T-Mobile Wants To Help Small Business ?Get Paid Fast,? Brings ...

T-Mobile continues to throw some weight behind the mobile payment movement, as they have become the first wireless carrier to offer Square credit card readers at a number of their retail outlets. This isn?t the first instance of T-Mobile utilizing the Square payment reader as a tool to lure in small business customers as they began offering Square readers to small business users with upgrades back in December. T-Mobile?s new Square campaign will allow stores utilizing T-Mobile handsets to accept credit card payments in the U.S., anywhere, anytime. Money from Square transactions are then deposited into a bank account the following business day. Square is just one extra tool T-Mobile is adding to their small business offerings as they work to build up those services with equipment financing, trade-in services, in-store support all allowing ??small businesses to maximize their wireless investment and transform their business.?

T-Mobile retail outlets carrying Square credit card readers are listed here.

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Press Release:

Today, T-Mobile USA, Inc. reiterated its commitment to small business as the first wireless carrier to offer Square credit card readers from San Francisco-based Square, Inc. in select retail stores. When T-Mobile?s fastest 4G smartphones running on America?s Largest 4G Network?are combined with Square, small businesses can accept credit card payments in the U.S. nearly anywhere, anytime, with the money from transactions sent for deposit into their bank accounts the next business day. This easy-to-use solution, paired with T-Mobile?s affordable small business plans, aggregated business applications, equipment financing and trade-in services, and in-store support, allows small businesses to maximize their wireless investment and transform their business.

Investment bank Barclays Capital estimates that U.S. mobile commerce sales hit $5.3 billion in 2011, up 83 percent from 20101. However, more than 26 million small businesses still do not accept credit card payment. The availability of Square card readers as an accessory in T-Mobile? retail stores will make it easy for many small businesses to accept credit card payments for the first time.

?T-Mobile understands my needs as a small business owner,? said Nikki Halgren, owner of The Gleeful Peacock, a handmade jewelry business. ?They not only keep me connected on the go, but they?ve made it easy for me to get paid fast with my T-Mobile smartphone and Square. T-Mobile has made it simple and, as a result, I?ve nearly doubled my business over last year.?

?Small business customers are looking for a partner that will help them navigate the sometimes overwhelming and confusing wireless experience and provide the biggest bang for their buck,? said Bruce McGregor, senior analyst with Current Analysis. ?With their emerging portfolio of small business solutions, T-Mobile is taking the right steps to better cater to customers? needs for increased productivity via their mobile services.?

?The success of our small business customers is important to us. Formerly ?cash only? small businesses can now simply and cost-effectively accept credit cards with their smartphone using Square, giving them an easy path to growth,? said Matt Millen, vice president of small and medium business sales at T-Mobile. ?As these businesses evaluate their wireless needs, T-Mobile is committed to providing quality of service, cost savings and connectivity that are a requirement for their success.?

Small Business Plans

At T-Mobile, small business customers have the ability to tailor wireless plans to their needs with affordable, worry-free unlimited and flexible pooling plans. The T-Mobile Small Business Plan and Small Business Value Rate Plans offer exceptional value, consistent and simple pricing, handset choice and scalability to allow for business growth. T-Mobile?s portfolio also includes well-priced pooling plans, which start at just $59.99 per month for two lines using 1000 Whenever Minutes with a two-year agreement.

Applications with a Mind for Business

To reduce the complexity and effort small businesses associate with finding and downloading the best business applications, T-Mobile offers the T-Mobile 4GPro App Pack, an aggregation of key business applications, such as DropBox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, Camscanner and LinkedIn, preloaded on select smartphones and tablets, such as the Android-based HTC? Amaze? 4G and Samsung Galaxy S? II. Further, by providing an easy path to cloud services like DropBox and Evernote, T-Mobile helps small businesses easily store and access the documents, files, images, and notes that will help them better run their business from virtually anywhere.

Other Services

T-Mobile is also making it easier and more convenient for small business customers to purchase, protect and pay for their mobile devices. When paired with the company?s Value plans, T-Mobile?s Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) can be used to finance most devices for more than 18 months. Through the company?s Equipment Trade-In program, small business customers can utilize older or unused devices to offset the cost of new device purchases. With the company?s convenient Premium Handset Protection program, customers are covered for loss, theft, damage or malfunction of their device ? all at a predictable low cost.

In-store Small Business Support

Last year, T-Mobile began the rollout of a new global design format in nearly 400 U.S. stores to provide customers with a compelling retail experience and improve overall efficiency within the store. Each retail store has been redesigned to simplify the purchase process and includes seated areas that can be used for more in-depth small business conversations and consultations with knowledgeable retail associates.

To see a list of T-Mobile retail stores currently carrying Square, please visit http://business.t-mobile.com/small-business/buy-square-card-reader. Or, for more information about T-Mobile?s small business offerings, go tohttp://business.t-mobile.com/small-business.

Source: http://www.tmonews.com/2012/01/t-mobile-wants-to-help-small-business-get-paid-fast-brings-square-credit-card-reader-to-retail-stores/

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Neeson's 'The Grey' tops box office with $20M (AP)

NEW YORK ? Beware the Liam in Winter.

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."

"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.

"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."

January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on a Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.

"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on a Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.

Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on a Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.

"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."

Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.

Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

"`Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."

Oscar favorites "The Descendants," "Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.

Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.

Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.

Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.

The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.

"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Grey," $20 million.

2. "Underworld: Awakening," $12.5 million.

3. "One for the Money," $11.8 million.

4. "Red Tails," $10.4 million.

5. "Man on a Ledge," $8.3 million.

6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $7.1 million.

7. "The Descendants," $6.6 million.

8. "Contraband," $6.5 million.

9. "Beauty and the Beast," $5.3 million.

10. "Haywire," $4 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_en_ot/us_box_office

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Wendy's CEO: Our wounds were 'self-inflicted'

This Jan. 29, 2012 photo, shows a Wendy's restaurant in Culver City, Calif. Wendy?s Co.?s adjusted net income fell to $4.3 million in the fourth quarter, a 29 percent drop from $6.1 million a year ago. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

This Jan. 29, 2012 photo, shows a Wendy's restaurant in Culver City, Calif. Wendy?s Co.?s adjusted net income fell to $4.3 million in the fourth quarter, a 29 percent drop from $6.1 million a year ago. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

In this Jan. 29, 2012 photo, a customer leaves a Wendy's restaurant in Los Angeles. Wendy?s Co.?s adjusted net income fell to $4.3 million in the fourth quarter, a 29 percent drop from $6.1 million a year ago. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Wendy's new CEO on Monday called the dour results of the past few years "self-inflicted wounds" and vowed to do better, laying out plans that included hiring top-tier workers and reclaiming market share from higher-end competitors like Five Guys and Smashburger.

Emil Brolick, the CEO since September, told investors on Monday that he was intent on winning back customers, jaded by a stale menu and inconsistent service, as well as investors, who have grown weary of "a little bit of overpromising and under-delivering."

And rather than blaming the struggling economy for the revenue declines and quarterly losses of the past few years, Brolick said that the company's problems were its own fault. Though Wendy's Co. had carved out a niche in the restaurant business as fast food for grownups, it had lost its way in recent years.

"These are not DNA issues," said Brolick, who also worked at Wendy's during more halcyon days of the late '80s and early '90s. "These are issues we caused, and any time you have self-inflicted wounds, you can correct self-inflicted wounds."

Brolick said he was intent on taking back lost market share from the likes of fast-casual competitors like Panera and Chipotle, by offering food that was just as good but at a lower price. The company has revamped its menu and is remodeling stores. It sold Arby's, which had been a drag on earnings, over the summer. And it's now intent on hiring "five star" employees in line with those at the fast-casual chains, Brolick said.

"Those folks at the bottom corner, there's a job waiting for them at our competitors," said Brolick, who has also hired a new general counsel at the Ohio headquarters and is adding a chief marketing officer and chief people officer.

Brolick, who was most recently a top executive at Yum Brands Inc., said he's bringing all Wendy's locations up to consistent standards for friendliness and cleanliness, rather than the current, unpredictable state of "one there is really, really good but this one over here isn't quite what it needs to be."

"We've made great progress in getting rid of those F restaurants and getting more A's and B's, but we're still in that territory," Brolick said.

Like many fast-food chains, Wendy's is taking some of its turnaround plans from McDonald's book. The much-larger burger chain has done well throughout the recession and its aftermath by trying to reinvent itself as a hip, healthy place. New offerings like fancy coffee drinks and smoothies, and remodeled restaurants with wireless access, have brought in customers who previously might have shunned it. At the same time, McDonald's has kept prices at fast-food levels so that its reliable base of cash-strapped customers doesn't flee for cheaper hamburgers at the gas stations.

McDonald's has run into some resistance from franchisees who sometimes have to foot the bill for the changes. Brolick said Wendy's franchisees were "very, very supportive "of the plans. He acknowledged that "we are going to spend a lot of their money," then added later: "The economics have to work. They do work."

Brolick's message to investors, who gathered at the Nasdaq building in New York, came a few hours after the company reported mixed results for the fourth quarter.

Wendy's income from continuing operations fell 30 percent to $4.3 million in the last three months of the year, down from $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. That year-ago number strips out the effect of Arby's, which Wendy's sold this summer to a private-equity firm.

Wendy's marriage with Arby's was short-lived. It began in the depths of the financial crisis in fall 2008, and ended when managers said they wanted to focus on the Wendy's brand alone. Wendy's said Monday it spent nearly $46 million over 2011 to break up with Arby's, including severance costs for some employees and retention bonuses for others.

Revenue rose 5.6 percent to $615 million, narrowly beating the $613 million predicted by analysts. The chain credited more customers visiting and spending more when they did, including on the revamped Dave's Hot 'N Juicy cheeseburger. Higher prices also helped.

Revenue at restaurants open at least a year climbed 4.4 percent in North America, the highest number in nearly 8 years, according to the company. That's a key measure of a company's health because it strips out the effect of newly opened or closed stores.

On a per-share basis, adjusted earnings were 4 cents, in line with the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet. That number excluded one-time charges like the costs for selling Arby's and writing down the value of some of its assets. With those charges, per-share earnings would have been 1 cent per share.

Last week, Barclays Capital analyst Jeffrey Bernstein spoke favorably of the changes at Wendy's, saying the company has greater potential for long-term earnings growth than competitors but is trading at a comparative discount. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore said Monday that though revenue numbers beat her expectations, some of the earnings predictions that the company made for 2012 were below Wall Street's expectations.

Wendy's shares fell 20 cents, or 3.8 percent, to close at $5.01.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-30-Earns-Wendy's/id-3a66321e3f5b4244ba0ab0eeaa4884a6

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St. Louis parade on Iraq War's end draws thousands (AP)

ST. LOUIS ? Looking around at the tens of thousands of people waving American flags and cheering, Army Maj. Rich Radford was moved that so many braved a cold January wind Saturday in St. Louis to honor people like him: Iraq War veterans.

The parade, borne out of a simple conversation between two St. Louis friends a month ago, was the nation's first big welcome-home for veterans of the war since the last troops were withdrawn from Iraq in December.

"It's not necessarily overdue, it's just the right thing," said Radford, a 23-year Army veteran who walked in the parade alongside his 8-year-old daughter, Aimee, and 12-year-old son, Warren.

Radford was among about 600 veterans, many dressed in camouflage, who walked along downtown streets lined with rows of people clapping and holding signs with messages including "Welcome Home" and "Thanks to our Service Men and Women." Some of the war-tested troops wiped away tears as they acknowledged the support from a crowd that organizers estimated reached 100,000 people.

Fire trucks with aerial ladders hoisted huge American flags in three different places along the route, with politicians, marching bands ? even the Budweiser Clydesdales ? joining in. But the large crowd was clearly there to salute men and women in the military, and people cheered wildly as groups of veterans walked by.

That was the hope of organizers Craig Schneider and Tom Appelbaum. Neither man has served in the military but came up with the idea after noticing there had been little fanfare for returning Iraq War veterans aside from gatherings at airports and military bases. No ticker-tape parades or large public celebrations.

Appelbaum, an attorney, and Schneider, a school district technical coordinator, decided something needed to be done. So they sought donations, launched a Facebook page, met with the mayor and mapped a route. The grassroots effort resulted in a huge turnout despite raising only about $35,000 and limited marketing.

That marketing included using a photo of Radford being welcomed home from his second tour in Iraq by his then-6-year-old daughter. The girl had reached up, grabbed his hand and said, "I missed you, daddy." Radford's sister caught the moment with her cellphone camera, and the image graced T-shirts and posters for the parade.

Veterans came from around the country, and more than 100 entries ? including marching bands, motorcycle groups and military units ? signed up ahead of the event, Appelbaum said.

Schneider said he was amazed how everyone, from city officials to military organizations to the media, embraced the parade.

"It was an idea that nobody said no to," he said. "America was ready for this."

All that effort by her hometown was especially touching for Gayla Gibson, a 38-year-old Air Force master sergeant who said she spent four months in Iraq ? seeing "amputations, broken bones, severe burns from IEDs" ? as a medical technician in 2003.

"I think it's great when people come out to support those who gave their lives and put their lives on the line for this country," Gibson said.

With 91,000 troops still fighting in Afghanistan, many Iraq veterans could be redeployed ? suggesting to some that it's premature to celebrate their homecoming. In New York, for example, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently said there would be no city parade for Iraq War veterans in the foreseeable future because of objections voiced by military officials.

But in St. Louis, there was clearly a mood to thank the troops with something big, even among those opposed to the war.

"Most of us were not in favor of the war in Iraq, but the soldiers who fought did the right thing and we support them," said 72-year-old Susan Cunningham, who attended the parade with the Missouri Progressive Action Group. "I'm glad the war is over and I'm glad they're home."

Don Lange, 60, of nearby Sullivan, held his granddaughter along the parade route. His daughter was a military interrogator in Iraq.

"This is something everyplace should do," Lange said as he watched the parade.

Several veterans of the Vietnam War turned out to show support for the younger troops. Among them was Don Jackson, 63, of Edwardsville, Ill., who said he was thrilled to see the parade honoring Iraq War veterans like his son, Kevin, who joined him at the parade. The 33-year-old Air Force staff sergeant said he'd lost track of how many times he had been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a flying mechanic.

"I hope this snowballs," he said of the parade. "I hope it goes all across the country. I only wish my friends who I served with were here to see this."

Looking at all the people around him in camouflage, 29-year-old veteran Matt Wood said he felt honored. He served a year in Iraq with the Illinois National Guard.

"It's extremely humbling, it's amazing, to be part of something like this with all of these people who served their country with such honor," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_war_parade

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Paul says GOP presidential race has `ways to go' (AP)

GORHAM, Maine ? Ron Paul says the Republican presidential race has "a ways to go" and he doesn't intend to get out or get behind another candidate anytime soon.

The Texas congressman was campaigning Saturday in Maine, which holds caucuses beginning Feb. 4. He spoke to an overflow crowd at the University of Southern Maine and held an outdoor rally in Freeport.

Paul says competing in Florida, which holds its primary Tuesday and awards all its delegates to the winner, didn't make sense for his campaign. He's focusing on other caucus states including Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota.

Paul says he hopes his GOP rivals would adopt his noninterventionist foreign policy views.

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

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Etta James remembered as triumphant trailblazer (omg!)

GARDENA, California (AP) ? Rhythm & blues legend Etta James was remembered at a service Saturday attended by hundreds of friends, family and fans as a woman who triumphed against all odds to break down cultural and musical barriers in a style that was unfailingly honest.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, eulogized James in a rousing speech, describing her remarkable rise from poverty and pain to become a woman whose music became an enduring anthem for weddings and commercials.

Perhaps most famously, President Barack Obama and the first lady shared their first inaugural ball dance to a version of the song sung by Beyonce, who portrayed James in the film "Cadillac Records." Sharpton on Saturday opened his remarks by reading a statement from the president.

"Etta will be remembered for her legendary voice and her contributions to our nation's musical heritage," Obama's statement read.

The Grammy-winning singer died Jan. 20 after battling leukemia and other ailments, including dementia. She had retreated from public life in recent years, but on Saturday her legacy was on display as mourners of all ages and races converged on the City of Refuge church in Gardena, south of downtown Los Angeles.

Among the stars performing tributes to James were Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera, who told the gathering that she has included "At Last" in every concert she's performed as a tribute to her musical inspiration.

Wonder performed three songs, including "Shelter In the Rain" and a harmonica solo. James' rose-draped casket was on display, surrounded by wreaths and floral arrangements and pictures of the singer.

Sharpton, who met James when he was an up-and-coming preacher, credited her with helping break down racial barriers through her music.

"She was able to get us on the same rhythms and humming the same ballads and understanding each other's melodies way before we could even use the same hotels," Sharpton said, referring to the era when racial segregation was the law in many U.S. states.

He said James' fame and influence would have been unthinkable to a woman with James' background ? growing up in a broken home during segregation and at times battling her own demons.

"The genius of Etta James is she flipped the script," Sharpton said, alluding to her struggles with addiction, which she eventually overcame.

"She waited until she turned her pain into power," he said, adding that it turned her story away from being a tragic one into one of triumph.

"You beat 'em Etta," Sharpton said in concluding his eulogy. "At last. At last. At last!"

The assembly roared to their feet, and would again stand to applaud performances by Wonder and Aguilera, who filled the sanctuary with their voices.

"Out of all the singers that I've ever heard, she was the one that cut right to my soul and spoke to me," Aguilera said before her performance.

Throughout the service, a portrait of James as a woman who beat the odds in pursuit of her dreams repeatedly emerged.

"Etta is special to me and for me, because she represents the life, the triumphs, the tribulations of a lot of black women all over this world," said U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

"It does not matter who sang 'At Last' before or after Etta. It does not matter when it was sung, or where it was sung. 'At Last' was branded by Etta, the raunchy diva ? that's her signature and we will always remember her."

James won four Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement honor, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In her decades-long career, she became revered for her passionate, soulful singing voice.

She scored her first hit when she was just a teenager with the suggestive "Roll With Me, Henry," which had to be changed to "The Wallflower" in order to get airplay. Her 1967 album, "Tell Mama," became one of the most highly regarded soul albums of all time, a mix of rock and gospel music.

She rebounded from a heroin addiction to see her career surge after performing the national anthem at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She won her first Grammy Award a decade later, and two more in 2003 and 2004.

James is survived by her husband of 42 years, Artis Mills, and two sons, Donto and Sametto James.

"Mom, I love you," Donto James said during brief remarks. "When I get to the gates, can you please be there for me?"

___

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

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_etta_james_remembered_triumphant_trailblazer203252040/44339863/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/etta-james-remembered-triumphant-trailblazer-203252040.html

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The Supreme Court Pulled a Miracle for Your Privacy [Privacy]

The highest court of the land scored a victory for your privacy versus the cops this week, but the worst threats of digital surveillance remain standing. The good news? These justices aren't backing down anytime soon. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DWlfQk47Shk/the-supreme-court-pulled-a-miracle-for-your-privacy

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Lindsay Sloane Welcomes First Daughter (omg!)

Weeds actress Lindsay Sloane is a new mom, People reports.

The 34-year-old actress and her husband, Dar Rollins, welcomed daughter Maxwell Lue on Thursday, Jan. 19. This is the couple's first child.

"We thought we knew what love was until we met her," the couple said.

Actress Lindsay Sloane is pregnant

Sloane, who most recently starred in Season 7 of Weeds, is perhaps best known for her role as "Big Red" in the 2000 film Bring It On.

Sloane and Rollins married in 2004.

?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_lindsay_sloan_welcomes_first_daughter142800843/44326727/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/lindsay-sloan-welcomes-first-daughter-142800843.html

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Hull House closes doors after more than 120 years (AP)

CHICAGO ? Hull House, the Chicago social services organization founded more than 120 years ago by Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, closed Friday after running out of money.

The Jane Addams Hull House Association announced earlier this month plans to close in the spring, but the shutdown came unexpectedly. More than 300 people are losing their jobs. Many spent Friday packing belongings and saying goodbye.

Founded in 1889, Hull House was the best known of the 400 settlement houses in the United States in the early 1900s. The settlements were designed to provide services to immigrants and the poor while uplifting them through culture, education and recreation. At its peak, Hull House served more than 9,000 people a week, offering medical help, an art gallery, citizenship classes, a gardening club and a gym with sports programs.

In recent years, it has provided child care, domestic violence counseling, job training, housing assistance and other services for 60,000 people a year at nearly four dozen sites in the Chicago area.

The agency said the poor economy increased demand for services but made it difficult to raise enough money to cover the cost of providing them. Other service agencies are expected to step in to help provide services to Hull House clients.

Lizzie Harrington, 32, a project director for a Hull House program that helps low-income people find jobs said employees are emotional and angry about the closing. Harrington has a long history with the agency. She received help from Hull House when she was a teenager in foster care and wanted to live independently.

"It's unfortunate, and it's been emotional," Harrington said. "I have a special connection to this place. This was part of my childhood."

Agency officials have said the organization will file for bankruptcy protection in the first quarter of this year. The decision to close came after the agency's management and board of trustees worked for two years to reduce operating costs and improve services, officials said.

The Hull House agency isn't affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago's Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, which will remain open. The Hull House site on Chicago's West Side is a National Historic Landmark.

___

Online:

Jane Addams Hull House Association: http://www.hullhouse.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_hull_house_closes

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Officials call off search for missing SC toddler (AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? The mother of a South Carolina toddler missing since Thanksgiving is pregnant and mentally ill and should be released from jail because she needs medical care, the woman's attorney argued in court papers filed this week.

Hemphill Pride II says Zinah Jennings has been ordered to have treatment for her mental illness for a year and has been told to take Risperdal, which is used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. He also said she needs prenatal care.

On Thursday afternoon, dozens of federal, state and local police agents and cadaver dog teams for more than four hours searched a county in the central part of the state for the boy who was 18 months old when he disappeared. Columbia police spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said officers scoured an 8-mile radius near a small rural church in Richland County but found no evidence of the boy.

Jennings, 22, has been in jail since late December, when Columbia police say they arrested her for lying about the whereabouts of her son, Amir.

Her mother had reported Jennings missing several weeks earlier, telling police she thought her daughter and grandson were in Atlanta but that she was receiving evasive answers when she asked about Amir.

Speaking to police after a Christmas Eve car wreck, Jennings first said she didn't have children and then said her son was with relatives and friends in cities from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C.

Investigators say they chased down Jennings' stories but met with several dead ends before arresting her. Authorities said they hope a tip line and $10,000 reward will yield information, and state police are analyzing stains on blankets and clothes removed from Jennings' car to see if they are blood.

Her half-sister who reported her missing told police that she had left her home and suffered from "schizophrenic tendencies" that had not been diagnosed.

Jocelyn Jennings Nelson, who has said her headstrong daughter frequently traveled to visit relatives and friends in the Carolinas and Georgia, said she reported Jennings and the boy missing last month after becoming concerned during their visit to Atlanta.

Jennings was arrested on prostitution and drug charges in Georgia shortly before her son disappeared, accused of offering sex to an undercover officer. Jennings had been staying with a half-sister in the Atlanta area for three weeks before her Nov. 9 arrest.

On the day Zinah Jennings was arrested, her half-sister reported her missing, telling police that she had left her home and suffered from "schizophrenic tendencies" that had not been diagnosed. Nelson has said her headstrong daughter had been depressed since the birth of her son, struggling both in classes at a community college and in her search for a job that allowed the flexibility needed to go to school and care for her son.

In his motion filed Tuesday, Pride cites a doctor who has examined Jennings and says she "lacks sufficient insight or capacity to make responsible decisions" about her treatment and needed to be committed to the hospital.

Police would not say what information led to their search Thursday. Jennings' attorney said his client was no longer speaking to police.

"She's incapacitated at this time, so she's not in a position to cooperate," Pride said. "The medicine that she's on right now, she's quite frankly, zonked."

Nelson told The Associated Press she didn't know about the search until a conversation with a reporter.

"I'm not surprised that they didn't find anything," Nelson told AP. "I had no idea."

Nelson said she knew about her daughter's pregnancy and was not surprised that she had been prescribed psychiatric medication.

"She's very quiet, solemn, and basically that's it," Nelson said, of a recent visit to her daughter. "It's very hard to describe."

In a separate motion, Pride asks a judge to allow his client to wear street clothes during hearings because of intense media attention on her case. In a previous appearance, Jennings wore an orange jail jumpsuit and handcuffs.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday.

___

Online:

SC Crimestoppers: http://www.sccrimestoppers.com

___

Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_missing_boy

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New U.N. showdown with Russia over Syria looms (Reuters)

DAMASCUS (Reuters) ? Britain and France joined forces with Arab allies on Wednesday to push the U.N. Security Council to back an Arab League call for Syrian President , Bashar al-Assad to step aside, setting the stage for a showdown with Syria's ally Russia.

"The U.N. Security Council must support the Arab League's courageous decisions which are trying to end the repression and violence in Syria and find a solution to the political crisis," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

The Security Council could vote as early as next week on a new draft resolution, which delegates from Britain and France are crafting in consultation with Qatar, Morocco, the United States, Germany and Portugalenvoys said. The new resolution replaces a Russian draft Western diplomats said was too weak.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that Assad would "soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed."

It remains unclear whether Russia - which together with China vetoed a European-drafted resolution in October that condemned Syria and threatened it with sanctions over its 10-month crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators - is prepared to once again to block council action on Syria.

"We hope Russia won't use its veto against the Arab League, which is what it would be this time," a U.N. envoy said. "They'll put up a fight. There will be negotiations. We'll see."

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country remained opposed to sanctions on Syria and reiterated its opposition to military intervention. But the Western-Arab draft, obtained by Reuters, calls for neither military action nor sanctions, but for the council to support the Arab League.

'TERRORISTS'

The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the northern town of Idlib was shot and killed on Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, in an attack which Damascus blamed on "terrorists."

State news agency SANA also said a priest was killed by "terrorists" while helping a wounded person in the city of Hama.

The government says it is fighting foreign-backed Islamist "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police. SANA said 30 more were buried in the last two days.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven other people were killed on Wednesday. One was killed by soldiers surrounding the Bab Qabli district of Hama and a woman died after a shell landed on her house near the town of Qusair, 10 km (6 miles) from the Lebanese border, it said.

It also reported clashes between army deserters and state soldiers in the rebellious province of Idlib that disabled three armored vehicles and killed or wounded six soldiers.

The revolt in Syria was inspired by other uprisings that have toppled three autocratic Arab leaders over the past year and the bloodletting has battered Assad's standing in the world.

The Arab League has suspended Syria's membership.

Russia, one of Syria's few allies, continues to sell weapons to Damascus, which European and U.S. officials have criticized. Iran, at loggerheads with Western powers over its disputed nuclear ambitions, is also a strong ally of Assad.

GULF ARAB MONITORS LEAVE SYRIA

More than 50 Arab League observers from Gulf Arab states left Syria on Wednesday after their governments said they were certain "the bloodshed and killing of innocents would continue."

Their colleagues in Damascus, about 120 strong, pledged to continue the monitoring mission, now extended until February 23, to verify Syria's compliance with an earlier Arab peace plan.

"The departure of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries will not have an impact on the mission's work. We are all professionals here and we can do the job," said a senior Arab monitor, who asked not to be named.

"We need more monitors of course and more will come soon to replace those who left," the monitor said.

Syrian opposition groups have accused the observer mission, which began on December 26, of giving Assad diplomatic cover to pursue a crackdown on protesters and rebels in which more than 5,000 people have been killed since March, by a U.N. tally.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who heads the League's committee on Syria, wrote jointly to U.N. chief Ban, setting out their plan for a political solution in Syria and requesting a chance to brief the Security Council soon.

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters in New York that the Arab League briefing could take place as early as Monday. Council diplomats said a vote on the new draft resolution could follow shortly thereafter.

The new draft resolution says the Security Council "supports ... the League of Arab States' initiative ... to facilitate a political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system ... including through the transfer of power from the President and transparent and free elections."

It falls short of making compliance with the Arab plan legally binding. But it does ask U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the council every 15 days on Syria's compliance with the resolution, which would formally put it on the Security Council's agenda.

Russia has repeatedly said it does not want Syria to become another Libya, where Moscow contends that NATO misused a Security Council mandate to protect civilians as a vehicle for "regime change."

But Western diplomats said that Russia might find it difficult to use its veto against a resolution that is simply intended to provide support for the Arab League initiative.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair and Ayman Samir in Cairo, John Irish in Paris, Dominic Evans in Beirut and Louis Charbonneau in New York; Writing by Alistair Lyon and Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Robert Woodward and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_syria

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In GOP response, Daniels blames Obama for economy (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama has resorted to "extremism" with stifling, anti-growth policies and sought to divide Americans, not unite them, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday in the formal Republican response to the president's State of the Union address.

Eight months after deciding against a bid for his party's presidential nomination, Daniels used his nationally televised speech to lash out at Obama and cast the GOP as compassionate and eager to unchain the country's economic potential.

He took particular aim at Obama's efforts to raise taxes on the rich and castigate them for not contributing their fair share to the nation's burdens. Joined by Republicans on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trails, the GOP goal was to both blunt and shift the focus away from Obama's theme on Tuesday of fairness, which included protecting the middle class and making sure the rich pay an equitable share of taxes.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Daniels said, speaking from Indianapolis. "As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat."

"This election is going to be a referendum on the president's economic policies," which have worsened the economy, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The politics of envy, the politics of dividing our country is not what America is all about."

Also drawing frequent GOP attacks were Obama's proposed tax increases, which included making sure millionaire earners pay at least a 30 percent tax rate.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said Obama's proposals to boost taxes on the wealthy and give tax breaks for domestic U.S. manufacturers and others were "nothing more than the usual Washington game that has led to a tax code already littered with lobbyist loopholes."

Daniels is a rarity in the GOP these days ? a uniting and widely respected figure, contrasting with the divisiveness emanating from the contest for the presidential nomination being waged among former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others.

President George W. Bush's first budget chief and a two-term Indiana governor, Daniels often rails against wasteful spending big budget deficits, though critics note he served during the abrupt shift from fleeting federal surpluses to massive deficits early in Bush's term.

"When President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true," Daniels said. He added that while Obama did not cause the country's economic and budget problems, "He was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse."

The night's rhetoric come at the dawn of a presidential and congressional election year in which the defining issues are the faltering economy and weak job market and the parties' clashing prescriptions for restoring both. Obama and congressional Democrats have focused on the more populist pathway of financing federal initiatives by taxing millionaires, while Republicans preach the virtues of less regulation and smaller government.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Obama's address "a campaign speech designed to please his liberal base," and warned that he should keep legislation advancing his priorities "free from poison pills like tax hikes on job creators."

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who heads large group of House conservatives, said Obama's speech was riddled with "the ridiculous idea that America isn't fair because successful people get to keep too much of the money they earn."

Republicans fired back at Obama's vision of "an economy built to last," saying it was their party that understood the best way to trigger economic growth was to get the government out of the way.

"The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly sane pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy," Daniels said.

Obama has halted, for now, work on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast. Republicans say the project would create thousands of jobs, a claim opponents say is overstated. The administration has also pursued policies aimed at reducing pollution and global warming.

To underscore Obama's decision on Keystone, Boehner invited three officials from companies he said would be hurt by the pipeline's rejection to watch the speech in the House chamber, along with a pro-pipeline legislator from Nebraska, through which the project would pass.

Obama was delivering his address during a rowdy battle for the GOP presidential nomination that has ended up providing ammunition for Obama's theme of fairness.

That fight has called attention to the wealth of one of the top contenders, Romney, and the low ? but legal ? effective federal income tax rate of around 15 percent that the multimillionaire has paid in the past two years. Romney, in Florida campaigning for that state's Jan. 31 primary, released his tax documents for the two-year period on Tuesday.

"The president's agenda sounds less like `built to last' and more like doomed to fail," Romney said in Tampa, Fla. "What he's proposing is more of the same: more taxes, more spending, and more regulation."

Romney's chief rival at this point, Gingrich, said in a written statement that the top question about Obama's speech was whether he "will show a willingness to put aside the extremist ideology of the far left and call for a new set of policies that could lead to dramatic private sector job creation and economic growth."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_union_gop_reaction

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Canaletto, Memling expected to lead Old Masters sales (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? An early 14th century panel of the Virgin Mary, a view of Venice by Canaletto and a very rare oil on copper still life will be among the highlights of Sotheby's sale of Old Master Paintings this week.

Works by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck and Francesco Guardi will also be included in the New York auction on January 26, which is expected to exceed $60 million.

"It is a very full, rounded sale," said Christopher Apostle, the head of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby's New York, referring to works ranging from early Italian to French Rococo and 17th century Dutch masterpieces.

Among the top lots and the oldest to go under the hammer in the sale is the very rare work, "The Virgin Annunciate," a panel by the artist Simone Martini done around the early 1300s that was part of a diptych representing the Annunciation.

Apostle described the work which has a pre-sale estimate of up to $4 million as "the most elegant picture in the sale."

Canaletto's "Venice, a View of the Churches of the Redentore and San Giacomo, with a Moored Man-of-War, Gondolas and Barges," is expected to be another top attraction and has not been seen on the market since 1986.

It is one of three works in the auction from the collection of Britain's Lady Forte, whose husband founded the hotel and restaurant chain Trusthouse Forte. Expected to fetch $5 million to $7 million, the work was painted in the mid-1700s and is characteristic of Canaletto's attention to detail.

Another painting from the Forte estate, which was done in the 18th century by Jan van Huysum called "Still Life of Roses, Tulips, Peonies in a Sculpted Stone Vase," has a pre-sale estimate of up to $6 million.

Despite the sluggish global economy the art market has rebounded recently and Apostle expects the New York sale to generate interest from around the globe.

"There are people who are absolutely passionate about paintings," he explained. "If you buy good Old Masters there will always be a desire for them."

The sale will also include an early still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, "A Still Life of Flowers in a Glass Beaker Set in a Marble Niche," which was probably painted in 1618 and was rediscovered after being lost for nearly 80 years.

Once part of the Russian Imperial Collections housed in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Apostle described it as "spectacular" and a work that could easily exceed its $1.5 million pre-sale estimate.

Works by Rubens, Frans Hals, Thomas de Keyser and Gerrit Dou will be also featured in Christie's Old Masters sales on January 25-26 but the top lot is expected to be Hans Memling's "The Virgin Nursing the Christ Child," which could sell for as much as $8 million.

"Demand for top-quality Old Master works continues to rise among both new and experienced collectors and art dealers," said Nicholas Hall, the joint international head of Old Master and Early British Paintings.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/arts/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/stage_nm/us_art_auction_oldmasters

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LA mayor signs law requiring condoms in porn films (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Actors in adult movies filmed in Los Angeles will be required to use condoms under an ordinance signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and porn industry leaders say the regulation could lead them to abandon the nation's porn capital.

The law, signed Monday, will take effect 41 days after it is posted by the city clerk, something that could happen as early as this week.

Officials with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which lobbied for years for such a law, expressed jubilation Tuesday and said they would now turn their attention to getting a similar condom requirement adopted elsewhere.

"The city of Los Angeles has done the right thing. They've done the right thing for the performers," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had pushed the measure for six years.

He said its adoption is crucial in protecting adult film actors from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Weinstein said his group's next move will be to get Los Angeles County to adopt a similar measure for its unincorporated areas.

The group is in the midst of a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot, but Weinstein said he hopes the county's Board of Supervisors will react as the Los Angeles City Council did and pass such an ordinance itself. The council gave its final approval last week.

Industry officials estimate as many as 90 percent of the porn films produced in the United States are made in Los Angeles. Most are filmed quietly in the city's suburban San Fernando Valley.

After the council's action, several of the industry's biggest filmmakers said they might consider moving just outside the county. That prompted Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber to announce last week that he would ask the city attorney for his community, located just across the county line from the San Fernando Valley, to write a similar ordinance.

Weinstein said Tuesday his group would also be vigilant in keeping track of where porn producers might go.

Exactly how the law will be enforced is still to be determined.

It calls for makers of porn films to pay a fee, the amount still to be determined, that would be used to pay for spot checks at filming locations.

The City Council is creating a committee to determine the amount of the fee and who would make the spot checks.

Weinstein said he envisions enforcement would fall on nurses or other public health providers.

"It is not anticipated, based on what we desire or what has been discussed, that it would be uniformed police officers," he said.

Weinstein said he would be open to working with industry leaders to enforce the law.

He noted the ordinance does not require condoms when oral sex is involved because his group, which originally crafted it, agreed with the filmmakers that infection through oral sex was not as great as through other sex acts.

The industry already requires that actors be tested for HIV every 30 days, and filmmakers say they believe that is sufficient.

"It's not that I don't doubt the sincerity of their desire to protect the talent. And believe it or not, we have the same ambition," Christian Mann, general manager of Evil Angel Productions, said last week after the council's vote.

"We just don't believe their way is the best way," added Mann, who is also on the board of directors of the industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition.

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

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Romney to release taxes, Gingrich ready for Obama (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Stung by a South Carolina setback that capped a bad week, Mitt Romney said he would release his tax returns Tuesday in hopes of ending a campaign distraction while revived rival Newt Gingrich said he was the strongest Republican to go "toe to toe" with President Barack Obama.

Rick Santorum, third in the South Carolina vote, maintained he was the lone "consistent conservative" left in the race and pledged to keep campaigning in Florida, next on the calendar with its Jan. 31 primary, and beyond.

The newly scrambled presidential contest shifted to Florida after Gingrich stopped Romney's sprint to the nomination with a convincing victory in the first-in-the South primary. For now, that removed the air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy. But Florida is larger, more diverse and more expensive, and brings new challenges for Gingrich. Once again, he must show he can overcome financial and organizational disadvantages, as he did in South Carolina.

"One of the reasons I think people in South Carolina voted for me was a belief that I could debate Obama head to head, that I could convey conservative values," said Gingrich as the candidates made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.

"I think we had better be prepared for a tough campaign, whoever we nominate," the former House speaker said. He added, "I can go toe to toe with President Obama on big things. ... I think you can draw a very strong case that in the end the dynamics of a Gingrich/Obama fight are much better for Republicans than the dynamics of a Romney/Obama fight."

Romney said it was "not a good week for me" and cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public before his promised date in April.

After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.

"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist.

Romney disclosed last week that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."

"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said Sunday he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."

"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.

During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.

In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.

"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."

Santorum, who beat Romney and Gingrich in leadoff Iowa, scoffed at the suggestion he might leave the race so conservatives could rally behind Gingrich against Romney.

"The idea that conservatives have to coalesce in order to beat Mitt Romney, well, that's just not true anymore. Conservatives actually can have a choice. We don't have to rush to judgment,' he said.

"The longer this campaign goes on," Santorum said, "the better it is for conservatives, the better it is for our party."

Santorum's continued presence ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could help Romney help erase questions about his candidacy.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida. He already had said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.

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

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

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

Gingrich appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS' "Face the Nation" and CNN's "State of the Union." Romney was on "Fox News Sunday," while Santorum was on ABC's "This Week" and CNN.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Experimental Magnetic Soap Might Clean Up Massive Oil Spills [Genius]

If you spill millions of gallons of oil all over, say, the Gulf of Mexico, no amount of OxiClean is going to help. You need something industrial strength, and researchers are looking at magnetic soap as a potential solution. More »

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After NW storm, outages and flood concerns abound (AP)

SEATTLE ? A Pacific Northwest storm that brought snow, ice and powerful winds left a mess of fallen trees and power lines Friday as tens of thousands of residents without power faced the prospect of a cold, dark weekend and flooding became a top region-wide concern.

While temperatures warmed and the icy, snowy conditions abated in western Washington and Oregon, slick roads and fast-melting snow brought challenges for road workers, city officials and rescue crews. The region also faces more rain as swelling rivers led to the worst flooding some Oregon counties have seen in more than a decade.

"It's definitely a trial we get to endure," said Jeanette Donigan, who left with her family after their home in Turner, Ore., was surrounded by floodwater. "But earthly possessions can be replaced, as long as we got our children to higher ground."

The storm was blamed for three deaths. A mother and her 1-year-old son died after torrential rain on Wednesday swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot. An elderly man was fatally injured Thursday by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a backyard shed near Seattle.

On Washington's Mount Rainier, a blizzard kept rescuers from searching Friday for two campers and two climbers missing since early this week. Just east of that region, about 200 skiers and workers were able to leave the Crystal Mountain ski resort after transportation officials closed the area's main highway two days ago.

Near Tacoma, three people escaped unharmed Friday when a heavy snow and ice load on the roof of an Allied Ice plant caused the building to collapse. West Pierce Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Hallie McCurdy said they heard loud noises and got out just in time.

Meanwhile, the storm plodded east, bringing the first major snowstorm for the season to parts of the Midwest. More than 700 flights were cancelled in Chicago, the bulk of them at O'Hare International Airport.

Forecasters said the Northwest can expect more rain, mountain snow and winds for a week.

A 35-year-old woman who drove a Ford Mustang into 4 feet of floodwaters in Oregon's Willamette Valley was plucked from the roof Friday by deputies who arrived by boat to save her. It was one of a number of dramatic rescues in western Oregon, left sodden by as much as 10 inches of rain in a day and a half that has brought region's worst flooding in 15 years.

Interstate 5, the main road connecting Seattle and Portland, was briefly closed near Centralia so crews could remove fallen power lines. Amtrak trains weren't running Friday between Seattle and Portland, because of trees and other debris that fell on the tracks.

Northbound lanes of the interstate in Everett, north of Seattle, were closed much of the morning following a tractor-trailer accident. For several hours, the Washington State Patrol closed both Tacoma Narrows bridges, which connect Tacoma with communities to the west, because of large ice chunks falling onto the bridge deck.

In Seattle, residents were asked for help clearing the city's 80,000 storm drains.

Puget Sound Energy used helicopters to check transmission lines as crews repaired damage from Thursday's ice storm. Nearly 250,000 remained without power Friday night, including 239,000 PSE customers, mostly around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia.

Much of Washington's capital, Olympia, was without power.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's office, legislative buildings and other state agencies in Olympia lost electricity for several hours before power was restored. The governor thanked repair crews late Friday by hand-delivering peanut butter cookies.

The storm was "a constant reminder of who's in charge. Mother Nature is in charge, she gives us a wake-up call every once in a while, this is one of those," Gregoire said.

Cathie Butler, a spokeswoman for the city of Olympia, said they were dealing with "the fallout from all of the heavy ice and snow on the trees."

Butler said that in addition to dealing with downed trees, limbs and power lines, the city wants to get snowplows out to clear primary roads and snow that is piled up on drains "so as it starts to rain this weekend the snow and ice have somewhere to go."

Nancy Kolnen of Issaquah was without power, and had to throw out food in the fridge and layer up to keep warm at night. By Friday, power hadn't returned.

"Well, going into the weekend, I'm kind of looking forward to (the snow) because it's nice if you don't have to drive in it, but if I get home and don't have power all weekend, I won't enjoy that," Kolnen said.

It was still snowing in the Cascades, with up to 2 feet possible in the mountains over the weekend.

At Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, airlines were trying to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled Thursday. The airport's largest carrier, Alaska Airlines, canceled 50 of its 120 daily departures Friday. On Thursday, Alaska and sister airline Horizon canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle, affecting 29,000 passengers.

In Seattle, Carly Nelson was negotiating an icy sidewalk on her way to Starbucks. Nelson has been frequenting her neighborhood coffee shop to avoid cabin fever.

"I'm pretty tired of it. It gets old pretty fast. All my friends are stranded in little pockets and you can't get together to go to yoga," she said. "I'm just looking forward to being able to go wherever I want to go."

___

Cooper reported from Oregon. Associated Press writers Doug Esser, Ted Warren, Rachel La Corte, Nigel Duara and Nicholas K. Geranios contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_northwest_storm

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Mike Easton edges Jared Papazian in rock?em, sock?em battle at UFC on FX 1

It may not be widely recognized as the deepest division in the world, but the bantamweights are starting to carve out quite a reputation in the UFC.

Mike Easton and Jared Papazian added to the cause by putting in some awesome work tonight on the UFC on FX 1 card in Nashville.

At the end of the fight, both fighters were still standing after throwing over 400 strikes at each other. Easton got the nod via majority decision, 30-27, 29-29 and 29-28, in a crowd-pleasing brawl that got better as the fight went along.

"He's a tough dude. He was the champ back in the division where he was at," Easton told UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik. "All we wanted to do was please the fans and we rapped. We the 35ers baby! Nothing but non-stop action. We love to fight."

Papazian (14-7, 0-1 UFC) making his UFC debut, was a huge underdog at plus-275, but he didn't look intimidated whatsoever. Easton (12-1) is now 2-0 with the UFC.

Easton generally takes a while to get going, but when he did tonight it made for an awesome final round. With the fight on the line, Easton fired up the pace and Papazian, 23, stood in front him willing to bang. The fighters combined to wing 213 shots at each other over the final five minutes.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mike-easton-edges-jared-papazian-rock-em-sock-030112645.html

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