Job growth is lifting hopes for consumer spending

FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2011 file photo, shoppers scramble for door buster deals at Target, in Bowling Green, Ky. U.S. consumers spent at a lackluster rate in November as their incomes barely grew, suggesting that U.S. households may struggle to sustain their spending into 2012.(AP Photo/Daily News, Joe Imel, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2011 file photo, shoppers scramble for door buster deals at Target, in Bowling Green, Ky. U.S. consumers spent at a lackluster rate in November as their incomes barely grew, suggesting that U.S. households may struggle to sustain their spending into 2012.(AP Photo/Daily News, Joe Imel, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2011 file photo, the front of a Boeing 777 jet stands in a production line at the company's manufacturing plant, in Everett, Wash. U.S. business demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose by the largest amount in four months in November, driven higher by a big jump in orders for airplanes. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

FILE - This May 17, 2011 file photo, shows Boeing Co. workers underneath the tail section of a Boeing 737, at the Boeing assembly facility in Renton, Wash. U.S. business demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose by the largest amount in four months in November, driven higher by a big jump in orders for airplanes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Consumer spending and incomes barely rose last month. Business investment has slowed. New-home sales remain dismal.

Despite all that, some economists say a brightening job market is lifting their hopes for 2012. More aggressive hiring, the thinking goes, would fuel enough spending to boost the economy.

Economists point to another drop reported this week in applications for unemployment benefits, the third straight decline. Applications are now at their lowest level since April 2008. The trend is signaling that layoffs have all but stalled and that employers may be ready to step up hiring.

Unemployment, after hovering around 9 percent for more than two years, dropped in November to 8.6 percent. Employers have added at least 100,000 jobs each month from July through November. It's the best such streak since 2006.

Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said he expects the economy to grow at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the current October-December quarter. That would be the best performance in a year.

More jobs would mean more income. More pay tends to raise consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of the economy. Companies then have reason to increase hiring to meet stronger demand.

"We are hopeful that the plunge in jobless claims signals exactly that," Shepherdson said in a research note Friday.

Chris G. Christopher Jr., senior economist at IHS Global Insight, noted that many households are still struggling with slight or no pay increases.

"But gasoline prices have been falling, and that is giving them more money to spend on other items," he said.

The government said Friday that consumer spending rose just 0.1 percent in November, matching the increase in October. Incomes also rose a scant 0.1 percent.

Modest as they were, economists said the figures at least signaled that incomes and spending aren't stalling.

Healthier economic data in recent weeks have helped make the prospect of another U.S. recession seem more remote ? as long as Europe's debt crisis doesn't trigger a catastrophe that infects the global economy.

Some economists trimmed their forecasts for growth based on the weaker-than-expected consumer spending data for November. But they said they still expected the economy to expand at a solid annual rate of 3 percent in the current October-December quarter. It would be the best showing since the spring of 2010.

"We are seeing some momentum going into the new year," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial. "At least we are not in a tight spot where we are still worried about relapsing into recession."

Hoffman said that a major source of uncertainty for 2012 was removed this week with Congress' agreement to extend a Social Security tax cut for 160 million workers ? for two months, anyway.

As part of the deal, Congress also renewed benefits for the long-term unemployed. If that hadn't happened, millions of unemployed people would have begun to lose weekly checks averaging about $300 ? the main source of income for most of them.

And if the payroll tax cut and the long-term unemployment benefits hadn't been renewed for 2012, economists said the modest growth of around 2.5 percent they expect next year would have been a full percentage point lower.

On Friday, the government also released a cautionary report on U.S. manufacturing. Companies' demand for long-lasting manufactured goods rose by the most in four months in November. But so-called core capital goods, a gauge of business investment spending, dropped for a second straight month.

Still, analysts said that with demand for items such as autos still strong, they expect further gains in factory orders and production.

In a third report, sales of new homes rose 1.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000. Even with that small gain, 2011 is likely to end up as the worst year for new-home sales on records dating to 1963.

More significant for the economy was Friday's report on incomes and spending in November. The scant income gain reflected a decline in wages and salaries. They are the biggest component of incomes.

The sluggish rise in spending was held back by a 0.3 percent drop in spending on non-durable goods such as food, clothing and gasoline. Spending on durable goods rose 0.8 percent. The gain reflected solid auto sales in November.

Spending on services rose a modest 0.1 percent. This category includes such items as medical treatments and rent, The consumer spending report covers all items that households buy, including services, which make up about two-thirds of spending.

After-tax incomes showed no growth in November. The savings rate dipped to 3.5 percent of after-tax incomes, the lowest rate since late 2007. That shows consumers are having to tap their savings to finance their spending because of the weak income growth.

The best antidote for that would be an increase in hiring now that fewer people are being laid off.

"The jobless claims data point to stronger jobs growth emerging," said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.

___

AP Economics Writer Derek Kravitz contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-23-Economy/id-3a7ba77b11134097ab7b906f99f0ffb0

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Maine extends coach's contract (AP)

ORONO, Maine ? Maine has extended basketball coach Ted Woodward's contract through the 2015 season.

The school announced the extension Thursday, saying Woodward was rewarded for the progress the team has made on the court in the past two seasons and for his high graduation rate.

Woodward, in his eighth season as the Black Bears' head coach, has a 97-125 record, including a 5-4 mark this season. The program has shown progress the last two seasons, with top three finishes in America East play and marquee victories over Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. He has also graduated 20 of 21 seniors during his tenure.

Before coming to Maine as an assistant in 1996, Woodward was an assistant at Connecticut and Central Connecticut.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_maine_woodward

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Eds: APNewsNow. Corrects Drummond's scoring average STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond is not on scholarship and is instead attending Connecticut this season as a walk-on. Drummond told The Day of New London (http://bit.ly/vka

Posted on 12/21/2011

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<a href="http://www.thehour.com/story/516646/">Eds: APNewsNow. Corrects Drummond's scoring average STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond is not on scholarship and is instead attending Connecticut this season as a walk-on. Drummond told The Day of New London (http://bit.ly/vka4Kl) Tuesday that he decided to decline center Michael Bradley's offer to give up a scholarship for him, and will instead pay his own way. Kyle Muncy, a spokesman for the athletic department, told reporters that Drummond is not receiving any institutional aid from UConn. UConn has only 10 scholarships this season after losing one because of NCAA violations and two more because of a poor academic performance rating. The 6-foot-10 Drummond, who is averaging 9.4 points a game, decided to enroll just three days before the start of the fall semester. Bradley, a redshirt freshman, has been sidelined with a fractured right ankle.</a>

STORRS (AP) -- Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond is not on scholarship and is instead attending Connecticut this season as a walk-on.

Drummond told The Day of New London Tuesday that he decided to decline center Michael Bradley's offer to give up a scholarship for him, and will instead pay his own way.

Kyle Muncy, a spokesman for the athletic department, told reporters that Drummond is not receiving any institutional aid from UConn.

UConn has only 10 scholarships this season after losing one because of NCAA violations and two more because of a poor academic performance rating.

The 6-foot-10 Drummond, who is averaging 9.4 points a game, decided to enroll just three days before the start of the fall semester. Bradley, a redshirt freshman, has been sidelined with a fractured right ankle.

Source: http://www.thehour.com/story/516646/eds-apnewsnow-corrects-drummond-s-scoring-average-storrs-conn-ap-connecticut-freshman-center-andre-drummond-is-not-on-scholarship-and-is-instead-attending-connecticut-this-season-as-a-walk-on-drummond-told-the-day-

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Angelina Jolie's "Blood" an earnest effort (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? When actors decide to direct, it's often a dicey proposition. Some are naturals (Clint Eastwood) but others turn out films that are unwatchable, self-indulgent hokum (anyone else sit through Nicholas Cage's "Sonny" in 2002?).

So how does Angelina Jolie do with "In the Land of Blood and Honey," which marks her feature directing-screenwriting debut and landed her on the cover of Newsweek? It's a respectable first effort, longer on earnestness than art, though much of that is due to her choice of topic material.

"Blood and Honey" is a drama set in Bosnia during and amidst the Bosnian War (1992-95). Jolie is well known for her involvement in global humanitarian causes, and here she takes on the notorious human-rights violations that occurred during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, including ethnic cleansing, genocide and mass rapes.

She does so through the prism of a complicated love story, one that begins in pre-war Sarajevo. That's where Danijel (Goran Kostic), a Serbian policeman, and Ajla (Zana Marjonovic), a Bosnian artist, strike sparks while on a first date at a nightclub. As they dance cheek to cheek, their budding romance is interrupted by a bombing, a harbinger of the carnage to come. (The film is in Bosnian, with English subtitles, though Jolie also shot an English-language version.)

Soon, war has broken out and Ajla is among a group of Bosnian women taken prisoner and moved to a military barracks where Danijel is a commander. The women have been brought there to serve as both servants and forced sexual partners for the men.

Danijel takes Ajla under his protection, making clear to his men that she's off limits to them. The resulting relationship between the two is a fraught mixture of passion and distrust, with neither ever quite sure where the other stands emotionally. It would be impossible, given the brutality and senseless violence going on all around them and their own conflicted loyalties, for it to be otherwise.

More power to Jolie, both for taking on such a demanding subject and for not trying to pretty it up or poeticize it. But the central conceit, a wartime Romeo and Juliet story, around which she has built the movie often seems an awkwardly manufactured device, one that is at odds with the film's almost documentary-like aspirations.

As a director, Jolie avoids showy angles or camera movements and instead concentrates on telling a story. She displays a solid sense of how to build narrative momentum, though she occasionally lets a scene stretch on too long to allow an actor an extended moment (a fault shared by many other actors turned first-time directors).

Overall, Jolie has nothing to be embarrassed about and much of which to be proud with this movie. Even in moments where the film doesn't quite work, she shows ample evidence of ambition and a discerning director's eye.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/film_nm/us_landofblood_review

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Jimmy Carter Sends Condolences to Kim Jong-un, According to North Korean Media (Michellemalkin)

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

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Mitt Romney Wants to Deport President Obama's Uncle Omar

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he would deport President Barack Obama's uncle, who authorities say was arrested in August for DUI near Boston.

Onyango "Omar" Obama is, allegedly, an illegal immigrant.

In an interview with Boston radio host Howie Carr, Romney said "yes" when asked if "Uncle Omar" should be deported. Romney at first did not recognize the name, and was far from incendiary about it, saying simply that U.S. immigration laws should be enforced.

Take a listen to the exchange:

Mitt Romney on Obama's Uncle

Onyango Obama is the 67-year-old half-brother of the commander-in-chief's late father, Barack Obama, Sr. His case is pending in Framingham, Mass., District Court.

He was initially held without bail by immigration officials on allegations he violated an official order to return Kenya issued 20 years ago but has since been released.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/mitt-romney-wants-to-deport-president-obamas-uncle-omar/

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Picture of the day: Georges St. Pierre begins knee rehab

The UFC welterweight champ tore his ACL when training for a bout with Nick Diaz. While the UFC moves forward with an interim belt, George St. Pierre is at the beginning of a long road back to having a healthy leg again.

That started with surgery, which was deemed a success, and now rehabilitation. Above, he is in a continuous passive motion machine, which prevents GSP's leg from getting stiff without putting him in pain.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Picture-of-the-day-Georges-St-Pierre-begins-kn?urn=mma-wp10949

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Chinese fume over honor to tobacco academic (Reuters)

BEIJING(Reuters) ? Chinese health officials and commentators have assailed one of the country's most prestigious academic bodies for recruiting a scientist who specialized in refining low-tar cigarettes - at a time when the government has said it is fighting smoking.

Xie Jianping, 52, who works for a research institute of the state-owned China National Tobacco Corporation, has been called the "Killer Academician" and "Tobacco Academician" on Chinese Internet sites after he was elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering, an honorary body that also advises the government.

Xie has done research on how to reduce the effects of tar in tobacco, and on adding traditional Chinese herb medicines to cigarettes, according to media reports in recent days.

"He is trying to make people more addicted to smoking, and now elected to be academician! How strange? Millions of people died from smoking in our country," one micro-blogger said on the country's popular Twitter-like service, Sina's Weibo.

"Xie's election is our country's compromise to tobacco industry," another microblog commentator said.

China is the world's largest cigarette maker and the tobacco industry provides a big share of tax revenues.

"Xie Jianping election is the shame of Chinese Academy of Engineering," said Yang Gonghuan, director of the National Tobacco Control Office, according to a report in the Beijing Times earlier this week.

China has more than 300 million smokers and has banned smoking at all indoor public venues from May this year, though such rules are regularly flouted.

Nearly 1.2 million Chinese people die from smoking-related diseases every year, according to the Ministry of Health.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/hl_nm/us_chinese_tobacco_academic

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4 ways to avoid a government shutdown (The Week)

New York ? With Congress deadlocked over how to extend a payroll tax break, federal agencies are bracing for the possibility that they'll have to close their doors

The Obama administration is telling federal agencies to prepare for a possible government shutdown, as Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over extending a payroll-tax break due to expire at the end of the year. Both sides want to prolong the tax holiday, but they disagree over how to pay for it ? Democrats want a surtax on millionaires, and Republicans want Medicare premium hikes for upper-income seniors, among other measures. To force a deal, Senate Democrats have tied the issue to a spending bill, and if that's not passed the government will run out of money at midnight Friday. How can they avoid disaster? Here, four possible solutions:

1. Pass a short-term spending bill, then talk
Neither party is eager to close government agencies' doors, says Erik Wasson at The Hill, since both "stand to be blamed by the public if the government shuts down." Congress has "lurched toward shutdowns repeatedly this year, only to avert them, often at the last minute." Passing a short-term spending deal will buy more time. And with "brinkmanship on both sides" holding up the $1 trillion spending package, it's looking increasingly like that's the only way out.?

SEE MORE: Americans don't really want spending cuts

?

2. Democrats cave, by giving up on the millionaire surtax
In what CNN says would be a "major concession," President Obama and his fellow Democrats may be preparing to drop their insistence on sticking the wealthy with the bill, says Allahpundit at Hot Air. That would sting, "given how well tax hikes on the rich poll." But let's be honest. "There was no way" Dems could make their plan fly. If they'd just untie the matter from the spending bill and make a deal, the GOP will probably drop the fast-tracking of a decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, in exchange.

3. Republicans cave, by dropping their poison pills
"As they've repeatedly done before, the GOP is exploiting the imminent shutdown of the government to push its conservative agenda," says Marie Diamond at Think Progress. They're insisting on sidestepping environmental regulations to push through an oil pipeline, and protect the rich. "This is the third time this year Republicans are using the threat of a government shutdown to get what they want." If they would just drop "these brinkmanship games" it would be easy to "compromise on a bill to keep the government?s lights on."

SEE MORE: Will the payroll tax fight shut down the government?

?

4. Let the payroll-tax holiday expire, and get back to business
"In their rush to head home for the holidays," says the Chicago Tribune in an editorial, neither party is mentioning how extending the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits "would add to our already enormous national debt." The payroll taxes are supposed to go into the Social Security system, which is "already imperiled." It might have made sense to help struggling families out with a tax break in 2011, but it's "foolhardy" to keep this up. Congress should let the payroll tax break die and get back to work ? future generations of retirees will be grateful.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111215/cm_theweek/222497

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus factory images released, modders can start modding (updated)

Eager to start tinkering with your brand new Verizon Galaxy Nexus but worried you'll be stuck with a brick if something goes wrong? Then you can now rest a bit easier, as Google Software Engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru has kindly released the official factory images for the phone so you can fall back to something stable. That's specifically the original ITL41D images, not the newer ICL53F version that was released earlier today, although we doubt that little fact will hold up anyone from diving right in. Those ready to do so can find the download at the source link below.

Update: And just like that, Google's released the ICL53F factory images. You can go ahead and grab them at the source now.

Verizon Galaxy Nexus factory images released, modders can start modding (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police, Droid-Life  |  Android Building (Google Groups), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/El4LUf8LaZ8/

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Life Insurance Basics

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21 Questions ?I ?No Attempts Yet ?I ?Created By cshawnpujol 2 hours 11 mins ago

Question Excerpt From Life Insurance Basics

Q.1)?	Which Person Use of Life Insurance is NOT correctly matched wit the explanation

A.	Estate Conversion-- important for young families that have not yet had time to accumulate assets.

B.	Survivor Protection- Survivors maintain their lifestyle in the event of death.

C.	Cash Accumulation--Guarantees that the amount of money will be available when needed (ie. whole life policy).

D.	Liquidity-- availability of cash to the policy owner.

Q.2)?	What is a viatical settlement?

Q.3)?	During Human Life Value Apporach, you determine insured's after-tax income from ___________ to retirement.?

Q.4)?	The predicted needs of family after the premature death of the insured is referred to as the _______ approach.

Q.5)?	Which of the following are lump sum needs associated with death

B.	Final Medical Expenses

D.	Rent or Mortgage Payments

Q.6)?	Estate tax, day care, and insurance premiums are considered lump sum needs.

Q.7)?	Debt Concellation does not pay off debts.

Q.8)?	What is an emergency reserve for determining lump sum needs?

Q.9)?	Determining Lump Sum Needs includes does not include which of the following:

C.	Insurance Against Suicide

Q.10)?	When is the social security blackout periond?

Q.11)?	The two types of partnership funding methods include the cross purchase method and the entity purchase method.

Q.12)?	Buy-sell funding is a personal use of life insurance.

Q.13)?	___________________________ method is when the partnership buys the policies on the partners (better for more than 2 partners).

( 2 words )

Q.14)?	What are the two corporate funding methods?

Q.15)?	A stock purchase method is

A.	When the corporation buys on policy on each shareholder.

B.	When each partner buys a policy on the other.

C.	When the partnerships buys the policies on the partners.

D.	When each stockholder buys a policy on each of the others.

Q.16)?	The employee would need to give permission for "Key Person" coverage.

Q.17)?	For executive bonuses (aka IRS section 162 Plan)-- the amount of the raise is tax-deductible to the employer and income is ________ to the employee.

Q.18)?	What are the two classes of life insurance policies?

Q.19)?	Industrial or Home Service Insurance are written in small amount (less than 1000)

Q.20)?	A physical exam is not required for ordinary life insurance.

Q.21)?	Permanent policies remain in effect until age _____________.

Take this quiz by clicking Start button on top.

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PFT: 49ers dominate Rams, clinch NFC West

AP

The 13th Sunday of the NFL season brought bad luck for plenty of teams.? But good luck for others.

And that?s the extent to which I?ll force a triskaidekaphobia-inspired introduction onto this week?s edition of the Monday 10-pack.

Actually, I could also expand the normal list of 10 takes to 13.? Luckily enough, I know not to take on the extra work.

1.? Packers close in on 16-0.

Many believed that, if the Packers could get past the giant-killing Giants in Week 13, the defending Super Bowl champs would be virtually guaranteed a perfect regular season.

Given the current state of the four remaining opponents, that outcome is looking more and more likely.

For starters, the Raiders looked ragged in Miami; they next come to Lambeau Field on Sunday.? Then, the Packers head to Kansas City.? Though the Chiefs possibly will avoid being blown out, it?s a stretch to imagine them beating the Packers.

Then come the back-to-back season-ending home games, which suddenly look a lot easier, given the injury-fueled implosion of the Bears and the penalty-driven collapse of the Lions.

The broader question becomes whether the Packers can win the following three games ? the ones that really count.? The added pressure of becoming the first 19-0 team in league history won?t help.? The larger challenge could come, ironically, from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.? If it?s cold, wet, windy, etc. on a January day when a team like the 49ers come to town, the Packers? home-field advantage could be neutralized, since the Niners excel at running the ball and stopping the run.

2.? Silver lining for the Giants.

In 2007, the Giants hosted the 15-0 Patriots.? In a game with no playoff implications for either team, New York stayed within three points, losing late by a score of 38-35.? The near miss gave the Giants a surge of confidence that propelled them through the playoffs and into a rematch with the Patriots.

And if you don?t know what happened when they played again, the sport is called football.? We hope you become a fan of the game.

This time, another 38-35 home loss to another unbeaten juggernaut could provide similar confidence to a Giants team that sits one game behind the Cowboys, with two games to play against them.? Though there are many differences, the Giants could use the fact that they gave the Packers everything they could handle as the bucket of ice water to snap the Giants from yet another late-season funk.

If it doesn?t happen, it could be the last late-season funk over which coach Tom Coughlin ever presides.

3.? Bears ready to break glass in event of emergency.

When Sunday began, the always-accurate Jay Glazer reported that the Bears are ?absolutely not interested? in free-agent quarterback (and Chicago native) Donovan McNabb.

When Sunday ended, our colleague John Mullin of CSNChicago.com was reporting that the Bears would now consider adding McNabb.

The change of heart demonstrated the degree of desperation that the Bears already are feeling.? Quarterback Caleb Hanie has been dreadful (three more picks on Sunday), rookie Nathan Enderle isn?t ready, and Josh McCown is, well, Josh McCown.? Although serious questions remain regarding the fitness, work ethic, and skills of the 13-year veteran, McNabb remains a better option than any of the three healthy quarterbacks currently on the roster, combined.

But even McNabb may not be enough to make a difference, especially if running back Matt Forte misses more than a game or two with a partially torn MCL.

With offensive coordinator Mike Martz already reportedly set to be dumped, coach Lovie Smith could be on the hot seat (again) in 2012, if the Bears don?t make it to the postseason in 2011.? That?s why they?re now inclined to consider giving McNabb a chance, even if there?s not much of a chance he?ll make them any better.

4.? Chargers aren?t dead yet.

It?s easy to assume that the San Diego Chargers will end up on the outside looking in when the season ends.? At 4-7 and with six straight losses, there?s no reason to believe that Chargers can turn it around.

But there?s one curious fact, based on something the Chargers accomplished three years ago.

In 2008, the Chargers lost eight of the first 13 games, and they trailed the 8-5 Broncos with three weeks remaining in the regular season.? But San Diego won the final three games.? Just as importantly, the Broncos lost the final three games.

When the dust settled, the Chargers made it to the postseason as the AFC West champs, they beat the Colts in the wild-card round, they gave the Steelers more of a fight than expected the following week, and the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan.

It?s not likely that the Chargers will pull it off again, but that one slice of history means that, for now, we can?t rule anything out.? Especially with the Raiders suddenly looking worse-than-ordinary and the Cinderella Broncos a shattered slipper away from falling apart.

5.? Team Tebow will be tough to beat in January.

It would be dangerous, however, to assume that the clock will strike midnight for Tim Tebow before the postseason.? With each passing week, the Broncos gain more and more confidence, knowing that as long as they can stay within a score of the opponent, Team Tebow can ultimately prevail.

And that attitude will serve them well in January, when confidence becomes nearly as important as talent.? Adversity eventually strikes every playoff team (except for the 1985 Bears), and the Broncos know how to overcome it because they?re doing it on a weekly basis.

Then there?s the fact that, as the media attention increases, Tebow will continue to be the focal point of it, he?ll be ready for it based on all the attention he has absorbed throughout his career, and it?ll allow his teammates to go about their business without being caught up in the distractions.

Some thought Michael Irvin was crazy to suggest Tebow can take the Broncos to the Super Bowl.? It arguably would be crazier to presume that he can?t.

And it?s even crazier to continue to assume that he?s a gimmick quarterback.? On Sunday, Tebow ran the ball only four times.? In contrast, he completed 10 of 15 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, good for a passer rating on 149.3.

Though his mechanics remain flawed and his accuracy remains at times coincidental, Tebow?s passing numbers compare favorably to those of his predecessor, Kyle Orton.? As Football Night In America editorial consultant Elliott Kalb pointed out after Sunday?s game, Tebow has now thrown 158 passes; Orton threw 155.? While Orton has more completions and a higher completion percentage, Tebow has more yards, a higher per-attempt average, more touchdowns (10 for Tebow, eight for Orton), far fewer interceptions (one for Tebow, seven for Orton), and a passer rating more than 12 points higher.

Most importantly, Tebow has six wins in seven starts.? Even if John Elway?s body language suggests that he doesn?t like the way it?s happening, it?s impossible to argue with the results.

It?ll be even harder to do that if (when) the Broncos start knocking off some of the supposedly elite AFC teams in the playoffs.

6.? Ravens may no longer need Ray Lewis.

After Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis injured a foot three weeks ago in Seattle, rumors swirled that Lewis would not play again this season.? Coach John Harbaugh dismissed the notion that Lewis won?t be back, but he already has missed three of the final seven games.? Jason La Canfora of NFL Network suggested on Sunday that Lewis could be back in Week 15, if Baltimore needs to win the game.

Given that the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, and Texans are each 9-3, the Ravens will need to win the game.? But here?s the thing.? They?ve shown they don?t need Ray Lewis.

And this could be the best way for the post-Ray Ravens to realize that they?ll be fine after he inevitably retires.? The training wheels came off on the fly, the Ravens kept peddling, and they?re 3-0 without him.

More importantly, they?ve found a way to win against an inferior foe on the road the week after a huge victory.? That?s something Lewis couldn?t will them to do in three prior chances this season.

Though the Ravens will find a place for Lewis as long as he wants one, the team?s success without him suggest that, if the foot keeps Lewis from playing again this year and if the Ravens can continue to thrive, it could be the right time for him to realize that it?s the right time to move on.

7.? Peyton?s place may no longer be in Indy.

Another face-of-the-franchise-type player could be leaving his team under far different circumstances.? The Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning continue to careen toward an inevitable No. 1 pick in the draft and a $28 million option bonus that comes due to Manning in early March.

In a lengthy interview on the CBS pregame show, which somehow seemed even longer than it was, Manning disputed the recent suggestion from Vice Chairman Bill Polian that the two men discussed the possibility of the team picking a quarterback, explaining that the conversation occurred two years ago.? That discrepancy suggests a deeper disconnect that could drive the two sides apart.

Then there?s the ominous explanation from Manning that the eventual decisions regarding his future will become apparent in March.? That?s a far cry from Manning?s past proclamations that he?ll never play for another team.

Don?t be surprised, then, if Manning decides to move on.? The bigger question is whether he?ll play elsewhere in 2012 or whether, like former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison, Manning won?t find an alternative destination that will pay him top-of-the-market money and that will give him the ingredients for the success that Peyton craves.

8.? Raheem is nervous, and he should be.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris has become increasingly skittish this season, most recently dropping an ?F? bomb while discussing his decision to take a page from the Mike Singletary coaching playbook.? Morris is nervous for a very good reason.

Morris has a contract that runs through 2012.? While G.M. Mark Dominik received earlier this year a four-year extension, Morris hasn?t.

And so after the 2011 season, the Bucs need to decide whether to extend Raheem?s deal, to let him coach as a lame duck, or to move on.

Though there?s currently no obvious reason to believe that the Bucs will fire Morris, Morris knows that plenty of stuff can be happening behind the scenes.? He knows this because, in early 2009, he and Dominik were the guys who secretly were being lined up behind the scenes to replace former head coach Jon Gruden and former G.M. Bruce Allen.

So what?s happening behind Raheem?s back now?? He?s surely wondering about that, and that?s surely making him even more anxious than he should be.

Some would say that, by taking the job held by his former boss while his former boss didn?t know he?d be the former boss, Morris deserves a similar fate.? Regardless, his own experiences are now making him wonder what ownership may be cooking up without his knowledge.? And if ownership isn?t up to something, they need to extend Raheem?s contract sooner rather than later, in order to put the coach?s mind at ease regarding a dynamic that ownership utilized when hiring him in the first place.

9.? Chris Johnson moves closer to being Chris Johnson again.

Last week, Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for 190 yards.? It created the impression that Johnson has finally rediscovered the magic that fueled a holdout that caused him to lose said magic.? But the tape showed a guy who still couldn?t explode like he did earlier in his career.

This week, Johnson added another 153.? And there were hints that he?s getting closer to rediscovering his ability to hit a hole and explode vertically, untouchable even by men who think they have an easy angle on him.

If Johnson can get it back this year, the Titans could be a major factor.? The No. 6 seed remains up for grabs, with a total of five five-loss teams, each of whom hold a two-game lead over the next cut of contenders.? The Titans are among that quintet, and they?re likely the most overlooked.? With Johnson churning up the yardage and getting closer to playing like his old self, maybe they shouldn?t be.

10.? Schwartz needs to get his team under control.

Much has been said about the stomping incident committed on Thanksgiving by Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.? More should have been said about the role of coach Jim Schwartz in nudging his players toward the line over which Suh leapt, and then pretending to have no responsibility when it happened.

Schwartz wants his defensive players to be salty, nasty.? It makes them more aggressive, which makes them more intimidating and thus more effective.? The mindset traces directly to Schwartz?s time in Tennessee where, despite having an influential position on the Competition Committee, Titans coach Jeff Fisher cultivated a chippy defense that wasn?t above a periodic punch or kick or, as the case may be, cleat stomp on a bare forehead.

With Schwartz enabling and/or creating Suh, other players have followed suit ? on offense.? Last night, receiver Titus Young drew a drive-killing penalty for an open-handed blow to the head worse than the one that got Richard Seymour ejected in Miami.? Then, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, during a late-game drive even more deliberate than Donovan McNabb?s punt-pass-and-puke effort in Super Bowl XXXIX, actually shoved an official.? Amazingly, Pettigrew wasn?t ejected.

At some point, Schwartz needs to be held responsible for the conduct of his players.? The NFL decided this year to implement a procedure for fining teams based on certain player misconduct; the program needs to be expanded to take money out of the coaches? pockets, too.

Then again, if enough dumb penalties contribute to enough losses, coaches like Schwartz ultimately will be held accountable, since they?ll be fired.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/04/the-49ers-are-nfc-west-champions-after-dominant-defensive-effort/related

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Document your pregnancy and print a book with Pregnancy Journal ? Sprout

Instead of keeping a journal of your pregnancy by hand, you can pick up Sprout Pregnancy Journal for iPhone and document your thoughts, photos, and special moments electronically. Once your pregnancy is over, have a physical book printed for your coffee table or download a PDF. You don’t have...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/F0CwWgnTNJU/story01.htm

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Center For Surf Research At San Diego State University Is First Of Its Kind

SAN DIEGO -- The California city that inspired "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," the 1982 comedy film that did much to propagate the laid-back surfer image, is now home to the world's first Center for Surf Research. And, no, it's not a clever way for college kids to earn their degrees by hanging out at the beach.

Jess Ponting has heard those jokes. A sustainable tourism professor, he recently founded the first-of-its-kind institute at San Diego State University with the aim of building a database and spreading awareness about what has evolved from a beach counterculture to a multibillion dollar global industry, with both positive and negative impacts. Ponting was amazed to find how little research and critical analysis exists on the surf industry

"We want to quantify exactly what we're dealing with," said Ponting, who, on the university's web site, sports a suit-and-tie while holding a surf board. "I think it's way bigger than anybody gives it credit for, but no one has taken it seriously enough to look at it before."

Decades ago, long-haired surfers chasing isolated ocean peaks far from the crowded beaches of Australia and California stumbled into remote villages from Indonesia to Latin America and kicked off the global phenomenon. Today, so many surfers are traveling the globe in pursuit of that perfect swell that surf tourism is being seen as a top income-generator for nations from Papua New Guinea to Liberia, Ponting said. Even China has created a so-called Minister for Extreme Sports to dive in on the booming business.

Yet there is virtually no concrete data on just how big the board-carting crowd has become nor exactly how much money they generate. Scholars like Ponting estimate surf fever has caught on in more than 100 countries, while the U.S. surf industry alone generates an estimated $7 billion annually, according to the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association.

Chad Nelsen, who is doing a dissertation on the economics of surfing as part of his doctorate studies in environmental science at the University of California Los Angeles, said the only other university he has found with a formal surfing program is Great Britain's Plymouth University, which offers a Surf Science and Technology degree. That program focuses more on training students in design, production and marketing of surf products and tourism.

The SDSU research center has scheduled summits to bring together surfers, environmental organizations, tourism businesses and the small but growing wave of scholars studying surf economics. Ponting is arranging trips that will take students to places where tourism driven by surfers is making a difference in alleviating poverty and protecting the environment.

One of Ponting's hopes is that connecting the different facets of the surf industry will carry over into helping governments in developing countries understand the surf crowd and develop plans to handle the hordes.

To date, few people question the impact of surfers, Ponting said, and there are few sweeping plans about how to properly manage the surf tourism trade.

Ponting, a lifelong surfer from Australia, has traveled the globe catching waves and has seen how crowds of swell seekers have transformed remote parts of the world ? in both good and bad ways.

With no planning, many poor, remote communities discovered by surf explorers in the 1960s got caught up in what Ponting calls "the race to the bottom" with locals expanding their homes and offering cheap accommodation, but with little infrastructure to handle the mounting sewage and trash, which seep into pristine marine environments.

As a result, "surf slums" sprang up in paradise. Ponting points to some traditional Muslim villages in Indonesia that found themselves dealing with big-city problems brought in by the outsiders, including illegal drug use and prostitution.

On the other hand, there are places like Papua New Guinea, a model that has a national surf management plan limiting the number of surfers to popular spots and taxing them to help pay for sewage treatment, water systems and schools. Papua New Guinea also requires surfers to pay for a local surf guide, creating jobs for its people instead of merely playing host to foreign travel companies.

Surfers are unique in that they ? unlike other kinds of tourists ? will often pursue a wave no matter how far and difficult it may be to get there, Ponting said. They flock to nations in the midst of wars or after natural disasters, making them a resilient market for impoverished countries struggling to persuade traditional tourists to return.

That makes them a key market for places like Liberia, which has struggled to lose its image as a place of civil unrest but is quickly rising as the next unexplored surf frontier. Ponting is working on funding for a joint project with a nonprofit organization to guide the country's tourism department so locals reap the benefits instead of foreigners who may better understand the market.

The research center is working on developing a program that would certify surf hotels that ensure their operations do not pollute and that invest money back into the local communities where they are located. There is a growing tide of philanthropy among surfers wanting to help the places they visit.

Nelsen, who works as an environmental director at Surfrider Foundation, said the surf research center will give a much needed boost to organizations like his working to make the industry sustainable. He said it will also give credibility to scholars who have been dismissed because of the "Spicoli bias," referring to Jeff Spicoli, the apathetic, stoned surfing character in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

"If you have academically vetted information, it's a lot more valuable and accepted, and there's precious little of that out there on surfing," Nelsen said. "We don't want to see surfers discounted when they talk to their local city councils. This will provide tools so surfers can justify their interest in protecting surfing areas."

Corrine Roybal, a 21-year-old SDSU hospitality and tourism management major, said she held those stereotypes before taking a class from Ponting.

"It's an industry I didn't know really existed," said Roybal, after listening to Ponting lecture on a recent afternoon about how boats shuttling surfers to waves are destroying reefs with their anchors. "I had the stereotypical view of a surfer just out there to surf. It has really opened my eyes."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/center-for-surf-research-_n_1127544.html

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UN official to AP: pledges to cut CO2 will go on

Protestors shout during a climate change rally outside the climate change summit held in the city of Durban, South Africa, Friday, Dec 2, 2011.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Protestors shout during a climate change rally outside the climate change summit held in the city of Durban, South Africa, Friday, Dec 2, 2011.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Protestors march during a climate change rally outside a climate change summit held in the city of Durban, South Africa, Friday, Dec 2, 2011. A report released late Thursday in London and discussed Friday at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa said that _ in theory _ reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space before it strike's the Earth's surface would have an immediate and dramatic effect.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

South African Police prevents protestors entering the climate change summit held in the city of Durban, South Africa, Friday, Dec 2, 2011. Brighten clouds with sea water? Spray aerosols high in the stratosphere? Paint roofs white and plant light-colored crops? How about positioning "sun shades" over the Earth? At a time of deep concern over global warming, a group of scientists, philosophers and legal scholars examined whether human intervention could artificially cool the Earth _ and what would happen if it did.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Protestors shout during a climate change rallyoutside the climate change summit held in the city of Durban, South Africa, Friday, Dec 2, 2011. A report released late Thursday in London and discussed Friday at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa said that _ in theory _ reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space before it strike's the Earth's surface would have an immediate and dramatic effect.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) ? The top U.N. climate official said Saturday she is confident industrial countries will renew their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions after their current commitments expire next year.

Further commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an unshakable demand by poor countries, would avert a feared derailment of U.N. negotiations, but would mark little advancement toward the goal of a rapid and steep drop in worldwide carbon emissions blamed for climate change.

The protocol's future has been in doubt because rich countries have conditioned its continuation on an agreement by nations such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa to also accept binding emissions targets for themselves in the future.

"Countries are here these two weeks exactly talking about how they are going to go into a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," U.N. official Christiana Figueres told The Associated Press.

"The discussion this week is not about the 'if,' it's about the 'how.' That doesn't mean that we are out of the thick of it," she said. Delegates are discussing participation, the legal form of the rules and all of the conditions that will define the second commitment period, she said.

Figueres, who is executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, spoke to AP to mark the halfway point of the two-week meeting in South Africa's eastern city of Durban.

Conference chairmen were also compiling the first draft of an agreement that will be given to government ministers arriving next week for the final four days of talks. Among them are 12 heads of state or government and ministers from more than 130 nations.

Outside the conference hall, several thousand activists, South African village women, and trade union members paraded through this port city for a march billed as a "global day of protest."

"It's all about our future. It's calling for a sustainable future. We've got to act and we've actually got to act urgently, so that we put this planet back onto a sustainable path," said Bishop Jeff Davies, Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute. "At the moment, we are destroying our very life support systems."

Figueres said that talks were in "good shape" in preparation for the more senior delegates.

One reason for an uptick in optimism may be a signal from China that it will in the future set absolute caps on its emissions, perhaps as early as 2020. Until now, China has spoken of emissions controls purely in terms of energy intensity, or the amount of energy it uses per unit of economic production.

The signal from Beijing came from Xu Huaqing, a senior researcher for China's Energy Research Institute, who was quoted Friday in the semiofficial China Daily. His remarks were confirmed privately by one of China's top climate negotiators, Su Wei, on the sidelines of the talks in South Africa.

China is the world's largest emitter of heat-trapping greenhouse gas and a main foil of industrial countries in the U.N. negotiations. Virtually every statement, even semiofficial comments, is parsed by delegates seeking departures from its public positions.

"It's part and parcel of a growing realization that all countries can contribute to the solution, that every one of them has to do it, of course, according to their respective capabilities," Figures said.

The 27 members of the European Union provide the bulk of those countries falling under Kyoto's targets. In return for signing up to another round of pledges, the EU wants all major polluters to agree to a legally binding regime for everyone to be negotiated by 2015.

The United States refused to join the Kyoto regime, which it said unfairly exempted major developing countries from any emissions constraints.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-03-AF-Climate-Conference/id-8fe2c09b03f749fbb30d63e4f66ed72d

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