over what threshold of income to set as the demarcation between current tax rates and higher tax rates. They were negotiating over estate limits and tax levels, how to extend unemployment benefits, how to prevent cuts in Medicare payments to doctors and how to keep a minimum income tax payment designed for the rich from hitting about 28 million middle class taxpayers.

Obama pressed lawmakers to start where both sides say they agree ? sparing middle-class families from looming tax hikes.

"If we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the fiscal cliff. It avoids the worst outcomes. And we're then going to have some tough negotiations in terms of how we continue to reduce the deficit, grow the economy, create jobs," Obama said in the NBC interview.

Gone, however, is the talk of a grand deal that would tackle broad spending and revenue demands and set the nation on a course to lower deficits. Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner were once a couple hundred billion dollars apart of a deal that would have reduced the deficit by more than $2 trillion over ten years.

Republicans have complained that Obama has demanded too much in tax revenue and hasn't proposed sufficient cuts or savings in the nation's massive health care programs.

Obama upped the pressure on Republicans to negotiate a fiscal deal, arguing that GOP leaders have rejected his past attempts to strike a bigger and more comprehensive bargain.

"The offers that I've made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me," Obama said.

Boehner disagreed, saying Sunday that the president had been unwilling to agree to anything "that would require him to stand up to his own party."

Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, said Sunday: "While the president was taping those discordant remarks yesterday, Sen. McConnell was in the office working to bring Republicans and Democrats together on a solution."

The trimmed ambitions of today are a far cry from the upbeat bipartisan rhetoric of just six weeks ago, when the leadership of Congress went to the White House to set the stage for negotiations to come.

"I outlined a framework that deals with reforming our tax code and reforming our spending," Boehner said as the leaders gathered on the White House driveway on Nov. 16.

"We understand that it has to be about cuts, it has to be about revenue, it has to be about growth, it has to be about the future," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said at the time. "I feel confident that a solution may be in sight."

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is predicting that without at least 28 of the 47 GOP senators on board with any given proposal, House Speaker John Boehner wouldn't be able to get the votes to pass it.

If Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "can't get 60 percent of us to vote for this deal, it will be hard for Boehner to get it through the House. And I want to vote for it even though I won't like it because the country's got a lot at stake here," Graham said on "Fox News Sunday".

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the 2.1 million Americans whose extended unemployment benefits ran out on Saturday are already feeling the pain of Congress' inaction.

"From this point on, it's lose-lose. My big worry is a contraction of the economy, the loss of jobs, which could be well over 2 million in addition to the people already on unemployment. I think contraction of the economy would be just terrible for this nation. I think we need a deal, we should do a deal," Feinstein said on "Fox News Sunday."

But the deal was not meant to settle other outstanding issues, including more than $1 trillion in cuts over 10 years, divided equally between the Pentagon and other government spending. The deal also would not address an extension of the nation's borrowing limit, which the government is on track to reach any day but which the Treasury can put off through accounting measures for about two months.

That means Obama and the Congress are already on a new collision path. Republicans say they intend to use the debt ceiling as leverage to extract more spending cuts from the president. Obama has been adamant that unlike 2011, when the country came close to defaulting on its debts, he will not yield to those Republican demands.

Lawmakers have until the new Congress convenes to pass any compromise, and even the calendar mattered. Democrats said they had been told House Republicans might reject a deal until after Jan. 1, to avoid a vote to raise taxes before they had technically gone up, and then vote to cut taxes after they had risen.

___

Associated Press writers David Espo, Alan Fram and Michele Salcedo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cut-fiscal-deal-pale-against-140752956.html

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Copyright Monopoly Trends And Predictions For 2013 | TorrentFreak

Copyright Monopoly Trends And Predictions For 2013

2012 was, without a doubt, the most intense year to date in the fight for civil liberties and against the copyright monopoly. While much work remains to be done, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

While there have been nice flares of light in the past ? every success of a Pirate Party comes to mind, where all other politicians suddenly compete in who?s the better critic of the copyright monopoly ? those flares of 2009 and 2011 have still been flares of light, and not game-changing events. Not yet.

But 2012 saw two major such events, in addition to many minor ones. There was the SOPA defeat on January 18, and there was the ACTA defeat on July 4. These were slightly different in nature.

The SOPA defeat in the USA was caused by a purely grassroots effort to put pressure on the US Congress from the outside. The ACTA defeat in Europe, meanwhile, could not have succeeded without two-pronged pressure: where the SOPA battle mainly played out online and in phone calls in one-directional pressure against Congress, the ACTA battle was fought in the streets, with huge coordinated protests in 200-plus European cities.

Still, that would not have been enough if there hadn?t been people on the inside of the European Parliament to explain to other Members of Parliament why European people were protesting ? so the Pirate Party presence in the European Parliament was pivotal, being one of many ingredients not sufficient on their own, but absolutely necessary for the whole of the ultimate success in defeating ACTA.

Regardless, these events were game-changers in that politicians have learned that when the internet raises its voice and tells them in no uncertain terms to STFU & STFD, their knees tremble. They do not understand yet what it is they do not understand. They do not understand the fundamentally bad assumptions about the copyright monopoly that still shape policy (faulty assumptions like the monopoly being incentivizing creativity, or worse, being related to property rights and a component of free trade).

For as we recall, both SOPA and ACTA were practically done deals. They were seen as completely uncontroversial by the politicians and were mere formalities, until the internet spoke up.

The next step, of course, would be to learn that it isn?t ?the Internet? speaking up, but a whole generation of citizens ? voters ? that demand something as basic as their civil liberties to apply just as much online as they do offline.

For who was it that wanted ACTA and SOPA so badly? It was the copyright industry, in their long-running quest to have their business interests take legal precedence over fundamental civil liberties.

The copyright industry has long been a proponent for increased surveillance, particularly of the warrantless kind, as privacy and freedom of speech is fundamentally incompatible with enforcement of the copyright monopoly.

At the same time, the administrations around the world are cherishing the liberating aspects of the net with one voice ? but only when it happens to other countries. In their own country, it is a threat to the status quo ? meaning, to themselves.

In Sweden, for example, the administration is wasting no time in applauding the importance of the net in freeing dictatorships from oppression, all while the Swedish so-called FRA law has changed the rules of privacy from being a fundamental right to the axiom ?you are always wiretapped?, effectively negating any whistleblower protections and other freedoms of the press.

Other countries see similar patterns.

Overall, net liberty seems to consistently be near the top of the foreign policy agenda for every country, but never anywhere on the domestic policy agenda. This exact relation needs to reverse.

So what would be things to look out for in 2013?

Things should be quietening down somewhat in the European bureaucracy, as the election cycle comes to a close. Still, there are many bilateral so-called ?free trade? agreements that try to lock in monopolies at the cost of civil liberties, and these happen in just as much secrecy as ACTA did.

Speaking of monopoly agreements, the TPP ? Trans-Pacific Partnership ? should be a major cause for concern.

But if all of these are causes for concern ? and they are, as laws are still being made the wrong way ? I?m still very optimistic.

While the laws being made on net liberty and monopolies are still bad ? we have not managed as activists to cause any good things to happen, merely managed to prevent some bad things from happening ? understanding of net liberty principles are rapidly increasing, and may be hitting a tipping point.

More and more people realize, against the tenacious deceptive talking points of the copyright industry, that the copyright monopoly is not related to property rights at all but is a governmentally-sanctioned private monopoly that limits property rights and free trade.

So what do I predict for 2013?

I predict that more politicians will realize the shameless abyss of lies coming from the copyright industry, and that civil liberties should be as readily defended online as offline ? that there should be no legal or practical difference in civil liberties whether you communicate with an analog letter or a digital one.

I predict that there will be at least one game-changing event which could not have been predicted beforehand, which shifts the playing field heavily against the copyright industry and in favor of civil liberties.

I predict that the laws being made will continue to be bad, and that surveillance will continue to increase, but that more people will start to question that ? perhaps approaching, but not yet arriving at a tipping point where good policy starts being made instead.

Above all, I predict that we have much hard work still ahead of us, but that it will all be worth our while in the end.

So for 2013, remember two soundbites on making good policy:

Sharing is caring, and prosperity begins at a hundred megabit.

Happy new year!

About The Author

Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at falkvinge.net focuses on information policy.

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-monopoly-trends-and-predictions-for-2013-121230/

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2012 enters the record books. Were you paying attention? A news quiz.

The year 2012 brought no shortage of significant news, from scheduled political transitions in the US and China to unexpected tragedies, moments of human triumph, and more record-setting in the realm of social media.

It's gone by quickly. Were the London Olympics really just a few months ago??Test your knowledge of these events with the Monitor's 2012 news quiz.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/LYvGpm5Xspw/2012-enters-the-record-books.-Were-you-paying-attention-A-news-quiz

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The Biggest Banks Are Risking An Endless Cycle ... - Business Insider

Large banks risk getting caught in "perpetual" cycle of bankruptcy like aerospace companies and carmakers unless they radically alter the way they do business, according to a leading industry consultant.

Alix Partners, one of the most influential advisers to senior banking executives, warns that global investment banks must tackle head-on issues such as bonuses and their addiction to the "steroids" of debt-fueled growth.

"Just look at the auto manufacturing and commercial aviation industries, where over the past two decades, changes in regulatory and operating environments combined to render formerly solid businesses into perpetual wards of the bankruptcy court," said the consultants.

According to Alix, investment banks still pay their staff far too much, pointing out that the "overpayment effect" last year was $18bn (?11bn), or close to 30pc of the world's top 15 banks' combined pre-tax profits.

Senior bankers agree lenders must change their ways if they are survive. The head of one major British bank said he agreed with the findings and that those businesses, which did not adapt to the new world, would "die".

"There was a major change in 2008 and a lot of people seem to be acting like it never happened. The choice is pretty stark; you can either carry on as you are and disappear into irrelevance, or you can change. There is no other option," he said.

Investment bank revenues have fallen by 31pc in the past three years as earnings have been hit by the combination of a slowing global growth and tougher and more costly regulation.

Despite efforts to cut costs that have seen average bonuses halve between 2007 and 2011, Alix Partners said this was just "protracting the slow, but inevitable, disappearance into irrelevance of a business that badly needs to be reinvented".

Alix recommends that global investment banks should consider "breaking up" their businesses before they are forced to by regulators. To do this, it says banks need not pursue full separation, but could allow the creation of "internal marketplace".

In practice, this would mean banks unbundling some of the services they currently provide, cooperating more with rivals to reduce costs, and outsourcing operations.

In Britain, Barclays is currently in the middle of a strategic review commissioned by its new chief executive, Antony Jenkins, that is expected to lead to a radical overhaul of its investment banking arm and the rest of its business.

Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland remains under pressure from the Government to continue shrinking its investment bank, as well as considering selling off large parts of its international business, including its US retail bank.

However, while British lenders have been at the vanguard of the change, many banks remain relatively unchanged four years on from the financial crisis that saw several investment banks become extinct.

"In fact, it seems the current taxonomy of business models could have been written in 2007, with just a few amendments," said Alix Partners.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-banks-are-risking-an-endless-cycle-of-bankruptcy-2012-12

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PHP Web Development Beneficial For Online Business | Web ...

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PHP ?? very well known ?nd recognized programming language f?r custom website development w?th ?t? fully functional scripting language. Significantly ?t ??n b? quickly mixed up ?nt? HTML easily. PHP Development ?? quite easy ?? opposed t? ?t? competitors such ?? ASP.Net, Coffee ?nd ??m? ?th?r. PHP Website Development g?t uncomplicated format, techniques ?nd features ?nd ???r? programmer ??n understand ?t quite quickly. Th?r? m?? b? ??m? efficient alternatives available f?r th? development ?f efficient website, b?t PHP web development fits th? best.

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Source: http://www.bitarray.info/48-php-web-development-beneficial-for-online-business.html

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Clippers beat Jazz 116-114 for 16th straight win

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Chris Paul could hardly be heard over Jay-Z's pounding music as his Los Angeles Clippers teammates sang along in the visitors' locker room.

And why not?

The Clippers had just pulled off a 19-point comeback for their 16th straight victory ? in a venue where they had often struggled.

Paul did most of the damage, leading the Clippers (24-6) with 29 points, including the final seven, as Los Angeles squeaked out a 116-114 win Friday night over the Utah Jazz.

The Clippers' winning streak is the longest in the NBA since Boston won 19 games in a row from Nov. 15 to Dec. 23, 2008.

The last time the franchise won three straight in Salt Lake City was 1979-81 when they were the San Diego Clippers.

"This one is a great win for us because we kind of needed a challenge," said Blake Griffin, who added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers. "(We had) to prove not only to everybody else but to ourselves that we can still win close games like this and win a game down 19 in the third quarter."

In the opposing locker room, the Jazz were lamenting another one that got away ? the second loss at home to the Clippers during their franchise-record streak. Utah dropped the first by one on Dec. 3 after leading by 14.

On Friday, ex-Clipper Randy Foye put up a 3-pointer at the buzzer that was contested by Matt Barnes, but no foul was called. Foye finished with a season-high 28 points for Utah.

Foye did his best not to say anything about the officiating.

"I felt as though I pump-faked," Foye said. "He knew that I wanted to shoot the 3 and I felt the contact. He made me go straight up and shoot the ball straight down. It was just a tough play."

Paul was tough down the stretch, hitting the clinching free throws after getting fouled by Al Jefferson with 3.4 seconds left.

"When (DeAndre Jordan) came to give me the ball screen, I wasn't worried about (Gordon) Hayward, I was just worried about Al Jefferson," Paul said. "I could tell (Jefferson) was going to try and blitz me. Anytime two guys try and trap me, I'm always going to attack the slower guy. If they wouldn't have called the foul, I was right around Al anyway."

Paul sank both free throws this time, after missing one with 18 seconds left that allowed Jefferson to grab the rebound, draw a foul and sink two free throws at the other end to tie it at 114.

Paul made sure he hit both the next time.

"Man, I couldn't wait to get to the line. I couldn't wait to get to the line," Paul said. "I was mad at myself for missing that last one. I couldn't wait to get to the line to redeem myself."

Just like the first game this season against the Clippers, Utah had the upper hand early.

The Jazz used a 36-point second quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a 58-48 halftime lead. Utah reserves did most of the damage.

Alec Burks and Earl Watson pushed the pace, big men Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors provided a presence inside and Hayward found ways to score.

Kanter's block of Ronny Turiaf ignited the crowd.

Hayward's 3-pointer tied it at 34 with 7:04 left in the second and he scored 10 straight for the Jazz, who forced eight turnovers in the quarter and held the Clippers to 37.5 percent shooting.

Foye, who kept Utah close in the first with a 13-point quarter on 4-of-5 shooting, gave the Jazz their biggest lead of the half, 54-41, with two more free throws.

The Jazz led 74-55 with 8:08 left in the third on a pair of free throws by Paul Millsap. But the Clippers outscored Utah 29-14 the rest of the quarter to pull to 88-84 going into the fourth.

Paul provided the offense in the third with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

"At the beginning of the third quarter, they made another run at us but then we got a little bit of a rhythm and then started guarding. We started getting some stops and getting out in the open court," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.

"Give Utah credit but our guys battled back tonight. They found a way to win and that's what it's all about. We stayed together, we weathered the storm when we had to and gave ourselves a chance and we were fortunate to make enough plays."

The loss dropped Utah below .500 at 15-16. The Jazz have lost six of their last eight.

Jefferson added 22 points for Utah. Hayward had 17 off the bench.

The Clippers had six players in double figures. DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

"It's all tough," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "On our home court, we had a lead, we gave up the lead but we continued to fight. We made some mistakes but fought our way through it and had a chance to win the ballgame at the end. Unfortunately they got a lot of free throws."

The teams combined for 81 free throw attempts, with Utah making 37 of 40 and the Clippers 33 of 41.

Points in the paint were identical and rebounds were close (36-35 Jazz), but the Clippers had a four-point edge on second-chance points.

That was enough.

NOTES: An unidentified Jazz employee was disciplined and had his access to the team Twitter account discontinued after what team officials deemed an inappropriate tweet regarding the firing of Nets coach Avery Johnson and Brooklyn's interest in Phil Jackson. The tweet said Jackson only wants "great players," an apparent reference to ex-Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who had criticized Johnson's offense. ... Jazz point guard Mo Williams still has swelling in his sprained right thumb and remains out indefinitely. ... The Clippers got a scare late in the first quarter when Lamar Odom came up limping. He returned in the second and finished with 12 points. ... The Clippers failed to register a blocked shot despite coming into the game averaging 6.52.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clippers-beat-jazz-116-114-16th-straight-win-050730875--spt.html

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Waterspout/Tornado Hit Watsonville Just Before Christmas

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Watch This Guy Put Out a Boat Fire with Sheer Awesomeness

You always want to keep a fire extinguisher handy, especially on your boat, but if you didn't and things start getting a little toasty, this is probably the best you can hope for. Despite all the nay-saying in the background, this speedy good Samaritan here managed to put out that fire quite well, and look like a badass doing it. What more could you ask for in a good deed? [Reddit] More »


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Toyota's Crisis Management Failures - Business Insider

Toyota just agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit related to complaints of unintended acceleration. When added to pending litigation and amounts already paid out for recalls, some estimate that the costs could easily top $3.1 billion. How could this happen to a company that created and maintained a quality reputation for so many years?

Some say that Toyota grew too fast, and its quality slid. On the other hand, quality experts say that in spite of Toyota?s rapid growth, quality has remained at better than industry average levels. In fact, Lexus, a Toyota luxury brand, often leads the industry in quality. There is one clear answer. Toyota proved itself inept at crisis management and marketing.

Toyota accelerates the confusion

When complaints of self-acceleration were first reported, Toyota did not know how to handle them. Rather than say that they are investigating the complaints and will issue a complete report at the conclusion of their investigation, Toyota representatives reacted to the complaints in ways that confounded marketing and crisis management experts. They confused everyone by jumping to conclusions and suggesting different causes in rapid succession. First, they attributed the problem to operator error, which is the most frequent cause of self-acceleration problems in automobiles (the issue that nearly triggered demise of Audi in the US market during the mid-1980s).

Then, Toyota suggested the cause of the problem was floor mats that trapped the gas pedal. Some engineers blamed ?sticky? gas pedals. This was followed by the suggestion that faulty electronics caused the unintended acceleration. Instead of reassuring the marketplace, Toyota acted in a way that caused owners to fear for their safety and prospective buyers to look for other makes and models. For example, Jim Lentz, president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, went on the Today Show and looked like a ?deer in headlights? in response to Matt Lauer's cross-examination. In a poll taken before Lentz spoke, 37% said they were less likely buy Toyota cars. The negative numbers jumped to 56% after he spoke. The uncertainty created by Toyota representatives triggered a series of costly recalls, lawsuits, and lost business ? causing Toyota and their dealership network to incur further losses from hefty discounts and implementing the recalls.

Were there serious quality issues with Toyota?

All makes and models of automobiles are found to have issues from time to time. The only way that these issues can be put in perspective, however, is to compare them to competitive makes and models. As the media fueled the notion that Toyota automobiles had serious defects, the actual data did not support this notion. A definitive joint study by the National Highway Safety Administration and NASA found no electronic flaws in Toyota vehicles that would cause dangerous self-acceleration issues. In a 2010 post for Business Week, Jeffrey Liker, an expert that has followed Toyota for over 27 years, debunked the issues with the floor mats and sticky gas pedals. For 2012, Toyota topped the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety?s list with 15 models in 2012. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the 2012 Toyota Camry a 5-star rating. This is not to say that individual vehicles did not have flaws that caused problems. Any electro-mechanical device made by man can malfunction. There seems to be no definitive data that shows that there was a systematic problem with Toyota vehicles.

What should Toyota have done?

When complaints first arose about unintended acceleration, Toyota should have enlisted the very best marketing talent they could find to address the issues while their engineers and outside experts investigated the causes. Until definitive causes were found, their marketing team should have ?publicized? the investigation ? showing that the company was listening to the complaints and in complete control of the situation. As it was, they acted out of control. If the complaints were found to be rumors, they should have implemented the rumor procedure:

  1. Do not publicize the rumor (any more than the media already had).
  2. Promote the opposite of what the rumor said (using qualified marketing executives).
  3. Provide proof to support the notion that Toyota vehicles are amongst the safest on the market (quoting the IIHS and NHTSA data above).

If the complaints were found to be factually correct, the marketing team should have employed the fact procedure, which involves the following steps:

  1. Admit and apologize for the error(s).
  2. Limit the scope (point out the fact that Toyota has more models on the road than any other automobile maker).
  3. Proposed a solution so the defects are unlikely to reoccur, such a new Quality Control Procedure.

Easier said than done

I know what some are thinking. The suggestions above are ?easier said than done? in the moment when Toyota was inundated with negative publicity from just about everywhere. While that may be true, the fact still remains that Toyota did not take the right approach, and as a result, incurred billions of unnecessary costs because of its inept handling of the crisis.

Needs to communicate better

In addition to following the appropriate procedures, Toyota should have created an ad that boldly made the point that there is no better time to buy a Toyota than right now. The ad should back up historic quality and safety claims with (1) sufficient independent credible data and (2) an extended warranty that would ally the fears of Toyota buyers. This would have cost far less than Toyota eventually spent and is likely to have avoided the serious damage to its previously untarnished image.

The one good outcome from Toyota?s mishandling of this crisis is that it forced the company to make the fixes it needed to reclaim the number one spot from General Motors. Hopefully, it also learned that to keep the top spot, making a better car is not enough. The company also has to communicate better.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/toyota-paying-billions-because-of-marketing-failures-2012-12

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Personal Finance Tips To Help You Reach Your Financial Goals ...

If you track your finances, you can make major purchases, like cars, vacations, and homes. Read on for good advice on how you can cultivate great personal finance skills.

Make sure to save for a rainy day by creating a savings account for emergencies. You can either save for something specific, like your child?s college education, or pay off debt with the extra money.

When you have extra money left over after paying bills, don?t give in to the temptation to spend more. Instead, save some money. Try to stick to your budget and do not let yourself suffer.

Steer clear of products or schemes that promise you overnight success. A lot of Internet marketers get deceived by this trap. Certainly learn, but spend more time actually doing than spending, and your profits will grow.

Credit Report

Make it a habit to review your credit report often. You can do this once year for free, more often if problems are found. Be sure to check your credit report every year as a way to make sure that there aren?t an inaccuracies.

If contributions are allowed for your IRA, make sure to do so regularly. This helps to you build a strong monetary foundation for the future. Various financial institutions, such as banks, credit unions or brokerage companies, can open IRA accounts for you. This will allow your retirement to go a lot better so be sure you put money into it when you can.

When items are on sale at the supermarket, you will not save money if you purchase more items than you can utilize. It makes good sense to stock up on things that you use the most, but you shouldn?t buy more than you can eat if it will expire before you can use it. Be sensible and only buy a bargain if it is one that you can use.

The key to having money is to never spend more than you bring in. People who always spend every last dollar or always have to borrow extra cannot possibly become rich due to their poor spending habits. Calculate your income, and shoot to spend much less than that.

If your credit card is close to its limit, use a different one rather than letting it max out. Having to pay interest on two different cards will be a lot lower than paying a maxed out one. This can serve as a great technique towards improving your credit score in the long run.

Always have a small envelope on your person. Your envelope should be used to store items such as business cards and purchase receipts. Keep this information available as a record that you might need at a later date. You never know when you?ll need to contest a credit card charge after being charged twice for something.

Proper budgeting is a huge part of being successful. You need to invest your profits as necessary in order to build your business. Carefully asses the risk of reinvesting profit to grow your net worth and see if it makes sense in terms of the return you want from your investment. Choose how much of your profit will become capital and stick to the portion or amount.

Reward Yourself

Set aside a specific allowance for personal treats so that you aren?t tempted to splurge from your savings. You can use your cash allowance to reward yourself in whatever way you want, but you can?t spend more than your allowance. This lets you treat yourself and reward yourself without messing up your budget.

Try to hold a garage sale, where you can sell all of your unwanted goods for additional cash. If you want, you can also charge your neighbors a fee to sell their stuff at your sale as well. There are plenty of inventive ways to make money at a yard sale.

The fund should have at least three months worth of income. Save 10 percent of your pay and put it in a high-yield account.

Never jeopardize your retirement savings to pay for your current living expenses. There are many options available to you to take care of your personal finances. Taking away from your own retirement might not be the best option, but it is an option nonetheless.

Start saving money now to be able to afford large purchases later. With the tips from this article in hand, you can make better decision regarding your finances.

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