Exxon selling Japan unit for $3.9B to cut refining (AP)

TOKYO ? Exxon Mobil Corp. is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. in a $3.9 billion deal that reflects a long-term decline in Japan's demand for fuel and a global strategy to refocus on exploration.

TonenGeneral Sekiyu will buy 99 percent of the shares of Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha, which refines and sells fuel and lubricants, the Japanese refiner said about the deal, announced Sunday. Exxon Mobil's stake in TonenGeneral will drop to 22 percent from 50 percent.

Large oil and gas companies have been shedding refining operations in recent years and turning to oil exploration and production in the hope of bigger profits. Tighter rules for car and truck fuel efficiency are expected to weigh on growth in demand for fuel in developed countries for years to come.

Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining, told a press conference Monday in Tokyo that it was a restructuring move amid a changing global energy market, but said the company remained "very committed" to its refining ? or downstream ? operations.d

"What we continue to do is try to restructure ? in some cases invest, in some cases divest and in some cases restructure ? to make it a strong group of operations in our downstream" business, Glass told reporters.

The companies plan to conclude the deal in June.

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company, has a "long-term strategy of moving away from refining, where the margins are wafer thin, and into exploration," said Nicholas Smith, a strategist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo. "Refining is something that anybody can do. You can buy the technology off the shelf."

TonenGeneral said the move would make it more flexible, efficient and competitive in a market where demand is declining as the population ages and shrinks.

"The Japanese market is getting tougher," said Jun Mutoh, the company's managing director. "The decision-making within the company will be more effective in the newly integrated production-distribution operation."

TonenGeneral will continue to deliver products and services under the Esso, Mobil and General brands and continue to rely on Exxon's technology and technological support in the refining and petrochemicals businesses.

Other major oil companies are making similar moves.

Marathon Oil spun off its refining operations last July. This summer ConocoPhillips also plans to split itself in two, separating its refining operations from its more profitable oil and gas exploration and production business. BP and Shell are selling refineries in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Exploring and producing oil and gas offers investors a chance for faster growth. Also, oil prices are high and are expected to remain so, which has helped producer profits and funded a boom in new exploration.

Glass also said Exxon would like to develop Japan as a market for natural gas, another key part of Exxon's business, but said exporting it from the U.S. would be "problematic" and that shipping it from Australia or the Middle East would be more likely options.

He cited the company's 2010 acquisition of XTO Energy for its expertise in shale gas and fracking, a drilling method that is used to free oil and gas from rock, as an example of investment in the business.

"We are taking advantage of their expertise to bring additional gas to the market in a number of places around the world," he said. "We do believe that Japan is a promising market that we'd like to develop for LNG," or liquefied natural gas.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/as_exxon_japan

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Gaborik bests Lundqvist to earn All-Star MVP honor (AP)

OTTAWA ? Now that forward Marian Gaborik and goalie Henrik Lundqvist have playfully settled their NHL All-Star game rivalry, the two can go back to combining their talents and creating headaches for the rest of the league.

With much of the focus this weekend on all-star captains Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara, the unsettled future of the Phoenix Coyotes, and a still cloudy outlook regarding Sidney Crosby's health, Gaborik grabbed the limelight in capping the league's All-Star festivities in Ottawa.

The 11-year veteran earned MVP honors after scoring three times and adding an assist in leading Team Chara to a 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson on Sunday.

Gaborik proved he was the Rangers' top star by beating Lundqvist twice during the first period in delivering payback after the goalie ? and Team Alfredsson assistant captain ? failed to push for his selection in the All Star player draft on Thursday.

"I was trying to get into his mind over the whole weekend," Gaborik said, referring to a series of back-and-forth comments and tweets the two had exchanged the past few days. "And I think it was a pretty good challenge against him, and worked a little better for me."

No worries, said Lundqvist, who prefers Gaborik as a teammate.

"Obviously, he has a lot of leverage from all the games we've had against each other," Lundqvist said, recalling the time he gave up five goals to Gaborik, when the forward was with the Wild. "Hopefully, he stays in New York for a long time so I don't have to face him in a game."

The one-two punch of Gaborik and Lundqvist has had the Rangers on a roll for much of this season.

Gaborik's team-leading 25 goals and 39 points, and Lundqvist's 1.82 goals-against average ? best among NHL goalies with at least 25 starts ? has the Rangers (31-12-4) with 66 points, one behind league-leading Detroit.

The final two-plus months of the season resumes with 13 games on Tuesday. And if Sunday's game is any measure, the league isn't bereft of stars in the absence of Crosby, who's played only eight games this season due to a concussion and neck injury, and Alex Ovechkin, who didn't attend after the NHL suspended him for three games for an illegal hit.

Chara delivered by scoring the eventual winner in the midst of a decisive three-goal outburst over a 1:22 span that put his team up 11-8 with 6:34 remaining.

The Vancouver Canucks' Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, continued to prove they're among the game's top play-makers with several nifty passes.

And even in defeat, Alfredsson rewarded the hometown fans with two goals and an assist to further cement his place as Ottawa's favorite athlete, before providing a hint that he might come back for one more season.

With one year left on his contract, Alfredsson has sidestepped questions over whether he might retire after this season.

In an interview broadcast on the arena's scoreboard, the 39-year-old broke into a wide grin in giving his most definitive answer yet by saying, "Fifty percent yes, and my wife's going to have to decide the other 50," as the crowd broke into a cheer.

Even Chara got into the spirit of the exhibition, saying he was rooting for his former Senators teammate to complete his hat trick.

"Alfie's such a classy guy, obviously a big icon in Ottawa and Sweden, as well, and such a great player to represent this team," Chara said. "So of course I was pulling for him."

There was plenty to root for after fans were treated to a wide-open, no-hitting style in a game that featured plenty of nifty passing, numerous odd-man breaks and even a penalty shot awarded to Steven Stamkos, who leads the NHL with 32 goals.

Stamkos, however, was foiled on his freebie ? the second in All-Star game history ? when he attempted the same spin-around move he used to beat Carey Price in the skills competition on Saturday night. Jimmy Howard didn't bite on Sunday, holding his ground and hugging the post to stop Stamkos' penalty-shot attempt.

"I think I ran out of moves," Stamkos said. "I tried something fancy and hoped it would work. It didn't. But I just tried to have fun with it."

Tim Thomas made 18 saves in the final period, and extended his record by winning his fourth All-Star game.

Marian Hossa and Jarome Iginla had a goal and two assists, and Joffrey Lupul scored twice for Team Chara.

For Team Alfredsson, Henrik Sedin had a goal and two assists, and Daniel Sedin, John Tavares, Jason Pominville and Milan Michalek had a goal and assist each.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_ho_ga_su/hkn_all_star_game_folo

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Game of Thrones Season Two Trailer: Watch Now!

Forget winter, Game of Thrones fans. Spring is coming.

And with that change in temperature will come a new season of this HBO hit, as the network teased last night in an extended trailer. Watch now to get excited for the upcoming battle over the Iron Throne, with multiple characters coming on board and all taking aim at King Joffrey:

Game of Thrones Season 2 Preview: Shadows

Elsewhere, prior to the series premiere of Luck, HBO also debuted the first official look at this summer's new season of True Blood. It will feature the exciting return of...

... well, why not see for yourself?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/game-of-thrones-season-two-trailer-watch-now/

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The Science and Technology of Gaming Continues to Evolve ? Blog ...

? ?I predict a sell out of this gaming technology book within hours of store openings,? said Tricia Valerie, when asked about Tepler Atwill?s recent new book

?This is the biggest story of my career,? said Wetzstein Bonello, a reporter for ?The Globe?, a state wide newspaper with the best circulation rates, ?I?m getting calls from gaming technology industry executives, investors, and general employees all asking about what is going on, and if they can provide information for the news agency. Of course, they want their names mentioned so that a little publicity is given to their particular gaming technology company, but it does save me from hunting these people down and taking interviews.? Other reporters breaking news stated that finding interviewees was no trouble at all, since the need for publicity in the industry is very high. Cobo Kostick Corp, which is based down town, also released plans to expand its building into the old Wiren Straight Mercantile Shop, which has been vacant for about a year now. Said CIO Ferranti Mancusi, ?The recent news in the gaming technology industry means big things for us, including the need to expand our physical building and operations. We?ll be able to hire an additional, and much needed, 100 new employees who will help push our efforts forward. This is going to be great!? Reaction from the market regarding the news in the gaming technology sector was positive overall. Stock from key companies, such as Brzezinski Miltner Corp., Steffanie Preisach and Partners, and Danna Yochum LLC all saw dramatic increases in share value. Each of these companies uses important gaming technology technology in its general operations, and the news of advancements has spurned more venture capitalists to invest and make some quick cash. ?This is a huge opportunity for everyone,? said Dabney Canute, a day trader at the Polo Bring INC firm, which also manages a series of hedge funds in the gaming technology sector. ?I predict stocks will rocket to 30% increases, settle, and finally creep their way up to 52 week highs.? Investors won?t be the only ones reaping a profit from these latest developments. The research and development company Letty Mazon INC, which did most of the work on creating this new technology, will get a huge payoff as it auctions its products off to gaming technology industry heavy weights. Patrina Welty, President of Letty Mazon INC, had this to say: ?To keep things fair for all parties, we?re going to begin a general auction for our new products within 30 days. Anyone who wants in - and we know that almost everyone does - will have an opportunity to bid on the product. First dibs go to the top 3 companies, who will enjoy a 90 period free of competition from other gaming technology entities. Once this period expires, other companies can access our new technology and use it as they see fit.? Reporters were scurying around to every gaming technology industry exec they could find to get the scoop on the lastest developments. Mailander Lundvall, who writes for economics publication ?The Stanford Bramblett Journal? was busy waiting for an exclusive talk with COO Rosenwinkel Eisbach of the Macpherson Gearin and Sons company. Macpherson Gearin, who has been the most outspoken and technology savvy gaming technology industry exec, plans a vast period of ramping up company operations, hiring, and investment. Other reporters also learned of plans to acquire another gaming technology related out-of-state company, alhtough this tip came from an anonymous source who did not wish to face charges of insider trading. In addition, there was speculation that increased trade in the gaming technology sector would create a larger market in the USA, and keep dollars within the country. Reporter Karin Cutrona was researching this angle, and believes that the recent news means more money for USA based gaming technology companies and their subsidiaries. Said Karin Cutrona, ?For the past five years, there has been a noticable trade imbalance between the USA and other nations working within the gaming technology market, particularly in operations and human capital. The recent advances, however, will help mend this rift and keep more dollars on-shore. I expect to see demand for labor increase in the long run, with additional long run profits for strong gaming technology USA companies that move forward.? Although the gaming technology news was received well by most, their was some concern at the local 359 labor union. Many organized labor groups become weary with new technological advances, since this tends to spell the end for human labor, especially in the gaming technology market. ?Our fingers are crossed that corporate execs will honor all current contracts and not fire anyone,? said Union leader Hutchin Stong, ?and if all contracts are solid, we?re willing to negotiate with management at an appropriate time in the future to make sure our interests are being satisfied.? The union has been apart of the gaming technology sector for some fifteen years, and commands strong loyalty and respect from its members. Cornelia Blome, a wire reporter, was pleased to announce the recent news in the gaming technology industry. ?I?m pleased to report that technological advances by Libutti Saraiva INC have created a much higher degree of efficieny in operations. This means big profits for most gaming technology related companies and their subsidiaries? Libutti Saraiva continued with a complete analysis, including some raw data that was mind blowing: ?Output of gaming technology related products will nearly double, overhead will decrease by 1/3, and employee salaries will increase by 15%.?

?Posted on: Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12:07 am
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Source: http://www.persmaitb.com/2012/01/30/when-the-news-about-gaming-technology-broke-yesterday-stocks-bumped-up-a-bit-said-soder-wolinski-cfo-of-gagnier-fitzgibbon-ltd.php

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Japan, Russia to boost ties despite islands row (AP)

TOKYO ? The foreign ministers of Japan and Russia agreed Saturday to strengthen economic and security cooperation but made no progress on resolving a long-standing territorial dispute that has kept the two nations from concluding a peace treaty.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the two countries need to address the row over islands off northeastern Japan in a calm manner. Gemba said resolving the dispute and forging a peace treaty officially ending their hostilities in World War II is "more necessary than ever."

Both men sought to downplay the dispute and focus on ways the two nations could expand their ties.

"As the security situation in the Asia-Pacific undergoes major changes, the Japan-Russia relationship has taken on new importance," Gemba said at a joint news conference following what he called a "fruitful" two-hour meeting.

"We reaffirmed that we want to strengthen our cooperation in security, defense and economic matters, particularly energy modernization," he added.

Lavrov welcomed the increased trade between the two nations, which grew last year to 2.45 trillion yen ($31 billion).

"We want our international cooperation to expand," Lavrov said.

The two sides signed an agreement to simplify visa procedures to boost visitors and business interaction, particularly from Japan to Russia.

Ties between Japan and Russia soured in late 2010 when Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian president to visit the disputed islands, called the southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. They were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II, but Japan says they are part of its territory.

The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are believed to have oil, natural gas and mineral deposits.

"Resolving this problem and concluding a peace treaty is more necessary than ever," Gemba said. "But unfortunately ... our positions are different. We hope to resolve this through dialogue."

Lavrov said tackling the matter would have to wait until a new leader is chosen in Russia's presidential election on March 4.

"Both countries need to address the row over the islands in a calm manner without getting emotional or critical," he said.

Lavrov and Gemba were to discuss North Korea over a working lunch in the second part of their meeting. Japan and Russia are among six nations involved in long-stalled talks offering aid for North Korean nuclear disarmament.

Asked about North Korea, Lavrov said Moscow has information that the talks will "possibly resume." He did not elaborate.

North Korea, which is undergoing a leadership transition, appears to be pushing for a resumption of the talks, but the U.S. and its allies want it to first show it is serious about previous disarmament commitments. South Korea and China are the other countries involved in the talks.

Lavrov also said Russia would support Japan's efforts to press North Korea on its abduction of Japanese citizens.

After years of denials, North Korea said in 2002 that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese to train its spies. It returned five abductees but claimed the rest had died. Japan disputes that and says as many as 12 Japanese may still be captive in the North.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_russia

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ABC picks up 3 comedy pilots (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 27 (TheWrap.com) ? ABC beefed up its comedy stockpile Friday with orders for three pilots. "How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life," created by Claudia Lonow ("Friends With Benefits," "Accidentally on Purpose" and, more recently, the troubled cross-dressing sitcom "Work It"), will follow the adventures of recent divorcee and single mother Polly, who moves in with her eccentric parents, Elaine and Max, who are full of life but know no boundaries. Lonow is also executive-producing the half-hour, single-camera project, which comes via 20th Century Fox and Imagine Television. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo are also attached as executive producers.

The network has also given the go-ahead to a pilot by Adam Sztykiel, writer of the big-screen offerings "Due Date" and "Made of Honor." The as-yet-untitled project promises to offer a "raw, hilarious peek behind the curtain of modern 20-something relationships." Sztykiel created and will co-executive produce the project through 20th Century Fox Television. Sean Perrone and Aaron Kaplan ("Made of Honor," "You, Me and Dupree") are executive-producing the half-hour, single-camera comedy.

Rounding out the trio is "Only Fools and Horses," which is based on the British series of the same name and "chronicles the misadventures of two streetwise brothers and their aging grandfather as they concoct outrageous, morally questionable get rich quick schemes in their quest to become millionaires."

Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley, both veterans of "MADtv," are writing the half-hour, multi-camera project, which comes via ABC Studios.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/tv_nm/us_abc_pilots

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Goldman executives get access to restricted stock (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Top Goldman Sachs Group Inc executives received previously restricted stock awards that are now worth $47.7 million, according to regulatory filings, though the executives are still limited in selling most of their Goldman stock.

Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn and top investment banker and vice chairman John Weinberg each received 45,497 shares worth $5.1 million, based on Goldman's closing price of $111.77 on Friday.

Seven other executives each received previously awarded shares worth $2.8 million to $5 million, according to Form 4 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among those executives are vice chairmen Michael Evans and Michael Sherwood, as well as Goldman's legal chief, Gregory Palm, its accounting chief, Sarah Smith, and compliance chief Alan Cohen.

The stock awards became unlocked on Wednesday, but the 11 executives did not immediately sell those shares. They did sell an additional $20.2 million worth of Goldman stock at $107.44 apiece to cover tax obligations.

The transactions took place on Wednesday, when executives received access to the previously restricted stock.

Starting in 2009, Wall Street banks began shifting more of their bonus awards into stock that executives are required to hold for multi-year periods in an effort to align incentives with long-term performance.

In 2011, some of those payments started coming due, leaving compensation costs stubbornly high for big investment banks, even as they cut jobs and bonus pools due to weak business.

Last year, Goldman paid $12.2 billion in compensation costs, down 21 percent from 2010, and reduced its payroll by 2,400 jobs. Yet because revenue fell even more, compensation as a percentage of revenue rose to 42.4 percent from 39.3 percent the previous year.

(Reporting By Lauren Tara LaCapra; editing by Andre Grenon)

(Corrects story to make clear that Goldman Sachs executives cannot immediately sell all of the shares received from a previous award)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/bs_nm/us_goldman_stockawards

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Playfish Product Leader John Earner Is Leaving To Be An EIR At Accel

At this point in his career, it's safe to put John Earner in the "names as destiny" category. Following a hugely successful run with Playfish, he's leaving the social game developer today to start as an entrepreneur in residence at Accel, according to?sources. A former naval officer, he joined as the company in 2008 as its first game producer, where he shepherded the development of its first big simulation game, Pet Society. Having figured out how to monetize virtual goods with it, he went on to launch the company's next big hit, Restaurant City.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uawcAn3pFbQ/

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Kitchen gadget inspires scientist to make more effective plastic electronics

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) ? One day in 2010, Rutgers physicist Vitaly Podzorov watched a store employee showcase a kitchen gadget that vacuum-seals food in plastic. The demo stuck with him. The simple concept -- an airtight seal around pieces of food -- just might apply to his research: developing flexible electronics using lightweight organic semiconductors for products such as video displays or solar cells.

"Organic transistors, which switch or amplify electronic signals, hold promise for making video displays that bend like book pages or roll and unroll like posters," said Podzorov. But traditional methods of fabricating a part of the transistor known as the gate insulator often end up damaging the transistor's delicate semiconductor crystals.

Drawing inspiration from the food-storage gadget, Podzorov and his colleagues tried an experiment. They suspended a thin polymer membrane above the organic crystal and created a vacuum underneath, causing the membrane to collapse gently and evenly onto the crystal's surface. The result: a smooth, defect-free interface between the organic semiconductor and the gate insulator.

The researchers reported their success in the journal Advanced Materials. In the article,Podzorov and three colleagues describe how a single-crystal organic field effect transistor (OFET) made with this thin polymer gate insulator boosted electrical performance. The researchers further reported that they could remove and reapply membranes to the same crystal several times without degrading its surface.

Organic transistors electrically resemble silicon transistors in computer chips, but they are made of flexible carbon-based molecules that can be printed on sheets of plastic. Silicon transistors are made in rigid, brittle wafers of silicon.

The methods that scientists previously applied to organic transistor fabrication were based on silicon semiconductor processing, explained Podzorov, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences. These involved high temperatures, high-energy plasmas or chemical reactions, all of which could damage the delicate organic crystal surface and hinder the transistor's performance.

"People have tendencies to go with something they've known for a long time," he said. "In this case, it doesn't work right."

Podzorov's innovation builds upon a decade of Rutgers research in this field, including his invention of the first single crystal organic transistor in 2003. While his latest innovation is still a ways from commercial reality, he sees an immediate application in the classroom.

"Our technique takes 10 minutes," he said. "It should be exciting for students to actually build these devices and immediately see them work, all within one lab session."

Podzorov was actually trying to solve another problem when he first recalled the food packaging demo. He was thinking about how to protect organic crystals from airborne impurities when his lab shipped samples to collaborating scientists in California and overseas.

"We could place our samples between plastic sheets and pull a vacuum," he said. "Then I thought, 'why don't we try doing this for our gate insulator?'"

Funding for the research was provided by the U. S. Department of Energy and the Rutgers Institute for Advanced Materials and Devices for Nanotechnology. Collaborators in Podzorov's lab were postdoctoral researchers Hee Taek Yi and Yuanzhen Chen, and undergraduate student Krzysztof Czelen. The department's machine shop made a custom-designed vacuum chamber for the project.

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Journal Reference:

1. H. T. Yi, Y. Chen, K. Czelen, V. Podzorov. Vacuum Lamination Approach to Fabrication of High-Performance Single-Crystal Organic Field-Effect Transistors. Advanced Materials, 2011; 23 (48): 5807 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201103305

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127140935.htm

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Space station dwellers safe from massive radiation storm

NASA scientists also routinely monitor space weather conditions in order to protect astronauts and hardware in orbit from harmful radiation, and today's solar storm is no exception, agency officials said.

An intense solar flare unleashed the biggest radiation storm in years today (Jan. 23), but astronauts aboard the International Space Station are not in any danger, NASA officials say.

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The sun eruption triggered the?most powerful radiation storm since 2005?in a wave of charged particles that is expected to hit our planet Tuesday (Jan. 24) at around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT), according to experts at the Space Weather Prediction Center, which is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NASA scientists also routinely monitor space weather conditions in order to protect astronauts and hardware in orbit from harmful radiation, and today's solar storm is no exception, agency officials said.

"The flight surgeons have reviewed the?space weather forecasts?for the flare and determined that there are no expected adverse effects or actions required to protect the on-orbit crew," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told SPACE.com.

The solar flare erupted this morning at 0359 GMT (which corresponds to late Sunday, Jan. 22 at 10:59 p.m. EST), triggering a solar explosion known as a coronal mass ejection that sent a stream of charged particles into space. When these charged particles hit Earth they stream down the planet's magnetic field lines to create so-called geomagnetic storms that can supercharge Earth's auroras (also known as the northern and southern lights).

But space weather can also have negative effects, such as interfering with power grids and communications infrastructure on Earth, and disrupting satellites and other spacecraft in orbit.

According to the skywatching site?Spaceweather.com, today's coronal mass ejection "will deliver a strong glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Jan. 24-25 as it sails mostly north of our planet."

In response, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a geomagnetic storm watch, and the agency's deputy, Kathy Sullivan, said that polar flights are expected to be re-routed.

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing northern lights photo, or other skywatching image, and would like to share it for a possible story or gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at?tmalik@space.com.

OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel (@btisrael) contributed to this report from New Orleans, La. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/9BpYLizkoXI/Space-station-dwellers-safe-from-massive-radiation-storm

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Pro Bowlers want game to stay in Hawaii (AP)

HONOLULU ? Many NFL stars are hoping that when it comes to the Pro Bowl, aloha doesn't mean goodbye.

The NFL all-star game doesn't have a home beyond Sunday's game. League and Hawaii officials are negotiating a deal to keep the game in the islands, which is hosting it for the second straight year after it was played in Miami in 2010, breaking a 30-year run in Hawaii.

Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall says the Pro Bowl belongs in Hawaii.

Some players went as far as saying they wouldn't participate if the Pro Bowl was moved.

The state is paying the NFL $4 million per game for the rights to hold this year's game in Hawaii.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_pro_bowl

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Interview with Reagan Flowers (Offthekuff)

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Patriots prevail vs. Ravens, gain 7th Super Bowl

Baltimore misses late TD, FG as N.E. wins AFC Championship 23-20

Jim Rogash / Getty Images

The?Patriots celebrate after Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff misses a game-tying field goal in the final seconds of Sunday's AFC Championship game.

By BARRY WILNER

updated 11:47 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2012

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Tom Brady got all the help he needed to get the New England Patriots into the Super Bowl.

Thank you, Billy Cundiff.

The Baltimore Ravens kicker shanked a 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 victory in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

Usually, vintage Brady doesn't need much assistance in championship settings, but the Patriots much-maligned defense came through, and Brady's 1-yard touchdown dive with 11:29 left proved to be the winning points.

"Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us," Brady said after throwing for 239 yards, with two interceptions and, for the first time in 36 games, no TD passes. "I'm going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I'm proud of this team, my teammates."

Brady waited out the final tense minutes on the sideline, and then celebrated with the rest of his team when Cundiff's attempt went wide left. The Ravens looked on in stunned horror.

Cundiff had no excuse.

"It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career," Cundiff said. "I went out there and didn't convert. That's the way things go."

Next up as the Patriots chase their fourth Super Bowl trophy in Brady and coach Bill Belichick's tenure in New England is the New York Giants, who beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime Sunday night.

The Patriots were installed as 3-point favorites for the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

In their last trip to the big game, the Patriots had an 18-0 record when they were stunned by the Giants four years ago. They won the NFL championship for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons. This time, they head to the Super Bowl with a 10-game winning streak.

Before Cundiff missed, the Ravens had a chance to go ahead two plays earlier, but wide receiver Lee Evans was stripped of the ball in the end zone by backup cornerback Sterling Moore, who earlier was victimized for a touchdown that gave Baltimore (13-5) the lead 17-16.

On his touchdown, Brady took a huge hit from Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis, then emphatically spiked the ball as he walked away. Earlier, Brady showed his fire by barking at Lewis following a hard tackle on a 4-yard run.

"It's a pretty mentally tough team," said Brady, whose fifth trip to the Super Bowl will equal John Elway's achievement with Denver. "There's really some resiliency. We've shown that all season. Even in the games we've lost, the three games we lost, we fought until the end. We're always going to fight to the end. It's great to be a part of a team like this."

Baltimore had the touted defense in this matchup, but New England's unit, ranked 31st overall, was just as powerful.

"We stepped up," Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "We all stepped up big time. Being in this situation is a great moment. You have to cherish this moment."

The Patriots shut down Ray Rice, the league's total yardage leader, who was limited to 78 yards. Brandon Spikes made a fourth-quarter interception of Joe Flacco, who played well before that and threw for two touchdowns. And when the Ravens were threatening to score a late touchdown to win their first conference title in 11 years, New England clamped down.

"It's two great football teams, two gladiators, I guess, just kind of going at each other at the end, and I'm proud of our guys," Harbaugh said. "You know, we've got 53 guys, mighty men, as we like to call them - and they fought, and we came up a little bit short, as 53. You know, 53 win and 53 lose."

With Rice a nonfactor, Baltimore had to rely on Flacco, and he delivered one of his best performances. Flacco has led the Ravens into the playoffs in all four of his pro seasons, but not to the Super Bowl. He was 22 for 36 for 306 yards and touchdowns of 6 yards to Dennis Pitta and 29 to rookie Torrey Smith.

The loss hardly could be blamed on Flacco.

"I don't know if I ever will prove anything," he said. "I just play the same way. We lost; someone has to. But we laid it all out on the field."

Operating against a porous secondary missing its top cornerback, Kyle Arrington, who left in the second quarter with an eye injury, Flacco gave Baltimore its first lead. His short pass on third down to explosive receiver Smith turned into a 29-yard scamper down the right sideline after Moore completely whiffed on the tackle.

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It's another Super matchup

Rosenthal: Tom Coughlin has gone from the hot seat to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have a chance to make history. This all seems familiar, doesn?t it?

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46093503/ns/sports-nfl/

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Bloomberg blasts use of movie during NYPD training (AP)

NEW YORK ? Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that New York police used "terrible judgment" in showing officers undergoing counterterrorism training a graphic, hard-hitting film that says Muslim extremists are bent on establishing a worldwide Islamic regime.

Bloomberg said police have stopped showing "The Third Jihad," a 72-minute documentary-style movie that has been branded inflammatory by some Muslim groups and was bankrolled, according to The New York Times, by a conservative group called the Clarion Fund.

"Somebody exercised some terrible judgment," Bloomberg said in Albany. "As soon as they found out about it, they stopped it."

The criticism was unusual for Bloomberg, who in recent months has vigorously defended the police department's counterterrorism efforts after an Associated Press investigation exposed a secret program to gather intelligence on Muslim neighborhoods.

Bloomberg said neither he nor Police Commissioner Ray Kelly knew about the film being shown.

"The Third Jihad" shows TV images of Hezbollah rocket attacks, children being held hostage by Muslim militants and a woman it says was arrested in Iran for wearing immodest clothing. It shows images it says were taken from Islamic videos and websites, including a doctored picture of an Islamic flag flying over the White House.

It accuses Muslim extremists of posing as moderates and charges several Muslim organizations with being soft on terrorism. It accuses Middle Eastern studies departments at some American universities of supporting hard-line religious governments.

The film is narrated by M. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Foundation for Democracy, based in Phoenix. Jasser rejected Bloomberg's criticism.

"I could not disagree more," Jasser said. "For him to say that without contradicting any of the facts that are presented in the movie is, I think, careless."

The movie was shown on a continuous loop while officers were signing in for counterterrorism training sessions from October to December 2010, according to police documents obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank at New York University. As many as 1,489 officers who underwent training, including 68 lieutenants, may have seen it, the documents say.

Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said that the police brass did not approve the use of the movie for training and that the decision to play it was made by a sergeant, who has since been reprimanded.

"This was never used in training, period. It was never authorized for use in training, period," Browne said.

The screening of the film inside the 36,000-member police department has been known for months, but police previously said only a few officers had seen it. They stopped showing the film after a trainee complained.

The film was used as "intermission filler" and to "provide information for students during breaks to keep their attention focused on counterterrorism issues," Assistant Chief George W. Anderson wrote in one of the documents obtained by the Brennan Center.

Anderson said he believed the video was given to police by someone in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But the department said it did not authorize distribution of the movie.

___

Associated Press Writers Michael Gormley, Eileen Sullivan, Tom Hays and Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_nypd_intelligence

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Moral imagination as a key to overcoming work-related stigmas

Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ana Herrera
oic@uc3m.es
Carlos III University of Madrid

This release is available in Spanish.

There are some jobs ("dirty work", in Anglo-Saxon terminology) that, because of their characteristics, produce a certain amount of social rejection towards the people who perform them, due to the fact that they are subjected to moral conflicts and ethical decisions related to performing those duties. "Paradoxically, these occupations are very necessary from a social perspective, as in the case of a police officer who hesitates before using force at a given moment, or an aide working with psychiatric patients who faces the dilemma of whether or not to use drugs with the patients, for example", comments the author of the study, Esther Roca Batllori, of the Department of Business Administration. She is doing research on how to help these "dirty workers" overcome the stigmas associated with their professions that make it more difficult for them to carry out their duties; these workers often feel a lack of motivation, which results in a high rate of absenteeism and staff turnover.

The article, which was recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics, proposes that one of the keys to solving this situation lies in "moral imagination". In general terms, this is defined as an ability that allows the individuals to make better decisions in contexts and situations characterized by conflicts that are moral in nature. "Moral imagination turns out to be a great help when one is facing these morally ambiguous decision-making processes, because it offers greater moral perception, critical capacity and individual moral conscience", the researcher states. "This greater consciousness that the moral imagination provides - she continues in turn, makes overcoming the social stigma easier ", she concludes.

Finally, the study analyzes how organizations with "dirty workers" can foment and create conditions that allow moral imagination to develop. To this end, companies can adopt measures such as "the use of narratives, which favor contact among different workers and stimulate moral inclusion, or designs of work stations that revolve around the worker's autonomy and critical capacity ", explains Professor Roca. From a more general perspective, these measures would be integrated into a company culture whose nucleus would be a commitment to the worker's individual values and critical thought, and that prioritizes ethical aspects over others.

The concept of moral imagination has been widely developed in the field of business management as well as in the field of philosophy. "I found it interesting to think about how this concept, initially a theoretical one, could be applied to an area that is so practical, like work", comments Esther Roca, who has received support for her research from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Fundacin Ramn Areces (Ramn Areces Foundation).

###

More information:
Title: The Exercise of Moral Imagination in Stigmatized Work Groups
Author: Roca, Esther
Source: JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS 96 (1): 135-147 SEP 2010
ISSN: 0167-4544
Image: Flickr Thomas_Hawk
(www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/6473509117/)

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ana Herrera
oic@uc3m.es
Carlos III University of Madrid

This release is available in Spanish.

There are some jobs ("dirty work", in Anglo-Saxon terminology) that, because of their characteristics, produce a certain amount of social rejection towards the people who perform them, due to the fact that they are subjected to moral conflicts and ethical decisions related to performing those duties. "Paradoxically, these occupations are very necessary from a social perspective, as in the case of a police officer who hesitates before using force at a given moment, or an aide working with psychiatric patients who faces the dilemma of whether or not to use drugs with the patients, for example", comments the author of the study, Esther Roca Batllori, of the Department of Business Administration. She is doing research on how to help these "dirty workers" overcome the stigmas associated with their professions that make it more difficult for them to carry out their duties; these workers often feel a lack of motivation, which results in a high rate of absenteeism and staff turnover.

The article, which was recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics, proposes that one of the keys to solving this situation lies in "moral imagination". In general terms, this is defined as an ability that allows the individuals to make better decisions in contexts and situations characterized by conflicts that are moral in nature. "Moral imagination turns out to be a great help when one is facing these morally ambiguous decision-making processes, because it offers greater moral perception, critical capacity and individual moral conscience", the researcher states. "This greater consciousness that the moral imagination provides - she continues in turn, makes overcoming the social stigma easier ", she concludes.

Finally, the study analyzes how organizations with "dirty workers" can foment and create conditions that allow moral imagination to develop. To this end, companies can adopt measures such as "the use of narratives, which favor contact among different workers and stimulate moral inclusion, or designs of work stations that revolve around the worker's autonomy and critical capacity ", explains Professor Roca. From a more general perspective, these measures would be integrated into a company culture whose nucleus would be a commitment to the worker's individual values and critical thought, and that prioritizes ethical aspects over others.

The concept of moral imagination has been widely developed in the field of business management as well as in the field of philosophy. "I found it interesting to think about how this concept, initially a theoretical one, could be applied to an area that is so practical, like work", comments Esther Roca, who has received support for her research from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Fundacin Ramn Areces (Ramn Areces Foundation).

###

More information:
Title: The Exercise of Moral Imagination in Stigmatized Work Groups
Author: Roca, Esther
Source: JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS 96 (1): 135-147 SEP 2010
ISSN: 0167-4544
Image: Flickr Thomas_Hawk
(www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/6473509117/)

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ciuo-mia012312.php

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Heaven help us. |ooc&su|

In 2018, the United States and North Korea exchanged nuclear bombs. Two to each country. The two in the U.S took out most of Los Angles, and a good part of Sacramento. And then for a whole year or so, it seemed as if Californians were the only ones who really suffered...but in 2019, the entire nation was subject to nuclear fallout. The past year, the radiation from the bombs had hung in the air and was pushed along by wind currents, and eventually, it came down to earth. Everyone was subject to a bit of it at first. Some more than others, of course. But almost as soon as the first person went to the hospital for minor effects of it, the nation panicked and everyone took all measures possible to prevent from it. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for some people.

During that time of radiation babies, were born, naturally. For the women with little radiation, births went just as births are expected to, with mother and child going on perfectly healthy. But those with more radiation weren't faced with such happy endings. In those cases, it wasn't uncommon for mother or child to die. In fact, in most cases neither made it. But there were quite a few occurrences also where the baby made it...although they all suffered from radiation poisoning passed down through their mother.

In eight of those cases in which the babies survived, the radiation didn't effect them in the harmful way it would be expected to. It actually altered them in such a way that gave them special abilities...superpowers, if you will. Of course no one knew this until the children were around three, and started to exhibit these powers. When a man named Gary Batts caught word of this, he adopted, or in some cases even kidnapped, these special children. After he had acquired all of them, he made it his mission to train them. To teach them how to use and control their powers, and not let having them corrupt them. They were all home schooled, and rarely saw life outside of the house...but since it was what they knew, they all seemed to be content with their situation. Well, all accept for the one child that disappeared when they were all around the age of ten.

---

The year is now 2036. All of the children are either seventeen or eighteen years old now. They've mastered their powers, and have been allowed to experience the outside world for the last two years...they'd even been offered the chance to move out. But none of them did. Not even after Mr. Batts passed away. That particular event actually left them lost, not knowing what to do with themselves.

As if coming from a comic book, they've decided that they must become a team of protectors for the dirty New Jersey city riddled with crime. Because they think it's probably what Mr. Batts would want from them. A couple of them have taken up jobs in order to privide for the essentials, but the rest of them usually stay at home. They'll occasionally go out and act as regular citizens...but only a couple times a week or so. They prefer to stay in the comfort of their own home most of the time. But whenever there's word of some kind of crime to be taken care of, they're all in the action.

Also not unlike a comic book, they have their own nemesis who is trying to destroy them. Due to this person also having powers, it can only be assumed that they are the run away member of their little family. And they have obviously chosen to use their powers for 'evil'. What their overall plan is is unknown. They just seem bent on killing their 'siblings'...maybe, just maybe, it could be to leave them the only one with powers. Maybe it's that they want to be the one to actually protect the city instead of harming it.. But again, that information is not known to anyone just yet.

So for now, they just fight.

The children
Jett +TheOneAndOnly+
Malachi +TheOneAndOnly+
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight (now their nemesis)

There is a lot to read, I'm sorry =\ Please don't be put off by that...or if it seems confusing. Because I will explain anything that needs explaining if you just ask =)
Also, I want an equal gender count. 4 boys and 4 girls. I may or may not ask people to double, depending on how much interest this gets.
Anyway, that's about it out of me for now I suppose =p

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/sFLMYCdTa8g/viewtopic.php

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Meet the super super PAC (Politico)

Super PACs are just so 2011.

Meet the next big thing in U.S. politics: the super super PAC.

Continue Reading

These nascent groups can not only raise mega cash to promote candidates, but give money to candidates? campaigns ? a kind of political power and intimacy today?s super PACs alone can?t achieve.

Here?s how it works: under new federal rules, a traditional PAC and super PAC may operate under one roof. These hybrid operations can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash to promote or oppose candidates, as any super PAC can, while simultaneously giving limited amounts of money directly to campaigns and committees, like a traditional political action committee.

Already, 11 of these hybrids have emerged, representing a range of political ideologies and purposes. They foreshadow even further tumult within the nation?s campaign finance system as the two-year anniversary of the seminal Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision arrives Saturday.

Several operatives involved with them predict the popularity of special interest hybrid PACs will explode during the next year as more organizations become aware of them and realize their benefits.

?Any PAC that doesn?t become a hybrid PAC is run by idiots. The default is going to be hybrid PACs,? said Dan Backer, the principal attorney at DB Capitol Strategies who successfully argued last year?s Carey v. Federal Election Commission case, the decision in which legalized hybrid PACs for those not tied to corporations and unions.

?It?d be ludicrous to limit your ability when you have this right,? he said. ?My thought is that we?ll never say ?super PAC? again in 10, maybe five years.?

PACs connected to corporations and unions, meanwhile, could soon win the same right, thanks to a case also initiated by Backer and pending before the Federal Election Commission. It?s expected to be settled by late winter.

Two major super PACs, both of which have poured millions of dollars into this year?s presidential campaign, confirm to POLITICO they?re considering morphing into hybrid PACs.

?If Newt Gingrich gets the nomination, we would want a very strong ticket up and down the line, and this would definitely help in that regard, giving us the ability to donate direct to candidates,? said Rick Tyler, an official at pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future, which to date has spent several million dollars promoting the House speaker or attacking his opponents. ?We?re not going to leave any weapon in the the arsenal.?

Said Abe Niederhauser, treasurer of the pro-Ron Paul Endorse Liberty super PAC: ?It seems like a big advantage. I?d be interested in learning more about it. We might want to do it.?

For PACs that have already gone hybrid ? they range from the Conservative Action Fund to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund ? the advantages are notable and immediate, several officials said.

One likened it to the difference between paying high home utility bills issued by several different companies versus paying one bill from single provider who bundles services together for a lower overall rate.

?It really makes it a lot easier to organize your efforts and fundraise. You?re looking at a 30, 40, 50 percent savings on overhead costs and administration alone,? said Dave Mason, a two-time FEC chairman who helped create PURO PAC, a hybrid formed last month to advocate for the premium cigar industry and support candidates who oppose federal cigar regulations. ?You can put that savings into politics, like ads or contributions. And for traditional PACs, it?s going to contribute to pushing their activity in the direction of more independent expenditures ? and I?m not saying whether that?s good or bad.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71763_html/44256069/SIG=11megi108/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71763.html

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Unruly NFC Championship fans face ouster from game (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Don't yell obscenities, don't flip the bird ? and don't even think about insulting anyone's mother.

The San Francisco 49ers and the NFL have adopted extraordinary security measures for Sunday's NFC championship against the New York Giants after New Orleans Saints fans complained of harassment by unruly 49ers faithful last week.

Undercover police will be dressed in Giants' garb and on the lookout for nasty fans. Giants ticketholders will be handed a card as they enter Candlestick Park with details on how to contact police if they feel threatened. And more security cameras and undercover police officers will be in place to identify abusive fans.

Season ticketholders have also been warned to follow the NFL Fan Code of Conduct: no foul or abusive language or obscene gestures and no verbal or physical abuse of opposing team fans.

The nail-biting 36-32 win last Saturday for the 49ers was the team's first playoff game in nine years, and a raucous crowd was on hand to enjoy the victory at the expense of the Saints.

"I apologize for any rudeness that may have happened," San Francisco 49ers president and CEO Jed York said. "I think you saw 49ers fans who were very excited about hosting a playoff game for the first time in a long time."

Those fans were so excited that they ruined the day for a shaken Don Moses and his two teenage daughters. Moses, a longtime Bay Area resident who is from New Orleans, said they were wearing the Saints colors and prepared for some good-natured ribbing.

Instead, he tells a horror story of fear and humiliation when his daughters asked him why he didn't do anything to stop the hulking 49ers fans who yelled vulgarities and threw footballs at them, screamed in their faces and called their mother a whore.

"The hostility and threats of violence were a constant throughout our experience," Moses said in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, one that launched some soul-searching by city officials and led to some 49ers fans to apologize on behalf of their city.

"Every other word from dozens of fans around us was an f-bomb shouted at the top of their lungs," Moses said. "There were seven or eight large 30- to 35-year-old guys directly behind us who cursed and threatened us the entire game." He turned to ask them to tone it down in front of his girls and they yelled: "Do not turn around again! Do not ever turn around again."

He was afraid that if the fans saw him calling or texting security, the men would harm his daughters.

"Every 49ers fan, the team and its owners should be ashamed and embarrassed to wear the red and gold today," Moses wrote in the letter published Tuesday. "They won the game but are losers in every other way."

NFL security director Jeff Miller told the AP that if the security cameras or undercover police catch such abusive behavior by fans on Sunday, they will be yanked from the stadium.

"We'll be looking early on to identify people trying to do those things in the parking areas and take action to remove them," said Miller, who will be at the game. "We're not going to be warning people inside the stadium. They will be removed."

Authorities are already sensitive about the heartbreaking case of Brian Stow, a paramedic and San Francisco Giants fan who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a beating by two men dressed in Dodgers gear following the home opener against the Giants in Los Angeles on March 31. Medical care for Stow is expected to cost as much as $50 million and the father of two has sued the Dodgers.

Tailgating after kickoff already has been banned from the parking lot at Candlestick Park under security measures introduced after two shootings, a beating and fights broke out during an Aug. 20 pre-season game with across-the-bay rivals Oakland Raiders.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said he heard first-hand how Saints fans were treated last Saturday when he gave three of them a lift from the stadium back into the city after the game. They gave him an earful about how badly they'd been belittled.

"We're all native San Franciscans and, you know, that's not the way we want to represent the team and the city," Suhr said.

He said Mayor Ed Lee instructed him to do whatever it takes to make Giants fans feel safe.

Police officers and team personnel at the ticket gates will be welcoming them with cards that tell them how to contact police.

The 49ers also purchased Giants attire for undercover police officers.

"They'll be seated around the stadium as decoys, if you will, trying to draw out the obnoxious fans and they will be removed immediately," he said.

Then there are the lights.

A good portion of the game will be played under the same stadium lights that blacked out and delayed the nationally televised Monday Night Football game between the 49ers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 19.

The city and the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. insist there won't be an embarrassing repeat of the two blackouts at the 51-year-old stadium, which had prompted the mayor to call the night a "national embarrassment."

PG&E spokesman Joe Molica is confident the nearly $1 million in upgrades to the park by the electric utility and the city will prove the old bayside stadium proud.

He said the wire for the electrical circuit that serves the park has been replaced with more than a mile and a half of new wire that is resistant to contact and carries three times the electrical load. A new computer system allows workers to better monitor the circuit.

The command center at the stadium has conducted a string of tests simulating the Dec. 19 blackout and everything tested well.

Will Molica be holding his breath on Sunday about another blackout?

No, he said, "I'll be holding my breath for the 49ers to win."

___

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report from Santa Clara, Calif.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_sp_ot/us_niners_giants_security

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Greece debt swap talks drag into weekend (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) ? Greece and its creditors are continuing negotiations on a debt swap on Saturday after late-night talks edged them closer to a vital deal but failed to clinch an agreement.

Athens is anxious to strike a deal before a meeting on Monday of euro zone finance ministers, just in time to set in motion the paperwork and approvals necessary to receive a new injection of aid to avoid a messy bankruptcy in March.

"The elements of an unprecedented voluntary PSI are coming into place," the Institute of International Finance said in a statement after Friday's three-hour evening negotiation session, referring to the bond swap scheme.

"Now is the time to act decisively and seize the opportunity to finalize this historic deal and contribute to the economic stability of Greece, the euro area and the world economy."

The statement seemed to be addressing Greece's official lenders, the EU and the IMF, who have driven a hard bargain behind the scenes of the negotiations, insisting that the deal must slash Greece's debt substantially, sources in Athens said.

IIF chief Charles Dallara, who negotiates in the name of the private bondholders, will resume talks with senior Greek officials on Saturday. No time was set yet for the meeting.

"We will not know anything for sure before Monday," said a banking source close to the talks. "The euro zone ministers will examine the proposal and say whether we have a deal. If they say we don't, we're back to the negotiating table."

Private bondholders will likely take a hit of 65 to 70 percent on their holdings, with Greece's new bonds featuring 30-year maturity and a progressive coupon, or interest rate, averaging out at 4 percent, another banking official close to the talks told Reuters.

A 15 percent cash sweetener will be made up of short-term bonds from Europe's temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), two sources told Reuters.

"It will be near cash-equivalent short-term EFSF bonds," one of the sources said.

Haggling over the coupon had held up the long-running talks as Greece raced to wrap up an agreement, raising the prospect of a messy default when Athens faces 14.5 billion euros ($18.5 billion) of bond repayments in March.

"The two sides are still discussing the coupon and some technical details," a Greek banker close to the talks said on Saturday. "After Friday's meeting, we are in a better position and closer to a deal, but I don't think we should expect any announcement today."

ECB'S ROLE

Another source close to the talks said the European Central Bank's part in the deal was also discussed.

"We expect them to make an effort as well. It could be through a special deal, as you would expect for a body like the ECB," the source said.

Greece needs to have a deal in the bag before funds are doled out from a 130 billion euro rescue plan that the country's official lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, drew up in October.

The IMF insists that the debt swap deal must cut Greece's debt burden enough to bring it down to 120 percent of GDP by 2020 from 160 percent now, as agreed in October, which is made even more difficult by the fact that Athens' economic prospects have deteriorated since.

Senior EU, ECB and IMF officials from the "troika" of foreign lenders began meetings with the government on Friday to discuss reforms and plans to finalize that bailout package.

"The deal must be completed. There is no more time left," said a Greek government official who requested anonymity.

The paperwork alone is expected to take weeks, meaning failure to secure a deal soon could put Athens at risk of a chaotic default in March, which in turn could jolt the financial system and tip the global economy into recession.

(Writing by Deepa Babington and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alison Birrane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/bs_nm/us_greece_debt

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Shadows of the Moon Hide 'Fluffy' Dirt & Water Ice (SPACE.com)

Some of the most intriguing areas on the moon are the hardest to see.

These spots, called permanently shadowed regions, are always dark and never reflect sunlight, so telescopes and satellites have no way to image them in regular light. Now, researchers have used a more devious method to view these areas and found that they may be relatively abundant in water ice.

The permanently shadowed regions are located on the moon's poles and are usually deep in craters where sunlight can't reach. To view these areas, scientists used light that's reflected off hydrogen atoms floating throughout the universe that spreads in all directions, even hitting areas in shade. This light, called lyman alpha emission, shines in a particular, narrow wavelength band.

"Instead of sunlight reflected straight off the craters themselves, we go an indirect route," said study co-author Kurt Retherford, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Tex. "Our light shines off hydrogen atoms spread throughout the solar system."

?

The Lyman Alpha Mapping Project, calibrated to measure this emission, is aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite circling the moon. New data from the project found that the moon's shaded regions are darker in lyman alpha emission than other areas of the moon. [Gallery: Our Changing Moon]

?

"Our best explanation for this difference in reflectance at the poles is that the surface is more porous and fluffier," Retherford told SPACE.com. "It's a powdery, flour type of material."

Scientists think that water might be responsible for the fluffy dirt at the moon's poles. Small particles of water frost moving in and out of grains of dirt may result in more holes between the grains, giving it a porous texture.

Previous studies have found that the dirt at lower latitudes on the moon, which are exposed to sunlight, might include up to 0.5 percent water ice. The new study indicates that water could account for up to 2 percent of the dirt in the permanently shaded regions.

"You would expect there to be more in the permanently shadowed regions than what we see outside," Retherford said.

The finding fits in with scientists' growing realization that the moon, once thought to be bone dry, may contain small but significant stores of water.

"One day, when an astronaut goes to these regions, we need a better sense of what they would see," Retherford said. "Most previous measurements of water pertain to water that's very beneath the surface. But we're really dealing with what the surface of these things looks like. The water that's there is going to be some of the more accessible stuff to astronauts in the future."

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120119/sc_space/shadowsofthemoonhidefluffydirtwaterice

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