How Neil Armstrong set up 'One Small Step' line

NASA / EPA

See images from the career of astronaut and American hero Neil Armstrong.

By Alan Boyle

The brother of first moonwalker Neil Armstrong says in a new BBC documentary that the phrase accompanying humanity's first footprint on the moon?? "that's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind"?? was not a spur-of-the-moment improvisation but a speech that was written out and practiced in advance.

In a rare interview, Dean Armstrong recalled that his brother slipped him the words?? including the long-disputed reference to "a man"?? on a piece of paper as they played a game of Risk, months before the Apollo 11 launch in July 1969.

"He says, 'What do you think about that?' I said 'fabulous.' He said 'I thought you might like that, but I wanted you to read it,'"?Dean Armstrong is quoted as saying in a Telegraph report on the documentary, titled "Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon." The show premiered tonight on BBC Two.

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The genesis of one of history's most famous phrases has long been shrouded in mystery: In his definitive history of the Apollo moon effort, "A Man on the Moon," Andrew Chaikin noted that as the mission neared, Neil Armstrong was inundated with suggestions for his speech, including passages from the Bible and from Shakespeare.

Chaikin implied that Armstrong was undecided about what he'd say until after Apollo 11's Eagle lunar lander had set down on Tranquility Base: "Now, on the moon, Armstrong knew he could delay no longer. As he thought about the first step he would take from Eagle's footpad he pondered the inherent paradox ? a small step, yet a significant one ? and he knew what he would say."

Dean Armstrong's recollection confirms that his astronaut brother, who died in August at the age of 82, scripted the words early on but held them close to the vest. The BBC documentary's director, Christopher Riley, speculated that Armstrong let people think the words came to him spontaneously to head off any outside tinkering in advance, or any second-guessing in retrospect.

The interview also confirms that Neil Armstrong meant to say "one small step for a man" ? even though the "a" wasn't audible in the transmission from the moon. That's an important stylistic point, because the "a" draws a contrast between the physical length of a human's footstep and Apollo 11's "giant leap" for human exploration.

After the flight, Armstrong insisted that he intended to say "a man." Some experts say that the "a" was dropped because of a glitch in the radio signal, but most assume that Armstrong just left out the word. As the years went on, Armstrong's comments on the mystery took on an air of ambiguity. "We'll never know," Neil Armstrong told an interviewer in 1971.

If he did leave out the word, it's a natural slip to make: Dean Armstrong omitted the "a" himself the first time he quoted the phrase, and had to correct himself a moment later. "It was 'that is one small step for A man,'" he said.

Update for 5:30 p.m. ET: A commenter points out that Dean's recollection runs counter to what his brother Neil told James Hansen about the speech for his authorized biography, "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," published in 2005:

"Once on the surface and realizing that the moment was at hand, fortunately I had some hours to think about it after getting there. My own view was that it was a very simplistic statement: what can you say when you step off of something? Well, something about a step. It just sort of evolved during the period that I was doing the procedures of the practice takeoff and the EVA prep and all the other activities that were on our flight schedule at the time. I didn't think it was particularly important, but other people obviously did. Even so, I have never thought that I picked a particularly enlightening statement. It was a very simple statement."

So maybe the controversy over those first words from the lunar surface will continue after all. ...

More about the first moonwalker:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16252879-how-neil-armstrong-practiced-that-one-small-step-line-for-the-moon?lite

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Suspects in India rape case charged with murder

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Indian police have charged six men with murder, adding to accusations that they beat and gang-raped a woman on a New Delhi bus two weeks ago in a case that shocked the country.

The murder charges were laid Saturday, hours after the woman died in a Singapore hospital, where she had been flown for treatment.

New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India for greater protection for women from sexual violence, and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.

The tragedy has forced India to confront the reality that sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule. Police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.

The victim, who has not been identified, "passed away peacefully" early Saturday at Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore with her family and officials of the Indian Embassy by her side, Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of the hospital, said in a statement.

The victim's body was cremated Sunday in New Delhi soon after its arrival from Singapore on board a special Air-India flight, amid an outpouring of grief by people across the country.

Singh and Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party, were at the airport to receive the body and meet family members of the victim who had also arrived on the special flight.

After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the Indian capital, the victim was brought Thursday to Mount Elizabeth, which specializes in multi-organ transplants. Loh said the woman had been in extremely critical condition since Thursday, and by late Friday her condition had taken a turn for the worse, with her vital signs deteriorating.

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days," Loh said.

The woman and a male friend, who also has not been identified, were on a bus in New Delhi after watching a film on the evening of Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who raped her. The men beat the couple and inserted an iron rod into the woman's body, resulting in severe organ damage. Both were then stripped and thrown off the bus, according to police.

As news of the victim's death reached New Delhi on Saturday, hundreds of policemen sealed off the high-security India Gate area, where the seat of India's government is located, in anticipation of more protests.

The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defense, external affairs and home ministries, and has been the scene of battles between protesters and police for days after the attack.

Police were allowing people to assemble at the Jantar Mantar and Ramlila grounds, the main areas allotted for protests in New Delhi, Bhagat said.

Mourners gathered at Jantar Mantar to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport to rape.

They put a wreath studded with white flowers on the road, lit a candle and sat around it in a silent tribute to the young woman. Members of a theater group nearby played small tambourines and sang songs urging Indian society to wake up and end discrimination against women.

Dipali, a working woman who uses one name, said the rape victim deserved justice. "I hope it never happens again to any girl," she said.

Dozens of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi marched silently to the bus stop from where the rape victim and her friend had boarded the bus on Dec. 16. They carried placards reading "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."

Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, assured the protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death "deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an impunity."

The protesters heckled Sheila Dikshit, the top elected leader of New Delhi state, when she came to express her sympathy with them and forced her to leave the protest venue. They blamed her for the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread sexual violence in India.

"The outrage now should lead to law reform that criminalizes all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and humiliated," Ganguly said.

Prime Minister Singh said he understood the angry reaction to the attack and that he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate changes.

"These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change," Singh said in a statement. "It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action."

Mamta Sharma, head of the state-run National Commission for Women, said the "time has come for strict laws" to stop violence against women. "The society has to change its mindset to end crimes against women," she said.

Indian attitudes toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen as provocative.

Separately, authorities in Punjab state took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.

State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were arrested only on Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.

"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.

The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.

___

Associated Press writers Heather Tan and Faris Mokhtar in Singapore and Ravi Nessman in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suspects-india-rape-case-charged-murder-004801507.html

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Asian stocks up ahead of US 'fiscal cliff' talks

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets rose Friday, hours before President Barack Obama and key lawmakers were to meet at the White House to try to hammer out an 11th-hour budget compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Wall Street also appeared set for a session of gains.

Lawmakers have until Monday night to reach a deal before hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and deep cuts to government spending kick in. Such a drastic reshuffling of money could throw the U.S. into another recession, economists have warned.

However, failure to avoid the fiscal cliff doesn't necessarily mean tax increases and spending cuts would become permanent, since the new Congress could pass legislation canceling them retroactively after it begins its work next year.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial futures were marginally higher at 13,005. S&P 500 futures gained nearly 0.1 percent to 1,411.80. European shares were mixed in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent to 5,959.89. Germany's DAX was nearly flat at 7,653.34. France's CAC-40 shed 0.1 percent to 3.670.03.

The day's market strength was in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7 percent to 10,395.18, its highest level since March 10, 2011, the day that a mammoth earthquake and tsunami pummeled Japan's northeastern cost. Export shares posted big gains as the country's currency continued to recoil against the dollar. Mazda Motor Corp. jumped 4.8 percent and Isuzu Motors Ltd. surged 4.5 percent.

Investors have been cheering newly named Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his calls for more public works spending to reinvigorate the economy. He also wants the Bank of Japan to raise its inflation target from 1 to 2 percent to drag the country out of two decades of deflation, or steadily declining prices that have deadened economic activity.

But Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong, said he was skeptical that the new prime minister's roadmap would prove effective in the long run.

"He will increase the deficit, print more money and try to spend out of the recession. If you print or borrow money, you give the economy a sense of false hope," he said. "It's like taking opium. You feel good but eventually you have to come down."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2 percent to 22,666.59, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.5 percent to 1,997.05. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5 percent to 4,671.30.

"The fiscal cliff seems to have lost its negative influence on global markets," said Lun. "Even if it falls into the fiscal cliff, you will only reduce the deficit by about $100 billion. In Chinese terms, it's like trying to douse a fire with a cup of water. They should do what Europe has done and try to impose austerity."

Markets got some lift from optimistic data out of the U.S. on Thursday and a statement from the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said in an interview that the worst of the debt crisis in the 17 European Union countries that use the euro appears to be over.

In the U.S., the average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 24 cents to $91.11 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 11 cents to finish at $90.87 per barrel.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3180 from $1.3240 late Thursday in New York. The dollar gained to 86.12 yen from 86.02 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-stocks-ahead-us-fiscal-cliff-talks-035809449--finance.html

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Video: Santoli: 'Cliff' Not a Binary Event

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50312394/

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Stock index futures steady; budget talks eyed

PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a steady Wall Street open, with S&P 500 futures down 0.11 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.03 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.05 percent at 4.54 a.m. ET.

European shares were flat to slightly lower in early trade on Friday as investors waited to see if a deal to avoid the U.S. "fiscal cliff" would be reached before further boosting their exposure to equities. <.eu/>

President Barack Obama and lawmakers are launching a last-chance round of budget talks days before a New Year's deadline to reach a deal or watch the economy go off a "fiscal cliff." Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Friday at 3 p.m. EST.

On the macro front, investors awaited pending home sales data for November. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 1.0 percent rise compared with a 5.2 percent gain in the previous month.

Investors in U.S.-based funds favored stock exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and emerging market equity mutual funds as the year wound down, data from Thomson Reuters' Lipper service showed on Thursday.

Satellite television provider DirecTV Group said its service fees would rise by an average of 4.5 percent in February due to increasing programming costs.

A Chinese court fined Apple 1 million yuan ($160,400) for hosting third-party applications on its App Store that were selling pirated electronic books, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

U.S. stocks fell for a fourth day on Thursday, but recovered most of their losses after the House of Representatives, in the barest sign of progress, said it would come back to work on avoiding the "fiscal cliff" this weekend.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> slipped 18.28 points, or 0.14 percent, to 13,096.31 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> declined 1.73 points, or 0.12 percent, to end at 1,418.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> dropped 4.25 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 2,985.91.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-steady-budget-talks-eyed-103953896--finance.html

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Russia's Putin signals he will sign U.S. adoption ban

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Thursday he would sign into law a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country's orphans.

In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people's patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own and lent his support to a bill that has further strained U.S.-Russia relations.

"There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?" he said, with sarcasm.

Parliament gave its final approval on Wednesday to the bill, which would also introduce other measures in retaliation for new U.S. legislation which is designed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations.

For it to become law Putin needs to sign it.

"So far I see no reason not to sign it, although I have to review the final text and weigh everything," Putin said at a meeting of federal and regional officials that was shown live on the state's 24-hour news channel.

"I intend to sign not only the law ... but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children ... especially those who are in a difficult situation, by that I mean in poor health," Putin said.

Critics of the bill say the Russian authorities are playing political games with the lives of children, while the U.S. State Department repeated its "deep concern" over the measure.

"Since 1992 American families have welcomed more than 60,000 Russian children into their homes, and it is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.

Ventrell added that the United States was troubled by provisions in the bill that would restrict the ability of Russian civil society organizations to work with U.S. partners.

Children in Russia's crowded and troubled orphanage system - particularly those with serious illnesses or disabilities - will have less of a chance of finding homes, and of even surviving, if it becomes law, child rights advocates say.

They point to people like Jessica Long, who was given up shortly after birth by her parents in Siberia but was raised by adoptive parents in the United States and became a Paralympic swimming champion.

However, the Russian authorities point to the deaths of 19 Russian-born children adopted by American parents in the past decade, and lawmakers named the bill after a boy who died of heat stroke in Virginia after his adoptive father left him locked in a car for hours.

Putin reiterated Russian complaints that U.S. courts have been too lenient on parents in such cases, saying Russia has inadequate access to Russian-born children in the United States despite a bilateral agreement that entered into force on November 1.

NATIONAL IDENTITY

But Putin, who began a new six-year term in May and has searched for ways to unite the country during 13 years in power, suggested there were deeper motives for such a ban.

"For centuries, neither spiritual nor state leaders sent anyone abroad," he said, indicating he was not speaking specifically about Russia but about many societies.

"They always fight for their national identities - they gather themselves together in a fist, they fight for their language, culture," he said.

The bid to ban American adoptions plays on sensitivity in Russia about adoptions by foreigners, which skyrocketed as the social safety net unraveled with the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Families from the United States adopt more Russian children than those of any other country.

Putin had earlier described the Russian bill as an emotional but appropriate response to the Magnitsky Act, legislation signed by President Barack Obama this month as part of a law granting Russia "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) status.

The U.S. law imposes visa bans and asset freezes on Russians accused of human rights violations, including those linked to the death in a Moscow jail of Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-graft lawyer, in 2009.

The Russian bill would impose similar measures against Americans accused of violating the rights of Russian abroad and outlaw some U.S.-funded non-governmental groups.

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russias-putin-suggests-sign-ban-u-adoptions-121936243.html

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robertjump: kudals: jokomsharma: Vocational Education Training by ...

by: Iris0326

Economies all over the world are transforming into knowledge based economies. With the fundamentals of the world changing fast with the modifications in technology, it is important for a person to have specialization in a particular field in order to find a lucrative job.

Such type of specialization is imparted by vocational education training institutes. In the fields of health, technology, art and business administration, vocational education is generally imparted. The classification of these themes is further done into other specific courses.

Vocational educational training has earned increased renaissance of enthusiasm in today?s world of high demand for skilled workers for businesses. Vocational education in details is an exceptionally various and featured topic which involves analysis from a wide range of references and sources to several specified topics on training, occupational programs and career paths. You will find numerous sources online that may help in offering detailed data about such educational training. Due to the desperate need rising on a large scale amongst company houses for skilled workers, nowadays, all over the world people believe that trading schools are rebuilding their stable foundation.

The faculty of these Vocational education training institutes is highly experienced. They impart practical knowledge to their students. As a result the students are able to have a real life and practical industry experience. The students are also provided with internships.

There are various vocational education training located the world over. In fact every state has vocational institutes where the residents of the place can earn the degrees and become part of a specialized workforce. The majority of these training institutes work as per the rules and regulations of state education department. It is the education department of state or the central government that grants recognition to a training institute.

AVLC is a learning centre, which provides different kinds of training courses, such as vocational training, business training, corporate training, English IELTS and so on.
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This entry was posted in Management Training by . Bookmark the permalink.

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As General David Petraeus Can Attest, There are ... - Security Bistro

In his famous book 1984, George Orwell wrote, ?If you want to keep a secret, you must also keep it from yourself.? With apologies to Orwell, I?m going to rewrite the quote: ?If you want to keep a secret, you must also keep it from the Internet.? There?s an interesting story about online privacy ? or really the lack thereof ? on the CNN Radio network that explains why I?ve taken the liberty to change Orwell?s reference.

CNN Radio host Jonathan Binder and Buzzfeed deputy tech editor John Herman talk about how there are no secrets on the Internet. Herman points out that many people have social profiles that they?ve chosen to put online. But in addition to the personal narrative that individuals provide about themselves, there are ?Internet profiles? that are created and maintained by default whenever we do any activity online.

We?re all familiar with social profiles. They consist of the information and photos we share on Facebook, LinkedIn and countless other websites. In general, the person creating a profile gets to choose what content to include as well as who it can be shared with. Yeah, occasionally someone posts a photo of you on their Facebook page without your knowledge, but hopefully it?s a flattering one. (If not, you can ask them to take it down and hope they honor your request.)

An Internet profile is far less selective in its content gathering process. This kind of profile consists of logs, cookies, URLs and IP addresses that document everywhere you have gone on the Web and everything you have done. It includes telephony logs and SMS routing information for people you have called or texted. It has information about every purchase you have made with a mobile wallet, including what you bought, where you bought it and how much you paid. And, when GPS information is collected, these profiles know precisely where you were when you did such actions. In short, these profiles contain the digital DNA of your life in cyberspace.

As Buzzfeed?s Herman points out in the radio broadcast, search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing absorb everything that you research. Every search request you make ? no matter how personal or sordid ? is captured and stored. (For example, we now know that acquitted murder suspect Casey Anthony did searches on ?suffocation methods.?) By your very use of the search engines and other online tools, you give tacit approval of this data collection. It?s all spelled out in each application?s privacy statement, which is required to outline what data is collected (i.e., your Internet profile for that application) and how it may be used.

Because this data is collected and stored by numerous software companies and service providers, each of us has numerous Internet profiles. It?s not like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, et. al. have gotten together to consolidate all the data points into one giant log on each and every person.

Despite the privacy concerns, there are legitimate reasons why companies would want to collect and store your Internet profile. As Google points out in its privacy policy, the company collects data on you in order ?to serve you better,? such as with more targeted and relevant advertisements, or to present you with localized content in your native language.

Advertisers aren?t the only ones who want to know more about you. It turns out that government agencies have a strong interest in what some people do online. Google and other companies have started tracking requests from these agencies to provide a range of information about specific individuals. Twice a year, Google publishes a Transparency Report that summarizes which countries have requested activity information for certain people; how many requests are made in a given time period, and how many times Google complied with the requests. As the chart below shows, the number of requests is increasing as time goes by.

Source: Google blog

U.S. government agencies top the list of requestors. Google doesn?t specify in its Transparency Reports who the requestors are, but we can presume that law enforcement agencies would be very interested in checking the search and browser history, contents of gmail accounts and similar information for suspected criminals. (It?s entirely possible that the FBI made such a request when it was looking into the harassing emails sent by Paula Broadwell to Jill Kelly that ultimately led to the revelation of David Petraeus?s extra-marital affair.)

It should be noted that these requests can be made and fulfilled without a search warrant. The U.S. law governing requests for online information, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, was written in 1986?long before the Internet age. For its part, Google says it doesn?t automatically respond to every request for information, but at least 90% of recent U.S. agency requests were fulfilled.

I have another concern when it comes to the privacy of these Internet profiles. What if one of the companies storing such profiles suffers a data breach? It?s not unprecedented. Herman says that in 2006, AOL suffered a breach of search logs of more than 600,000 users. Part of the logs revealed some very personal search information which Herman calls ?peeks into the depths of people?s souls.?

Most people think that interactions with computers are impersonal and private. After all, computers are just machines. But computers log everything, no matter how personal or how mundane, and these logs can be accessed by humans who have an interest in the data.

Short of staying off the Internet entirely, there?s little that we can do to protect ourselves from having our deepest, darkest secrets logged when we conduct personal matters via the Internet. Thankfully many of the logs are anonymized and not publicly searchable, but still it?s good to remember, if you want to keep a secret, you must also keep it from the Internet.

Source: http://www.securitybistro.com/blog/?p=4599

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James Bond In 'Skyfall': Top 10 Moments Of 2012

The world's greatest spy had his biggest year ever, and we were there for all of it.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Daniel Craig in "Skyfall"
Photo: MGM

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699440/james-bond-skyfall-top-moments-2012.jhtml

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Shared Internet Hosting Simplified | The Floor Geek

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Source: http://www.thefloorgeek.com/2012/12/shared-internet-hosting-simplified-9/

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TrackBack - MS Estate Planning

As in many estate planning strategies, the goal in this one is to remove rapidly appreciating assets with the GRAT to make sure that there will be enough left over at the end of the day to pay off the premium loan amount.

Over the past number of years, the stock market's ever-rising performance meant that the use of a GRAT as an exit strategy was successful. ?The recent economic crisis and its aftermath, however, have caused many to rethink entering a premium finance plan and others to have difficulty exiting as planned.

On the other hand, current loan interest rates are very attractive. ?If investment returns tick up in the near future, premium finance will likely be more attractive than ever.

Excerpt from The Complete Guide to Estate and Financial Planning in Turbulent Times (Collaborative Press, 2011) - Walt Dallas, Contributing Author

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For more information on Madison and Jackson MS Wills Trusts and other Estate Planning please visit our website.

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Source: http://blog.estateplanning123.com/2012/12/life-insurance-i-have-been-told-that-i-need-an-exit-strategy-with-my-premium-finance-pt-2.html

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'Les Miserables': The Reviews Are In!

Most expect recognition for 'Les Mis' come Oscar time, like it or not.
By Ryan J. Downey

Anne Hathaway in "Les Miserables"
Photo: Universal

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699373/les-miserables-movie-reviews.jhtml

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'Amazing Spider-Man': Top 10 Moments Of 2012

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man had himself an 'Amazing' year! Relive it all with our ten favorite memories.
By Josh Wigler

"The Amazing Spider-Man"
Photo: SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699400/amazing-spider-man-top-ten-moments-2012.jhtml

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Sports world shaken by Connecticut school shooting

Stars from several different sports took to Twitter on Friday to try and cope with the school shooting in Connecticut, and the NFL asked each of its teams to observe a moment of silence before this weekend's games to pay respect to the victims.

A man killed his mother at home and then opened fire inside the elementary school where she taught, slaying 26 people, including 20 children. The 20-year-old killer, carrying two handguns, then committed suicide at the school.

"It's awful, just an awful day. It really, really is," Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said before their game at Houston. "This is our jobs. This is not a game for us, it is what we do but when something like this happens, it supersedes job and everything else. As a parent ? I don't know ? this is just awful, awful what happened."

Struggling to stay composed, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott paused a couple of times as talked about the tragedy in Newtown, a small community about 60 miles northeast of New York City.

"I have three healthy kids and a beautiful granddaughter," he said. "When you hear about kids who are that young and don't get a chance to live because of something that's so senseless as somebody going in and doing the things that this person did, I think it affects everybody. It puts everything in the right perspective as well. As much as we love this game, this doesn't mean nothing."

From the Friday night slate of NBA games to high school and college football finals, there were moments of silences at sporting events of all sizes. The overhead videoboard at the Barclays Center showed a candle and the town seal of Newtown as the Nets and Pistons paused for reflection before their game in Brooklyn.

The NFL sent a memo asking for each of its teams to observe a moment of silence before this weekend's games.

"This shocking event has brought the nation together in grieving for the victims and their families as well as the survivors," the note read. "We believe it is appropriate and important for us to collectively recognize and participate in the grieving process at our games this weekend, as we have done on other occasions."

Many athletes took to social media websites to process what happened, discussing their shock and horror, and openly worrying about their kids at school.

"Innocent victims just gone," Miami Heat star LeBron James said in a series of posts on Twitter. "This is really messing with my mind. Kids is everything to me! And of course i have 2 of my own in elementary school as well. I can't imagine it happening to my kids school. I and the rest of the families would be devastated! Something has to be done."

Golfer John Daly talked about home schooling his children, and outspoken Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe wondered about the road ahead.

"The way we deal with this tragedy in CT will tell us a lot about where we're headed as a society. Do we only address the symptoms (i.e. just gun control laws)? Or do we also address the disease ? how we treat each other and those who need help," Kluwe said in a couple of posts on Twitter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sports-world-shaken-connecticut-school-shooting-004638225--spt.html

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Bad Girls Club Chicks Fight at Strip Club

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/bad-girls-club-chicks-fight-at-strip-club/

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Canada starts new search for fighters, may still buy F-35

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada scrapped a controversial sole-source plan to buy F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin Corp on Wednesday, saying it will now evaluate all available options for acquiring new fighters.

The announcement is another challenge for the F-35, which has been hit by cost overruns and delays and at $396 billion is the costliest program in Pentagon procurement history.

Canada's Conservative government - stressing it could still buy the F-35 if it turns out to be the best option - will set up an independent panel to look at replacements for an aging fleet of CF-18 fighters, which are due to go out of service by 2020.

"We are pressing the reset button on this acquisition in order to ensure a balance between military needs and taxpayer interests," Defence Minister Peter MacKay told reporters.

The move marks the government's most far-reaching attempt yet to put an end to a scandal that has grown steadily since the Conservatives announced in July 2010 they would buy 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for C$9 billion ($9 billion) without holding an open competition.

Ottawa said it would give the new independent panel a series of detailed guidelines to help it evaluate the contenders.

It also released a report showing the full cost of buying, equipping, maintaining and operating the 65 F-35 jets would be C$45.8 billion over a 42-year operating life, far higher than earlier estimates.

"We are demonstrating that we are serious about looking at all available options to replace the CF-18s," Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said in a statement.

Critics complained from the start that the single-source decision was wrong and that Ottawa was not being clear enough about how much it would cost to buy and maintain the planes.

The Conservatives brushed off the criticism for almost two years but launched a review in April after a spending watchdog said the decision to buy the jets had been based on bad data from officials who deliberately downplayed the costs and risks.

"The government misled Canadians ... there is not a whiff of contrition or admission of a problem," said Bob Rae, leader of the opposition Liberal Party.

Government sources said the main contenders now for the Canadian fighter-jet order are the F-35, Boeing Co's F-18 Super Hornet and the EADS Eurofighter.

The Conservatives have a majority of seats in the House of Commons and are in no immediate threat politically as a result of the F-35 debacle, given that the next election is due in late 2015.

Reuters reported the main outlines of the government's revised plan to acquire fighter jets last Friday.

The initial plan called for the F-35s to be delivered between 2017 and 2023. Officials, insisting the F-35 had not been ruled out, declined to say how long it would be before planes would be delivered under the new plan.

Whatever jet is chosen, the cost of acquiring it will remain at C$9 billion. As part of the overall review, the defense ministry will also look at whether the lifespan of the CF-18s can be extended beyond 2020.

Despite announcing in July 2010 it would buy the F-35, Ottawa never signed a binding contract with Lockheed Martin.

Officials said the 42-year operating life used as the basis for the C$45.8 billion cost estimate for the F-35s compares with the 20-year period the government said it had used as a matter of course until now for military purchases.

Lockheed is developing three F-35 variants for the U.S. military and eight partner nations: Britain, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.

A U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman said Canada remained a partner in the F-35 program.

She said the review Canada was now undertaking was similar to one run by the United States in 2010, which found no alternative fighter that could provide the necessary capability at lower cost.

($1=$0.98 Canadian)

(Additional reporting by Louise Egan and Randall Palmer in Ottawa and Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-restart-search-fighters-may-still-buy-f-203050671--finance.html

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Detroit pays out nearly $500k in bonuses

3 hrs.

Martha C. White , NBC News contributor

Detroit is dangling at the edge of insolvency, but the city reportedly has enough funds to?pay workers nearly $500,000 in bonuses, the Detroit News reported Thursday.

The newspaper said the annual longevity bonuses, which went out last Friday to?1,148 workers, ranged from $150 to $750, depending on how long a worker had been?employed.

The city, which has fewer than 10,000 employees, eliminated longevity bonuses for?union employees three years ago, the Detroit News added. But a statement emailed to NBCNews by Mayor Dave Bing?s spokesman Anthony Neely said the majority of workers ? 697 of them ? who got the payments were union members. Neely did not immediately respond to a request for clarification or say which union or unions had members who received payments.

The City Council?s pro tempore president Gary Brown told the Detroit News, ?We need?to get to the bottom of whether it was intentional or an accident of some sort."

Bing?s statement blamed the council, with which he has clashed as the city?s fiscal crisis?deepened. ?Mayor Bing?s Administration brought the resolution to end longevity bonus?payments... to City Council twice this summer," the statement said. "City Council rejected the resolution in?July. A second attempt was approved in September.?

The Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the statement, Bing also blamed ?antiquated? policymaking processes for the failure?to implement the decision to eliminate the payments. ?The length of time needed to bring?about change is often inefficient and counterproductive,? he said. ?I expect that once?the appropriate ordinance amendment is received by City Council, the longevity bonus?payments will end for non-union employees.?

Last Friday, Bing announced at a news conference that the city would lay off 400 to?500?workers over the next few months. The city is struggling to fix its troubled finances and?stave off a possible Chapter 9 bankruptcy

If Detroit can't get its financial house in order, it could become the largest U.S. city -- at?a population of 700,000 -- to file for bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year, two mid-sized California cities -- Stockton and San Bernardino -- filed for bankruptcy.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/awash-red-ink-detroit-pays-out-nearly-500k-bonuses-1C7596292

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Official: Syria fires Scud missiles at rebels

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Syrian government forces have fired Scud missiles at insurgents in recent days, escalating the 2-year-old conflict against rebels seeking to overthrow the regime, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two officials said forces of President Bashar Assad have fired the missiles from the Damascus area into northern Syria. These officials asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

News of the missiles came on the same day that more than 100 countries, including the United States, recognized a new Syrian opposition coalition. That has further isolated Assad's regime and opened a way for greater humanitarian assistance to the forces battling to oust him.

One official said there was no indication that chemical weapons were aboard the missiles. Officials have said over the past week that they feared rebel advances were prompting Assad to consider using chemical weapons.

This official estimated that the number of Scuds fired was more than a half dozen, confirming details first reported by The New York Times.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Assad has fired missiles, but wouldn't specify what kind.

"As the regime becomes more and more desperate, we see it resorting to increased lethality and more vicious weapons moving forward and we have in recent days seen missiles deployed," she said.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, speaking to reporters, said he could not confirm the report, but said if true it would be a sign of desperation.

"The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles, within its borders, at its own people, is stunning, desperate and a completely disproportionate military escalation," Carney said.

The new development happened as officials planned an international conference to further assist opposition to Assad.

"This is the usual pattern of behavior that whenever there is an important decision that is anti-Assad taken by the international community, the Assad regime escalates the degree of violence to show its degree of displeasure," said Murhaf Jouejati, a specialist on Syrian affairs at the National Defense University. "Like saying, 'Oh, yeah? I'll show you!' "

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Matthew Lee, Pauline Jelinek and Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report from Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-12-AS-US-Syria-Scud-Missiles/id-cc15808d5e654427936b737f536e4677

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Venezuela gov't: Chavez in 'pre-operative' steps

What's the number of unread emails?right now, at this moment, without changing anything?in your inbox? That would be 3,487 in the case of Jen here; 1 in the case of Rebecca. More about what that means in a second, but first, a bit of backstory: The New Yorker's Silvia Killingsworth has embarked on an exploration into the subject of what she dubs in her headline as "Zero Dark Inbox," or having absolutely zero unread emails in one's inbox. She writes, "I have four e-mails in my inbox right now, but I?m aiming for that number to be zero. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-govt-chavez-pre-operative-steps-174833972.html

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A Gigantic Rubber Duck Sailed Through London&#39;s ... - Business Insider

A?50 foot-tall?rubber duck floated through London's financial district today to celebrate the launch of a Jackpotjoy.com's?Facebook FUNdation, an initiative granting funds and rewards for wacky ideas to encourage the British to laugh more.

The Daily Mail reports?that a?team of eight people spent more than 800 man-hours cutting and welding together the parts of the duck to make sure it was airtight before it began its swim.

Check it out:

SEE ALSO:?British Vandals Get Light Sentence Because Their Graffiti Is So Good

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-gigantic-rubber-duck-sailed-through-londons-financial-district-today-2012-12

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New method to understand superconductors

Dec. 12, 2012 ? Researchers at The Open University have devised a new method to understand the processes that happen when atoms cool which could lead to new materials for superconducting power grids and widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

In a paper, "Bilayers of Rydberg atoms as a quantum simulator for unconventional superconductors" just published in Physical Review Letters, Dr Jim Hague and Dr Calum McCormick at The Open University's Department of Physical Sciences describe a new method to understand the cooling of atoms, which is to simulate a superconductor using a "quantum simulator" (a kind of bespoke quantum computer for examining specific problems) rather than a supercomputer.

The researchers found that just such a simulator can be built to examine atoms cooled to just a millionth of a degree above absolute zero. The atoms are controlled using laser beams which enhance the electrical forces between the atoms, which are usually weak and unimportant. These forces mimic the physics of the superconductor, and the proposed simulator includes far more physical detail than ever before.

"The problem is that up to now nobody knew how to build such a material because physics of the best superconductors are extremely difficult to understand," said Dr Hague. "By studying the atoms in the quantum simulator, we expect that it will be possible to make major progress in unravelling the underlying theory of these fascinating materials. A superconductor (a material with no electrical resistance) operating close to room temperature would offer potentially revolutionary technology."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Open University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. Hague, C. MacCormick. Bilayers of Rydberg Atoms as a Quantum Simulator for Unconventional Superconductors. Physical Review Letters, 2012; 109 (22) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.223001

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/V7M0RGpPblQ/121212111017.htm

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Dollar Store, Inc.: The booming business of being cheap

'Tis the season for packing the mall and racking up the credit card bill.

There's a reason Christmas as become so crassly commercial. Retailers ring up as much as 40 percent of the entire year's sales between Black Friday and Christmas day. But there is one segment of stores that skips the holiday hoopla. In fact, they seem to fly under the retail radar all year long: Dollar stores.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET and get a sneak peek HERE

The three top players, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General, have quietly become a $56 billion industry and they are opening new locations faster than Starbucks. By one estimate, there are more dollar stores in the United States than drug stores.

"Believe it or not, we can still open a lot of stores," said Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine. "Particularly in California where we just opened a store a year ago? this is probably a 1,000-store state."

Right now, Levine overseas an empire of 7,550 stores nationwide -- and counting. Family Dollar opened 500 new stores this year ? more than one per day.

"If somebody told me I was cheap, I would take that as a compliment," he said. "That means we are looking for value. That means we don't overpay for stuff."

When asked what his answer was to the stereotype that dollar stores only sell junk, Levine said, "I say you haven't been in a Family Dollar, maybe ever, to make that kind of comment."

But cheap is working. The three dollar chains are Fortune 500 companies. Another chain, 99 Cents Only, is eyeing real estate on Beverly Hill's ritzy Rodeo Drive. There is already a store on Wilshire Boulevard, not far away, and it is the chain's best-performing location. It makes double the sales of most others.

Dollar stores have been expanding while the rest of the economy has been receding. Family Dollar has been doing well more than a half century. Levine's father opened the first one in Charlotte, N.C., in 1959.

"My friends say, 'I'm miserable, but you must love this economy,'" Levine said. "That's not really the case. We would much prefer a strong economy, strong employment. People need jobs and when people have jobs, they spend money. We do pretty well in a tough time, but we do very well in good times."

In the beginning, Family Dollar sold only things that cost a buck, but they abandoned that years ago. Today, roughly 90 percent of their products are less than $10. About one-third of everything they sell is not made in America, but Levine said that's just the nature of the business.

"Unfortunately, a lot of manufacturing has gone overseas," he said. "They have a cheap way of doing it and consumers accept it. There is no backlash from that so you got to go where you get the value and you got to go where you have the workmanship and the factories to do that."

Inside one of Family Dollar distribution centers is a speeding maze of conveyor belts and sorting machines. There is little room for error because in the dollar store business, it's the cents that really matter.

"A good retailer, after taxes, if you can make 5 cents on every dollar you sell? it's amazing," Levine said.

Being fast and efficient is just one of the secrets to the dollar store business's success. The other is doing everything, well, on the cheap.

The winning formula begins in tiny towns -- the underserved communities even Wal-Mart or Target wouldn't give a second look. Dollar stores gobble up cheap real estate, sometimes an old store front on a forgotten Main Street, or the strip mall that lost a bookstore or an electronics retailer. Then they hire a small work force -- each store might only have two people working at a time, whereas a Wal-Mart or Target will have a payroll of more than 100.

Dollar stores use almost no advertising. No expensive TV commercials. Customers can pick up a circular in the front of the store to find deals.

Their final secret is a laser-like focus on the customer -- some might even call it an obsession. When Family Dollar President Mike Bloom is talking about business, he paints a picture of a mother.

"Eighty percent of our customers are women so we think about 'her' all the time," Bloom said. "She earns $40,000 a year or less and a lot of them earn $25,000 a year or less. It's usually a single mom in a household typically taking care of kids."

Bloom spent three decades working for drugstore giant CVS. When he came to Family Dollar, he said he noticed the company's cheap corporate culture from day one.

"I would sit in meetings and watch presentations, I would miss half of the presentation because they would print on both sides," he said. "I'm like, 'this is brilliant, right?' I'm thinking of where I worked for 31 years. Never did we print on both sides."

Levine said he expects to double the size of his chain in the U.S. He is already a millionaire many times over, but 50 years after he first walked the aisles of his father's store in North Carolina, he still shops there.

"This is what I have brought," he said proudly, holding up a pair of man's pajamas. "Eight dollars, I mean, unbelievable. Where else can you get a value like this?"

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dollar-store-inc-booming-business-being-cheap-174944848--abc-news-money.html

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Video: RNC launches election post-mortem

>>> more republican soul searches under way in the wake of the november elections. the republican national committee launched official full scale review of what went wrong. the so-called growth and opportunity project will include a review of the gop's ground game, messaging, fund raising , demographics, primary process and interaction with outside groups. also, a look at what republicans can learn from the tactics used by democrats. here's former rnc chair haley barbour today on " morning joe ."

>> what are the lessons? negative campaigns still work and one of the first rules of politics still holds. any attack unanswered is an attack admitted.

>> governor barbour was talking there about negative ads against mitt romney that the romney campaign did not answer. joining me now republican strategist and contributor, danny vargas. it is interesting that they have assembled this group of five people. reflection is always wise. we have talked about the fact that the reflection has to be outreach to the latino community and not as a monolithic group of people but we know as a valuable voting bloc of the future of this country.

>> a valuable and growing voting bloc . looking to the future --

>> that's in the value of the growth there.

>> the interesting thing is and taking place at the national level, the state level, local level throughout this country. i think it's necessary and warranted and i think it's a good thing but i made the comment recently and said imagine 2050 with a republican president and chairman wong around the table thinking about white outreach. the nation is changing. changing demographic. i think the core principles of the party hold true and resonates and captures the imagination. what we have been doing wrong i think is talking about in it a way that's negative. i think it's politically people vote as much with their hearts as heads and it's a question of perspective. so if you combine core principles which i think are so strong --

>> for example, when's the core principle of the party on immigration? you have core principles and then policies and the way that we have been dealing with the politics of it. how we communicate with voters. i think if we look at policies and stop talking within the echo chamber and stop talking about hard-core republicans and listen to folk that is might disagree and provide us with a different opinion.

>> back to the issue of core principles, i mean, for example, same-sex marriage right now, talking about this article, the gop silent on the supreme court moving ahead to make a decision on two major cases. the issue of immigration. i brought that up. there's a laundry list of options being offered by this party . so if you -- what is it saying if you don't stay for something you 'll fall for anything.

>> that's true.

>> now you have this huge conversation about outreach for women and latinos and it comes off as insincere because of a loss and not a sin veer core value of the party . it's more of an idea of wanting to win and how do you win it in the most expedient fashion.

>> i don't disagree and saying to folks at the national and local level is it's not about outreach. it's about engagement.

>> authenticity.

>> and you've got to be sincere and honest about it and we lost amongst catholics, for example, tells me that we haven't had a sincere dialogue with the community about caring deeply about folks struggling, about poor folks, how our policies and principles better positioned to help people lift them up and we were at the best i think talking the people's hopes and dreams and aspirations like reagan did opposed to fears and desperation. we have to get away from scaring people and provide a perspective to care and love and respect folks and provide a hopeful more optimistic future.

>> how is that missing from a party that is a part of this? you think about what you're saying. that the party basically has to learn to care about people and be concerned about the poor. that is a tragedy if that's not a basic core of any human being , your neighbor, let alone someone who wants to represent you.

>> agreed. it is not that we don't care but done a really poor job of commune katding.

>> i love you but i don't tell you.

>> like with immigration. we can't tell hispanic voters, we don't like you, we don't want you, go away, vote for me. we have to talk about basics as a party . talking about personal responsibility and opportunity and liberties and limited but effective government and these types of thing it is a resonate with voters we have done a poor job of talking about the core principles for policies and communica communicate.

>> probably people wish you were one of the five co-chairs of the group. always a pleasure. thank you so much.

>> thank you.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50163834/

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Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

It's Monday, which means it is time for you to listen into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to mp3 at 5:30PM. Please be a part of it by reviewing the list of topics after the break, and then participating in the live chat too.

Continue reading Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 5:30PM ET

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/10/join-the-engadget-hd-podcast-live-on-ustream-at-5-30pm-et/

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