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Those UFC jitters you hear about all time? Alistair Overeem didn't feel them. Nor was he intimidated by the a 270-plus pound beast standing across the cage. Overeem went toe-to-toe with Lesnar and came out the easy victor.

During the UFC 141 posfight press conference, a very relaxed Overeem explained that he laid out the path to victory a few days and it played out exactly as he had seen it.

"It just came up to me. It's weird, I know. I'm not usually the guy who believes in aliens and UFO's, superstitious stuff, but I say 'tomorrow, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this ... and it just turned out that way."

Overeem thought the early knees in the clinch changed Lesnar's mindset.

"After that he didn't come for the takedown as he would [normally]. After that, we could in the clinch and he would disengage," Overeem said. "And usually Brock is a guy who comes for you straight forward, but he was not doing that. So I knew, the knees bothered him."

Overeem admitted he had to put his foot on the gas pedal early in the fight. Lesnar cut him with his first jab and blood was leaking in his eye. He didn't want to allow anything like a doctor's stoppage to get in the way of a victory.

He's targeting late spring or early summer for his title shot against Junior dos Santos. Overeem spoke about a very difficult 3-4 months leading up to UFC 141 and that he needs a vacation and some time to get things in order following the break.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-141-postfight-video-Confidence-and-big-knee?urn=mma-wp11433

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NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? Robert "Joe" Halderman, the former CBS News producer who went to jail for trying to blackmail David Letterman, has secured a job at "On the Case with Paula Zahn," a weekly news magazine on the Investigation Discovery Channel.

TheWrap confirmed that Halderman has already started working with "On the Case," which investigates crime mysteries.

Scott Weinberger, a former deputy sheriff and investigative reporter, is the show's creator alongside Scott Sternberg. A Discovery spokesperson noted that Halderman works for Weinberger's company, Weinberger Media, rather than the network.

The current season ends next month, but Halderman has yet to appear in the credits, according to TVNewser, which broke the news.

Back in 2009, Halderman was a producer for "48 Hours" -- a show not unlike "On the case" -- when he approached Letterman with information he'd gathered regarding the late night-host's extramarital activities, which involved the news producer's girlfriend.

He threatened to go public with the information, which Letterman eventually did himself.

Halderman was sentenced to six months in jail in 2010, though he only served four months of the sentence.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/tv_nm/us_lettermanextortionist

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PORT HARCOURT (Reuters) ? Assailants threw a crude homemade bomb into an Arabic school in southern Nigeria's Delta state overnight, police said, wounding seven people and escalating tensions between Muslims and Christians after a spate of church bombings across the nation.

Six of the wounded were children younger than nine.

The attack around 10 p.m. on Tuesday came two days after Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets by Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed around 32 lives in a coordinated strike which seemed aimed at igniting sectarian strife.

"Some men driving in a Camry car threw a low capacity explosive into a building where an Arabic class was taking place," police spokesman Charles Muka said.

"Children aged between four and nine were taking a lesson. Six children were injured and one adult," he said.

He said police suspected a local vigilante group.

Boko Haram, a sect which aims to impose Islamic sharia law across Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the blasts, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage.

The worst attack killed at least 27 people in the St Theresa Catholic church in Madalla, a town on the edge of the capital Abuja, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars as worshippers poured out of the church after Christmas mass.

Analysts say the attacks risk reviving sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.

Northern Nigerian Christians fear the Christmas Day bombings could lead to a religious war in Africa's most populous country.

Separately, a family of four was killed in a machete attack on Wednesday in Nigeria's ethnically and religiously mixed Plateau state -- on the threshold of the country's largely Muslim north and its mostly Christian south.

There was no suggestion the killings had any link to Sunday's church bombings, as the victims were Christians.

Plateau is a tinderbox of ethnic and religious rivalries over land and power between local people and migrants from other areas.

These often take the form of sectarian strife between the state's Christian and Muslim communities, and it is thought likely to be the first place to blow up should a wider conflict start.

(Additional reporting by Buhari Bello and Tim Cocks in Jos; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_nigeria_school_bomb

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SINGAPORE ? Oil prices hovered below $100 a barrel Thursday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies jumped last week, a sign demand could be weakening.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 19 cents to $99.55 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.98 to settle at $99.36 in New York on Wednesday.

In London, Brent crude was down 2 cents at $107.54 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday that crude inventories rose 9.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted a drop of 2.3 barrels.

Inventories of gasoline added 1.9 barrels last week while distillates grew 600,000 barrels, the API said.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Thursday.

Investors are also closely watching developments in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Iran's vice president said his country will close the Strait of Hormuz, and cut off crude exports, if Western nations impose sanctions on Iran's oil shipments.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Navy warned that any disruption of traffic in the strait, though which about a sixth of global production passes, would not be tolerated. A Saudi oil ministry official said his country and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait.

"(Closing the Strait of Hormuz) would instantly draw all consuming nations into opposition with Tehran," energy consultant Cameron Hanover said in a report. "The U.S. and its Arab allies would be compelled to open it by military force."

"Under any scenario, that would be a game-changer."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 0.4 cents to $2.91 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 0.1 cent at $2.64 per gallon. Natural gas futures were up 1.1 cents to $3.13 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_as/oil_prices

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Posted by Geronimo Boosh on December 26, 2011 ? Leave a Comment?

Google says they will have a tablet for release in about six months. It is supposed to be of the ?highest quality?, so it can be assumed that Google wants to challenge Apple on their own turf. Read more on the upcoming Google tablet here in this quick article.

The Google chairman has released a statement that will not be putting a scare into the heart of anyone at Apple anytime soon. Google is planning on creating a tablet. Now that they have consolidated their Android mobile operating system into the Ice Cream Tablet version, their horizons have widened. The comparisons with an Apple iPad are unavoidable, since these two companies are arch enemies.

Some have seen the Google tablet and even say there is more than one model. It is assumed that it will bear the same ?Nexus? name as the Google handsets. The New York Times has apparently seen it or have some insider information on the tablet. They say it is designed as an ereader that also functions as a computer. It is not going to be like the failed Chrome tablet ( called the ?Chromebook? ) of yore. It will bear the Android operating system but have the Chrome browser that Google also created. The tendency to get everything done ?in house? is still not going to be as good as Apple, but it is a one-time shot at greatness.

Some say the upcoming Google tablet is the only one that can give Apple a run for their money. It is going to have books and magazines, like the ?iBooks? app for iPad and iPhone. It is assumed that the Google Nexus tablet will have a camera, which the iPad 2 does not have. The iPad 3 is right around the corner and is expected to have a camera included with it. The really big change that is coming up for the iPad 3 is the display. It is going to have a ?retina? display, just like the iPhone 4 and 4S. This is going to be a ?game changer? for the tablet industry and Google most likely is not going to be able to keep up. The iPad 3 is going to have a 2048 by 1536 pixel resolution. Since screens are the number one most important part of a touch screen tablet, Google had better have something special to offer.

The Google Android tablet is going to need to look like a million dollars if they are going to ask a lot of money for it. The iPad 3 will be just a little bit thicker than the iPad 2, but that is still a super savvy piece of machinery. The iPad 2 is thinner than an iPhone. The exterior looks are important to many buyers and Google is not known for providing devices that appeal to the lust of the eyes. Voice control is also going to lag behind the Apple iOS system. The Siri digital assistant is in beta, but still beats the Google voice recognition system. It is likely that Google will attempt to baffle the crowds with flashy platform effects. Fighting on the level of operating systems seems to be the order of the day with Google and Apple. Apple is king of the tablets and this Google upstart may be interesting to watch, as the sales wars go live.

Pied de page

Source: http://twitter.com/Medindia/statuses/151188780731215872

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SAN ANTONIO ? Ron Paul wants to legalize pot and shut down the Federal Reserve. He thinks the federal government has no authority to outlaw abortion, no business bombing Iran to keep it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and no justification to print money unless it's backed up by gold bars.

And he might win the Iowa caucuses.

The closer the first votes of the 2012 presidential campaign get, the more competitive the Texas congressman appears to become. It's a moment his famously fervent supporters have longed for. Plenty of others are asking: What's Ron Paul about, again?

As in his two prior quixotic campaigns for president, Paul has toiled for months as a fringe candidate best known for staking out libertarian positions. As every other Republican candidate lined up to attack President Barack Obama's health care law and to promise tax cuts, Paul again demanded audits of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard.

Leading in some state polls, Paul is getting a look from mainstream voters in Iowa, where the 76-year-old obstetrician has emerged as a serious contender in the Jan. 3 caucuses ? and in other early voting states, should he pull off a victory.

The sudden rush of attention to Paul's resume hasn't been kind. He's spent the past week disowning racist and homophobic screeds in newsletters he published decades ago, including one following the 1992 riots in Los Angeles that read, "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to collect their welfare checks three days after rioting began."

"Everybody knows I didn't write them and they're not my sentiments, so it's sort of politics as usual," Paul said during a recent Iowa campaign stop.

Paul returns to Iowa on Wednesday, giving his impressive grass-roots organization in the state a last chance to present, and perhaps defend, positions he's staked out over a long political career and reiterated during the 13 Republican debates held this year.

Paul has served a dozen terms in Congress as a Republican, but he espouses views that have made him the face of libertarianism in the U.S. He blames both Republicans and Democrats for running up the federal debt and opposes any U.S. military involvement overseas. He wants to bring home all troops from all U.S. bases abroad.

He vows to do away with five Cabinet-level departments ? Commerce, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Interior ? and repeal the amendment to the Constitution that created the federal income tax. He opposes federal flood insurance and farm subsidies and wants to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances.

He says he'll cut $1 trillion out of the first budget he offers as president. He doesn't believe in a border fence but says illegal immigrants shouldn't get a free education in public schools.

He's reliably described by political pundits as non-establishment, quirky, unorthodox. During a Republican debate in Sioux City, Iowa, earlier this month, Paul defended his views and rejected the idea that they make him unelectable.

"The important thing is, the philosophy I'm talking about is the Constitution and freedom, and that brings people together," Paul said. "It brings independents in the fold and it brings Democrats over on some of these issues."

Paul doesn't always side with the most extreme conservative proposals. When it comes to Newt Gingrich's suggestion that judges could be hauled before Congress to explain their rulings, Paul joined other Republicans in dismissing the idea.

Paul's recent surge in Iowa isn't the first time the GOP establishment has been forced to pay attention to him. A fundraising blitz that netted $5 million in one day in 2008 led Republican operatives to weigh whether he was a bigger threat to siphon votes than previously thought.

Now he may be in his best position yet to do more than just steal votes.

"I see this philosophy as being very electable, because it's an American philosophy, it's the rule of law," Paul said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_el_pr/us_paul_s_positions

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The official mixtape from an up and coming artist. Real life and new sounds. Enjoy this and enjoy the Community Service

DJ: Pone, Chris Fishbeatz, Rick hertz, Shawn Whitlow

Source: http://www.datpiff.com/NicPro-Community-Service-mixtape.297328.html

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2011 saw the rise and fall of Siri. What was initially hailed as something just short of the savior of mankind turned out to be a limited voice control system. Apple insists Siri is still a beta product. They say it will get better. But some out there couldn't wait for Apple. And so, with a little imagineering, people made Siri do all sorts of unconventional tasks in 2011. These hacks led to her opening beer, playing the piano, and even warning owners about what's on a specific TV station. Yeah, the official feature set of Siri is a bit underwhelming, but hackers and modders managed to roll out an impressive set of avant-garde use cases to keep owners occupied until Apple rolls out the next Siri revision. Read on for the top 5 Siri hacks and mods of 2011.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TJ5XbA42DGg/

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An international trio of astronauts blasted off in a Russian Soyuz rocket Wednesday, and are en route to the International Space Station.

A trio of astronauts blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on Wednesday on a mission to bring the International Space Station back up to full manpower after an August cargo launch accident disrupted flights.

Skip to next paragraph

The rocket carrying Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and the European Space Agency's Andre Kuipers lifted off at 8:16 a.m. EST under freezing conditions at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a NASA Television broadcast showed.

The all-veteran crew was scheduled to reach the orbital outpost at 10:22 a.m. EST on Friday. They will join station commander Dan Burbank and two Russian cosmonauts who arrived last month, bringing the complex back to its full live-aboard staff of six.

Soyuz flights to the station were disrupted by the failure of a Russian Progress cargo ship in August. The Progress' upper-stage engine is virtually identical to the one used to fly crews to the station, prompting a suspension of flights until the cause of the accident could be found and fixed.

Russian engineers traced the problem to contamination in a fuel line, which prevented the rocket engine from firing. The capsule broke apart as it fell back through the atmosphere, scattering debris over parts of Siberia.

After detailed inspections and new procedures to tighten quality control,?Russia?resumed station cargo flights on October 30 and crew transports on November 14.

In addition to ramping up science experiments aboard the station, the astronauts and cosmonauts are expected to oversee the start of commercial cargo resupply flights.

Space Exploration Technologies, one of two firms hired by NASA to deliver cargo to the station following the space shuttles' retirement this summer, plans a trial run in February.

"I view these vehicles like wagon trains supplying some government-run fort out West," Pettit said in a prelaunch interview. "We have commercial entities that are lining up to take supplies to and from space station."

NASA eventually wants to buy rides to fly astronauts to the station commercially as well and is contributing to four firm's efforts. The U.S. space agency has $406 million to spend on space taxi development for the fiscal year that began on October 1 and plans to issue its next solicitation in mid-February, program managers said on Tuesday at an industry briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With the space shuttles' retirement, NASA is dependent on Russia to fly crews to the station, a service that currently costs the United States about $350 million a year.

The station, a $100 billion project of the United States, Russia, Europe,?Japan?and Canada, is a multi-purpose research laboratory for biology, physics, astronomy and other studies that orbits about 240 miles above Earth.

(Editing by?Tom Brown?and?Vicki Allen)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/8wvk1R9v0zw/So-a-Russian-an-American-and-a-Dutchman-blast-off-in-a-rocket

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It?s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Coaches come and go ?

Aw, we love our college football coaches. The sport would be so boring without these masters of strategy, these leaders of men, these architects of scandal. Certainly, we prefer to see them happy this holiday season.

With that, The List?s Top 10 college football coach Christmas wishes:

1. Todd Graham, Arizona State: a better data plan. Because having to take pains to awkwardly explain yourself afterward really defeats the purpose of sending a hundred or so student-athletes a life-altering text message with cold-hearted detachment.

2. Chris Petersen, Boise State: a QBPS to go with his GPS. Look, who the hell knows where and whom the Broncos will play once the whole Big ?East? thing gets rolling? More urgently, Petersen has to develop a successor to 50-win Kellen Moore at quarterback. Do people really think the Boise program is such a well-oiled machine that such a thing takes care of itself?

3. Jimbo Fisher, Florida State, and Brian Kelly, Notre Dame: Year 2 do-overs.The postgame-handshake powwow at the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando will go something like this. Coach A: ?Nice game.? Coach B: ?What are you, high?? Coach A: ?You?re right. I seriously can?t believe I just said that.? Coach B: ?Let?s just pretend this season never happened, OK??

4. Bret Bielema, Wisconsin: a wing and a prayer ? make that two prayers. What are the chances the Badgers have a player in the pipeline with an arm like Russell Wilson?s and the as-yet-unfelt presence to lead them to their third consecutive Rose Bowl? But first: a nice torrential downpour where it almost never rains to neutralize Oregon?s insane speed would be mighty convenient.

5. Larry Fedora, North Carolina: a new old hat. Everybody seems to like and believe in Fedora, which is what happens when one steers a non-BCS program into the mainstream consciousness. But Fedora had better improve the state of football in Chapel Hill or else?in the eyes of major-conference ADs?it?ll be like his time well spent in Hattiesburg never happened.

6. Charlie Weis: a healthy quarterback. No, we aren?t referring to Notre Dame transfer Dayne Crist?s physical well-being; he?s healthy as a horse, strong as an ox, what have you. His emotional state, however, may be a different story after the way Kelly chewed him up and spit him out in South Bend in 2011. When the going gets tough (like it?s not going to at KU), will Crist ever believe in himself again?

7. Tim Beckman, Illinois: a defibrillator. How can Beckman possibly revive a team that was DOA for six straight games after a 6-0 start? Clear!

8. Rich Rodriguez, Arizona: more time for offseason workouts. Come to think of it, one must be careful with that sort of thing. Perhaps Rodriguez would be better off with a right-hand man who has a clue about coaching defense.

9. Bob Davie, New Mexico: a new footbaw. Because we?ll tell you what: At the end of the day, a footbaw coach can?t win a whole lot of footbaw games unless he has one heck of a footbaw team, without a bunch of good footbaw players. And what does all that start with? That?s right, a footbaw.

10. Mike Leach, Washington State: a crimson-and-gray eye patch. Don?t worry about the possibility the Pirate of the Palouse already has one. As bad as the Cougars are likely to be in 2012, Leach may need to cover both eyes.

Source: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-12-23/top-10-college-football-coach-christmas-wishes

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? While the threat of credit rating downgrades hangs over Europe, a few big emerging market economies are on the upswing.

Indonesia provides arguably the starkest contrast. Fitch's upgrade of Indonesia's sovereign rating on December 15 restored it to investment grade status for the first time in 14 years. Back in 1997, when the Asian financial crisis exploded, the International Monetary Fund had to step in with a three-year loan worth $10.1 billion at the time.

"Indonesia's banking sector was not prepared to withstand the financial turmoil that swept Southeast Asia," the IMF said then.

Fast-forward to 2011, and it is European banks that are the focus of concern as the euro zone struggles to come up with a politically palatable way to solve its own debt crisis.

All three of the world's major ratings agencies have warned that European countries face downgrades if they cannot stem the crisis. Fitch said on December 16 that a comprehensive solution was "technically and politically beyond reach."

Sentiment toward Europe has turned so dark that the most positive thing Northern Trust economists could say about the outlook there was, "Our base case is that the euro zone does not completely collapse within the next two years."

Why the role reversal?

Indonesia's 2012 growth is expected to reach 6.4 percent, according to a Reuters poll of economists, down only slightly from 2011's estimated 6.5 percent. The euro zone is widely expected to be stuck in recession next year, while U.S. growth will probably trudge along at one-third of Indonesia's pace.

The lesson that Asia learned from its financial crisis in the late 1990s was, "make sure you've got good insurance."

Asia now holds most of the world's foreign exchange reserves, with about $4.5 trillion concentrated in China and Japan combined. But there are also large stockpiles in India, Indonesia and South Korea.

That cushion can provide protection from financial market turbulence. Indonesia, South Korea, India and others have tapped reserves this year to defend their currencies from extreme volatility.

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IMF on "schizophrenic" investors:

imfdirect.imf.org/2011/12/21/2011-in-review-four-hard-truths/

For IFR's forecasts for the week ahead in U.S. economic data, click on: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/11/12/IFRPV122611.pdf

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"SCHIZOPHRENIC" INVESTORS

The IMF itself seems to have learned a few lessons from its experience in Asia, especially on how deep budget cuts can hurt a country's economic growth and its citizens.

Its November 1997 statement announcing Indonesia's bailout arrangement spelled out the IMF's policy prescription: tight fiscal and monetary policies and "substantial" fiscal measures to keep the budget in surplus.

The IMF at the time expected Indonesia's growth, which had been around 8 percent before the crisis, to slow to 5 percent in the first year of the program and 3 percent in the second. In fact, Indonesia's economy contracted by 13.1 percent in 1998 and grew by only 0.8 percent in 1999.

Former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn acknowledged in February 2011 that the IMF's reform program had been "harmful and painful" for the Indonesian people.

Many economists worry that Europe's austerity measures, much like those in Indonesia in the late 1990s, will end up doing even more damage to the economy, worsening the debt picture.

IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said investors were "schizophrenic" about austerity and growth.

"They react positively to news of fiscal consolidation, but then react negatively later, when consolidation leads to lower growth -- which it often does," Blanchard said.

WHO IS NEXT?

European countries are the obvious candidates for imminent downgrade. S&P's move could come any day. Moody's said on December 12 it will revisit its European ratings in the first quarter of 2012.

While downgrades and the threat of more have received the most media attention this year, Fitch said its sovereign rating actions year-to-date were almost evenly split between upgrades and downgrades.

Since August 5, when Standard & Poor's stripped the United States of its AAA-rating, countries including Indonesia, Brazil, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Paraguay, Peru, Kazakhstan and Israel have received upgrades from at least one of the world's big three ratings agencies.

Next on the upgrade list may be the Philippines. Its leaders

expressed some disappointment that Indonesia got the nod from Fitch first, although S&P revised its outlook to "positive" on December 16.

But it is the negative actions that pose the global economic threat. The advanced economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have 2012 borrowing needs estimated at $10.5 trillion. A number this large means even a small increase in borrowing costs is meaningful.

"OECD debt managers are facing unprecedented funding challenges in meeting higher-than-anticipated, strong borrowing needs," the OECD said in a report on sovereign debt.

(Reporting by Emily Kaiser; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/bs_nm/us_economy_weekahead_outlook

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? The Hamburg Inn in Iowa City has long been a popular stop for presidential candidates, but it probably won't be high on Rep. Michele Bachmann's list anymore.

About two dozen activists with Occupy Iowa City packed the diner before Bachmann arrived there Thursday, then loudly chanted in unison as she tried to mingle with supporters. Their chant blasted the Minnesota congresswoman's position on gay rights, health care and taxes and ended with: "You're not wanted here. So go, just go."

The restaurant blared Christmas songs over the loudspeaker to drown out the protesters. Police arrived as tensions rose, but no one was arrested.

Bachmann seemed undeterred. Before leaving, she thanked the owner, praised the food and said it was great to be in Iowa City.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-22-Bachmann-Occupy/id-915fe121ea924cff9e051fac84ec6ecc

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In a year as dry as this one, any precipitation is usually welcome, but does it have to rain on Christmas?

Apparently yes, and Christmas Eve too, according to the National Weather Service.

Grab your coat and umbrella, because light rain has begun falling over the northern half of southeast Texas, and the forecast calls for a nearly 100 percent chance of showers this afternoon in the Houston area.

The National Weather Service outlook calls for highs Saturday in the lower 50s and northeast winds of 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday night, there's a 40-percent chance the showers will continue, with lows around 40. The northeast winds are expected to become more northerly by evening in response to a surface low across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, the weather service said.

Christmas Eve's rain will persist through Christmas Day, with a 60 percent chance of showers Sunday morning decreasing to 50 percent in the afternoon.

Highs on Sunday will be in the lower 50s, with north winds of 10 to 15 mph. Sunday night's forecast calls for cloudy conditions with a 40-percent chance of showers and lows around 40. North winds will remain at 10 to 15 mph.

The rain is expected to taper off Monday, when it will be cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers in the morning and afternoon. Highs are expected to be in the upper 50s.

carol.christian@chron.com

Source: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Santa-reindeer-will-need-ponchos-in-southeast-2423295.php

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David Guttenfelder/AFP/Getty Images

The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station is seen through a bus window on Nov. 12. The four reactors that failed were stabilized this month.

This year has something unpleasant in common with the years 1979 and 1986. In 1979, a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania melted down. In 1986, the Soviet reactor at Chernobyl blew up and burned.

This year's meltdown occurred in Fukushima in Japan, and nuclear power isn't likely to be the same as a result.

Nuclear power had enjoyed 25 years of relative quiet, but the Fukushima accident reminded people that despite improvements in safety, nuclear plants could still go horribly wrong.

For some, though, nothing has changed much.

"We don't see Fukushima as having a significant impact on the U.S. industry," says Scott Peterson, vice president of the industry's Nuclear Energy Institute. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was renewing 10 licenses for U.S. plants, extending them 20 years in operation. We were continuing to move forward in examining new reactor designs."

And after studying what happened at Fukushima, the NRC deemed America's reactors safe. However, the NRC has demanded some safety upgrades. Peterson says those aren't showstoppers for building new plants.

But the accident ignited a feud at the NRC. Four of the five commissioners wrote the White House complaining that their chairman, Gregory Jaczko, ignored them during the first days of the accident. And they said he bullied them during the safety review.

Republican members of Congress hauled Jaczko up to Capitol Hill, where he denied those claims. That didn't go over well with Republican representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah:

"You're telling me they're all wrong and you're right," he barked at Jaczcko during the hearing. "That, to me, is a lack of leadership and I hope, I hope that there is some sort of change, and you are going to do the right thing for your country and this commission. You should step down."

Jaczko has not stepped down. And despite the bitterness, work continues at the NRC ? the commission just approved a new, safer power plant design, called AP1000.

That could help get new reactors built. But Marc Chupka, who advises electric utilities as an economist with the Brattle Group in Washington, wonders who's going to pay for them.

"Right now, just the plain economics of nuclear power are underwater," he says. He notes that over the past decade, construction costs have skyrocketed and natural gas got more plentiful and cheaper.

"Things change significantly over relatively short periods of time," Chupka says, noting that it takes about a dozen years to plan and build a new nuclear plant. "That makes it an incredibly challenging environment to plan for the long term. And that adds to the risk and it makes investors understandably skittish."

In Japan, the four reactors that failed were finally stabilized this month. The cleanup will cost many billions, and the government says: No more nukes.

Germany says the same: The government will throw its weight and wealth into solar and wind energy to replace nuclear power.

George Perkovich, director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says if Germany succeeds, nuclear could be in even deeper trouble.

Nuclear's strength is that plants run 24/7, unlike solar and wind generators. They provide continuous and reliable electricity, so-called baseload power. But, says Perkovich, "If Germany comes along and figures out how to power a very big economy, including baseload needs, without nuclear, then that to me becomes a real, if not a death blow, a real challenge to nuclear, because it breaks the whole nuclear story that this is the only environmentally friendly way to provide baseload."

One thing nuclear still has going for it is that it doesn't emit carbon dioxide, which warms the planet. Coal and gas do. At this year's international climate conference in South Africa, delegates talked about slapping a price on carbon, which could make nuclear a better financial competitor. But they decided, "No, not now." Maybe in 2020.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/24/144194064/after-fukushima-a-changing-climate-for-nuclear?ft=1&f=1007

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PINELLAS PARK, Fla. ? The yoga teacher in the front of the room lay on the floor, her hands resting on her upper thighs. She lifted her right leg high in the air, foot flexed. Then she grabbed her right foot in her right hand and brought her leg toward her face as she raised her upper body a few inches off the ground.

Students in class smiled in amazement as they watched the teacher's knee graze her nose.

It wasn't just the pose that was amazing ? it was the teacher's age. Bernice Bates is 91 years old, and she's more flexible than people who are a third of her age.

"If you can't quite meet your knee, that's all right," Bates told her class, gently.

Guinness World Records recently awarded Bates the title of "Oldest Yoga Teacher." While there might be other, older yogis somewhere in the world, Bates completed the lengthy documentation process required by Guinness. She was nominated earlier this year by her daughter.

Bates first began practicing yoga 50 years ago, after she saw it on a television program. As a younger woman, she taught swimming in Ohio at a YWCA.

These days, the great-grandmother teaches once a week at the community center of her retirement village located on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Her students are usually a decade or two younger than she is.

Each class begins with a short discussion ? on a recent day, Bates talked about the importance of flexing and caring for one's feet ? and then Bates takes the class through a series of about a dozen vinyasas, or yoga poses. She uses a soft blue mat and wears black ballet slippers while teaching.

She ends with a guided relaxation while playing New Age music on her portable cassette player.

Bates believes in gentle yoga: no sweaty, strenuous or competitive stretching in her classes.

"You may not do it perfect, but there's no perfect person," she said.

She talks about her students who have benefited from her teaching: two women in their 80s, a couple in their 90s, a handful in their 70s.

"They feel great," she said. "It makes your whole body whole again. It's good for anybody. It's good for chair sitters, it's good for pregnant women. Anybody."

Kathleen Techler, 86, has been taking Bates' class for five years. She can easily go into a plow pose ? lying flat on her back, raising her legs all the way over her head and rolling back so her toes touched the floor.

"It loosens up my muscles," said Techler, who shrugs at the suggestion that she is flexible.

Gentle exercises like yoga and tai chi can be especially good for seniors because they build balance, which can help prevent falls, medical experts say.

"One of the main reasons why people become non-functional or even die is because of falls," said Dr. Fernando Branco, the medical director for the Rosomoff Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center and Brucker Biofeedback Center in Miami. "Those things can be catastrophic when you're 85. When you're 85 and you go into bed for several weeks or months because of a slow healing fracture, you're taking a lot of risks."

Branco said that more folks should follow in Bates' yogic footsteps.

Yoga also has other benefits, he said.

In a study published by the National Institutes of Health in 2005, yoga was found to improve hip extension and increase stride length in a group of senior citizens who participated in the research.

"In general the idea that just because you are older you have less of a range of motion, that is really not correct," he said.

Bates credits yoga for her good health ? she doesn't take medication or have any health problems ? and says it gives her the ability to enjoy the things she loves: flower gardening and worshipping at her Methodist church. She also lifts weights, walks, swims and does tai chi.

Now widowed, she enjoys talking about the Tampa Bay Rays and how the team's third baseman, Evan Longoria, practices yoga.

She starts stretching the moment she wakes up, with a series of poses to get her blood flowing.

"It gives you a good outlook. It involves your mind," she said. "Your mind, your body and your spirit. They all work together and they're all coordinated. Whereas when you're on a treadmill, that's all you're doing, and you're tired when you're done. We build energy in our body, we don't take it out."

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_re_us/us_fitness_oldest_yoga_teacher

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No interest in snapping up an iCade? No sweat. Jim VanDeventer has just pushed today's app-to-end-all-apps into Apple's App Store, and while it's only been live for a few hours, iMAME is already on a mission to change the world. Built-in titles include Circus, Crash, Hard Hat, Fire One, Robot Bowl, Side Track, Spectar, Star Fire and Targ, and while it's not officially endorsed by Nicola Salmoria or the MAME Team, you can certainly pretend. It's available now in the source link for precisely nothing, and yes, both the iPhone and iPad (and iPod touch!) are supported. Get it while the gettin' is good.

[Thanks, Gary]

iMAME emulation app hits the App Store, humanity cheers in unison originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FILE- In this Dec. 3, 2011, file photo, LSU head coach Les Miles reacts after their 42-10 win over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game in Atlanta. Miles was selected as The Associated Press college football coach of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton, File)

FILE- In this Dec. 3, 2011, file photo, LSU head coach Les Miles speaks before the first half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game against Georgia in Atlanta. Miles was selected as The Associated Press college football coach of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE- In this Dec. 3, 2011, file photo, LSU head coach Les Miles takes the field with his team before the first half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game against Georgia in Atlanta. Miles was selected as The Associated Press college football coach of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) ? LSU's 2011 season will be remembered for challenging Les Miles' crisis-management skills over and over again.

It could also go down as the greatest season in the history of a program that has been around since 1893.

Now within one more victory of an unbeaten season and a BCS national title, Miles has been voted The Associated Press Coach of the Year.

Thirty of 56 votes cast went to Miles. Bill Snyder of Kansas State was second with 16, Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State had six, Brady Hoke of Michigan got three and Lane Kiffin of Southern California had one.

As Miles reflected on the various trials he dealt with this season in an interview with the AP this week, he spoke in a hushed tone and recounted a talk he had long ago with his father in the kitchen of his childhood home in Elyria, Ohio.

When Miles was around 12 years old, he was worried about his dad, Hope "Bubba" Miles, who'd been passed over for a promotion and subsequently laid off, all while dealing with the death of his own father.

"We'll be fine," the LSU coach recalled his father telling him. "It's the reaction to the difficult times; it's always those days when something does not come your way and you have to make the best move ? that's what's going to make your life rich."

However LSU's season ends in the BCS title game against No. 2 Alabama on Jan. 9 in the Superdome, it will go down as one of the more memorable chapters in the history of Louisiana's most storied college football program. The events that could have derailed the 2011 campaign were numerous and diverse, yet the Tigers dominated just about every team they faced.

There was a preseason bar fight that led to starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson's early season suspension. There was preseason coaching shuffle brought on by former offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe's Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Starting receiver Russell Shepard was suspended three games because he talked out of turn about an NCAA probe of a scouting service. Then there were the midseason, one-game suspensions of three key players ? star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, starting running back Spencer Ware and nickel back Tharold Simon ? for failing school administered drug tests.

Through it all, the Tigers won big, starting with a season-opening 13-point triumph over then No. 3 Oregon on a neutral field in Dallas, barely more than a week after learning they'd be without Jefferson or Shepard.

Of their 13 victories, 12 have come by double digits and seven by 30 or more points. The lone exception was a tense 9-6 overtime triumph at Alabama highlighted by spectacular defensive plays.

LSU won its first eight games with pocket passer Jarrett Lee taking most of the snaps, and the rest with Jefferson getting the bulk of the work, often running option plays.

Miles said he was proud of his staff for being adaptable enough to design game plans around different styles of quarterbacks, and proud of his players for their "no-excuses" approach to every game.

"They didn't see (the suspensions) as something they could not overcome in any way," Miles said. "They recognized that we've got two veteran quarterbacks and some guys that can step in for anybody if they happen to miss their start, and that we were not going to let those things that were on the perimeter of this program affect us."

Miles, his staff, and his players entered 2011 sensing they would be among the best in the nation following an 11-2 2010 campaign capped by a dominant Cotton Bowl victory.

The roster was laden with talented players who'd thrived as underclassmen. So when Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon flew last January to Baton Rouge to gauge Miles' interest in returning to his alma mater, where he'd played for Hall of Famer Bo Schembechler, Miles decided to stick with the job he had.

LSU did not even have to give Miles a raise to keep him, although he did get both an extension and an increased budget for assistants, which he felt would further strengthen the foundation of the program.

"I looked at this building and the number of quality men and women that I was fortunate to work with ? players, coaches, staff ? and the idea that I would blow this up is just something I was not prepared to do," Miles said. "I wanted to coach this team."

Although Miles has won 75 games and a national title since becoming LSU's coach in 2005, he hasn't always been popular in Baton Rouge.

LSU struggled to stay in the national title picture in 2008 and 2009, and an episode of late-game clock mismanagement at Mississippi in 2009 was only made worse when he tried to explain it in his typically odd manner of speaking, which sometimes invites mockery with its disjointed syntax and the use of verbs as nouns.

Gundy, who coached with Miles for several years, said talking on TV was never the LSU coach's strength.

"I don't think he gets enough credit for being a pretty smart football coach," Gundy said. "What you see on TV is not really him at all."

The AP coach of the year award has been handed out since 1998. This is Miles' first time winning it and he is the second LSU coach to take the honor. The first was Tide coach Nick Saban, who won it for the Tigers in 2003.

Now Miles has matched his predecessor again.

Miles, whose big-picture perspective was shaped not only by his father but his own personal health scare ? a cranial operation to remove a cyst in 2001? resisted lashing back at his critics.

"I'm not going, 'Ha! How do you like me now?' I'm really not," Miles said. "The support that is given to this program is tremendous. I could never do this without LSU. Our team is a quality group of men that just have to have victory, that will scrap and fight you tooth and nail for it. And I've got a quality group of coaches who love their players and put together great game plans. We fight together. ... I don't pretend for a minute it's only me. It's not even close."

___

AP Sports Writer Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-21-FBC-AP-Coach-of-the-Year/id-6c52c831f7924f0294db3dac723f3c09

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BEIJING (Reuters) ? Actor Christian Bale was roughed up by Chinese security guards as he attempted to visit a blind legal activist whose detention has sparked a domestic and international outcry, CNN reported on Friday.

Bale, who plays crime-fighting superhero Batman, and a camera crew from CNN were jostled by men in plainclothes in Dongshigu village in eastern Shandong province, where activist Chen Guangcheng has been under house arrest for 15 months, according to a video released by CNN on its website.

"Why can I not visit this man?" Bale asked several security officers, while they were pushing him.

"You know, I'm not being brave doing this," Bale told CNN. "The local people who are standing up to the authorities and insisting on going to visit Chen and his family and getting beaten up for it, and my understanding, getting detained for it and everything. I want to support what they are doing."

CNN said the guards shadowed its van for more than half an hour.

The fate of Chen, a self-schooled advocate who has campaigned against forced abortions, has become a test of wills, pitting the Communist Party's crackdown on dissent against activists championing his cause and that of artist Ai Weiwei.

In recent months, dozens of supporters have been blocked from visiting Chen. Many were beaten by men in plain clothes.

CNN said that Bale, in China for the premiere of his latest film "The Flowers of War" made by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, approached the news network to try to meet Chen.

They took an eight-hour car journey to Chen's village from Beijing.

"This doesn't come naturally to me," Bale said to CNN. "But this was just a situation, I said, I can't look the other way."

China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a faxed inquiry about Bale's visit.

It was not clear if the incident would have any impact on "The Flowers of War," which is China's Oscar entry for next year, or the release of Bale's new Batman film in the country.

China's film regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.

"INTRINSIC WEAKNESS"

In a later interview with CNN, Bale said: "It's amazing that a superpower like China is actually terrified of this man and shows such an intrinsic weakness within the fabric of the country."

"This kind of treatment ... represents the power structure and their attitudes towards their own citizens, which is disgusting," he said.

Internet users took to the Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo to applaud Bale's visit to see the "blind man." Authorities have blocked searches for "Chen Guangcheng."

"Mr Bale, I admire your courage and heart," said a microblogger called "Chen Xiaoying wants to support."

"But next time if you want to save a person, remember to wear your Batman suit. The Chinese official media will not report this, it's up to CNN to broadcast it."

Chen angered Shandong officials in 2005 by exposing a program of forced abortions as part of China's one-child policy. He was formally released in September 2010 after four years in jail on a charge of "blocking traffic."

"What I really wanted to do is to shake the man's hand and say 'thank you', and tell him what an inspiration he is," Bale told CNN.

Other Hollywood stars have also been active in criticizing Chinese policies. Actor Richard Gere is a strong supporter of Tibet, for example.

China does not take kindly to foreign criticism of its rights record. In 2008, Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at a Shanghai concert after performing her song "Declare Independence," angering the government and local fans alike.

As a young boy, Bale starred in "Empire of the Sun," a film set in World War Two about a British family in Shanghai.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/ts_nm/us_china_bale_activist

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Newt Gingrich is taking flak from his GOP rivals and some conservative commentators on things like Freddie Mac and his ideas about the federal judiciary. But as?his fellow debaters have learned, he can be a well-armed and highly-confident opponent.

Professor Gingrich was lecturing again Saturday ? this time on the history of the US judiciary, referencing Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt.

Skip to next paragraph

It was a conference call from Iowa on ?how to bring the federal courts back within the constraints of the US Constitution.? Fascinating stuff, if a discussion of habeas corpus, Marbury v. Madison, and 14 German saboteurs ordered executed by FDR are what turns you on.

Obviously Newt Gingrich thinks the federal judiciary is an issue worth campaigning on. Railing on ?activist judges? is part of any conservative?s standard operating procedure. And in Gingrich?s case, it?s a way of taking the political discussion somewhere other than Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

His having been paid $1.6 million by one of the now-disgraced mortgage industry giants ? who cares whether he was actually ?lobbying? or not? ? continues to be something not just Michele Bachmann is interested in. Civil fraud charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Fannie?s and Freddie?s former chief executives, announced just hours after Bachmann?s Thursday night debate attack, certainly didn?t help Gingrich any.

The Monitor's Weekly news Quiz 12/11-12/16

Then there?s the Wall Street Journal?s long editorial on the subject Saturday. Bottom line:

?The real history lesson here may be what the Freddie episode reveals about Mr. Gingrich's political philosophy. To wit, he has a soft spot for big government when he can use it for his own political ends,? the newspaper editorialized. ?Mr. Gingrich would help his candidacy if he stopped defending his Freddie payday, admitted his mistake, and promised to atone as President by shrinking Fannie and Freddie and ultimately putting them out of business.?

But back to the Gingrich and the courts. It?s not just court-loving liberals who are critical of what the former House Speaker is proposing, which includes abolishing certain judgeships.

In the National Review Online Friday, noted conservatives Ed Whelan and Matthew Franck take turns knocking "Gingrich's Awful Proposal to Abolish Judgeships,? as their exchange is titled.

?I have often said that judicial independence is something we could stand to have a lot less of,? Franck writes. ?But there are right ways and wrong ways to bring activist judges to heel.?[Gingrich?s proposal] is a very badly wrong way.?

Whelan (who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and served in the Justice Department under former president George W. Bush) calls it ?constitutionally unsound and politically foolish.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QfyrS1ADG4s/Newt-Gingrich-Challenges-ahead-but-he-s-still-dangerous

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FILE - In this Oct. 12, 2011, file photo U.S. Ambassador to Russia-nominee Dr. Michael Anthony McFaul testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination. The U.S. Senate on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, confirmed McFaul, President Barack Obama's top adviser on Russia, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Moscow. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 12, 2011, file photo U.S. Ambassador to Russia-nominee Dr. Michael Anthony McFaul testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination. The U.S. Senate on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, confirmed McFaul, President Barack Obama's top adviser on Russia, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Moscow. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate on Saturday confirmed Michael McFaul, President Barack Obama's top adviser on Russia, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Moscow.

The voice vote to elevate McFaul to the ambassador's post came on the last day the Senate is meeting this year after several months of delay.

McFaul is regarded as one of the nation's leading experts on U.S. relations with Russia and has been involved in the Obama administration's efforts to improve shaky relations with the Moscow government.

That includes the signing of the New START treaty that set a ceiling of 1,550 strategic warheads in each country's arsenal.

McFaul, who taught at Stanford, was a campaign adviser to Obama on Russia and Eurasia before moving to the National Security Council to become the president's chief Russia adviser.

Obama nominated McFaul to the post in September, but a Senate vote on his confirmation was held up by Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois over issues with U.S. policies toward Russia.

Kirk said he wanted written assurances that the United States will not provide Russia with any currently classified information on a missile defense system. The administration said it had no plans to provide Russia with such information.

Democrats, before leaving for the winter break, tried to secure confirmation of several dozen other nominees, but were blocked by Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky who said the administration must first pledge that it will not make any recess appointments.

Temporary appointments made when Congress is not in session are a means by which presidents can fill positions that have been left open because of opposition in the Senate either to the nominee or to administration policies.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he would try again to confirm the blocked nominees next year.

They included Richard Cordray to be director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to be alternate governor of the International Monetary Fund, Mari Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador and nominees to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Communications Commission, and Amtrak.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-17-Russia-Ambassador/id-b9978d48165f48118480501c7d3963ae

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Saturday, December 31, 2011

UFC 141 postfight video: Confidence and big knees got the job done for Alistair Overeem

David Letterman's blackmailer gets gig on Paula Zahn show (Reuters)

Friday, December 30, 2011

Seven hurt as bomb hits Arabic school in Nigeria (Reuters)

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Oil hovers below $100 after US supplies soar (AP)

Google Vs. Apple: Google Android Tablet Rumors

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Medindia: Genetic Cause of Thyroid Cancer Discovered http://t.co/H2bbviKI

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Paul's surge may prompt a new look from GOP voters (AP)

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Siri, What Were Your Top 5 Hacks And Mods Of 2011?

Monday, December 26, 2011

So a Russian, an American, and a Dutchman blast off in a rocket...

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Top 10 college football coach Christmas wishes

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Reversal of fortune (Reuters)

Occupy hecklers drown out Bachmann at Iowa diner

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Santa, reindeer will need ponchos in southeast Texas

After Fukushima: A Changing Climate For Nuclear

Florida yoga teacher named 'world's oldest' (AP)

Friday, December 23, 2011

Jon Huntsman rocks ?Johnny B. Goode? on Letterman (video) (Washington Post)

iMAME emulation app hits the App Store, humanity cheers in unison

Thursday, December 22, 2011

LSU's Miles wins AP coach of the year

Sunday, December 18, 2011

"Batman" star roughed up in bid to visit blind Chinese activist (Reuters)

Newt Gingrich: Challenges ahead, but 'he's still dangerous'

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Senate confirms McFaul as ambassador to Moscow