Skin transformed into brain cells

30 January 2012 Last updated at 19:13 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Skin cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain, by researchers studying mice in California.

The experiment, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, skipped the middle "stem cell" stage in the process.

The researchers said they were "thrilled" at the potential medical uses.

Far more tests are needed before the technique could be used on human skin.

Stem cells, which can become any other specialist type of cell from brain to bone, are thought to have huge promise in a range of treatments. Many trials are taking place, such as in stroke patients or specific forms of blindness.

One of the big questions for the field is where to get the cells from. There are ethical concerns around embryonic stem cells and patients would need to take immunosuppressant drugs as any stem cell tissue would not match their own.

An alternative method has been to take skin cells and reprogram them into "induced" stem cells. These could be made from a patient's own cells and then turned into the cell type required, however, the process results in cancer-causing genes being activated.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

We are thrilled about the prospects for potential medical use of these cells?

End Quote Prof Marius Wernig Stanford University School of Medicine Direct approach

The research group, at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, is looking at another option - converting a person's own skin cells into specialist cells, without creating "induced" stem cells. It has already transformed skin cells directly into neurons.

This study created "neural precursor" cells, which can develop into three types of brain cell: neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

These precursor cells have the advantage that, once created, they can be grown in a laboratory into very large numbers. This could be critical if the cells were to be used in any therapy.

Brain cells and skin cells contain the same genetic information, however, the genetic code is interpreted differently in each. This is controlled by "transcription factors".

The scientists used a virus to infect skin cells with three transcription factors known to be at high levels in neural precursor cells.

After three weeks about one in 10 of the cells became neural precursor cells.

Lead researcher Prof Marius Wernig said: "We are thrilled about the prospects for potential medical use of these cells.

"We've shown the cells can integrate into a mouse brain and produce a missing protein important for the conduction of electrical signal by the neurons.

"More work needs to be done to generate similar cells from human skin cells and assess their safety and efficacy."

Dr Deepak Srivastava, who has researched converting cells into heart muscle, said the study: "Opens the door to consider new ways to regenerate damaged neurons using cells surrounding the area of injury."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-16788809

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Pet Health Insurance policy ? Black Nineteen

Posted by: admin on: January 29, 2012

Insuring your pet ? the finest bet:

The welfare of the animal adopted by the relatives is a collective obligation. Just like each expense and member of the relatives is insured, the pet requirements a finance cover too. Pet wellbeing insurance policy has been about for a whilst now, but the relevance of the cover has only just lately made the rounds. The availability of pet insurance policy programs has in a way been impacted and minimal largely due to the a variety of policy restrictions and prohibitive clauses provided in many instances. On the other hand, in last several decades, pet owners about the world have pursued the alterations adopted within the devoted pet insurance policy sector with lazy boy chairs.

Why is it important to insure your pet?

Pet wellbeing insurance policy now equips and supports the pet owners with insurance policy addresses that are supplied at unique amounts of care. The alterations include things like the locations which were previously deemed ?cost prohibitive? by the insurance policy providers. Most pet owners react from the hassles they experience when dealing with insurance policy red tape and issues prevalent in the human wellbeing care fields. The raising cost of veterinary medicine and the obligation of the pet are foremost pet owners throughout the planet to deal with the require for devoted pet wellbeing insurance policy. The cover fundamentally takes care of animal hospitalization and wellbeing care requirements addressed by the veterinary.

What does pet wellbeing insurance policy consider care of?

The pet owners are accountable for veterinary expenditures incurred, like preventive or program pet care, emergencies and disorders that need hospitalization. The pet wellbeing policies are rather comparable to human insurance policy policies. Pet wellbeing insurance policy also entails the payment of annual or semi annual rates, calculating deductibles and evaluating the unique protection programs primarily based on funds and unique phrases and disorders. In the scenario of the animals, the pet wellbeing insurance policy programs are primarily based on the species, the pet?s age and any pre-current wellbeing disorders. In certain policies, the way of life of the pet, which requirements to be declared as indoors or outdoors, is also deemed. Most of the pet wellbeing insurance policy providers offer you policies to animals that have finished a certain variety of months due to the fact birth. There are some that do not adhere to the ?age limit? standards at all and however some some others who truly style and design pet wellbeing insurance policy policies and programs for ages in between many specified by the organization only.

Qualification standards:

The a variety of pet wellbeing insurance policy providers look for information and facts on pre-current wellbeing issues. Policies differ sort a person organization to yet another and in kind. Some pet wellbeing insurance policy providers insure the animal only if the pet is veterinary declared ?stable? or ?controlled?. There are policies where providers refuse to insure animals with existent wellbeing disorders or terminally ill. The animal, in some pet wellbeing care insurance policy packages are not coated if the breed is understood as inclined to creating certain conditions. A good illustration of this is the popular wellbeing hazard in German Shepherds ? hip dysplasia!

How does pet wellbeing insurance policy work?

There is a fixed existing ordinary for annual deductibles in the scenario of pet wellbeing insurance policy. The actual expenditures of the policies differ widely. The affecting variables include things like the animal species and the unique offers intended with the species in head, from which the proprietor can pick. There are pet wellbeing care insurance policy offers that including annual checkups and vaccinations and preventive medication, along with program wellbeing care visits to the veterinary. The in depth-insurance policy offers for the animals also cover spay and/or neuter surgical procedures. Almost all insurance policy programs cover accident and illness and offer you rapid protection, basically within a month, in the scenario of illness claims on new policies. If you have much more than a person pet, then added pets are provided pet wellbeing insurance policy at a diminished rate.

You require to test with your veterinarian about the wellness offers provided by certain hospitals, at discounted costs and the geriatric wellbeing checkup offers for preventive wellbeing. Comparison shopping for premium premiums and utmost protection can help you save on important time and money!

Source: http://www.blacknineteen.com/pet-health-insurance-policy/

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EcoSpeed App Saves 30% On Gas With Clever Routing

Still insist on using that gas-guzzling holdover from the 20th century, the automobile? Well, I have a little something for you, you naughty boy, and it will save you a little cash as well as protecting the environment you so callously defile with your every trip. It’s called EcoSpeed, and it’s pretty clever. EcoSpeed consists [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/qBeI9r-UD2A/

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The problem with democracy is all the debating (Unqualified Offerings)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192684581?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Salvage crews suspend work on capsized cruise ship (Reuters)

GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) ? Salvage crews preparing to pump thousands of tonnes of diesel fuel and oil from the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the Italian coast suspended work on Saturday because of bad weather that could last into next week, officials said.

With heavy seas and strong winds set to continue, work on removing more than 2,300 tonnes of diesel may be held up for days, according to a spokesman for SMIT, the Dutch company that is managing the operation.

"Starting operations depends on the weather conditions," Martijn Schuttevaer told reporters. "The forecast is for the bad weather to last until Tuesday and we don't expect to be able to recommence activities until the middle of the week."

A barge carrying pumping equipment that was attached to the capsized ship was withdrawn after strong winds and high waves worsened conditions for the divers working on the huge wreck.

Despite the interruption the search continued for bodies on the half-submerged vessel, which lies in about 20 meters of water on a rock shelf close to the island of Giglio off the Tuscan coast.

Divers found the body of a woman on Saturday, bringing the number of known dead to 17. Authorities also said they had identified the body of a German woman recovered last week.

Two of the bodies found after the shipwreck are unidentified and 15 people are still missing.

With no hope of finding survivors, the focus has switched to preventing an environmental disaster in Giglio, a popular holiday island in a marine nature reserve.

Before the work was suspended, crews were installing valves to help pump out six fuel tanks towards the front of the ship which hold most of the diesel. The pumping operation is expected to take between three weeks and a month.

The Concordia, a 290-metre long floating resort carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, sank more than two weeks ago after it ran into a rock close to the shore which tore a long gash in its hull.

The accident, expected to trigger the most expensive maritime insurance claim ever, has set off a legal battle in which U.S. and Italian lawyers are preparing class action and individual suits against the operator, Costa Cruises.

In a bid to limit the fallout, Costa, a unit of Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise ship operator, has offered the more than 3,000 passengers $14,500 each in compensation on condition they drop any legal action.

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest, suspected of causing the accident by steering too close to shore, and faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete.

The ship's first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, has also been questioned by prosecutors but the company itself has not been implicated in the investigation at this stage.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_italy_ship

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Media Critical of Controversial Crisis Communications Counsel ...

In his Part III version of the crisis communications coverage, Jeff Mustard, a veteran public relations professional offers some of the most extensive observations provided yet, purely from an inside-industry public relations and crisis management perspective chronicling the crisis as it unfolds in the media, how Carnival officials are ?managing? the communications and how the media are portraying the crisis, the company and the CEO as the Concordia remains listing and lifeless just yards off the Italian coastline. Along with the two earlier produced reports, marketers, the media, public relations professionals and consumers alike will be treated to a glimpse behind the curtain of the critical issues and considerations contemplated when coping with and coordinating a crisis of this magnitude. Rare insights are offered concerning how communications strategies are crafted to best manage and even manipulate the media to control public perception for the preservation of a company?s name, brand, reputation and financial performance ? both in the immediate term as well in the near and long term

Boca Raton, Florida (PRWEB) January 27, 2012

While the divers of the rescue team wade their way through cloudy waters of the ocean still looking for the missing dead bodies, above ground, the early charted course set by the crisis communications team might be entering cloudy waters of their own as criticism, mostly media driven, condemning the lack of Arison?s public profile since the ship sank is beginning to crack the surface in the public debate.

In his Part III version of the crisis communications coverage, Jeff Mustard, a veteran public relations professional offers some of the most extensive observations provided yet, purely from an inside industry public relations and crisis management perspective, chronicling the crisis as it unfolds in the media, how Carnival officials are ?managing? the communications and how the media are portraying the crisis, the company and the CEO as the Concordia remains listing and lifeless just yards off the Italian coastline.

Has Carnival Cruise CEO Micky Arison Abandoned Ship, or Just Below Deck?

Although no one really knows where Micky Arison has been, the subtext of the question is really, WHY hasn?t he been in Italy, or why hasn?t he been (more) visible since one of his ships sank?

For the time being, Arison may have gone below deck, but he has not abandoned ship.

Arison, while not in the public spotlight as the voice, the face, the spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines since Friday the 13th, 11 days ago, when the Costa Concordia met some unexpected rocks and crippled the Costa Concordia, Arison, while out of sight is still very much at the helm of Carnival Cruise Lines, even if it?s from the company?s corporate headquarters in Doral, Florida, a few miles from the port of Miami where many of Arison?s fleet make their home.

The Wall Street Journal Fires the First Negative PR Salvo over the Bow of the Concordia, Right at Carnival CEO, Micky Arison

The First negative PR salvo was fired over the bow of the sunken Costa Concordia right at Micky Arison. NO surprise. It was just a matter of time. It?s also no surprise also that it came from the Wall Street Journal. The ?attack? came in the form of a very subtle headline, 11 days after the Costa crisis occurred. The headline: ?Carnival CEO Lies Low After Wreck? ? Make no mistake about it though, this headline smacks of efforts to stir up trouble for Arison for remaining out of the public spotlight on the issue.

For a closer examination of the full Wall Street Journal article referenced above, along with a detailed analysis of this classic sensationalized Headline Copywriting, that while on the surface seems to ?indicate? the accused, in this case Micky Arison, the article actually goes on to defend his actions for ?laying low.?

To read the fascinating deconstructed version of this entirely misleading story visit Part III, A Crisis Communications Case Study, the third installment in extensive analysis of the communications crisis coverage of the Costa Concordia ship-sinking disaster.

Part III, A Crisis Communications Management Case Study

Managing the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Crisis: Who?s in Charge and Where is Micky Arison, Chairman & CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines?

Read the Full Report Now: http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

Micky Arison: Changing the Crisis Communications PR Playbook

?A disaster that involves people, property, lost lives and potentially seriously devastating financial consequences to an industry responsible for millions of jobs globally and that generates billions of dollars affecting a host of industry sectors, is pretty much the absolute worst situation a person can find themselves in if they are the person whose company is involved in just such a disaster,? says veteran public relations professional, Jeff Mustard, President of The Bamboo Agency, a full-service advertising and marketing firm that specializes in Public Relations and Crisis Communications.

?It has come to be expected that a company Chairman step forward in just such crises situations,? says Mustard, ?and this expectation comes not just out of the playbook of public relations and crisis communications management professionals, but also to a great degree, subconsciously by the public.?

Micky Arison: Not the Right Guy for the Job

But, Arison, it would seem, is not the right guy for the job. In this particular crisis a variety of circumstances have come into play that have unfolded in real time during the crisis and by default, perhaps as much as by design, (advice from the inner coterie ? carnival officials as well as their PR Crisis Management Company ? Burson Marsteller), invariably further contributed to Arison?s low profile in the crisis and positioned Pier Luigi Foschi, CEO of the Costa Concordia as the main man facing the cameras ? and answering the questions.

Naturally, Arison?s ?lack of presence? is getting attention, and Arison is taking some, but mostly media criticism, for his lack of visibility. But, purely from a public relations crisis communications management perspective, the central question is ? should Arison BE the person out front on this?

The answer is YES. However, he is not, and here?s a glimpse at why.

Given all the politics and the unique circumstances of the situation as it unfolded, how it unfolded, where it happened, when it happened, all of these variables, and many others, play(ed) a role in Foschi emerging as the titular representative for the crisis.

Foschi, Whether by Agreement or Acquiescence Accepted the Role as Spokesperson for the Crisis

Foschi, early on, handled the situation well, and seemingly, he continues to do so. Arison?s lack of visibility goes against the PR textbook playbook. That doesn?t? make Arison wrong, it just makes his decision different than what most (media and members of the public) think is ?the right way to handle? a crisis situation.

In this Part III case study, along with the two earlier produced reports, marketers, the media, public relations professionals and consumers alike will be treated to a glimpse behind the curtain of the critical issues and considerations contemplated when coping with and coordinating a crisis of this magnitude. Further, rare insights are offered concerning how communications strategies are crafted to best manage and even manipulate the media to control public perception for the preservation of a company?s name, brand, reputation and financial performance ? both in the immediate term as well in the near and long term.

To read the full Report, Part III, A Crisis Communications Management Case Study:

http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

Managing the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Crisis: Who?s in Charge and Where is Micky Arison, Chairman & CEO of Carnival Cruise Line?

While the ?Public Jury? is still Out, Carnival Stock Remains Afloat

While the ?public jury at large? is still out on any consequences or ramifications regarding Arison?s lack of presence in the ship sinking crisis, as of this writing, purely from a financial perspective, company stakeholders and shareholders continue to stand by the chairman. Stockholders have not abandoned ship, nor would it seem do they wish to scuttle Carnival Corporation.

As of 12:55 PM, Tuesday, January 24th, Carnival Cruise stock continues to ride the wave of improving consumer confidence in the corporation. Carnival stock, as of this moment is trading at $31.75, up .76% for the day.

While it is still too early to arrive at a final public relations assessment on whether or not Carnival Cruise CEO, Micky Arison should have been out front as spokesperson on the ship sinking crisis, at this time, it seems, this was the right decision.

?For the time being, Pier Luigi Foschi might be Micky Arison?s life preserver, but it does not mean that Arison, or Carnival Cruise Corporation is out of troubled waters, at least just yet,? observes public relations crisis communications professional, Jeff Mustard.

Editor?s Note: Jeff Mustard can be reached for insightful analysis and expert commentary on the Costa Cruise / Carnival Cruise Ship Sinking Disaster.

Contact: 954-801-8263 / email: jeff(at)thebambooagency(dot)com

MORE ANALAYSIS AND COVERAGE ON THE COSTA CONCORDIA / CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES SHIP SINKING DISASTER:

Two Case Studies ? Part 1, Produced and Published 72 hours after the Costa Concordia was grounded.

Will Sinking Ship, Costa Concordia Cripple Carnival Cruise Lines, or will Successful Public Relations Crisis Communications Buoy Cruise-Consumer & Capital Markets Confidence?

Read the Full Case Study, Part I Now: http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

Just Three days after the 951? luxury cruise-liner ran aground and flipped on its side throwing passengers into the icy cold waters and casting a glaring spotlight on the Concordia ship disaster, Carnival Cruise Lines and the cruise industry, Jeff Mustard produced one of the public relations industry?s earliest and most thorough analyses of the then rapidly unfolding crisis. In his first crisis communications case study, a 13-page report, Mustard offers interesting, informative and intuitive insights that public relations professionals, the media and even consumers will likewise also find this initial study revealing and illuminating.

Read the full report, Part I: A Crisis Communications Case Study

Read the Full Case Study, Part I Now: http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

Crisis Communications Case Study, Part II, Examines during a 7 Day Period Carnival?s Actions and the Media Coverage and Reactions to the Ship Sinking Disaster in the below titled report:

Part II Crisis Communications Case Study: ?Costa Concordia & Carnival Cruise Lines Crisis Communications: Containment or Calamity?

In his Crisis Communications Case Study, Part II, ?Costa Concordia & Carnival Cruise Lines Crisis Communications: Containment or Calamity?? veteran public relations professional, Jeff Mustard produced a 29-page report that reviews what Costa and Carnival Cruise Lines officials and their communications team did right, wrong, and what it could have done better. The analysis reads like a taught thriller, is interesting, informative and enlightening and should prove illuminating not just to public relations professionals, but the media and consumers alike curious about how just such crisis situations are managed and even manipulated from a marketing and messaging point of view.

Read the full report, Part II Crisis Communications Case Study: ?Costa Concordia & Carnival Cruise Lines Crisis Communications: Containment or Calamity?

Read the Full Case Study: http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

About Jeff Mustard

Jeff Mustard is the President of the Bamboo Agency, a multiple award-winning advertising, marketing and public relations firm. Jeff Mustard is the co-author and ghost writer for a Wall Street Journal Best Selling book, an award-winning documentary writer/producer/director and the recipient of numerous award for creative achievements in advertising and communications. His work has been published locally, regionally and nationally in print, radio and television. He has earned tens of millions of dollars in media exposure for his clients in print, radio and television, nationally and internationally.

Company Website: http://www.thebambooagency.com

Company Blog / Case Studies: http://www.thebambooagency.wordpress.com

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/1/prweb9139857.htm

Source: http://pressreleases.bloginteract.com/2012/01/27/media-critical-of-controversial-crisis-communications-counsel-conferred-to-carnival-cruise-chairman-micky-arison/

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NBC asks Romney to remove news material from ad (AP)

WASHINGTON ? NBC asked GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday to pull a campaign advertisement made up almost entirely of a 1997 "Nightly News" report on Newt Gingrich's ethics committee reprimand.

The "History Lesson" ad started running in Florida on the weekend, when it is harder for stations to switch ad traffic even if they want to. Broadcast days before Tuesday's primary, the ad shows NBC anchor Tom Brokaw saying that some of Gingrich's House colleagues had raised questions about the then-speaker's "future effectiveness."

Under Brokaw's image is a line that reads ? "Paid for by Romney for President, Approved by Mitt Romney."

NBC spokeswoman Lauren Kapp says the network's legal department sent the Romney campaign a letter asking for the removal of all NBC News material from its ads. A similar request went to other campaigns that "have inappropriately" used material from "Nightly News," "Meet the Press," "Today" and MSNBC. Kapp said she was not aware of such uses by other campaigns.

NBC did not immediately respond to a request for a copy of the letter.

Romney spokesman Rick Gorka says the campaign hasn't received formal notification from NBC and had no immediate comment.

Brokaw said in a statement released by NBC that he was "extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad. I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign."

Brokaw stepped down in 2004 after 21 years as anchor and managing editor of "Nightly News," but continues to report for the network.

The House ethics panel investigated Gingrich's use of tax-exempt organizations. The case ended in January 1997 with a reprimand by the House and a $300,000 penalty against Gingrich for misleading the committee and prolonging its investigation.

Romney has sought the release of all records from the probe. The committee did make public its final report as well as exhibits ? which amounted to a comprehensive account of its findings. The head of the ethics committee during the Gingrich investigation, former Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson, said the committee traditionally does not publicly release investigative documents.

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

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Why is investment income taxed less than wages?

House Speaker John Boehner listens as President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in front of a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

House Speaker John Boehner listens as President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in front of a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Saul Loeb, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Why do Mitt Romney and other wealthy investors pay lower taxes on the income they make from investments than they would if they earned their millions from wages? Because Congress, through the tax code, has long treated investment more favorably than labor, seeing it as an engine for economic growth that benefits everyone.

President Barack Obama and the Occupy Wall Street movement are challenging that value system, raising volatile election-year issues of equity, fairness ? and Romney's tax returns.

Romney, who released his 2010 and 2011 tax returns this week, has been forced to defend the fact that he paid a tax rate of about 15 percent on an annual income of $21 million. His tax rate is comparable to the one paid by most middle-income families. His income, however, is 420 times higher than the typical U.S. household.

The Republican presidential candidate's taxes were so low because the vast majority of his income came from investments. The U.S. has long had a progressive income tax, in which people who make more money pay taxes at a higher rate than those who make less. But for almost as long, the U.S. has taxed capital gains ? the profit from selling an investment ? at a lower rate than wages.

"There are two ways to look at: There is a moral argument and an economic growth argument, and they both point to lower taxes on capital gains," said William McBride, an economist at the conservative Tax Foundation.

McBride says it is unfair to tax income more than once, and capital gains are taxed multiple times. If you got the original investment from wages, that money was taxed. If the stock you own gains value because the company you invested in makes a profit, those profits are taxed through the corporate tax. And if that company issues dividends, those are taxed as well.

Lots of people are double taxed, says Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy for the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Check out your last pay stub: There's income tax and payroll tax, so you're double taxed, too," Marr said.

And, he noted, when you buy something, you probably pay a sales tax.

Under current law, the top tax rate is 15 percent on qualified dividend and long-term capital gains ? the profits from selling assets that have been held for at least a year. The top income tax rate on wages is 35 percent, though that applies only to taxable income above $388,350.

Congress started taxing capital gains at a lower rate than wages following World War I. The concern then was that high taxes on capital gains actually reduced revenue because people would simply hold onto their investments and restrict the flow of capital, according to the Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy.

At the time, however, the top tax rate on wages was a whopping 73 percent. In 1922, Congress lowered the top capital gains rate to 12.5 percent, a rate that lasted until 1934.

For much of the next 70 years, the top tax rate on long-term capital gains hovered between 20 percent and 30 percent, going as high as 39.9 percent in the 1970s but never falling below 20 percent until 2003, when Congress passed a gradual reduction to the current rate.

The 2003 law also started taxing qualified dividends at the same rate as capital gains.

Liberals and some moderates argue that lower taxes on investments are a giveaway to the rich because they are the ones who get the most benefit. Last year, two-thirds of all capital gains went to people making more than $1 million, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress.

Only 5 percent of capital gains went to people making less than $100,000, and only 13 percent went to people making less than $200,000.

"I'm a liberal person and I believe strongly that the wealthy should pay more than the working poor," Marr said, regardless of whether the income is from investments or labor.

Obama has taken up this argument, though his budget proposals have called for only small tax increases on capital gains and dividends, to a top rate of 20 percent.

Instead, Obama has developed the "Buffet Rule," named after billionaire investor Warren Buffet, which says rich people shouldn't pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. To impose this rule, Obama said at his State of The Union address Tuesday that people making more than $1 million should pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

"Now, you can call this class warfare all you want," Obama said. "But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense."

The proposal has little chance of passing a divided Congress this year, and the Obama administration has released few details on how the tax would work.

Conservatives argue that increasing investment taxes would make it harder to for businesses to raise capital, restricting job growth and hurting financial markets, reducing income for people who rely on pension funds and 401(k) accounts as well as billionaires and millionaires.

"In my view the rationale for taxing capital gains and dividends at a lower rate has nothing to do with what an individual pays versus another individual," said Jim McCrery, who was a senior Republican member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee when the 2003 tax cuts were enacted. "It has everything to do with the creation of jobs in this country."

McCrery now works for the Alliance for Savings and Investment, a coalition of companies and business groups that want to keep the current tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-26-US-Taxing-Investments/id-a9404a68b1a34e44a3f35a583e54feee

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France, Karzai want faster NATO Afghanistan exit (AP)

PARIS ? President Nicolas Sarkozy says France and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ask NATO to hand over all combat missions in Afghanistan to Afghan troops in 2013 ? a year earlier than planned.

Sarkozy also says France has informed U.S. President Barack Obama of the proposal and will present it at a meeting of NATO defense ministers early next month.

The move, if confirmed, comes at a time of widespread fatigue among European contributors to the 10-year allied intervention in Afghanistan, and would accelerate a gradual drawdown of NATO troops that Obama planned to see through until the end of 2014.

"We have decided in a common accord with President Karzai to ask NATO to consider a total handling of NATO combat missions to the Afghan army over the course of 2013," Sarkozy said.

News of the French-Afghan proposal comes one week after Sarkozy abruptly suspended France's training missions and joint military patrols with Afghan forces following the shooting death of four unarmed French troops by an Afghan soldier on Jan. 20.

Sarkozy announced that the French will resume their training mission as of Saturday and withdraw its own troops by the end of 2013.

With Karzai at his side, Sarkozy also said authority in the strategic province of Kapisa east of Kabul, where nearly all French troops are deployed, will be handed over to the Afghans in March.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_afghanistan

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Someone Took Down the German Parliament's Email System With a Single Click [Email]

What happens when you reply to an email in which the entire German Parliament is looped in? You send that mail server into complete and utter chaos which, i would assume, brings der legislative machine to a screeching halt. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GSGASslJ1sE/someone-took-down-the-german-parliaments-email-system-with-a-single-click

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Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells

Optogenetics might be a relatively unknown area of neuroscience, but it's one that, thanks to some new research, could soon find itself (and its rodental subjects) in the spotlight. For the uninitiated, it's the practice of manipulating animal cells using light (with a little help from gene therapy). Until now, optogenetic equipment has been large and unwieldy, making testing on subjects (read: rats) painstaking. Startup, Kendall Research, has changed all this, creating wireless prototypes that weigh just three grams (0.11 ounces). By eschewing bulky Lasers for LEDs and Laser diodes, the equipment is small enough that it can be attached to the rodents. At that point, their brain function can be manipulated with the touch of a button, and different parts can be stimulated without breeding mutant variants -- a controversial practice that doesn't even yield results in real time. The "router" is powered wirelessly by super capacitors below test area, and researchers can conduct experiments remotely, even automatically. Human applications for this are still some way off, but we're sure our future overlords will make good use of it.

Researchers develop 'wireless optical brain router' to manipulate brain cells originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/researchers-develop-wireless-optical-brain-router-to-manipulat/

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Iran says sanctions to fail, repeats Hormuz threat (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iranian politicians said on Tuesday they expected the European Union to backtrack on its oil embargo and repeated a threat to close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if the West succeeds in preventing Tehran from exporting crude.

"The West's ineffective sanctions against the Islamic state are not a threat to us. They are opportunities and have already brought lots of benefits to the country," Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi told the official IRNA news agency.

Speaking a day after the EU slapped a ban on Iranian oil - to take full effect within six months - in a move to press Tehran into curbing its contested nuclear program and engage in negotiations with six world powers, the tone in the Islamic Republic was defiant, even skeptical.

"The global economic situation is not one in which a country can be destroyed by imposing sanctions," Moslehi said, repeating Iran's stance that with the EU in economic and monetary crisis, it needs Iran's oil more than Iran needs its business.

A spokesman for the oil ministry said Iran had had plenty of time to prepare for the sanctions and would find alternative customers for the 18 percent of its exports that up to now have gone to the 27-nation European bloc.

"The first phase of this (sanctions action) is propaganda, only then it will enter the implementation phase. That is why they put in this six months period, to study the market," Alireza Nikzad Rahbar said, predicting the embargo could be rescinded before it takes force completely.

"This market will harm them because oil is getting more expensive and when oil gets more expensive it will harm the people of Europe," state TV quoted him as saying. "We hope that in these six months they will choose the right path."

The embargo will not kick in completely until July 1 because the bloc's foreign ministers who agreed the ban at a meeting in Brussels were anxious not to penalize the ailing economies of Greece, Italy and others to whom Iran is a major oil supplier.

The strategy will be reviewed in May to see if it should proceed.

Iran, which denies international suspicions that it is trying to design atomic bombs behind the facade of a declared civilian atomic energy program, has scoffed at efforts to bar its oil exports as Asia lines up to buy what Europe rejects.

"RECKLESS"

Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Danish ambassador on Tuesday to complain about the EU's "illogical decision," accusing Europe of doing the bidding of the United States.

"Some elements in the European Union, following America's policies, are seeking to create tension in relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Ashghar Khaji told Ambassador Anders Christian Hougaard.

"Europe should be responsible for the consequences of these reckless decisions," he said, according to IRNA.

Emad Hosseini, spokesman for parliament's energy committee, said that if Iran encountered any problem selling its oil, it would store it.

"If we don't export our oil to Europe, our oil will be saved and storage of oil will not harm us but we will have rich storage of oil," he told the semi-official Fars news agency, adding Iran retained its threat to shut the Gulf to shipping.

"Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the country's strategies against the West's threats, especially an oil embargo," he said.

The United States, which sailed an aircraft carrier through the strait into the Gulf accompanied by British and French warships on Sunday, has said it would not tolerate the closure of the world's most important oil shipping gateway.

Fitch Ratings issued an assessment of the embargo's market impact saying it would likely cause an oil price increase.

"However, prices may not necessarily increase markedly from current levels as some of the risks related to the EU ban on Iranian oil appear factored in already," it said.

The embargo decision had no discernible impact on oil prices as it was a move that had been flagged well in advance and the threat to close Hormuz seemed remote. Brent crude down slightly at $110 per barrel on Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that the EU sanctions underlined the strength of the international community's commitment to "addressing the serious threat" presented by Iran's nuclear program.

"The United States will continue to impose new sanctions to increase the pressure on Iran," he said in a statement.

Washington applied its own sanctions to Iran's oil trade and central bank on December 31 and on Monday extended them to the third largest Iranian bank, state-owned Bank Tejarat, and a Belarus-based affiliate for allegedly helping Tehran's nuclear advance.

The EU sanctions were also welcomed by Israel, which has warned it might attack Iran if sanctions do not deflect Tehran from a course that some analysts say could potentially give Iran the means to build a nuclear bomb next year.

(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_iran

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Spike Lee frustrated by lack of diversity in film (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Spike Lee just premiered the fifth film in his "continuing chronicles of Brooklyn, N.Y.," at the Sundance Film Festival, but the filmmaker is still frustrated at the lack of diversity in the entertainment industry.

Lee said Monday that in the "upper echelons of television and studios, it's 1950. It's Eisenhower."

He says there is much work to be done before the film industry reflects the diversity of the United States. He noted that the U.S. Census shows that "white Americans will be a minority by 2045, maybe sooner," and said it makes "good business sense" for companies, including entertainment companies, to diversify their workforce.

Lee unveiled "Red Hook Summer" on Sunday to a full house that included such guests as Chris Rock, Alfre Woodard and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_en_ot/us_film_sundance_spike_lee

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Giffords says farewell to Tucson constituents

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with her staffer Ron Barber, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with Community Food Bank CEO Bill Carnegie Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, left, tours the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center, one of her favorite charities, with Community Food Bank CEO Bill Carnegie Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. The tour is her last act as a congresswoman in Tucson before her resignation this week. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? On a bittersweet day for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the outgoing congresswoman spent her final hours in Tucson as the city's U.S. representative, finishing the meeting she started on the morning she was shot and bidding farewell to constituents who supported her through a long recovery.

It may not be the end, though. The woman whose improbable recovery captivated the nation promised, "I will return."

Giffords spent time Monday at her office with other survivors of the shooting rampage that killed six people and injured 13. She hugged and talked with survivors, including Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her young friend and neighbor, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. The little girl died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

"The last time I did this I had Christina's hand," Hileman said. "It was something that was hanging out there, and now it's not."

Others who met with Giffords included Pat Maisch, who was hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun magazine from the shooter that day, and Daniel Hernandez, Giffords' intern at the time who helped save her life by trying to stop her bleeding until an ambulance arrived.

"It was very touching," said Maisch, who was not hurt in the attack. "I thanked her for her service, wished her well, and she just looked beautiful."

Giffords announced Sunday that she would resign from Congress this week to focus on her recovery. Maisch was sad to think that Giffords would no longer be her congresswoman.

"But I want her to do what's best for her," she said. "She's got to take care of herself."

However, an upbeat Giffords hinted that her departure from public life might be temporary. In a message sent on Twitter, she said: "I will return & we will work together for Arizona & this great country."

In her last act in Tucson as a congresswoman, the Democrat visited one of her favorite charities, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The food bank established the Gabrielle Giffords Family Assistance Center with $215,000 it received in the wake of the shooting. Giffords' husband and former astronaut Mark Kelly told people who wanted to help Giffords after the shooting that the best way to do so was to donate to one of her favorite charities.

The center has helped 900 families get on food stamps in the last year and offered guidance to needy families seeking assistance with housing, insurance, clothing and other basic needs.

"It's a wonderful thing that she gets to come here and see the center we built," said Bill Carnegie, the food bank's CEO. "But it's also her exit from Congress. I'm concerned about the future."

Giffords' aides had to yell at TV cameramen and reporters who surrounded the congresswoman as she arrived, telling them to back up. Giffords didn't bat an eye and walked with confidence through the crowd and into the building, where she promptly hugged Carnegie and others.

When she saw the center that is named in her honor, she said "Wow" and "Awesome."

When one woman told Giffords, "I love your new hairstyle," she beamed and responded with "Thank you."

Giffords did not address reporters at the center and planned to head to the airport right after her visit. She was expected in Washington on Tuesday for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

In her announcement Sunday, Giffords said that by stepping down, she was doing what is best for Arizona.

"I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice," she said in a video posted online.

The video showed a close-up of Giffords gazing directly at the camera and speaking in a voice that was both firm and halting.

"I have more work to do on my recovery," the congresswoman said at the end of the two-minute message, appearing to strain to communicate.

C.J. Karamargin, who was Giffords' spokesman until recently, said he can only imagine what she is feeling as she steps down.

"But Gabby would never want to do a job unless she could give everything to it," he said.

"The news of her stepping down was almost more emotional than this time last year because then, she had survived and had a positive prognosis. Now we've got this pause, this comma, in her career ... and she won't be back anytime soon."

Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range as she was meeting with constituents outside a grocery store. Her recovery progressed to the point that she was able to walk into the House chamber last August to cast a vote.

Giffords' resignation set up a free-for-all in a competitive district.

She could have stayed in office for another year even without seeking re-election, but her decision to resign scrambles the political landscape.

Arizona must hold a special primary and general election to find someone to finish out her remaining months in office. That will probably happen in the spring or early summer. Then voters will elect someone in November for a full two-year term.

Giffords would have been heavily favored to win again.

She was elected to her third term just two months before she was shot, winning by only about 1 percent over a tea party Republican. But she gained immense public support during her recovery.

Among those mentioned as potential candidates were several Republican and Democratic state lawmakers and the name of Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, although he has publicly quashed such speculation.

A state Democratic party official who met with Giffords on Sunday also suggested that she could return to politics.

Jim Woodbrey, a senior vice chairman of the state party, said Giffords strongly implied at a meeting that she would seek office again someday. He said the decision to resign came after much thought.

"It was Gabby's individual decision, and she was not in any condition to make that decision five months ago," he said. "So I think waiting so that she could make an informed decision on her own was the right thing to do."

___

Associated Press writers Bob Christie and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and David Espo in Washington contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-23-US-Giffords/id-be6c5f0e8b124b2fa1d34b77213efc12

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Gabrielle Giffords' Resignation Sparks Special Election (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., has announced her resignation from her congressional seat to focus full time on her rehabilitation from injuries brought on by a gunshot wound to the inflicted over a year ago, according to CNN.

The resignation has sparked a special election for her seat, with a primary to take place in April, according to the National Journal, with a general election between the Democrat and Republican winners in June. While the redrawn 8th District is slightly more Democratic, since the special election is being held to fill the remainder of Giffords' term, it will be held in the old district.

Candidates have not stepped forward, but Tucson News Now suggests there are a number on both sides of the aisle who might run. On the Republican side, State Senator Frank Atenori, Dave Sitton, a local sports broadcaster, Jesse Kelly, who ran against Giffords in 2010, and Adam Hanson are possibilities. Democrats include state legislators Paula Aboud, Steve Farley and Matt Heinz, as well as Giffords' chief of state Pia Carusone and state director Ron Barber.

While the old 8th District leans Republican, Giffords won re-election of 2010 despite that contest being a Republican wave election. Because of her public struggle to recover from the shooting, Giffords remains extremely popular in her home district. It is uncertain whether that popularity would translate to a Democratic candidate.

The Republicans running for the seat will have to be very careful how they campaign. Giffords is untouchable. How the winner of the Republican primary campaigns will depend on who the Democrats choose in their contest. Likely both candidates will present themselves as a bipartisan, reach across the aisle politician that Giffords presented herself as in her own campaigns.

How to deal with issues like Obamacare will be a delicate question as well. Giffords was for it, but her constituents are against it. Health care as an issue touches on Giffords' rehab struggle.

Of course an endorsement from Giffords would likely seal the deal and retain her district in her party's column. Very likely, therefore, national Republicans will not view the special election as a high priority,

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120123/pl_ac/10872959_gabrielle_giffords_resignation_sparks_special_election

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93% Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

All Critics (189) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (176) | Rotten (13)

"Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol" is sheer hurtling mechanism-and it's great silly fun.

As usual with the series, the movie combines a plot line a toddler could understand with gadgets that would baffle an engineering Ph.D.

I'm thinking it, so I might as well say it: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is no Fast Five.

...it's pretty much state-of-the-art.

[Bird's] fresh touch gives breathless energy, tremendous excitement and, above all, humor to what could have been a wearying genre exercise.

Powered by Cruise's moxie, Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol proves that in a Hollywood action-ride culture drenched in fake adrenaline, it's cathartic to encounter the real thing.

... a good-size barrel of fun.

still does not have the hang of what made the TV show so good.

Cruises on the WOW! factor.

Snagging Oscar-winning animation director Brad Bird to fill the director's chair proves to be an inspired choice--and, upon thought, a bit of a no-brainer.

The screenplay doesn't rely too much on gimmicks to advance the plot. Instead, the plot is also character-driven to an extent. There are interesting dynamics going on in the Mission Impossible team.

Director Brad Bird juices and gooses the whole affair with edge and excitement, new energy, humor and heartbeat, and a terrific feel for big, bold, audaciously daring sequences that beg for the biggest screen available.

Great stunts and not a dull moment,

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol could very well be the series' best installment.

It has a few very good ideas, and then, the rest of it is totally lackluster.

Watching Tom leap from a hospital window on to a passing truck, I couldn't help but worry: Tom, those knees won't last forever.

Succeeds in dishing up exactly what you would expect: State of the arts stunts, non-stop action, and a series of clearly laid-out heists and chases that go awry in all kinds of creative ways.

Bird manages the escalations from the preposterous through the more preposterous to the most preposterous with skill and wit...

...great cinematic entertainment.

Better than the tower climb is the scene in which Hunt infiltrates the Kremlin with, essentially, a high-tech magic trick; the playfulness of the effect demonstrates the usefulness of Bird's background in the astonish-the-audience culture of animation.

So exciting you have to remind yourself to breathe.

Ghost pulls off the impossible.

Film number four has found its optimum screen display, its best director for the job and its sense of humour while increasing the gadgets and death-defying stunts.

Something goes wrong and the entire Kremlin blows up. 'The wattage of my smile has overpowered the antiquated Russian electrical grid,' explained Tom.

The cinematography is rewarding enough for a travelogue. The good guy vs. the world with a hateful bad guy is involving. This is another film where you should just leave your brain at home, relax, and enjoy it.

More Critic Reviews

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

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HRW calls on West to accept Islamist rise to power (AP)

CAIRO ? The United States and other Western governments must accept the new reality that Islamists have emerged to fill the power vacuum in the Arab world after a wave of popular uprisings, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Sunday.

The New York-based group also urged Islamist parties, which have emerged as the biggest winners in recent elections in Tunisia and Egypt and are expected to fare well in Libya, to respect the rights of women and religious minorities, saying they cannot "pick and choose" when it comes to human rights.

Islamist parties are "genuinely popular" in the Arab world, said HRW's executive director, Kenneth Roth, warning that "ignoring that popularity would violate democratic principles."

"Being a political Islamic government should not be a reason to turn a government into a pariah," Roth told reporters in Cairo, where the group released its annual report.

The Arab Spring revolts began in Tunisia in late 2010 and quickly spread to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, deposing or challenging authoritarian rulers as citizens who long seemed incapable or unwilling to rise against decades of repression took to the streets in a stunning awakening.

Since the collapse of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia a year ago, Islamist groups once largely confined to the political sidelines, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have formed parties and contested parliamentary polls, winning the greatest share of seats.

Even the ultraconservative Salafis, who abstained from politics under Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak, have fared well, winning more than 20 percent of the vote in the country's first post-uprising ballot.

Roth was cautious when asked about concerns about potential human rights violations under Islamist rule. He said that so far, Islamists have said "a lot of right things," but said the true test will be how they deal with the full sweep of human rights once in power.

"These are the big questions," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, has been most interested in political freedoms, but Roth noted that "it is very difficult to secure political freedom if you are not respecting religious and women rights."

In some ways, the unexpected Arab uprisings have amounted to a slap to the United States and other Western governments, which had supported autocratic regimes that served as bulwarks against Islamists hostile to the West and appeared to offer stability in a volatile region.

"The West backed an array of autocrats as long as they, in turn, supported Western interests," Roth said. "The West is still adjusting to this historic transformation."

He added that the wave of uprisings "show that the forced silence of people living under autocrats should never have been mistaken for popular complacency."

Roth acknowledged Western governments were re-evaluating their policies as new governments emerge in the region.

Western nations have been accused of being selective in supporting the protesters, with NATO airstrikes proving key to the ouster of slain Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. Meanwhile, the West has stood largely on the sidelines amid continued crackdowns in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

"The people driving the Arab Spring deserve strong international support to realize their rights and to build genuine democracies," Roth said in the group's annual report, which covers some 90 countries. He added that the Arab world is in a "transformative moment," and it will not be an easy one.

Human Rights Watch pointed to five main issues that dominated the relationship between Western governments and their Arab autocratic friends: the threat of political Islam, the fight against terrorism, support for Israel, protection of the oil flow and cooperation in stemming immigration.

Even after the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were toppled, Western governments remained hesitant to lean too hard on other shaky authoritarian leaders, the group said. China and Russia acted "obstructionist," using their veto power at the U.N. security council to halt pressure on Syria to stop killings of protesters.

The popular uprisings also have alarmed other repressive regimes such as China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan, where rulers were worried about facing similar fates.

"The worst response to the Arab Spring is the dictatorial world who are living in fear of the precedents set in this region," Roth said. "China greatly deepened its repression in an effort to avoid jasmine rallies."

Saudi Arabia also continues to discriminate against its citizens and workers, according to HRW, which said 9 million women, 8 million foreign workers and 2 million Shiite citizens are either suppressed or lacking rights in the country.

Outside the Arab world, the last year did not witness significant progress in countries with poor human rights records, including China and North Korea, according to the report.

Corruption, poverty and repression still prevail in Equatorial Guinea, the tiny, oil-rich nation off the western coast of Africa, which has been ruled by Africa's longest-serving ruler, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the group said.

Eritrea continues to be governed by "one of the world's most repressive governments," and its citizens are subjected to torture, detentions and restrictions on freedom of speech, HRW said.

It also cited Colombia, saying armed conflict in the South American country has displaced millions while paramilitary groups with ties to the security apparatus are on the rise.

Cuba, HRW said, remains "the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent."

The group also claimed that even member states of the European Union have violated human rights through restrictive asylum and migration policies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/human_rights_report

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Google results fall short, rare miss hurts shares (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Google Inc's quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's heightened expectations for the holiday season as declining search advertising rates contributed to a rare miss, triggering a 9 percent slide in its shares.

The No. 1 Internet search engine underperformed on both revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter, disappointing investors who had counted on record U.S. online-commerce to prop up results.

Several analysts zeroed in on an 8 percent drop in cost-per-click, or money paid by marketers to the company for search ads, versus analyst estimates of a slight increase.

"The major question is: Is this a one-time thing or is this something that is going to continue because the nature of the business has changed," said Mayuresh Masurekar, an analyst at Colins Stewart.

Google executives reeled off a number of figures during the conference call that highlighted the company's progress in newer businesses such as display advertising, mobile and social networking.

But the good news did not offset concerns about Google's first year-on-year decline in its CPCs in more than two years, leading to nearly a half-dozen questions from analysts during the call and a terse one-liner from Chief Executive Larry Page who at one point requested that "maybe we can get our next question not about CPCs."

Google executives said the decline in search ad rates was primarily due to the impact of foreign currency exchange fluctuations and changes to the company's advertising formats.

The new ad formats drove a sharp increase in the total number of clicks by websurfers on Google's search ads - up 34 percent year-on-year - even though some of the format changes impacted prices negatively, Google executives explained.

But many analysts wondered whether Google's mobile advertising, which is generally believed to command lower ad rates, played a bigger part in the CPC decline than Google let on.

"This was the first time we've seen a decline in CPC rates since 2009," said Needham & Co analyst Kerry Rice. "It's been a long time and the one thing that's really changed about this is mobile."

Google's shares dived to about $583 in after-hours trade, from the Nasdaq close of $639.57 before the results.

Dave Rolfe, manager of RiverPark-Wedgewood Fund which counts Google as one of its largest holdings, said the stock decline was an "egregious overreaction" by Wall Street and that the declining ad rates did not shake his confidence in the company.

"The company tried to clarify it as best as they could, but it's Google and they're not going to give you every little nuance of it," he said.

"Google is famous for making improvements for their end-users that have short term negative results," he said.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

Google is increasingly investing in mobile and social networking initiatives as it positions its business for new technology trends and squares off against rivals Apple and Facebook.

Google's business providing graphical display ads is generating revenue at a $5 billion annualized run rate, Page said during the call. That's up from the $2.5 billion run rate in October 2010, the last time Google provided a peek at the display business's financial performance.

Google+, the company's recently-launched social network, now has more than 90 million users, compared to 40 million users three months ago.

Perhaps more importantly, Google for the first time provided details about how often people actually use Google+.

According to the company, 60 percent of Google+ members use the service every day, and 80 percent use it every week.

That "engagement" on the social network, which Google hopes can eventually take on Facebook, is key to determining future revenue potential.

"Google+ investments are showing some results. They are investing in future revenue growth," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

Operating expenses increased to 32 percent of revenue during the fourth quarter, from 30 percent of revenue in the year-ago quarter.

Google said on Thursday it earned $2.71 billion, or $8.22 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.54 billion, or $7.81 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, Google earned $9.50 per share, lagging estimates for $10.49 a share.

Page, who took over as CEO in April, said the company was making tough choices about where to focus its efforts, pulling the plug on less successful products so that Google can "double down on the really big bets we have made."

Wall Street is still uneasy about one of Google's biggest bets: its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings. Investors are worried that Google is entering a lower-margin business in which it has no experience, and that the deal might alienate partners that license Google's Android mobile software.

In response to a question on the subject, Page said that he expected Google's relationships with its partners to remain strong once the deal closed, and reiterated that Motorola would be run as a separate company.

Google executives said more than 250 million devices powered by Android, Google's freely distributed smartphone operating system, had been activated since its inception.

"Android is quite simply mind boggling," said Page.

Google's net revenue, which excludes fees shared with partner websites, was $8.13 billion in the fourth quarter, versus $6.37 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were looking for $8.4 billion.

That shortfall marks an unusual slip-up for a company that has exceeded Wall Street's revenue targets for eight consecutive quarters.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Edwin Chan and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/tc_nm/us_google

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