28

Jan 12

Iran devalues in bid to stop rial slide (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran announced an 8 percent devaluation of the rial on Thursday and said it would enforce a single exchange rate, aiming to stamp out a black market where dollars have soared due to fears over new sanctions imposed by the West.

“I announce it right here at 12,260 rials (to the dollar),” Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani told state television.

“This new price will go into effect starting Saturday in all banking outlets and all banking transactions will be calculated on the basis of this new rate,” he told Channel 1.

The bank’s reference rate, posted on its website on Thursday, was 11,296 rials to the dollar.

Although a devaluation from that official rate, the new price is much lower than what the dollar has been sold for by exchange offices and touts this year, soaring above 20,000 rials as Iranians sought to convert their savings into hard currency.

IRNA said the free market price of dollars dropped to a range of 17,000 and 18,000 on the news.

To combat the slide in confidence and value of the currency, Tehran has already announced the criminalization of unofficial money trades and on Wednesday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a U-turn on interest rates, allowing banks to raise the returns on deposit accounts up to 21 percent.

Bahmani said the new dollar rate would be freely available – although on Wednesday he indicated only people who could prove an immediate need for foreign currency, such as travelers or companies importing foreign goods, would be allowed to buy.

“There will be absolutely no need to go to the open market to procure foreign currency. The banking system will meet all of the people’s needs,” he said on Thursday.

The move may help slow the rise in inflation, which has grown from single digits to around 20 percent over the last 18 months. Iran is heavily reliant on imported consumer and intermediate goods whose prices have surged as the rial has depreciated.

Stabilizing the economy is politically vital to Ahmadinejad who insists that Western sanctions – aimed at forcing Tehran to curb its nuclear activities – will have no impact on ordinary Iranians.

He said the currency slide was the fault of speculators and some poor decisions. “The middle man who always benefits from a chaotic market took advantage of legal gaps,” IRNA quotes him as saying. “There were mistakes by the central bank and some government organizations.”

In his first public comments on the issue since the European Union’s 27 member states agreed on Monday to ban the import of Iranian oil, Ahmadinejad said the EU would lose from the move.

“It is the West that needs Iran and the Iranian nation will not lose from the sanctions,” Ahmadinejad said he said in excerpts of a speech broadcast on state radio.

“Cut it (trade) and let’s see who will incur the loss.”

(Writing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_iran_econcomy_rial

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27

Jan 12

UK police: Ritual killing possible in horse death (AP)

LONDON ? British police say the mutilation and brutal death of a horse may have been the result of a pagan ritual.

The body of a 2-year-old stallion named Erik was found earlier this month near the village of Stithians in western England.

The horse had had its genitals cut off, an eye cut out and its teeth removed.

The animal’s disturbing death led to speculation in the British media that the horse had been killed as part of some kind of ritual.

Local police said Wednesday that a lot of the information about the horse’s death “is unfortunately speculation.”

But Inspector Chris Strickland says his force is investigating the ritual killing angle “because I can’t see any other real motive for doing it.”

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_horse_mutilation

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27

Jan 12

Mexico ups swine flu screening as cases increase (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Three years after swine flu closed Mexico City and caused an international scare, the Mexican government and local media are at odds over the severity of this season’s flu virus. Newspapers are warning of an alarming increase in cases while the government insists there is no cause for alarm.

Federal and state health officials agree there is an increase, but they say the number of cases is within the range of a normal flu season.

The Mexican health ministry, however, has listed confusing numbers on its website and it hasn’t specified the rise in cases despite repeated requests from The Associated Press.

The federal education ministry said Wednesday that it was instituting screening measures in all elementary schools for the H1N1 flu strain, commonly called swine flu when the first outbreak was discovered in Mexico in March 2009. The ministry revised its message later to say screenings are in place only at schools where children exhibit symptoms.

Local media reported a handful of schools in Mexico City have closed. The education ministry said they were private schools shuttered by administrators and parents, not by official government action.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that while Mexico is seeing more cases of the H1N1 virus, the U.S. is seeing more cases of a different strain, H3N2. Antibodies for both are part of this year’s flu vaccine. H1N1 is now considered a seasonal flu.

“We are not aware of any unusual changes in the virus in Mexico that would be concerning,” CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said in an email to The Associated Press.

Besides the contradicting statements about screenings at schools, the Mexican government has also put out conflicting statistics.

The health ministry on Sunday reported 637 cases of confirmed flu cases so far in 2012 along with 10 deaths ? nine of them associated with 573 cases of H1N1.

On Jan. 15, it reported far lower numbers: 181 confirmed cases for all strains of flu and five deaths for 2012, meaning cases would have increased 250 percent in just one week.

The same health bulletin said that for all of last year, there were 870 cases of all strains of flu and 35 deaths.

The World Health Organization in 2009 declared swine flu the first global flu pandemic in 40 years after the outbreak of cases in Mexico that spring and then the strain spread to other countries.

Mexican authorities closed restaurants, schools, museums, libraries and theaters to stop the spread of the disease as initial reports suggested it was killing as many as one in 15 of those infected ? a horrifying death rate that would have been more than three times higher than the devastating flu pandemic of 1918-19.

Additional investigation in Mexico suggested that many people had suffered only mild illness. Those cases were not counted in initial reports, meaning the death rate was much, much lower than originally estimated.

By July 2010, the Mexican government reported nearly 76,000 cases of H1N1 and more than 1,300 deaths, the most recent accumulated statistics on its website.

The World Health Organizations estimates that flu causes 3 million to 5 million cases of severe illness worldwide every year, with about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths, primarily among the elderly and the chronically ill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_swine_flu

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27

Jan 12

APNewsBreak: US to unveil new forest rules

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging.

The new rules, to replace guidelines thrown out by a federal court in 2009, are set to be released Thursday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. A summary was obtained by The Associated Press.

Vilsack said in an interview that the rules reflect more than 300,000 comments received since a draft plan was released last year. The new rules strengthen a requirement that decisions be based on the best available science and recognize that forests are used for a variety of purposes, Vilsack said.

“I think it’s a solid rule and done in a collaborative, open and transparent way,” he said.

The guidelines, known as a forest planning rule, will encourage forest restoration and watershed protection while creating opportunities for the timber industry and those who use the forest for recreation, he said.

Vilsack, who has pledged to break through the logjam of political conflict over forest management, said the new regulation’s emphasis on science and multiple uses should allow it to stand up to likely court challenges from environmental groups or the timber industry.

“I am hopeful and confident that it will stand scrutiny,” he said.

Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said the guidelines would allow land management plans for individual forests to be completed more quickly and at a lower cost than under current rules, which date to the Reagan administration.

Several attempts to revise the 1982 planning rule have been thrown out by federal courts in the past decade. Most recently a Bush administration plan was struck down in 2009. Environmentalists had fought the rule, saying it rolled back key forest protections.

The Obama administration did not appeal the ruling, electing to develop a new forest planning rule to protect water, climate and wildlife.

Under the new rule, forest plans could be developed within three to four years instead of taking up to seven years, as under current guidelines, Tidwell said.

“We really can protect the forest at lower cost with less time,” he said.

The new regulation also should give forest managers more flexibility to address conditions on the ground, such as projects to thin the forest to reduce the risk of wildfire, Tidwell said.

“We’ll be able to get more work done ? get more out of the forest and create more jobs,” while at the same allowing greater recreational use, Tidwell said. Recreational use of the forest has grown exponentially in recent years.

Like Vilsack, Tidwell said he is optimistic the new plan will stand up to scrutiny from environmental groups and the timber industry, both of which have challenged previous planning rules in court.

“I’m optimistic that folks will want to give it a shot,” Tidwell said.

The 155 national forests and grasslands managed by the Forest Service cover 193 million acres in 42 states and Puerto Rico. Balance between industry and conservation in those areas has been tough to find since the existing rules went into effect three decades ago.

At least three revisions of the rules have been struck down since 2000.

The planning rule designates certain animal species that must be protected to ensure ecosystems are healthy. However, the rule became the basis of numerous lawsuits that sharply cut back logging to protect habitat for fish and wildlife.

Meanwhile, the timber industry has continued to clamor for more logs, and conservation groups keep challenging timber sales, drilling and mining projects.

___

Matthew Daly can be followed on Twitter: (at)MatthewDalyWDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-26-Forest%20Rules/id-f99bf624489646fa89fa3c11b8ca86b7

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27

Jan 12

What does 2012 hold for the jobseeking scientist?

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27

Jan 12

Colgate ups prices at home; first attempt in years (AP)

NEW YORK ? Colgate-Palmolive, stung by higher costs, saw fourth-quarter net income decline more than 5 percent but said Thursday that it had raised prices in North America for the first time in two and a half years.

Raising prices has been risky for consumer products companies like Colgate, with cash-strapped consumers more ready than ever to drop even their favorite brands to save a few cents. Paychecks are already stretched thin and the government’s most recent data on jobs, also released Thursday, show that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week

In recent months, Colgate has taken a pricing strategy that’s differed from some of its competitors: It’s been raising prices in fast-growing Latin America, where customers seem willing to stomach the higher costs, but lowering prices in North America through discounts and other promotions.

There are signs that the economy is healing, but raising prices in North America has been something that Colgate, until recently, has been unwilling to try.

Since the third quarter of 2009, Colgate has consistently cut North American prices, by an average of 1.5 percent to 4.5 percent each quarter. It has apparently snapped that trend, saying Thursday that it raised North American prices by 0.5 percent in the latest quarter.

That may be because the company thinks it can, or that it must, or perhaps a little bit of both. But Colgate is aggressively seeking to protect market share, even if it has to spend to do it.

“As we enter 2012, macroeconomic conditions and foreign exchange volatility are an increasing challenge,” said President and CEO Ian Cook. “Despite that, we are planning to improve our worldwide market shares and volume growth with increased advertising.”

For the quarter, Colgate made $590 million, or $1.21 per share. That was down from $624 million, or $1.24 per share, last year.

Excluding one-time expenses like putting cost-saving plans into place and other charges, Colgate earned $1.30 per share. That beat the $1.29 that Wall Street had been looking for, according to a poll by FactSet.

Revenue was $4.17 billion, up from $3.98 billion during the same period last year.

For the year, revenue increased 7.5 percent and net income rose 10 percent.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Co. rose more than 2 percent, or $2.04, to $91.48 in early trading.

The decision to try to recoup its margins comes during a fragile time for the U.S. economy.

The jobs data released Thursday show more people sought unemployment benefits. However, the overall trends point to a recovering job market. At least 100,000 jobs have been added for six straight months and the unemployment rate has declined to 8.5 percent, its lowest in almost three years.

But it’s not a healthy number yet and the government also released data Thursday showing that fewer people bought new homes in December, sealing 2011 as the worst year for new home sales on record.

Colgate does have something of a buffer against hard times. Many customers will stick to things like name-brand toothpaste when money is tight, even if they do trade down in other products.

Overall, Colgate raised prices 3 percent, which helped fuel a 5 percent increase in revenue. But at the same time, the company recorded a 9 percent increase in the cost of making and transporting its goods. As Colgate paid more for raw materials, profit margins fell 1.7 percentage points.

The company has slashed some expenses to try to offset those costs.

“Our continued sharp focus on cost-saving programs in all areas of the business enabled us to achieve full year gross profit margin at the high end of our forecasted range, while also lowering overheads as a percentage of sales,” Cook said.

And Colgate is increasingly relying on foreign markets to fuel growth. Of Colgate’s four main geographic regions, North America accounts for the smallest portion and it is where revenue grew the slowest. Latin America grew the fastest, and made up the biggest portion of revenue.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_colgate

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27

Jan 12

Two Minutes of Insane Destruction and Incredible Explosions [Video]

This video is exactly what you think it is. Two minutes and two seconds of pure, glorious destruction. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/TYGMKR76KRY/two-minutes-of-insane-destruction-and-incredible-explosions

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27

Jan 12

Glee’s Lea Michele fills closet with Candie’s (AP)

NEW YORK ? Lea Michele is moving from a locker to a much bigger closet. She’s the star of the new Candie’s ad campaign, dubbed “Hanging at Home,” shot at a private mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif. The images show her poolside, in the kitchen, in a bed with satin sheets and in a walk-in closet, wearing a new outfit and pair of shoes in each one.

The 25-year-old star of “Glee” is following in the high-heel footprints of former brand spokeswomen Britney Spears and Fergie, among others. Michele says she particularly liked Spears’ old ads. “I think they’re fun and flirty and show off her body great.”

Michele does a little showing off here, too, with some sexy poses, some silly poses and some glamorous ones.

Anyone who has seen Michele do a turn on the red carpet knows she’s got her moves down for the camera.

She has become a “get” for designers eager to show off their gowns on a hot, young starlet. At the recent Golden Globes, she wore a silver Marchesa gown that was straight from the runway.

Her sentimental favorite gown, though, was probably the one she wore to her first Globes in 2010: a black, strapless Oscar de la Renta with a full skirt.

Other tidbits from Michele in an email interview:

AP: What was your wardrobe like in high school?

Michele: My wardrobe in high school was very simple. Jeans and maybe a sweatshirt and sneakers.

AP: Is there a style trend that you love?

Michele: I love wide-leg, high-waisted pants. If done the right way, they’re very chic.

AP: Is there a trend you wish would go away?

Michele: Feathers in people’s hair!

AP: Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Michele: I LOVE beauty products. Face and body creams are my obsession.

The Candie’s brand is available exclusively at Kohl’s Department Stores.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/fashion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_en_tv/us_fea_fashion_lea_michele_candie_s

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26

Jan 12

Funeral service for Paterno as thousands mourn

Mourners arrive at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for memorial services for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mourners arrive at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for memorial services for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. Paterno died Sunday morning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Alysha Ulrich, 10, left foreground, from Oley, Pa., waits in line to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Blaze Feury, right, a member of the Penn State rugby team, gives out hot chocolate to mourners in line to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A mourner reads a newspaper while in line to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mourners line up to go through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus for the viewing for former Penn State coach Joe Paterno Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 in State College, Pa. The second day of a three-day period of public mourning for Paterno will culminate with the funeral and burial for the Hall of Fame football coach who became the face of Penn State University. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? With students, alumni and fans lining the streets, Joe Paterno’s funeral procession drove slowly Wednesday past Beaver Stadium and through the town where the longtime Penn State football coach lived and worked for more than 60 years.

Thousands of mourners waited on the sidewalks, four deep and more in some places, for a glimpse of the electric-blue hearse carrying Paterno’s casket. The convoy also included buses filled with Paterno’s family, former players and other guests.

As a silent crowd looked on, the procession passed a library that bears Paterno’s name on its way to Pine Hall cemetery, the final resting place of the man who led the Nittany Lions to five undefeated seasons.

“The things he did for athletes, the things he did for all students actually ? that alone earns our respect to say one final goodbye,” said Alex Jimenez, a sophomore from Manapalan, N.J., standing directly across from the Paterno library.

Jay Paterno, the coach’s son and quarterbacks coach, sent a message to the mourners via Twitter.

“Thank you to all the people who turned out for my father’s procession,” he wrote. “Very moving.”

The elder Paterno died of lung cancer Sunday at 85. He served as the school’s head football coach for 46 years and won two national titles before being fired in November in the wake of a child sex-abuse scandal involving a former assistant.

The last few months have been emotionally wrenching for the school’s students and alumni, but mourners over the past two days have focused on the inspiration Paterno provided to them, his accomplishments both on and off the field, and his philanthropy of which the library is one example.

Two days of public viewing that ended about noon Wednesday drew large, somber crowds, despite a wait that lasted hours. Members of Penn State’s rugby team handed out hot chocolate Wednesday morning and took donations for the Special Olympics and the student run dance marathon fundraiser ? the two efforts Paterno’s family requested receive donations in lieu of flowers.

Paterno’s family arrived about an hour before the funeral service on two blue school buses, the same kind the coach and his team rode to home games on fall Saturdays. His wife, Sue, was first off the bus, followed by Jay.

A who’s who of Paterno connections followed. His defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley, walked down the sidewalk with Penn State and NFL great Franco Harris.

“Today’s Mass was a celebration. We laid to rest a great man,” Bradley said. “He meant so much to so many people.”

First in line for Wednesday’s public viewing was David Brown, who left his home in Greensburg at midnight and drove more than two hours to State College, then prepared to wait a few hours outside until the doors opened.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were 1,000 people here,” he said.

Behind him was John Myers, 70, who drove more than two hours from Tamaqua to arrive at 5 a.m. ? three hours before the viewing was scheduled to begin.

“It’s worth it,” Myers said. “Joe was one of the best, if not the best, football coaches ever.”

Yet he was ousted just 9 days before disclosing his diagnosis. Paterno’s son, Scott, has said his father was not broken-hearted and remained upbeat until the end of his life. Scott and Jay Paterno were among the pallbearers carrying their father’s casket.

Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach at the center of the abuse scandal, has been charged with molesting 10 boys over a period of 15 years. He has pleaded not guilty and is on bail, awaiting trial. Paterno was criticized in the days after Sandusky’s arrest for not going to authorities outside campus when he was told of an allegation against the retired assistant in 2002. Paterno did notify two of his superiors at Penn State.

Mike McQueary, the then-graduate assistant who told Paterno about the alleged assault, went both to the public viewing and the funeral. Also at the service was former athletic director Tim Curley, who along with former university official Gary Schultz, is accused of perjury and failure to notify authorities about the McQueary allegation.

Most paying tribute, however, did not want to focus on the final days of Paterno’s career.

Willis Herr, a Penn State graduate from the class of 1964, wore a blue wig and a ribbon indicating he attended Penn State’s Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami in 1987.

The longtime season ticket holder, who noted he didn’t miss a home game for 30 years, said school officials had treated Paterno “like he was contaminated” in the wake of the scandal.

But Herr said he thought Wednesday would begin a healing process for the university.

“Joe would want healing, and that’s what I think will carry the day,” Herr said. “He would want people to support Penn State. I think that’s what will happen. The bitterness will slowly fade.”

On Thursday, the university will hold a final, public service for Paterno, at the school’s basketball arena. Tickets were snapped up despite a two-per-person limit.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Rubinkam contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-25-Penn%20State-Paterno/id-058b1b43a3184344b73c4f1989ae3dbd

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26

Jan 12

House GOP to offer new health plan (Politico)

A top House Republican on Wednesday said GOP lawmakers will put forward an alternative to the health care reform law after the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the law.

?We will be ready to respond to the Supreme Court decision, which is expected in June, with a replacement package,? House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee chairman Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) told a small group of reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday.

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Pitts said he personally anticipates that the court could strike the mandate but is unlikely to strike the entire law. He said House leadership is looking to the timing of a likely court decision to make its case against the Democrats? signature health reform law.

?We?ll have a window of opportunity to ? with everyone looking ? to explain that the Affordable Care Act is not fully implemented yet. A lot of people think it is,? Pitts said. ?So we?ll use that opportunity in that window to discuss the full ramifications of the Affordable Care Act and what we?ll replace it with.?

Pitts pointed to several health policy ideas that Republicans have routinely supported that are likely to be in the plan, such as giving the tax break for health insurance to the employee instead of the employer, medical liability reform, creating high-risk medical ?pools? and allowing insurers to sell their products across state lines.

?There are others we will be discussing and will have ready in response to the Supreme Court decision,? Pitts said. ?We think that a free-market alternative is much better as far as making health insurance affordable and available to everyone.?

The timing, Pitts said, is ?a decision above my pay grade. We anticipate the leadership acting on the replacement package after the decision.?

Any plan would have to be crafted in response to how the court handles the law, Pitts said, as the court could leave the whole law in place, get rid of the whole thing, strike the mandate alone or strike other pieces with the mandate. It could also say that a federal tax law prevents it from ruling on the mandate?s constitutionality until after 2015.

The court is planning to hold oral arguments on the health law in March. If the court rules on the mandate, it is likely to do so before the end of its term in June.

Democrats have routinely criticized Republicans for holding numerous votes to repeal the health law without presenting a complete alternative.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 2:29 p.m. on January 25, 2012.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Joe Pitts’s title. He is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.

?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71967_html/44304701/SIG=11mbnfjp5/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71967.html

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