Syria says 'terrorists' blow up gas pipeline (AP)

BEIRUT ? An "armed terrorist group" in Syria blew up a gas pipeline at dawn Monday, the state-run media said, as activists reported gunfire and explosions in the suburbs of Damascus as the country's conflict moves ever closer to the capital.

The pipleline carries gas from the central province of Homs to an area near the border with Lebanon. SANA news agency reported that the blast happened in Tal Hosh, which is about five miles (eight kilometers) from Talkalakh, along the border with Lebanon.

Further details were not immediately released.

There have been several pipeline attacks since the Syrian uprising began in mid-March, but it is not clear who is behind them.

President Bashar Assad's regime has blamed "terrorists" for driving the country's 10-month-old uprising, not protesters seeking democratic change.

On Sunday, Syrian troops in dozens of tanks and armored vehicles stormed rebellious areas near the capital, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters.

Activists and residents said at least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide.

The large-scale Sunday offensive suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, the seat of Assad's power. Early Monday, activists reported hearing gunfire and blasts in the Damascus suburbs, but there were no details.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible near the capital, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of the Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Open Thread: Sunday Garden Chat (Balloon Juice)

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Cruise ship fuel removal stalled due to rough seas (AP)

GIGLIO, Italy ? Rough seas off Italy's Tuscan coast forced a delay in the planned Saturday start of the operation to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia, and officials said pumping may now not begin until midweek.

Recovery operations continued, however, and on Saturday yielded a 17th body: The woman who wasn't wearing a life jacket was found by divers on the submerged sixth floor deck, civil protection officials said.

The Concordia ran aground on Jan. 13 off the port of the island of Giglio port after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef. Some 4,200 passengers and crew endured a panicked evacuation after the abandon ship alarm didn't sound until the ship had capsized so much that some life boats couldn't be lowered.

Some 16 people remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead.

On Saturday, the body found on the ship's deck on Jan. 28 was identified as Erika Soria Molina, 25, of Peru by Doris Sotomayor, Peru's consul general in Florence.

Sotomayor told The Associated Press that the body was found in a submerged part of the deck. Soria, who was wearing a service uniform, studied tourism in Peru and was born in the Andean city of Cuzco, southeast of Lima.

The removal of the fuel aboard the Concordia is a key concern since the seas around Giglio form part of a protected marine sanctuary and are a favorite destination for scuba divers. So far, no leakage has been detected.

Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit has been contracted by the Concordia's owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., to remove the fuel. Smit's divers have made the necessary preparations to begin pumping out fuel from six outer tanks that hold more than half of the 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of heavy fuel oil that are aboard the ship.

The rest of the fuel is contained in inner tanks that are harder to access.

So far, divers have drilled into four of the six outer tanks and fixed valves on them: one on top, one on bottom. Hoses will then be attached to the valves and as the oil ? which must be warmed to make it less gooey ? is sucked out of the upper hose, sea water is pumped in to fill the vacuum via the lower hose.

Smit spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told reporters Saturday that the pumping operation may not begin now until midweek since the poor weather is forecast at least through Tuesday. Officials don't want to risk the possibility that a battering of the hoses caused by rough seas might lead to leakage.

On Saturday, the choppy waters partially dislodged Smit's barge that was hitched to the Concordia's hull and had served as a staging platform for the fuel removal operation. Smit brought it back into port, where it will stay until the weather improves, Schuttevaer said.

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, remains under house arrest, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before its passengers had evacuated. He has admitted he took the ship on "tourist navigation" to bring it close to Giglio but said the reef he hit wasn't marked on his nautical charts.

___

Winfield reported from Rome. Franklin Briceno contributed in Lima, Peru.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_ship_aground

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St. Louis hosting 1st big parade on Iraq War's end

Stephanie King holds a picture of her uncle, Col. Stephen Scott who was killed in Iraq in 2008, as she prepares to participate in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Stephanie King holds a picture of her uncle, Col. Stephen Scott who was killed in Iraq in 2008, as she prepares to participate in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Participants in a parade to honor Iraq War veterans make their way along a downtown street Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Spectators cheer and wave as they watch a parade to honor Iraq War veterans pass Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Maj. Rich Radford, who became a symbol of the parade to honor Iraq War veterans thanks to a photo of his young daughter taking his hand while welcoming him home from his second tour in Iraq in 2010, smiles before the start of the parade Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Army Sgt. 1st Class Randy Jemerson, a veteran of two tours in Iraq, takes a picture of a staging at the start of a parade to honor Iraq War veterans Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in St. Louis. Thousands turned out to watch the first big welcome home parade in the U.S. since the last troops left Iraq in December. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? 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 hundred 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.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-Iraq%20War-Parade/id-2423f57659b34184a4f60f2722cc7d8f

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Southwest employee killed in airport accident

By msnbc.com news services

A Southwest Airlines employee at Washington Dulles International Airport died on Friday after being injured in a collision with a luggage cart and a vehicle used to transport passengers.

The incident, according to airline spokesperson Brandy King, occurred on Thursday at approximately 7 a.m. ET.

The employee, who has not been named, was rushed to an area hospital and received medical attention. The airline learned early Friday that the employee died.

"We continue to work with the local authorities and the airport to investigate the accident," King said in a statement to msnbc.com. "The Southwest Airlines Family is greatly saddened by the passing of our Southwest Family Member, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies and support to his entire family at this time."

The airline said it is not planning on releasing additional information at this time.

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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10251902-southwest-airlines-employee-killed-in-accident-at-dulles-airport

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Pentagon cuts reshape military while trimming costs (reuters)

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4 things to investigate before buying a small car

Small cars aren?t econoboxes any more. Some have premium prestige, and prices. But there are a few things to keep in mind before you let Jennifer Lopez sway you into buying a Fiat 500.

I speak from experience. In 2008, I traded my Lexus RX for a Toyota Prius. I wrote about my shift in The Prius Diary for The New York Times. In the years since, I?ve been happy ? most of the time.

Owning a small car was especially ideal this past year when I lived in Chicago, where Priuses, Minis and other smaller vehicles seem to own the city?s streets. Now that I?m back in Michigan, it?s still a pleasure to spend just $20 every few weeks on a tank of gas.

Forbes.com: Safest small cars for under $20,000

However, I occasionally miss my Lexus, especially last month, when I moved and could have used the hauling space.

Here are four things for fellow prospective small car buyers to consider.

Will smaller fit the way you live? There are lots of reasons why people buy big vehicles, one being that they have lots to fit into them ? kids, dogs, sporting equipment, business supplies. Are you still shuttling students around, or have they gone off to school? Have you given up skiing for yoga or Pilates? If your lifestyle can handle a smaller vehicle, that?s a first step.

Forbes.com: New-car clunkers to avoid

Likewise, if you?re considering a plug-in, a conventional hybrid or an electric car, they have different characteristics than a traditional car. For one thing, you don?t floor the pedal and get a gas-engine response. For another, mechanics don?t know them as well as they do vehicles with internal combustion engines. Will you take the time to read up on maintenance? Are you willing to adjust the way you drive?

Where will you drive it? How much highway driving are you doing, versus runs around town? Hybrids, especially, get better mileage on city streets.

Do you have a long commute? No matter the gas savings, small can seem confining if you?re constantly on the road. On the other hand, if you are just making short trips, you may find it a relief to dart around in something nimble.

Forbes.com: Cars that can run for over 200,000 miles

What?s the parking situation where you live and work? One of the most common reasons people downsize is that they?re shrinking their family fleets.

Some are moving from suburb to city, where they will be parking on the street, or may have a single garage space. You?ll be pleasantly surprised how much easier it is to park a smaller vehicle than a full-sized SUV. (Especially if you have a backup camera, like the one on my Prius.)

But here?s something else. If you are only going to own one vehicle, do you want it to be small? Would you be better off with something bigger if you are going to be running to farmer?s markets, antique stores and tailgating?

Forbes.com: The best cars for the buck

Are you budget minded ? or comfort minded? Sure, the square subcompacts of the 1980s were short on luxury. But smaller vehicles now are available with many of the same features as bigger ones, like navigation systems, heated seats and top-notch sound systems. Cars like the BMW 1-series and the perennially popular Mini lineup can stand up well against their bigger siblings.

But unless you buy entry level models, small cars are not turning out to be bargains. ?They downsize, but they buy the loaded up versions,? Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for TrueCar.com, says of small car buyers. He notes the average Chevrolet Cruze is selling for $3,000 more than its predecessor, the Chevrolet Cobalt. The Cruze is even topping the price of the Honda Civic, which was long considered one of the pricier compacts.

So, keep all this in mind as you have that ?should I go smaller?? conversation this winter.

Forbes.com: Worst car flops of 2011

? 2012 Forbes.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45987987/ns/business-forbes_com/

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BP must cover some Transocean oil spill damages (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A federal judge on Thursday said BP Plc must indemnify Transocean Ltd for some compensatory damage claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who oversees multistate litigation over the spill, agreed with Transocean that the Swiss driller was not responsible for compensatory damage claims raised by third parties for oil spilled below the ocean surface.

He also ruled, however, that London-based BP need not indemnify Transocean for punitive damages, or civil penalties imposed by the U.S. government under the federal Clean Water Act.

Thursday's decision reduces the potential liability Transocean faces over the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion that caused 11 deaths and the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Transocean owned the rig, while BP owned a majority of the Macondo well whose blowout led to the spill.

Shares of Transocean rose 8.9 percent in after-hours trading, and BP shares fell 0.6 percent.

"Indemnification from compensatory damages is key for Transocean," whose litigation exposure is now "materially diminished," UBS Securities LLC analyst Angie Sedita wrote in a research note. She has a "buy" rating on Transocean.

Sedita said BP has estimated its Clean Water Act liability at $3.5 billion, but that other estimates are as high as $6 billion. She also said Transocean has $950 million of insurance coverage for personal injury and third-party claims.

Barbier oversees several hundred cases related to the spill, including a $40 billion lawsuit that BP filed against Transocean last April.

Both companies welcomed parts of the judge's decision.

"This confirms that BP is responsible for all economic damages caused by the oil that leaked from its Macondo well, and discredits BP's ongoing attempts to evade both its contractual and financial obligations," Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said in an email.

BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an emailed statement that the decision "holds Transocean financially responsible for any punitive damages, fines and penalties flowing from its own conduct. As we have said from the beginning, Transocean cannot avoid its responsibility for this accident."

Transocean had argued that its drilling contract obligated BP to defend it from claims over subsurface pollution, even if Transocean was found grossly negligent or "strictly liable."

BP countered that its responsibility to indemnify Transocean did not extend that far.

Barbier did not decide whether Transocean will be liable for punitive damages or the civil penalties, or rule on BP's claim that Transocean breached its drilling contract.

The New Orleans-based judge has set a February 27 start date for a trial to apportion blame.

Transocean shares rose $4.19 to $51.45 in after-hours trading in New York, after closing regular trading down 10 cents at $47.26.

BP's American depositary receipts fell 27 cents to $44.50 after hours, after dropping 13 cents to $44.77 during the day.

The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.

(Reporting By Jonathan Stempel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_bp_transocean

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Gingrich calls for moon base, space contests (Reuters)

COCOA, Florida (Reuters) ? Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich called on Wednesday for a base on the moon and an expanded federal purse for prize money to stimulate private-sector space projects.

"We want Americans to think boldly about the future," Gingrich said during a campaign rally in Florida, where he outlined a space policy initiative that would cut NASA's bureaucracy and expand on private-sector space programs championed by President Barack Obama.

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American," Gingrich said.

"We will have commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism and manufacturing, because it is in our interest to acquire so much experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to matching," he said.

Gingrich is locked in a close battle with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as Florida prepares to vote on Tuesday in the Republican presidential primary. Republicans are seeking a nominee to challenge Democrat Obama in the November election. The rally in Cocoa was just down the road from the Kennedy Space Center.

With the retirement of the space shuttles last year, the United States is dependent on Russia to fly its astronauts to the International Space Station, a service that costs NASA about $60 million per person. China, the only other country that has flown people in space, is not a member of the station partnership.

In addition to supporting the station, a $100 billion laboratory owned by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, NASA is working on a spaceship and heavy-lift rocket that could carry astronauts to asteroids and other destinations beyond the station's 240-mile-high (385-km) orbit.

The Obama administration also backs the development of privately owned space taxis to break Russia's monopoly on transportation to the station.

Congress allotted $406 million for the program for the year that began on October 1.

Gingrich said he wanted to spend 10 percent of NASA's $18 billion budget on prize money for competitions that spur innovation and technological breakthroughs in space.

"I'm prepared to invest the prestige of the presidency in communicating and building a nationwide movement in favor of space," Gingrich said at a meeting of aerospace executives and community leaders after the rally.

"If we do it right, it'll be wild and it will be just the most fun you've ever seen," he said.

During a debate in Florida on Monday, Romney said he believed space should be a priority.

"What we have right now is a president who does not have a vision or a mission for NASA. I happen to believe our space program is important not only for science, but also for commercial development and for military development," he said.

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_gingrich_space

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'Starbursts' yield cosmic giants

25 January 2012 Last updated at 06:23 ET

Frenetic star-forming activity in the early Universe is linked to the most massive galaxies in today's cosmos, new research suggests.

This "starbursting" activity when the Universe was just a few billion years old appears to have been clamped off by the growth of supermassive black holes.

An international team gathered hints of the mysterious "dark matter" in early galaxies to confirm the link.

The findings appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Being able to see objects at great distances in the cosmos allows astronomers to look into the past, at light that departed when the Universe was young.

Continue reading the main story

Dark energy and dark matter mysteries

• Gravity acting across vast distances does not seem to explain what astronomers see
• Galaxies, for example, should fly apart; some other mass must be there holding them together
• Astrophysicists have thus postulated "dark matter" - invisible to us but clearly acting on galactic scales
• At the greatest distances, the Universe's expansion is accelerating
• Thus we have also "dark energy" which acts to drive the expansion, in opposition to gravity
• The current theory holds that 73% of the Universe is dark energy, 23% is dark matter, and just 4% the kind of matter we know well

Using the 12-metre Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope in Chile, an international team led by Ryan Hickox of Dartmouth College studied the way distant galaxies from the early Universe grouped together.

Galaxies are understood to be surrounded by "haloes" of a mysterious material called dark matter, which clearly exerts a force but has never been detected. The team's experiments measured the effects of this gravitational force on the galaxy clusters.

With these measured dark matter haloes, and the help of a computer model that describes how the galaxies and their haloes should evolve, the team showed that the frenetic "starbursting" galaxies develop into the enormous elliptical galaxies we see more nearby.

"This is the first time that we've been able to show this clear link between the most energetic starbursting galaxies in the early Universe, and the most massive galaxies in the present day," said Dr Hickox.

However, these bouts of star formation appear to only last about 100 million years, seeming to come to an abrupt halt.

The team's new work adds weight to the idea that the starburst feeds material into the supermassive black holes at their centres.

These in turn emit powerful blasts of energy as they consume the stars, blowing away the very clouds of gas that could otherwise have coalesced into even more stars.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-16702962

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Iran eyes banning oil sales to Europe (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's parliament will begin debating a draft bill requiring the government to immediately halt oil exports to Europe, a prominent lawmaker said Wednesday, as Tehran weighs its options following the European Union's decision to stop importing oil from the country.

The EU embargo, announced on Monday, was the latest attempt to try to pressure Iran over a nuclear program the United States and its allies argue is aimed at developing nuclear weapons but which Iran says is for purely peaceful purposes. It came just weeks after the U.S. approved, but has yet to enact, new sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank and, by extension, its ability to sell its oil.

Many Iranian lawmakers and officials have called for an immediate ban on oil exports to the European bloc before its ban fully goes into effect in July, arguing that the 27 EU nations account for only about 18 percent of Iran's overall oil sales and would be hurt more by the decision than Iran. China, a key buyer of Iranian crude, has blasted the embargo.

"The bill requires the government to stop selling oil to Europe before the start of European Union oil embargo against Iran," lawmaker Hasan Ghafourifard told the parliament's website, icana.ir. Debate on the bill is to begin on Sunday, he said.

The U.S. sanctions had outraged Iranian officials, prompting repeated threats from various officials that the country could shutter the vital Strait of Hormuz if measures are enacted that affect its oil exports. Roughly a fifth of the world oil passes through the narrow waterway, and the U.S. and others have warned Iran they will not allow it to impede the free flow of traffic in the area.

Iran is OPEC's fourth largest producer and most of its crude goes to Europe and Asia.

Iranian officials have said the sanctions will have no effect on the economy and they will find other willing buyers. Analysts and diplomats also have played down the likelihood that Iran will actually move to close the strait ? a step that could bring it into direct conflict with U.S. and other Western naval and ground forces stationed in and around the Persian Gulf.

"The door to dialogue remains open for Iran," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Berlin Wednesday. "But it also is clear that we in the world cannot accept Iran's government reaching for nuclear weapons. So the sanctions are necessary."

"If they are applied comprehensively and supported by as many as possible in the world, that makes the probability of success all the greater," Westerwelle said after meeting his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd.

The sanctions debate comes at a time when the country's economy and currency are under increasing pressure following a series of other economic sanctions that already have been imposed.

The rial has shed about 50 percent of its value relative to the dollar over the past month, a decline that the central bank governor, in a moment of rare candor, attributed at least partially to the "psychological effects" of the U.S. sanctions. The currency, which was trading at 15,000 rials to the dollar on the black market at the start of the year, hit a record low of 22,000 rials to the U.S. currency by the weekend.

After weeks of criticism over his inaction, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad approved a decision by monetary authorities that would raise the interest rates on bank deposits to roughly 21 percent, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting Economic Minister Shamseddin Hosseini.

The move was a reversal of his earlier opposition to the decision by Iran's Money and Credit Council that would have boosted the interest rates to a level above the inflation rate. Economists said such a step was crucial to absorbing market liquidity and buoying the rial.

Banks would be instructed to enact the new rates starting Thursday, Hosseini said.

The market reacted to the announcement immediately, with the rial trading at 19,000 rials to the dollar within hours of Hosseini's remarks.

Ahmadinejad's refusal to sign off on the council's decision stoked a rift between fiscal authorities and the president, with Central Bank Gov. Mahmoud Bahmani warning earlier in the month he may quit if the government continues to interfere in shaping monetary policies and does not approve an increase in bank deposit interest rates.

Bahmani was quoted on state television on Wednesday as saying that a single foreign currency rate will be offered within the next 48 hours as part of the central bank's measures to stabilize the currency exchange market.

Analysts say that the main reason behind the currency's depreciation was a decision to lower interest rates on one-year deposits to 14 percent from 17.5 percent. The rate cut prompted Iranians to pull their money out of banks and buy gold and foreign currency, instead.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iran_economy

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Three Reasons Ron Paul Should Drop Out of the Presidential Race (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | According to CNN, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is still seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency. "It's the momentum that we want," Paul said Saturday, "and our goal is to get delegates. And we're going to be doing the states were they allocate by percentages as well as caucus states. So that's been our plan all along."

There comes a time in a candidacy, when continuing forward is paramount to Don Quixote to tilting at windmills. It's time, lest he undo what he has accomplished, for Paul to step aside. He never had a slingshot's chance in a gunfight of becoming president, but he has done what he came to do. While there are a plethora of reasons for him to step aside, three rise to prominence:

First, while according to ABC News, Paul finished fourth in South Carolina, and according to CNN, he is third in the delegate count, the fact is he's not third by inches. He's third by a landslide. He can't win the nomination. Staying in the race only serves to keep his party from coalescing around whichever of the two viable candidates left in the race, Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich, will eventually win the nomination. You don't beat the sitting president by dragging the delegate fight to the convention.

Second, he has gained the national voice he needs to continue playing a viable role in the national discussion. He gains no more voice by staying in the race. He's got his seat at the table. Nobody (at least not me) is saying he should sit down and shut up. But, he's already got his voice. He should use it without harming his party's chances of choosing their nominee quickly enough to have a shot in November.

Third, unlike the other three candidates, he's got a job. He's a member of Congress. It would be one thing if he had a chance of winning, or if he was still in the hunt for a national voice. He doesn't and he's not. As such, he has a responsibility to the people of his district, to go back to Washington and to do the job for which he is actually paid, for the people who are actually paying him to do it.

He's run a good race. He's earned his voice, and he's got other work to do. It's time for him to get out of the way.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120122/pl_ac/10868991_three_reasons_ron_paul_should_drop_out_of_the_presidential_race

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Monday Candidate Schedule (TIME)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190201431?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sunday Links: Republican Party Seppuku Edition (Theagitator)

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What is a recommended company for homeowners insurance?

.

We are buying our first house, and would like to know if anybody has any recommendations on the best homeowners insurance for our money. Thank you!

Chosen Answer:

There is no way around needing Homeowners insurance if you are about to embark on the journey of purchasing a home. Depending on the size of the home, Homeowners insurance can cost as little as 0 a year to as much as 00 a year, if not more in some parts of the country. The amount of Homeowners insurance you receive will also be determined by the value of the interior property, including the upkeep of remodeling on the home, as well as whether your policy will include valuable electronics and jewelry.

Once you have determined what type of policy you would like to implement, you can begin discussing yearly and monthly costs with insurance agents. One thing to keep in mind while you are searching for Homeowners insurance is that the rates won?t vary that much between each company, but there are small ways to save a few dollars to a few hundred dollars, simply by finding some Homeowners insurance discounts that are available.

One of the easiest ways to receive a discount on Homeowners insurance is to install a home security system, and not the type that barks and growls. Many insurance companies are actually paired up with security companies like ADT or Brink?s and will give you a discount for using that insurance company and that security company as well.

Even if you get Homeowners insurance and decide to go back later and install a security system, don?t forget to go back and call your Homeowners insurance company once the system is installed so that you can receive a discount on your insurance. Further discounts may be given for motion sensors or even for video surveillance cameras installed on the home.

Another great way to receive a small discount on your Homeowners insurance is through fire and carbon monoxide detectors and fire resistant doors, brick and even walls. Remember that not all companies will offer the same discount for fire resistance and fire protection, so it is best to do research on how much of a discount can be received before diving in to remodeling the entire house for fire resistance.

Keeping up with newer appliances is another excellent way to help receive a Homeowners insurance discount. Older appliances are more likely to develop bad electrical connections, which can make the home susceptible to fire.

The first place to begin updating appliances is in the kitchen because kitchens are on the top of the list for places where fires begin. Many other insurance companies will offer a discount for new plumbing and electrical systems, or simply for a home that is less than ten years old altogether.

While some homeowners aren?t willing to consider a higher insurance deductible, or the price they will pay before the insurance will begin paying for loss or damages, asking for price quotes with higher deductibles is an excellent way to receive a discount on your insurance.

Most Homeowners insurance companies start out with a minimum deductible of 0 to 0 dollars, but try raising the deductible by 0 and see how much this will save you a year. Often times, this can make a difference of nearly 0-0 a year on the total insurance bill.

Remember, though, that if you choose this route, you may end up paying more than that 0 savings a year if something happens to your home and you have to pay the higher deductible. Simply weight the negatives and positives and decide if a higher deductible is right for you.

The final sure fire way to receive a Homeowners insurance benefit is to belong to a club or certain group. This could simply mean being in the ?65 and older? club and receiving a senior citizens discount, or it could also mean already being a member of the bank where you are looking to purchase Homeowners insurance. Some insurance companies also give a discount if you plan on having both your car insurance and Homeowners insurance with that company.

Before settling for the first set of numbers thrown at you by the insurance company, be sure to ask about these discounts and make your assets work for you when shopping for Homeowners insurance.
by: sprott88
on: 17th January 10

Source: http://unoccupied-propertyinsurance.com/what-is-a-recommended-company-for-homeowners-insurance/

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WWE.com Exclusive: Drew McIntyre expresses his frustration about the possibility of getting fired, following another SmackDown defeat

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2012-01-13/smackdown-drew-frustrated

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Video: What does Perry's exit mean for rest of GOP field?

High stakes in South Carolina, where Republicans there have picked the party?s eventual nominee for the last 32 years. We?ll have complete analysis of the crucial contest and breakdown the results, including what they will mean for the road ahead. Joining us: Host of MSNBC?s ?Morning Joe,? Joe Scarborough, Republican strategist Mike Murphy, the BBC?s Katty Kay, and NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46058023#46058023

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Adult in Ohio Craigslist case charged with murder (AP)

AKRON, Ohio ? A self-styled chaplain suspected in a deadly scheme to rob people who replied to a Craigslist job ad has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery and could face the death penalty if convicted, according to an indictment announced Friday.

The charges against Richard Beasley accuse him of killing three men and wounding a fourth in August, October and November.

Beasley, 52, of Akron, who has been jailed in Akron on unrelated prostitution and drug charges, has denied involvement in the Craigslist slayings. He was arrested in November after authorities linked him to the alleged plot.

Prosecutors would not speculate on a motive but Attorney General Mike DeWine, who joined in announcing the charges, said investigators are looking at "serial killings."

"Are there more bodies? We frankly do not know," DeWine said, appealing to people with any information about missing persons to come forward.

Also Friday, a judge determined that the case of a juvenile suspect mentored by Beasley will be moved out of the county where two slaying victims were found and another was shot but survived.

The decision to transfer the case of Brogan Rafferty to Summit County came after a hearing Friday afternoon, said Tonda Brown, Noble County Court Assignment Commissioner. She said the gag order in the case has also been lifted.

Messages were left with the Noble County prosecutor and Rafferty's attorney in Noble County. The Summit County Prosecutor's Office could not immediately comment, said spokeswoman April Wiesner.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said the case of Beasley, with the nature of the crimes and the multitude of charges, was made for the death penalty.

"This case we view as to be one of the worst of the worst when it comes to horrible murder cases," Walsh said.

The 28-count indictment against Beasley also included theft, weapons and identity theft charges. Beasley received the indictment Friday, and a decision will be made next week about his representation, said Rhonda Kotnik, an attorney who has been representing Beasley on the non-Craigslist charges.

An acquaintance of Beasley, 16-year-old Brogan Rafferty, of nearby of Stow, could face similar charges after being transferred to adult court late last year. His case is pending in Noble County where two of the slayings happened.

Authorities say the scheme targeted older and single out-of-work men with backgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noted right away.

The first victim, Ralph Geiger, 55, of Akron, was killed Aug. 9, the day after he left a homeless shelter saying he was taking a farm job. His body wasn't found until Nov. 25.

Geiger's brother, Mark Geiger, said Friday he's happy with the way prosecutors are handling the case. He said he's long wondered about other victims. He said he's not a death penalty advocate but wouldn't oppose it, although life in prison for Beasley would also satisfy him.

"As long as Beasley never has the opportunity to interact with the outside world again, that's what I feel would be appropriate," said Geiger, a telecommunications executive in Atlanta.

The plot's second victim, David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va., came to Ohio in mid-October after answering the Craigslist ad. A friend has said Pauley was desperate for work and eager to return to Ohio.

Police say he was killed Oct. 23, and his body was found Nov. 15. Family members had contacted police concerned they hadn't heard from him.

The third victim, Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, whose body was buried near an Akron shopping mall, answered the ad and was last seen Nov. 13, authorities said. His body was also found Nov. 25. Kern told his family he was taking the job to help support his three sons.

A surviving victim, Scott Davis, 48, of South Carolina, also answered the ad and was shot Nov. 6 before escaping, police say.

Beasley was a Texas parolee when he returned to Ohio in 2004 after serving several years in prison on a burglary conviction. He was released from an Akron jail July 12 after a judge mistakenly allowed him to post bond on a drug-trafficking charge.

He was arrested two days later following a traffic stop but again mistakenly released. An investigation by Ohio's prisons system found that Beasley should not have been released on bond but said confusion over interstate prisoner-transfer rules and "ambiguity" in messages from Texas to Akron jail officials contributed to the error.

In a four-page handwritten letter to the Akron Beacon Journal, Beasley has said he has been miscast as a con man when he really helped feed, house and counsel scores of needy families, alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill and crime suspects for years.

"To call me a con man when I sacrificed for others is wrong," wrote Beasley, who didn't mention the Craigslist investigation or Rafferty. "To turn their back on me is not following Christ's example. I gave three full years of my life to that ministry and what I got out of it was the satisfaction of doing the right thing. There was no `con' to it."

__

Andrew Welsh-Huggins, who contributed to this report from Columbus, can be reached at http://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_us/us_craigslist_jobseekers_killed_charges

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5 insanely thin and light laptops that are coming soon (Yahoo! News)

An army of ultrabooks on display

There's a whole new wave of gadgets right around the corner that you might not have even known you needed ? until now, of course. Meet the ultrabook, a class of super-slim, considerably powerful notebook computers that are cut from the same cloth as Apple's MacBook Air. "Ultrabook" might not be a word you've heard before, but the idea is meant to inspire a category of laptop that is nearly as mobile as a tablet, but that doesn't sacrifice power for portability ? the ultimate pitfall of the netbook.

Ultrabooks are on the way, but choosing between them won't be easy. Assuming you don't take the Mac route and opt for Apple's own offering, the members of this tidal wave of featherweight computers running Windows will share most of their features in common by definition. In fact, the term "ultrabook" is a trademarked term, owned by Intel. To qualify as an ultrabook, a notebook computer should hover around the $1,000 mark, be no more than .8" thick, weigh less than 3.1 lb., and boast a respectable battery life and an efficient?solid-state drive (SSD) rather than a traditional mechanical harddrive.

As you'll see, these rules were meant to be broken, but even some of the notebooks that stray a little from the mold are interesting enough to keep an eye out for. Here are five favorite ultrabooks, some available now and some on the way soon, and what sets them each apart from the pack.

Samsung Series 9 is a handsome, high-end choice

Samsung's sleek premium notebook

The new Samsung Series 9 is a shoo-in. Last year's Series 9 ultralight was already ahead of the curve ? in fact, it made a point of asserting itself as the lightest notebook on the market. Samsung has had a year to refine its ultra-portable model, and the new Series 9 is as polished and good-looking as it is powerful.

The Series 9 offers a surprisingly sharp, matte 1600 x 900 13" display, an SD card slot, Core i5 processor, and a 7-hour battery life. Of course, you'll pay $1,399 for the feature set, which is considerably more than the $1,000 target price point. If you have the cash and are taken (like we were) with the notebook's striking black alumninum, watch for the Series 9 from Samsung in February.

Dell's value-minded XPS 13 balances features with a friendly price tag

Dell's XPS 13

As Dell's budget-minded follow-up to its head-turning notebook the Adamo, the XPS 13 is no slouch. The XPS doesn't reinvent the wheel, but starting at $999, it really doesn't need to. The XPS 13 is comfortably rounded off (unlike the razor-sharp design of the Asus Zenbook), with a solid build, and a comfortable backlit keyboard. Notably, the XPS 13 crams more screen real estate into dimensions usually reserved for its 11" peers, thanks to a super-slim bezel around the Gorilla Glass screen and a thoughtful design.

At 3 lb. even, this light 13.3" laptop can clock in 8 hours of battery life, and it predictably packs a Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB harddrive in its starting configuration, much like its peers. The XPS 13 will be available in February, and offers a very nice blend of features for its reasonable price.

The HP Envy 14 Spectre may be a bit thick, but we loved its stylish glass exterior

HP Envy 14 Spectre is on the higher end of pricing but packs interest features like NFC support

The HP Envy 14 Spectre has a design, feature set, and price that put it in line with premium ultrabooks like the Samsung Series 9. The Envy 14 Spectre sports a mirror-like black Gorrila Glass lid, integrated support for NFC, and a 1600 x 900, ultra-sharp 14" Gorilla Glass screen. At .78" and 3.79 lb., the flashy notebook might not be as "ultra-portable" as many of its peers, but you're getting some seriously tough (and seriously good-looking) glass in the trade-off, not to mention Beats audio, and a reported 9-hour battery life. Like the majority of notebooks in its class, the ultrabook includes a mini-HDMI port, dual USB ports, and an SD card slot. HP's Envy 14 Spectre goes on sale February 8, and starts at $1,399 for a basic configuration with a Core i5 processor, 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM.

Asus Zenbook UX31 features an eye-catching, razor-sharp design

Asus 13" Zenbook

We found Asus's ultrabook somewhat ironically named. With its combo brushed/polished aluminum frame and jagged edges, the 13" Zenbook was striking for the severity of its design. While the Zenbook's angular look will boil down to a matter of preference, its insides stack up with the competition: the notebook packs a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, one USB 2.0 port and a USB 3.0 port in the mix as well. Though the Zenbook has been knocked for its less-than-stellar trackpad, it does sport Bang & Olufsen speakers, which could set it apart from the pack if you like to rock out on the go via your ultraportable computer. The 13" Asus Zenbook is available now for $1,099.

Lenovo's U300s ultrabook offers a comfy keyboard paired with solid value

Lenovo Ideapad U300s

At under 3 lb. and just .58" thick across the board, the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s is in many ways a prototype of the ultrabook class. Lenovo put plenty of thought into the design of the little notebook's keyboard, and the pleasantly rounded keys don't have the same uncomfortably shallow feel to them as many of its peers that cut corners to shave off inches.

Beyond its thoughtful design, the IdeaPad U300s felt solid, and it offers the standard i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, all in a sub 3 lb. shell. While it doesn't sport an SD card slot, Lenovo's ultrabook is a solid choice in an 13" ultraportable, and it's available now for $1,199. Did we mention that it comes in orange?

This article was written by Taylor Hatmaker and originally appeared on Tecca

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120118/tc_yblog_technews/5-insanely-thin-and-light-laptops-that-are-coming-soon

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Popular file-sharing website Megaupload shut down

This undated image obtained by The Associated Press shows the homepage of the website Megaupload.com. Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws. (AP Photo)

This undated image obtained by The Associated Press shows the homepage of the website Megaupload.com. Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws. (AP Photo)

McLEAN, Va. (AP) ? One of the world's most popular file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.

A federal indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to make it easier for authorities to go after sites with pirated material, especially those with overseas headquarters and servers.

The news of the shutdown seemed to bring retaliation from hackers who claimed credit for attacking the Justice Department's website. Federal officials confirmed it was down Thursday evening and that the disruption was being "treated as a malicious act."

A loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" claimed credit for the attack. Also hacked was the site for the Motion Picture Association of America and perhaps others.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, but some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va., which gave federal authorities jurisdiction, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Three other defendants are at large.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, "This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?"

Before Megaupload was taken down, it posted a statement saying allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws were "grotesquely overblown."

"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the DOJ said its web server for justice.gov was "experiencing a significant increase in activity, resulting in a degradation in service." It was working to fix it and "investigate the origins of this activity, which is being treated as a malicious act until we can fully identify the root cause of the disruption," the agency's statement said.

A spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America said in an emailed statement that the group's site had been hacked, although it appeared to be working later in the evening.

"The motion picture and television industry has always been a strong supporter of free speech," the spokesman said. "We strongly condemn any attempts to silence any groups or individuals."

Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.

The company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. He was not named in the indictment and declined to comment through a representative.

According to the indictment, Megaupload was estimated at one point to be the 13th most frequently visited website on the Internet. Current estimates by companies that monitor Web traffic place it in the top 100.

The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.

For instance, users received cash bonuses if they uploaded content popular enough to generate massive numbers of downloads, according to the indictment. Such content was almost always copyright protected.

The site boasted 150 million registered users and about 50 million hits daily. The Justice Department said it was illegal for anyone to download pirated content, but their investigation focused on the leaders of the company, not end users who may have downloaded a few movies for personal viewing.

A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined comment Thursday. Efforts to reach an attorney representing Dotcom were unsuccessful.

Megaupload is considered a "cyberlocker," in which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.

The website allowed users to download some content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra content. The website also sold advertising.

The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va. Prosecutors there have pursued multiple piracy investigations.

Steven T. Shelton, a copyright lawyer at the Cozen O'Connor firm in New York, said opponents of the legislation are worried the proposals lessen the burden for the government to target a wide variety of websites. Shelton said he expects to see the government engage in more enforcement in the future, as technology makes it easier to catch and target suspected pirates.

"I think we'll be seeing more of this," he said. "This is just the beginning."

Dotcom, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, made more than $42 million from the site in 2010 alone, according to the indictment.

Dotcom had his name legally changed. He was previously known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor. He is founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.

Officials estimated it could be a year or more before Dotcom and the others arrested in New Zealand are formally extradited.

The others arrested were Finn Batato, 38, a citizen and resident of Germany, the company's chief marketing officer; Mathias Ortmann, 40, a citizen of Germany and resident of both Germany and Hong Kong, who is the chief technical officer, co-founder and director; and Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, a Dutch citizen and resident of both the Netherlands and New Zealand, who oversees programming.

Still at large are Julius Bencko, 35, a citizen and resident of Slovakia, the site's graphic designer; Sven Echternach, 39, a citizen and resident of Germany, head of business development; and Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and resident of both Turkey and Estonia, head of the development software division.

Several sister sites were also shut down, including one dedicated to sharing pornography files.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-19-Internet%20Piracy-Indictment/id-205ff441539e47758c89c5d73a7beecb

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Is Alcatraz 'the next Lost'? (The Week)

New York ? Fox's new crime drama from J.J. Abrams boasts some of Lost's trippy sci-fi elements?? but does it have the same addicting appeal?

Whenever TV producer J.J. Abrams comes out with a new series, the effort is inevitably compared to Lost, his monumentally popular sci-fi drama that ended its run in 2010. The latest new show to earn the comparison is Alcatraz, which debuted Monday night on Fox. The high-concept crime drama is about a task force charged with solving an awfully strange mystery: Why 300 former Alcatraz inmates who reportedly vanished in 1963 have begun popping up again in the present ? not having aged a day ? to begin committing crimes. Does the show live up to its Lost comparisons?

Nope: Alcatraz is no Lost, says James Poniewozik at TIME. The thriller is, however, a bit like Abrams' other sci-fi procedural, Fox's flailing Fringe, with its "anthology of" weekly "moody crime stories" and larger questions about sci-fi mythology answered more slowly over time. While Alcatraz is "competent enough" in that regard, there's an unappealing "coldness to the show." And unlike Lost and Fringe, there's "no sense that these are characters I want to invest in and spend time getting to know." The bottom line: Alcatraz probably is "not the next Fringe, much less the next Lost."
"TV tonight: Alcatraz"

It could get there, though: Alcatraz blatantly aspires to "be another Lost," says David Bianculli at NPR. It gets a leg up from actor Jorge Garcia, who played Hugo, "arguably the most universally loved character from Lost." On Alcatraz, Garcia benefits from playing a character who is more intelligent than Hugo, but still "just as casually charming." Still, the premiere was quite mysterious, and I'll need at least one more episode to "ascertain how good" Alcatraz really is. But keep in mind, "the last time I really, really wanted to see more of a J.J. Abrams series before committing to it" was after the premiere of Lost ? which soon "hooked me for good."
"Get Lost in J.J. Abrams' latest show Alcatraz"

Lost or not, it's a great show:?Alcatraz's?time traveling premise strains to be believable, "but whoever said a TV series has to be credible to work?" says David Wiegand at the San Francisco Chronicle. The episodic crime-of-the-week structure works well with the overarching story line: Rounding up all of these mysterious prisoners. While there's "a coolly edgy quality" to the show, Alcatraz doesn't sacrifice "a careful attention to detail." And the series is well-served by a game cast of actors, including Lost's Garcia and Jurassic Park's Sam Neill, who "glowers convincingly and often" as the head of the task force charged with solving the weekly mystery.
"Alcatraz review: No escaping thriller's appeal"

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