'More than 23,000 police officers have second jobs'

The figures mean more than one in 10 officers in England and Wales earn a second income from non-police work, according to an investigation by the Mail on Sunday.

At the same time, the number of investigations into potential rule breaches has tripled, raising questions over conflicts of interest arising from second jobs.

It comes as the Home Office released provisional figures to the Sunday Times which show crime has fallen by 10% in 19 out of 43 force areas in England and Wales between June 2010 and June 2012 despite budget cuts of just under 10%.

Crime has risen only in Devon and Cornwall, however the full impact of the cuts will not been seen across forces until April.

Damian Green, the police minister, told the Sunday Times that the statistics prove police reform is working, but the Police Federation chairman Steve Williams said the figures are testament to the hard work and dedication of police officers.

The Mail on Sunday report claims some officers may work in self-defence training, for example, therefore meaning police forces may be commissioning off-duty staff to carry out such work for them.

A total of 23 of England and Wales's 44 forces did not check to see if they were paying companies run by their own officers for work.

Police staff are allowed to take second jobs or run companies if approved by their superiors. Unless there is a direct conflict of interest, permission is likely to be given.

The Mail on Sunday studied figures provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and found that at least 23,043 police staff had second jobs out of a workforce of 201,575 in May 2012.

That was up 19% from March 2011 figures, which showed 19,329 had second jobs.

The number of investigations into second jobs soared in the nine months to May, with 154 reviews carried out - more than 17 a month.

In the previous year, 82 - fewer than seven a month - were carried out.

Those investigations led to 10 officers leaving their jobs, either by being sacked or resigning, while 65 warnings were given. In 35 cases, the officers or staff were cleared of rule breaches and the other probes are ongoing.

A Home Office spokesman said: "It is the responsibility of chief constables to ensure that any secondary jobs held by officers do not harm the public's perception of the police or result in any conflict of interest.

"The Home Secretary will put new proposals ensuring the highest standards of integrity in the police to Parliament in the new year."

The news came as a senior Labour backbencher warned that public confidence in the police force has been shaken due to a "dangerous cocktail" including the "plebgate" affair and the results of the Hillsborough Inquiry.

Keith Vaz MP, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which will begin an inquiry into police accountability, integrity, internal corruption and malpractice next month, said it is a "defining moment" for the service.

He called on Prime Minister David Cameron to host annual summits with senior officers, and called for "a new Magna Carta" for policing.

In the Sunday Express, Mr Vaz said recent events had dented the public's confidence in the police.

Writing about the alleged altercation between former chief whip Andrew Mitchell and police officers at the gates of Downing Street, dubbed "plebgate", Mr Vaz said: "What appears to have happened to Andrew Mitchell could well have been a Christmas special script. The chief whip had to resign following a 60-second 'incident' in, of all places, Downing Street.

"Take a police officer apparently masquerading as a member of the public, a confidential log book finding its way into the public domain, add the results of the Hillsborough Inquiry, which have resulted in thousands of serving and former police officers being investigated, and the fact that 26 out of the 43 police forces do not have a permanent chief constable, and you have a dangerous cocktail."

Mr Vaz also pointed out that morale among officers is even lower as they feel like they lack Government support.

He criticised Home Secretary Theresa May for trying to enforce radical changes on the police force without having a proper dialogue with officers.

He acknowledged existing police structures needed to be reformed, but said Mrs May's changes were "too rapid and too far-reaching".

In his article, Mr Vaz rounded on the Government for altering police officers' pay and conditions while trying to implement reforms.

"One of the first rules of management is to ensure that during a period of radical change you carry your workforce with you. Unfortunately this has not happened," he wrote.

"With these profound changes taking place the last thing you should do is start to alter the pay and conditions of those who will implement the reforms without entering into a proper dialogue with them. The Government was wrong to change police pension arrangements retrospectively. It was unfair and forced out a number of experienced officers," he added.

Mr Vaz's committee will next month launch an inquiry into issues of police training, accountability and integrity and into the effectiveness of the processes for dealing with internal corruption and malpractice in the force.

PA

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India rape sets off debate over women's rights

NEW DELHI (AP) ? India's army and navy canceled New Year's celebrations on Monday out of respect for a New Delhi student whose gang-rape and murder has set off an impassioned debate about what the nation needs to do to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, major police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats its women.

"To change a society as conservative, traditional and patriarchal as ours, we will have a long haul," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research. "It will take some time, but certainly there is a beginning."

The country remained in mourning Monday, two days after the 23-year-old physiotherapy student died from her internal wounds in the Singapore hospital where she had been sent for emergency treatment. Six men have been arrested and charged with murder in the Dec. 16 attack on a New Delhi bus. They face the death penalty if convicted, police said.

The army and navy canceled their New Year's celebrations, as did Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party. Hotels and clubs across the capital also said they would forego their usual parties.

"She has become the daughter of the entire nation," said Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hundreds of mourners continued their daily protests near Parliament demanding swift government action.

"So much needs to be done to end the oppression of women," said Murarinath Kushwaha, a man whose two friends were on a hunger strike to draw attention to the issue.

Some commentators compared the rape victim, whose name has not been released by police, to Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor whose self-immolation set off the Arab Spring. There was hope her tragedy could mark a turning point for gender rights in a country where women often refuse to leave their homes at night out of fear and where sex-selective abortions and even female infanticide have wildly skewed the gender ratio.

"It cannot be business as usual anymore," the Hindustan Times newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Politicians from across the spectrum called for a special session of Parliament to pass new laws to increase punishments for rapists ? including possible chemical castration ? and to set up fast-track courts to deal with rape cases within 90 days.

The government has proposed creating a public database of convicted rapists to shame them, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set up two committees to look into what lapses led to the rape and to propose changes in the law.

The Delhi government on Monday inaugurated a new helpline ? 181 ? for women, though it wasn't working because of glitches.

Responding to complaints that police refuse to file cases of abuse or harassment brought by women, the city force has appointed an officer to meet with women's groups monthly and crack down on the problem, New Delhi Lt. Gov. Tejendra Khanna said.

"We have mandated that any time any lady visits a police station with a complaint, it has to be recorded on the spot," he said.

Kumari said the Delhi police commissioner sent her a message Monday asking her group to restart police sensitivity training that it had suspended due to lack of funds.

There have also been proposals to install a quota to ensure one-third of Delhi's police are women.

There also have been signs of a change in the public debate about crimes against women.

Other rapes suddenly have become front-page news in Indian newspapers, and politicians are being heavily criticized for any remarks considered misogynistic or unsympathetic to women.

A state legislator from Rajasthan was ridiculed Monday across TV news channels after suggesting that one way to stop rapes would be to change girls' school uniforms to pants instead of skirts.

"How can he tell us to change our clothes?" said Gureet Kaur, a student protester in the Rajasthani town of Alwar. "Why can't girls live freely?"

Some activists have accused politicians of being so cossetted in their security bubbles that they have no idea of the daily travails people are suffering.

Kumari said the country was failing in its basic responsibility to protect its citizens. But she was heartened to see so many young men at the protests along with women.

"I have never heard so many people who felt so deep down hurt," she said. "It will definitely have some impact."

___

Associated Press reporters Archana Thiyagarajan and Ashok Sharma contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ravi Nessman on Twitter at twitter.com/ravinessman

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/india-rape-sets-off-debate-over-womens-rights-130143030.html

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'The Hobbit' trumps 'Les Mis' at box office

By Ronald Grover and Chris Michaud, Reuters

The dwarfs and elves of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" prevailed at the North American box office again over the weekend, as its $32.9 million in ticket sales topped both the star-packed musical "Les Miserables" and the western "Django Unchained."

James Fisher / Reuters

Actor Martin Freeman is shown in a scene from the film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Despite surging past "The Hobbit" on Christmas day with an $18.1 million opening, "Les Mis" managed only third place in U.S. and Canadian sales with $28 million as Christmas shoppers returned from the malls to boost Hollywood's box office, according to studio estimates.

"The Hobbit," in its third week of release, has now grossed $222.7 million domestically, Warner Bros said.

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," a western starring Jamie Fox as a slave turned bounty hunter, took second with an impressive $30.7 million.

Tom Cruise's crime drama "Jack Reacher," a film that features author Lee Child's former military investigator solving a fatal sniper attack, landed in fifth with $14 million, outpaced by "Parental Guidance," the Billy Crystal-Bette Midler as grandparents comedy, which took in $14.8 million to nab the fourth spot.

More movie news:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16251678-the-hobbit-trumps-star-packed-les-miserables-at-box-office?lite

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My Take: If you hear God speak audibly, you (usually) aren't crazy ...

Editor's Note:?Tanya Marie (?T.M.?) Luhrmann is a psychological anthropologist and the Watkins University professor in the department of anthropology at Stanford University in Stanford, California. She is the author of "When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God."

By T.M. Luhrmann, Special to CNN

(CNN)?In the Bible, God spoke directly to Abraham. He spoke directly to Moses. He spoke directly to Job. But to your neighbor down the street?

Most people reading the ancient scriptures understand these accounts of hearing God?s voice as miracles that really did happen but no longer take place today, or maybe as folkloric flourishes to ancient stories. Even Christians who believe that miracles can be an everyday affair can hesitate when someone tells them they heard God speak audibly. There?s an old joke: When you talk to God, we call it prayer, but when God talks to you, we call it schizophrenia.

Except that usually it?s not.

Hearing a voice when alone, or seeing something no one else can see, is pretty common. At least one in 10 people will say they?ve had such an experience if you ask them bluntly. About four in 10 say they have unusual perceptual experiences between sleep and awareness if you interview them about their sleeping habits.

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And if you ask them in a way that allows them to admit they made a mistake, the rate climbs even higher. By contrast, schizophrenia, the most debilitating of all mental disorders, is pretty rare. Only about one in 100 people can be diagnosed with the disorder.

Moreover, the patterns are quite distinct. People with schizophrenia who hear voices hear them frequently. They often hear them throughout the day, sometimes like a rain of sound, or a relentless hammer. They hear not only sentences, but paragraphs: words upon words upon words. What the voices say is horrid?insults, sneers and contemptuous jibes. ?Dirty. You?re dirty.? ?Stupid slut.? ?You should?ve gone under the bus, not into it.?

That was not what Abraham, Moses and Job experienced, even when God was at his most fierce.

For the last 10 years, I have been doing anthropological and psychological research among experientially oriented evangelicals, the sort of people who seek a personal relationship with God and who expect that God will talk back. For most of them, most of the time, God talks back in a quiet voice they hear inside their minds, or through images that come to mind during prayer. But many of them also reported sensory experiences of God. They say God touched their shoulder, or that he spoke up from the back seat and said, in a way they heard with their ears, that he loved them. Indeed, in 1999, Gallup reported that 23% of all Americans had heard a voice or seen a vision in response to prayer.

These experiences were brief: at the most, a few words or short sentences. They were rare. Those who reported them reported no more than a few of them, if that. These experiences were not distressing, although they were often disconcerting and always startling. On the contrary, these experiences often made people feel more intimate with God, and more deeply loved.

In fact, my research has found that these unusual sensory experiences are more common among those who pray in a way that uses the imagination?for example, when prayer involves talking to God in your mind. The unusual sensory experiences were not, in general, associated with mental illness (we checked).

They were more common among those who felt comfortable getting caught up in their imaginations. They were also more common among those who prayed for longer periods. Prayer involves paying attention to words and images in the mind, and giving them significance. There is something about the skilled practice of paying attention to the mind in this way that shifts?just a little bit?the way we judge what is real.

Yet even many of these Christians, who wanted so badly to have a back-and-forth relationship with God, were a little hesitant to talk about hearing God speak with their ears. For all the biblical examples of hearing God speak audibly, they doubt. Augustine reports that when he was in extremis, sobbing at the foot of that fig tree, he heard a voice say, ?Take it and read.? He picked up the scripture and converted. When the Christians I know heard God speak audibly, it often flitted across their minds that they were crazy.

In his new book, "Hallucinations," the noted neurologist Oliver Sacks tells his own story about a hallucinatory experience that changed his life. He took a hearty dose of methamphetamines as a young doctor, and settled down with a 19th century book on migraines. He loved the book, with its detailed observation and its humanity. He wanted more. As he was casting around in his mind for someone who could write more that he could read, a loud internal voice told him ?You silly bugger? that it was he. So he began to write. He never took drugs again.

Now, Sacks does not recommend that anyone take drugs like that. He thinks that what he did was dangerous and he thinks he was lucky to have survived.

What interests me, however, is that he allowed himself to trust the voice because the voice was good. There?s a distinction between voices associated with psychiatric illness (often bad) and those (often good) that are found in the so-called normal population. There?s another distinction between those who choose to listen to a voice, if the advice it gives is good, and those who do not. When people like Sacks hear a voice that gives them good advice, the experience can transform them.

CNN?s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories

This is important, because often, when voices are discussed in the media or around the kitchen table, the voices are treated unequivocally as symptoms of madness. And of course, voice-hearing is associated with psychiatric illness.

But not all the time. In fact, not most of the time.

About a third of the people I interviewed carefully at the church where I did research reported an unusual sensory experience they associated with God. While they found these experiences startling, they also found them deeply reassuring.

Science cannot tell us whether God generated the voice that Abraham or Augustine heard. But it can tell us that many of these events are normal, part of the fabric of human perception. History tells us that those experiences enable people to choose paths they should choose, but for various reasons they hesitate to choose.

When the Rev.?Martin Luther King Jr. sat at his kitchen table, in the winter of 1956, terrified by the fear of what might happen to him and his family during the Montgomery bus boycott, he said he heard the voice of Jesus promising, ?I will be with you.? He went forward.

Voices may form part of human suffering. They also may inspire human greatness.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of TM Luhrmann.

Source: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/29/my-take-if-you-hear-god-speak-audibly-you-usually-arent-crazy/

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6 Best iPhone Apps of 2012

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-best-iphone-apps-2012-141541208.html

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DIY Cryogenic Fluid Made from Dry Ice and Rubbing Alcohol Performs Most Liquid Nitrogen Demonstrations

If you're a science hobbyist you probably don't have access to actual liquid nitrogen (-320 degrees Fahrenheit) but you can make your own cryo-fluid from dry ice and rubbing alcohol that goes down to -110 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to instantly freeze flowers, cherries, and other popular liquid nitrogen demonstrations.

Amateur scientist weblog AmaSci demonstrates creating this cryo-fluid in the above video using soda bottles to contain the extremely cold liquid. You'll cut the top from a 2-liter and 20-oz soda bottle and poke many holes in the bottom of the smaller 20-oz bottle. Fit the smaller bottle in the larger bottle "chamber" and add chunks of dry ice all along the outside, at least two-inches high on all sides and then pour enough 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol to saturate the dry ice. The extremely cold liquid will enter the smaller chamber via the holes and you can then use a pair of metal tongs to lower flowers, leaves, and other small items inside where they will almost instantly freeze. If you can't get dry ice pellets, you'll have to break it apart with a hammer and chisel into small chunks.

This experiment can be dangerous if you do something dumb like stick your finger in the -110 F cryo-fluid so this probably isn't for you if you're accident prone. The cryo-fluid will stick to your hands like napalm instead of evaporating like real liquid nitrogen. I'd also use something heavy to support the bottom of the 2-liter pop bottle?that is not a spill I'd want to clean up. If you're a science teacher, though, this might be for you.

Instructables

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/NZWiTMUsDqI/diy-cryogenic-fluid-made-from-dry-ice-and-rubbing-alcohol-performs-most-liquid-nitrogen-demonstrations

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Idaho Sen. Crapo won't fight DUI charge (cbsnews)

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Britain's bid to win EU opt-outs could damage bloc - Van Rompuy

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's attempts to win back powers from the European Union could damage the 27-nation bloc and its single market, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in an interview published on Thursday.

Cameron, trailing in opinion polls and under pressure from an anti-EU group within his Conservative party, wants to take advantage of the euro zone crisis to renegotiate Britain's relationship with Brussels and win more opt-outs from its rules.

Van Rompuy, whose council represents EU member states, told the Guardian newspaper that the bloc could fall apart if individual countries were allowed to pick and choose from its regulations.

His intervention indicates the difficulties Cameron faces in trying to silence his rebellious lawmakers by forging a new deal for Britain within the European Union.

"If every member state were able to cherry-pick those parts of existing policies that they most like, and opt out of those that they least like, the union in general, and the single market in particular, would soon unravel," Van Rompuy said.

"All member states can, and do, have particular requests and needs that are always taken into consideration as part of our deliberations. I do not expect any member state to seek to undermine the fundamentals of our co-operative system in Europe," Van Rompuy added.

Cameron has said he wants to agree a fresh contract with the European Union, to be approved by Britons in a referendum, while stopping short of demands from eurosceptic Conservatives for an "in or out" vote on Britain's membership.

Britain already enjoys a number of EU opt-outs, including retaining its own currency and keeping passport controls at borders, but many Conservatives want to go further by repatriating powers over social and employment laws.

Cameron is expected to detail his plans in a much-delayed speech on Europe in the new year. He heads a coalition government with the smaller and pro-EU Liberal Democrats, a relationship likely to postpone any EU referendum until after the next national election, due in 2015.

Along with the sluggish economy, Britain's ties with Europe will be one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the election. Polls suggest about half of Britons want to leave the European Union and a third want to stay in, with the number of those who want out rising.

Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Thursday that talk of a referendum on Britain's role in Europe was premature until the euro crisis was resolved.

"I still don't know what is the question we're supposed to be putting to the British people because we don't yet know what we're reacting to in terms of the further integration of the euro zone," he told the Guardian.

(Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-bid-win-eu-opt-outs-could-damage-000909398--finance.html

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Congress extends foreign surveillance law

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate gave final congressional approval Friday to a bill renewing the government's authority to monitor overseas phone calls and emails of suspected foreign spies and terrorists ? but not Americans ?without obtaining a court order for each intercept.

The classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act program was on the brink of expiring by year's end. The 73-23 vote sent the bill to a supportive President Barack Obama, whose signature would keep the warrantless intercept program in operation for another five years.

The Senate majority rejected arguments from an unusual combination of Democratic liberals and ideological Republican conservatives, who sought to amend the bill to require the government to reveal statistics showing whether any Americans were swept up in the foreign intercepts. The attempt lost, with 52 votes against and 43 in favor.

The Obama administration's intelligence community and leaders of the Senate's intelligence committee said the information should be classified and opposed the disclosure, repeating that it is illegal to target Americans without an order from a special U.S. surveillance court.

The group seeking more disclosures also sought ? unsuccessfully ? a determination by the government of whether any intelligence agency attempted to use information gained from foreigners to search for information on Americans without a warrant, referred to as "back-door" searches. The prohibition against targeting Americans without a warrant protects Americans wherever they are, in the United States or somewhere else.

The debate focused on the need to balance national security with civil liberties. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the chairwoman and top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that the classified intercept program would be jeopardized if even statistical information was disclosed. They sparred repeatedly with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who held the bill up for months until he was allowed to argue on the Senate floor that Americans' civil liberties were in danger under the law.

During debate that began Thursday, Feinstein bluntly told Wyden, a fellow liberal, that she opposed his disclosure amendment because, "I know where this goes. Where it goes is to destroy the program."

Wyden insisted his group was interested only in making public estimates that already existed. In insisting on information about whether the foreign intercepts led to warrantless "back door" searches of Americans, the senator said there already had been one instance of such a violation.

He said the finding of a violation, details of which remain classified, "demonstrates the impact of the law on Americans' privacy has been real and is not hypothetical."

"How many phone calls to and from Americans have been swept up in this authority?" he asked.

A member of the intelligence committee, Wyden argued he was trying to "strike a balance between security and liberty" and that "the 300 million Americans who expect us to strike that balance ... are in the dark."

When Americans are targeted for surveillance, the government must get a warrant from a special 11-judge court of U.S. district judges appointed by the Supreme Court. In contrast, when foreigners abroad are targeted, the surveillance court approves annual certifications submitted by the attorney general and the director of national Intelligence that identify certain categories of foreign intelligence targets.

The Obama administration has called the secret intercepts "invaluable to the U.S. government's efforts to detect and prevent threats to America and its allies, while providing robust protections for the civil liberties and privacy of U.S. persons." It said if Congress had failed to extend the program, there would have been "a significant loss of intelligence" that would have impeded the ability to respond quickly to new threats.

The House in September approved the same five-year extension of the law by a vote of 301-118.

Feinstein said the surveillance law has procedures to restrict use of information on Americans that is inadvertently captured in the intercepts.

Chambliss argued that the intelligence committee keeps watch over any abuses by the government. "It's not abused. If there is a problem, we fix it," he said.

Feinstein said there were 100 arrests in terrorism cases between 2009 and 2012, some of them as a direct result of the surveillance program.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, tried to substitute a three-year extension of the law instead of five, but the proposal was defeated with 52 votes against and 38 in favor.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congress-extends-foreign-surveillance-law-153055028.html

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White House meeting a last stab at a fiscal deal

President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returns early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returns early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Md., pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, where he urged House Republicans to end the pro forma session and call the House back into legislative session to negotiate a solution to the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama was preparing to present a limited fiscal proposal to congressional leaders at a White House meeting Friday, a make-or-break moment for negotiations to avoid across-the-board tax increases and deep spending cuts at the first of the year.

Lawmakers and White House officials held out a slim hope for a deal before the new year, but it remained unclear whether congressional passage of legislation palatable to both sides was even possible.

The Friday afternoon meeting among congressional leaders and the president ? their first since Nov. 16 ? was likely to center on which income thresholds would face higher tax rates, extending unemployment insurance, and preventing a cut in Medicare payments to doctors, among other issues.

For Obama, the eleventh-hour scramble represented a test of how he would balance strength derived from his re-election against an avowed commitment to compromise in the face of divided government. Despite early talk of a grand bargain between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner that would reduce deficits by more than $2 trillion, the expectations were now far less ambitious.

Although there were no guarantees of a deal, Republicans and Democrats said privately that any agreement would likely include an extension of middle-class tax cuts with increased rates at upper incomes, an Obama priority that was central to his re-election campaign.

A key question was whether Obama would agree to abandon his insistence during the campaign on raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year and instead accept a $400,000 threshold like the one he offered in negotiations with Boehner. Another was whether Republicans would seek a higher income threshold.

The deal would also likely put off the scheduled spending cuts. Such a year-end bill could also include an extension of expiring unemployment benefits, a reprieve for doctors who face a cut in Medicare payments and possibly a short-term measure to prevent dairy prices from soaring, officials said.

If a deal was not possible, it would become evident at Friday's White House meeting, and Obama and the leaders would leave a resolution for the next Congress to address in January.

Such a delay could unnerve the stock market, which edged lower for a fifth day Friday amid worries that lawmakers would fail to reach a budget deal. Economists say that if the tax increases are allowed to hit most Americans and if the spending cuts aren't scaled back, the recovering but fragile economy could sustain a traumatizing shock.

Obama called for the meeting as top lawmakers on Thursday alternately cast blame on each other while portraying themselves as open to a reasonable last-minute bargain.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid all but conceded that any effort at this late date was a long shot. "I don't know timewise how it can happen now," he said.

The No. 2 Senate GOP leader, Jon Kyl of Arizona, said it is "pretty unlikely" that Senate Republicans would agree to legislation averting the fiscal cliff if it wouldn't pass muster in the House.

"If you know the House isn't going to do something, why go through the charade?" he told reporters. "That becomes political gamesmanship."

Obama and Reid, D-Nev., would have to propose a package that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would agree not to block with procedural steps that require 60 votes to overcome.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said he still thinks a deal could be struck.

The Democrat told NBC's "Today" show Friday that he believes the "odds are better than people think."

Schumer said he based his optimism on indications that McConnell has gotten "actively engaged" in the talks.

Appearing on the same show, Republican Sen. John Thune noted the meeting scheduled later Friday at the White House, saying "it's encouraging that people are talking."

But Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., predicted that "the worst-case scenario" could emerge from Friday's talks.

"We will kick the can down the road," he said on "CBS This Morning."

"We'll do some small deal and we'll create another fiscal cliff to deal with the fiscal cliff," he said. Corker complained that there has been "a total lack of courage, lack of leadership," in Washington.

If a deal were to pass the Senate, Boehner would have to agree to take it to the floor in the Republican-controlled House.

Boehner discussed the fiscal cliff with Republican members in a conference call Thursday and advised them that the House would convene Sunday evening. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of the speaker, said Boehner told the lawmakers that "he didn't really intend to put on the floor something that would pass with all the Democratic votes and few of the Republican votes."

But Cole did not rule out Republican support for some increase in tax rates, noting that Boehner had amassed about 200 Republican votes for a plan last week to raise rates on Americans earning $1 million or more. Boehner ultimately did not put the plan to a House floor vote in the face of opposition from Republican conservatives and a unified Democratic caucus.

"The ultimate question is whether the Republican leaders in the House and Senate are going to push us over the cliff by blocking plans to extend tax cuts for the middle class," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. "Ironically, in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires, they will be responsible for the largest tax increase in history."

Boehner, McConnell, Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are all scheduled to attend Friday's White House meeting with Obama. Vice President Joe Biden will also participate in the meeting, the White House said.

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Charles Babington and David Espo contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-28-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-95703bbcc26e4b5b8dfd9213cbe127ad

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Halfway Home: Housing Recovery Crosses 50% Mark | Trulia Pro Blog

Each month, Trulia?s Housing Barometer charts how quickly the housing market is moving back to ?normal.?? We summarize three key housing market indicators: construction starts (Census), existing home sales (NAR), and the delinquency-plus-foreclosure rate (LPS First Look). For each indicator, we compare this month?s data to (1) how bad the numbers got at their worst and (2) their pre-bubble ?normal? levels.

In November 2012, home sales saw strong increases, and the delinquency + foreclosure rate held steady?both signs of market improvement. However, new construction starts declined.

Hurricane Sandy appears to have lowered construction (and sales, to a lesser extent) in the Northeast. Average monthly construction starts were 14% higher nationally in October and November ? the months affected by Sandy ? than in the previous four months, but 5% lower in the Northeast. Average monthly home sales were 7% higher nationally in October and November than in the previous four months, but just 3% higher in the Northeast.

• Construction starts dipped in November but remain strong. Starts in November were at an 861,000 annualized rate, down 3% month-over-month and up 22% year-over-year. For the past three months, construction starts have remained solidly above 800,000?the highest level since September 2008. Nationally, construction starts are 37% of the way back to normal.
• Existing home sales rose once again in November. After climbing in October, existing home sales rose 6% month-over-month to 5.04 million in November?the highest level since November 2009. Sales are 73% back to normal. Even better, ?distressed? sales (foreclosures and short sales) represent a declining share of overall sales, making way for more ?conventional? home sales.
• The delinquency + foreclosure rate maintained a new post-crisis low. In November, 10.63% of mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure, down a hair from 10.64% in October. The combined delinquency + foreclosure rate is at its lowest level in four years and is 41% back to normal.

Averaging these three back-to-normal percentages together, the housing market is now 51% of the way back to normal, compared with 28% in November 2011. Trulia?s Housing Barometer has jumped five points in each of the last two months. Does halfway back to normal mean the glass is half-full or half-empty? The half-empty view is that our three housing measures hit bottom (on average) in 2009, so it?s taken the market a long time?three years?to get to the halfway mark. But the half-full view is that halfway back to normal is better than anyone ?myself included?predicted for 2012 at the start of this year.

Source: http://pro.truliablog.com/industry-2/halfway-home-housing-recovery-crosses-50-mark/

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Storm whips into Northeast bringing snow, rain

Luna, a black Lab mix, frolics in fresh snow in East Derry, New Hampshire, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The southern N.H. area received about eight inches of snow from the winter storm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Luna, a black Lab mix, frolics in fresh snow in East Derry, New Hampshire, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The southern N.H. area received about eight inches of snow from the winter storm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A delivery man loses his cargo trying to negotiate snow and slush along West Sixth St. in downtown Cleveland Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Ohioans picked their way around snow and slush left from the winter's biggest storm so far, with one major interstate still closed for commuters after an evening accident. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Pedestrians walk down St. Clair Ave. in downtown Cleveland Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Ohioans picked their way around snow and slush left from the winter's biggest storm so far, with one major interstate still closed for commuters after an evening accident. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

A passer-by walks past a snow-covered stairway at Worcester City Hall, in Worcester, Mass., Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Areas in the north and west of the state have received a blanket of heavy, wet snow. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Workers remove snow from an ice skating rink near Worcester City Hall, in Worcester, Mass., Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. Areas in the north and west of the state have received a blanket of heavy, wet snow. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? A powerful winter storm blamed for 15 deaths in other parts of the country is bringing rain to southern New England and snow further north, but the region has been largely spared the pounding that other states took.

The storm pushed through the Upper Ohio Valley and made its way into the Northeast Wednesday night, leaving up to a foot of snow in some locations by Thursday morning. By noon, the precipitation had stopped in parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, though rain continued in Massachusetts and snow continued to fall in upstate New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

Other areas were getting a messy mix of rain and snow or just rain ? enough to slow down commuters and those still heading home from holiday visits with family.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-27-Winter%20Weather/id-c4b90a217d2d41bfa63bac3b2a4aa50b

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Market Your Business On The Internet With These Tips - Maynas Eric

When marketing online this refers to advertising of services through the Internet. This article will offer many tips and techniques associated with effective Internet marketing.

If using images on your site, always include captions. The search engines scan keywords in the captions to determine whether or not the keywords searched will land the seeker effectively on your page. If you include quality descriptions of everything on your site you will ensure that your rank will raise in ranks.

You increase your chances for a positive first impression if you have a title that reflects significance. Name yourself CEO of your business. What we call ourselves is important. Sign emails and articles with both your title and your name.

TIP! Try and implement emotional descriptors in your ads as a means of selling more products. You will grow brand recognition this way.

Give your company?s website a URL that is simple and memorable. Possibly use your business name as the website URL. Of course, customers can always Google you, but you don?t want them to have to. Make it easier for them by using a website address that is simple to remember and type.

Create your website to be interesting, well constructed and full of content that is relevant. Your site or blog will be at the center of your online marketing efforts. Interesting articles and a user friendly design will go a long way in keeping visitors on your site. Engaging the visitor is key, because as they build interest, they stay longer and purchase more often.

Create an informative website with a glossary of common terms. People searching for those terms will be drawn to your site. This will provide a lot of assistance for both your customers and competitors. Anyone that searches for these words will find your website, and you can get plenty of traffic and be known as an expert.

TIP! Always keep a track of what your competition is doing and see if you can boost your own sales from using, or modifying, some of their tactics. If your competitors? websites make you want to buy something, analyze the techniques used to make you feel that way.

The most important thing you can do when selling on the Internet is to create an attractive website. You?ll need to ensure your site stands out from the rest to drive visitor traffic. One way to begin distinguishing your website from others is to emphasize a service you offer that no one else does.

Keep the information on your site relevant and current. Visitors to your site that see outdated information may believe that your company is floundering and that getting in touch with you would be a waste. A website that is user-friendly and up-to-date is inviting for readers.

You must make the most of your website if you are going to succeed in Online marketing. Try different fonts and color schemes before deciding on what works best. Keep that in mind when you are building your site.

TIP! You website can be a hub divided into different sections where people can view various types of products. It?s great to give customers a lot of options, but you should still strive to give your page an organized appearance.

Instead of building a big, sloppy site, start small and focus on quality first. Search engines will tend to overlook a site with one or two million indexed pages, more so than one that has between ten or twenty thousand.

Make sure you keep good records. You need to monitor your traffic, sales and outreach. Calculate your referral and conversion rates to figure out how efficient your campaign is. Keeping accurate records will ensure that you take proper action whenever the need arises.

You could give a part of your profit to a charity if you believe your audience will be interested in helping out a good cause. Everyone who visits your website should plainly see that their purchases will help support the charity, although you don?t want to push it in their faces left and right. Remember, charities appreciate any amount of money, so it does not have to be a large percent to reap the benefits associated with this type of internet marketing.

TIP! Offer a money back guarantee to your customers. Your customers will feel more confident in the purchases and provide your company with some credibility.

Lure new customers to visit your site by offering them an incentive, such as a free product or service. You can put whatever you will be offering into the course. This is a good way to give more value to what you are selling.

You should learn to utilize HTML tags. Tags are a great way to highlight your key content and also improve your search engine results. Search engine crawlers see the page and make judgments based on the context of these tags. Make sure to put emphasis on the important keywords you use.

TIP! Offer ad space on your website for credible companies to advertise and boost your standing. If potential customers notice that impressive firms are linked with yours, they will gain greater confidence in your offerings.

One solid Online marketing strategy is to allow your customers to post their own reviews of your products to your website. This kind of feedback from users is an effective way to show visitors the benefits and uses for your product. Be sure to monitor the page so the best reviews and comments are highlighted.

Now that you know what it takes, you should be ready to market your online business. Effective Internet marketing techniques allow your business to grow at a pace you are comfortable with.

Join me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/market-your-business-on-the-internet-with-these-tips

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Colleges help students put best Web foot forward

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) ? Samantha Grossman wasn't always thrilled with the impression that emerged when people Googled her name.

"It wasn't anything too horrible," she said. "I just have a common name. There would be pictures, college partying pictures, that weren't of me, things I wouldn't want associated with me."

So before she graduated from Syracuse University last spring, the school provided her with an online tool that allowed her to put her best Web foot forward. Now when people Google her, they go straight to a positive image ? professional photo, cum laude degree and credentials ? that she credits with helping her land a digital advertising job in New York.

"I wanted to make sure people would find the actual me and not these other people," she said.

Syracuse, Rochester, and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore are among the universities that offer such online tools to their students free of charge, realizing ill-considered Web profiles of drunken frat parties, prank videos and worse can doom graduates to a lifetime of unemployment ? even if the pages are somebody else's with the same name.

It's a growing trend based on studies showing that most employers Google prospective hires and nearly all of them won't bother to go past the first page of results. The online tools don't eliminate the embarrassing material, they just put the graduate's most flattering, professional profile front and center.

"These students have been comfortable with the intimate details of their lives on display since birth," said Lisa Severy, president-elect of the National Career Development Association and director of career services at the University of Colorado-Boulder, which does not offer the service.

"The first item on our 'five things to do before you graduate' list is 'clean up your online profile,'" she said. "We call it the grandma test ? if you don't want her to see it, you probably don't want an employer to, either."

After initially supplying BrandYourself accounts to graduating seniors, Syracuse University this year struck a deal with the company ? begun by a trio of alumni ? to offer accounts to all of its undergraduate and graduate students and alumni at no additional charge. About 25,000 people have access to it so far.

"It's becoming more and more important for students to be aware of and able to manage their online presence, to be able to have strong, positive things come up on the Internet when someone seeks them out," said Mike Cahill, Syracuse's career services director.

Online reputation repair companies have been around for at least a couple of years, often charging hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to arrange for good results on search engine result pages. BrandYourself, which normally charges $10 a month for an account, launched two years ago as a less expensive, do-it-yourself alternative after co-founder Pete Kistler ran into a problem with his own name.

"He couldn't get an internship because he was getting mistaken for a drug dealer with the same name," said co-founder Patrick Ambron. "He couldn't even get calls back and found out that was the problem."

An April survey of 2,000 hiring managers from CareerBuilder found nearly two in five companies use social networking sites to research job candidates and 11 percent said they planned to start. A third of the hiring managers who said they research candidates reported finding something like a provocative photo or evidence of drinking or drug use that cost the candidate a job.

"We want our students and alumni actively involved in shaping their online presence," said Johns Hopkins Career Center Director Mark Presnell. Students are encouraged to promote positive, professional content that's easily found by employers, he said.

BrandYourself works by analyzing search terms in a user's online profile to determine, for example, that a LinkedIn account might rank 25th on Google searches of the user's name. The program then suggests ways to boost that ranking. The software also provides alerts when an unidentified result appears on a user's first page or if any links rise or fall significantly in rank.

Nati Katz, a public relations strategist, views his presence online as a kind of virtual storefront that he began carefully tending while in graduate school at Syracuse.

Google his name and up pops his LinkedIn page with a listing of the jobs he's held in digital media and the "500+ connections" badge of honor. His Facebook account is adorned with Katz smiling over an elegant Thanksgiving dinner table. There are a couple of professional profiles and his Tumblr link, one after another on the first page of results and all highlighting his professional experience.

Before his 2011 graduation, he took the university up on its offer of the BrandYourself account and said it gave him a leg up with potential employers and internship supervisors.

"Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with anything negative under my profile," said Katz, who used the reputation website BrandYourself.com while pursuing dual degrees in public relations and international affairs. "What I was trying to form was really a nice, clean, neat page, very professional."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-26-Reputation%20Rescue/id-8c8b1da79b2648e6b69e70f0483383fc

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Three gods: The hardest logic puzzle ever

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Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/26f2cbb4/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn223570Ethree0Egods0Ethe0Ehardest0Elogic0Epuzzle0Eever0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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949-829-4262 ~ Mini Cooper Repair ~ Auto Repair Advice Mission ...

autorepairfoothillranch.com 949-829-4262 ? Auto Repairs in Foothilll Ranch, CA off first visit https Automotive, Truck, Fleet, RV, Trailer & Bus Repair in Foothill Ranch, CA. 70 Auto Center Drive, Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 AAA ? ASE- BBB ? Voted Best of Mission Viejo ? Foothill Ranch autorepairfoothillranch.com 949-829-4262 ~ At Elite Automotive Services, we strive to do whatever it takes to make your Car, Light Truck, Motor home or Commercial Fleet Vehicle, maintenance and repair experience, as simple, convenient and affordable as possible. We are truly a one stop shop. With over seventy five years of combined experience, our award winning, factory trained, Master Certified Technicians will perform all manufacturers scheduled maintenance and repairs on your vehicle. We will also handle all your fleet needs as well. We understand the importance of a fleet operation and pride ourselves on meeting your unique requirements. We guarantee your vehicle will be ?Fixed Right The First Time, On Time, Every Time?. We offer the best parts and service warranty in the industry. Providing complete customer satisfaction is our number one goal.

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Source: http://makemoneyhomebusinesscenter.com/949-829-4262-mini-cooper-repair-auto-repair-advice-mission-viejo/

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Holiday Obstacles for Authors | Writing and Publishing News

Merry Christmas. I hope you?ve noticed that I haven?t been blogging daily this week. It is good to be missed?to have people disappointed when they get up and head to their computer for words of publishing wisdom, only to find nothing new posted. It?s not that I want to disappoint you. Rather, I hope that you find value in this blog effort of mine. I?ve been posting here for 7 years and one month. For most of that time, I have posted daily. This is my 1,693rd post. I will hit the 2,000 mark sometime in 2013. Who else do you know who has posted anywhere near that number?

Okay, so it is Christmas day. It has been busy in the family arena and I?ve been enjoying every minute of it. But I am eager to get back to my client work and putting the final touches on my second novel. It will also be nice to feel as though everyone else is back to work. Some of you know what I mean. During the holidays and sporadically throughout the summer, you find it difficult to communicate with editors, publishers, reviewers, your publicists, program directors and so forth. Why? Because they take time off?they leave out-of-office-replies to your earnest emails. You are ready to move forward with your project. You want to set up speaking gigs, submit an article or a book manuscript, get your book reviewed, move your marketing program forward, etc, and they are taking a ?much needed break.?

Well, you?ll probably have to wait a little while longer. On the heels of this holiday, of course, is the tradition of seeing in the New Year. Maybe you?ll connect with the person or people who can help you move ahead around January 2. Although, some of the key people may have been waiting for the holidays to be over before heading out to snowboard, ski or maybe vacation in a warmer climate. Sigh!!

If you are a freelance writer or author, you know about obstacles and challenges. If you?ve been earning your living for many years through writing like I have or even just enjoying the writing life for a long time, you?ve experienced many different roadblocks?or potential roadblocks. Here are some words of wisdom from earlier generations: ?This too will pass.? Yes, the obstacle may diminish at some point, but what about the opportunity? Often, timing is everything. But as writers who must rely on others, it is difficult to know or have control over the timing of events and activities related to our projects.

It is up to us to do the research in order to learn whether our book, story or article is timely. And when we think we?ve nailed the time element and we move forward with our gut, to have doors to what we believe are the opportunities we need, close is?well, rather disheartening, don?t you think?

But we will survive. As writers and authors, we are creative. We know how to do the research necessary to move our projects forward. We understand the importance of filling many baskets with eggs (possibilities, opportunities, potentialities?).

And here?s another clich? I?d like to remind you of today: ?When one door closes, another opens.? But be ever aware because the next door might be a window?a small, nearly invisible window.

If you are a bit out of sorts because you have business you want to conduct this season and you are finding many closed doors despite your attempts, stay calm. Stay focused. Either take a break of your own and enjoy an aspect of the season or move to plan B and see what transpires.

In the meantime, good luck with your current project. May it bring you great joy throughout the process and beyond.

If you are an author in any phase of writing, producing or marketing one or more books, be sure to check out my most current array of books for authors:

Publish Your Book
Promote Your Book
Talk Up Your Book

All available at Amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstores. You can also order your copies here: http://www.matilijapress.com

Download my FREE ebook, ?50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success? at http://www.patriciafry.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 at 6:17 am and is filed under Authorship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog/?p=2447

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Video Privacy Protection Act Amendments

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Amendments to the video privacy law inspired by Robert Bork?s nomination proceedings are ready for the president?s signature.

Long before anyone clicked a ?like? or ?share? button, Senator Patrick Leahy noted,

It really isn?t anybody?s business what books or what videos somebody gets. It doesn?t make any difference if somebody is up for confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice or they are running the local grocery store. It is not your business. It is not my business. It is not anybody else?s business, whether they want to watch Disney or they want to watch something of an entirely different nature. It really is not our business.

It?s easy to understand where Senator Leahy is coming from here.? It?s just that, in 1988, did anyone anticipate the number of users who might wish to volunteer this information?

Senator Leahy was speaking in support of?what became the?Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) PL 100-618 (codified at 18 USCA 2710).? Congress passed the VPPA shortly after a DC paper published Robert Bork?s video rental history during his Supreme Court nomination.? The Act now prohibits a??video tape service provider? from disclosing this kind of? ?personally identifiable information.?

Decades later, video streaming services like Netflix fear that enabling social sharing tools on their sites might subject them to civil and criminal liability under the VPPA. ?See for example, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman speaking before Congress from January of this year:

Unfortunately, we have elected not to offer our Facebook application in the United States because of ambiguities in the Video Privacy Protection Act. Under this law, it is unclear whether consumers can give ongoing consent to allow Netflix to share the movies and TV shows they?ve instantly watched through our service.

2012 WLNR 2123872.

In fact, the Northern District of California recently ruled that the application of the VPPA to online streaming is consistent with a ?plain reading? of the statute.? See In re Hulu Privacy Litigation, 2012 WL 3282960. That hardly settles the issue.? For an alternative view,? see Ian Ballon?s comments from his treatise at ECOMMINTLAW 26.13[10].? The Senate nevertheless recently amended the VPPA and sent the bill to the president for his signature.

Nevertheless, HR 6671 would permit consumers to provide on-going consent over the Internet to the sharing of their viewing history. You may access a Westlaw version of the text and related legislative history here: 2011 CONG US HR 6671.

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ADDITIONAL RESEARCH REFERENCES

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Legislative History

For references to Bork in the legislative history of the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988, locate for BORK at PL 100-618 LH.

?Sentator Leahy?s comments above can be found at the Video and Library Privacy Protection Act of 1988, Joint Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the House Comm. on the Judiciary and the Subcomm. on Technology and the Law of the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary?(August 3, 1988)

Confirmation Transcripts

For transcripts of the Robert Bork?s confirmation hearings, try the following search on Westlaw Classic in the SCT-CONFIRM database:

BORK & da(1987)

Ian Ballon?s Treatise, E-Commerce and Internet Law

Ian Ballon?s comments reference above were as follows:

This analysis, however, ignores that the relevant term is not materials but ?similar ? materials? which should be construed in the context of the term that preceded it?video cassette tapes. As noted above, the example provided in the legislative history is ?similar audio visual materials, such as laser discs, open-reel movies, and CDI technologies.?[FN662] The court?s conclusion that this reference to tangible media evidences a broader ?intent to cover new technologies? seems to be a stretch.

Ian C. Ballon, E-Commerce and Internet Law, ECOMMINTLAW 26.13[10]

Congressional Testimony

Congressional Testimony can be found on Westlaw and WesltawNext at Congressional Testimony (CONGTMY) and U.S. Political Transcripts (USPOLTRANS).? For example, in U.S. Poltical Transcripts, try simply:

adv: video-privacy

Senator Al Franken?s statements are interesting.? He cites several examples for why protecting a viewing history might be important including this:

This came up in one famous case where a local police department thought that the 1979 movie, the ?Tin Drum? was obscene. Now mind you, this was a movie about what happened in Nazi Germany just before World War II. It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. But the police department went out and seized a list of everyone who had the movie and then drove around confiscating every copy. And in that case the ACLU chapter in the Ranking Member?s state of Oklahoma used the Video Privacy Protection Act to stop that.

Sen. Al Franken Holds a Hearing on Protecting Video Viewer Privacy, Panel 1, 2012 WL 309108

For the case Sen. Franken refers to, see Camfield v. City of Oklahoma City, 248 F.3d 1214, 1217 (10th Cir. 2001)

Source: http://westreferenceattorneys.com/2012/12/video-privacy-protection-act-amendments/

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travel & leisure: The Many Benefits Of Hiring Limousine Services ...

By Cathy Franklin

Teenagers look forward to having their proms. During this time, everyone usually comes together to celebrate that cool school fever. The prom night reflects how girls and boys wish to flaunt their sense of style and fashion.

If you wish to display a cool, classy front during the prom, make sure you follow these tips to get you ready for that big party event you are extremely excited about:

Wear something stunning yet comfortable. One tip for you:avoid getting a suit or a dress a few days before the prom. If you want to look perfect on that day, search for your preferred wardrobe months and weeks ahead of time.

Get prom tickets ahead of time. This ensures that you have the best seats. How cool is it to be seated on the first row!

Coordinate with your date. Chat about color preferences and decide which color you should go for. Contrasting ensemble colors can be a bit of an eyesore.

What else might be missing? Well, you certainly need a car, a luxurious one that is. If you wish to experience the opulence of travel at its finest, then you hire limousine services. Renting a luxury vehicle is classy, an amazing choice for those who want to party hard and travel with a sense of luxury, security and fun.

Luxury vehicles like Limousine MPV and the maxicab singapore are often for rent in Singapore. These cars come with exceptional chauffeur services. When you go for a luxury vehicle, expect to be driven by skilled, veteran drivers. Limousine packages in Singapore suit different travelling needs and purposes, which can range from Singapore airport transfer service to road shows and parties.

Source: http://bidding-travel.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-many-benefits-of-hiring-limousine.html

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