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Saturday 31 December 2011
Friday 30 December 2011
College Football Bowl Game Capsules
Detroit, MI (My Sportsbook) - Caleb TerBush and Robert Marve threw for touchdowns, helping Purdue hold on for a 37-32 victory over Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Raheem Mostert returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, while Carson Wiggs kicked three field goals and recovered two onside kicks. The Boilermakers (7-6) also recovered a fumble with under two minutes left to secure a victory in their first postseason appearance since the 2007 season, when they won the Motor City Bowl. It was Purdue's first bowl game under third-year head coach Danny Hope. The Boilermakers grabbed control with a 20-point second quarter, and Western Michigan (7-6) wasn't able to catch up. The Broncos have not won a bowl game in five tries. Alex Carder threw for 439 yards and three touchdowns for WMU, but was intercepted four times.
Final Score: NC State 31, Louisville 24
Charlotte, NC (My Sportsbook) - Mike Glennon threw three touchdown passes and NC State fended off Louisville, 31-24, to win the 2011 Belk Bowl. Glennon passed for 264 yards with an interception on 21-of-33 throws for the Wolfpack (8-5), who won four of their last five to finish the season. T.J. Graham caught seven passes for 116 yards and two scores for the victors. Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times, one of which David Amerson returned for a score. The Cardinals (7-6) won five of their last six regular season games to earn a share of the Big East title,
Source: http://www.mysportsbook.com/news/sports_betting/949031.html
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U.N. complains to Iraq over attack on dissident camp (Reuters)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The United Nations has complained to Iraq about mortar attacks this week on an Iranian dissident camp near Baghdad and has won a promise that they will be stopped, a U.N. spokesman said on Thursday.
Two mortars hit Camp Ashraf on Sunday, just days after Baghdad extended a year-end deadline for the facility to be closed as the United Nations negotiated resettlement of 3,000 residents there.
Camp Ashraf, 40 miles from Baghdad, has been home for 25 years to the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, or PMOI, an Iranian opposition group the United States and Iran officially consider a terrorist organization.
The U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, "raised the reported mortar attacks ... with the Iraqi competent authorities, who confirmed that these attacks did indeed take place," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
The Iraqis "promised to ensure that these attacks cease and to hold the perpetrators accountable," Nesirky said.
U.N. officials could not say whether the Iraqi authorities had given any indication of who they believed was responsible for the attacks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last week he had agreed to extend the deadline for closing the camp on condition the United Nations transfer about 400 to 800 residents to other countries before the end of this year.
Camp Ashraf's future became unclear after Washington turned it over to Iraq in 2009. Baghdad has repeatedly said it does not want the guerrilla group on Iraqi soil.
In the 1970s the group led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran but after the 1979 Islamic revolution also turned against Iran's new clerical rulers. It was hosted in Iraq by former leader Saddam Hussein, a bitter foe of Iran.
The Paris-based leader of the PMOI, Maryam Rajavi, said on Wednesday that 400 members were ready to move from Camp Ashraf to a new location as a goodwill gesture. She said they would travel to a sprawling former U.S. military base known as Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport "at the first opportunity."
In a statement on Thursday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is linked to the Mujahideen, said the 400 were ready to move as early as Friday. But U.N. officials said it was not likely to start for several days.
The NCRI said on Wednesday there had been a total of three attacks this week on Camp Ashraf using 107mm Katyusha rockets. It blamed them on the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps "and its Iraqi agents."
(Reporting By Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Bill Trott)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/wl_nm/us_iraq_iran_un
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Thursday 29 December 2011
Missing Ind. girl found dead, babysitter charged (AP)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. ? The neighbor who was babysitting a 9-year-old Indiana girl when she went missing last week will be formally charged with murder Tuesday, a heartbreaking turn for the girl's relatives who considered him a family friend.
Authorities said Monday night that Aliahna Lemmon had been found dead and Mike Plumadore, who was watching Aliahna and her two sisters when she went missing Friday, was being held on a murder charge. He and Aliahna's family lived in the same mobile home park in Fort Wayne.
"He was a trusted family friend," Aliahna's step-grandfather, David Story, told The Associated Press late Monday, saying he was surprised by the arrest.
Plumadore, 39, is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
He was arrested after being interviewed by police, Allen County sheriff's spokesman Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel said. Investigators said Aliahna's body was found in the northeastern Indiana county, but no details were released.
On Monday, FBI agents descended on the rundown mobile home park where Aliahna lived and was last seen. It's a known haven for registered sex offenders, though Plumadore is not on Indiana's registered sex offenders list. He has a criminal record in Florida and North Carolina that includes convictions for trespassing and assault.
No active search was done Sunday for Aliahna, though more than 100 emergency workers searched for her Saturday around the mobile home park. Tinkel said the same size search could not be sustained because of the Christmas holiday.
Aliahna's mother, Tarah Souders, told The Journal Gazette earlier Monday that her daughter had vision, hearing and emotional problems and suffered from attention deficit disorder. Aliahna and her sisters were staying with Plumadore because their mother had been sick with the flu and Aliahna's stepfather works at night and sleeps during the day.
Plumadore told the newspaper Sunday that he left the three girls in his mobile home about 6 a.m. Friday and went to a gas station about a mile away to buy a cigar. Authorities have said the store's surveillance video shows him there about that time.
"I had dead-bolted the door," he said. "When I got back, all the girls was here."
He said he smoked his cigar and went back to sleep, then woke up about 10 a.m. when Aliahna's mother called. After that call, he realized the door to the home was unlocked and that Aliahna was gone. He said Aliahna's 6-year-old sisters told him Aliahna had left with her mother.
Plumadore said it wasn't until he talked with Aliahna's mother about 8:30 p.m. that they realized she was missing and police were notified. Souders said the miscommunication caused the delay in determining that Aliahna had vanished.
"She's never wandered off," she said earlier Monday.
Elizabeth Watkins, who lives nearby, said residents are cautious and keep to themselves in part because of the number of sex offenders living in the mobile home park. According to a state website, 15 registered sex offenders live in the park that numbers about two dozen homes. Watkins and she didn't know Plumadore and was shocked when told of the girl's death.
"I'm numb, I'm totally numb. I don't know what to think," she said.
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A's trade closer Bailey, OF Sweeney to Red Sox
FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2011, file photo, Oakland Athletics' Andrew Bailey poses in uniform in Phoenix. A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Oakland Athletics have agreed to trade All-Star closer Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. The person confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out before a formal announcement from the clubs. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2011, file photo, Oakland Athletics' Andrew Bailey poses in uniform in Phoenix. A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Oakland Athletics have agreed to trade All-Star closer Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. The person confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out before a formal announcement from the clubs. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
FILE - In this Feb, 24, 2011, file photo, Oakland Athletics' Ryan Sweeney poses in uniform in Phoenix. A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Athletics have agreed to trade All-Star closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. The person confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out before a formal announcement from the baseball clubs. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2011, file photo, Boston Red Sox's Josh Reddick poses in uniform in Fort Myers,Fla. A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Oakland Athletics have agreed to trade All-Star closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox for outfielder Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. The person confirmed the deal, first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out before a formal announcement from the baseball clubs. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
BOSTON (AP) ? For Andrew Bailey, coming in from the bullpen at Fenway Park is a special feeling.
He'll experience that a lot more next season.
New manager Bobby Valentine found his new man for the back end of the Boston bullpen on Wednesday when the Red Sox obtained the All-Star closer and outfielder Ryan Sweeney from the Oakland Athletics for outfielder Josh Reddick, infield prospect Miles Head and minor league pitcher Raul Alcantara.
In the deal, first reported by ESPN, Bailey gives the Red Sox a reliable ninth-inning guy to replace the departed Jonathan Papelbon, who signed a $50 million, four-year contract as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in November.
The 27-year-old Bailey has three saves in four appearances at Fenway Park in his three major-league seasons.
"The one that sticks out the most was my first save opportunity this year was against the Red Sox," Bailey said in a conference call. "I actually blew that save. From what I remember, there's nothing like the atmosphere of running into the game from the bullpen at Fenway Park."
A New Jersey native and offseason resident of Connecticut, Bailey is excited about coming back east.
He already knows Valentine, who lives in Stamford, Conn., and hosted several events for the pediatric cancer foundation of Bailey and former teammate Craig Breslow.
"Bobby and I are good friends," Bailey said. "It just kind of helps knowing someone going in."
Bailey ? the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year, who made the All-Star team that season and again in 2010 ? had been the subject of trade talk this offseason.
The right-hander went 0-4 with a 3.24 ERA and 24 saves in 41 2-3 innings and 42 appearances this year. He spent time on the disabled list for the second straight season, pitching for the first time in 2011 on May 29 after being sidelined with a strained right forearm.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "This is my first healthy offseason I've had since I've been in the big leagues."
In his career, he is 7-10 with a 2.07 ERA and 75 saves in 84 opportunities. In 2010, Oakland led the AL in ERA (3.56) and shutouts (17) while holding opponents to a .245 batting average.
Bailey becomes the fourth key pitcher traded this month for the rebuilding A's, who dealt starter Trevor Cahill and reliever Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Dec. 9 and then sent left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez to Washington last week.
Still left in Oakland's depleted rotation are Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy.
Braden, who pitched a perfect game on May 9, 2010, received a $3.35 million, one-year contract Dec. 13. But he made only three starts last season before being sidelined by a shoulder injury that required surgery.
"That organization is heading down a different road where they're trying to get younger and build for a future in San Jose," Bailey said.
Oakland general manager Billy Beane is retooling his roster for the future in hopes of the franchise getting the go ahead to build a new ballpark some 40 miles south in San Jose despite the San Francisco Giants owning the territorial rights to technology-rich Santa Clara County.
Beane and owner Lew Wolff have said they expect to hear soon from Commissioner Bud Selig, and Beane said the unsettled stadium situation would affect him being able to sign his own and other free agents this winter. He has gone the trade route yet again, a common practice for the low-budget franchise that has watched its superstars leave for big money elsewhere over the past decade.
The A's (74-88) haven't posted a winning record or earned a playoff berth since being swept in the 2006 AL championship series by Detroit.
The Red Sox missed the playoffs the past two years, but won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
"I think every kid playing T-ball out there strives to pitch in the postseason and meaningful games in September and, ultimately, the World Series," Bailey said. "So I'm going to welcome that with open arms."
On Dec. 14, Boston traded for Houston closer Mark Melancon, who had 20 saves last year in 71 relief outings but may be a setup man for Bailey.
"We believe both are fully capable of (closing)," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. "Bailey's been doing it for a little bit longer so perhaps he goes in with the leg up."
Sweeney is in the mix for Boston's right field job now that J.D. Drew is a free agent. He's an outstanding fielder who can play all three spots. In six seasons, he has a .283 batting average after hitting .265 with one homer and 25 RBIs in 264 at bats last season.
Reddick, who began last season at Triple-A Pawtucket before being promoted in late May, will look to fill a big void in Oakland's open outfield.
The 24-year-old Reddick batted .280 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 87 games for Boston in 2011. He can play any outfield spot and likely will get immediate action for the A's, who already lost outfielders David DeJesus and Josh Willingham in free agency. Center fielder Coco Crisp isn't expected to return either.
At last summer's trade deadline, the A's and Red Sox were near completion on a deal that would have sent Oakland right-hander Rich Harden to Boston for Triple-A first baseman Lars Anderson, but it fell through late because of Harden's lengthy list of injury issues.
Former Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young returned to the A's this offseason to work under manager Bob Melvin.
Head, a first baseman, batted .299 with 22 home runs and 82 RBIs in 129 games with the Red Sox two Single-A affiliates, at Greenville and Salem.
The right-handed Alcantara, 19, combined for a 1-4 record and a 2.20 ERA in 13 starts with Single-A Lowell and the Red Sox affiliate in the Gulf Coast League. He struck out 50 and walked just 12 while holding opponents to a .208 batting average.
___
AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this story.
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Monday 7 November 2011
How wrangle over Jerusalem is at the core of a US Supreme Court showdown
Did Congress overstep its authority when it instructed US officials to list 'Israel' as the place of birth for Americans born in Jerusalem? Supreme Court justices heard arguments Monday.
The status of Jerusalem, bitterly contested for ages by rivals in the Middle East, has for years also divided the legislative and executive branches of the US government.
Skip to next paragraphNow a law passed by Congress in 2002 instructing US officials to list ?Israel? as the place of birth for Americans born in Jerusalem is at the core of a potentially historic showdown at the US Supreme Court pitting legislative against executive power.
On Monday the justices heard arguments in the case, Zivotofsky v. Clinton, examining whether Congress overstepped its authority when it passed the law.
Based on questions asked at oral argument, the justices appear inclined to leave the intricacies of foreign policy to the State Department.
The case arises in the relatively limited context of how best to record the birth of a child to American citizens when the birth takes place in Jerusalem. But the underlying issues will likely force the justices to confront irreconcilable claims to power from co-equal branches of government.
On one side is a State Department policy that requires that the US passport of a child born in Jerusalem record the place of birth as merely Jerusalem.
On the other side is the federal law that requires US officials to record Israel as the place of birth, whenever requested by US-citizen parents.
Roughly a month after the law was passed, Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, both US citizens living in Jerusalem, were blessed with the birth of a son, Menachem.
The boy?s mother applied for a US passport, but was disappointed to learn it would not record the place of her son?s birth as Israel, only Jerusalem. State Department officials cited the Jerusalem policy.
The Zivotofskys sued, asking a federal judge to force the State Department to comply with the Congressional statute. The judge declined, ruling that the case raised a political question that was best left to the political branches of government to resolve. An appeals court agreed.
In taking up the case, the Supreme Court asked both parties to address the political question issue as well as whether the 2002 congressional statute violated the president?s authority to recognize foreign governments.
Both sides in the debate cite different sources of authority.
Washington lawyer Nathan Lewin, representing the Zivotofskys, told the justices on Monday Congress was acting under its power to regulate passports.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli countered that the congressional action intrudes on the president?s authority to recognize foreign governments.
The underlying issue is highly emotional and freighted with historic and religious significance.
Israel has long claimed Jerusalem as its capital, but US diplomats ? with an eye toward being honest brokers in Arab-Israeli peace talks ? have declined to endorse the designation.
Instead, the State Department has maintained an official policy of neutrality over the ultimate jurisdiction of the city. Jerusalem is considered a sacred site to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and US officials fear any perceived US policy change might spark a backlash among Muslims.
In the Muslim world, Jerusalem under an Israeli flag is a rallying cry, particularly among Islamic militants.
Mr. Lewin downplayed potential foreign policy fallout from the congressional mandate. ?This gives the individual passport holder a choice,? he told the justices.
Lewin said the congressional directive would apply to 50,000 passports and would simply allow each passport holder to decide whether to self-identify with ?Jerusalem? as a birth place, or ?Israel.?
He said Congress has the authority to impose such restrictions on passports, including what the passport says.
?This is not in our view a recognition case,? he said. ?This is a passport case.?
Lewin said there is no political question involved in the case. He said the courts must decide whether the statute is constitutional, and if it is constitutional, then the courts must enforce it.
?We live in a system under which Congress passes the law and the president has the duty to be the sole instrument of foreign policy,? Lewin said. ?But when Congress disapproves of what he does ? Congress prevails.?
Solicitor General Verrilli urged the court to find that the executive branch has exclusive power to recognize foreign governments and that the congressional directive infringes on that power.
Verrilli said the Jerusalem issue is ?a very sensitive and delicate matter.? ?He added: ?This is an area in which the executive?s got to make the judgment because it?s of paramount importance that the nation speak with one voice.?
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Sunday 6 November 2011
McCourt to pay $131M in divorce settlement
By GREG RISLING
updated 8:47 p.m. ET Nov. 3, 2011
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt must pay his former wife and ex-team CEO Jamie McCourt $131 million by the end of April as part of their divorce settlement, according to a binding settlement filed Thursday.
The agreement was signed by the former couple last month but made official Thursday. It calls for the lump sum to be paid in cash and would be tax-free. If Frank McCourt comes up with the money before April 30, 2012, $1 million per month will be shaved from his tab.
McCourt and Major League Baseball reached an agreement this week to sell the team and its media rights. The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in June after the league rejected a television contract with Fox, reported to be worth up to $3 billion, that McCourt needed to keep the team afloat.
MLB had assumed control of the club's day-to-day operations in mid-April before the team filed for bankruptcy.
The couple's protracted divorce was played out in court, where their lavish spending habits were made public. Court documents contend the McCourts took out more than $100 million in loans from Dodgers-related businesses for their own use
Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon ruled in December that a post-marital agreement that gave Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers was invalid, clearing the way for his ex-wife to seek half of the team under California's community property law.
As part of the settlement between the McCourts, Jamie will retain two beachfront homes in Malibu, a house in Holmby Hills and a condominium in Vail. After paying off the mortgages, the four properties have a value of about $50 million.
Frank McCourt will continue to pay $225,000 in temporary spousal support until the lump-sum payment is made. He will get to keep two homes in Massachusetts, according to the agreement.
The McCourts previously reached a divorce settlement on June 17, but the deal was contingent on approval of the proposed TV contract. That deal would have given Jamie McCourt $100 million.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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CSN: It seems logical that Terry Francona would be at the top of the Cubs' list of managerial candidates. But given the collapse of the undisciplined Red Sox this fall, it's difficult to see Chicago hiring the former Boston manager.
Getty ImagesSource: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45158078/ns/sports-baseball/
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Eric Schmidt: Actually, Google's Market Share Is ... - Business Insider
Apparently Google isn't as dominant as you think it is.
Today, chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt submitted the following in written testimony to to a U.S. Senate subcommittee on fair competition:
As I acknowledged during the Committee hearing, Google is ?in the area? of 65% of queries in the U.S., if you look only at Google?s general search competitors, such as Microsoft?s Bing and Yahoo!. In fact, we find that the monthly general search query figures released by comScore and Hitwise don?t reflect the reality of how many sites Google competes with in search.
Schmidt is probably referring to vertical search engines like Kayak (travel info) and Realtor.com (real estate listings). Collectively, these search engines may have a few points of market share.
But the worry of regulators is that Google can simply build competing verticals, then favor its own verticals in search results. And if a competitor carves out a really valuable niche, then Google can just buy it, like it did with travel information site ITA.
This is a retreat from what Schmidt said a month ago when he appeared in person and basically admitted that Google was dominant.
Schmidt's change of tune was pointed out by the Association for Competitive Technology, a lobbying group that is funded partly by Google competitors like Microsoft and Oracle. But still -- it's an interesting glimpse into how Google might try to fight allegations that it's a monopoly.
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Saturday 5 November 2011
AP Exclusive: Third worker says Cain harassed her
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain pauses while speaking at the Congressional Health Caucus Thought Leaders Series, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain pauses while speaking at the Congressional Health Caucus Thought Leaders Series, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks after meeting with doctors attending the Docs4PatientCare conference in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks after meeting with doctors attending the Docs4PatientCare conference in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, center, is surrounded by security and staff as he walks through a hotel lobby in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, before speaking after meeting with doctors attending the Docs4PatientCare conference. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, center, enters a conference room to make a statement after meeting with doctors attending the Docs4PatientCare conference in Alexandria, Va.,Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A third woman considered filing a workplace complaint against Herman Cain over what she deemed aggressive and unwanted behavior when she and Cain, now a Republican presidential candidate, worked together during the late 1990s, the woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment.
The woman said he made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures about the same time that two co-workers had settled separate harassment complaints against Cain, who was then the head of the National Restaurant Association.
The woman was located and approached by the AP as part of its investigation into harassment complaints against Cain that were disclosed in recent days and have thrown his presidential campaign into turmoil. She spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared losing her current job and the possibility of damage to her reputation.
Cain's campaign denied anew that he'd done anything wrong, decried a "smear campaign" as he is riding high in opinion polls and accused rival Rick Perry's operation of being behind the original stories.
Perry told the conservative RedState blog late Wednesday that his campaign "had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Earlier, the Perry campaign suggested the campaign of yet another candidate, Mitt Romney, might be a source. Romney's campaign said that wasn't true.
Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan called the Cain campaign's assertions against Perry "both reckless and false."
"For a candidate and campaign that claim to be the victims of unfounded and unproven accusations, they are awfully quick to hurl unfounded accusations themselves. Contrary to the Cain campaign's false accusations, there is not one shred of evidence that any member of the Perry team had anything to do with the recent stories regarding Herman Cain ? because it isn't true," Sullivan said.
The woman said she did not file a formal complaint against Cain because she began having fewer interactions with him. Later, she learned that a co-worker ? one of the two women whose accusations have rocked Cain's campaign this week ? had already done so. She said she would have felt she had to file otherwise.
She said Cain told her that he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work.
His actions "were inappropriate, and it made me feel uncomfortable," she said.
Earlier this week, amid the allegations but not addressing them specifically, Cain said he had "a sense of humor, and some people have a problem with that."
But the former employee told the AP: "People have said he's a jovial guy. But I never knew him to make jokes like that."
The AP confirmed that the employee worked at the restaurant association with Cain during the period in question, that she has no party affiliation in her voter registration in the past decade and is not identified as a donor in federal campaigns or local political campaigns. Records show she was registered as a Democrat at one point previously.
Asked for comment about the accusations, including the most recent, Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said, "Mr. Cain has said over the past two days at public events that we could see other baseless allegations made against him as this appalling smear campaign continues." Gordon added, "He has never acted in the way alleged by inside-the-Beltway media, and his distinguished record over 40 years spent climbing the corporate ladder speaks for itself."
Denying any involvement, Sullivan said the Perry campaign learned of the allegations when Politico first published a story late Sunday evening.
Cain himself, in an interview with Forbes, said he believed a Perry consultant gave information about the allegations to Politico. After denying earlier this week that he knew about any settlements, Cain said Wednesday that he outlined the allegations of a woman to the consultant, Curt Anderson, when Anderson was helping him on an earlier campaign.
Anderson said in a statement to AP: "I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I never heard any of these allegations until I read about them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman."
Perry's campaign pointed to Romney's operation as a possible source of the Politico story. "There are real ties between Romney campaign backers and Mr. Cain and the National Restaurant Association," Sullivan said.
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul denied that the campaign was involved in the disclosure of the sexual harassment allegations. And Romney, himself, took a pass when asked to comment on Cain in a television interview.
Meanwhile, another woman who worked with Cain at the restaurant association, said, "I found him to be a good boss." Christina Howard, a former lobbyist for the association, said, "I felt no problem going into his office and asking for his advice."
She said she didn't recall allegations about Cain during his tenure and added, "I'd roll my eyes at anyone who would make that allegation."
But Chris Wilson, a pollster who did work for the restaurant association during Cain's tenure, said in an interview that he witnessed the businessman making inappropriate comments and gestures toward a young woman who worked for the group during a dinner at a hotel in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington in the late 1990s. Wilson declined to discuss more specifics without the woman's permission.
Cain's behavior with women was well known, Wilson said.
"People knew about it. I'm surprised that it hasn't come up before," said Wilson, whose firm, Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, does polling for a political action committee backing Perry. Wilson said he has not been the source of information on the accusations against Cain.
Throughout the day Wednesday, Cain tried to project an image of campaign business as usual, but he appeared frazzled at times and couldn't escape the questions that have dogged him since the report Sunday night that at least two women had complained about his behavior while at the restaurant association and had been given financial settlements. The controversy has arisen two months before the leadoff Iowa caucuses and as polls show Cain at the head of the GOP field alongside Romney.
"There are factions that are trying to destroy me personally, as well as this campaign," Cain said as the day began, though he didn't say to whom he was referring.
At his next appearance in suburban Virginia, he was supposed to take questions after a speech to health care professionals, but he ultimately refused.
"Don't even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, OK? Don't even bother," a testy Cain told a throng of reporters.
When pressed, Cain raised his voice and said "What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me!" as hotel security led him through a hallway jammed with journalists. "What part of 'no' don't people understand?"
Another of Cain's accusers was increasingly reluctant speak publicly, a person close to the situation said Wednesday. The person, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusations, said the fact that the incident has become public was very unsettling to the woman.
By late Wednesday, it appeared that the accuser's lawyer, Joel P. Bennett, was not going to press the National Restaurant Association to waive the confidentiality agreement the accuser had agreed to as a part of her settlement so she could talk freely, as the lawyer initially had suggested he would.
Rather, Bennett told the AP in a brief email that he would seek approval Thursday from the trade group for his client to issue a statement about her position notwithstanding the confidentiality agreement.
Confidentiality agreements that commit both sides to silence are common in financial settlements of an employee's sexual harassment claims, lawyers for management and employees said. Violating such an agreement can lead to a complaint in court and an order to pay damages, or at least the other side's attorney's fees, said Sarah Pierce Wimberly, a partner in the Atlanta office of the Ford and Harrison law firm.
But when the silence is broken, it's often hard to find the source of the leak, said Robert Kelner, a partner in the Covington and Burling firm's Washington office. He said, "The truth is, when parties enter into these confidentiality agreements around a settlement, they usually understand that there is less than 100 percent certainty that the information is truly going to remain confidential."
It's not clear if Cain himself was part of the settlement or whether it just involved the association and the woman. But he almost certainly would be bound by it, as the association's former president.
Over the past two days, Cain has acknowledged he knew of one agreement between the restaurant association and a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He has said the woman initially asked for a large financial settlement but ultimately received two to three months' pay as part of a separation agreement. Cain also acknowledged remembering one of the woman's accusations against him, saying he stepped close to her to make a reference to her height and told her she was the same height as his wife.
He has said he is not aware of agreements or settlements with any other women.
In media interviews since the story broke Sunday, Cain has offered conflicting accounts of what happened during his tenure at the trade group in Washington. He eventually acknowledged knowing about one settlement but said he did not know how much was paid. The New York Times reported Tuesday that one payout was $35,000, equivalent to one year's salary for one of the women.
The pressure on Cain only increased when a pillar of the GOP establishment suggested Wednesday that the Georgia businessman should ask the association to waive the confidentiality agreements.
"What are the facts?" asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on MSNBC. "If you have a confidentiality agreement that keeps the public from finding out something that the public is interested in knowing the facts, you ought to go on and get the facts out."
____
Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt, Brett Blackledge and Mark Sherman in Washington and news researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.
____
Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum
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Friday 4 November 2011
'Superhero' pilot: Landing might've been better
WARSAW, Poland?? Hailed as a hero for his smooth emergency landing of a Boeing jet, a Polish pilot said he felt a "huge relief" once his passengers evacuated the plane but wondered whether he could have done even better.
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Capt. Tadeusz Wrona, 54, softly placed the LOT airlines plane carrying 231 people from Newark, New Jersey, on its belly at Warsaw airport, gaining instant hero status in Poland. Some attributed his gentle landing to his years of experience as a glider pilot.
In the United States, video of Wrona's landing immediately evoked memories of the "miracle on the Hudson," when Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger landed a crippled US Airways jet in the Hudson River in 2009 and saved 155 lives.
At a news conference Wednesday in Warsaw, Wrona appeared uncomfortable with all the accolades, insisting that calling him a hero was "exaggerated."
Story: Plane crash-lands at Warsaw's international airport, no one injured"I am absolutely sure that each of us would have done it the same way, and that the result would have been the same," Wrona said in his dark blue pilot's uniform with golden insignia. "We tried to put the plane down as gently as we could and we were successful."
But he added that he kept playing the landing over and over again in his mind, imagining if he might have executed it better.
Co-pilot Jerzy Szwarc told The Associated Press he was calm and had a sense of "deja-vu" during the landing, after having trained for emergency touchdowns many times on a flight simulator.
Slideshow: Emergency landing in Warsaw (on this page)Wrona focused mostly on the technical aspects of his landing, revealing only a small hint of emotion ? the enormous sense of relief he felt when all his passengers and crew had reached safety.
"When I stopped on the runway, I still was not sure that everyone was safe because smoke and some burning from friction appeared on the ground," Wrona said. "I felt huge relief when the head flight attendant reported that the plane was empty."
'Superhero'
Passengers on board the plane described Tuesday's landing as so smooth they thought they had landed on wheels. However, sparks, smoke and small fires under the plane erupted on landing, and emergency workers immediately doused the plane with water.
One reporter asked him about the exceptional landing. Wrona joked that he heard one passenger in the back complain about feeling a bump, eliciting chuckles from journalists.
Several Facebook pages sprang up immediately to express admiration for Wrona, with some calling him a "superhero." "Fly like an eagle and land like a crow," runs a phrase that has appeared on Facebook, playing on the word "wrona," Polish for crow.
The landing is an inspiration to a nation that is still heavily focused on the aviation disaster in Smolensk, Russia, in April 2010, in which President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others died when their plane crashed in heavy fog.
A Polish government report put much of the blame for that accident on poor pilot training and faulty security procedures within the Polish air force. In contrast, the Polish crew's landing of the faulty plane has been hailed as masterful and a textbook-perfect example of how to carry out an emergency procedure.
President Bronislaw Komorowski ? Kaczynski's successor ? praised the crew and emergency workers on the ground and said he plans to bestow state decorations on them.
The State Commission for Examining Air Accidents said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into the reasons of the plane's malfunctioning
Inspection
Meanwhile, a team of Boeing experts from the United States arrived in Poland on Wednesday to offer advice on removing the plane from the runway and to inspect its technical condition, LOT President Maciej Pirog said.
Warsaw airport remained closed, but Pirog said LOT was hoping to resume its flights Wednesday night, after the plane is moved from the intersection of two runways. Cranes were lifting the plane from the runway Wednesday evening.
Pirog refused to give cost estimate for the airport stoppage, but said 12,000 passengers and 280 flights go through Warsaw's Frederic Chopin airport daily.
LOT said the plane suffered "a central hydraulic system failure," indicating that the hydraulics used to extend the landing gear, or undercarriage, failed. The failure of an entire undercarriage was unprecedented for a Boeing 767 and highly unusual overall, according to aviation data and experts.
"I have flown this plane 500 times and this is the first time the undercarriage did not open," Wrona said.
"I will pilot it again with pleasure because it is one of the newest planes in the LOT fleet," Wrona said. "I hope it can be repaired. These are very well-made planes."
It would be weeks before it is known if the plane can be put back into service, Pirog said.
Meanwhile, heavy fog grounded planes at several Polish airports that were to have taken over some of the flights in and out of Warsaw. Airports in Krakow, Lodz, Katowice, Gdansk and Poznan have had to cancel or postpone departures and arrivals due to the fog.
"Maybe it would have been better for the company if the slide on the belly ended 300 meters (yards) further down the runway," Wrona joked. "But Boeing manuals don't say how far the plane can slide on its belly," he said, again drawing laughter from reporters.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45132573/ns/world_news-europe/
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Is Salman miffed with Sonakshi?
To the world Sonakshi Sinha is known as Salman Khan?s girl having made her debut in Arbaaz Khan’s maiden venture ?Dabangg?. With her first film only the doe eyed beauty rose to the position of being one of the most promising actresses of Bollywood. Not just the audiences but even the critics hailed her debut [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newslatest/~3/iX3mI5BnF8g/3905.html
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Thursday 3 November 2011
Cable TV ups profits at big media companies (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? Comcast Corp, News Corp and Time Warner Inc reported stronger quarterly results on Wednesday, confirming it pays to have a solid lineup of cable networks -- at least while advertisers keep spending.
Against all odds, advertisers continue to scoop up commercial time on television, and cable networks including Time Warner's TNT, News Corp's FX and Comcast's USA have been major beneficiaries. Subscription fees have only helped.
That point was driven home on Wednesday when Time Warner reported revenue from its cable networks rose 7 percent. Comcast, whose cable business is run through its majority interest in NBC Universal, posted a 12 percent increase.
"Cable networks drive the profitability of NBC Universal and they continue to perform well," said Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts, who has staked his reputation on last year's $30 billion deal for NBCU. (For a graphic of media companies' market cap: http://r.reuters.com/vyj74s )
Comcast's cable network results stand out even more compared with the performance of its flagship broadcast TV network NBC, whose prime-time schedule has struggled for years. Already NBC has canceled two shows it just rolled out for the new TV season, "Playboy Club" and "Free Agents."
"The cable networks like USA are firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately, the public face of NBC Universal is the broadcast network, and that is just struggling," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.
At Time Warner, where CEO Jeff Bewkes wants to focus the company squarely on creating content for TV, movies and magazines, advertising sales climbed 6 percent.
It cited strong pricing at its Turner networks, home to original shows such as "The Closer" and to the late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien, news on CNN and sports including baseball and auto racing.
CABLE PROFITS
Overall, Time Warner Inc's adjusted earnings rose a better-than-expected 27 percent to 79 cents a share despite a dip in adjusted operating profit at its cable networks. That dip caused Time Warner Inc's shares to fall as much as 3.7 percent on Wednesday.
"Although we appreciate this concern, we view this as a slight over-reaction given the 7 percent growth at the cable networks and the strong, 18 percent overall adjusted operating income growth," said Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan.
Time Warner also raised its full-year outlook for earnings per share growth to "high teens" percentage points from "at least low teens".
Along with its cable business, the company got a big lift from the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie series.
Operating profits at News Corp's cable networks jumped some 18 percent, helped by strong affiliate fee revenue from cable and satellite TV distributors. News Corp also reiterated its previously given fiscal year 2012 outlook for operating income growth of low to mid teens.
ADVERTISING SURPRISE
It is not just Comcast and Time Warner whose results are enjoying the one-two punch of cable advertising and cable subscription fees. Discovery Communications Inc, the company behind hit cable TV shows "Storm Chasers" and "Deadliest Catch," reported quarterly results late Tuesday that surpassed Wall Street expectations.
Next up is Walt Disney Co, with some of the best cable brands in the business, including ESPN. It reports next week.
Today's stubbornly bad job and housing markets -- coupled with Europe's debt crisis -- would seem the sort of troubles that would have advertisers once more slashing budgets.
Advertisers instead appear to be betting that the best way to jump-start sales is to keep their brands in front of consumers with billboards, digital campaigns and, particularly, TV commercials.
Heading into Wednesday, the economy was a major question facing media companies, particularly Comcast. Not only does Comcast rely on advertising from its TV networks, but its chief business of selling broadband, video and telephone services relies heavily on the housing market and consumer confidence.
Overall, it added 229,000 telephone, video and Internet customers. That satisfied Wall Street and calmed worries that arose last week when Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems posted disappointing subscriber numbers.
Comcast reported third-quarter net income of $908 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $867 million, or 31 cents a share, in the period a year ago.
Shares of Comcast rose 4 cents to close at $23.02 while Time Warner ended down less than 1 percent at $33.57. News Corp, which ended the day up 1 percent at $16.90, was up slightly in after-market trading by around 1 percent.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch and Yinka Adegoke in New York; additional reporting by Jim Finkle in New York; editing by Derek Caney, Matthew Lewis, Gary Hill)
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Wednesday 2 November 2011
Senators: US losing sway in Africa as China rises (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Senators voiced concern Tuesday that the United States has lost influence with African governments as China has emerged as the continent's main trading partner and a major source of investment for infrastructure development.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations African affairs subcommittee, said the U.S. goal of promoting open societies in Africa was being challenged by China offering no-strings-attached investment for repressive regimes.
Coons said about 70 percent of Chinese assistance to Africa comes in the form of roads, stadiums and government buildings, often built with Chinese material and labor, while 70 percent of U.S. government spending there goes toward crucial but less visible support for people, particularly to fight AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases.
"We may be winning the war on disease, while losing the battle for hearts and minds in Africa," Coons told a subcommittee hearing on China's role in Africa and its implications for U.S. policy.
Coons' comments echo a common theme among U.S. policymakers, that China's rise as an economic and political power challenges America's global predominance.
Lawmakers criticized China's state-backed support for governments with poor human rights records.
"China is interested in their own goals and has very little concern about the governance of the countries that they deal with," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
But experts told the panel that by supplying loans for infrastructure development, often in return for exports of commodities China needs for its own economic growth, the Asian power was responding to what African governments want, and filling a need unmet by Western nations.
David Shinn, adjunct professor at George Washington University and former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, gave the example of Angola, which had unsuccessfully sought Western investment after its civil war, and instead turned to China, which helped develop infrastructure in return for the promise of oil exports.
Deborah Brautigam, a professor at American University, said Chinese investment was often perceived to have a negative impact on human rights and democracy, principally because of Beijing's support of Zimbabwe and Sudan. But she said there was no evidence that political rights and freedom had declined in general across the continent.
Shinn, however, believed Chinese investment had to some degree undermined Western goals of promoting democracy, good governance and human rights. He said there also was evidence of Chinese companies importing technology to enable certain governments, such as Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, to restrict the flow of information on the Internet.
He said China passed the United States as Africa's most important trade partner in 2009. In 2010, China-Africa trade totaled $127 billion, compared with U.S.-Africa trade of $113 billion. China also possibly is investing more in Africa than any other single country, he said.
Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, a group representing U.S. businesses in Africa, told the hearing that U.S. embassies should do more to advance American commercial interests. He also wanted the U.S. aid program to promote U.S. businesses as a partner in African development.
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Occupy Oakland?s dangerous ?strike? follies; Plus: Capitalism-bashing, cop-hating rapper Boots Riley is back (Michellemalkin)
Tuesday 1 November 2011
China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 blasts off (AP)
BEIJING ? China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 blasted off Tuesday morning, in the latest step in what will be a decade-long effort by the country to place a manned permanent space station in orbit.
The spacecraft took off from a base in the far western city of Jiuquan, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Minutes later, Xinhua cited Chang Wanquan, who leads China's space program, as announcing the launch a success.
China launched its own space station program after being rebuffed in its attempts to join the 16-nation International Space Station, largely on objections from the United States. The U.S. is wary of the Chinese program's military links and the sharing of technology with its chief economic and political competitor.
Earlier Chinese news reports did not specify a launch date for Shenzhou 8. Chinese space officials rarely speak to foreign media.
The Shenzhou 8 will attempt to dock with an experimental module, carrying out maneuvers to couple with the Tiangong 1 module now in orbit. The 8.5-ton, box car-sized Tiangong 1 launched last month.
Following Shenzhou 8, two more missions ? at least one of them manned ? are to meet up with the module next year for further practice, with astronauts staying for up to one month.
Plans call for launching two other experimental modules for more tests before the actual station is launched in three sections between 2020 and 2022.
At about 60 tons when completed, the Chinese station will be considerably smaller than the International Space Station, which is expected to continue operating through 2028.
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Lern2Play
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Monday 31 October 2011
How to Use Big Business Finance Principles to Grow Your Email List
This guest post is by Josh Turner of GatewayCFO.com.
If you?re like me, you focus most of your attention on the growth of your site. You know that generating revenue is priority number one. Thinking about finance and accounting? That?s just a distraction.
While this is true to some extent, there is much more to the world of finance than just counting the beans.
Business finance is about using numbers to improve future business performance. In other words, accounting is about understanding the past and finance is about mapping out the future. No matter the size of your business, the same principles can be applied.
Within big corporations, finance departments provide data, tools and analysis to increase future sales, opportunities, and revenue. And you can do the same things.
One way they achieve this is through the use of dashboards or scorecards. These tools monitor the key metrics that their sales and marketing teams have to stay on top of. Not meeting these goals in the short term will cause them to falter down the road. So what does this mean for you?
Monitoring your metrics?and I?m not talking site traffic
Let?s use Gary as an example. Gary is working hard to grow his email list. He?s currently at 500 subscribers, and has a short-term goal of reaching 8,000. He knows that his growth is supported by two areas:
- organic traffic on his site, converting to email signups
- guest posts driving traffic to his site, which convert to email signups.
With his current posting schedule of two new articles per week, Gary expects to receive ten new email signups per week. He also knows that, on average, he receives 100 new email signups every time he writes a guest post.
Using your data to project growth
Based on this data, Gary can figure out exactly what it will take to reach his goals. Initially, he decides that it?s feasible to write a total of four articles per week: two for his site and two guest posts. Based on this level of activity, he can forecast approximately 210 new email signups per week. At this rate, it will take Gary 35.71 weeks to grow his list of 500 all the way to 8,000.
Gary has never looked at his email list growth this way. Not bad, he thinks, but he really had hoped to grow his list to 8,000 within 16 weeks. Based on the same metrics and assumptions, Gary can calculate that he needs to add 468.75 new subscribers every week to reach this goal.
Breaking it down from there, he knows that he will need to write 4.59 guest posts per week. That?s about 238 guest posts on an annual basis. Gary decides to step up his game, put in the hard work, and make it happen.
Looking at list growth in this manner provides clarity and clear goals. But you have to take it a step further to enforce accountability.
Create your own dashboard to improve performance
Big businesses use dashboards to keep owners and managers apprised of performance, and to keep their teams on track and accountable. Typically a graphical display, it shows them the key numbers that they have identified as critical to their business performance.
Doing the same thing for your site and email list will provide you with the same type of accountability. Build a simple Excel spreadsheet that tracks the numbers that you have identified as critical for the growth of your email list. It might contain the following data:
- weekly guest posts
- weekly posts on site
- weekly new email subscribers
- weekly sales/revenue
Set up the spreadsheet to include data for the prior week, prior month, and year-to-date. This will give you insight into your numbers and tell you if you are on track. Gary?s dashboard might look like this:
An example spreadhseet
Use conditional formatting in Excel to highlight good results in green and bad results in red, and set up a second sheet that includes the actual data for each week. With this, you can then create functions within the dashboard that automatically generate the dashboard results. Once this is completed, all you have to do is update the data sheet at the end of each week with the four numbers.
Why would you want to do this?
Spend 30 minutes setting up the Excel file. Following this initial setup, you will only need to spend one minute updating the data each week. Doing so will provide you with tangible benefits.
- You will stay on top of your metrics and not stray from your plan.
- You will be consistently reinforcing your goals.
- When things go astray, you will know where course correction is needed.
- You?ll be executing your business like a pro.
- You will be far more likely to meet your email list goals.
Yes, it?s an extra step in your blogging process. But with just a little time up front, you?ll be running your site and business much more like, well, a business.
Josh Turner is the founder of GatewayCFO.com, where he helps small business owners realize their profit potential. He is currently giving away his how-to ebook ?Cash Flow Clarity: Be Proactive, Make Life Easier, Make More Money.? Get your copy here.
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