Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Schmidt raises $5000 for her legal expense trust | Politics Extra

Rep. Jean Schmidt at the Enquirer, Aug. 11, 2011. The Enquirer/Michael E. Keating

Rep. Jean Schmidt raised $5,000 for her legal expense trust, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Miami Township Republican created the Jean Schmidt Legal Expense Trust fund last year, after the House ethics committee said she had to replay about $500,000 in improper legal fees she had unknowingly received from a Turkish group.

Schmidt?s spokesman, Barrett Brunsman, said that a filing due today will show that Schmidt raised no funds for the trust last year, except a $10 donation she made herself. But she has $5,000 for the trust this year, and that ?additional significant contributions? are expected.

He also said that Schmidt has repaid $42,812 in legal fees stemming from an amicus brief filed on her behalf. The ethics panel had said she could not use funds raised through her legal trust for the costs of the amicus brief.

The legal trust fundraising activity, while relatively minimal compared to her regular House re-election committee, represents another step in Schmidt?s efforts to comply with a ruling by the House ethics panel. Last August, the committee found that Schmidt had unknowingly received an improper gift of about $500,000 in legal fees paid on her behalf by the Turkish Coalition of America.

The lawyers? fees stemmed from legal battles with David Krikorian, a political who ran against Schmidt in 2008 and has filed to run against her again this year. The Turkish American Coalition paid lawyers who were representing Schmidt in two cases against Krikorian, through an affiliated group called the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund.

On Aug. 5, the House ethics committee ruled that Schmidt did not know her lawyers had sent the bills to the coalition, but that the payment still amounted to an improper gift. The panel directed Schmidt to amend her 2009 and 2010 financial disclosure forms, which lawmakers file annually to provide information about their personal finances, to reflect the improper gift, and begin to repay the fees.

Earlier this month, Schmidt amended her disclosure forms to reflect $439,109.90 in gifts from the Turkish group. Her spokesman, Barrett Brunsman, said that amount reflected an accurate tally of the lawyers? fees, noting the committee?s $500,000 figure was an estimate.

Posted in: 2nd Congressional District, Congress, Republicans, Updates

Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/31/schmidt-raises-5000-for-her-legal-expense-trust/

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Monday, 30 January 2012

Don?t Fret Over Super PACs (Theagitator)

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UK police arrest Murdoch tabloid staff

British police arrested four current and former staff of Rupert Murdoch's best-selling Sun tabloid plus a policeman on Saturday as part of an investigation into suspected payments by journalists to officers, police and the newspaper's publisher said.

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Police also searched the paper's London offices at publisher News International, News Corp.'s British arm, in a corruption probe linked to a continuing investigation into phone hacking at its now closed News of the World weekly tabloid.

News Corp.'s Management and Standards Committee, set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, said Saturday's operation was the result of information it had passed to police.

"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated," the committee said in a statement confirming the arrests of four "current and former employees" of the Sun.

The committee is conducting a lawyer-led internal review of News International's remaining titles, which also include The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers, as part of a drive to mend the reputational damage done by the phone hacking scandal.

The committee's investigation into The Sun was "well advanced," News International chief executive Tom Mockridge said in an email sent to staff.

"News International is confronting past mistakes and is making fundamental changes about how we operate which are essential for our business.

"Despite this very difficult news, we are determined that News International will emerge a stronger and more trusted organisation," he added.

Emails warned James Murdoch of phone hacking

News International was providing legal support for the four arrested "colleagues," Mockridge said.

The arrests included The Sun's crime editor Mike Sullivan, its head of news Chris Pharo, and former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Also arrested was the paper's former managing editor Graham Dudman, now a columnist and media writer, the source said.

Police said a 48-year-old man from north London and two other men from Essex, east of London, ages 48 and 56, were arrested at their homes. The fourth man, aged 42, was arrested after reporting to an east London police station.

A Sun reporter, who asked not to be named, said: "Everyone is a bit shocked, there is disbelief really. But there is a big difference between phone hacking and payments to the police."

A 29-year-old policeman serving with the Met Police's Territorial Policing Command, was arrested at the central London police station where he worked.

All five were being questioned on suspicion of corruption.

Operation Elveden
Police searched the arrested men's homes as well as The Sun's offices in Wapping, east London.

Thirteen people have now been arrested over allegations that journalists paid police in return for information.

Their detentions are part of Operation Elveden - one of three criminal investigations into news-gathering practices.

Last week, News International settled a string of legal claims after it admitted that people working for the tabloid had hacked in to the private phones of celebrities and others to find stories.

The phone hacking scandal drew attention to the level of political influence held by editors and executives at News International, and other newspapers in Britain.

It embarrassed British politicians for their close ties with newspaper executives and also the police, who repeatedly failed to investigate allegations of illegal phone hacking.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46174085/ns/world_news-europe/

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Sunday, 29 January 2012

Awards Tour 2012: Directors Guild of America Winners

DGA President Taylor Hackford announced the winner for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

"The directors nominated this year for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award have each demonstrated an inspired command of the medium. The fact that their prodigious talents have been recognized by their peers is the highest honor a director can achieve," said Hackford. "I offer my most sincere congratulations to each of the nominees."


Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

hr />

Feature Documentary

James Marsh, Project Nim

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924274/news/1924274/

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US man helping in Haiti rebuilding is shot, robbed (AP)

MIAMI ? A U.S. man who helped build a trauma center in Haiti after January 2010's devastating earthquake was treated at that hospital after being critically wounded during a robbery in the capital of Port-au-Prince, his wife and doctors said Friday.

David Bompart, 50, of Columbus, Ohio, was shot Tuesday afternoon outside a bank and was in critical condition Friday at a Florida hospital. Bompart was picking up money for an orphanage building project when robbers sprayed bullets at him at close range. He was hit but able to walk to a nearby Project Medishare hospital for help, said his wife, Nicolle Bompart, 45.

The robbers stole his camera and passport, but the money for the orphanage remained safe in Bompart's pants pocket, his wife said. The suspects have not been arrested.

"I feel like this was a robbery (by) some people who were desperate to feed their families, and I choose to look at it as that's why they did it," Nicolle Bompart said.

He underwent two surgeries at Hospital Bernard Mevs Project Medishare before he was airlifted Thursday night to a Miami hospital, said spokeswoman Catherine Murphy.

Bompart was on a ventilator at the Ryder Trauma Center and had gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, said Dr. Nicholas Namias, the center's co-medial director.

"What we're dealing with now are the effects of being in shock for a long time in Haiti," Namias said.

Bompart managed Project Medishare's warehouse and logistics, said co-founder, Dr. Barth Green.

Since October, Bompart had been working on building the orphanage through the couple's own charity, Eyes Wide Open International, said his wife, who flew to Haiti after the shooting.

The couple has spent much of their time since January 2010 flying between Haiti, Florida and Ohio for their charity work and for medical care for their 14-year-old son, a Haitian boy they adopted after the earthquake. The Bomparts also have a 26-year-old daughter.

Bompart knew about the potential risks of working in Haiti's capital, which had been prone to instability and violence before the earthquake. But he was devoted to helping widows and orphans in Haiti and he felt he could rely on his training as a former United Nations employee and as a member of the military in his native Trinidad and Tobago, his wife said.

"Honestly, if he was able to tell you, he would say that he would do it all over again, if it would change someone's life or bring awareness to this situation," Nicolle Bompart said. "He would still do it, because that's the kind of guy he is."

___

Online:

For updates on Dave Bompart's progress: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidbompart

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

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Santorum cancels morning events to be with child (The Arizona Republic)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192801142?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Saturday, 28 January 2012

Australian gov't, activists trade blame for clash (AP)

SYDNEY ? Authorities and indigenous-rights protesters blamed each other Friday for a heated clash in which bodyguards had to rush Prime Minister Julia Gillard out of an event marking the anniversary of British colonization.

Gillard stumbled in Thursday's fray and lost a shoe, which protesters scooped up after the rowdy demonstration in the capital Canberra. Aboriginal-rights supporters had surrounded a restaurant and banged on its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside at an award ceremony to mark Australia Day.

Michael Outram, national manager of protection for the Australian Federal Police, said police may file charges against some of the protesters. Gillard said Friday that she was fine, but slammed the activists' actions.

"I've got no troubles at all with peaceful protests. ... What I utterly condemn is when protests turn violent the way we saw the violence yesterday, and particularly to disrupt an event which was to honor some extraordinary Australians," she said.

Protest leaders denied doing anything wrong, accused the police of manhandling protesters and said they planned to lodge a complaint against the officers involved.

"The Australian Federal Police came at us with force and we did not retaliate with force," protest spokeswoman Selina Daveys-Newry told reporters Friday. "We see straight through that little puppet play."

About 200 indigenous-rights supporters marched on the nation's Parliament House on Friday, burning an Australian flag in front of a wall of police and carrying signs with messages such as "All cops are bastards." No one was hurt and the protesters left minutes later.

The restaurant where Thursday's clash occurred is close to the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy, where the protesters had demonstrated peacefully earlier in the day. That longstanding, ramshackle collection of tents and temporary shelters is a center point of protests against Australia Day, which marks the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. Many Aborigines call it Invasion Day because the land was settled without a treaty with traditional owners.

Outram defended the way Thursday's incident had been handled, saying police had no idea the protest ? which had been peaceful for much of the day ? would turn aggressive.

"We had no information or reason to suspect there was going to be any problem," Outram told reporters in Canberra.

Abbott was the focus of much of the protesters' rage. The Tent Embassy celebrated its 40th anniversary on Thursday, and Abbott had earlier angered activists by saying it was time the embassy "moved on." Abbott said Friday that his comment had been misinterpreted, and that he never meant to imply the embassy should be torn down.

Questions lingered, meanwhile, about the fate of Gillard's high-heeled blue suede shoe. There was talk about holding it for ransom or auctioning it off on eBay, but Tent Embassy founder Michael Anderson said at a press conference Friday that it would be returned to the prime minister.

Gillard didn't seem to care.

"It really doesn't worry me," she said with a grin. "I'm in a fortunate situation where I'm a woman with a few pairs of shoes."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_indigenous_protest

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Mutiny leader demands new Papua New Guinea gov't (AP)

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea ? Rebel soldiers seized the military's headquarters Thursday and replaced Papua New Guinea's top general with their own leader, who gave Prime Minister Peter O'Neill a week to step aside for his ousted predecessor.

The new crisis comes during a turbulent period for the South Pacific's most populous island nation, where both O'Neill and former Prime Minister Michael Somare claim to be the rightful leader.

The self-proclaimed new chief of the country's defense forces, retired Col. Yaura Sasa, insisted he was not mounting a coup. But he warned that the military will take unspecified action unless O'Neill stands down and Somare is reinstated, as the national Supreme Court ordered last month.

"Both Sir Michael Somare and O'Neill have seven days to implement the Supreme Court's orders to resolve the current political impasse or I will be forced to take actions to uphold the integrity of the Constitution," Sasa told reporters in Port Moresby.

The government called on Sasa and his supporters to surrender and said the mutiny did not have support from the broader military.

Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah told reporters that about 30 soldiers were involved in the mutiny and 15 of them have been arrested. Namah said Sasa could be charged with treason, which carries the death sentence.

The mutiny started before dawn, when rebel soldiers overpowered guards at the Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby. They then moved to the military headquarters at Murray Barracks and placed the head of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi, under house arrest. There were no reports of bloodshed.

The Australian Embassy reported that Agwi was released from house arrest later Thursday, a development welcomed by Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

Sasa, who last served as Papua New Guinea's defense attache to Indonesia before retiring from the military, told reporters he had been legitimately appointed defense chief by Somare.

Somare's spokeswoman Betha Somare told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that his ousted cabinet had confirmed Sasa's appointment several days ago. Betha Somare, who is also Michael Somare's daughter, did not immediately reply to The Associated Press' request for comment on Thursday.

Namah said Somare had "no sanity" and was using "rogue soldiers to pursue his own greed and selfishness."

O'Neill had told Australia ? Papua New Guinea's former colonial master and its main provider of foreign aid ? that "authorities were taking steps to manage the situation," Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the mutiny.

"The military has no place in PNG politics," she said in a statement.

"It is critical therefore that this situation be resolved peacefully as soon as possible, with the PNG Defense Force chain of command restored," she added.

Somare was Papua New Guinea's first prime minister when it became independent in 1975, and was knighted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Papua New Guinea's Parliament replaced him with O'Neill in August, while Somare was getting medical treatment outside the country.

Last month, the country's Supreme Court and Governor-General Michael Ogio backed Somare, who the court ruled was illegally removed. But Ogio changed his mind days later, saying bad legal advice had led him to incorrectly reinstate Somare.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_as/as_papua_new_guinea_mutiny

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Friday, 27 January 2012

KDE 4.8 released, wants to sashay its way into your computer

Sure, it might not have the marketing flair, nor mindshare of another Linux-based project we know, but that doesn't mean the folks behind KDE haven't been feverishly polishing their take on the perfect desktop environment. That dedication has resulted in version 4.8, which brings forth a bevy of tweaks big and small. Those upgrading will be treated to more layouts in Plasma Workspaces, a new display engine and file-manager, as well as redesigned power management settings. Also on the docket are refinements that improve stability and performance, including groundwork to enable more touch-friendly UIs in the future. Sounds like a win-win to us, so why are you still reading? More info awaits at the source.

KDE 4.8 released, wants to sashay its way into your computer originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/kde-4-8-released-wants-to-sashay-its-way-into-your-computer/

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Thursday, 26 January 2012

Upcoming Speaking Gigs in Nashville, D.C. (Theagitator)

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Video: Egypt marks anniversary of uprising

Thousands of Egyptians gather in Cairo to mark the beginning of the revolt that led to the ousting of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. NBC?s Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

>> with thousands of egyptians gathering in cairo 's tahrir square to mark the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled hosni mubarak . ayman mohyeldin is in cairo with the latest.

>> reporter: thousands have descended on the streets but they are not as unite as last year. some are here to celebrate new democratic guidance. others are here to renew sustained protests against a ruling military council . they want them to hand over power. the military council today announced the end of a 30-year emergency law in certain exceptions. nonetheless people want a democratic transition faster. the military says it won't happen until june of this year. back to you.

>> ayman mohyeldin in cairo . thank

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46129032/

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Wednesday, 25 January 2012

LA mayor signs law requiring condoms in porn films

(AP) ? Actors in adult movies filmed in Los Angeles will be required to use condoms under an ordinance signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and porn industry leaders say the regulation could lead them to abandon the nation's porn capital.

The law, signed Monday, will take effect 41 days after it is posted by the city clerk, something that could happen as early as this week.

Officials with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which lobbied for years for such a law, expressed jubilation Tuesday and said they would now turn their attention to getting a similar condom requirement adopted elsewhere.

"The city of Los Angeles has done the right thing. They've done the right thing for the performers," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which had pushed the measure for six years.

He said its adoption is crucial in protecting adult film actors from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Weinstein said his group's next move will be to get Los Angeles County to adopt a similar measure for its unincorporated areas.

The group is in the midst of a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot, but Weinstein said he hopes the county's Board of Supervisors will react as the Los Angeles City Council did and pass such an ordinance itself. The council gave its final approval last week.

Industry officials estimate as many as 90 percent of the porn films produced in the United States are made in Los Angeles. Most are filmed quietly in the city's suburban San Fernando Valley.

After the council's action, several of the industry's biggest filmmakers said they might consider moving just outside the county. That prompted Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber to announce last week that he would ask the city attorney for his community, located just across the county line from the San Fernando Valley, to write a similar ordinance.

Weinstein said Tuesday his group would also be vigilant in keeping track of where porn producers might go.

Exactly how the law will be enforced is still to be determined.

It calls for makers of porn films to pay a fee, the amount still to be determined, that would be used to pay for spot checks at filming locations.

The City Council is creating a committee to determine the amount of the fee and who would make the spot checks.

Weinstein said he envisions enforcement would fall on nurses or other public health providers.

"It is not anticipated, based on what we desire or what has been discussed, that it would be uniformed police officers," he said.

Weinstein said he would be open to working with industry leaders to enforce the law.

He noted the ordinance does not require condoms when oral sex is involved because his group, which originally crafted it, agreed with the filmmakers that infection through oral sex was not as great as through other sex acts.

The industry already requires that actors be tested for HIV every 30 days, and filmmakers say they believe that is sufficient.

"It's not that I don't doubt the sincerity of their desire to protect the talent. And believe it or not, we have the same ambition," Christian Mann, general manager of Evil Angel Productions, said last week after the council's vote.

"We just don't believe their way is the best way," added Mann, who is also on the board of directors of the industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-24-Porn-Condoms/id-4bc501e4ca1b457eba8c0f03619cca38

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Cancer Incidence Death Rates Continue to Drop: Report ...

By Lisa Collier Cool | Posted January 24 2012

Encouraging news in the fight against cancer: A new report shows that between 1990 and 2008, cancer deaths have dropped almost 23 percent in men and just over 15 percent in women. As a result, says Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior author of the report, about one million cancer deaths were prevented. The report found significant progress against 4 major cancer killers: lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. GE has recently launched a $1 billion global campaign to speed the fight against cancer, with the goal of helping clinicians deliver improved, more personalized care to 10 million patients by 2020.

Read the full article

Source: http://www.healthymagination.com/blog/cancer-incidence-death-rates-continue-to-drop-report-medlineplus/

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Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Gingrich, Romney clash in heated Tampa debate

The former?Massachusetts?governor accused Gingrich of being an "influence peddler," while the ex-Speaker in turn called Romney a liar.

Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich clashed repeatedly in heated, personal terms Monday night in a crackling campaign debate, the former Massachusetts governor tagging his rival as an "influence peddler" in Washington, only to be accused in turn of spreading falsehoods over many years in politics.

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"You've been walking around the state saying things that are untrue," Gingrich said to his rival in a two-hour debate marked by interruptions and finger pointing.

The debate marked the first encounter among the four remaining GOP contenders ? former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul shared the stage ? since Gingrich won the South Carolina primary in an upset last weekend, a double-digit victory that reset the race to pick a rival to challenge President Barack Obama this fall.

Romney was the aggressor from the opening moments Monday night, saying Gingrich had "resigned in disgrace" from Congress after four years as speaker and then had spent the next 15 years "working as an influence peddler" in Washington.

In particular, he referred to the contract Gingrich's consulting firm had with Freddie Mac, a government-backed mortgage giant that he said "did a lot of bad for a lot of people and you were working there."

Romney also said Gingrich had lobbied lawmakers to approve legislation creating a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare.

"I have never, ever gone and done any lobbying," Gingrich said emphatically, adding that his firm had hired an expert to explain to employees "the bright line between what you can do as a citizen and what you do as a lobbyist."

Romney counterpunched quickly, referring to what he said was more than $1 million that Gingrich's consulting firm received from Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage giant.

And when Gingrich sought to turn the tables by inquiring about the private equity firm that Romney founded, the former Massachusetts governor replied: "We didn't do any work with the government. ...I wasn't a lobbyist"

As for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Gingrich said that while he never lobbied lawmakers, as Romney charged, he was proud of having supported it. "It has saved lives. It's run on a free enterprise model," he said.

At times, the other two contenders on stage were reduced to supporting roles.

Asked if he could envision a path to the nomination for himself, Santorum said the race has so far been defined by its unpredictability. He conceded he had been defeated for re-election in 2006 in Pennsylvania but said the party lost the governorship by an even bigger margin than his own defeat.

"There's one thing worse than losing an election and that's not standing for the principles that you hold," he said, a comment he frequently makes while campaigning in an attempt to question Romney's commitment to conservatism.

Paul sidestepped when moderator Brian Williams of NBC asked if he would run as a third-party candidate in the fall if he doesn't win the nomination. "I have no intention," he said, but he didn't rule it out.

The polls post-South Carolina show Gingrich and Romney leading in the Florida primary. That and the former speaker's weekend victory explained why the two were squabbling even before the debate began, and why they tangled almost instantly once it had begun.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/HREj31tpKg4/Gingrich-Romney-clash-in-heated-Tampa-debate

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HBT: Twins' Morneau feeling much better

Finally, some promising news on Justin Morneau.

According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the 30-year-old first baseman has been participating in?strenuous?workouts for over a month at a training facility in?Phoenix and has not experienced a concussion-related symptom yet.

There?s still some concern that Morneau?s head issues will resurface when spring training opens and he?s exposed to the heat and sunlight of a typical March in Fort Myers, Florida. But, so far so good.

?I wouldn?t say the head?s perfect yet,? Morneau told the Star-Tribune. ?I?m not going to declare that until I go through fielding ground balls, playing catch, taking batting practice, doing all the baseball stuff. But what I was able to do today is miles ahead of where I was at this time last year.?

Morneau batted just .227/.285/.333 with four home runs and 30 RBI across 288 plate appearances last year and has played in only 150 games over the past two seasons. The native of British Columbia was the American League?s Most Valuable Player in 2006 and was a .282/.352/.505 hitter between ?04 and ?09.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/22/justin-morneau-hasnt-felt-concussion-symptoms-since-dec/related/

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Monday, 23 January 2012

Time for robots to get real

Drop the gimmicks, focus on practical problem-solving, and robotics can change the world

FROM robotic slug-killers to dancing humanoids, there's a lot of media buzz around robots. But the roboticists behind such ventures need a serious reality check.

As a founder of iRobot Corporation, based in Bedford, Massachusetts, and CEO of robotics start-up CyPhy Works, it's clear to me that merely engineering "cool" robots does little to advance the field. If robotics is to succeed like computing, what matters is making practical robots that do jobs well and affordably - factors that tend to get lost as people fascinate over the latest autonomous party pieces.

The importance of focusing on practicality struck us during iRobot's formative years in the 1990s, when we were engineering robots as toys, oil-well surveyors and commercial cleaners for industry-leading firms. Why? Companies would only pay good money for practical designs that performed reliably.

Roboticists who don't focus on practicality, ruggedness and cost are kidding themselves. Simply put, people don't want outlandish machines in their homes. Before iRobot introduced the Roomba vacuuming robot in 2002, focus groups imagined it would look like the Terminator pushing a vacuum cleaner - and told us they would not accept such machines in their homes. But when we showed them that Roomba was small, light and friendly, they loved it.

Another benefit of practicality was seen last year, when iRobot's military robots, originally deployed in Afghanistan to defuse improvised explosive devices, proved very useful to the human teams dealing with the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan. As a result, many in Japan have questioned the nation's research focus on singing, running and dancing humanoid robots. It looks like change is afoot there.

This is to be welcomed because at this point, attempting to duplicate human intelligence or the human form robotically is a wrong-headed approach. We already have about 7 billion humans on the planet and we are really good at what we do. To sell humanoid robots they would have to be better than people - and that is just not realistic yet.

Software standardisation, around the Robot Operating System and Linux, for instance, will help developers focus on the practical. This is a tremendous move because engineers, particularly in research universities, won't have to start coding from the ground up to build their own robots. Instead, their challenge will be to build software packages small enough to run on affordable processors, and robots that avoid the common embarrassment of being wimpy and underpowered with limited usage time.

By focusing on bringing robots to market, innovators will be able to put the industry firmly on the commercially viable, world-changing track it deserves.

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Carbon dioxide is 'driving fish crazy'

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Rising human carbon dioxide emissions may be affecting the brains and central nervous system of sea fishes with serious consequences for their survival, an international scientific team has found.

Carbon dioxide concentrations predicted to occur in the ocean by the end of this century will interfere with fishes' ability to hear, smell, turn and evade predators, says Professor Phillip Munday of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.

"For several years our team have been testing the performance of baby coral fishes in sea water containing higher levels of dissolved CO2 ? and it is now pretty clear that they sustain significant disruption to their central nervous system, which is likely to impair their chances of survival," Prof. Munday says.

In their latest paper, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Prof. Munday and colleagues report world-first evidence that high CO2 levels in sea water disrupts a key brain receptor in fish, causing marked changes in their behaviour and sensory ability.

"We've found that elevated CO2 in the oceans can directly interfere with fish neurotransmitter functions, which poses a direct and previously unknown threat to sea life," Prof. Munday says.

Prof. Munday and his colleagues began by studying how baby clown and damsel fishes performed alongside their predators in CO2-enriched water. They found that, while the predators were somewhat affected, the baby fish suffered much higher rates of attrition.

"Our early work showed that the sense of smell of baby fish was harmed by higher CO2 in the water ? meaning they found it harder to locate a reef to settle on or detect the warning smell of a predator fish. But we suspected there was much more to it than the loss of ability to smell."

The team then examined whether fishes' sense of hearing ? used to locate and home in on reefs at night, and avoid them during the day ? was affected. "The answer is, yes it was. They were confused and no longer avoided reef sounds during the day. Being attracted to reefs during daylight would make them easy meat for predators."

Other work showed the fish also tended to lose their natural instinct to turn left or right ? an important factor in schooling behaviour which also makes them more vulnerable, as lone fish are easily eaten by predators.

"All this led us to suspect it wasn't simply damage to their individual senses that was going on ? but rather, that higher levels of carbon dioxide were affecting their whole central nervous system."

The team's latest research shows that high CO2 directly stimulates a receptor in the fish brain called GABA-A, leading to a reversal in its normal function and over-excitement of certain nerve signals.

While most animals with brains have GABA-A receptors, the team considers the effects of elevated CO2 are likely to be most felt by those living in water, as they have lower blood CO2 levels normally. The main impact is likely to be felt by some crustaceans and by most fishes, especially those which use a lot of oxygen.

Prof. Munday said that around 2.3 billion tonnes of human CO2 emissions dissolve into the world's oceans every year, causing changes in the chemical environment of the water in which fish and other species live.

"We've now established it isn't simply the acidification of the oceans that is causing disruption ? as is the case with shellfish and plankton with chalky skeletons ? but the actual dissolved CO2 itself is damaging the fishes' nervous systems."

The work shows that fish with high oxygen consumption are likely to be most affected, suggesting the effects of high CO2 may impair some species worse than others ? possibly including important species targeted by the world's fishing industries.

###

ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Thanks to ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116913/Carbon_dioxide_is__driving_fish_crazy_

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Sunday, 22 January 2012

'Electric Earth' Could Explain Planet's Rotation

The issue is not really the source of the long-period "decade" fluctuations in the length of the day (LOD). It has been known for decades that these have to be caused by "weather" (fluid magnetohydrodynamics) in the liquid outer core. Has to be, as there is no other suitable source of angular momentum. The atmosphere and oceans up here on the surface simply fall short, by as much as an order of magnitude, and nothing else (ice, groundwater, tectonics, etc.) can even match them. The "weather" in the core is dynamically rather different than the weather up here - the heat source is radioactivity and precipitation of solid iron, while the core is quite conductive, and so the dynamics are MHD, not just HD. We don't know much about fluid motions in the core, but we do know that they have to exist, to drive the observed LOD variations (and also drive the observed changes in the geomagnetic field).

What the real question is is the nature of the torque between the mantle and the core. The two leading contenders are pressure torques (differences in pressure across whatever inverse mountains there are at the core mantle boundary) and electromagnetic torques. The E&M torques would be enhanced if the mantle is conducting.

So, this is a plus for the E&M torque theorists, but I wouldn't expect this issue to be really resolved for some centuries, if not longer. The core is not that far away, but it's hard to see through thousands of kilometers of rock...

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/nskBi55sKo4/electric-earth-could-explain-planets-rotation

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Rare Google misstep hints at tech landscape shift (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Google Inc's accelerated efforts to carve out a position in the fast-growing mobile and social networking markets leapt into the spotlight Friday, a day after the giant Internet company reported a rare earnings miss.

The company's investments in its Android mobile software and fledgling Facebook-like Google+ social network represent some of the company's key growth opportunities going forward. But Wall Street is still trying to understand the near-term impact on Google's business.

On Friday, Google's shares fell more than 8 percent. Google missed both its revenue and earnings targets after cost-per-click (CPC) -- or money that marketers pay Google when Websurfers click on its search ads -- decreased for the first time in two years despite record U.S. online commerce during the holiday season. Several brokerages cut their price targets on the stock.

Google+ -- the company's recently-launched social network -- has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago. Android is now the world's most-used mobile software platform, ahead of Apple Inc's iOS, providing an important avenue for consumers to reach Google's various Web services and increasing the total number of people who view its ads.

In the short run, however, the rates for mobile advertising appear to be cheaper than on the company's mainstay desktop search engine.

"We could be seeing a little bit of an effect of more of a proportion of their searches becoming mobile," said Ryan Jacob chairman and chief investment officer of Jacob Funds, which owns Google shares. "They are just not getting the same kind of pricing on the mobile side as they do on the desktop," he said.

Google's heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives -- to stave off competition from rivals Apple and Facebook -- and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc have raised investors' concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as chief executive officer in April, said in July that the company was moving to put "more wood behind fewer arrows."

Google's stubborn refusal to offer forecasts on its financials -- a perennial point of contention with its vast investor community -- makes it difficult to delve deeper into margin impact.

But Jacob echoed arguments by other analysts that aggressive investment is needed to pursue top-line growth and that the final-quarter CPC slide was a blip.

Several analysts pointed to longer-term growth trends in social networking and mobile usage that should boost advertising volumes for Google and offset any margin erosion.

"The areas where we're seeing the most growth, Google has a really. really good strategic position. So even though there may be some changes in terms of pricing fluctuations, they'll probably make it up in volume," Jacob said.

"Strategically, they're at a very interesting spot, whether you look at the desktop space, or the mobile space."

SWEET SPOT?

Google shares were down 9 percent at $582.00 in heavy afternoon trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $581.83. It was the stock's biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes, but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising -- which has lower rates -- played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost-per-click had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid-click growth -- primarily in plain-vanilla display or banner advertising -- and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

STREET REACTION

Several Wall Street analysts called the Google sell-off an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The company's core results were solid, as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JPMorgan said, adding that Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said: "We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth quarter of 2012."

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its "buy" rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JPMorgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting By Aditi Sharma in Bangalore, editing by Edwin Chan and Gerald E. McCormick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/tc_nm/us_google

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Saturday, 21 January 2012

CDC: Many teen moms didn't think it could happen (AP)

ATLANTA ? A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.

In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn't use birth control said the reason was they didn't believe they could pregnant.

Why they thought that isn't clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn't ask teens to explain.

But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn't get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn't think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.

"This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Other studies have asked teens about their contraception use and beliefs about pregnancy. But the CDC report released Thursday is the first to focus on teens who didn't want to get pregnant but did.

The researchers interviewed nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who gave birth after unplanned pregnancies in 2004 through 2008. The survey was done through mailed questionnaires with telephone follow-up.

About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That's higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn't use contraception the last time they had sex.

"I think what surprised us was the extent to which they were not using contraception," said Lorrie Gavin, a CDC senior scientist who co-authored the report.

Some of the teen moms were asked what kind of birth control they used: Nearly 20 percent said they used the pill or a birth control patch. Another 24 percent said they used condoms.

CDC officials said they do not believe that the pill, condoms and other forms of birth control were faulty. Instead, they think the teens failed to use it correctly or consistently.

Only 13 percent of those not using contraception said they didn't because they had trouble getting it.

Another finding: Nearly a quarter of the teen moms who did not use contraception said they didn't because their partner did not want them to. That suggests that sex education must include not only information about anatomy and birth control, but also about how to deal with situations in which a girl feels pressured to do something she doesn't want to, Albert said.

The findings are sobering, he added. But it's important to remember that the overall teen birth rate has been falling for some time, and recently hit its lowest mark in about 70 years.

Albert said it would be a mistake to come away from the report saying, "They can't figure this out?" "Most of them are figuring it out," he said.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_he_me/us_med_pregnant_teens

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3 shark attacks in Australia in less than 3 weeks (AP)

SYDNEY ? A snorkeling guide was attacked by a 10-foot (3-meter) tiger shark off a remote beach in Australia's third attack this month. That's as many attacks as the country generally sees in an entire year.

David Pickering, 26, was leading a group of snorkelers through a lagoon at Western Australia's Coral Bay on Thursday when the shark swam up to him and sunk its teeth into his arm.

"I turned around and boom, there he was," Pickering told reporters. "(The force) was enough to actually bring me forward and under him because I scraped my knee on his belly."

Pickering said he punched the shark with his other arm and it backed off. He then yelled at the other snorkelers ? a couple and their two children ? to get out of the water before swimming the 300 feet (100 meters) back to shore.

"I'm pretty stoked that it happened to me and not one of those kids," he said.

Pickering was taken to a hospital in Perth with severe lacerations to his arm. His injuries were not life-threatening and he was in stable condition, Royal Flying Doctor Service spokeswoman Joanne Hill said.

The attack came one day after a surfer was bitten by a shark at a beach off Australia's east coast. Another surfer was attacked at a beach north of Sydney on Jan. 3.

Despite the encounter, Pickering said the attack wouldn't keep him away from the ocean.

"I'll definitely be back in the water ? as soon as this bad boy is healed up," he said, holding his arm up with a laugh.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/pets/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_shark_attack

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Friday, 20 January 2012

Big Brother Brazil participant probed for rape (Reuters)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) ? A participant in the Brazilian version of reality TV show "Big Brother" is being investigated for suspected rape of a fellow housemate while she apparently was asleep during the program.

Police on Tuesday questioned male model Daniel Echaniz, 30, who was shown in live images in bed with 23-year-old Monique Amin apparently having sex under the covers.

"The young woman denies she was raped and has not pressed charges," Rio police spokeswoman Edileide Macedo said. "We continue to investigate the case because it is a public matter."

Television network Rede Globo expelled Echaniz from the program on Monday after a seven-minute video of the bed scene was posted on the Internet and police were called in to investigate.

Police collected possible evidence from the set of the reality show, including the bed sheets, the police spokeswoman said.

"Big Brother" is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but are continuously watched by television cameras. Housemates try to win by avoiding periodic evictions from the house. Localized versions run in countries around the world.

It was not clear from the images taken with a night camera whether Amin was asleep. In the video, she barely moves. Brazilian media reported she had passed out from drinking alcohol at a party before going to bed.

Her mother was sure she was out of it. "Without any doubt, my daughter was asleep," Claudia Amin told a local newspaper.

(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/tv_nm/us_brazil_bigbrother_rape

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Thursday, 19 January 2012

China's housing market to slow growth

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China's cooling property market could shave more than 2 percentage points off 2012 growth, forcing Beijing to decide just how badly it wants to keep the economy expanding at more than 8 percent a year.

Even if the world's second-biggest economy avoids a housing crash, slower property investment is almost certain to constrain growth. That assumption was built into economists' predictions that the economy will slow in 2012, but data released this week suggests housing may take an even bigger chunk out of growth.

China's investment in real estate development rose 28 percent to 6.17 trillion yuan ($977.67 billion) in 2011 - a full $200 billion more than the United States put into residential real estate at the peak of its housing bubble in 2005.

Unlike the United States, China does not have an oversupply of housing. In fact, the government has pledged to build 7 million units of public housing in 2012 after an estimated 10 million in 2011.

But in order for property investment to add to GDP growth, it has to keep getting even larger each year, and with real estate prices falling and developers scrounging for credit, China will be hard pressed to outdo 2011's strong showing.

?If they build the same amount (in 2012) that they did last year, which is still a phenomenal rate of construction, then it would take GDP down to 6.6 percent,? said Patrick Chovanec, an economist who teaches at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing.

That would be a dramatic slowdown from 2011's 9.2 percent growth, and it doesn't even include potential indirect impacts that typically come with a housing slowdown, such as falling demand for building materials or a rise in banks' bad debts.

China's latest economic plan targets GDP growth of 7 percent, but economists widely consider 8 percent as the minimum needed to generate sufficient job growth and support social stability - top priorities for the Communist Party.

The Chinese phrase ?bao ba?, or protect 8, is a commonly used line, illustrating Beijing's unwritten imperative to keep annual growth above that threshold.

?It's something that's almost ingrained within the (Communist) party,? said Alistair Thornton, an economist with IHS Global Insight in Beijing.

Thornton thinks 2012 growth will dip to the 7.5 percent to 8 percent range, largely because of the housing slowdown. But he said it could easily drift down to 7 percent if China chooses not to prop up the property market.

UBS economist Tao Wang predicted property investment growth would halve in 2012, less dire than Chovanec's prediction for a flat reading. That leaves GDP right around the 8 percent mark.

?We continue to hold the view that property investment will slow sharply but will not collapse in 2012,? she said.

Data released on Wednesday showed Chinese house prices have fallen for three consecutive months as of December, and property developers are bracing for a brutal 2012. A Reuters poll released on Jan. 10 found economists expected property prices to fall 10 to 20 percent this year.

Chinese officials have spent the past 18 months cracking down on property speculation to try to keep the market from overheating, and it appears to be in no hurry to change course now. A housing bubble and bust would inflict far more economic damage than a policy-induced slowdown.

In Beijing, which enjoyed one of the country's biggest price gains in 2010 but is now feeling the pinch of the government's tightening measures, property developers were still hoping that policymakers will loosen their grip.

?It totally depends on whether the government will relax policies or not,? said a young sales agent surnamed Cui, when asked about the likely direction of property prices.

It would take something more severe than weak property sales to alter the policy course.

Beijing seems willing to accept that some developers will go out of business, but rising unemployment or a steep drop in growth would probably prompt Beijing to lift some of the real estate purchase restrictions put in place since 2010.

?While the central government does not generally sympathise with developers, rapidly decelerating real estate investment growth is a major concern,? analysts at Macquarie wrote in a January 17 note to clients.

HOLDING THE LINE

There is little doubt that China has the policy tools available to keep growth above 8 percent, but it is not clear that policymakers are willing to live with the consequences.

Real estate investment accounted for 13 percent of China's GDP in 2011, according to government data released on Tuesday, bigger than the 10 percent estimate that some economists had assumed. That means a slowdown will weigh more heavily on growth, and the remaining 87 percent of the economy will have to pull even harder to take up the slack.

Net exports subtracted from GDP growth in 2011 and will probably do so again this year, so that leaves consumption and government spending as the two main economic drivers.

China could offer incentives to spur demand for big-ticket items such as cars or appliances, which it did with good success during the 2009 downturn.

But that strategy must be used sparingly. Incentive schemes tend to pull forward demand, essentially borrowing sales from later periods.

?You just can't force people to spend more money,? Global Insight's Thornton said.

As for government spending, China went on stimulus binge to combat the global recession in 2009, but local government debt soared to $1.7 trillion and problem loans are growing. China's audit office said in December it had identified $84 billion worth of irregularities with local government debt.

?They could pump a lot of money into this economy and keep the investment boom going,? Tsinghua's Chovanec said. ?All of those things have a cost and the cost might be pretty steep.? - Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/china-s-housing-market-to-slow-growth-1.1215212

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Video: Nat Gas Hits 10-Year Low

A look at where natural gas prices are heading as prices are down about 20 percent this year, with CNBC's Sharon Epperson & Cindy Wexler, natural gas trader.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46059510/

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Big earnings could drive Google shares to new high (Reuters)

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Investors' optimism for Google Inc (GOOG.O) is running high, setting the stage for another jump in its shares to an all-time peak after the Internet search company reports results Thursday.

Options investors appear to be betting on more gains for the stock, which hit a record high of $670.25 on January 4. The stock has since pulled back by about 6 percent, closing at $632.91 on Wednesday.

Traders have been purchasing Google calls, which grant the right to buy the stock at a fixed price up to a certain date, at a greater pace than its puts - or rights to sell the stock at a preset price - heading into earnings due after the market close on Thursday.

"The options market is positioned bullishly ahead of results. Call options have been bought over the past few weeks," Credit Suisse equity derivatives strategist Terry Wilson said.

Investors have bought nearly two calls for every put option as a new position on three U.S. options exchanges over the past 10 sessions, according to Schaeffer's Investment Research, an Ohio-based options research firm.

That call-to-put ratio of 1.93 is higher than 99 percent of the readings taken over the past year, suggesting bullish optimism heading into the results, said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's.

Google, which almost always reports earnings a day before options expiration, is known for volatile post-earnings moves in its shares. The company has beaten earnings estimates 77 percent of the time since the second quarter of 2005, said Kevin Pleines, analyst at Birinyi Associates, in a report on Wednesday.

After beating estimates, Google shares have opened higher 65 percent of the time, averaging a 4.1 percent gain the next morning, he said.

But after missing estimates the stock opened lower 100 percent of the time for an average loss of 6.6 percent. Also on the day after results, from the open to the close, Google shares have traded lower 62 percent of the time, regardless of whether the results beat or miss, according Pleines.

"This time traders are expecting slightly lower volatility as there appears to be greater confidence in the company's ability to deliver solid results," said Dan Nathan, founder of riskreversal.com, a New York-based firm specializing in options trade ideas.

Google's fourth-quarter net revenue, which excludes fees shared with partner websites, is expected to jump 32 percent to $8.4 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

But there are voices of caution, warning that any negative surprise could put heavy selling pressure on the stock.

"Google is a stock that is surrounded by a lot of optimism from Wall Street analysts and option speculators. This sets a high bar on the earnings report, and any disappointing news could leave the stock vulnerable to the downside," said Bell, of Schaeffer's.

If the news is good, Bryan McCormick, an independent quantitative analyst at Deepfoo Analytics in Las Vegas, sees the first upside breakout for Google stock at $635.80, its 10-day moving average, which would put the stock back on the upside path it has been on since October.

If the news is bad, the stock is likely to break below its 50-day moving average at around $618.38, triggering a potential bearish pattern that could send the stock down to the $575 area, McCormick said.

(In 9th paragraph corrects to show that the full-day change is for the day after results, not for the second trading day after the release of results)

(Reporting By Angela Moon and Doris Frankel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/bs_nm/us_google_earnings_optionsforecast

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