Romney rivals make final NH appeals

Kenneth Dansby, center, of Greenville, S.C., confronts Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, left, at a campaign event on a recent comment about black people that has been criticized as being racially insensitive Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Greenville, S.C. Both Newt Gingrich and Santorum faced criticism this week when they spoke of overhauling food stamps and other welfare programs by seeming to equate food stamp recipients and blacks. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Kenneth Dansby, center, of Greenville, S.C., confronts Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, left, at a campaign event on a recent comment about black people that has been criticized as being racially insensitive Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Greenville, S.C. Both Newt Gingrich and Santorum faced criticism this week when they spoke of overhauling food stamps and other welfare programs by seeming to equate food stamp recipients and blacks. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Grantlee Hoffman, 6, pulls at a sticker on his face during an event for Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at Pinkerton Academy, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Derry, N.H. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Supporters greet Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry during a meet and greet at the Beacon Drive-In restaurant, Sunday Jan. 8, 2012, in Spartanburg, S.C.. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, center, shakes hands with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, as the candidates, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas (L-R) leave the stage during a Republican presidential candidate debate at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., right, at Exeter High School in Exeter, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ? Time is running short for Mitt Romney's Republican presidential rivals to derail him ? at least in New Hampshire.

On the final full day of campaigning before Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary, the GOP front-runner's opponents ? and fiercest critics ? were to make final appeals to Republican voters unenthused with the idea of the former Massachusetts governor as the party's nominee.

The candidates were all but tripping over each other Monday, concentrating their appearances in the southern half of the state known for holding town-hall style meetings in real town halls. Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman all planned to visit Nashua at some point during the day. Hudson, Bedford, Manchester, Dover, Salem and Concord also proved to be popular stops, with at least two candidates planning events in each.

Knocking Romney off his perch before Tuesday won't be easy.

He has spent the better part of two years essentially adopting the state as his own and now holds a comfortable lead in pre-primary polls as his rivals essentially battle for second place.

Roughly $5 million has been spent on TV ads in the state by candidates and political action committees aligned with them ? called super PACS ? with most of the money coming from a pro-Jon Huntsman group and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Romney has spent roughly $1 million.

The former Massachusetts governor won the Iowa caucuses last week by a scant eight votes over Santorum.

Santorum was followed by Paul, with Gingrich fourth, Texas Gov. Rick Perry fifth and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann in last place. She has since quit the race.

Huntsman, the former Utah governor, skipped Iowa in hopes of a breakout showing in New Hampshire.

South Carolina comes next, on Jan. 21, the first Southern state to hold a primary. Perry is skipping New Hampshire to campaign full-time in South Carolina in hopes of reviving his candidacy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-09-US-GOP-Campaign/id-3f5ffce955884661b0991e808acc4f3d

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Rick Santorum and his Google problem: Are digital dirty tricks here to stay?

The dispute over the scatological website set up following remarks Rick Santorum made back in 2003 highlights what some see as ethical concerns over the political use of the Internet.

Even as Rick Santorum rises in Republican primary polls, his so-called ?Google problem? just won?t go away.

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While he struggles to shut down the website of scatological material that pops up during a search on his last name, media experts and political strategists warn that this is just a hint of things to come.

?We are in the infancy of digital dirty tricks,? says?David Johnson, a Republican strategist based in Atlanta who worked on Sen. Robert Dole?s 1988 presidential campaign. ?The?technologically savvy are only going to get better at using the Internet to attack political foes,? he says, and the ?unwary public who believe everything they see or search for on the Internet are the ones who will be impacted.?

Mr. Santorum?s cybertroubles began back in 2003 when, during an interview with the Associated Press, he compared homosexuality with bestiality and bigamy. (Sound familiar? He just got booed at a college forum in New Hampshire Thursday for comparing gay marriage with polygamy.)?Syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage took?offense at the remarks and created the scatological?website as well as?a slew of secondary sites that help?direct traffic to the primary website. A Google query still brings up ? in first or second place ? what the former?Pennsylvania senator has called a site so offensive he cannot allow his children to search for his name on the Internet.

Santorum has asked Google to filter offensive results from searches on his name.?But according to a Google spokesperson, "Google?s search results are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Web. Users who want content removed from the Internet should contact the webmaster of the page directly.?

Pro-family activist Peter LaBarbera on Thursday appealed to Mr. Savage to take down the site. The columnist responded via the Politico.com website using his iPhone: "Just gonna keep doing what we've been doing since 2003.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/usa/~3/DB0IDeqGqls/Rick-Santorum-and-his-Google-problem-Are-digital-dirty-tricks-here-to-stay

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Mexico gets independence monument 1? years late

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? President Felipe Calderon led the lighting of a soaring independence monument Saturday that was supposed to be ready for Mexico's 2010 bicentennial, but came in nearly 1? years late and way over budget.

Some Mexicans have suggested the quartz-clad light tower be dubbed "the monument to corruption." Costs nearly tripled from about 400 million pesos to more than 1 billion (equivalent at current rates to about $75 million), and auditors found 95 improprieties in contracting that resulted in criminal charges against at least four public employees.

It was supposed to have been ready on Sept. 15, 2010, for the celebrations of the bicentennial of the start of the country's 1810 independence movement.

"It's going to be remembered as an example of theft and uncontrolled spending," said dentist Francisco Ponce, 40, who came out to see the inauguration. "It will remembered as a monument to corruption."

Still, "it is imposing," he conceded as he gazed up at the 343-foot (104-meter) tall tower that looms over Mexico's main boulevard, Paseo de la Reforma.

Businessman Oscar Anguiano, 42, said the cost was worth it. "We need an icon for Mexico City that will identify us the world over," he said.

"The Pillar of Light," as it is officially known, drew "oohs" and "aahs" from a few hundred people who gathered to watch it be switched on, bathing the sky in a soft glow from hundreds of panels of quartz that are backlighted in changing patterns by LED panels.

Authorities have said a government board incorrectly authorized payment for the architect even though he turned in incomplete designs. The construction management company bid out construction contracts without following normal procedures and before they even had final drawings.

Foundations for the tower, which is supported by steel columns, had to be dug much deeper than originally planned.

The project has drawn criticism because only about one-third of the building materials have come from Mexico. The stainless-steel columns had to be imported from Italy, the quartz panels from Brazil and a specialized lighting system made by a German-owned company.

"The worst thing is that it's not even Mexican," Ponce said.

The modernist design also rankled some Mexicans.

"For that price, I would have expected a structure of better quality, something like the Angel," schoolteacher Javier Vazquez, 53, said, motioning down the boulevard toward a neoclassical pillar topped by an angel, The Angel of Independence. It was erected by dictator Porfirio Diaz in 1910 to mark Mexico's centennial.

Diaz was widely hated, but his monument has come to be loved and was adopted as the symbol of Mexico City, leaving out some hope for Calderon's Pillar of Light.

Calderon took the long view. "Beyond the natural controversies that this kind of structure normally awakens, it will be an icon for our capital city," Calderon said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-07-LT-Mexico-Monument/id-72c869d4244743ad883f81f3c85467c2

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Bristol Evening Post published Bristol Rugby head coach Liam Middleton aims to give everyone an...

LIAM Middleton is ready to open up Bristol's squad and start rotating his players to ensure they are all firing by the time the Championship play-offs come around.

The Bristol head coach has made six changes for tomorrow's home clash with bottom-of-the-table Esher ? with Matty James handed his first start since November.

Skipper Iain Grieve, George Watkins, Rhys Lawrence, Wayne Thompson and Mariano Sambucetti also return to the starting line-up as Middleton begins to look at the bigger picture of the play-offs.

But he is also wary of the strength of the Championship from top to bottom and will guard against making too many changes at once.

"I want to start to see some other guys play a little bit more before the play-offs, so I can make my mind up on what options we've got," said Middleton.

"But this league is too competitive to make more changes than you need to. We've probably made three or four changes per week, but those have generally been forced changes through injury or trying to keep guys fresh.

"We might see a little bit more in the next couple of weeks, which we will do in order to give guys an opportunity to put themselves forward ahead of the play-offs.

"We know we can't go through six play-off pool games using the same 22 players ? that just doesn't work.

"You also want all your players to be battle-hardened by the time the play-offs come round, so with a few guys in the squad we will just be trying to top-up their game-time."

Bristol have won six successive Championship games since losing at Moseley in November, including wins over potential play-off rivals Cornish Pirates, Leeds, Bedford and Nottingham. But Middleton is wary of an Esher side who have drawn with London Welsh and beaten Rotherham in their last two outings, even if they remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.

"I think they will be tough opposition," he said. "As far as I can tell, they've got some loan players who have returned from Harlequins and Wasps, which has strengthened them.

"Teams take their eye off the ball over Christmas, which I think London Welsh and maybe Rotherham did. That's not to discredit Esher ? they have got a few more players and a lot more confidence ? and even when we played them down there I thought they were quite tough to beat.

"Interestingly, they don't seem to lose many games by big margins, they are a very competitive side who have just been on the wrong side of results. They, perhaps, just hadn't learned how to win games, but in the last week or so they have.

"It's important for us to start with the right pace and to make an accurate start. If they get their tails up, they are going to reference their last two games and think 'we've got a chance here'. We've just got to make sure we don't give them any opportunity to get their confidence going."

Bristol: S Marsden; G Watkins, F Otto, J Fatialofa, J Goodridge; M James, R Tipuna; D Crompton, R Lawrence, W Thompson, M Sambucetti, G Townson, J Ovens, J Merriman, I Grieve (capt). Reps: R Johnston, M Irish, R Winters, M Mama, T Slater, T Roberts, W Helu.

Esher: R Chisholm; A Wright, T Cheeseman (capt), A Cruickshanks, C Walker; M Atkinson, J MacKenzie; C Zeiss, J Campbell, W Collier, I Kench, C Matthews, T Alexander, P Synnott, M MacFarlane. Reps: R Nebbett, S Renwick, C Goodman, K Corrigan, G Griffiths, N Little, A Garner.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503324/s/1b98a6be/l/0L0Sthisisbristol0O0CBristol0ERugby0Ehead0Ecoach0ELiam0EMiddleton0Eaims0Cstory0E143540A510Edetail0Cstory0Bhtml/story01.htm

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UK warns Iran over oil passageway threat (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's defense secretary warned Iran Thursday that any attempt to block the key global oil passageway the Strait of Hormuz would be illegal and unsuccessful ? hinting at a robust international response.

During his first visit to the Pentagon for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Philip Hammond told the Atlantic Council in Washington that the presence of British and American naval ships in the Persian Gulf would ensure the route is kept open for trade.

Iran has threatened to close the route in possible retaliation to new U.S. and European economic sanctions, a tactic the U.S. already has said it would not tolerate.

About one-sixth of the world's oil passes on tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, and analysts have warned the price of Brent crude could temporarily jump to as high as $210 if the strait is closed.

"Disruption to the flow of oil through Strait of Hormuz would threaten regional and global economic growth. Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful," said Hammond, who was appointed as Britain's top defense minister in October.

U.S. officials have said the Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in nearby Bahrain, is prepared to defend the shipping route.

Britain has already downgraded ties with Iran following a major attack on its embassy in Tehran in November, which it insists was sanctioned by the country's ruling elite.

In response, Britain pulled all of its diplomats out of Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from U.K. soil.

Though Hammond did not specifically threaten a military response if Iran blocks the movement of oil tankers, he warned Tehran that both British and U.S. forces would be close at hand.

"It is in all our interests that the arteries of global trade are kept free, opening and running," Hammond said. "For example, our joint naval presence in the Arabian Gulf, something our regional partners appreciate, is key to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international trade."

The U.S. and the 27-nation EU have both imposed sanctions against Iran over its contentious nuclear program, which the West insists is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Iran denies the charge, claiming the program aims to generate civilian electricity and produce medical radioisotopes needed to treat cancer patients.

"My working assumption is that they are working flat out" to produce a nuclear weapon, Hammond said during a question session at the Atlantic Council. However, he also insisted that Britain "would not be in favor of a pre-emptive strike on Iran."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120105/ap_on_re_eu/britain_iran

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Bottom Line - Barnes & Noble may split off Nook business

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

The new Nook Tablet, unveiled in November 2011.

By msnbc.com news services

Bookstore owner Barnes & Noble said Thursday it is considering splitting off its Nook electronic reader business and also cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing a shortfall in sales of its basic touchscreen reader.

Shares of Barnes & Noble fell sharply on the news. Barnes & Noble, which has been battling Amazon.com's Kindle platform in the growing e-reader market, also cited higher advertising costs and costs for international expansion in cutting its earnings forecast.

By spinning off its digital business, Barnes & Noble appears to be looking to aggressively develop its position in the digital media market. But the question for investors is whether any value remains in the bricks-and-mortar portion of the company.

The company did say that sales of Nook readers rose 70 percent during the nine weeks ended December 31, compared with a year earlier and that sales of digital content, including books, apps and newspapers and magazines, rose 113 percent on a comparable basis.

"We see substantial value in what we've built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it's the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value," William Lynch, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, said in a statement.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/05/9974163-barnes-noble-may-split-off-nook-business

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Smartphones power Samsung to record Q4 profit (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips and smartphones, reported a record quarterly profit on Friday, aided by one-off gains and best-ever sales of high-end phones.

The South Korean firm, which surged past Apple as the world's top smartphone maker in the third quarter, is quickly building on its supremacy with sleek designs and a rich product line-up, while the latest models from the likes of HTC, Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion struggle to interest consumers.

Samsung is also weathering a squeeze on its bread-and-butter memory chip business with new revenue sources such as mobile processing chips and high-end OLED displays. Key rivals are increasingly turning to Samsung for components to power their tablets and smartphones.

The South Korean firm posted 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in quarterly operating profit, beating a consensus forecast of 4.7 trillion won by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It said actual profit may rise or fall by 200 billion won from the preliminary figure when the firm provides detailed earnings later this month.

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Samsung and peers compared: http://link.reuters.com/kam85s

GRAPHICS-Samsung earnings: http://link.reuters.com/wyk85s

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The result would top Samsung's previous record profit of 5.0 trillion won earned in the second quarter of 2010 and is up 22 percent from the preceding quarter.

One-off gains expected in the fourth quarter include around 500 billion won from the sale of its hard disk drive business to Seagate Technology, and reduced mobile provisions involving royalty payments, according to analysts.

"Samsung has traditionally seen its first-quarter profit drop from the fourth quarter, but profit will hold up well, reaching between 4.5 trillion won and 5.0 trillion won, with smartphone sales expected to rise further," said Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities.

Samsung only entered the smartphone market in earnest in 2010, but its handset division is now its biggest earnings generator.

Sales have skyrocketed thanks to a slick production system that rapidly brings new products to market and has mitigated weakness in its component business of mainly memory chips and flat screens.

Taiwan's HTC, which shocked the market with revenue warnings in recent months, reported on Friday a worse-than-expected quarterly profit drop, its first retreat in two years, as models from the world's No.4 smartphone maker scrambled to compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy range.

SMARTPHONE GAINS

Samsung shares closed down 1.4 percent, after charging to a record 1.11 million won earlier this week in anticipation of an upbeat forecast. The company is Asia's most valuable technology firm with a market value of around $150 billion.

Smartphone shipments are forecast at a record 35 million in the fourth quarter, up one quarter from the preceding three months, when it first surged past Apple as the world's top smartphone vendor.

In 2012 it is expected to sell as many as 170 million smartphones, according to BNP Paribas and Korea Investment & Securities, the most bullish street view, from an estimated 95 million last year, powered by a diverse product portfolio that spans high-end Galaxy models to cheap phones using Samsung's own "bada" software.

Its latest Galaxy Note model, which runs on fast fourth-generation (4G) networks, is touted by some followers as a "phablet" as its 5.3-inch display and powerful dual-core processor makes it work as both a tablet computer and smartphone. Its successful debut in some European and Asian markets during the year-end holiday season has raised hopes for a solid U.S. launch in coming months.

"As expectations for Apple to continue its innovation trail is receding a bit, this will be the year when Samsung solidifies its commanding lead in the smartphone market," said Kim Yun-sang, a fund manager at IBK Asset Management, which owns Samsung stock.

Samsung, the world's biggest technology firm by revenue, estimated fourth-quarter sales at 47 trillion won.

Major headwinds for Samsung in 2012 include slowing growth in global PC sales, which will dent sales of its core computer memory chips.

Weak computer memory chip prices will continue to squeeze earnings at least until the first half of this year. Prices of PC DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips dropped about 30 percent in the fourth quarter alone, near to production costs.

Samsung remains the sole profitable DRAM chipmaker and is likely to fare better than rivals, helped by heavy investments to cut production costs with finer processing technology.

Its foray into the booming tablet market has been also hit by a global patent battle with Apple, which is seeking to ban sales of Samsung's tablets in major markets.

(Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Iktae Park; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Alex Richardson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120106/bs_nm/us_samsung

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