State Dept: Americans take refuge at Cairo embassy

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Several American citizens have taken shelter in the U.S. Embassy in Cairo amid a sharpening dispute between Washington and Egypt's military-led authorities over U.S.-funded pro-democracy groups in the country, the State Department said on Monday.

"We can confirm that a handful of U.S. citizens have opted to stay in the embassy compound in Cairo while waiting for permission to depart Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Kate Starr said.

According to The New York Times, colleagues confirmed at least two American citizens were being protected at the embassy?from potential arrest.

---

The unusual step of offering U.S. citizens diplomatic refuge follows Cairo's crackdown on non-governmental organizations, including several funded by the U.S. government, which saw travel bans imposed on six American staffers including a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

State Department officials said they do not believe the Americans are in any physical danger, but said they had "concerns given the fact that they want to leave the country and were disallowed."

"There is no expectation any of these individuals are seeking to avoid any kind of judicial process," State Department spokespersonVictoria Nuland said. "Our view is that these people ought to be able to travel freely, that we need to expedite the process of whatever kind of formal registration is ultimately going to be allowed for them, if their property needs to be returned, and that it is in the interest of Egypt's democratic transition not only for international democracy NGOs to be able to operate but for Egyptian democracy NGOs to be able to operate, and that they have already played a strong role in supporting the good elections that have already taken place, and there are more elections coming up."

Raids and crackdown
Egyptian police first raided the groups in late December as part of an investigation into foreign funding of 17 pro-democracy and human rights groups, part of what civil society groups say has been a broader crackdown on critics of the army's heavy-handed tactics in dealing with street unrest.

Washington has strongly criticized the Egyptian move, which has cast a pall over U.S.-Egypt relations as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from authoritarian rule.

Leading U.S. lawmakers have also voiced outrage over the incident, and American officials have repeatedly warned that Washington may have to take a fresh look at U.S. aid to Egypt's military, which now runs about $1.3 billion per year.

The six U.S. citizens hit with travel bans work with the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Both receive U.S. public funding and are loosely affiliated with the two major political parties in Washington.

The State Department did not provide details on the Americans sheltering in the embassy, although officials at the NDI said none of their staff had been relocated.

U.S. officials said an Egyptian military delegation was expected in Washington this week for regular talks, which are nevertheless expected to focus in large part on the impasse over the NGOs.

U.S. expresses concern over restrictions
President Barack Obama spoke with the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, on January 20 and stressed the importance of the NGOs, as well as Egypt's request for $3.2 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund.

In a weekend call to Tantawi, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged the Egyptians to take steps to lift the travel ban on Americans wishing to leave the country, and expressed concern over restrictions placed on NGOs, the Pentagon said.

The Obama administration is finalizing its budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which will be presented on February 13 and is expected to include continued assistance for Egypt's military, albeit subject to new conditions imposed by U.S. lawmakers.

Those include evidence that Egyptian military authorities are committed to holding free and fair elections and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10271475-state-dept-americans-take-refuge-at-cairo-embassy

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Wasserman Schultz: Priebus ?cossed the line? comparing Obama to Costa Concordia captain (Washington Post)

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

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Feds: Megaupload user data could be gone Thursday

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday.

U.S. prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content.

The company says its millions of users stored their own data, including family photos and personal documents. They haven't been able to see their data since the government raids earlier this month, but there has been hope would be able to get it back.

Megaupload hires outside companies to store the data, for a fee. But Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken said Sunday that the government has frozen its money.

A letter filed in the case Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said storage companies Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc. may begin deleting data Thursday. Spokespersons for the two companies and for the U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond to messages Sunday night.

The letter said the government copied some data from the servers but did not physically take them. It said that now that it has executed its search warrants, it has no right to access the data. The servers are controlled by Carpathia and Cogent and issues about the future of the data must be resolved with them, prosecutors said.

Rothken said the company is working with prosecutors to try to keep the data from being erased. He said at least 50 million Megaupload users have data in danger of being erased.

Rothken said that, besides its customers, the data is important to Megaupload so it can defend itself in the legal case.

"We're cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done," he said.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong. U.S. authorities said they had authority to act because some of its leased servers are in Virginia.

___

AP Business Writer Daniel Wagner contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-29-Megaupload/id-fcd85f271db7403f9d19a06afc5dac3b

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Ex-soldier behind Papua New Guinea mutiny arrested (AP)

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea ? A retired colonel who attempted to take over Papua New Guinea's military and ordered the prime minister to step down has been arrested and charged with mutiny.

Police spokesman Dominic Kakas said Yaura Sasa was arrested Saturday night in a suburb of Port Moresby, the capital. A court spokesman said Sasa was charged with mutiny and appeared in court Sunday.

Sasa led a small group of soldiers in a mutiny Thursday in which the military's top commander was briefly held under house arrest. The mutiny was part of a power struggle in which Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and former Prime Minister Michael Somare claim to be the rightful leader of the South Pacific nation.

Sasa demanded that O'Neill step down within a week to make way for Somare, who appointed Sasa defense chief after being removed from office.

Kakas said the soldiers who followed Sasa had not been arrested.

Parliament replaced Somare with O'Neill in August while Somare was getting medical treatment outside the country. Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court sided with Somare last month, but O'Neill continues to have support from lawmakers.

Somare issued a statement Sunday repeating his call to be reinstated, and calling on police and the military to join him.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_papua_new_guinea_mutiny

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Huawei Ascend II (U.S. Cellular)

The original Huawei Ascend was a low-end, free-with-contract smartphone?released on a number of different carriers. It sold well because of its low price, but it wasn't a very good device. The Huawei Ascend II for U.S. Cellular addresses some of that phone's issues, but it's a case of too little, too late. The Ascend II won't cost you a dime, but you can get a much better phone if you're willing to spend some cash.

Design and Call Quality
Like a diet-version of the original, the Ascend II measures 4.6 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.1 ounces. It looks and feels nicer than the Ascend, clad all in black with a soft touch plastic back and a shiny plastic ring around the display. The display is the same 3.5-inch, 320-by-480-pixel capacitive touch screen as the last time around, which looks reasonably sharp and bright. There are four haptic feedback-enabled touch keys beneath it, and typing on the on-screen keyboard felt fine.

The Huawei Ascend II is a dual-band EVDO Rev A (850/1900 MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. In New York where we test, U.S. Cellular phones use Sprint's network. Signal reception was fine, and it connected to my WPA2-encrypted Wi-Fi network without a problem. It can also function as a mobile hotspot with the appropriate data plan.

Call quality was decent on the Ascend. Voices sound clear, but thin and a touch robotic. Calls made with the phone are easy to understand and feature good noise cancellation, but can sound a bit muffled. The speakerphone sounds fine and is loud enough to use outdoors. Calls sounded clear through a?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset ($129, 4.5 stars) and voice dialing worked fine. Battery life was on the shorter side of average at 5 hours, 8 minutes of talk time.

Android and Apps
The Ascend II runs Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread). There's no word on whether it will receive an update to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but we wouldn't hold out hope. Huawei has added some very limited customizations to the UI. Unfortunately, they give off a bargain bin vibe; Huawei would've fared better leaving well enough alone in this case.

There are five customizable home screens you can swipe between, which come preloaded with a number of useful apps and widgets, along with a bunch of nonremovable bloatware.

Everything is powered by a 600MHz Qualcomm S1 MSM7627 processor. This was standard for lower-end smartphones a year ago, but it's really starting to show its age. The Ascend II turned in some of the worst benchmarks we've seen for a device sporting these specs, and you can really feel that while using the phone. Most tasks felt sluggish, and it took longer to open and close apps than usual.

App-wise, you get Google Maps Navigation for free voice-enabled, turn-by-turn GPS directions, along with all that bloatware from U.S. Cellular. You should also be able to run most of the 300,000+ third-party apps in the Android Market, but again, be prepared to encounter stalls and crashes.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions
The Ascend II has 146MB of internal memory, along with a 2GB microSD card; my 32GB and 64GB SanDisk cards worked fine as well. Thankfully, the phone has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack this time around, which makes it easy to find a pair of earbuds. Music tracks sounded fine over both wired earbuds and Altec Lansing BackBeat?Bluetooth headphones ($99.99, 3.5 stars). I was able to play AAC, MP3, OGG, and WAV files, but not FLAC or WMA.

Video playback is lackluster. I was able to watch movies at resolutions up to 800-by-480, but anything above 640-by-480 looked choppy. I could play H.264 and MP4 files, but not AVI, DivX, or Xvid.

The Ascend II's 5-megapixel camera lacks auto-focus and an LED flash. Test photos looked soft and dark, with muted color detail. The camera also records 640-by-480 video at 16 frames per second indoors and 19 outside.

The Huawei Ascend II isn't a terrible phone, it's just not a very good one. It's sluggish today; a year from now, it will probably feel glacial. If you're looking to score a smartphone on the cheap, you'll get a faster processor but slower Internet with the Samsung Repp?(Free, 3 stars). For $49.99 there's the LG Genesis?(3 stars), which gets you two higher-res displays, along with a physical QWERTY keyboard. But you'd do best to spend $100 and pick up the HTC Hero S?(3.5 stars), or $149.99 for the Motorola Electrify?(4.5 stars). Both phones feature faster processors, sharper displays, and better cameras than the Ascend II. The Electrify can even convert into a laptop PC with the proper accessories. And even better, in both cases you won't be itching to upgrade your phone in just a few months.?

Benchmarks
Continuous talk time: 5 hours 8 minutes

More Cell Phone Reviews:
??? Huawei Ascend II (U.S. Cellular)
??? ZTE Score (Cricket Wireless)
??? RIM BlackBerry Curve 9370 (Verizon Wireless)
??? LG Spectrum (Verizon Wireless)
??? Samsung Replenish (Boost Mobile)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/cFHH3Ti8qDA/0,2817,2399392,00.asp

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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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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NdtvNews-TopStories/~3/rbjshUcawdE/story01.htm

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Are Careers In Communications Proper For You? | Free Videos Infos

Up until only some years in the past, careers in communications have been fairly rare. Business persons are fairly sensible of us, and like all sensible people that may be a little bit thick from time to time. The traditional picture of the workplace as a place the place bosses give orders for underlings to obey is barely simply starting to dissolve in favor of a picture that has more to do with cooperation and communication than a hierarchy. Getting everyone to work collectively in an environment of teamwork is much tougher than simply having some people tell different folks what to do. It requires good communication expertise, refined policies, and even interpersonal training. That is why there?s such a big growth in careers in communications.

Nowadays, as a matter of reality, you may go almost wherever with a profession in communications. Careers within the communications field are available for broadcasters, copywriters, public relations representatives, workplace analysts ? the list goes on and on. Even faculty districts are beginning to hire communications consultants to facilitate higher rapport between lecturers and students. An increasing number of, the world is run not on raw material, however on raw information.

For some folks, it can be troublesome to tell whether or not they wish to have a communication career. In spite of everything, there are such a lot of different paths to get their that it?s tough to explain the kind of particular person it appeals to. Some communications specialists are very verbal individuals who have an ideal sense of interpersonal skills. Other ones are surprisingly shy and introverted, however with intense linguistic talents and the flexibility to grasp unstated energy structures. Some people begin as communications majors, others with advertising degrees, and others with more conventional liberal arts programs. All of these paths to careers in communications have the identical finish result, but they have an inclination to draw completely different people.

In my case, careers in communications have been a pure choice. You see, as a fiction writer I needed to face the truth that it?d take me some time to have the ability to make a residing doing my chosen craft. I did not wish to work as a journalist or a freelancer, in order that left little choice. I made a decision that my strength lay in helping different folks understand their very own patterns of communication. Since I turned a marketing consultant, I?ve been quite proud of my career. In case you are artistic and verbal, maybe it?s the correct profession alternative for you as well.
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Source: http://www.freevideosinfos.com/2012/01/are-careers-in-communications-proper-for-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-careers-in-communications-proper-for-you

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BookPlace DB50: Toshiba Introduces Android-Based Color E-Book Reader

Following Fujitsu, another Japanese electronics maker is ready to sell color e-book readers: Toshiba announced [JP] the so-called BookPlace DB50 today, a 7-Inch device that comes with direct access to big T's BookPlace store (which currently offers around 43,000 different Japanese e-books and magazines). Toshiba says they plan to expand the range of available titles to 100,000 by March this year, the largest in its home market. The store has been available in America since 2010.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UaNxQZuqHjI/

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PFT: Peyton's next place should be with 49ers

Reuters

The Indianapolis Colts have announced that Chuck Pagano will be the team?s new head coach.? But Chuck Pagano won?t be available to the media until 3:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

In the interim, the Colts have made available to the media Chuck Pagano?s brother, John, who happens to be the new defensive coordinator of the Chargers.

John Pagano, who reportedly won?t be joining Chuck in Indy (the fact that John is under contract with the Chargers may have been a factor in that), spoke via conference call, and the Colts have sent out the quotes from the Chargers defensive coordinator in an email bearing an oversized version of Indy?s horseshoe logo.

Yes, it all seems a little bizarre.? But at least there were no song lyrics in any of John Pagano?s answers.? (We think.)

?I think they are going to respond really well,? John Pagano said as to the reaction of the Indianapolis fans to his brother.? ?I think he?s a defensive-minded coach with fire and passion. He?s going to bring a different energy to the city of Indianapolis.?

As to the biggest strategic question ? whether Chuck Pagano will install a 3-4 defense ? John Pagano said that both 4-3 and 3-4 elements likely will be used.

?It?s funny because I got the same types of questions when I took the [job] in San Diego,? John Pagano said.? ?They said I was a 3-4 guy, but I?ve coached in a 4-3 and a 3-4. We do multiple fronts and we have multiple looks. Baltimore was a 4-3 and a 3-4. They play those different types of hybrid defenses that really are game-changing types of defenses.? Whatever your personnel suits you, you?re going to be in certain types of fronts and certain types of coverages whether it?s a 3-4 or a 4-3.

?The biggest difference between a 4-3 and a 3-4 is that you have a lot more linebackers in a 3-4 and you have a little bit bigger linebackers who can standup and come off the edge, which are just like 4-3 defensive ends. When you go to a sub package or a nickel package look, our outside linebackers here in San Diego are defensive ends.? They are used to standing up and playing with their hands down.? I would suggest multiple looks and multiple fronts.?

John Pagano also answered a question regarding the status of impending free agent defensive end, who technically remains under contract with the Colts until March 13.? ?When you have an impact rusher like Robert Mathis, you can see the presence he brings off the edge,? John Pagano said.? ?In anybody?s defense, in anybody?s scheme, Robert Mathis would make a difference.? To be able to have him coming off the edge, I think [Chuck] would most welcome that.?

Another Colts player?s name wasn?t mentioned at all during the John Pagano conference call.? It?ll likely be mentioned a few times this afternoon.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/25/manning-to-49ers-could-be-tricky-to-pull-off/related/

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3 years after US accident, boat washes up in Spain

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard

A boat that was lost at sea off the coast of Massachusetts in 2008 washed up on the coast of Spain more than three years later.

By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

NEW YORK -- As he swam toward the coast of Nantucket, Mass. in August 2008, Scott Douglas, 58, watched his yellow fishing boat disappear, carried away by the swelling surf. He thought it would be the last time he'd ever see the Queen Bee.

But yesterday, more than three years after Douglas and his brother-in-law were tossed off the boat by a wave, the U.S. Coast Guard called to say the vessel had washed up on the Spanish coast. It?was rusty and covered in barnacles, but intact.

"It looks entirely different," Douglas said upon seeing the photos. "That's amazing."

Douglas remembers the water was restless on the day he set out to sea, and the fish weren't biting. He tried to keep the boat stationary, bracing himself as huge rollers crashed into it.

"At all times, it's a very sketchy area," Douglas told msnbc.com. "You wouldn't want to be dumped in the ocean there."

But that's exactly what happened when a rogue wave knocked Douglas and his brother-in-law, Rich St. Pierre, off the boat and into a sink-or-swim fight for survival.

Douglas remembers thinking the water was not too cold.?"The only way I was going to survive was just to get started, not tread water," he said.

But swimming didn't come as easy to St. Pierre, 68, who had gone through open heart surgery a year earlier. However,?a survival kit containing an inflatable device had been knocked?off the boat and floated to St. Pierre's side. It was a miracle, Douglas said, noting that the kit was the only item from the boat in the water with them.?

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard

Scott Douglas, 58, watched his yellow fishing boat disappear in 2008, carried away by the swelling surf. He thought it would be the last time he'd ever see the Queen Bee.

Douglas swam for about an hour and made it to shore on Smith Point, a beach off the coast of Nantucket. Dripping wet and exhausted, he walked up to a cabin and asked to use the phone to alert the Coast Guard. Not long after, he saw St. Pierre walking on dry land.

"At the end of the day, it just wasn't our time," Douglas said.?

While that marked the end of their ordeal, the Queen Bee's journey didn't end there.?

Lt. Joe Klinker, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, said the most likely scenario is that the boat somehow got across the continental shelf and into the Gulf Stream.

"From there it may drift north off the coast of northern Canada and then east with the North Atlantic currents," Klinker told msnbc.com.

He said it's?rare, but not unheard of for an object off the coastline of the United States to drift across the Atlantic to Europe. But a boat? "I've never heard of anything like this," Klinker said.

It's not uncommon, he said,?for the Coast Guard to locate derelict ships from Florida off the coast of Virginia, or vessels from Virginia off the coast of?Massachusetts, but never in Europe.?

The ability to withstand the hardships of the Atlantic has a lot to do with the make of the boat, Klinker said. The Queen Bee is a 26-foot center console fishing boat made by Regulator.?

"It probably could have floated for another three years," Klinker said.

The Spanish Coast Guard alerted their U.S. counterpart Tuesday. Based on salvage law, the boat now belongs to Spain.

Douglas, who is now retired and lives in New Jersey, said he doesn't want the boat back.?But?with four grandchildren, he has thought about turning Queen Bee's story into a children's book. ??

"It's interesting to see what life takes and gives," he said.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10233719-3-years-after-us-accident-boat-washes-up-in-spain

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Small Business Success Still Relies On Communication

If you?re in small business, be prepared to communicate. It?s an important part of what small businesses do. The same thing goes for those who lead them. Here are some tips and tools to help you better master communication for your small business.

Opening Up

Why you must spend time face to face. Technology is great. It connects us in ways never possible before. But there are limitations to what technology can do when building important business relationships. Here?s why. Jennifer Warawa

It?s lonely at the top. But it doesn?t have to be. Here are 10 ways many business leaders avoid loneliness and isolation. As a small business owner you may sometimes feel isolated too. How do you work to avoid those feelings. Startup Professionals Musings

The State of Business

Big companies want to handle your IT. There was a time when IT services for small businesses and startups were handled by smaller firms as well. No longer. Here is why big business wants a piece in serving your IT needs. WSJ

What Washington is telling small business. Small businesses and entrepreneurs did feature in the President?s State of the Union Address. But what is big government really telling small businesses about where they fit in? Entrepreneur

Blogging & Engagement

Why blogging is your business. No better paradigm of business communications exists today than the small business blog. Personal and focused, it is at the same time representative of your brand. But it may turn out your blog is even a bigger part of your business than you thought. Noobpreneur

The importance of engagement. Is your small business engaging with customers, clients and the public in the way that it should? What tools and approaches can you use to reach the necessary engagement with your customers? Famous Bloggers

Marketing & Sales

The problems with converting leads. Your marketing is a form of communication, but what is really important to consider, when deciding whether that communication is effective, is to look at whether your audience is turning into customers. Dawn Westerberg Consulting

Tech Basics

Best gear for podcasting. Podcaster Ileane Smith shows you her personal choice for equipment to use in your own efforts and explains a bit more about why podcasting is so critical to communication in small business today. Basic Blog Tips

Making Connections

It?s still about the people. No matter how small business communications is done, it?s still a very human interaction. Technology and techniques aside, what will really make you better at marketing and selling is to better understand your customer. B2B Marketing Smarts

Do you know your audience? No, it?s not a silly question! Do you? Because all of the above won?t help you much if you don?t. Here?s why you?ll need to consider the people you?re addressing first before finding success. Respectfully Disobedient

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/01/small-business-success-still-relies-on-communication.html

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Awards Tour 2012: Academy Awards Nominations

King S. on 01-24-2012 09:31 AM

Okay, I've been defending previous award shows, and given the amount of strong films we've gotten this year 9, 10 or even 15 slots wouldn't be enough to avoid controversy. My major complaint is with the nomination of Extremely Loud and Inredibely Close for best pic. I'm sorry, but I feel that the real reason why it got nominated was because of how poorly its did when it tried to expand wide, so they're obviously hoping that the nomination for best pic will give it more attention, and the fact that it didn't get nominated at any previous awards show proves my point.

Other than that though, the nominations have been pretty similair to past awards shows. I'm not even that bummed that Deathly Hallows missed getting a best pic nomination, as after all the previous award shows snubbed it I wasn't expecting the oscars to be any different (though I still think that award shows should change their attitude on genre films, like fantasy and science fiction) I'm more dissapointed that Winnie the Pooh missed a nomination, as I thought that the only reason it missed a nomination at the Golden Globes was because of its length, something the oscars are much more lenient about (a feature film only needs to be 40 minutes long as opposed to 70 minutes at the globes) but I suppose it's nice to see a couple of slots go to films that can really use the attention (they got me interested in them, which is the best thing an award show can do) Now if they had nominated something like Happy Feet 2 instead of Pooh, then I'd really be mad.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924361/news/1924361/

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Gadhafi loyalists attack Libyan towns, killing 7 (AP)

BENGHAZI, Libya ? Forces loyal to Libya's late leader Moammar Gadhafi launched a series of attacks on Monday across several cities, killing seven fighters who helped topple the former regime, officials and residents said.

The violence comes as Libya's new leaders struggle to stamp out lingering resistance from pro-Gadhafi forces and try to unify a deeply fractured country after eight months of civil war and more than 40 years of authoritarian rule.

The attacks were spread out and took place in the western city of Bani Walid, the capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi, the city where the uprising against Gadhafi started nearly a year ago. It is not clear if the attacks were coordinated.

Violence broke out first in Bani Walid, where pro-Gadhafi fighters have long tormented Libya's revolutionaries.

Mahmoud al-Warfali, a spokesman for the revolutionary brigade in Bani Walid, said at least four of his fighters were killed in the western city, which was one of the last former regime strongholds to fall to revolutionary command.

He said up to 150 pro-Gadhafi fighters were engaged in the street battle, using rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. He said they managed to raise the green Libyan flag of Gadhafi's regime at the northern gate of the town.

"These are Gadhafi remnants who tried to take over the city," al-Warfali said. "They have tried to do this before and take over the interim government's office, but thank God we have been able to fight them off."

Hours later, three fighters were killed late Monday by pro-Gadhafi forces in Benghazi, field commander Abdel-Basit Haroun said. The city served as the hub for revolutionary leaders during the civil war.

Abdel-Rahman al-Soghayar, a commander from the new regime in Tripoli, said shooting also took place in several neighborhoods of the capital Monday evening, forcing people to remain indoors and stores to close early. He blamed the gunfire on "sleeper cells" loyal to Gadhafi who he said are attempting to take advantage of the fighting in Bani Walid. There was no word of casualties.

The bold attacks are the latest breakdown in security, three months after Gadhafi's capture and killing. Protests have surged in recent weeks, with people demanding that the interim leaders deliver on promises of transparency and compensation for those injured in the civil war.

The new government's promises to deliver justice for those killed in the uprising has been usurped in some areas by revolutionary fighters taking retribution on their own.

Bani Walid resident Moussa al-Warfali said the clashes erupted after revolutionary forces arrested a Gadhafi loyalist, whose angry comrades launched an attack to free him.

The fighting originally was centered on the revolutionary brigade's base, then spread to other parts of the town.

The clashes were considered serious enough that dozens of revolutionary fighters from Tripoli have been dispatched to Bani Walid to help, brigade commander Saddam Abdel-Zein said.

There were also reports of shooting in the western Nafusa mountains, according to al-Soghayar, who was in touch with fellow fighters there. No further details were available.

The outbreak of violence prompted revolutionary fighters as far as the western city of Misrata to declare a high alert, setting up check points and securing entrance points to the city, according to Misrata's revolutionary brigade spokesman, Walid Khashif.

After the fall of Tripoli to anti-Gadhafi fighters in August, loyalists of the ousted regime took refuge in towns such as Bani Walid and held off revolutionary forces for weeks, using the surrounding mountains and valleys to pick off revolutionary forces.

Even after Gadhafi's capture and killing in October, the city and its surrounding region have troubled Libya's new leaders.

In November, 15 soldiers were killed in an ambush by Gadhafi loyalists just outside the town. Revolutionary fighters in Bani Walid have complained that the country's interim government has done little to help secure the city.

______

Batrawy reported from Cairo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya

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Mourinho defiant despite rising pressure

Associated Press Sports

updated 2:32 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012

MADRID (AP) -Appearing angry and irritable, Jose Mourinho claimed all was well at Real Madrid on Tuesday despite reported divisions within his squad following the loss last week to Barcelona causing speculation to mount about his future.

Mourinho has come under criticism from his usually staunch allies - Madrid fans and the local media - for his tactics against Barcelona in the 2-1 home loss in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals last Wednesday.

During a tense news conference on Tuesday, the Portuguese coach was quick to dismiss all questions regarding his future and the mood among the players inside the changing room, answering "I don't know" on each occasion.

Mourinho was similarly dismissive when asked if this is his most difficult period since joining Madrid in 2010 after having guided Inter Milan to the Champions League title.

"It's a very nice moment," countered Mourinho, whose team leads the league by five points from Barcelona.

Mourinho was hired by president Florentino Perez to not only win trophies but ensure Madrid beats Barcelona. Last season's victory in the Copa del Rey final, however, is his lone win in nine games against the club where he once worked as an assistant coach.

"When I first arrived, this club's (cup) tradition was elimination at the hands of smaller teams, and last year we won the Copa," Mourinho said in one of his few lengthy answers. "When we got to Real Madrid we weren't even a top seed (in the Champions League), and now we've managed a record number of victories in the first half of the season and we're leading the championship.

"We're not doing too bad."

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported details Tuesday of discussions between Mourinho and his players after the 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals in which he reportedly said the series was over ahead of the return leg.

That follows sports daily Marca revealing a critical exchange between Mourinho and defender Sergio Ramos after last week's loss to Barcelona.

"I've never lacked respect for a coach at any point of my career," Ramos wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday. "With that, I deny these things said of me, that I never said. The coach and I are fighting for the same interests."

Although stating that Pepe was available for Wednesday's second leg if he escapes a ban for stomping on Lionel Messi, Mourinho was less forthcoming about whether he is ready to abandon his defensive game plan.

"I don't have to reveal how we are going to play the game at the Camp Nou," Mourinho said, adding: "Tomorrow's game will not have an impact on my time at Real Madrid."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

That's a reason?

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/

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AWC names finance vice president, president, vice, yuma - News ...

Carole Coleman has been named vice president for Finance and Administrative Services at Arizona Western College.

On staff at AWC since 2005, Coleman has served as associate vice president for Business Services, dean of Business Services and director of Financial Services and controller.

She previously worked at Saint John's University in Minnesota as vice president for Finance and Administration for two and a half years, at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia as executive vice president and chief financial officer for seven years and as vice president for Finance and Administration for eight years.

According to AWC, Coleman completed coursework for her doctoral studies at West Virginia University and holds a master of business administration and a bachelor of science from Wheeling Jesuit University.

She currently serves on boards and committees including Yuma Education Consortium, Yuma Executive Association, Yuma Regional Medical Center, Moody Scholarship Committee, Yuma Community Foundation and Yuma Area Benefits Consortium.

?I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to serve Arizona Western College in this new capacity as vice president for Finance and Administrative Services,? she said. ?It is really a pleasure to work with the people in the Yuma and La Paz County communities. My past experience in similar positions allow me to bring some best practices to AWC and continue to provide strong financial leadership.?

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.

Source: http://www.yumasun.com/news/president-76111-vice-yuma.html

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Scrambled GOP race heads to Florida

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Callista Gingrich looks on at right. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a South Carolina Republican presidential primary-night rally at The Citadel, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. Santorum says it's a "wide open race" for the GOP nomination, even after finishing a distant third in Saturday's primary. He'd hoped to build momentum from a late victory in the Iowa caucuses. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally at the Citadel, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Charleston, S.C. Santorum says it's a "wide open race" for the GOP nomination, even after finishing third in Saturday's primary. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, stands with his wife Ann as he speaks at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? A suddenly scrambled Republican presidential contest now shifts to Florida, a day after Newt Gingrich stopped Mitt Romney's sprint to the GOP nomination by scoring a convincing victory in South Carolina.

The air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy just days ago is gone, at least for now. And his rivals, led by Gingrich, have 10 days before Florida's Jan. 31 contest to prove South Carolina was no fluke.

Florida, being much larger, more diverse, and more expensive, brings new challenges to Gingrich, who again must overcome financial and organizational disadvantages as he did Saturday.

"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has. But we do have ideas. And we do have people," Gingrich, the former House speaker, told cheering supporters Saturday night. "And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. And with your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."

Romney struck a defiant tone before his own backers gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, saying: "I will compete in every single state." And wasted no time jabbing at Gingrich, saying: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, having finished third in South Carolina, vowed to compete in Florida and beyond. His presence in the race ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could ultimately help Romney help erase any questions about his candidacy by scoring a victory of his own a week from Tuesday.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida, having declared that he's bypassing the expensive state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.

But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama still in its early stages.

Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.

Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his Internet message.

Aides to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first ? but that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.

Romney swept into South Carolina 11 days ago as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.

Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-GOP%20Campaign/id-39ef51b3a8e54784a88903af43cf4949

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BlackBerry maker co-CEOs step down (AP)

TORONTO ? BlackBerry maker Research in Motion'co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, announced Sunday they are stepping down from the once-iconic company that has struggled to compete in recent years.

The pair who founded RIM will be replaced by Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG, RIM said.

Balsillie and Lazaridis have headed Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM together for the past two decades.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the board and told them that we thought that time was now," Lazaridis said in a statement.

The Canadian company has suffered a series of setbacks and has lost tens of billions in market value. A company that was worth more than $70 billion a few years ago now has a market value of $8.9 billion.

RIM said last month that new phones deemed critical to the company's future will be delayed until late 2012. And its PlayBook tablet, RIM's answer to the Apple iPad, failed to gain consumer support, forcing the company to give it deep discounts to move the devices off store shelves.

A widespread outage also frustrated tens of millions of BlackBerry users in October.

Lazaridis will take on a new role as vice chairman of RIM's board and chairman of the board's new innovation committee. Balsillie remains a member of the board.

"I agree this is the right time to pass the baton to new leadership, and I have complete confidence in Thorsten, the management team and the company," Balsillie said in the statement. "I remain a significant shareholder and a director and, of course, they will have my full support."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/cn_rim_ceos_resign

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Use a Parmesan Cheese Lid to Turn a Canning Jar into a Shaker [Kitchen Hacks]

Household weblog Plath's Adventures shares that the lid from a disposable parmesan cheese container fits a regular (not wide-mouth) canning jar perfectly.

The great thing about this is that you can use the shaker top with cheap second-hand canning jars to make food prep easier. The author uses this combination for bread crumbs or granulated garlic, but I'd also suggest using this as a powdered sugar shaker, sesame seeds for stir fry, nutritional yeast for vegans; really the sky is the limit.

A Thrift Store Find and a Canning Jar Tip | Plath's Adventures

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/u54xFT36FpM/use-a-parmesan-cheese-lid-to-turn-a-canning-jar-into-a-shaker

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Tiny baby leaves Los Angeles hospital amid fanfare (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? One of the world's smallest surviving babies was discharged Friday from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator ? but not before getting the Hollywood treatment.

Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news photographers outside the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

"I'm just happy that she's doing well," said her 22-year-old mother Haydee Ibarra. "I'm happy that I'm finally going to take her home ... I'm just grateful."

Melinda was born on August 30 weighing just 9 1/2 ounces, less than a can of soda. She was so tiny that she fit into her doctor's hand. Melinda is believed to be the world's third-smallest surviving baby and second smallest in the U.S.

Now weighing 4 1/2 pounds and breathing through an oxygen tube as a precaution, doctors said Melinda has made enough progress to go home. It's too early to know how she will do developmentally and physically, but doctors planned to monitor her for the next six years.

Most babies as small don't survive even with advanced medical care. About 7,500 babies are born each year in the U.S. weighing less than 1 pound, and about 10 percent survive.

Melinda has come a long way since being delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks after her mother developed high blood pressure during pregnancy, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus.

She was whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit where she breathed with the help of a machine and received nutrition through a feeding tube. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.

Even after discharge, such extremely premature babies require constant care at home. Their lungs are not fully developed and they may need oxygen at home. Parents also need to watch out for risk of infections that could send infants back to the hospital. Even basic activities like feeding can be challenging.

"They may need extra help and patience while they learn to eat," Dr. Edward Bell, a pediatrician of the University of Iowa who runs an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies born weighing less than a pound.

The list features 130 babies dating back to 1936 and does not represent all survivors since submission is voluntary. Melinda was not eligible to be included until she was discharged.

Two years ago, Bell published a study in the journal Pediatrics that found many survivors have ongoing health and learning concerns. Most also remain short and underweight for their age.

There are some rare success stories. The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology, according to doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.

Soon after birth, Melinda was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies and underwent surgery to close an artery. Ibarra held Melinda for the first time after the operation in November.

Despite the hurdles, doctors said Melinda was fortunate she did not suffer serious complications such as bleeding in the brain.

___

Online:

Registry: http://www.healthcare.uiowa.edu/tiniestbabies

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_he_me/us_med_tiny_baby

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Futures drop after GE, Google results (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures dipped on Friday, indicating the S&P 500 may snap a three-day win streak after GE and Google results fell short of expectations and as investors eyed Greek debt talks for signs of progress.

Google Inc (GOOG.O) shares slumped 7.8 percent to $589.73 in premarket trading after quarterly profit and revenue for the No. 1 Internet search engine missed Wall Street expectations on declining search advertising rates.

General Electric Co (GE.N) fell 2.6 percent to $18.65 after the largest U.S. conglomerate reported roughly flat profit from continuing operations, but revenues missed estimates.

Greece and its private bondholders were "converging towards" a long-awaited debt swap deal, a source said, with private bondholders possibly assuming a real loss of 65 percent to 70 percent. Hopes are that an agreement would prevent the nation from spiraling into bankruptcy and bring some stability to the debt-strained euro zone.

"We are now debating again how much of a haircut the bondholders of Greece are going to take and that is not happy news," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

"That being said, let's see where things end up today because I thought at least three of the four tech companies had really good and strong results."

A strong outlook from International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) and decent results from Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) signaled that corporate leaders were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending.

Microsoft shares were up 2.7 percent to $28.89, and Intel edged up 0.7 percent to $25.80 premarket. IBM gained 2.7 percent to $185.38.

"The revenue is probably the most concerning thing. They are a bellwether and we are really interested to see what they see, especially in their industrial area, how the orders are," said Forrest.

S&P 500 futures fell 3.4 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were off 14 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.25 points.

European shares slipped 0.3 percent early Friday after hitting 5-1/2 month highs in the previous session as major indexes neared "overbought" territory. Asian shares rose to fresh two-month highs as solid euro zone sovereign debt sales. (.EU)

Economic data on existing home sales was due from the National Association of Realtors for December at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT). Economists forecast a 4.65 million annual rate in December, versus 4.42 million in November.

Chinese factory activity likely fell for a third successive month in January, an early indicator showed, suggesting Beijing's pro-growth policies will remain in place despite early signs a downward drift was slowing.

U.S. stocks rose Thursday, sparked by results from Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and as the latest jobless claims dropped to a near four-year low.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Seafarers outraged that captain jumped ship

In this photo taken on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, and made available Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground Friday off the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Schettino, released on Tuesday, and currently under house arrest in his hometown of Meta di Sorrento, southern Italy, is being investigated for possible manslaughter charges and abandoning the ship. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili)

In this photo taken on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, and made available Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground Friday off the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Schettino, released on Tuesday, and currently under house arrest in his hometown of Meta di Sorrento, southern Italy, is being investigated for possible manslaughter charges and abandoning the ship. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo made available Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, Francesco Schettino, third from left, the captain of the luxury cruiser Costa Concordia which ran aground off a Tuscan island, arrives at court in Grosseto, Italy, to be heard by investigators. Schettino, released soon after, was placed under house arrest in his hometown of Meta di Sorrento, southern Italy, and is being investigated for manslaughter charges and for abandoning the ship. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili)

Capt. Bill Wright, left, discussed cruise-industry regulation at a passenger ship safety conference in London on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 with Richard Evenhand, managing director of V.Ships Leisure UK on the right. Wright, senior vice president of Marine Operations for the Royal Caribbean International cruise line, said it was too soon to comment on the captain of the Costa Concordia?s actions, but said it was ?an unwritten rule or law of the sea? that a captain stands by a ship in distress. (AP Photo/Cassandra Vinograd)

This Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 satellite image made available by DigitalGlobe on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 shows the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its starboard side after it ran aground on the Tuscan island of Giglio on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. But is it realistic to expect skippers - only human after all - to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety? From mariners on ships plying the world's oceans, the answer is loud and clear: Aye. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

STOCKHOLM (AP) ? Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. But is it realistic to expect skippers to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety?

From mariners on ships plying the world's oceans, the answer is loud and clear: Aye.

"It's a matter of honor that the master is the last to leave. Nothing less will do in this profession," said Jorgen Loren, captain of a passenger ferry operating between Sweden and Denmark and chairman of the Swedish Maritime Officer's Association.

Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. Francesco Schettino, who faces possible charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. The last charge carries a possible sentence of 12 years in prison.

Jim Staples, a captain for 20 years, who spoke Wednesday from the 1,000-foot (300-meter) cargo vessel he was captaining near New Orleans, said captains are duty-bound to stay with the ship until the situation is hopeless. When they bail early, everything falls apart.

"I'm totally embarrassed by what he did," Staples said of Schettino. "He's given the industry a bad name, he's made us all look bad. It's shameful."

Schettino should have remained on board "until the last passenger was accounted for," agreed Abelardo Pacheco, a Filipino captain who was held hostage for five months in Somalia and now heads a seafarers' training center in Manila.

"That is the responsibility of the captain. That's why all privileges are given to him. But he has together with that an equal burden of responsibility," Pacheco said.

The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, slammed into a reef on Friday, after Schettino made an unauthorized detour from the ship's programmed route. A recording of his conversation with the Italian coast guard shows he left the ship before all passengers were off, and resisted repeated orders to go back, saying the ship was tipping and it was dark.

Schettino said he ended up in a life raft after he tripped and fell into the water. He is being held under house arrest as prosecutors prepare criminal charges.

Even if he's not convicted, it is highly unlikely he'll ever command a cruise or cargo ship again because of the damage to his reputation, said Craig Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

"Some people panic, but a short time later they collect their senses and do the right thing," Allen said. "In this case there was more than enough time for the moment of panic to pass. It was abject cowardice."

The tradition of a captain standing by his ship isn't established in international maritime law, though some countries, like Italy, have included it in national laws.

Still, it is respected as "an unwritten rule or law of the sea," said Capt. Bill Wright, senior vice president of Marine Operations for the Royal Caribbean International cruise line.

A captain's responsibilities and authority are laid out in the International Safety Management Code, which is part of a larger convention adopted by the U.N. body in charge of safety and security of shipping. It was passed in 1914 as a direct result of the sinking of the Titanic, and has been amended many times since.

The code doesn't specifically say when a captain can leave a stricken ship, though it stresses his "overriding authority and responsibility to make decisions with respect to safety." It also says the ship owner must clearly define a captain's duties and assure he is "properly qualified for command."

Both literature and real life offer plenty of examples of shipmasters who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect their passengers and crew.

The most famous, perhaps, is Capt. Edward Smith of the Titanic, who helped evacuate the ship ? women and children first ? until there were no lifeboats left, and then perished with it.

A more recent example is Robert Royer, the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Alaska in 2010. As water rushed into the ship and the three other crew members jumped overboard, Royer stayed in the wheelhouse to make a frantic mayday call and give the ship's position to the Coast Guard. The crew said that likely saved their lives, because the ship's emergency beacon didn't work.

After more than three hours in the water, they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Royer, however, died after suffering a head injury when he finally left the ship.

Maritime experts say such manifestations of courage at sea far outnumber incidents in which captains save themselves and leave their passengers behind.

Those who did earned instant infamy, like the captain of the Greek luxury liner Oceanos, which sank in rough seas off South Africa in 1991.

The 402 passengers and 179 crew members all survived, but Capt. Yiannis Avranas and other officers left the ship while some passengers were still on board.

A magician who had been performing on the ship took over the bridge, monitoring rescue calls as a fellow entertainer kept passengers calm by playing Beatles songs on his guitar. Avranas defended his actions, saying he left the ship to direct rescue operations.

"When I order abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave," Avranas said at the time. "Abandon is for everybody. If some people like to stay, they can stay."

A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster.

In 1965, the captain and several other crew members were among the first to abandon ship after the Yarmouth Castle caught fire and started sinking off the Bahamas, killing 90. Fleeing in a lifeboat, they were told by the captain of a rescue ship to go back and help their passengers.

Captains accused of leaving prematurely often claim they can manage the situation better from the safety of a lifeboat, rescue vessel or on shore.

Allen dismissed that idea, saying the captain's knowledge of his ship is crucial in an emergency.

"Shoreside rescue people can do all the shoreside coordination efforts needed," he said. "You need someone on the ship to communicate with them, to command the people who are on the ship, to help get the passengers off and to guide the rescuers."

Rear Adm. Richard Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, called Schettino's actions "abhorrent" and a violation of an unwritten code.

"It isn't just a maritime code, it's a code of leadership," Gurnon said. "If you are leader, you have responsibility for your people. They put their lives in your hands."

Steen Brodersen, a retired Danish captain, said that every single crew member, from the chief mate to the cooks, has a designated role in an emergency on a cruise ship. Regular drills ensure everyone knows what to do.

The captain must first ensure the safety of his passengers, then of his crew and, finally, of the ship, though the notion that he's supposed to go down with it is more legend than fact.

Brodersen, 60, said he never had to deal with that kind of situation, though he has sometimes thought about when his survival instinct would trump the hope of salvaging a doomed ship.

"There must be a point at which I would think that now it is time to jump into the water so I don't die," he said.

"But that would come after the ship has been evacuated," he added. "It is my responsibility. I am the captain."

__

Jay Lindsay in Boston, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Cassandra Vinograd in London and Teresa Cerojano in Manila contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-EU-Cowardice-At-Sea/id-8faa4cdaf7d24bd7b99c6fee3cac31a5

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