Interviews: Goodbye Galaxy Games - Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish

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Something smells fishy

Developer talks goldfish and games

With Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish out now in Europe, we got in touch with the game's developer Hugo Smits to find out a little bit more about the game and his plans for the future.

Nintendo Life: Flipper 2 is quite a departure from the visual and gameplay style of the original Flipper. Why the decision to do something completely different for the sequel?

Hugo Smits: I was asked by the publisher of Flipper to make a more traditional sequel, with some more levels and world themes. But that just didn?t sit right with me.

One of the cool benefits you have from working on your own is that you can do whatever you feel like. I grew up with all kind of games. I played a lot of Earthworm Jim, Turtles, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Need for Speed 2.

The original Flipper

I really want to explore a lot of different genres and do something really fresh each time!

NL: One Button Bob is obviously a heavy influence in Flipper 2. Were any other games particularly influential when it came to developing the game.

HS: The funny thing is, One Button Bob didn?t really have such a big influence as you might think. I took the gameplay concept. Because it was a perfect fit for handheld gaming. You can have a complete platform experience in short burst, yet you can play the game with only one hand!

After that it was really my youth that influenced me during this game?s development. The same week that Flipper 1 got released in Europe, Earthworm Jim also appeared in the shop, I bought it and I totally loved it again. Such a weird and awesome game!

Whack-a-fish

For my birthday I got an old Playstation with Skullmonkeys which brought back all kind of memories too. Doug TenNapel?s crazy characters really influenced me big time.

NL: Can you tell us a little bit about the actual gameplay?

HS: Gameplay-wise it?s a lot like One Button Bob or Wario Ware. Flush starts at the left side of the screen and needs to get to the right side. In between are traps and enemies and it?s up to the player to guide Flush through them.

In every screen or room Flush can perform a different action, so you quickly have to figure out what the action is, and how you can use it to avoid the traps and enemies. The actions themselves are awesome and weird: the robot suit can actually grab Flush out of the bowl and hit an enemy with it. Or instead of ducking normal, Flush eats the suit.

He means business

There are two modes; story mode and random castle mode. Story mode is more like a tutorial mode and starts off easy and slowly gets harder. The random castle mode is where the real game is at. You can select a difficulty and theme and than the game randomly generates a castle out of 300+ rooms. The castles feature around 10 minutes of gameplay, so they're great for short bursts of handheld gaming.

Because there are so many actions and rooms AND because you can play all the rooms in all the themes it will make you come back again and again to play.

NL: How different was it developing Flush the Goldfish as opposed to what you faced creating the original Flipper release? Any aspects of development prove particularly tricky?

HS: Well, Flipper 1 featured a realtime 3D voxel engine that basically ate all the RAM memory. So I thought it would be a piece of cake this time with only some 2D graphics. However, because I really wanted some cartoon like animations in there we ended up with a lot of frames. Flush alone has more than 200 frames of animation! In the end the frames ate more RAM than the voxel engine, so I had to write a custom compression method to get everything in there [laughs].

What big teeth you have!

But the end result is awesome... even dying is fun now because of all the different death animations!

NL: The game features a lot of quirky humour. Did you make a concerted effort this time to give the game a funnier edge?

HS: I really tried to make something funny and weird. There are just so many realistic games out there that don?t have a creative edge anymore (space marines are everywhere!) and I wanted to put the video games back into video game, when it was okay to use colour and do ridiculous things. I?m pretty sure you will see Flush do things you never expected or have ever seen in a video game ? this game will surprise you!

NL: Rumor has it that the game will feature a level editor. Is there any truth to this, and why the decision to include one if so?

Catch!

HS: Totally true! Some people where complaining about the duration of Flipper 1. I really wanted to make them happy this time around, so I included 300+ rooms (which should last you quite a while).

I still remember calling up Ivo (the publisher) on the day we wanted to send the game to lotcheck and telling him I could do an in-game level editor. He must have really loved me at the moment, for suddenly delaying the game like that!

I convinced him that I could do it over the weekend. Besides that (and this is really cool about him) he knew it was the right thing to do for the game so he allowed it. It took a bit longer than the weekend, but I?m really happy with it in the end result. Because it basically gives you the same options I had when creating levels in the windows Level editor. It works really easy and simple too.

Swelled head

NL: Will there be a way for players to share their own level creations with other players?

HS: No and yes. It?s not possible to share levels through SD card or code. It?s not like I didn?t want this, but it would be really difficult to get it through lotcheck. I?m working on a really cool way to share levels, but I can?t say anything about it right now, other than that it will be awesome.

NL: When can we expect to see Flipper 2 released on DSiWare and has a price been decided on?

HS: Very soon! I said that before, but I really mean it this time.. Europe can play it right now, and North America will follow soon after (no official date yet). Nintendo didn?t officially approve it yet, but the game will probably cost 500 Nintendo Points!

Slide and glide

NL: What are your thoughts on Nintendo 3DS and do you have any plans to bring the Flipper series to the system?

HS: My studio, Goodbye Galaxy Games, is an approved Nintendo 3DS developer. So it?s only a matter of time before the first title hits the eShop. I can?t wait to write some code for it; it?s going to be so exciding to see what cool things I can do with the hardware, I?m really looking forward to just locking myself in a room for a week with a devkit and creating all kinds of little prototypes.

Before I forget, I still have one little DSiWare title up my sleeves. A small and very innovative little game (200 Point range). More on this soon...

We'd like to thank Hugo for taking time out of his busy schedule to take part in this interview.

Source: http://dsiware.nintendolife.com/news/2011/12/interviews_goodbye_galaxy_games_flipper_2_flush_the_goldfish

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Newt Gingrich weeps, Mitt Romney attacks Ron Paul

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich walks back to his bus following a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich walks back to his bus following a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by his wife Ann and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, left, speaks during a campaign appearance at a Hy-Vee grocery store, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, center, waits with staff as he is introduced at a campaign stop, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, in Le Mars, Iowa. Republican presidential candidates are largely shifting from persuading voters to mobilizing them for Tuesday's caucuses. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wept Friday as he recalled his late mother's end-of-life illnesses, a moment of poignancy in a notably negative Republican presidential Iowa caucus campaign with four unpredictable days yet to run.

"I do policy much easier than I do personal," Gingrich told an audience of women as he tried to regain his composure. The tears flowed as the former speaker was responding to questions about his mother from a pollster and longtime political ally.

Gingrich's emotional moment came as his rivals engaged in traditional campaign tactics, and as polls suggested large numbers of Iowa Republicans could change their minds before caucuses Tuesday night provide the first test of the 2012 campaign.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sought to marginalize his closest pursuer in most polls, saying, "I don't think Ron Paul represents the mainstream of Republican thought with regards to issues, particularly in foreign policy."

Paul gave no ground. "I really can't conceive" of intervening militarily to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he said, unequivocally restating his position on an issue on which he differs with Romney and his other rivals.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, claiming momentum based on recent polls, told reporters he recently had the best fundraising day of his candidacy. Yet he also drew criticism from Texas Gov. Rick Perry for advocating earmarks during two terms in the Senate.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann became the latest presidential hopeful to hold a campaign event with Iowa Rep. Steve King ? and the latest to hear him say he wasn't ready to give his endorsement.

Whatever the impact of Gingrich's tears on the race for the White House, the episode seemed destined to be replayed endlessly on televisions, personal computers and hand-held devices.

That was the case nearly four years ago, when Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to choke back tears while campaigning in New Hampshire a few days before the state's Democratic presidential primary. The episode also became the subject of intense political analysis. Clinton won the primary in an upset a few days later.

Gingrich was surging in the polls a little more than a week ago, but was hit by a barrage of negative ads and has been struggling in recent days. Normally a combative politician, he shed tears as he appeared before a group of mothers and responded to a question from Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster and longtime ally of the former speaker.

Asked about his mother and an event in his life that influenced his policies and views, Gingrich recalled her as happy and having friends before she ended up in a long-term care facility suffering from bipolar disease, depression and physical ailments.

"My whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing with the real problems of real people," he said, his face distorting as he began to cry. "And so it's not a theory. It's, in fact, my mother," he said. Kathleen "Kit" Gingrich died in 2003. She was 77.

The event drew notice in New Hampshire, where Romney was campaigning a few hours later. As he mentioned his own parents, now deceased, a member of the audience interrupted, "Don't cry."

"I won't cry. But I do, I do. Nothing to be ashamed of in that regard," Romney said.

Romney, who leads in most polls in Iowa, criticized Paul in an interview with Fox News Channel.

"I don't think Ron Paul represents the mainstream of Republican thought with regards to issues, particularly in foreign policy," he said, referring to the Texan's statement that he would oppose military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

At the same time he said Paul was outside the GOP mainstream, Romney pledged to support whoever wins the party's nomination to oppose President Barack Obama in the fall.

Campaigning later in western Iowa, Paul said he would probably have difficulty voting for any of the other Republicans in the race if they win the party nomination. "They all are part of the status quo," he said.

After months of campaigning and millions of dollars in television commercials, the polls depicted a race as unsettled and unpredictable as any in the four decades since Iowa's caucuses became the kickoff event in presidential campaigns.

A pair of surveys in the last five days suggested upwards of a third of all potential caucus-goers had not firmly settled on a candidate of choice.

The same polls made Romney the front-runner, and his decision to leave for a quick trip to New Hampshire and then return to Iowa and stay through caucus night projected optimism.

Paul views on Iran have been called into question this week by numerous other contenders, and Gingrich went so far as to say he would not vote for the Texan.

To some extent, Paul stands alone in the field because of his libertarian-leaning views. He does not want the government to have the power to ban abortions, for example, and has called for the legalization of some drugs that are now outlawed.

That has left Santorum, Gingrich, Perry and Bachmann to vie for standing as Romney's chief opponent in the competition for evangelical voters and other conservatives.

Even before the caucuses, Romney and the rest of the field were looking ahead to New Hampshire's primary on Jan. 10 and the first two Southern contests later in the month, in South Carolina and Florida.

But there was maneuvering yet to come in the state that precedes them all.

Allies of Gingrich announced they were airing a 30-minute program in Iowa produced by Newsmax, a conservative media outlet. It features Michael Reagan, son of the former president, who calls the former speaker "a person who we believe will help continue my father's legacy."

___

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont and Kasie Hunt in Des Moines, Brian Bakst in Early and Mike Glover in Ames contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-30-GOP%20Campaign/id-89822a6424bf41e9bbc4313e515969b2

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Lee Munson: When Finance Hijacked Our Economy

Lee Munson's book, Rigged Money: Beating Wall Street At Its Own Game, has just been published by Wiley & Sons. Here, he describes how we need to rethink capitalism.

Let me tell you about a time, long ago, when finance served a purpose. When people wanted to build a new house, they would go to their local community bank and request a loan. When a town wanted to build a road, they would issue a bond, with help from their local finance officer. When a business wanted extra money to grow, it would issue stocks on an exchange.

It sounds like a fairy tale in the days of total return swaps, Vanna Volga pricing, and Himalayan options (all real finance terms) but it's the truth.

Occupy Wall Street was able to hit the nerve, but may not have known it at the time. The protesters in Zuccotti Park and around the country demonized capitalism but largely ignored finance, the real name of the beast.

Look at the ads that Wall Street firms splash across financial magazines. They have one theme: We help businesses get richer with our financial skills. Really? You see, they have to spend millions to convince you they really are trying to help businesses when most of the profits are coming from proprietary trading and making bets with other traders. This way you, the uninformed public, will look like capitalist hating communists by raising any criticism of good-natured finance professionals just trying to keep America moving forward.

This is a lie. No one ever built a bridge from proprietary trading. Goldman bankers taking home a $5 million bonus doesn't do anything to prepare America for a globalized world. All financial activity is not the same - and it's O.K. to say that some is destructive and not own a copy of The Little Red Book.

So speak out. Demand financial companies return to their prime directive - helping American businesses grow and every day citizens prosper.

There will always be traders to provide liquidity and take the other side of financial transactions, but investment-banks need to pledge allegiance to capitalism. Like the French Foreign Legion, Wall Street is a motley bunch of the devil's rejects who are supposed to act as mercenaries for clients.

That is what I do for a living. I get paid when I protect my clients' capital and make sure they don't outlive their retirement savings. When the client is the investment-bank itself you have a rogue force with no allegiance, no focus, and no possibility to create anything but damage to the system.

We are fighting for the soul of the U.S. investor. Now is the time for finance to sign up to defend capitalism, not usurp it. Can we change the course? Yes we can.

Step 1: Make firms do what their ads say they do: help business grow with the aid of finance.

Step 2: Make firms admit what they do: finance, which does not save baby whales. Mercenaries are a necessary good, not evil, to help capitalism grow and provide jobs. When was the last time you saw a SEAL team get a medal for screwing up a mission?

Step 3: Admit to ourselves we love capitalism. I love my cat, too. It doesn't mean she loves me back, but it is what we have to work with. Don't let Wall Street trick you into thinking 2008 was anything but dereliction of duty.

Start there, and for good measure perhaps we should confiscate traders' Blackberrys. The last thing we need is this motley crew of financiers getting any bright ideas.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-munson/how-to-retake-capitalism_b_1171216.html

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Free iPhone and iPad Apps (December 28) ? Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Free+, Let?s Golf! 3 and more!

Posted by Mary Ann Neder on Dec 28, 2011 at 12:49 pm | Comments 0 ? Tweet story ? Digg story
Filed Under: Featured ? Free Apps ? Games ? iPad ? iPhone

There are a few iPhone and iPad apps available as free downloads today (December 28). Take full advantage of this generous offer while they?re free!

Tags: Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Free+ ? Free Apps ? Games ? GT Racing: Motor Academy Free+ ? iPad ? iPhone ? Let?s Golf! 3 ? MinoMonsters ? Peak Gold ? Pig Rockets ? The Creeps!

Source: http://ipadmodo.com/20304/free-iphone-and-ipad-apps-december-28-brothers-in-arms-2-global-front-free-lets-golf-3-and-more/

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Anti-Semitism claims against UC Berkeley dismissed (AP)

BERKELEY, Calif. ? A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by two Jewish students who claimed the University of California, Berkeley, fostered an atmosphere of anti-Semitism by not doing enough to curb alleged harassment during pro-Palestinian protests that included mock checkpoints.

Plaintiff Jessica Felber claimed in the lawsuit that a leader of a campus pro-Palestinian group rammed her with a shopping cart as she staged a counter-protest to "Apartheid Week," an annual event that compares Israel's policies to the institutionalized racism of South Africa's former white government.

Felber, who graduated last year, and current undergraduate Brian Maissy sued in March to demand the university enact rules to curb what they called ongoing harassment that they said amounted to a violation of their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and speech.

Much of the alleged harassment, even if true, constituted protected political speech, San Francisco U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg wrote in dismissing the case against the university Thursday.

Seeborg found that the university itself did not violate the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. Furthermore, he said UC Berkeley did not have a legal obligation to intervene in any dispute in which a private individual was allegedly interfering with those rights.

"The incident in which Felber was assaulted with a shopping cart, for example, did not occur in the context of her educational pursuits," Seeborg wrote.

"Rather, that event occurred when she, as one person attempting to exercise free speech rights in a public forum was allegedly attacked by another person who likewise was participating in a public protest in a public forum."

Joel Siegal, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the San Francisco Chronicle his clients were reviewing their options and that the suit had stimulated dialogue about acceptable conduct at the university.

In the Apartheid Week protests as described in the lawsuit, students dressed as soldiers carry fake assault weapons and demand to know whether passing students are Jewish. Felber said she required medical attention as a result of the shopping cart incident and obtained a permanent restraining order against the alleged assailant.

The plaintiffs cited what they said was a long history of harassment of Jewish students by Muslim and pro-Palestinian student groups on UC campuses.

Among those is a high-profile case in Orange County, where 10 Muslim students were convicted of misdemeanors for disrupting a speech given by an Israeli ambassador last year at UC Irvine. The students appealed, arguing that the law used to convict them was vague and unconstitutional.

In dismissing the UC Berkeley case, Seeborg observed that many of the incidents of alleged harassment occurred before the plaintiffs were enrolled or did not happen at UC Berkeley. He also said the incidents as described showed that campus police intervened to arrest disruptive protesters and that the university has worked to mediate conflicts between opposing student groups.

"The court has reaffirmed the fact that the university has been working hard to resolve conflicts between campus groups with opposing points of view," said Christopher Patti, chief campus counsel for UC Berkeley.

Tensions between Jewish and Muslim student groups have often run high on UC campuses over the issue of Israel's policies toward Palestinians.

In March, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights notified UC Santa Cruz it was investigating a faculty member's complaint that a series of pro-Palestinian events had created a hostile environment for Jewish students.

Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin said administrators repeatedly failed to address her and students' concerns about film screenings and appearances by "viciously anti-Israel" speakers sponsored with campus funds. The university said Rossman-Benjamin's complaints were unfounded.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_re_us/us_campus_anti_semitism

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Merry Christmas To All From Cancer Defeated

I feel that on this day we should pause for a moment from figuring out ways to beat cancer, and just enjoy the blessings of the season. I hope the blessings are abundant for you and those you love, whatever faith you practice or holy days you celebrate.

This is also a good time to thank you for reading our publications and supporting our work. Our mission is to relieve people's suffering. It's as simple as that ? simple to say, but not simple to do. It's certainly not free.

Your dollars make it possible for us to research and write the books and articles we publish, get them printed, travel to Europe, Mexico or elsewhere as needed to interview doctors and get more information ? to do all the things we need to do to bring the best cancer treatments to you. It takes around four months of full-time work for a highly qualified writer to create one of our Special Reports. The full-length books, of course, take much longer.

We have three highly qualified technical people on our staff just to solve the myriad problems of publishing and distributing on the Internet. You would be amazed (I am, every day) at how complicated it is.

By my count, about ten people earn their primary living from Cancer Defeated Publications and about ten more earn a large chunk of their living from it. Many have children to support and mortgages to pay. We're mindful every day of what a blessing you are in our lives.

Let me introduce you to our staff. . .

Sherry Finn is my partner and a valued advisor to everyone in this venture. Her innate kindness, modesty and truthfulness inspire the whole staff to a higher standard. Sherry lives in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Joe Ackerson works with me in our Virginia headquarters. He's my personal assistant, the company's bookkeeper, the fulfillment manager who makes sure you get your books or reports if you order a printed copy. . .and more.

Joe's lovely wife Mia helps us pack a book now and then as needed (and also cooks me treats!)

Cami Lemr, near Atlanta, has been with Cancer Defeated from the beginning ? six years. She started out packing and shipping books and reports for us. Now she answers all our customer service emails and also proofreads for us, so that our material doesn't arrive in your inbox full of misspellings and other bloopers. Cami is Joe's sister.

Jenessa Hansford, packs and ships books for us, as do the happily married Ken and Joanie Kurpik. All three live in Virginia.

Milli Hare, in Virginia, fields phone calls from customers (but we prefer that you email if you have a problem!)

Shelley Couillard, in Florida, plunges into the scary jungle of our computer system every day and creates the labels we use to ship books and reports to customers.

Our technology experts

Michelle Mato is our Information Technology Advisor and the person we count on to keep us up and running on the Internet. Michelle has been with us from the beginning and has been one of the key people who helped build the organization. She lives in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

Steve MacLellan, in Nova Scotia, Canada, is our Webmaster. That means he's our nuts and bolts expert on computer programming, websites and order-taking processes. Steve designs our newsletters and makes sure they go out on time.

David Dittman lives in Alabama and is the newest member of our technical team. David brings our group a very broad and deep knowledge of computer programming and web publishing. He's worked with some of the top people in the business.

Turning now to our talented writing staff. . .

Three freelance writers help me get out the two newsletters we publish every week: Mindy McHorse in New Mexico, Carol Parks in Michigan, and Roz Roscoe in Georgia. The newsletter wouldn't exist without them. Even with the four of us, it's almost too much work to keep up with!

Susan Clark, a freelance writer in Orange County, California, wrote two of our special reports plus a great deal of our advertising. She also gives us all kinds of good advice on what's most likely to interest our readers. Susan's husband Kevin shoots the videos you receive from us every now and then.

Andrew Scholberg is a freelance writer who lives in Chicago. If you've ever purchased a special report from us, chances are pretty good it was written by Andy! Andy has been with Cancer Defeated Publications from the beginning and I'm not sure we would have succeeded without him. He's our expert on alternative cancer clinics, having visited and written about those in the United States, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

And marketing experts, without whom
you'd never hear of our publications. . .

Shane Holley is an expert Internet marketer who's helping us develop a new, pioneering way of reaching people with information about alternative cancer treatments. Shane lives in Alabama.

Tony Cornish is another charter member of Cancer Defeated. His wise counsel helped get us started when we knew almost nothing about Internet publishing. He's an expert on getting readers to open their minds and hearts to new information -- instead of hitting "delete." Tony lives in the Washington, DC area.

Josh Doherty joined us last summer to help us find our way in a specialized area of marketing. We're hoping Josh's efforts will spread the word about alternative cancer treatment to thousands of people we can't reach now. Josh lives in upstate New York.

Anne Caballero helps us out with a wide range of tasks including proof-reading, fact-checking, and creating marketing reports. Anne lives in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

To all of these hard-working people, many thanks ? and have a blessed and joyous Christmas! You deserve it. I don't know how many people's lives have been saved by Cancer Defeated. But I suspect it's quite a few.

Kindest regards,

Lee Euler,
Editor & Publisher

Source: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/pressrelease.cfm?PRID=75741

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Shadow The Showstopper in "Diary of a Heartbreak Kid"

Available now as an eBook, Diary of a Heartbreak Kid shadows Shawn Michaels for an immensely poignant occasion of reflection, introspection and celebration as The Heartbreak Kid is inducted into the esteemed WWE Hall of Fame.

Diary traces HBK throughout Atlanta for the festivities of WrestleMania, an event that began the same year as Shawn Michaels' unparalleled career. Such a grand setting could not be more appropriate for WWE?s one and only Showstopper to add "Mr. Hall of Fame" to his myriad monikers.

In a day-by-day narrative accompanied by incredible photography that capture each moment?s raw emotion, Diary of a Heartbreak Kid captures unfiltered candor of Michaels as he's reunited with family, friends and legends like Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ric Flair, The Rock, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and Vince McMahon ? all of whom played a part in Michaels? Hall of Fame career and legacy of immortality.

With his beautiful wife, children, time tested faith and nearly three decades of squared circle memories, Michaels steps back into the warm glow of the limelight during WrestleMania XXVIII weekend to have sports-entertainment?s greatest honor bestowed upon him. And with Diary of a Heartbreak Kid, you'll experience it all by his side.

This eBook exclusive is available for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble eBook and Apple iBooks for only $5.99 USD. To download history, choose your device and click below to order:

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/shawn-michaels-diary-of-a-heartbreak-kid-ebook

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Source: http://twitter.com/511nyACE/statuses/151298736474165250

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Romney heads to Iowa ? with some help (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/179386517?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Kim Kardashian: Klamoring to Prokreate with Reggie Bush?

Kim Kardashian isn't just over Kris Humphries, according to the latest issue of OK! Weekly. She's already planning for motherhood...

... with Reggie Bush!

“Kris just wasn’t the guy for Kim,” a source tells the tabloid. “Not as a husband, but certainly not as a father, and ever since they broke up she’s been thinking about Reggie more and more.”

The insider goes on to describe the Dolphins running back as "father material," something that appeals to Kardashian, who has never made a secret of her desire to have children.

"Kim has always wanted to be a mom and she knows she will be," says the source, apparently ignoring Kim's whining last month about how she may be stuck forever as an aunt. "She has always adored children and she is naturally very maternal."

How does the universally hated Humphries feel about all this? The unnamed mole says Kim's desire to procreate with Bush is "throwing Kris for a loop" because:

“One minute she wants to have kids with him, the next minute she doesn’t want kids at all and she’s saying that she just wants to be a really good aunt. And now people are saying she wants to get pregnant with her ex!”

We kan see how that would be konfusing.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/kim-kardashian-klamoring-to-prokreate-with-reggie-bush/

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pradeepviswav: RT @Microsoft: Happy Holidays from Microsoft! http://t.co/hQR69IGf

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Verizon To Launch a Home Media Server In 2012, Plans To Eliminate Set-Top Box

Verizon will be rolling out a new Media Server product for its FiOS customers late next year, which will be a single hardware device that will eventually eliminate the need for a set-top box altogether. The server will be capable of streaming HD TV to all devices in the home, including the TV, of course, but also gaming systems, mobile devices and tablets like the iPad. Although the company has not officially announced details, timeframe or pricing, we were given a sneak peek into the company's plans.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/e9TBZb20FKQ/

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Debra Ollivier: Thinking About Sex: How Men And Women Differ (Or Not)

Do men think about sex every seven seconds? What about women? Are you an erotophile or an erotophobe? These are a few questions implicitly raised in a research study that generated some recent buzz and got me thinking about the curiosities of research. Published in the Journal for Sex Research, it's called: "Sex on the Brain? An examination of Frequency of Sexual Cognitions as a Function of Gender, Erotophilia and Social Desirability," by Terri D. Fisher, Zachary T. Moore and Mary-Joe Pittenger.

For starters, if your eyes glazed over on that subtitle, here's some help: In layman terms it might as well read: "A look at how often men and women think about sex based on their gender, how sexually uptight they are (or not), and where they fall on the social register." (And for those of you stumped by the sexy research language: According to Wikipedia, erotophiles talk about sex more openly, feel less guilt about it, and have "more positive attitudes toward sexually explicit material." Erotophobes, on the other hand, feel guilty and fearful about sex, have it less frequently and with fewer partners, and don't like the explicit stuff.

The gist of the study, according to Dr. Fisher, was partly to examine "the crazy old myth that men think about sex every seven seconds." That's a lot of sex on the brain. According to Fisher, "no research has ever found anything even remotely approaching that magnitude." Well, that's reassuring. Because if men did think about sex that often, they'd have little space left in their mental hard drives to think about anything other than, well, their hard drives.

To debunk this every enduring (and endearing) myth, research participants were given a tally-counter to click every time they had a thought about sex. The results weren't surprising: Basically, there's not that big a disparity between men and women when it comes to frequency of thinking about sex. (Those interested in the fine points can read a research extract here.) Men thought a bit more about food and sleep, though that could be connected to sex, too, when you think about it. Have Sex. Eat. Sleep. Not necessarily in that order.

It's also not surprising that erotophiles thought about sex less than erotophobes -- at least they clicked less, which doesn't mean they were telling the truth. And that's the problem with research, isn't it? It stands to reason that if you're an erotophobe, even if you think about sex you might not feel comfortable clicking about it. Then again, it's possible that erotophobes secretly think about sex more often than erotophobes, or in stranger ways, precisely because they have issues with it.

Which brings me to a problematic point about research studies. Seems to me we Americans are more obsessed than any nation on earth with quantifying things. That's not based on empirical data, of course. I'd have to do a research study to confirm it. But every month there seems to be a new study about the "science" of love and sex that generally either proves the obvious, tries to quantify the unquantifiable, or leads me, personally, to wonder: So what? Does it matter what chemicals go off in your brain when you're in love or having sex? What are we supposed to do about bio-behavioral modes designed to quantify romantic love and "passion love scales"? Isn't trying to quantify the vast grey zones of subjective human behavior a little like trying to slip a mold of jello through a keyhole and have it come out the other end intact?

I was compelled to contact Dr. Fisher after reading a recent review of "Sex on the Brain" in the New York Times. It concluded that Fisher and her colleagues were unsuccessful getting "older Americans" to follow-up with their research. Turns out "older" Americans simply meant people older than 25. Getting non-college students to participate without compensation -- meaning anyone over, say, 30 -- was a challenge. When it came to the gender of those who participated, however, women were a resounding majority. " Now, what to make of that?," the Times reporter asked.

Yeah, what about that? Replied Fisher: "I would guess that it has something to do with the fact that women have menopause as a signal that they've entered a new phase of life and men don't have a comparable signal like that. Therefore men are perhaps able to self-delude that they're young, whereas women have to recognize the signs."

The signs, of course, are bleeped out daily and pervasively by a multi-billion dollar anti-aging industry that's focused primarily on women. Hard not to be reminded of aging, even if you're only 21, when anti-aging has become something of a crusade in America. Meanwhile, it's safe to conclude that we all, men and women, think about sex on and off, for various reasons and to various degrees, whether we're having sex or not (philes and phobes alike). And somewhere along the way, we want to eat and sleep.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-ollivier/thinking-about-tags_b_1161406.html

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Household Debt Ratios Are Lowest Since 1993-94

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Source: http://www.istockanalyst.com/finance/story/5610882/household-debt-ratios-are-lowest-since-1993-94

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Rhapsody soars past a million paying customers, president Jon Irwin shaves his head in celebration

Whatever Spotify can do, Rhapsody can do better? Not quite, but it's getting there. While the former cruised past 2.5 million paying customers last month, Rhapsody has just announced that it has "gone platnium." It's now serving a cool million paying subscribers, right on the heels of its ten-year anniversary. The company's delivering around ten million songs per day, while making itself available on over 60 devices. What's next? Well, president Jon Irwin has to grow his locks back (seriously!), and we're guessing it'll try to lock down a few more carrier partnerships as the months drag on. When pinged for comment, Billy Corgan said: "I'm on vacation."

Continue reading Rhapsody soars past a million paying customers, president Jon Irwin shaves his head in celebration

Rhapsody soars past a million paying customers, president Jon Irwin shaves his head in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FixYa Upgrades Its Q&A Service For Product Issues With Gamification And Some Realtime Data-Sharing

We first covered FixYa, the Q&A site for products, back in 2007, after the startup demoed at the TechCrunch40 DemoPit. Over the course of the next year, FixYa went on to raise $8 million in two rounds from Mayfield Fund and Pitango Venture Capital, with Chamath Palihapitiya joining the board of directors. It's been a few years since we've tapped into the startup's progress, but Founder & CEO Yaniv Bensadon told us that the company is now seeing 20 million unique visitors a month, with 650K users having answered questions from the 10 million product problems and solutions currently live on the site. And, since 2009, the company has been cash-flow positive.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/l1pSehavvxU/

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Berenson says she was barred from leaving Peru (AP)

LIMA, Peru ? Paroled U.S. activist Lori Berenson said Saturday that she and her toddler son were not permitted to leave Peru despite being granted permission in court to spend the holidays in New York with her family.

"They didn't let me leave and they're putting out this version that I arrived late," she said in a brief phone conversation with The Associated Press, referring to media reports citing unnamed airport officials.

Her lawyer, Anibal Apari, accused the government of making an arbitrary political decision to halt her departure. He said it had provided no official explanation for not allowing Berenson to board a New York-bound flight the previous night.

"An abuse of authority has been committed," Apari told the AP. "Administratively, you can't block a court order."

Phone calls to Interior Ministry officials seeking an explanatoin were not immediately returned.

Berenson, who was paroled last year after serving 15 years for aiding leftist rebels, was given permission to leave the country beginning Friday with the stipulation that she return by Jan. 11.

She had been denied such permission in October, but a three-judge appeals court on Wednesday overturned the lower court judge's ruling.

Peru's anti-terrorism prosecutor, Julio Galindo, told the AP that he had on Friday asked the court that approved Berenson's leave to nullify the decision because it violated a law prohibiting paroled prisoners from leaving the country.

He said he did not know if the court had acted on his appeal and Peru's courts spokesman, Guillermo Gonzalez, said he had no information on the matter.

Galindo's move was precisely the kind of action feared by Berenson's parents, who did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on Saturday.

The prosecutor had opposed letting Berenson out of prison before her 20-year sentence for aiding terrorism ends in 2015, arguing that it would set a bad precedent for the early release of others convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Berenson's father Mark told the AP on Friday that he was "petrified" that negative local reaction could prevent the trip, including celebrating his 70th birthday Dec. 29.

"My worry is that there's going to be screaming to stop this," he said. Some Peruvians consider his daughter a terrorist and have publicly insulted her on the street.

Mark Berenson said his daughter had every intention of returning to Peru.

"As Lori says, if she doesn't come home, let Interpol arrest her," Mark Berenson said.

Peru could seek her extradition and return her to prison if she doesn't return in the allotted time, Gonzalez said.

A local TV station displayed video on Friday night of Berenson pacing nervously in front of a ticket counter, wearing a bulky black backpack, with Salvador in a stroller beside her. She wore pants and a brown polo shirt.

Berenson has been repeatedly hounded and mobbed by Peruvian news media, which has occasionally frightened young Salvador. Last month, one TV channel obtained her new address and showed video of her home.

"It was very dangerous," Mark Berenson said. "The (U.S.) Embassy complained."

"It's just not fair to Salvador or to her," he said. "They used her like she's a celebrity and she just wants to be a low-profile person and get on with her life and be a good citizen."

He said he would appeal to President Ollanta Humala to send his daughter home.

Humala could by law commute her sentence but has not indicated whether he might do so. The AP sought presidential palace comment but its calls were not returned.

Lori Berenson is separated from Salvador's father, Anibal Apari, whom she met in prison and who serves as her lawyer.

Mark Berenson said his daughter is looking forward to seeing relatives she hasn't met since her 20s, including his 96-year-old aunt, and that he wants his grandson, who loves trees, see the New York Botanical Garden's holiday display.

Since her initial parole in May 2010, Lori Berenson repeatedly expressed regret for aiding the rebel Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

Arrested in 1995, the former MIT student was accused of helping the rebels plan an armed takeover of Congress, an attack that never happened.

A military court convicted her the following year and sentenced her to life in prison for sedition. But after intense U.S. government pressure, she was retried in civil courts in 2001 and sentenced to 20 years for terrorist collaboration.

Berenson was unrepentant at the time of her arrest, but softened during years of sometimes harsh prison conditions, eventually being praised as a model prisoner.

Yet she is viewed by many as a symbol of the 1980-2000 rebel conflict that claimed some 70,000 lives. The fanatical Maoist Shining Path movement did most of the killing, while Tupac Amaru was a lesser player.

Berenson has acknowledged helping the rebels rent a safe house, where authorities seized a cache of weapons. But she insists she didn't know guns were being stored there. She denies ever belonging to Tupac Amaru or engaging in violent acts.

In an interview with the AP last year, Berenson said she was deeply troubled at having become Peru's "face of terrorism."

Its most famous prisoner, she also became a politically convenient scapegoat, she said.

___

Associated Press writer Franklin Briceno contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_peru_lori_berenson

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PFT: Peterson wants to play for fantasy owners

Getty Images

Blaine Gabbert is playing so badly right now that the Jaguars may consider something practically unheard of in the NFL: Taking Top 10 quarterbacks in back-to-back drafts.

Gabbert?s horrible game in Thursday night?s loss to the Falcons has continued a horrible rookie season for the quarterback the Jaguars chose with the 10th overall pick in this year?s NFL draft. Gabbert is last in the league with a passer rating of 65.6, and he looks lost out there. It?s tough to see why the Jaguars? next coach, whoever he is, would want Gabbert as his starting quarterback.

So would the Jaguars, who will likely draft somewhere between the fourth and 10th overall picks, take a quarterback? It?s impossible to say right now, as we have no idea who the new coach will be or what kind of offense he?ll run. We also don?t know where new owner Shahid Khan stands on the matter, and whether he?ll take a hands-on or hands-off approach to the draft. But if Baylor?s Robert Griffin III or USC?s Matt Barkley is available to the Jaguars, they?d have to think long and hard about drafting one of them in the Top 10.

That almost never happens. The Cowboys used their first-round picks in 1989 and 1990 on quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Walsh, but the 1990 pick was used in the supplemental draft. (The Cowboys traded Walsh to the Saints in 1990.) The last time a team used consecutive first-round picks in the regular draft on quarterbacks was in 1982-83, when the Baltimore Colts drafted Art Schlichter and John Elway. But that was a highly unusual circumstance in which neither one of those quarterbacks played for the team in 1983: Schlichter was suspended for the entire 1983 season, and the Colts traded Elway to the Broncos before he ever played a down for Baltimore.

Before the Colts, you have to go all the way back to the early 1960s Los Angeles Rams to find a team that used first-round draft picks on quarterbacks in back-to-back years. The Rams actually drafted quarterbacks in the first round three years in a row: Roman Gabriel in 1962, Terry Baker in 1963 and Bill Munson in 1964. But Baker was a college quarterback who played halfback in the NFL, so that?s not quite the same thing, either. Prior to those Rams, the last team to draft quarterbacks in back-to-back first rounds was the 49ers, who took Earl Morrall in 1956 and John Brodie in 1957. The 49ers traded Morrall to the Steelers before the 1957 season.

What does this history lesson tell us? NFL teams only take quarterbacks in back-to-back first rounds under the most extraordinary of circumstances. If Jaguars G.M. Gene Smith takes a quarterback in the first round a year after he took Gabbert 10th overall, he?ll be doing something NFL general managers just don?t do. But Gabbert might be bad enough to make the Jaguars do it.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/16/adrian-peterson-wants-to-play-for-his-fantasy-owners/related/

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Zynga to begin trading on Nasdaq after $10 IPO (AP)

NEW YORK ? Investors will get the chance to reap "Farmville's" harvest on Friday, as shares of online game developer Zynga Inc. start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The San Francisco company, which specializes in Facebook games, priced its initial public offering late Thursday at $10 per share, raising $1 billion. That makes it the largest Internet-related IPO since Google Inc. went public in 2004, raising $1.4 billion.

The price was at the top of its expected range, a sign that investors are eager to dig into the latest in a series of high-profile technology IPOs this year. It values the company at about $7 billion.

Zynga charges small amounts of money ? a few cents, sometimes a couple of dollars ? for virtual items in online games. The games are free to play. Players can aquire items that range from crops in "Farmville" to buildings in "CityVille," its most popular Facebook game.

With its huge player base and a few loyal spenders, Zynga earned a net income of $90.6 million in 2010, an unusual pre-IPO money maker in the sector.

Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz, however, initiated coverage Friday with a "Neutral" rating on the stock. While Zynga is the leader in Facebook gaming, he's concerned that it won't be able to grow fast enough to justify its stock price. Growth in Facebook gaming has slowed, and Zynga's market share has declined from 50 percent to 38 percent of daily active users, he wrote.

He's also concerned that Zynga's famously aggressive and hard-charging culture may not be the best field to grow good games in. Others have raised concerns that the focus on deadlines and profits might be squeezing out creativity and talent.

In November, online coupon company Groupon Inc. raised $700 million in its IPO. The granddaddy of all Internet IPOs might happen next year, as Facebook Inc. is expected to raise as much as $10 billion.

Zyna will trade under the ticker "ZNGA" on Friday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_hi_te/us_zynga_ipo

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Golden Globe noms rev up Hollywood's Oscar race

In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin, left, and Berenice Bejo portrays Peppy Miller in a scene from "The Artist." (AP Photo/The Weinstein Company)

In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin, left, and Berenice Bejo portrays Peppy Miller in a scene from "The Artist." (AP Photo/The Weinstein Company)

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Viola Davis is shown in a scene from "The Help." (AP Photo/Disney, Dale Robinette)

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Viola Davis is shown in a scene from "The Help." Davis was nominated Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 for a Screen Actors Guild award for best actress for her role in "The Help." The 18th annual SAG Awards will be presented Jan. 29. (AP Photo/Disney, Dale Robinette)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? The Golden Globes are good at predicting likely best-picture nominees for the Academy Awards. Not so much at predicting the eventual big Oscar winner, though.

Globe voters, who release their nominations Thursday, used to have a solid track record as a forecast for the Oscar best-picture prize. But they've been swinging and missing recently, with only one top Globe recipient going on to claim the main trophy come Oscar night during the last seven years.

Yet the Globes might have better luck this time. The show has two best-picture categories, one for drama, the other for musicals or comedies. The latter category usually doesn't offer serious best-picture contenders at the Oscars, which tend toward heavier drama.

But this season, the spry, black-and-white silent film "The Artist" stands as a solid comedy to challenge the dramas at the Oscars. If "The Artist" wins the Globe musical or comedy prize, it could end up in an Oscar showdown with the Globe drama winner, whose contenders might include the Deep South tale "The Help," George Clooney's family story "The Descendants," Steven Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse" and Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo."

Last season, the Facebook tale "The Social Network" emerged as the film to beat at the Oscars after it won for best drama at the Globes. Then the monarchy saga "The King's Speech" picked up steam with key wins at Hollywood trade union honors and wound up crowned best picture at the Oscars.

The year before, the Globes chose "Avatar" over "The Hurt Locker," the latter ending up the Oscar champ.

The last time the Globes matched up with the Oscars was three years ago, when "Slumdog Millionaire" triumphed at both ceremonies.

Before its current seven-year streak of mostly misses, the Globes had been on a run of eight-straight years in which either its best drama or best musical-comedy winner took home the best-picture Oscar.

Along with Clooney for "The Descendants," A-listers potentially scoring Globe nominations include: Brad Pitt for both his baseball tale "Moneyball" and the family epic "The Tree of Life"; Meryl Streep for the Margaret Thatcher chronicle "The Iron Lady"; Glenn Close for the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs"; Leonardo DiCaprio for the J. Edgar Hoover biography "J. Edgar"; and Michelle Williams for the Marilyn Monroe story "My Week with Marilyn."

"The Help" could have a big haul at the Globes, with acting prospects for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Among other fresher faces with a shot at breaking into the awards are Rooney Mara for the thriller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"; Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo for "The Artist"; Michael Fassbender for the sex-addict drama "Shame"; and Clooney's "Descendants" co-star Shailene Woodley.

With drinks and dinner, the Globes are a laid-back affair for Hollywood's elite compared to the Oscars. The show turned a bit touchy last year as host Ricky Gervais repeatedly made sharp wisecracks about stars and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 85 entertainment reporters for overseas outlets that presents the Globes.

But Gervais helped give the show a TV ratings boost, and he's been invited back as host for a third-straight year.

Five-time Academy Award and Globe nominee Morgan Freeman ? who won the supporting-actor Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby" and a best-actor Globe for "Driving Miss Daisy" ? will receive the group's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Jan. 15 ceremony.

Thursday's nominations in 25 film and television categories will be announced by actors Sofia Vergara, Woody Harrelson and Gerard Butler.

___

Online:

http://www.goldenglobes.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-12-15-Golden%20Globe%20Nominations/id-b845ba6a77724bf0b81170551eaa856c

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'Law & Order' vet Meloni to join 'True Blood' cast (AP)

NEW YORK ? HBO says "Law and Order" veteran Chris Meloni will be sinking his teeth into a role on vampire drama "True Blood."

The network confirmed Wednesday that Meloni will be joining the popular series as an ancient, powerful vampire who controls the fate of the show's major characters.

The series' fifth season is expected to air next summer. Its stars include Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.

Meloni recently ended a 12-year run on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," where he played Detective Elliot Stabler.

Before that, the 50-year-old actor was a regular as a bisexual inmate on HBO's gritty prison drama, "Oz."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_en_tv/us_meloni_true_blood

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2011: the year some pillars of world order shook (AP)

The Arab Spring swept across the Middle East, toppling dictators in a rolling surge of street protest. Europe's currency plunged into crisis, bringing down elected prime ministers. An earthquake and tsunami pummeled Japan, confronting it with the specter of nuclear disaster.

It was a year that shook the pillars of the established order. Even in an era of change and moment-to-moment communications across the planet, 2011 felt extraordinary. Week after week, month after month, across continents and oceans, the news just kept on coming.

At times the post-World War II, postcolonial, post-Cold War dispensation seemed to tremble under shows of people power not seen in the 22 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

By year's end at least three Arab leaders were gone, and at least three European prime ministers had been toppled by the upheaval over the euro, a currency that was supposed to symbolize a strengthened, united Europe.

First to fall to the Arab Spring was President Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, cast into exile six weeks after a disgruntled vegetable vendor sparked an uprising by setting himself on fire.

The fastest revolution was Egypt's. It took just 18 days, and vast crowds gathered in central Cairo to force the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak who had ruled the most populous Arab nation for nearly 30 years.

The bloodiest revolution was the one against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, 42 years in power, who was toppled by a concerted NATO bombing campaign, then killed in circumstances still under investigation.

The slowest-burning revolt was Yemen's, stretching from February until November, when President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to step down by Dec. 23. Still raging on were daily demonstrations against Syrian President Bashar Assad, in which the U.N. said more than 5,000 people died. The island kingdom of Bahrain fought street battles with its subjects; another kingdom, Jordan, experienced street protests.

The tensions didn't stop there. The U.N.'s atomic agency renewed accusations that Iran secretly worked on a nuclear weapon, Western sanctions on Iran intensified, and a mob seized the British Embassy in Tehran in retaliation.

The longer-term results of the convulsions triggered by the Arab Spring were far from clear.

The immediate outcome was a surge in support for long suppressed Islamic movements, whose strength was quickly apparent when Tunisia and Egypt held their first fully free elections in memory. The Islamist successes in Egypt threw into question Egypt's long-term alliance with the U.S., its strongest financial and diplomatic backer, and its peace treaty with Israel, long supported by Mubarak but deeply unpopular in Egyptian public opinion.

Facebook and cellphone images played an important role in organizing protesters and getting dramatic scenes past the censors back home and onto the world's TV sets. They also were crucial to Israel's summer of discontent that brought multitudes onto the streets to protest high prices and inequalities; to Russians' unprecedented demonstrations against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin; and to the "occupy" movements that began in New York against Wall Street and spread to other continents in protest against those responsible for the financial meltdowns of the past two years.

Dysfunctional finances dominated the headlines in 2011, particularly in Europe, starting with a bailout for Greece's faltering economy. As other weak economies came under pressure and faced the likelihood of painful budget austerity, the prime ministers of Greece and Italy were forced to resign, and their Spanish counterpart was ousted in an election.

While street politics and financial fears dominated the headlines, the U.S.'s nearly nine-year war in Iraq reached its end with the low-key departure of the last American soldiers. It had left 4,500 Americans and 110,000 Iraqis dead, divided Americans, angered international public opinion and cost more than $800 billion. What was left was a fragile democracy and a potential for violence underscored by a bombing in December that killed 21 Shiite pilgrims in a religious procession.

Meanwhile, the war in Afghanistan ground on with more than 500 foreign troops, almost 400 of them American, killed in combat against the Taliban in 2011.

NATO had spent another year trying to train up to 350,000 Afghan troops and police to take over security once foreign forces are gone in 2014. But this year was marked by several spectacular Taliban operations, among them the downing of a U.S. military helicopter, killing 30 Americans and seven Afghan commandos aboard_ the war's single deadliest loss of American lives.

Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., was killed by U.S. Navy Seals who helicoptered into Pakistan and raided the house where he turned out to have been living.

The triumph was soured by recriminations with Pakistan, the U.S.'s vital ally in the war against the Taliban, for invading its air space, and then by the news that some of the Seals who killed bin Laden were among the 30 Americans on the helicopter downed in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, just as Haiti's earthquake opened 2010 with the grimmest of news, March 2011 saw Japan's biggest earthquake on record send a tsunami crashing into the country's eastern coast, leaving 19,334 people dead or missing by government count, and inflicting damage estimated at nearly $220 billion.

At the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant complex, three reactor cores melted down and an estimated one-fifth the radiation of Chernobyl poured into the surrounding air, water, soil and forests. Radiation leaks have since fallen dramatically, but a 20-kilometer (12-mile) zone round the plant remains off-limits and nearly 100,000 residents who fled their homes remain in limbo, unsure when they can return, if ever.

While nearly all the rubble along the coast has been cleared, rebuilding is only just beginning. But the overall economy has largely bounced back.

If the Japanese earthquake was Asia's worst horror of the year, Europe's took place in Norway, where a homegrown terrorist set off a bomb in Oslo's government district, then went to a summer camp dressed as a police officer and gunned down youths as they ran and swam for their lives. The attacks killed 77 people in the peaceful nation's worst violence since World War II. Psychiatric experts have since declared the self-styled anti-Muslim militant legally insane.

On the science front, the world said goodbye to the U.S. space shuttle as it closed three decades of service with its last flight in July. An E coli bacteria outbreak in Europe spread to 15 countries and killed 68 people. Scientists reported sightings of particles that appeared to defy Albert's Einstein's theories by traveling faster than light. Other scientists said they were closing in on a possible key building block to the universe popularly known as the "God particle."

Sex scandals took their turn in the headlines, first with charges that Italian Prime Silvio Berlusconi paid an underage prostitute for sex, then with the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, accused of sexually assaulting a chambermaid in a Manhattan hotel. While Berlusconi faced trial, New York prosecutors dropped their case against Strauss-Kahn.

2011 witnessed a landmark in the political thawing of Myanmar, formerly Burma, long under military rule but making moves toward democracy that made possible a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, in Africa, a new nation was born out of civil war as South Sudan broke away from Sudan and became a U.N. member state. Palestine also set out to achieve membership but its bid stalled in the Security Council. However, the Palestinians managed this year to win recognition by UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency.

In Central America, the Mexican drug war between cartels and government forces marked its fifth year, having claimed tens of thousands of lives. And Daniel Ortega, the one-time Sandinista revolutionary, was re-elected president of Nicaragua by a landslide, having sidestepped a constitutional limit on re-election.

For Britain, 2011 was a grim year of street riots and looting that shook its cities in the summer, and of revelations of privacy-invading foul play by its tabloid newspapers that appalled the nation. And as the year ended it found itself accused by its European partners of letting them down for refusing to join their pact to save the euro.

Yet all the same, the British managed to produce something to capture hearts around the world and offer assurance that some pillars of the old order still stand firm: the wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William, son of the late Princess Diana ? a union of commoner and blueblood that promised to revitalize the British monarchy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_re_us/ye_the_world_in2011

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