Panasonic adds Lumix DMC-TS4 and DMC-TS20 to ruggedized camera line

Panasonic has helped lead the market for ruggedized cameras, which have been a hit among adventurous photographers for years, and now the company has two new additions to add to its water/shock/freeze/dustproof cam line. Described as "the optical outdoor companion," the Lumix DMC-TS4 is Panasonic's new ruggedized flagship, replacing the TS3 and packing a 12.1 megapixel CCD sensor, 1080/60i HD video capture, a 4.6x 28-128mm optical zoom lens and 2.7-inch LCD. Naturally, it can withstand just about everything you'll throw its way, considering that it's waterproof to depths of 40 feet, shockproof to 6.6 feet and freezeproof to temps as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The TS4 also includes GPS, compass, altimeter and barometer functionality, logging all this data to supplement your photos with a full weather and location readout. Panasonic has also added full manual control, letting you adjust both aperture and shutter speed when shooting in manual mode.

The TS4 may offer a respectable spec list, but it doesn't come cheap. The TS20 is an attractive alliterative, however, with a slim profile, 16.1 megapixel sensor, 720p HD shooting, a 4x 25-100mm optically stabilized zoom lens and a 2.7-inch LCD. It's waterproof to 16 feet, freezeproof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit and can survive drops from up to five feet. There's no manual option on this lower-end model, but it does include Panasonic's Intelligent Auto mode for more accurate shooting. The TS20 will ship in late-February in orange, blue, black and red for $180, while the flagship TS4 will be available in orange, blue, black and silver for $400 when it ships in mid-March. You'll find both press releases after the break.

Gallery: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4 and DMC-TS20

Continue reading Panasonic adds Lumix DMC-TS4 and DMC-TS20 to ruggedized camera line

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Start your week with the Greatest Android Podcast in the World!

And we're right back in the thick of it folks. On the latest edition of the Greatest Android Podcast in the World, we talk the new LG Spectrum and Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX for Verizon, our thoughts on the new Google privacy policy, plus what an open-sourced webOS means for Android.

The Android Central Podcast is your weekly peek into the world of Android, where we break down the news that really matters, and explain what's just a bunch of hype. Plus, we answer your e-mails and voicemails. You don't want to miss it. Check out the Android Central Podcast.

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Lawyer sues ex-girlfriends over online relationship reviews

By Rosa Golijan

LiarsCheatersRUs

LiarsCheatersRUs is a site which allows people to anonymously post "reviews" of the individuals they've dated.

Take a lawyer, his ex-girlfriends, a website which allows people to post "reviews" of their failed relationships, and add a dash of drama. Mix 'em all up and you'll get the story I'm about to tell you?? a strange tale which reminds us that no one ever really wins when former lovers duke it out.

According to Staci Zaretsky at Above The Law, the mess started when Matthew Couloute Jr. ??a former prosecutor and Court TV analyst ???realized that some entries on a website called?LiarsCheatersRUs were making his life difficult.

LiarsCheatersRUs

This screenshot shows a LiarsCheatersRUs entry about Matthew Couloute Jr., which was written by his ex-girlfriend, Amanda Ryncarz.

LiarsCheatersRUs is a site which allows?people to anonymously post "reviews" of the individuals they've dated in order to warn their future lovers about cheatin' hearts and wanderin' eyes.?Couloute had several such reviews written about him and ??according to him???they're affecting what people who Google search him see and?even causing him to lose legal clients.

So he decided to sue the women he believes wrote those scathing reviews of him.

LiarsCheatersRUs

This screenshot shows a LiarsCheatersRUs entry about Matthew Couloute Jr., which was allegedly written by his ex-girlfriend, Stacey Blitsch.

Couloute's ex-girlfriends, Amanda Ryncarz and Stacey Blitsch, are subjects of his lawsuit. While Ryncarz has confessed that she is behind one of the anonymous reviews, Blitsch denies posting an entry on LiarsCheatersRUs.?Both of the women are being represented by Gloria Allred,?a lawyer known for taking on controversial cases ??particularly those which focus on the protection of women's rights ??and challenging controversial figures, among them O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner.

According to Above the Law, Allred explained that she believes Couloute's lawsuit shouldn't even be allowed in the first place:

I think the minimum the women should be allowed to do is to speak out and speak the truth about the men who they have had relationships [with] and about the men who have hurt them. We believe lawsuits like this should not be allowed. This is free speech. Women must have a voice and be able to speak to each other on matters of common interest without fear of being dragged into court.

Apparently Couloute's lawsuit will be heard in court early this year, so we'll have to wait just a bit longer to see how this particular tale plays out?? and to know if we could be in legal jeopardy for venting about our ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends in a public forum.

Related stories:

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270278-lawyer-sues-ex-girlfriends-over-online-relationship-reviews

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[OOC] Shounen Academy.

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Emily3456

Member for 2 years

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Could I reserve a spot? I'll try to get Girl 3 up as fast as I can.

AlyxtheStubborn

Member for 1 years

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Could i possibly have girl 2 but i cant do the character until later thats why im hoping to reserve XD

inara1917

Member for 1 years

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Ooo, can I go for the gay teacher? :)

PrincessBoy

Member for 2 years

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Heyy can I have the friend that got them into the mess?

~Stop, stop breaking my heart. I love you boy. Stop, stop breaking my heart. I need you boy~
- Teen Top
The passion is CRAZY, but the drive is pure <3

theMoonlightTheory

Member for 1 years

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Dibs on the worst bad boy, ladies, you're in for some trouble hehehehe~

"It is in the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

black-as-night_oni

Member for 1 years

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Post a reply

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Who Knew Sesame Street Was the Place to See Such Smut? [Image Cache]

Mild and graphic violence? Nudity? RAPE? Looks like Sesame Street is suffering from a bit of urban blight. [Reddit via Buzzfeed] More »

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[OOC] Changing tides

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Valve?s Steam Mobile hits the App Store, connect with your Steam Friends on the go

Valve has released Steam Mobile for iPhone and iPod touch into the App Store. Sort of. It is available to download and install on your iOS device, but unfortunately you need to be part of a limited beta to actually begin to use it. We are sure this will change fairly soon but it is very frustrating for those gamers that use Steam and want to use the app now.

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Phil Knight at JoePa event: Who's real trustee? (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Nike founder and chairman Phil Knight got a standing ovation at Joe Paterno's public memorial Thursday for defending the late coach's response to an accusation of child sex abuse against a former assistant.

At a ceremony filled with lavish praise that would likely have embarrassed the school's beloved coach, Knight waded into a subject that had been virtually ignored since Paterno died on Sunday from lung cancer ? the immediate cause of his firing after 46 seasons leading Penn State's football team to a record-setting 409 wins.

University trustees have said a major reason Paterno was ousted Nov. 9 was that he failed to alert anyone beyond his two superiors at the school when he was told of an abuse allegation against former assistant Jerry Sandusky in 2002. Sandusky was charged with dozens of child sex abuse counts on Nov. 5, two school officials were charged with perjury and former school president Graham Spanier was pushed out the same night as Paterno.

Commenting on those events, Knight said, "it turns out (Paterno) gave full disclosure to his superiors, information that went up the chains to the head of the campus police and the president of the school. The matter was in the hands of a world-class university, and by a president with an outstanding national reputation."

Knight added, "...this much is clear to me. If there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation and not in Joe Paterno."

The remark drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 12,000 at the Bryce Jordan Center ? with Paterno's widow, Sue, and former defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, among those rising to their feet.

"Who is the real trustee at Penn State University?" Knight asked.

The campus has been torn by anger over the Sandusky scandal and Paterno's firing, but this week thousands of alumni, fans, students and former players in Happy Valley have remembered Paterno for his stellar career, his love for the school and his generosity.

That made Knight's remarks even more surprising.

Paterno's son and former quarterbacks coach, Jay, also got a standing ovation near the end of the ceremony when he imitated his raised-in-Brooklyn father's voice, telling the audience to "Sit down! Sit down!"

Then, growing serious, he told the crowd, "Joe Paterno left this world with a clear conscience."

Earlier in ceremony, the focus was praise for Paterno and fond memories.

"Bless us this day as we honor and celebrate one of your greatest gifts to the world ? Joe Paterno," the Rev. Matthew Laffey said in the opening prayer.

A short time later, after a video montage, former star Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge said, "No one individual has ever done more for a university anywhere in the country than what Joe Paterno did for this school."

The line drew applause, and Blackledge was followed on the podium in the darkened arena by Lauren Perrotti, a Penn State student and Paterno fellow.

Charles V. Pittman, speaking for players from the 1960s, called Paterno a lifelong influence and inspiration.

"Now, with grown children grandkids and 42 years removed from my playing days, I thought Joe Paterno had taught me all that he could teach me. I was wrong," he said. "Despite being pushed away from his beloved game, and under the extreme pressure of the events of the past few months, Joe's grace was startling."

Pittman said Paterno pushed his young players hard, once bringing Pittman to tears in his sophomore year. He realized later that the coach was not trying to break his spirit but instead was "bit by bit building a habit of excellence."

"He was building a proud program for the school, the state and the hundreds of young men he watched over for a half century," said Pittman, senior vice president for publishing at Schurz Communications Inc., an Indiana-based company that owns television and radio stations and newspapers, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Associated Press.

Thursday's event brought to a close the public mourning period for Paterno.

Public viewings were held Tuesday and Wednesday morning at a campus spiritual center, followed by a funeral Mass, procession and burial for Paterno that afternoon.

___

Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_penn_state_paterno

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Dow will remain a sponsor, says London Olympics organising committee

London:? Despite growing voices against Dow Chemical's association with the 2012 London Olympics, the mega sporting event's organiser, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), has said that the multinational will continue to remain a sponsor. The LOCOG is responsible for preparing and staging the 2012 Games.

The announcement was made by Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the LOCOG. It comes a day after a commissioner of an ethics watchdog for the event, Meredith Alexander, resigned over Dow Chemical's links to the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.

Reacting to Meredith Alexander's resignation, Mr Deighton said today, "It is absolutely her right to resign. She is one of 12 members of that sustainability commission who signed off on the way we approached awarding the wrap to Dow. I think that it is great that we have got this independent function to oversee so all this is washed through transparently. I think that is fine but we are moving on."

Yesterday, Meredith Alexander said she was stepping down from her unpaid position on the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 (CSL), which monitors sustainability at the Olympics and Paralympics. "I don't want to be party to a defence of Dow Chemicals, the company responsible for one of the worst corporate human rights violations in my generation," she said.

After Meredith Alexander quit her post, more politicians in the UK have joined the protest. Opposition Labour Party's Shadow Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell also joined the chorus against Dow and called for a review of Dow's sponsorship decision.

"I have called today for an audit of the steps taken that led the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 to recommend to the London Olympics organisers, the LOCOG, that Dow Chemicals' sponsorship of the wrap was consistent with the high sustainability aims that we set for 2012 (Games). We also need to understand what the role of other Commissioners was in the process which reached that conclusion.

"We need a solution not a row. Dow Chemicals need to understand the seriousness with which people take the continuing situation in Bhopal following the tragic disaster in 1984. I will do everything I can to make sure this issue does not overshadow the Games. There is still time for a solution to be found," Tessa Jowell said in a statement.

Meanwhile, speaking to NDTV, Barry Gardiner, another Labour MP who has been spearheading the anti-Dow protests, said "it is time for Indian politicians to take a stand on the issue."

"Investigations need to be made into the Dow tender. But pressure needs to come from India. This is not just a UK campaign, and quite frankly, I want to see Indian politicians now getting involved," he added.

Dow is a major sponsor of both the London Games and the International Olympic Committee, and has stepped in to fund a high-tech "wrap" around the stadium. The London Olympics organisers, LOCOG, said in December that Dow's name would not be on the wrap during the Games or on five 'test' panels either.

India is strongly opposed to the company's involvement with the Games. Dow is the parent company of Union Carbide, whose pesticide plant leaked gas into Bhopal in 1984, killing thousands of people in the world's worst industrial accident. The company has said all liabilities for the disaster were resolved after Union Carbide settled with the Indian government in 1989 by paying $470 million to the victims. (With Inputs from AFP)

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The days of the 15 percent tax rate are numbered

The top tax rate on long-term capital gains is currently 15 percent. That?s why Mitt Romney is talking so much about his tax returns.?Often overlooked is the fact that the days of the 15 percent tax rate are numbered.

The top tax rate on long-term capital gains is currently 15%. That?s why Mitt Romney is spending so much time talking about his tax returns.

Skip to next paragraph Donald Marron

Donald B. Marron is director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. He previously served as a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and as acting director of the Congressional Budget Office.

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That revelation has set off a familiar debate about whether that low rate is appropriate. Often overlooked in these discussions, however, is the fact that the days of the 15% tax rate are numbered. As of this posting, it has only 342 left.

On January 1, 2013, capital gains taxes are scheduled to go up sharply.

First, the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are scheduled to expire. If that happens, the regular top rate on capital gains will rise to 20%. In addition, an obscure provision of the tax code, the limitation on itemized deductions, will return in full force. That provision, known as Pease, increases effective tax rates on high-income taxpayers by reducing the value of their itemized deductions. On net, it will add another 1.2 percentage points to the effective capital gains tax rate for high-income taxpayers.

And that?s not all. The health reform legislation enacted in 2010 imposed a new tax on the net investment income of high-income taxpayers, including capital gains. That adds another 3.8 percentage points to the tax rate.

Put it all together, and the top tax rate on capital gains is scheduled to increase from 15% today to 25% on January 1. That?s a big jump. If taxpayers really believe this will happen, expect a torrent of asset selling in November and December as wealthy taxpayers take final advantage of the lower rate.

Of course, the tax cuts might get extended for all Americans, including high-income taxpayers. That?s what happened in 2010. In that case, the increase in the capital gains rate will be smaller. Because of the health reform tax, the top capital gains tax rate will increase from 15% to 18.8%. That?s still a notable increase, but would likely set off much less tax-oriented selling this year.

The only way that the top capital gains tax rate remains at 15% will be if the tax cuts are extended for high-income taxpayers?and?the new health reform tax gets repealed. That?s a key distinction in the election: President Barack Obama opposes those steps, while the GOP presidential candidates favor them (and some candidates would cut the capital gains tax rate even further).

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on dmarron.com.

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Video: Previewing Obama's State of the Union address

Broken heart may become a diagnosis

NYT: In a bitter skirmish over the definition of depression, a new report contends that a proposed change to the diagnosis would characterize grieving as a disorder and greatly increase the number of people treated for it.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46121924#46121924

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Video: Remembering Joe Paterno

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Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Reynolds to star in "Big Eyes" (omg!)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) - Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds will play Margaret and Walter Keane in an indie biopic about the couple whose art -- especially paintings of doe-eyed children -- became a pop phenomenon in the 1950s and 1960s.

While their art was reproduced and marketed around the country, their home life was unhappy: Margaret Keane was the artist, but her husband took credit. In fact, it carried Walter Keane's name, rather than the shy Margaret's.

When the two divorced, both claimed rights to the paintings. Ultimately -- in federal court -- Margaret Keane painted a picture to prove that she was, in fact the artist. When the judge asked Walter Keane to paint, he declined, saying his sore shoulder prevented him from painting.

The judge found for Margaret Keane.

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski wrote and will direct the film. Tim Burton is producing through his Tim Burton Productions. Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof are producing through their Electric City Entertainment.

"We are ecstatic to have this dream cast for our dream project," the directors said in a written statement. "Walter is a larger-than-life antihero -- charming, funny, dangerous and a little crazy. Ryan will knock it out of the park. As for Reese, she will be perfect as Margaret -- soulful, decent, transforming from vulnerability to learning to fight for herself."

Alexander and Karaszewski know their biopics: They wrote "Ed Wood," "The People vs. Larry Flint" and the Andy Kaufman biopic "Man on the Moon."

With Burton, they're working on a new version of "The Addams Family."

"Big Eyes" has been on Alexander and Karaszewski's to-do list since at least 2009.

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Federal judge will determine Golden Globes' future (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A little more than a week after handing out Golden Globes to show business elite, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and their longtime collaborators will begin a trial to determine which group controls broadcast rights to the popular awards ceremony.

The decision will alter the future of the glitzy gala and whether it will remain on NBC or, for the first time in 17 years, appear on another network.

If the association prevails, it may mean an end to its relationship with dick clark productions, the company that brought the Globes back to network television after a scandal threatened its future. The partnership also helped transform the show into one of the biggest events in Hollywood's crowded awards season.

It would also give the association of roughly 85 foreign journalists a chance to reposition the show on its own terms for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The trial's scheduled opening on Tuesday in a Los Angeles federal court comes just nine days after nearly 17 million viewers tuned in to the show, which featured barbs from host Ricky Gervais and a potential bump in Oscar momentum for films such as "The Artist" and actor George Clooney.

U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz has already been presented thousands of pages of documents and evidence to decide the case, and he will hear live testimony from a number of current HFPA members, executives and possibly from Dick Clark himself. The extensive documents filed in the case include minutes of board meetings dating back to the early 1980s.

CBS CEO Les Moonves, who has said he wanted to bid on the Globes, is also expected to testify next week. Matz ruled Monday that he must testify in person and not by videoconference as he had hoped. An attorney for Moonves said the executive had wanted to testify electronically because he is in the midst of meetings and preparing decisions on shows and a board of directors meeting. Matz said he didn't want to give Moonves special treatment.

Matz urged attorneys to streamline their questioning during a hearing Monday, saying they had framed the issues well in their filings.

Audiences of the past two Globes awards shows didn't notice it, but the HFPA and its producers, also known as dcp, have waged a bitter legal war since November 2010 over who has the right to negotiate broadcast deals for the Globes. The association contends dcp improperly negotiated a deal keeping the Globes on NBC until 2018, a move that also guarantees the company the right to work on the show until then.

The association claims it was blindsided by the deal and had received assurances throughout 2010 from dcp that it wasn't negotiating a new broadcast deal. However, the company claims it had the right to pursue the NBC extension.

The disputed NBC deal is worth more than $150 million, court records show. The deal reflects what big business the Globes have become, not only for Hollywood studios hoping to get boosts for their films, TV shows and stars, but also for fourth-place NBC and the show's organizers.

The network will pay $17 million for this year's show, a figure that will gradually increase to $26 million if the disputed broadcast contract is upheld. By comparison, NBC paid $3.7 million to the HFPA to air the Globes from 1996-1998, the first years after dcp secured a network broadcast deal.

The association began working with dcp in 1983, a year after it lost a broadcast deal with CBS when its members were accused of receiving favors in exchange for giving actress Pia Zadora a newcomer award. The show aired on late-night syndication for several years before shifting to cable and eventually landing on NBC.

Matz's decision will also alter the fortunes of dcp, which is no longer owned by entertainment legend Dick Clark, but produces other shows such as the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and "So You Think You Can Dance." The company splits revenues for the Globes with the HFPA.

The central issue of the case is an amended agreement between dcp and HFPA that brought the show to NBC. The production company contends the agreement plainly states that it has the rights to produce the Globes as long as the show airs on NBC, although the HFPA disputes that interpretation.

The association points to discussions about the initial NBC broadcast deal in 1993, in which dcp executives asked for an extension to work on the show for up to 10 years, as evidence that a perpetual deal with the production company was never contemplated. Allowing dcp to negotiate rights to the show and work on it indefinitely as long as it aired on NBC would give producers an incentive to only deal with that network as opposed to seeking the best deal, and result in a loss of the association's control over the Globes, HFPA lawyers have argued.

The production company claims the HFPA has known for years about the arrangement and cites instances in which the association's leaders have called it a "major irritant" but acknowledged that a "perpetuity clause" was in place. The clause was also put in place because of the association's credibility problems, dcp attorneys argue.

"The quid pro quo is that HFPA is contractually bound not to pull the rug out from under dcp in the middle of the most successful television run in the Golden Globes' history," the production company's attorneys wrote in a brief in advance of the trial.

Matz said it was clear that a trial is necessary to sort out the parties' rights, but he urged them to focus on events in 1993 and later years. "There is an ambiguity and that's why we're going to trial," Matz said Monday.

Regardless of the winner, the overall feel of the Globes is unlikely to change. Transcripts of minutes from membership meetings throughout the year show HFPA members are committed to the Globes' banquet-style format, which features open-consumption of alcohol and a more-relaxed setting than most other awards shows.

While the Globes aren't necessarily a reliable predictor of who will win weeks later on Oscar night, the show has a knack for creating buzz.

What's worn on the red carpet and said on the winner's stage often dominates the next day's headlines, and each summer the group doles out grants to non-profit and educational institutions. Last year they donated $1.5 million in a star-studded luncheon and have doled out $13 million in grants in the past 17 years.

___

Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_en_tv/us_golden_globes_lawsuit

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Official: possibility of unregistered passengers

People watch the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

People watch the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A ferry boat, right, sails past the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Tourists stop and have a look at the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A fisherman adjusts a net as the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen in background, off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

John Heil, son of Barbara and Gerald Heil of White Bear Lake, Minn. both missing in the cruise ship Costa Concordia accident, talks on a cellphone in the port of Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ? Unregistered passengers might have been aboard the stricken cruise liner that capsized off this Tuscan island, a top rescue official said Sunday, raising the possibility that the number of missing might be higher than the 20 previously announced.

Divers, meanwhile, pulled out a woman's body from the capsized Costa Concordia on Sunday, raising to 13 the number of people dead in the Jan. 13 accident.

Civil protection official Francesca Maffini told reporters the victim was wearing a life vest and was found in the rear of a submerged portion of a ship by a team of fire department divers. The unidentified body was being removed from the ship.

Earlier, Italian authorities raised the possibility that the real number of the missing was unknown because some unregistered passengers might have been aboard.

"There could have been X persons who we don't know about who were inside, who were clandestine" passengers aboard the ship, Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the rescue effort, told reporters at a briefing on the island of Giglio, where the ship, with 4,200 people aboard rammed a reef and sliced open its hull on Jan. 13 before turning over on its side.

Gabrielli said that relatives of a Hungarian woman have told Italian authorities that she had telephoned them from aboard the ship and that they haven't heard from her since the accident. He said it was possible that a woman's body pulled from the wreckage by divers on Saturday might be that of the unregistered passenger.

But in addition to the body recovered on Sunday, the body found on Saturday and those of three men found a few days earlier, have yet to be identified, because the corpses were badly decomposed after so much time in the water.

Gabrielli said they have identified the other eight bodies: four French, an Italian, a Hungarian, a German and a Spanish national.

Until Sunday, authorities had said that 20 people are still missing.

The search had been halted for several hours early Sunday, after instrument readings indicated that the Concordia has shifted a bit on its precarious perch on a seabed just outside Giglio's port. A few meters (yards) away, the sea bottom drops off suddenly, by some 20-30 meters (65-100 feet), and if the Concordia should abruptly roll off its ledge, rescuers could be trapped inside.

When instrument data indicated the vessel had stabilized again, rescuers went back in, but only explored the above-water section and evacuation staging areas where survivors have indicated that people who did not make it into lifeboats during the chaotic evacuation could have remained.

Passengers were dining at a gala supper when the Concordia sailed close to Giglio and struck the reef, which is indicated on maritime and even tourist maps.

There are also fears that the Concordia's double-bottom fuel tanks could rupture in case of sudden shifting, spilling 2,200 metric tons (almost 500,000 million gallons) of heavy fuel into pristine sea around Giglio, which is part of a seven-island archipelago in some of the Mediterranean's most pristine waters and a prized fishing area.

But Gabrielli said pollutants found near the ship have been detergents and other substances, including chlorine, apparently from the wreck of the ship, which carried some 3,200 passengers and a crew of 1,000. Any fuel traces found were "compatible with what you find in a port," he said.

Ferries and cargo ships regularly call at Giglio's port.

Sophisticated oil-removal equipment has been standing by, waiting for the search-and-rescue operations to conclude before workers can start extracting the fuel in the tanks.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest as prosecutors investigate him for suspected manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship while many were still aboard.

Operator Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Carnival Cruise Lines, has said that Capt. Schettino had deviated without permission from the vessel's route in an apparent maneuver to sail close to the island and impress passengers.

Schettino, despite audiotapes of his defying Coast Guard orders to scramble back aboard, has denied he abandoned ship while hundreds of passengers were desperately trying to get off the capsizing vessel. He has said he coordinated the rescue from aboard a lifeboat and then from the shore.

___

D'Emilio reported from Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-22-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-dbd08c0e8e824ad6897d4b239c4ad39a

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Who is Obama?s favorite Middle East leader? (Powerlineblog)

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

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Correction: Libya-Chemical Weapons story (AP)

AMSTERDAM ? In a story Jan. 20 about chemical weapons in Libya, The Associated Press, relying on incorrect information provided by a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, erroneously reported that artillery shells inspected by the organization in Libya were not loaded with chemical agent. The shells were loaded.

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Embattled Olympus to remain on Tokyo stock market (AP)

TOKYO ? Olympus Corp. will not be kicked off the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but the camera and medical device maker must pay a fine for covering up massive losses with false accounting, exchange officials said Friday.

Olympus will be monitored by the exchange as a security on "Alert" because significant improvements must be made in its internal control systems, it said in an emailed statement.

Olympus faced removal from the stock exchange following revelations of a scheme by the Tokyo-based company to hide 117.7 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in investment losses dating back to the 1990s.

The scandal came to light late last year after then-President Michael Woodford raised questions about huge payments for financial advice and expensive acquisitions of companies unrelated to the company's mainstay businesses. Olympus first denied, then affirmed the allegations.

The TSE said that even though the deception was perpetuated over a long period, it "cannot be deemed to have caused significant misinterpretation of profit levels or performance trends" given the size of the company. "The improper accounting practices had generally no effect on sales or operating profit."

Olympus was also slapped with a 10 million yen ($130,000) penalty because its actions damaged investor confidence in the stock market, the statement said, castigating the company for "using devious methods."

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Johnny Otis of 'Willie and the Hand Jive' dies (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Johnny Otis, the "godfather of rhythm and blues" who wrote and recorded the R&B classic "Willie and the Hand Jive" and for decades evangelized black music to white audiences as a bandleader and radio host, has died. He was 90.

Otis, who had been in poor health for several years, died at his home in the Los Angeles foothill suburb of Altadena on Tuesday, said his manager, Terry Gould.

Otis, who was white, was born John Veliotes to Greek immigrants and grew up in a black section of Berkeley, where he said he identified far more with black culture than his own. As a teenager, he changed his name because he thought Johnny Otis sounded more black.

"As a kid, I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black," he once explained.

His musical tastes clearly reflected that adopted culture and even after he became famous, his dark skin and hair often led audiences and club promoters to assume he was black like his band mates.

Otis was leading his own band in 1945 when he scored his first big hit, "Harlem Nocturne." In 1950, 10 of his songs made Billboard Magazine's R&B chart. His "Willie and the Hand Jive" sold more than 1.5 million copies and was covered years later by Eric Clapton.

He later wrote "Every Beat of My Heart," which was a hit for Gladys Knight & the Pips.

But the influence of Otis was felt most through his ability to recognize and promote talent. He wove into his bands such diverse and legendary R&B vocalists as Etta James, Hank Ballard, Big Mama Thornton and The Robins, the latter a group that would evolve into the Coasters.

He produced Thornton's original recording of "Hound Dog," a song that would later become an even bigger hit for Elvis Presley.

"His band shows a different style on pretty much every new recording," said Piero Scaruffi, author of "A History of Rock Music, 1951-2000." "The reason is that Otis did not force his personality on others but worked with the personality of the others. He may not have been a great composer or performer himself, but he was an impressive conductor."

Otis launched his professional music career as an 18-year-old drummer for bawdy barrelhouse pianist Count Otis Matthews, although he had never played the drums until then.

Matthews instructed him to simply pound out the syncopated "shave and a haircut, six bits" beat that would become the backbone of early rock `n' roll. His mastery of it soon proved his ticket to other bands and eventually to headlining his own group.

Otis saw himself as curator of black popular music, which for him represented much more than a diversion or livelihood. His cross-country R&B reviews and his radio and television appearances were dedicated to delivering black music to white audiences.

"The music isn't just the notes, it's the culture ? the way grandma cooked, the way grandpa told stories, the way the kids walked and talked," he once said.

While he always returned to playing music, in later years touring with his sons Shuggie and Nicky, Otis' eclectic interests also included politics, art and organic food.

He worked for years as deputy chief of staff to state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally when Dymally served in the Assembly, state Senate, as lieutenant governor and as a congressman.

In later years, Otis spent much of his time painting and sculpting. He also opened an organic grocery store in Sebastopol in the early 1990s to sell his son Nicky's vegetables, decorating the store with his own colorful murals.

Although he had little success selling groceries, he did draw large crowds to the market every Friday and Saturday night when he performed there with his band.

"It was a smashing success," Gould said. "You had to make reservations three weeks ahead. It was amazing."

Otis also had a regular show playing records on the nonprofit Pacifica Radio Network's stations until failing health prompted him to retire in 2005.

In addition to his sons, Otis is survived by his wife, Phyllis, whom he married in 1941; daughters Janet and Laura; and several grandchildren.

__

Former Associated Press writer Andrew Glazer contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_en_mu/us_obit_otis

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Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA)

For those who are interested:

Today, I stopped by the Capitol Hill Complex and visited the offices of some representatives and senators, urging them to oppose SOPA and PIPA. I spoke to staff and left my contact information. (Yes, I gave them my real name and phone number.) I explained that I am a writer (still working on my fifth novel, actually), and while I am certainly very much concerned about protecting my intellectual property and copyright, these bills are NOT the way to do that. "This is like taking a sledgehammer to kill an ant," I told one staffer. "Sure, you might kill the ant -- or you might miss -- but there's going to be a whole lot of other ants, and you might also take off your own toe in the process."

For those who are curious, I did mention RolePlayGateway. I talked about the community that many of our members have found on this site, and emphasized that there are multiple sites like ours, all of which will be destroyed by these bills, even if the vast majority of people never engage in copyright infringement and the administration and staff take all reasonable measures to prevent it. So there are now people in Congress who have heard of our website.

Jan. 2012: I'm researching roleplaying and need any roleplayers to take an anonymous survey. It takes an average of 25 minutes. This is part 1 of 2. The second survey will be released soon.

"Funny you should mention prisoners: This afternoon we were talking about playing out a hostage situation in the bar and we were like 'only Ylanne would play the victim.'"
? qbsuperstar03

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