Iraq's northern Kurdish region stops oil exports

FILE - In this May 31, 2009 file photo, an employee works at the Tawke oil fields in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. An Iraqi Kurdish official says the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region has suspended oil exports over a payment row with the central government in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2009 file photo, an employee works at the Tawke oil fields in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. An Iraqi Kurdish official says the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region has suspended oil exports over a payment row with the central government in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2009 file photo, an employee works at the Tawke oil fields in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. An Iraqi Kurdish official says the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region has suspended oil exports over a payment row with the central government in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

FILE - In this May 31, 2009 file photo, an employee works at the Tawke oil fields in the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. An Iraqi Kurdish official says the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region has suspended oil exports over a payment row with the central government in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? An Iraqi Kurdish official said on Tuesday that the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region has suspended oil exports over a payment row with Baghdad, a development that could add to already souring relations between the Kurds and the Arab-led central government.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Kurds have unilaterally struck more than 50 deals with foreign oil companies, even though Baghdad says they have no right to do so. In 2011, the two sides reached a tentative deal by which the Kurds send the oil to Baghdad, which sells it, and pays 50 percent of the revenues to the developers to reimburse the development costs.

In April, the Kurds halted exports of around 100,000 barrels a day, saying that Baghdad had made only two payments under the agreement and had failed to pay $1.5 billion they say they were owed.

Four months later, the Kurds agreed to restart exports as a goodwill gesture. That allowed the two sides to reach a new agreement under which Baghdad would pay 1 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $848 million) to the companies in September.

However, Ali Hussein Balo, the advisor of the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources, said Baghdad sent only 650 billion Iraqi dinars (about $550 million) and withheld the rest. That prompted the Kurds' latest move.

"The region has found itself forced to halt the oil exports as Baghdad didn't fulfill a commitment it made in the September agreement in regard to payment," Balo told The Associated Press over the phone from the self-ruled region's capital, Irbil.

He said the Kurdish region of Iraq was exporting around 180,000 barrels a day before recently starting to decrease the shipments. He didn't say when exactly exports were halted but said it was in the past few days.

Faisal Abdullah, the spokesman for Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy affairs, confirmed that the full amount wasn't paid. He said the payments were suspended because the Kurds were pumping less than the 200,000 barrels a day they had pledged. He wouldn't give more details.

The latest move could dash Iraq's hopes to pump 3.7 million barrels a day and to export 2.9 million barrels a day next year. Daily production last month averaged around 3.2 million barrels and daily exports averaged 2.62 million.

Iraq sits atop the world's fourth largest proven reserves of conventional crude, about 143.1 billion barrels, and oil revenues make up 95 percent of its budget.

In addition to the dispute over development oil resources, the Kurds and the central government in Baghdad have been in a long-running dispute over lands claimed by the Kurds and power-sharing. Along with Sunni Arabs, the Kurds accuse the country's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of consolidating power in his hands and marginalizing political opponents.

Separately, Iraq and neighboring Jordan have agreed to speed efforts to build a pipeline to export Iraqi oil through the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, according to Jordan's Petra news agency.

The deal calls for an oil pipeline that would have a capacity to export one million barrels a day, according to the news agency and al-Maliki's office. The two sides signed an economic cooperation agreement that includes the pipeline project during a brief visit by al-Maliki to Jordan on Monday.

They also agreed to boost the capacity of a natural gas pipeline to supply Jordan with additional Iraqi gas. In addition, Iraq said it could raise the amount of crude oil it exports for Jordanian domestic use, and will double to 60,000 tons the amount of heavy fuel it exports to Jordan monthly, according to Petra.

Violent demonstrations broke out in Jordan last month after the government removed subsidies to offset $5 billion in losses from a rising fuel bill. Heating and cooking gas prices have jumped sharply since. To help, al-Maliki's Shiite-led government last month announced a one-time gift of 100,000 barrels of oil to Sunni Muslim Jordan.

___

Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-25-Iraq-Oil/id-b5a40020f06d432288bba713f4905518

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A Story of Hope: Returned Veteran's Life Changed by Horses Helping Heroes Program at GHETC

Erick Hernandez, 30, was an aircraft machinist?s mate in the U. S. Navy immobilized with a spinal cord injury. Hernandez is one of more than 180 returned veterans whose lives are being changed through the Horses Helping Heroes program at Good Hope Equestrian Training Center (GHETC).

Miami, Fla (PRWEB) December 20, 2012

Erick Hernandez, 30, was an aircraft machinist?s mate in the U. S. Navy immobilized with a spinal cord injury. But one day in early November he was stepping onto a platform and grooming the smooth coat of a handsome paint horse on a peaceful country ranch ? about as far from the carrier flight deck as you can be.

Hernandez is one of more than 180 returned veterans whose lives are being changed through the Horses Helping Heroes program at Good Hope Equestrian Training Center (GHETC). Using the power of equine-assisted activities to aid in the rehabilitation of service men and women suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, GHETC is dedicated in meeting the rehabilitative needs of the veterans across South Florida.

?Our research has shown that equine activities benefit disabled participants through increased mobility, improved balance, posture and core strength, as well as enhanced coordination and flexibility,? said Brooke E. Westmoreland, MS/OTR, the therapist from the Spinal Cord unit of the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami. ?Not only does working with horses improve the veterans physically; it also increases self-confidence, communication, trust and anxiety reduction, as well as decreased feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses,? she added.

On a recent day at Good Hope farm, seven veterans including Hernandez had a fabulous day riding, as well as caring and grooming for their equine partner. The group represented several different services: Nafiz Mohammed had served aboard ship in Iraq, Robert Barker and Dennis Mahan were Army veterans, and Fernando Delbusto was an Army top Sargeant in the Vietnam War.

?The horse's movement at the walk is three-dimensional, which precisely mirrors the movements of the human pelvis. When a person sits upright on the back of their equine partner, these three human pelvic movements are duplicated naturally without effort on the rider's part. The horse's natural power has great benefits for a person who cannot walk.,? Westmoreland said, ?so in re-learning to walk, riding horses is helping these vets. Riding is also a great confidence builder for those shaken by combat, and suffering from low self-esteem because they survived and many of their buddies didn?t.?

Only a quarter of the vets at Good Hope have previously participated in any equestrian activities prior to enrolling into the program. ?Once each rider demonstrates the ability to control their horse at the walk and the trot,? explained Peggy Bass, GHETC Executive Director, ?the veterans are able to move from the riding ring to the on-site trails course. These sessions help the participants with impulse modulation, independence and relaxation, which in return helps them to connect and effectively communicate with their designated horse.?

The horse?s relationship with mankind has advanced over the course of history. The horse has been a companion, transportation, a performer and a magnificent symbol.

?Now cast in the role of co-psychotherapist, the horse in programs like Good Hope?s veterans therapy are springing up throughout the country as more and more soldiers and sailors return home from war,? Bass said. ?Because they are prey animals, they are finely tuned into their surroundings; much like the veterans who have used this trait for their survival in combat. Horses are honest and kind animals, which makes them especially powerful messengers. If they trust you, they will migrate toward you rather than retreating out of fear. They react to and mirror the emotions of humans directly, without words. Many of the veterans have expressed that they were able to parallel their natural horsemanship activities to real life situations,? she said.

The majority (72 per cent) of the project participants are from the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) departments, as well as past war heroes (28 per cent) receiving services through the Veterans Administration?s programs.

###

Editor?s Note: Good Hope is a bucolic setting where 400 disabled children, youth and adults find hope and independence though working with horses. The organization's 20 acres facility is located in Southwest Miami-Dade County (Redlands), and includes well immaculate stables boarding 13 program horses, 10 open paddocks, two riding areas, a sensory horse trail, an outdoor picnic area, accessible restrooms and a clubhouse designed to meet the Americans for Disabilities Act. Dr. Bass? staff consists of five PATH certified riding instructors, 14 program assistants and an Equine Instructional Specialist, all of whom have a combined total of more than 85 years experience within the therapeutic riding field.

Notably, Good Hope serves as the only facility in Miami-Dade County, and one of 11 in Florida, accredited as a Premier center through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) program. Recognizing Good Hope?s excellence in administrative and service delivery methodologies that promote quality industry standards and evidence-based equine assisted activities for individuals with disabilities, the agency has been recognized as a Premier Accredited Center by PATH Intl., formerly known as NARHA (North American Ridding for the Handicapped Association), since 2001.

The Good Hope is a 501?(3) non-profit and the Horses Helping Heroes project is solely funded by the Miami Foundation, Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation, as well as private and corporate donations.

Dr. Margaret M. Bass
Good Hope Equestrian Training Center
305-258-2838
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/story-hope-returned-veterans-life-changed-horses-helping-160235370.html

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A home fit for a 'Cowardly' King of Beasts

17 hrs.

Erika Riggs , Zillow

9555 Heather Rd, Beverly Hills, Calif.
For sale: $25.58 million

The home is at the end of a long drive, and it's paved with stone, rather than yellow brick.

Private and luxurious, the Beverly Hills estate was first built for actor Bert Lahr, best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz." Lahr had just finished playing the lion when he hired architect Paul Williams to build a colonial-revival-style home.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s, Williams explained that Lahr wanted a cozy stone fireplace, wood paneling and "graceful entryway" that inspired a feeling of home.

"It turns out that the lion from the 'Wizard of Oz' was a wizard of design," said listing agent Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International. "He brought in one of the most celebrated architects of the day, Paul Williams, and then added his own original touches to create a countryside home in the heart of the city. The traditional architecture brings that wonderful Hamptons, East Coast feel to Los Angeles."

Lahr wasn't the only one who was attracted the lot. After Lahr, the home passed on to a number of celebrities, including Betty Grable and husband Harry James, Paul McCartney, the Osbourne family and Melanie Griffith and ex-husband Don Johnson.

Quite a bit of star power for one home. It's the location, as well as the privacy, that attracted each of the celebrities to the property, Rey says.

And each owner put their own touch on the country estate. Originally built as a 6,000-square-foot home with 4 bedrooms for Lahr, the home now spans 12,000 square feet with 8 bedrooms and 10 baths.The wallpaper and paneling are no longer present in the home, but many of the original details Lahr envisioned are there.

Sitting on 1.3 acres behind tall gates, the Lahr estate has abundant outdoor terraces, an outdoor kitchen and dining area as well as a pool, spa, tennis court, koi pond, sports court and putting green. Inside, a vintage-style two-lane bowling alley,?game room and wet bar have been added. The living spaces are generous, with high ceilings.

The listing is shared between Rey and Marie-France Salaun.

According to current mortgage rates, a monthly payment on the home would be $88,690, assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year mortgage.

More from Zillow:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/home-originally-built-bert-lahr-cowardly-lion-wizard-oz-put-1C7661415

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Police identify Portland mall shooter

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? The gunman who killed two people and himself in a shooting rampage at an Oregon mall was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said Wednesday.

Jacob Tyler Roberts had armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at a Portland mall on Tuesday, said Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts.

The sheriff said the rifle jammed during the 22-year-old's attack, but he managed to get it working again. He later shot himself. Authorities don't yet have a motive but don't believe he was targeting specific people.

Two people ? a 54-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man ? were killed, and another, Kristina Shevchenko, whose age could not be confirmed, was wounded and in serious condition on Wednesday.

Roberts, wearing a hockey-style face mask, parked his 1996 green Volkswagen Jetta in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy's and walked briskly through the store, into the mall and began firing randomly, police said.

He fatally shot Steven Mathew Forsyth of West Linn and Cindy Ann Yuille of Portland, the sheriff said.

Roberts then fled along a mall corridor and into a back hallway, down stairs and into a corner where police found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said.

People at the mall were heroic in helping get shoppers out of the building, including medical personnel who rendered aid, Roberts said.

In response to previous mass shootings elsewhere, the first arriving officers were trained to form teams and go inside instead of waiting for SWAT. Employees at the mall also received training to handle such a situation.

"This could have been much, much worse," Roberts said.

The first 911 call came at 3:29 p.m. Tuesday and officers arrived a minute later. By 3:51 p.m., all the victims and the gunman and rifle had been found. Four SWAT teams spent hours clearing the 1.4 million square-foot mall, leaving shoppers and workers to hide in fear.

Roberts rented a basement room in a modest, single-story Portland home and hadn't lived there long, said a neighbor, Bobbi Bates. Bates said she saw Roberts leave at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday wearing a dark jacket and jeans, carrying a guitar case. An occupant at the house declined to comment.

The mall Santa, Brance Wilson, was waiting for the next child's Christmas wish when shots rang out, causing the mall to erupt into chaos.

About to invite a child to hop onto his lap, Wilson instead dove for the floor and kept his head down as he heard shots being fired upstairs in the mall.

"I heard two shots and got out of the chair. I thought a red suit was a pretty good target," said Wilson, 68. Families waiting for Santa scattered. More shots followed, and Wilson crept away for better cover.

Witnesses heard the gunman saying, "I am the shooter," as he fired rounds from a semi-automatic rifle inside the Clackamas Town Center, a popular suburban mall several miles from downtown Portland.

Some were close enough to the shooter to feel the percussion of his gun.

Kayla Sprint, 18, was interviewing for a job at a clothing store when she heard shots.

"We heard people running back here screaming, yelling '911,'" she told The Associated Press.

Sprint barricaded herself in the store's back room until the coast was clear.

Jason DeCosta, a manager of a window-tinting company that has a display on the mall's ground floor, said when he arrived to relieve his co-worker, he heard shots ring out upstairs.

DeCosta ran up an escalator, past people who had dropped for cover and glass littering the floor.

"I figure if he's shooting a gun, he's gonna run out of bullets," DeCosta said, "and I'm gonna take him."

DeCosta said when he got to the food court, "I saw a gentleman face down, obviously shot in the head."

"A lot of blood," DeCosta said. "You could tell there was nothing you could do for him."

He said he also saw a woman on the floor who had been shot in the chest.

Austin Patty, 20, who works at Macy's, said he saw a man in a white mask carrying a rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest. There was a series of rapid-fire shots in short succession as Christmas music played. Patty said he dove for the floor and then ran.

His Macy's co-worker, Pam Moore, told the AP the gunman was short, with dark hair.

Kira Rowland told KGW-TV that she was shopping at Macy's with her infant son when the shots started.

"All of a sudden you hear two shots, which sounded like balloons popping," Rowland told the station. "Everybody got on the ground. I grabbed the baby from the stroller and got on the ground."

Rowland said she heard people screaming and crying.

"I put the baby back in the stroller and ran," Rowland said.

Kaelynn Keelin was working two stores down from Macy's when the gunfire began. She watched windows of another store get shot out. She and her co-workers ran to get customers inside their own store to take shelter.

"If we would have run out, we would have run right into it," she said.

Shaun Wik, 20, was Christmas shopping with his girlfriend and opened a fortune cookie at the food court. Inside was written: "Live for today. Remember yesterday. Think of tomorrow."

As he read it, he heard three shots. He heard a man he believes was the gunman shout, "Get down!" but Wik and his girlfriend ran. He heard seven or eight more shots. He didn't turn around.

"If I had looked back, I might not be standing here," Wik said. "I might have been one of the ones who got hit."

Clackamas Town Center is one of the Portland area's biggest and busiest malls, with 185 stores and a 20-screen movie theater.

Holli Bautista, 28, was shopping at Macy's for a Christmas dress for her daughter when she heard pops that sounded like firecrackers. "I heard people running and screaming and saying 'Get out, there's somebody shooting,'" she told the AP.

She said hundreds of shoppers and mall employees started running, and she and dozens of other people were trying to escape through a department store exit.

Tiffany Turgetto and her husband were leaving Macy's through the first floor when they heard gunshots coming from the second floor of the mall. They were able to leave quickly through a Barnes & Noble bookstore before the police locked down the mall.

"I had left my phone at home. I was telling people to call 911. Surprisingly, people are around me, no one was calling 911. I think people were in shock," she said.

___

Associated Press writers Steven DuBois, Nigel Duara, Anne M. Peterson, Tim Fought and Sarah Skidmore in Portland, Michelle Price in Phoenix, Pete Yost in Washington, Manuel Valdes in Seattle and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-ore-mall-shooter-used-stolen-rifle-181931596.html

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Player suspensions tossed out in bounty case

FILE - This May 22, 2012 file photo shows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during a new conference in Atlanta. More than nine months after the NFL first disclosed its bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints, four players will finally get a ruling, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on whether their initial suspensions are upheld, reduced or thrown out. If the players get the ruling they seek, it would discredit an NFL probe, Goodell, that covered three seasons and gathered about 50,000 pages of documents. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - This May 22, 2012 file photo shows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during a new conference in Atlanta. More than nine months after the NFL first disclosed its bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints, four players will finally get a ruling, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on whether their initial suspensions are upheld, reduced or thrown out. If the players get the ruling they seek, it would discredit an NFL probe, Goodell, that covered three seasons and gathered about 50,000 pages of documents. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith, left, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrive at an attorney's office in Washington, for a hearing on their appeals of bounties suspensions. Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was appointed to handle a second round of player appeals to the league, has informed all parties he planned to rule by Tuesday, Dec. 11, and his decision could affect whether two current Saints ? Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith ? get to play out the season. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - This Feb. 4, 2012 file photo shows former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in Indianapolis. Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. (AP Photo/David Stluka, File)

FILE - This Oct. 21, 2012 file photo shows New Orleans Saints football linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51) running onto the field in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. Vilma and fellow player Will Smith, who were suspended said they plan to attend. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

FILE - This Sept. 9, 2012 file photo shows New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith (91) warming up before an NFL football game in New Orleans. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. Smith and fellow player Jonathan Vilma, who were suspended said they plan to attend. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Four players embroiled for nearly 10 months in the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints no longer have to worry about suspensions or fines, and can try to move on with their careers on the field.

Off the field, the fallout from the dispute could endure for some time, particularly in federal court.

In a surprising rejection of his successor's overreaching punishments, former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue threw out "all discipline" current Commissioner Roger Goodell had imposed on two current Saints, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith, and two players no longer with the club, Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and free-agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove.

Tagliabue, appointed by Goodell to handle player appeals in the matter, essentially absolved Fujita, but agreed with Goodell's finding that the other three players "engaged in conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football."

The 22-page ruling Tuesday allowed both sides to claim victory more than nine months after the league first revealed the Saints' bounty scandal to shocked fans, describing a performance pool operated by former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams that, among other things, rewarded hits that injured opponents.

The four players punished by Goodell have maintained they were innocent of taking part in bounty program from the beginning, saying they never intended to injure anyone on the field. Vilma even has filed a defamation lawsuit against Goodell in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, and his lawyers, Peter Ginsberg and Duke Williams, said they intend to continue to pursue those claims "vigorously."

"Commissioner Tagliabue's rationalization of Commissioner Goodell's actions does nothing to rectify the harm done by the baseless allegations lodged against Jonathan," Vilma's lawyers said a statement. "Jonathan has a right and every intention to pursue proving what really occurred and we look forward to returning to a public forum where the true facts can see the light of day."

While no other players have yet filed similar lawsuits, Hargrove's agent, Phil Williams, said this week that "the NFL dragged (Hargrove's) name through the mud and lied about him," costing him an entire season of his career.

Hargrove was cut by Green Bay shortly before the regular season. His agent said a number of other teams inquired about signing him, but only after they were confident that bounty matter had been resolved. That has finally happened, as far as the NFL is concerned, but there are only three weeks left in the regular season.

Vilma, suspended by Goodell for the entire current season, and Smith, suspended four games, have been playing for the Saints while their appeals were pending. Fujita who was facing a one-game suspension, is on injured reserve. Hargrove's suspension initially stood at eight games but was reduced to seven with credit for his first five games missed as a free agent, essentially reducing the ban he'd been facing to two games.

Tagliabue's ruling did nothing to vindicate Saints coaches or the organization. Rather, the former commissioner criticized the Saints as an organization that fostered bad behavior and tried to impede the investigation into what the NFL said was a performance pool designed to knock targeted opponents out of games from 2009 to 2011, with thousands of dollars in payouts.

A "culture" that promoted tough talk and cash incentives for hits to injure opponents ? one key example was Vilma's offer of $10,000 to any teammate who knocked Brett Favre out of the NFC championship game at the end of the 2009 season ? existed in New Orleans, according to Tagliabue, who also wrote that "Saints' coaches and managers led a deliberate, unprecedented and effective effort to obstruct the NFL's investigation."

The former commissioner did not entirely exonerate the players, however.

He said Vilma and Smith participated in a performance pool that rewarded key plays ? including hard tackles ? while Hargrove, following coaches' orders, helped to cover up the program when interviewed by NFL investigators in 2010.

"My affirmation of Commissioner Goodell's findings could certainly justify the issuance of fines," Tagliabue said in his ruling. "However, this entire case has been contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints' organization."

Tagliabue said he decided, in this particular case, that it was in the best interest of all parties involved to eliminate player punishment because of the enduring acrimony it has caused between the league and the NFL Players Association. He added that he hoped doing so would allow the NFL and union to move forward collaboratively to the more important matters of enhancing player safety.

"To be clear: this case should not be considered a precedent for whether similar behavior in the future merits player suspensions or fines," his ruling said.

Tagliabue oversaw the second round of appeals by players, who initially opposed his appointment.

The former commissioner found Goodell's actions historically disproportionate to past punishment of players for similar behavior, which had generally been reserved to fines, not suspensions. He also stated that it was very difficult to determine whether the pledges players made were genuine, or simply motivational ploys, particularly because Saints defenders never demonstrated a pattern of dirty play on the field.

"The relationship of the discipline for the off-field 'talk' and actual on-field conduct must be carefully calibrated and reasonably apportioned. This is a standard grounded in common sense and fairness," Tagliabue wrote in his 22-page opinion. "If one were to punish certain off-field talk in locker rooms, meeting rooms, hotel rooms or elsewhere without applying a rigorous standard that separated real threats or 'bounties' from rhetoric and exaggeration, it would open a field of inquiry that would lead nowhere."

Saints quarterback Drew Brees commented on Twitter: "Congratulations to our players for having the suspensions vacated. Unfortunately, there are some things that can never be taken back."

The Saints opened the season 0-4 and are now 5-8 and virtually out of the playoffs after appearing in the playoffs the three previous seasons, including the franchise's only Super Bowl title to conclude the 2009 season.

Shortly before the regular season, the initial suspensions were thrown out by an appeals panel created by the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. Goodell then reissued them, with some changes, only to have them overturned.

"We respect Mr. Tagliabue's decision, which underscores the due process afforded players in NFL disciplinary matters," the league said in a statement.

"The decisions have made clear that the Saints operated a bounty program in violation of league rules for three years, that the program endangered player safety, and that the commissioner has the authority under the (NFL's collective bargaining agreement) to impose discipline for those actions as conduct detrimental to the league. Strong action was taken in this matter to protect player safety and ensure that bounties would be eliminated from football."

The players have challenged the NFL's handling of the entire process in federal court, but U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan had been waiting for the latest appeal to play out before deciding whether to get involved. The judge issued an order Tuesday giving the NFLPA and Vilma until Wednesday to notify the court if they found Tagliabue's ruling acceptable.

The NFLPA indicated that it was largely satisfied by how the process worked out, so some federal court claims against the NFL could be dropped on Wednesday, even as Vilma's defamation claims remain.

"We are pleased that Paul Tagliabue, as the appointed hearings officer, agreed with the NFL Players Association that previously issued discipline was inappropriate in the matter of the alleged New Orleans Saints bounty program," the NFLPA said in a statement. "Vacating all discipline affirms the players' unwavering position that all allegations the League made about their alleged 'intent-to-injure' were utterly and completely false."

NFL investigators had concluded that Vilma and Smith were ringleaders of a cash-for-hits program that rewarded injurious tackles labeled as "cart-offs" and "knockouts." Witnesses including Gregg Williams said Vilma made a $10,000 pledge for anyone who knocked Favre out of the NFC title game in January 2010. However, Tagliabue found it was not clear if the pledge was genuine or simply a motivational tactic.

"There is more than enough evidence to support Commissioner Goodell's findings that Mr. Vilma offered such a bounty" on Favre, Tagliabue wrote. "I cannot, however, uphold a multigame suspension where there is no evidence that a player's speech prior to a game was actually a factor causing misconduct on the playing field and that such misconduct was severe enough in itself to warrant a player suspension or a very substantial fine."

The NFL also concluded that Hargrove lied to NFL investigators to help cover up the program. The players have from the beginning denied they ever took the field intending to injure opponents, while Hargrove has said he never lied about a bounty program, because there wasn't one.

Goodell suspended Gregg Williams indefinitely, while banning Saints head coach Sean Payton for a full season.

Tagliabue's ruling comes after a new round of hearings that for the first time allowed Vilma's attorneys and the NFLPA, which represents the other three players, to cross-examine key NFL witnesses. Those witnesses included Williams and former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo, who was fired after the 2009 season and whose email to the league, accusing the Saints of being "a dirty organization," jump-started the probe.

Smith said he was pleased that Tagliabue vacated his suspension.

"I continue to maintain that I did not participate in a pay-to-injure program or facilitate any such program," he added. "I appreciate that Mr. Tagliabue did not rush to judgment, taking into consideration all facts presented to him, before ruling ? something that was clearly not done by Commissioner Goodell in previous hearings."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-12-Bounties-Tagliabue/id-f2e1d23d0ff94809a968b176afe4c079

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Scientists name extinct lizard after Obama

Carl Buell

In this artist's conception, the carnivorous lizard Palaeosaniwa stalks a pair of hatchling Edmontosaurus dinosaurs as the snake Cerberophis looks on from above, and the lizard Obamadon watches from below. Meanwhile, in the background, a Tyrannosaurus rex encounters a Triceratops troop while an asteroid streaks down to Earth.

By Alan Boyle

The mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago also did in lots of lizards ? including a newly identified creature that's been named Obamadon gracilis in honor of President Barack Obama.

Obama already has a type of fish (Ethiostoma obama) and lichen (Caloplaca obamae) named after him, and now the recently re-elected leader of the free world can add a foot-long, slender-toothed casualty of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction to the list.

Yale paleontologist Nicholas Longrich, the lead author of a paper announcing the find in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, told me that the name arose from a conversation he had with a friend in late 2008, when folks were wondering how Obama's election would change the political scene.

"I said, yeah, we should name a dinosaur after him," Longrich said. "It was sort of a smart-ass comment."

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But the idea stuck. After all, this is the guy who named a different fossil "Mojoceratops."

"It was catchy, and it seemed like a fun thing to do," he said.

There's a serious point behind the paper, of course: Longrich and his colleagues analyzed at fossils representing 30 different types of snakes and lizards, previously collected from locales in western North America ranging from New Mexico to Alberta. Nine of the species, including Obamadon, were previously unrecognized.

"Lizards and snakes rivaled the dinosaurs in terms of diversity, making it just as much an 'Age of Lizards' as an 'Age of Dinosaurs,'" Longrich said in a Yale news release.

Previous studies had suggested that some snake and lizard species went extinct, along with the dinosaurs and many types of mammals, birds, insects and plants. The extinction was presumably due to a catastrophic asteroid strike on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

The new survey suggests that snakes and lizards were hit much harder than previously thought. Longrich and his colleagues estimate that up to 83 percent of all snake and lizard species were killed off. The bigger the creature, the more likely it was to become extinct: The researchers concluded that no species weighing more than a pound survived.

Obamadon was part of a group of creatures known as polyglyphanodonts, which accounted for up to 40 percent of the lizards living in North America before the extinction. Obama's namesake was identified on the basis of jaw fossils from Montana's Hell Creek Formation, with "tall, slender teeth with large central cusps separated from small accessory cusps by lingual grooves."

The lizard was less than a foot long and probably caught insects in its teeth, Longrich said.

The discovery of Obamadon just goes to show how new discoveries can come from old specimens ? including fossils that were?collected years ago, by paleontologists who were focusing dinosaurs or early mammals rather than snakes or lizards. "There hasn't been a heck of a lot of interest in these specimens," Longrich said. "Here we have all this data that's there, waiting to be studied."

Two of the newly recognized fossil species don't yet have scientific names, but when it comes time for the naming, rest assured that Longrich won't come up with anything too wild and crazy.

"We decided not to do the Hitlerosaurus," he said.

More about celebrity species:

---

In addition to Longrich, the authors of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Mass Extinction of Lizards and Snakes at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary," include Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar and Jacques A. Gauthier. Longrich says the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary is a more recent term that applies to the mass extinction also known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/10/15823225-ancient-lizard-that-died-out-with-the-dinosaurs-named-after-obama?lite

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Slow Cooker Maple-Sauced Pears Recipe | Budget Savvy Diva

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?

What You Need

6
pears

1/2
cup packed brown sugar

1/2
cup maple-flavored syrup

1
tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

2
teaspoons orange peel

1/8
teaspoon ground ginger

1
tablespoon cornstarch

2
tablespoons orange juice

?

What To Do

1 Set crock pot to high ? Peel pears. Core pears from bottom, leaving stems attached. Place in slow cooker so it stands upright
2 Mix remaining ingredients except cornstarch and orange juice in a bowl and pour over pears.
3 Cover and cook on high heat for 2.5 hours
4 Remove pears from cooker
5 Mix cornstarch and orange juice place into the crock pot ? Cover and cook on high heat setting about 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Pour Sauce Over Pears

Slow Cooker Maple-Sauced Pears Recipe

Serves: 6

• 6
• pears
• 1/2
• cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2
• cup maple-flavored syrup
• 1
• tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
• 2
• teaspoons orange peel
• 1/8
• teaspoon ground ginger
• 1
• tablespoon cornstarch
• 2
• tablespoons orange juice

1. Set crock pot to high ? Peel pears. Core pears from bottom, leaving stems attached. Place in slow cooker so it stands upright
2. Mix remaining ingredients except cornstarch and orange juice in a bowl and pour over pears.
3. Cover and cook on high heat for 2.5 hours
4. Remove pears from cooker
5. Mix cornstarch and orange juice place into the crock pot ? Cover and cook on high heat setting about 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Pour Sauce Over Pears

2.2.8

?

?

Other recipes you'll love:

Source: http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-maple-sauced-pears-recipe/

robert kardashian

Dracut woman uses Facebook to find kidney donor

DRACUT ? Shannon Gouveia had never even heard of live kidney donation, but when she discovered the Facebook page of a stranger who needed a kidney, she felt compelled to give.

As soon as Gouveia read Olga Gauthier?s story on Facebook and started looking into live kidney donation, she had a feeling she was meant to be a donor for Gauthier.

"I can?t even explain it, it just felt so right," she said in an interview at Gauthier?s home in Dracut last month.

When Gouveia went to get tested to see if she was a match for Gauthier, there were other people ahead of her being tested.

"I thought that?s fine, because I knew it?s going to be me." said Gouveia.

Gauthier, who has polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, needed a new kidney and was looking for a live donor. She had been put on the transplant list in June 2010.

None of her family or friends were a match and she was desperate to find a donor. She had heard about other people who were looking for donors who started a Facebook page, so in January, she started the page, "Kidney for Olga."

"I was waiting for nothing, so I had to take matters into my own hands," she said.

Gouveia?s sister saw Gauthier?s page through a friend of hers and sent the page to Gouveia.

The similarities between Gouveia and Gauthier are remarkable.

Both are 39. Both are mothers.

They grew up in Lowell. Gouveia graduated from Greater Lowell Technical High School with Gauthier?s twin brother, but they didn?t know each other.

When the two women met for the first time, two days before the transplant, it was as if they had known each other for years.

"We talked like I knew her forever, like how you can just pick up a conversation with your best friend," said Gouveia.

They now call themselves sisters and say they will be lifelong friends.

When Gauthier found out she had a matching donor, she said she was overwhelmed.

? Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061180383&srvc=rss

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New Android apps worth downloading: Kickvox, Splice, Spellwood: Word Game Adventure

Kickvox is a visual search engine designed specifically for mobile devices. We?ve got a pair of quality games for your approval including Splice, a title that?s all about recombining cells to make new organisms, and Spellwood, a word game for people who are new to word games.

What?s it about? Kickvox is a search engine app designed for mobile devices that emphasizes visual search results, rather than lists of links.

What?s cool? An emphasis on search results you can see makes Kickvox a little easier to use than your usual web search engine, especially on a mobile device while you?re out in the world. The app is also designed to provide answers, rather than just search results. You can type in questions as well as keywords. Kickvox also makes navigation through search results easier by letting you quickly click through them, rather than hitting a Back button to return to results, and keeps a history of everything you?ve searched so you can find it again later.

Who?s it for? Users who handle their Android devices like information-seeking computers when they?re out in the world will definitely find a use for Kickvox.

What?s it like? Google Search is another solid app for finding info on the go, as is Alfred.

What?s it about? Puzzler Splice has players recombining microbial cells to make specific structures and solve each of the game?s levels.

What?s cool? Splice is something of a weird take on the puzzle genre, offering something new in its microbe-rearranging mechanics. You only have a limited number of moves, or ?splices,? in each level to make the target structure, so you?ll have to work carefully and strategically to get through. Splice includes more than 75 puzzles, and each one has more than a single solution, so you can try to find the best ways through each one and challenge your friends to beat them as well.

Who?s it for? Splice is for puzzle fans, especially those who are looking for something that?s a little different from the usual fare.

What?s it like? Check out Osmos for another interesting puzzler with a bacterial feel.

What?s it about? Word game Spellwood is like Scrabble, and has players dueling with one another to make the best words and rack up the highest scores.

What?s cool? Spellwood includes both a single-player mode, in which players go on an adventure of on their own, and multiplayer modes that allow you to take on players from all over the world, or friends through Facebook Connect. The game is also a simplified version of crossword titles like Scrabble and Words With Friends, which makes it great for novice players. In keeping with the magical theme, players can change things like word score values and other aspects of the game using magic spells.

Who?s it for? Spellwood is particularly good for novice word game players, and those who want to ease into the genre with something a little simpler.

What?s it like? As mentioned, Scrabble and Words With Friends also offer some great crossword and multiplayer action.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/13024-new-android-apps-worth-downloading-kickvox-splice-spellwood-word-game-adventure

hcm

CM Punk ties John Cena's 380-day WWE Title reign

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2012-12-03/punk-ties-cena-at-380-days

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