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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46201853#46201853
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Romney says he's not letting up on Fla. campaign (AP)
DUNEDIN, Fla. ? Make no mistake: Mitt Romney isn't taking his foot off the gas ? or off Newt Gingrich's neck.
The Republican presidential candidate on Monday expressed confidence of victory in Tuesday's Florida primary but also made clear that he's girding for a long, state-by-state fight for the nomination against his chief rival and the other candidates still in the race.
"I don't think you can ever count on a state being in your corner," a relaxed Romney said as he flew with reporters and top aides from Jacksonville to Clearwater.
Over the course of the day, Romney continued to pummel Gingrich at every stop, even though polls show the former Massachusetts governor with a comfortable lead.
"You are not going to see Mitt Romney go into cruise control," said senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom.
That's what Romney essentially did after crushing Gingrich's rise in Iowa a month ago by fiercely attacking him. Gingrich came in a dismal fourth place and his momentum was gone as the race turned to New Hampshire. Romney nearly stopped attacking his opponent, believing him politically dead, and won that state big. His jubilant advisers were envisioning an easy path to the nomination.
Then Gingrich headed to South Carolina, where he mounted a remarkable comeback and cruised to a 12 percentage point victory over Romney.
Just a week ago, Romney arrived in Florida nervous and tired after the staggering loss. He's spent the past week attacking Gingrich at every turn and assailing him on TV, where Romney and his allies are outspending Gingrich and his backers by almost five to one.
His campaign has held repeated conference calls with surrogates bashing Gingrich for his leadership style and ties to Freddie Mac. And when Gingrich appeared on a series of Sunday news talk shows ? Romney himself watched from his campaign bus ? the campaign made sure he was booked on all three network TV morning shows on Monday.
In Florida, Romney's advisers say they've seen the vindication of a strategy that focused on pushing Gingrich off his game, both in appearances and on the debate stage. "He's like a bubbling volcano when he's under pressure," Fehrnstrom said.
As his team looks ahead to the February calendar ? in particular Nevada on Feb. 4, Colorado and Minnesota on Feb. 7 and Michigan on Feb. 28 ? it plans to keep up that pressure while using the other two candidates in the race against him.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul has organized extensively in Nevada, and Romney's team is eager to talk up former Rick Santorum's chances in Minnesota. The former Pennsylvania senator was campaigning there Monday.
"It's not a two-person contest between Mitt and Newt Gingrich, as much as Newt might feel that way," Fehrnstrom said.
Gingrich's team is urging Santorum to drop out of the race to allow conservatives to consolidate their support behind a single candidate.
In foreclosure-wracked Nevada, Romney will likely keep up the message he's been pushing in Florida: Gingrich earned $1.6 million consulting for the quasi-government mortgage giant Freddie Mac. It's an attack Romney began early during the Florida campaign and one senior advisers say helped drive the former speaker's poll numbers down. Aides say the argument is also likely to resonate in Nevada, where home values have fallen and the foreclosure crisis is particularly severe.
Paul, who skipped Florida in favor of states that hold caucuses instead of primaries, could make a surprisingly strong showing. The state's large Mormon population and Romney's 2008 win in the state could make a victory there be simply meeting expectations instead of pushing Romney forward.
Speaking to reporters, Romney emphasized the state's active tea party ? possibly offering a preview of the campaign's effort to show he can connect with conservatives.
Gingrich, for his part, has vowed to stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August. On Monday, he was still talking about winning in Florida.
Romney himself showed flashes of the confidence he displayed in New Hampshire after a soaring victory speech focused exclusively on President Barack Obama.
"That's usually the case when you think you're going to lose, when you say, `I'm going to go on no matter what happens,'" Romney said of Gingrich. "That's usually not a good sign."
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Expected Growth in the Communications Field Entices Students to ...
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Source: Press Release Distribution
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
PFT: Lions fear Best's career is over
Getty ImagesIt?s official.? In Saturday?s edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ?reader representative? Ted Diadiun addressed at length the decision to remove long-time Browns writer Tony Grossi from the team?s beat.? Diadiun?s article is well-written, superficially persuasive, and apparently effective, given the number of emails we?ve received from folks who believe based on Diadiun?s article that the newspaper did the right thing.
But it doesn?t change our opinion that the Plain Dealer cowered to the Browns.? In fact, it strengthens it.
When scrutinizing an employment decision, inconsistencies in the reasons and rationalizations from the employer become extremely important.? The thinking is that, if the employer can?t tell a unified story in support of a supposedly legitimate decision, it?s possible that the employer is trying to conceal potentially illegitimate motives.? Circumstantial evidence also takes on a critical role, since the employer rarely will admit to ordering the Code Red.? Or, perhaps for these purposes, a Code Orange.
And that?s really the ultimate question.? Did the Browns order a Code Orange on Grossi?? Or, more accurately, did the Plain Dealer reassign Grossi because it believed the Browns wanted Grossi out?
Let?s consider the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies.
First, the facts.? Grossi posted on his Twitter page a message that he had intended to keep private.? In the message, Grossi called Browns owner Randy Lerner a ?pathetic figure? and ?the most irrelevant billionaire in the world.?? (Of all the billionaires in the world, technically one of them must be the most irrelevant.)? Grossi immediately deleted the tweet once he realized his mistake.? By then, however, his words had been copied and repeated across the Internet, and it was impossible to unring the bell.
Grossi apologized publicly, the Plain Dealer apologized publicly, and Plain Dealer publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger sent a written apology to the Browns and to Lerner.
Though not addressed in Diadiun?s column, the Browns responded with silence.? Apart from declining to comment in response to inquiries from PFT, the Browns and Lerner refused to take calls from Grossi, and possibly from other officials of the Plain Dealer.? Indeed, Diadiun admits that ?[n]one of the editors involved talked with anyone connected with the team? before making the decision to reassign Grossi.
Diadiun omits reference to the key question of whether the Plain Dealer tried to have such discussions.
Second, the circumstances.? Most significantly, Diadiun admits that Egger personally met with Lerner and team president Mike Holmgren on Wednesday, after the decision was made to reassign Grossi.? The fact that a meeting occurred invites speculation that the Browns cared ? or at a minimum that the Plain Dealer believed the Browns cared ? about the manner in which this situation was handled.
Third, the inconsistencies.? On Thursday, Plain Dealer managing editor Thom Fladung told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that the ?determining factor? for the decision was the following standard:? ?Don?t do something that affects your value as a journalist or the value of your newspaper or affects the perception of your value and the perception of that newspaper?s value.?? Fladung also said that Grossi?s opinions would have been permissible if he had posted them not on his Twitter page, but in the pages of the Plain Dealer.? ?Let?s say Tony had written that Randy Lerner?s lack of involvement with the Browns and their resulting disappointing records over the years has made him irrelevant as an owner, that?s defensible,? Fladung said.? ?That?s absolutely defensible.?
But Diadiun?s item contains a contradictory quote from Plain Dealer editor Adam Simmons, who thinks that Grossi?s role as a beat writer precluded him from making the statements about Lerner in any context.? ?If it had been a columnist who wrote that, we might cringe, but that role is different,? Simmons said. ?They?re paid to offer up opinions, however prickly. But we?re not asking them to go out and cover a team in a fair and balanced and objective way, like we are with a reporter.?? (Presumably, Simmons also believes that a columnist could have offered those opinions on his Twitter page, since opinions are fair game for a columnist.)
Complicating matters is Diadiun?s attempt to reconcile the action against Grossi with his First Amendment rights.? Rather that relying on the simple ? and accurate ? notion that employees of a private, for-profit enterprise have no First Amendment rights, Diadiun draws a clumsy line between personal and professional social media.? ?Anyone who works at the paper has the right to say, write or Tweet anything they wish,? Diadiun writes.? ?But they do not have a corresponding right to say it in the newspaper or on the website or on their newspaper Twitter account.? If they do, the editors who are in charge of maintaining the credibility of the newspaper have the right to change their assignment.?
So Fladung says that Grossi could have said what he said in the paper, Simmons says that Grossi couldn?t have said what he said anywhere unless he was a columnist, and Diadiun says that Grossi could have said what he said on his own, personal Twitter page.? And no one says it?s impermissible for Grossi to secretly possess those views, even if those views (as Diadiun writes) undermine his credibility.? Under the newspaper?s view of journalistic ethics, it only becomes a problem when those views are disclosed ? which actually should make Grossi even more credible, since he has openly acknowledged his bias.
The end result is a stew of mixed messages, which invites speculation that the real reason for the move was to maintain a good relationship with the Browns.? Though there continues to be ? and likely never will be ? any evidence that the Browns told the Plain Dealer what the Browns wanted the Plain Dealer to do, some of the loudest and clearest messages can be sent through silence.
When Grossi or others from the Plain Dealer tried to call Lerner and/or Holmgren and they refused to speak, what should a reasonable person conclude?? Moreover, why would a meeting with Lerner and Holmgren even be needed if the Plain Dealer didn?t care about the team?s response to the situation?? If this decision was solely about journalistic standards and the integrity and credibility of Grossi?s coverage in the eyes of the audience given his personal views regarding Lerner, there was no reason to go to Berea and kiss rings and/or smooch butts.
That?s the fundamental disconnect.? The Plain Dealer wants us to believe it engaged in a textbook exercise in ethics while at the same time doing things like writing letters of apology to Lerner and publicly calling Grossi?s words about Lerner insulting and personally meeting with Lerner and Holmgren.
Though the Browns may not have intended to order a Code Orange, we believe that the Plain Dealer believed that it needed to remove Grossi from the beat in order to remain in the good graces of the Browns.? And we?d have far more (or, as the case may be, any) respect for this decision if the Plain Dealer would simply admit that which upon inspection of the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies seems obvious.
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Penultimate talks iPad stylus [Macworld 2012]
Rene and I are at Macworld 2012 and had the pleasure of talking to Penultimate developer Ben Zotto. You, the iMore nation, asked us to ask Ben his thoughts on styli for the iPad, so we did! Check out the video above for Ben's insights on the personal decision of choosing an iPad.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nBylKkwzHmw/story01.htm
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Senate OKs Giffords anti-smuggling bill (AP)
WASHINGTON ? A day after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' emotional departure from Congress, the Senate on Thursday passed and sent to the president the final legislative act sponsored by the Arizona Democrat who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt a year ago.
The legislation, passed by voice vote, increases penalties for those flying ultralight planes to smuggle drugs into Giffords' home state and other states along the border.
The bill "will not only help to secure our southwest border, but it also affords us the opportunity to honor an incredible colleague," said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M, a sponsor of a Senate counterpart measure.
The House passed the legislation on a 408-0 vote Wednesday, minutes after Giffords formally submitted her resignation surrounded by hundreds of House members gathered to pay tribute to their wounded colleague.
A year ago, the 41-year-old Democrat was shot in the head and severely injured by a would-be assassin who opened fire at a meet-and-greet event outside a Tucson supermarket, killing six and wounding 13. Giffords, who is undergoing speech and physical therapy, said she wanted to devote all her time to her recovery.
The House passed a similar version of Giffords' bill in 2010, but it was not taken up by the Senate. She reintroduced it on Jan. 6, 2011, just two days before she was shot.
Drug smugglers using ultralight planes have been subject to weaker criminal penalties than those flying larger aircraft because the single-seat planes that can fly low enough to evade radar detection have not been classified as aircraft under existing federal law.
The legislation would close the legal loophole that gives ultralight plane smugglers lesser penalties than those using other airplanes or cars and add a provision to aviation smuggling law to allow prosecutors to charge people other than the pilot who are involved in aviation smuggling.
It directs the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security to work together to identify equipment and technology that could be used by customs officials to detect ultralights.
Udall said that hundreds of ultralight aircraft carrying drugs cross the border every year, each capable of carrying hundreds of pounds of narcotics.
"Congresswoman Giffords is committed to taking this crucial step that would help secure the border against drug smugglers," Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, said in a statement. "That's why she decided this would be the last bill she introduces before she steps down."
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Video: Inside the great GOP divide
Surprising 30 percent rise in home births
A small, but growing trend of women in the US are choosing home births, a new government report finds. These mostly over 35, non-Hispanic white women are "consciously rejecting the system" of hospital deliveries, says the researcher.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46155119#46155119
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You Can Finally Download Your Songs From Google Music [Google]
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
That?s Obama?s Jobs Plan?
Most of all, as the president well knows, it?s simply not the case that the typical middle-class American family is severely troubled by a lack of manufactured goods. And if we as a whole aren?t suffering from a shortage of manufacturing outputs, why would we orient our economic structure around making more? The real problems afflicting American families don?t relate to a dearth of manufactured items in the home. The president got at this in his brief remarks on college tuition and his vague allusion to his signature health-care initiative. It is here, rather than in the struggle to manufacture cost-competitive tires, that the American future will be either won or lost. Will the digital revolution that?s transformed publishing and put all the world?s information at our fingertips open the doors of education wider, or will prices keep spiraling out of control? Will America?s enormous health-care spending drive improvements in quality of life or just higher revenues for hospitals and device makers? These questions, along with the still-urgent need to fight the short-term plague of joblessness, were once at the center of the Obama agenda. But as Election Day, dawns they?re at risk of being largely sidelined in favor of cheap and muddled economic nationalism.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=bee59cbc0e7d01b65849de8bf46358cb
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Dougall Fraser: Family Feud: How to Cope with Family Resistance
On every person's spiritual journey, we are tested to help us learn. Occasionally, we invite frustrating people into our lives who challenge us to be stronger and stand up for ourselves. I have reiterated this lesson to clients for years now, yet I must admit that it stings when it happens in my life. I pride myself on searching for balance in all areas. However, learning compassion and forgiveness can be a hard lesson when we feel mistreated.
Recently, David received an invitation to a bar mitzvah on his side of the family. It was explained to us that I was not invited to the synagogue for services because it would create too much gossip within their religious community. I was, however, invited to the party the following day. When David put down the phone to explain the situation, we sat and stared at each other in silence. Flurries of thought went through my mind. I was angry. No, I was infuriated! I was deeply hurt that a family member would consider my mere presence in a holy institution damaging.
Ironically, David was relieved that the topic was on the table for discussion at all. In March David and I will celebrate our ninth year of being a couple. We have had many hurdles to overcome with family. We were first told that we would never be welcome together in anyone's homes or at any family event. Members of his family initially said they would never accept nor meet me. David has a strong sense of family, however, and he has been extremely patient with them over the years. When we express this to some of our friends, it brings up a strong range of opinions.
"I'd tell them to go to hell!" cried one friend.
"If I were you, I would never speak to them again," said another.
"What's the big deal? Just visit occasionally and don't push any buttons," urged yet another.
"I think you should just crash the event and show up together!" advised a fourth.
In my opinion, we all have a choice in life. You can live in fear, or you can live in light. Once I calmed down and centered myself, I realized that this person is not trying to be hurtful. They are simply fearful of being different. They live in an isolated area where everyone is the same color and same religion. In their desire for a sense of community, they abide by the same rules and the exact same lifestyle. But in the end, they are living in fear of being different.
I understand why some of our friends think we should expel them from our lives. As humans, we tend to go on the offensive when we feel rejected. Our guard goes up, and we retaliate. Something in my heart tells me that this isn't the right choice for me. I know that this person is in my life to challenge us to be stronger, just as we are here to challenge them.
I forget that as a gay man, I am still a pioneer. My marriage is not recognized within my own country. I can't donate blood. I can't adopt children in certain states and countries, and heaven help an openly gay person who lives in Iran or Jamaica! Now I am also not welcome to a family event.
"What do you want to do?" I asked David.
"Well, I'm not going alone. It's not right," he said.
"Well, we could show up in drag. I could be Bonnie Mitzvah!"
"Stop joking!" David chuckled.
After careful consideration, David and I agreed that we wanted to be there to honor Jonah. He is turning 13 and will have one of the most important days of his life. He loves us, and he is an innocent bystander in this situation. His parents told him that I wasn't invited to the synagogue service because I wasn't Jewish.
The fearful part of my brain doesn't want to go where people are ashamed of me. It would be easy to move into my own community and be with people who are exactly the same. But I know in my heart that isolation isn't going to help our world progress. So together we pledge to be strong. We all have a purpose, and I believe that ours it to live in the light and be pioneers of diversity. David and I will attend the party. We will hold our heads high and demand to be treated as equals. There will be no arguing. There will be no drama. (Although I would be lying if I didn't say that I fantasize about David and me grabbing each other in the middle of dancing the hora and making out -- can you imagine the hora on people's faces?!)
In my thoughts, prayers, and meditation, I keep asking the universe why this has to hurt so much. What is the lesson behind it all? It feels easy to be angry. It feels easy to be hurt. I try to remind myself of the progress we have made with his family. We have visited Israel together, as they pridefully showed me the country they are from. They have started slowly introducing us to some of their friends. We have celebrated several holidays together in the past few years, and each gathering is better than the last.
There are still many mountains to climb. But when I am centered, I realize the layers of lessons there are for me on this journey. There is the lesson of compassion, the lesson of forgiveness, and, most importantly, the lesson of acceptance. Whenever I have a disagreement with a friend, business partner, or family member, my one request is that we be able to talk about the topic. After seeing clients for 15 years, I know that people simply want to feel heard. Everyone wants to know that their opinion matters, that they will have a chance to express themselves and their side of the story. I may not agree with you; I may be hurt or offended. But as long as we can negotiate and learn from each other, I am available to talk.
I know in my heart that someday this will all be behind me. The children on David's side of the family will accept us with open hearts and understand what we all went through to maintain our ties and stay together as a family.
And now I'd like to know: where is there resistance in your life? Is there someone you constantly clash with? Remember that we all have soul contracts with our loved ones. They come into our lives for a reason. Ironically enough, it's the most challenging relationships that stand to bring us the most light and learning.
?
Follow Dougall Fraser on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dougallfraser
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dougall-fraser/family-feud-how-to-cope-w_b_1219801.html
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Cockfighting: Feds should butt out, defendants argue
Courtesy the Humane Society of the United States
A photo from the Humane Society shows the aftermath of a South Carolina cockfighting bust in June 2010. South Carolina is among the states with lax laws against cockfighting, animal-welfare officials say.
By James Eng, msnbc.com
In a state that's home to a university whose mascot is a gamecock,?a?group of South Carolinians arrested in a major cockfighting case want an appeals court to throw out their federal convictions. They argue that the federal government has no business regulating bird fights within state borders.
In a case closely watched by animal-rights activists, a three-judge U.S. appeals court in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday heard arguments on whether federal prosecutors overstepped their?authority in trying six people in connection with Lexington County cockfights in 2008.
The four men and two women were found guilty at a federal court trial in May 2010 of violating animal welfare laws? -- the same laws that were used to prosecute star NFL quarterback Michael Vick and send him to federal prison?in 2007?for organizing dogfights at his Virginia home.
During the South Carolina trial, prosecutors showed video secretly shot by a?state Department of Natural Resources agent who went undercover to infiltrate the cockfights at an?arena in the rural Lexington County town of Swansea.
The federal government brought in witnesses from out of state -- and even flew in one witness from England?-- to prove their case that the defendants were involved in interstate commerce --?which would give the federal government jurisdiction.
The six are appealing their convictions, and the outcome could also affect several others who pleaded guilty and didn?t go to trial.
Rauch Wise, an attorney for the defendants, says the federal government should not be in the business of regulating what essentially is a state matter.
In South Carolina, cockfighting is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, though many violators often get off with a fine. Under the federal law, violators face up to five years in prison, Wise noted.
The defendants got sentences ranging from three years probation to 21 months in prison.
?Congress does not have right to prohibit burglary simply because someone steals a TV that was made out of state,? Wise told msnbc.com in a telephone interview Tuesday after arguing the case before the appellate panel. ?Those are state matters reserved to the state and should be handled by state.
?They?ve taken laws in various states that citizens in those states have passed and in essence are saying, ?you?re not being tough enough.??
In an accompanying?court filing, Wise argued the case did not involve interstate commerce. "Under the theory used by the Government in this case, Congress would have the power to make littering in a state a (federal) crime."
Nathan Williams, the assistant U.S. attorney who argued?for the?government, said the federal law prohibiting animal fighting was a proper exercise of congressional power under the Interstate Commerce Clause.
In?court documents, the government outlines several reasons why the case involved ?interstate commerce.? Prosecutors noted that several items, including leg bands, call slips for recordkeeping, vitamins, a syringe and a scale, were shipped from outside South Carolina?to people present at the cockfights.
Citing a previous ruling in another animal-fighting case, Williams argued:
?Whether or not the knives, gaffs or other instrumentalities themselves substantially affect interstate commerce is not the relevant question. The fact that these instruments are used in an animal fighting venture that affects interstate commerce is sufficient to permit Congress to criminalize the selling, buying, transporting or delivering of them pursuant to its power under the Commerce Clause.?
Cockfighting is a centuries-old blood sport in which two or more specially bred roosters are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, often to the death. The University of South Carolina?s men?s sports teams have traditionally been called the Fighting Gamecocks.
The Humane Society of the United States is trying to make cockfighting a felony in all 50 states. John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy for the organization, who attended the appeals hearing, says it?s clear that the South Carolina case stretched beyond state borders.
?This is not just a matter of two chickens pecking each other in the back of some farmyard. These are large-scale events that affect interstate commerce in a pretty significant way,? he told msnbc.com
Goodwin said there have been about a dozen prosecutions under the federal Animal Welfare Act in the past seven or eight years, at least half of which involved cockfighting. He couldn?t recall any previous cases that reached a federal appeals court.
?Hopefully he judges will agree that the? law that was used to prosecute Michal Vick is a good law that would stand,? Goodwin said.
Wise said he expects a ruling from the appellate panel within 90 days.
?The significance of this case is what limit there is on the power of Congress to essentially regulate what is a state matter, cockfighting,? he said.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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State of Union: Obama to take on economic anxiety
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama commands center stage in a political year so far dominated by Republican infighting, preparing to deliver a State of the Union address that will go right to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years in office. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose steps to make college more affordable and offer new remedies for the still worrisome housing crisis. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama commands center stage in a political year so far dominated by Republican infighting, preparing to deliver a State of the Union address that will go right to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years in office. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose steps to make college more affordable and offer new remedies for the still worrisome housing crisis. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is polishing a State of the Union address that will go to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years. He will speak Tuesday night to a nation worried about daily struggles and unhappy with his handling of the economy.
Obama is eager to command center stage in a year dominated by Republican infighting.
Obama's 9 p.m. EST address before a politically divided Congress will be built around ideas meant to appeal to a squeezed middle class.
He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle housing woes and try to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Academy Award (Oscar) Nominations 2012
Academy Award (Oscar) Nominations 2012
The nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. The Oscars will be held on February 26, 2012, hosted by actor/comedian Billy [...]
Academy Award (Oscar) Nominations 2012 Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/ZPiUq0TKQ24/
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Russia Talks Moon Base With NASA, ESA
tl;dr: Robots first, mine the asteroids for building materials.
The proper plan is to start mining Near Earth Asteroids for supplies. Why NEO's? They take less velocity to reach than the Moon's surface for some of them, and all of the velocity can be done with highly efficient electric thrusters. The Moon is physically closer, but distance is not what costs in space, it's velocity and fuel. Haul back surface dust and rocks from your chosen asteroid with a solar powered tug, and have the extraction equipment in Earth orbit. Why here? it's close enough to be remote controlled by humans on the ground. Depending which asteroid and it's composition you can get: metals, glass, oxygen, fuel for more mining trips, carbon, silicon for solar panels, even water in some of them. Also sheer bulk rock gives you radiation shielding.
Once you learn to extract useful stuff, and build up a supply, you use that to build a habitat, including a greenhouse using the glass for windows and carbon to feed the plants. *Then* you start sending people. Until then you send the minimum crew you can get away with, possibly zero. With people up there and their life support taken care of long term, you can start building space elevators in Earth orbit and Lunar orbit out of the carbon you extract. Not the sci-fi one at Earth that goes all the way to the ground, that takes materials we can't make yet. You can reach 30% of the way to the ground in velocity terms at Earth, and all the way on the Moon, cause it's smaller. 30% in velocity means 50% in energy for a vehicle starting from the ground. You can now build single stage to orbit vehicles easily. At the moon you don't need vehicles at all as far as propulsion, just a pressure cabin. Now you can send people all the way from Earth to the Moon at reasonable cost. You can also send habitat parts made in orbit down to the Moon, and start building up your infrastructure there.
We already know a lot about mining and manufacturing on Earth. The main thing we have to learn is how to do it remotely, and possibly in zero gee (you can always spin things if you need gravity).
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Poll: iPad 2 jailbreak
So the iPad 2 untethered jailbreak is now live, and just like with the iPhone, Ally has already posted -- and keeps updating -- her simply superb iPad 2 jailbreak how-to, but given that iPad jailbreaking has historically been less popular than iPhone jailbreaking, I'm left to wonder how many of you have actually cracked open your bigger screened iOS devices? How many of you have jailbroken your iPad 2?
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/fnV0-cCuAXY/story01.htm
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Bin Laden Movie Remains Top-Secret, Says Joel Edgerton
The actor also spoke with MTV News about the 'very subtle' use of 3-D in 'The Great Gatsby.'
By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Joel Edgerton
Photo: MTV News
PARK CITY, Utah — Joel Edgerton could tell you about Kathryn Bigelow's untitled Osama Bin Laden movie, but then he'd have to kill you.
OK, perhaps it's not as dramatic as all of that. Still, the "Wish You Were Here" actor spoke briefly with MTV News about starring in the Navy Seal thriller alongside Chris Pratt and Jessica Chastain, and while he's "very excited" to start shooting the film, his lips are sealed on the top-secret op.
"I can't really tell you anything about it," he told MTV during the Sundance Film Festival. "I don't know that I can't tell you anything about it, but I'd be very ill informed to talk about it at this point. But I'm just excited to work with all of those guys."
Edgerton was much more inclined to talk about "The Great Gatsby," Baz Luhrmann's upcoming adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. The Australian actor, who stars in "Gatsby" as drunken socialite Tom Buchanan, spoke at length about Luhrmann's "very subtle" use of 3-D in the film.
"3-D is absolutely the right thing for [the film]," said Edgerton. "I've seen sections of the movie and it sort of invites you in. It's not like spectacle 3-D; you're not being confronted by things blowing at your head. But it invites you in. What it does psychologically is very interesting, and I think you'll forget you're watching 3-D."
"Also, it's lavish," he continued. "That era was so lavish. The '20s was about excess, so why not add a bit of excess to the filmmaking as well?"
For those who remain skeptical of the use of 3-D in "Gatsby," Edgerton expects negative opinions to change when the movie is released this December.
"Baz knows absolutely everything he's doing," he said. "I'm really excited for all the people [groaning] about 3-D to see the movie. I hope everybody is crossing their arms and frowning to begin with, because I think they'll unfurl by the time they see it." What do you think of the use of 3-D in "The Great Gatsby"? Sound off in the comments!
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially under way, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked with MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.
Related Videos Related PhotosSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677681/joel-edgerton-bin-laden-movie.jhtml
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Di Stefano, Zidane back Mourinho after Madrid loss
Associated Press Sports
updated 12:12 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2012
MADRID (AP) -Former Real Madrid greats Alfredo di Stefano and Zinedine Zidane came out in defense of coach Jose Mourinho on Friday following another disappointing loss to Barcelona.
Mourinho was widely criticized for his defensive tactics in Wednesday's 2-1 Copa del Rey loss, which was exacerbated by Pepe's stamp on Lionel Messi's hand.
Di Stefano said in his weekly column for Marca newspaper that placing the blame on the Portuguese coach was akin to a "bad joke."
"Mourinho grows in the face of great challenges, he's brave like a Real Madrid coach should be," Di Stefano wrote on Friday. "The errors can be corrected."
Zidane, who is the Madrid sporting director, backed Mourinho's decision to play Pepe in midfield in front of a physical backline that included Hamit Altintop and Ricardo Carvalho, calling much of the criticism unjust.
"Of course a club like Madrid needs to show elegance, but in this moment, against an extremely complicated rival, you have to create the conditions for victory," the former France midfielder told AS sports daily. "An attack on Mourinho and the players is an attack on Madrid."
Zidane, who travels with the team and is involved with Mourinho's technical staff, also backed Pepe, whose negative reputation for overly aggressive play was bolstered after Wednesday's match. Pepe apologized to Messi on Thursday, saying he did not intentionally step on the Barcelona player's left hand.
"He's a lovely guy, a well-educated person," Zidane said of the Portugal defender. "But when he jumps onto the field he becomes obsessed with winning and that desire causes him to commit errors. Sometimes he's right on the limit."
Madrid travels to Barcelona's Camp Nou for the return leg of the quarterfinal on Wednesday.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsReutersPele: Messi's not me
Pele thinks Lionel Messi still needs to improve at international level before he can be considered the greatest soccer player ever and needs to score more goals to come close to matching the Brazilian great.
Getty ImagesBest of the US
Abby Wambach and Clint Dempsey are voted top players by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Brees: Focus on keeping Saints together
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees speaks at a postgame news conference after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, in San Francisco. The 49ers won 36-32. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees speaks at a postgame news conference after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, in San Francisco. The 49ers won 36-32. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
METAIRIE, La. (AP) ? Drew Brees has spent the past six years reinvigorating the Saints, rewriting NFL records and rebuilding New Orleans.
His contract may be expiring, but the Big Easy's biggest sports star doesn't see himself changing teams any time soon.
Brees said Friday he would be "beyond stunned" if he and the Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason, echoing comments by coach Sean Payton this week.
The former Super Bowl MVP added he doesn't believe his next deal will prevent the Saints from bidding for some other key members of their record-setting offense who will become free agents, including Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem.
"My No. 1 priority, and it always has been this, is keeping our team together and making sure we have the right guys in the right positions to make a run at this for a long time," Brees said by phone from his offseason home in San Diego. "We all kind of work together on this thing.
"Put it this way: I'm not worried one bit about my contract or our ability to keep guys at key positions."
At the same time, Brees acknowledged that his powers of persuasion only go so far as it pertains to teammates' decisions to stay or go, and the franchise's decisions regarding how much to offer other players.
"Is it realistic to think we can keep absolutely everybody? I don't know how realistic that is just because every year on a team there's turnover and I think that's just the business we're in," Brees said.
"That's the biggest reason why it's so sad when the season ends. It's not because the season is over and you don't get to play anymore games or you know you're not going to win a championship that year. The biggest sadness comes in because you're looking around the room and you know that there's guys you've become very close to that you might not be playing with anymore."
Brees is expected to command an annual salary in the range of $18 million, which would be commensurate with the average yearly pay of New England's Tom Brady and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.
Brees' agent is Tom Condon, who also represents Manning.
In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.
Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record and second NFC South Division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of their second-round game at San Francisco, which hosts the NFC title game on Sunday.
Brees has been invited to the Pro Bowl and plans to attend. By then, he hopes the emotional pain of losing in the playoffs will have subsided enough that he can look back fondly on New Orleans record-shattering season.
"I haven't been able to enjoy it yet to be honest with you. It's been tough this week. I really have tried not to turn on the TV," Brees said. "It's hard not to think about what could have been. But you know what? I take solace in the fact that we fought our heart out, we gave it our best and you know what? It just wasn't meant to be.
"If we're not playing for a championship, I guess there's no place I'd rather be than going to Hawaii for a week with the family and be able to enjoy the Pro Bowl and be around other guys that have earned that trip," Brees said. "And maybe that's going to be the time to decompress and reflect back on the season a little bit, but for now it still stings."
Brees arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina had struck. Since then he has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL (28,394) while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping a region heal from Katrina's devastation.
In addition to lifting the spirits of football fans, he and wife Brittany have worked through their Brees Dream foundation to sponsor about $8 million in projects primarily aimed at improving the lives of children in the area through the refurbishing of schools or renovation of athletic fields and facilities. His foundation also has supported the arts, along with hospital facilities for cancer patients.
He said his family's growing bond with New Orleans is another reason it would be hard for him to envision playing anywhere else.
"This is a place that is very special in our hearts. We've had two of our kids raised here and hopefully we'll have more in the future," Brees said, alluding to a third child that is expected this summer.
"It's been an unbelievable journey over the last six years to watch how far, not only our organization and our team, but just the mental psyche of the city" has improved, Brees said. "We're always going to have a strong connection with New Orleans. We're always going to give back to New Orleans, and I'm talking like 20, 30, 40 years from now."
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PFT: Roger Craig sees a Harbaugh-49ers dynasty
Getty ImagesExactly 30 years ago, coach Bill Walsh transformed a perennially mediocre-at-best 49ers franchise into a juggernaut that would capture five Super Bowl titles in 14 seasons.
After 17 years without a return to the NFL title game, one of the key members of Walsh?s 49ers predicts a return to glory under coach Jim Harbaugh.
?I see these guys doing some wonderful things this decade ? I think Jim will do great job of creating another dynasty and winning some Super Bowls,? Craig recently told the San Francisco Chronicle, via NFL.com.? ?I foresee us winning some Super Bowls in the next decade, if not this year then in the years ahead.? Wherever he goes, he wins.? He has the secret sauce, and I?m loving his flavor.?
(Look, it would be way too easy to make a juvenile remark at this point, including but not limited to ?that?s what she said.?? Instead, I?ll just sit here and wonder how close Craig came to calling back Eric Branch of the Chronicle and begging him to pull that last sentence.)
?Jim Harbaugh is an amazing guy, an innovator, amazing coach, a leader,? Craig added.? ?When you get players to buy into your system the way he has, you?re going to have success.?
Amen to that.? We thought Harbaugh would make enough of a difference to win the NFC West, but we never dreamed he?d take the team to a 14-3 record and a berth in the NFC title game, especially since he had only seven weeks to get his team ready.
Some think that Jeff Fisher avoided the Dolphins for fear of competing directly with Bill Belichick and the Patriots.? In the end, Fisher may have wished he picked Belichick as his arch-rival instead of Harbaugh and the 49ers.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
While MPAA watches SOPA crumble, digital rentals rise as physical rentals decline (Digital Trends)
According to a decline in Blockbuster as well as flat Netflix growth. Redbox is the only bright spot in the physical rental market as?unit volume increased by 29 percent over 2010, thus increasing Redbox?s share of the rental market to 37 percent.
Movie studios have been in a constant struggle with physical delivery systems like Redbox and Netflix due to a general lack of control over pricing. For instance, Warner Brothers recently doubled its 28-day window for Redbox, Blockbuster and Netflix to receive newly released films in addition to halting discounted DVD sales of HBO discs to Netflix in an effort to help preserve falling DVD sales; approximately 15 percent of the studio?s yearly revenue. Studios have also been extremely slow in rolling out support for digital delivery and is currently pinning all hopes on a new technology attached to Blu-ray discs called Ultraviolet. However, the studios have had an?extremely?difficult time educating the public on the?the cloud-based digital locker over the last few months.?
The lack of innovation in regards to developing a studio-owned, industry created platform for purchasing movie rentals has allowed competitors like Apple, Walmart and Amazon to cut into studio profits with user-friendly applications that are compatible across many popular devices like the iPad and Xbox 360. Sony has the strongest grasp on a digital platform to distribute films from Sony Pictures in the form of the PlayStation 3 and possibly the upcoming PlayStation Vita.?
Chairman Dodd is actually barred from attempting to influence any member of Congress regarding SOPA or any future form of the bill due to?legislation that bars any former member of Congress from lobbying current members for two years after leaving office. According to Dodd, he has only been working in a strategic capacity in regards to pushing SOPA and PIPA (PROTECT IP Act)?through Congress. Dodd has partially blamed Hollywood?s actors, directors, writers,?producers and support staff for not mobilizing support against the Internet movement in order to help the two bills pass. ?
One studio that is attempting to innovate the process of digital rentals is Lionsgate. They recently announced the?simultaneous?release of?Taylor Lautner?s Abduction?on Blu-ray and Facebook at the same time. The movie was released on the social network on January 17 and costs $3.99 for a standard definition rental of the film. While Warner Brothers have been streaming previously released, older films on Facebook such as Inception, this marks the first side-by-side release of a physical disc and a streaming counterpart on Facebook.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Chinese See New Year as Golden
BY RHIANNON HOYLE AND YUE LI
SHANGHAI?The year of the dragon is breathing new life into gold prices.
The Chinese have been loading up like never before on gold ahead of the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 23 this year. It is a time of gift-giving that takes place during family dinners, with the older generation giving money to younger members. And as the Chinese have gotten richer, gold?in the form of jewelry, coins and even bars?is becoming the gift of choice.
In preparation for the festivities, China imported a record amount of gold in November, the most recent month for which data are ...
BY RHIANNON HOYLE AND YUE LI
SHANGHAI?The year of the dragon is breathing new life into gold prices.
The Chinese have been loading up like never before on gold ahead of the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 23 this year. It is a time of gift-giving that takes place during family dinners, with the older generation giving money to younger members. And as the Chinese have gotten richer, gold?in the form of jewelry, coins and even bars?is becoming the gift of choice.
In preparation for the festivities, China imported a record amount of gold in November, the most recent month for which data are ...
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Vermont nursing assistant accused of insulin-induced murder (Reuters)
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) ? A Vermont nursing assistant was charged with second-degree murder on Tuesday after allegedly injecting a healthy non-diabetic patient with insulin, sending the elderly woman into a coma, and using her credit card before she died 10 days later.
Jodi LaClaire, 37, a licensed nursing assistant, was accused in the 2009 death of Nita Lowery, 83, a resident under her care at the Thompson House nursing home in Brattleboro, Vermont, the Vermont attorney general's office said in a statement.
State prosecutors accuse LaClaire of injecting Lowery with a fatal dose of insulin, even though the woman was in good health and was not diabetic. Lowery fell into an insulin-induced coma on March 23, 2009 and died 10 days later.
During that time LaClaire used Lowery's credit card to withdraw several thousand dollars, according to the attorney general's office.
In April LaClaire was charged with 16 counts of financial exploitation and attempted financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in connection with the credit card use.
LaClaire, who was arrested in Bennington, New Hampshire on Tuesday on the murder charge, faces 20 years to life without parole if convicted. She is also charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Paul Thomasch)
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As GOP race reaches Fla., economy dominates (AP)
MIAMI ? Property manager Nancy Leon knows all too well the effects of Florida's dismal economy. People can't pay their condominium association fees and fall behind on mortgages or rent. The condo property suffers. Then it has to cut costs, which makes the place less attractive for new residents. A vicious cycle.
"People are really struggling. We see it every day," says Leon, a 42-year-old Republican who voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 as a symbol of hope and change but now isn't sure the Democrat should get another term. Yet, she's not sold on Republican front-runner Mitt Romney or his rivals. Like many other Florida residents, she can't help but fret: "We are so knee-deep in the economic problems, so far down in the hole, who is going to get us out?"
With the Florida Republican presidential primary looming on Jan. 31 and Obama coming to the state Thursday to announce a new economic initiative, this is the grim situation in a key campaign battleground: Ten percent unemployment. Rampant home foreclosures. Nearly half the state's homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their properties are worth.
Ten months before the election, Florida's environment presents a stark challenge for Obama and an opportunity for the eventual Republican nominee in the nation's largest state with a history of vacillating between choosing Republicans and Democrats in presidential contests.
Obama carried Florida in 2008 against Republican John McCain, 51 percent to 48 percent. And, for now at least, Florida voters don't seem to be abandoning Obama in droves. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the president and Romney, the GOP front-runner, in a near-statistical tie in the state in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
Reflecting the stakes for the fall even though the GOP hasn't settled on a nominee, Republicans and Democrats alike have been busy testing lines of argument on the economy.
In a recent appearance in West Palm Beach, Romney mentioned almost nothing about Florida-specific issues such as offshore oil drilling and U.S.-Cuba relations, focusing instead on criticizing Obama and promoting his own economic plans. Campaign mailers sent to Florida Republicans echoed the strategy.
"Our economy has fallen flat. Who's to blame?" asks one mailer. Another proclaims that Romney is the strongest to lead the country out of economic turmoil, arguing this: "With conservative leadership, America can be first in the world in job creation again."
Romney is in a strong position heading into Saturday's primary in South Carolina after back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire. Entrance and exit polls from both states showed that voters overwhelmingly bought Romney's argument that he is the strongest Republican to take on Obama in the fall on voters' No. 1 issue: the economy. Romney's rivals ? former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Rep. Ron Paul ? trailed on those measures and are fighting to keep their bids alive through the Florida primary.
Obama, for his part, planned a trip Thursday to Walt Disney World outside Orlando to outline a new strategy to boost travel and tourism.
"He's pursuing every avenue possible here to tackle what he thinks is our most important challenge which is growing the economy, creating jobs, positioning the American economy to compete and dominate in the 21st century and this is another indication of that effort," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.
For Obama, the economic numbers are daunting in Florida, a state critical to his re-election chances:
_The November unemployment rate of 10 percent was good news because it was the state's lowest since May 2009. But it's much higher than the national 8.5 percent jobless figure. About 926,000 Floridians were out of work in November.
? More than 2 percent of all Florida housing units were involved in foreclosure last year, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure listing service. That translated in December to one in every 360 units, placing Florida at No. 7 among states with the highest 2011 foreclosure rates. And 2012 is forecast to be even busier.
_Florida is third in the number of homes with "upside down" mortgages, at 44 percent of all mortgaged properties, according to the CoreLogic real estate data firm. That works out to slightly less than 2 million Florida homes where the owners owe more than the properties are worth.
For many people whose home is by far their biggest investment, the housing problem is believed to be dragging down confidence and the state's recovery as a whole. Said Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic: "This overhang is holding back the recovery of the housing market and the broader economy."
It's all causing indecision ? if not confusion ? among Florida's pivotal swing voters.
Hollywood resident Phillip James, 48, is a libertarian-leaning independent who says he cannot support Obama. "I think he has just broken too many promises," James said. But he's also suspicious that the wealthy Romney with an "aristocratic air" may favor the rich too much in his economic proposals, adding: "I don't think he has a grasp of the position of the middle class, the conditions of the working class today."
Peter Gonzalez, a registered Democrat from Miami who voted for McCain, seemed just as confounded.
He was leaning toward Romney, and assuming that the former Massachusetts governor will be the GOP nominee, but said he hadn't given up on Obama
"With Obama, I kind of know what I got." Gonzalez said. He predicted: "If the economy gets stronger, and the unemployment rate gets better, it's going to be difficult to beat Obama. Because people vote with their wallet."
Even at this early date, it's not too hard to see how Obama and the eventual Republican nominee may try to make their cases.
Obama may try to gain traction by stressing "the Republican policies that contributed to the economic problems the country is facing and make the case that the economy is improving, and jobs are growing, and that the situation would be much worse if Obama had not taken the actions he had," said Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor.
As for Republicans, Jewett added: "The GOP nominee needs to continually focus on the simple theme: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
___
Associated Press writer Laura Wides-Munoz contributed to this report.
___
Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt
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